"You've got less than a month to live, at most."
I stood in front of the doctor, the ambience of the environment slowly fading away—The world fell silent. It was as if birds stopped singing, cars stopped honking, and butterflies started to fall to the ground one by one. The flower inside my heart had already wilted, but now, it crumbled to pieces that could never be reattached.
I nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, doctor," I said as I bowed.
He looked at me with pity in his eyes. He probably felt sorry that a teenage boy who hadn't lived his life to the full was now set to die in less than a month. Honestly, I wasn't even mad. It was reassuring. I picked up my bag from the desk between us, bowing again before I left.
A hospital is a place of many emotions. Some grieve for what has been lost. Some cry tears of joy for what stayed. Doctors are crushed by guilt when they can't save a patient. We all share a feeling at the end of the day: we are all just trying our best.
A man's choked sob echoed from a nearby seat; the doctor had just told him his daughter didn't make it.
Across the hall, a woman cried, a smile breaking through her tears as she heard the news she had prayed for.
Some bottle up their feelings until they break out eventually.
All humans are the same. We have hearts that beat according to what we feel. But as the doctor had told me, this heart in my ribcage would stop beating in less than a month.
I was always weak and fragile. I couldn't run fast, I couldn't eat the average amount—I would throw up, I couldn't do what your average Joe did. But I didn't blame anyone—not my parents, not the Gods, not even my own glass-fragile body. It wasn't anyone's fault.
The sound of small, light footsteps approached, and a kid brushed past me, sprinting towards the doctor who had been treating him.
I've never had the thoughts of living like average people. It was impossible for me to feel what they felt. I have not a single regret. I accepted it long ago that this was my destiny. Yet, my heart is burdened.
—Plunge
The wind carried a scent I couldn't define. I stood on the sand as waves washed over my feet. Slowly, I bent down and stabbed an unlit firework into the ground. I'd never lit one before; I never had the chance. I'd already considered myself dropped out of school as soon as I heard the doctor's news. I took out my lighter, clicked it to life, and brought the flame closer to the firework's blue tip.
"—Didn't you see the sign?" a voice interrupted. "The one that says you can't do that?"
As footsteps drew closer, I turned to find a young woman in a white dress.
"It said disruptive things aren't allowed," I replied, holding her gaze. "How would a peaceful, pretty firework disrupt you in any way?"
—Pfft.
She chuckled. "I was messing with you." I turned back to the firework planted in the sand, then glanced at her again. This time, I waved the second stick in her direction. She hesitated before taking it.
Her hand was soft and warm. It felt like I was touching the petals of a delicate flower. She smiled as if she didn't have a single worry in the world. How could someone be so captivating? So... unburdened?
I clicked my lighter again and touched the flame to the tip.
—Sizzle.
"What's your name?" I asked.
She thought for a moment. "Call me Kiro."
"I'm Kie," I said, my voice barely a whisper over the gentle crash of the waves.
...
A shadow fell over us.
—KRKRKK
A dark figure emerged behind me. Before my frail body could even process a flinch, Kiro was already in action. The handle of a hammer appeared at her palms—something I had only seen in fiction—before she swung at the creature's head. The sound was wet. The figure crumpled, its head now a bloody mess.
She stood there, calm, as if she'd just swatted a fly.
I fell on my back, processing what I had just witnessed. It was a sudden, brutal act that I could never have expected.
"I overheard your conversation with that doctor," she said, her voice sounding as if nothing had happened. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
A strange warmth bloomed in my chest, a feeling I hadn't known I could still feel.
Ah… What is this… warmth? I thought as I stared at a goddess-like figure in front of me, the corners of her lips curved into a smile that just barely reached her eyes. Her jade-colored eyes held a light that seemed to melt away the burden that resided in my heart.
Before I had even processed a thought, I nodded.
"Good." She pulled me by my wrists as she ran across the shore, "Someone finally accepted my offer," she said with a light laughter.
Seeing her smiling, laughing, having fun, made my heart feel lighter.
We came to a halt at a stall with a sign that spelled 'Gyoza'.
"It'll be my treat!"
How could someone be this… warm? I swallowed the negative questions, deciding to enjoy what's left of my lifespan with her.
"Two bowls of gyoza, extra starch please!" She said to the stall owner.
"Alright!" The old man inside the kitchen yelled back.
The aroma of freshly fried sheets of dough filled my nose.
"Say 'Ahh' " said Kiro as she held a gyoza at my lips with her chopsticks.
"A-Ahh…" I separated my upper and bottom lips, allowing her to push the food in.
She pushed the gyoza in before pulling back the chopsticks.
She smiled as she watched me chew, "Good, right? I come here often!" She said with a huff, placing her palms at her hips.
"Ish good" I grabbed a piece of gyoza with my chopsticks, positioning it at her lips, "Say 'Ahh'." I said, before pushing it in as she moved her lips.
It was strange, when her lips couldn't curve into a smile, her eyes would form a smile.