You sit in the hospital room beside your grandpa. You stare off into the distance thinking about Takemichi. You take a deep breath, staring down at your shoes. You relax your eyes and rub your head thinking about other things too. So much has happened and it's hard to wrap your head around it.
"I really need a vacation..." You sigh. The door opens and you look up to see your grandmother. She smiles as she walks in. She has a few flowers in her hand. She places it in the vase and removes the old ones out.
"Have you eaten yet?" Your grandmother asks you. You slowly nod and look back towards your grandfather. Your grandmother takes a deep breath and places her hand on your shoulder. "You must be tired..."
"Huh? What makes you say that?" You ask, looking up at her.
"The circles under your eyes gotten darker." She softly says. You relax your eyes again and looking towards your grandpa.
"I guess it's because... I feel kinda lost... or- maybe I am tired."
"When was the last time you spent time with your friends?" She asks. You stare straight and then shrug. "I remember seeing Aimi not long ago. She stopped by the bakery looking for you-"
"Yeah... she lives in America..."
"Oh? So far... why does she live so far?" She asks. You look down at your hands and then squeezed them shut.
"To study abroad."
"Hmm... I'm surprised her father even agreed to that..."
"It was his idea." You slowly say.
"Really?"
"Mhm..." You hum. Your eyes widen when you notice your grandmother went quiet. You look up at her to see her looking back down at you. "I'll go see my friend... she wanted me to help her out with something." You softly say as you stand up. You grandmother smiles and nods.
Once you walk out the room, you slowly make your way down the hall. You stop walking and take a deep breath. Your eyebrows furrow and your eyes relax. You turn and head down another hallway.
You stop at a vending machine, placing a few coins in and pressing the button for strawberry milk. While waiting for the milk to drop into the chute, you pull your phone out and begin to text Emma. After you sent her a message your eyes pause at the time. Two hours until midnight...
"I doubt she's even awake." You quietly say.
"Y-uki..." A voice says from beside you. Your eyes slowly drift towards the direction of the voice. Your eyes widen when you see who it was.
"Asuka?" You softly say. She looks a lot worse then before. She's gripping onto the railing on the wall. Her eyes look shallow and lifeless. Her skin pale and lips dry. She looks almost- dead. Like the life is being sucked out of her. You couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Hi..." She softly says. She smiles. Her smile looking almost forced.
"You look like you are having a hard time walking... are you supposed to be up and walking?"
"N-no... but I wanted to get a strawberry milk." She softly says, reaching towards the machine. She stumbles and falls forward. You catch her. She grips onto your shirt and you pull her up.
"ASUKA!" A nurse yells as she runs towards you.
"Wait- no..." Asuka tries to grab onto the machine but the nurse gets to her first. You watch as Asuka gets dragged back to her room. You turn towards the vending machine and grabbing the strawberry milk. You walk towards her room to hear the nurse sighing and fuming.
"You can't just take these off... these are to monitor your heart and-"
"I'm sick of being on a machine... I want to go outside... I WANT TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Asuka cries out. "I don't want to be stuck here anymore."
"Asuka... please calm down..." The nurse sighs. You slowly walk into the room. Asuka's eyes widen when she sees you.
"Yuki" She smiles. The nurse turns and looks at you.
"Who are you?"
"She's my friend..." Asuka bubbles. The nurse sighs and looks back at you. You look at her as they stick an IV back in Asuka's arm.
After the nurse finished hooking Asuka back up on the machines, she leaves the room. You sit down beside Asuka still holding the strawberry milk in your hand. Asuka has a sad look on her face.
"... are you okay?" You softly ask. Asuka doesn't answer right away. She slowly looks at you. Her eyes still lifeless.
"...I-... I want to go to the beach."
"Huh?" You look at her confused.
"The beach... I used to go all the time with my mom when I was little." She smiles. "I couldn't swim so my mom would sit in the shallow part of the water with me." She rubs her hand against the sheet and takes a deep breath.
"You will be able to go to the beach again... I'm sure."
"..." Asuka stops rubbing the sheet, her eyes relax. "I'm going to die." She says bluntly.
"You don't know that-" You say in a sad tone. She slowly looks at you and smiles. Your eyes widen when you see the look on her face, then your eyes relax as you look down at your strawberry milk. She looks forward again.
"Do you think... that's why my sister stopped coming to see me?"
"Huh?" You look back at her.
"I feel like she stopped coming to see me because she doesn't want to see me die." She softly says. "When they told her my organs were dying... she had this sad look on her face. She never came back again."
"Do you have her number... maybe-"
"Would you want to watch someone die?" She asks in a stern tone, looking at you. You furrow your eyebrows. She smiles and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry- I'm just angry."
"Why're you angry?" You ask. Her eyes relax.
"After our parents passed away, I was afraid to be alone. She promised me that she would never leave me... but- she slowly stopped coming. I ended up being alone. The only people that come to see me are the different nurses and doctors." She frowns and grips at her sheet. "I don't want to die alone." Her lip quavers. You reach towards her, causing her to look at you.
"Here." You hand her the strawberry milk. Her eyes widen as she takes it. "I- I wonder if that's how my mother felt."
"Huh?" Asuka looks at you in confusion.
"My mother was alone a lot... when she was hurt- but it was because she didn't want others to see her hurting... I wonder if she felt so alone in her last minutes."
"You lost your mom too?" Asuka asks. You slowly nod. "I wish I can see my mommy one more time..." She shakily says. Her eyes full of tears. She holds up the strawberry milk and smiles. "She would always get the banana milk... and I would always get the strawberry milk."
You stare at the milk in her hand.
"I want to see her one more time." She softy says.
"... how will you do that?" You softly ask. She turns her head and smiles at you.
"I'm going to go to the beach."
Your eyes widen when she says that.
You stand outside of Emma's house. You stare down at the sticker in your hand that Asuka gave you.
'Thank you for the strawberry milk~' - Asuka
"Cute bear sticker." Emma softly says approaching you, a soft smile on her face. You look up at her and then slowly nod. "I'm surprised you asked to hang out so late."
"I guess I don't want to be alone." You softly say as you put the sticker back in your pocket. Emma's smile slowly disappears.
"Are you okay?" She asks. Your lip quivers and you bite down on your lip. Your eyes fill up with tears. Emma's eyes widen and she wraps her arms around you. You shove your face into her shoulder, softly sobbing.
You sit in Emma's bed as she folds and puts her clothes away. You stare down at the sticker.
"I can't believe my brother and Draken are graduating in a couple of weeks..." Emma sighs. You slowly look towards her. "It's scary to think... that I'm next."
"Huh?"
"We are graduating next year..." She pouts.
"Is that a bad thing?" You ask.
"No- well... I don't know... it sounds scary." She sighs.
"Mmm..."
"Now thinking about it- Yuki... you aren't in school..." She says looking up at you.
"I'm not."
"Are you ever going to go to school again?"
"Of course... well- I would hope." You softly say.
"OH! We should go to school together." She bubbles. "That way we can see each other everyday... and we can have lunch together!" She smiles at you. You slightly smile then frown a bit.
"That's if I stay in Tokyo."
"Huh? Wait- are you moving?" She asks. You shrug. "Why would you be moving?" You relax your eyes and take a deep breath.
After explaining it to her, she sits in silence.
"So... your grandmother wants to move back to the mountains..."
"Yeah..."
"Sounds very calming."
"Mhm."
"It would be selfish to say I really don't want you to go..." She says as she looks down at a shirt in her hand. "But if moving is what you want... then I support you." She smiles. "Either way- I can come and visit you!" She bubbles.
You smile and nod. She goes back to folding her clothes. Your smile disappears as you look towards the decoration in her room. Then your eyes stop at a fish in one of the paintings on her wall.
"Emma..." You softly say.
"Hm?"
"Do you know someone named Izana?" You ask, slowly looking at her. Her hand stops moving and she slowly looks at you.
"... where did you hear that name?" She asks, looking at you confused. You stare back at her.