Title: Memories
Author:
dephiPairing: Pitego
Genre: Angst
Rating: PG - 13 for the angst
Disclaimer: Own the plot, not the characters
Summary: The promised they made should be fulfilled. Yet a person halted him right when he was about to proceed. Would he do it at last, or would he break the promise instead?
For him, all of it happened to sudden, without him able to prepare his heart to face it.
No matter how much he tried to convince himself, he just couldn't get over it. None of it was the truth on his eyes, but his heart understood the real thing. But, his whole body refused to accept the truth. No matter what people said, Miki was still alive!
The news first reached his ears 10 years ago, when both of them were still 11. He knew well how Miki's body was so weak, how she got sick easily. He should have noticed it earlier since he had spent most of his time with Miki.
But then, he didn't. Miki's weakness... He thought of it as a usual thing happened to girls. Tegoshi had seen how his mother would feel a painful stomachache each month, so he saw this with Miki's case were the same. While him, as a boy, should be the one protecting Miki. Besides, they had made their oath at Miki's place years before.
That thought was pasted on his mind but he eventually had to admit it at the end. Tegoshi spent most of his time beside Miki so he knew how suffered Miki had been. Sometimes she couldn't breathe well and cough badly. Just because of doing a few trivial things, she would be so exhausted and tried to get a rest. At the other time she wouldn't even be able to move from her bed at all.
During those time, Tegoshi was always there, seeing it all as the witness together with her parents. Miki tried to keep her cheerful self. She would smile widely despite how hard she had coughed before. Tegoshi saw how her parents would smile back and leave outside. At the moment he exited the school, he would sometimes spot her mother cried. Tegoshi thought it was strange, but he kept that only for himself.
But then, Miki's cheerful self started fading away slowly. She cried a lot even without any specific reason. Shouts and scream would be heard many times from her room, followed by her tears. It did not become an unusual sight again to see the moody Miki lying on the bed.
Tegoshi was afraid at first but eventually he started to accept the fact that Miki was sick. Not just a mere sickness, but something which endangered her life. Every means possible was taken by her parents. They brought her to the best doctors, provided the money for the best treatment, showered her with their love. But that didn't change the fact that her time was running out soon.
From heart, lung, and then blood. She went in and out the hospital many times. Her condition was getting even worsened during the last year, and lastly she had to spend the last 6 months in hospital.
There were times when Tegoshi wanted to scream and complain. Why did it have to be Miki? Why couldn't it be another person?
It was ironic yet he couldn't do anything about it. He was weak, to weak to even calm her down. But then, Miki's moody self suddenly disappeared 2 months before. She was back to her cheerful self and Tegoshi thought that nothing was wrong with her. Perhaps she had regained her will to life again.
But then, when he re-thought about it carefully, it might be because Miki had felt that her time was nearing soon. Tegoshi could clearly remember how Miki would laugh whenever he did some foolish thing and remarked how nice it would be to have a good health. After that he would say that Miki would get better soon, and the smile appeared again. He thought nothing was wrong with it, but he had failed to notice how Miki's eyes would be full of sadness. He had failed.
It was the night before when Miki tried to recall the past they had shared together. Tegoshi remarked how she was such a cheerful girl, or even overly cheerful one. They joked and laughed together. And all of a sudden the topic of Miki's 5th birthday was brought up.
'Nee, Yuya - chan, did you remember our promise back then?' Tegoshi was suddenly reminded of that when it was being mentioned. A nod and smile were the answer he gave to the girl. Miki's wide smile after that... It was crafted deep inside his brain.
'You don't have to do that, really. It would be sad if you die young, Yuya - chan.' What Miki said surprised him the most. He immediately shook his head and said that the promise, he would still keep that. Besides, neither any of them would die young, that was what he tried to convince Miki with.
...no. Maybe the one he wanted to convince the most was his own self. Why? Miki was still so young. There were lots of things she could do, just like how the other girl around her age did. If possible, Tegoshi would do anything just to make sure that her smile was still there.
The last thing he remembered was that Miki smiled to him, although he could feel the sadness beneath it, and murmured her thanks. That was all.
Just leaving her for less than 12 hours, Tegoshi got the call and immediately rushed to the hospital. Cries and sobs were already heard and he could do nothing about it. Everything was cleared when two doctors came outside. He wouldn't be able to meet Miki anymore.
A small ironic smile was curved on his mouth when he recalled those incidents back. When he realized it, he found himself in a black suit, watching the whole ceremony until its end. It was so sad and ironic. He didn't find any tears from both of Miki's parents anymore. They were probably tired of it. And that was it. Everything was ended.
He could feel nothing more. But a word kept on haunting him.
Should he do it at the end? His smile was curved again as he turned away, leaving the whole scene.
We'll be together, huh?
####
The hospital was as crowded as usual. Patients come and go; the usual routines happened each single day. Death took place there every day, whether only a single death or the numerous one.
Yamashita Tomohisa was just one of the doctors in cardiac department there. For him, death was not a big deal anymore. He cried when he experienced his first patient's death, but as deaths kept on coming, he got used to it. Not even a change in his emotion was seen, although deep inside he always felt the same sadness. But then, he had to be prepared of it as he would keep on experience it until he lost his job.
The cause of deaths were various for each patients. It was common to see death in his department, whether from heart failure or heart attack. On some special occasions, disfunctionality or abnormality. It was usual.
Yamapi sent his farewell to his last patient and left his room. It was nearing the time for lunch and he had especially taken a half day off for today, which meant that his job for today was finished. A bright smile was pasted on his face while he was walking along the corridor, greeting back a few patients he met along it.
Today was a bright day as expected, so there should be nothing which would halt him on his date with this cute girl he met a few days ago. Well yes, it might be wrong for him to take his leaving just for a private matter such as dating, but then he really wanted to do it, even for just once. It was tiring to keep on being a good boy after all.
Humming a random tone, he kept on walking until he spotted a small posture boy alone on the back side of the hospital. Nobody else was there, which was quite expected since the place was quite hidden, so it was not easy to find it.
But this guy found it which was quite a surprise for him. He was slightly amused by it so he stood still on his current position, observing the boy for a moment.
The guy, or boy, was slim and slender. At the first gaze, he thought it was a girl, but his instinct told him that it was a boy. Yamapi, after all, was so proud of his sharp instinct. Interesting, he thought, as a smirk was slowly curved.
But then the boy suddenly took something from the black bag he brought with him. Something sharp and blinking. Wait, was that a knife? Yamapi rushed immediately when he had confirmed what the small thing really is.
The boy raised his hand while holding the knife, looking at it for a while, before immediately bringing it closer to his chest. "No!" Yamapi screamed frantically and approached him, tossing the small knife away from the grab before it managed to touch the guy's body. A sigh of relief was out from his mouth when he succeeded in doing so but a 'bang' voice was heard. When he turned his head in seek of the source of the voice, he could only find the boy lying on the grass, unconscious.
"You..." Yamapi looked at the boy. "Why did you do this actually...?"