"Rin???!" Hikaru said as he held tight onto her hand. He was pained to see her in this state. She was sweating heavily and he just kept on holding her hand even though the nurses kept on telling him to go away because they were about to enter a restricted area.

 

 "Sir, you are not allowed in this room. I'm sorry." a male nurse blocked his way, causing his hand to slip from the now unconscious Rin's hand. The male nurse then bowed his head and quickly helped on pushing Rin's hospital bed further inside the room.

 

 The doors closed on Hikaru and all he could do was peek on the small glass window on the door while Rin lied inside the hospital room, surrounded by an herd of nurses.

 

"Just hang on, okay?" was all that Hikaru could say as he was now seeing that the nurses were already crowding around the girl.

 

    >>FLASHBACK<<

 

 

*Kitagawa Rin's P.O.V.*

 

His hair is back to brown today. In the last two months, his hair has been blonde. I don't really mind if he switch hairstyles. Everything he tries suits him well.

 

Well, it's not like I'm at the proper place to say whether or not a style suits him. I can't tell him my opinions right away. That would be too weird. i'm just a classmate anyway.

 

I stared at him look outside the classroom window overlooking the basketball quadrangle. That peaceful look on his face is what always made my heart skip a beat. It's as if he was free...like he was just a carefree child,, like he didn't have any problems at all. Somehow, by just staring at him like this, it kind of gives me a warm feeling and it just makes me feel light and lifted up.

 

~.~.~

 

"The prom night will push through three months from now." Kitahara-sensei announced to our class before he left the room. He said it with a plain tone like that night wouldn't be a very much anticipated one from people.

 

Ten seconds later, hordes of girls already started to surround him and his desk. 

 

"Ne, Hikaru-kun...will you please be my date on the prom night?" one of the girls asked.

 

 "I was just about to ask him that!" another yelled.

 

 Each and every girl in the class except me and another girl named Kim went to HIkaru-kun and asked him to be their date on the prom night. This is kind of strange, since the prom night is still months away from this day. Honestly, I myself would like to ask him but NO, I do not have that kind of courage.

 

 I can't blame the girls here to have a crush on Hikaru-kun though. He was smart and talented and friendly and helpful and doesn't try hard to fit in...He just has his own way of befriending everyone. And that's what makes him cool. Well, set aside the fact that he is a member of the school's band.

 

 

The girls kept on bugging Hikaru-kun and finally, he stood up from his seat and smiled at them. "Anou, gomen ne.. I was actually thinking of asking somebody out on the prom night already." After that, he bowed his head and excused himself to get out of the classroom, probably to eat lunch with his friends.

 

Not long after he exited the room, three boys from our class also stood up from their seats and followed Hikaru-kun. They were Yabu-kun, Inoo-kun, and Takaki-kun...all of them are members in our school band together with some underclass men. It was a big band if you would compare it with other bands. It is composed of twelve people...and the band is still open for auditions. They are cool and amazing in that way...being open to people, that is.

 

About two seconds later, Inoo-kun, one of the guys, went back to the classroom and approached the only girl who didn't ask Hikaru on the prom.

 

"Aren't you coming with us?" Inoo asked Kim, who was still sitting on her chair,

 

"Well...I think it would be uncomfortable for me to eat lunch with a bunch of guys..." Kim reasoned out.

 

 "You do know that there are two girls in our band, right? No need for you to feel uncomfortable." he smiled. And from Kim's point of view, I think that it's kind of blinding. "And besides, we're going out already~"

 

 With that, Kim stood up and covered the taller boy's mouth. "Ssh!"

 

 "Eehh~ MY Kim-chan is embarassed ne?" Kei grinned.

 

"Urusai." Kim's cheeks were flustered red at the moment. "Um..and besides... I have someone to eat lunch with already."

 

And then she looked at me.

 

"Right...Rin-chan?" she continued, staring at me, boring her eyes into my soul to pass on a message that I got almost immediately.

 

"H-hai..." I nodded unsurely.

 

~.~.~

 

Kim-chan and I...ended up eating with the band.

 

She sat beside Kei... while I....unintentionally sat down beside Hikaru-kun.

 

My heart was beating rapidly whenever our arms touch the other's while we were eating. He would occasionally look at me and give me a warm smile which made my hurt beat even faster. Even though I knew that he was always giving smiles at everyone, it still made my heart flutter when he did so to me.

 

"Ne, Rin-neechan.." a girl named Hanna called out to me across the table. "Would you mind eating lunch with us everyday from now on? And Kim-neechan too.."

 

 "Ah yes.. it's quite awkward if it's only me and Hanna-chan...we're the only girls here.." another girl said. She was Fai, a freshman like Hanna.

 

I tilted my head unsurely. "Well I guess I can..."

 

~.~.~

 

I flopped on my bed as soon as I got home from school. 

 

I don't have my umbrella with me and it rained heavily as I was on my way home so I guess you can now picture me with my hair and clothes drenched wet with rainwater.

 

Minutes later...I just drifted off to sleep.

 

~.~.~

 

*COUGH*

 

I woke up with the sun rays shining directly onto my face.

 

*COUGH* *COUGH*

 

 I went out of my room ignoring the coughing sounds I make, thinking that it was just normal since I let myself get soaked yesterday.

 

"Rin-chan, you didn't eat dinner last night..." my mom told me as I was descending our staircase.

 

"Gomen..I fell aslee--*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*" My sentence was cut off when several more coughs found their way out of my mouth. I put my right hand to my chest and then to my throat, hoping that it would help to cease the pain I was feeling in my neck area.

 

"Daijobu??" my mom looked worriedly at me and I managed to smile at her even though I was still coughing.

 

"Dai-*COUGH* -jou-*COUGH* -bu *COUGH* desu.." I said, still holding on my throat.

 

 "You are obviously not okay..." mom told me. "We need to go to the doctor.."

 

 "I said I'm okay, mom." I said, not coughing anymore. I smiled at her, but the truth was I was just holding my cough inside me and I was having a hard time already even only five seconds have passed.

 

 Mom squinted her eyes at me, and she finally spoke.. "Better get prepared. Your class is in ten minutes."

 

 And that pretty much just gave jolt to my blood and I ran back upstairs to my room to get prepared.

 

 ~.~.~

 

 *two weeks later*

 

 *COUGH COUGH COUGH* 

 

 I coughed more and Kim-chan kept on patting my back.

 

 "You really need to go to the hospital, you know?" she told me worriedly. "It's been two weeks already.."

 

 "I'm fine, believe me.." I reassured her. I then looked at her boyfriend, Kei. "Tell her I'm fine."

 

 "No you're not." Kei replied to me.

 

 "See??" Kim said. "At dismissal, we'll accompany you to the doctor." she volunteered. "Right, Kei?"

 

 "Eh?!" Kei's mood suddenly changed as soon as Kim said those words. " But what about our date??"

 

Kim glared at him.

 

"Mouuu~~" Kei pouted.

 

~.~.~

 

 Kim, Kei, and I walked home together after we went out of the hospital.

 

 The nurses examined me, took some blood, and that was it. It was just like a normal blood typing test. The results will be released next week and I chose not to tell my mom until the results are already in my hands.

 

 *Coughs*

 

 "Are you taking medicine?" Kei asked.

 

 "No." I replied.

 

 "No wonder you do not recover." Kim said.

 

 "Maybe I SHOULD not recover at all..."

 

 Before I knew it, my thoughts already slipped out from my mouth.

 

 "What??" Kim and Kei both stopped on their tracks. And I guess I should just tell them my thoughts already. From what I have learned by befriending them, you can't really get away with these two when they really want to hear something from you.

 

 I sighed.

 

 "You like Hikaru, don't you?" Kei suddenly asked out of the blue. This wasn't exactly like dropping the subject of me 'not wanting to recover' because I think if I shared my thoughts to these two, I will still end up confessing to them that I do like Hikaru-kun.

 

 "Ha?? M-me?" I blinked.

 

 "It's obvious." Kim supported Kei's statement.

 

 "IS IT TOO OBVIOUS?!" I asked. "Like, EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT??"

 

 And then they laughed.

 

 "So you DO like him." Kei chuckled.

 

 "But I..." I lowered my head.

 

 "We'll help you get him. I promise." Kim smiled at me. At first I thought that she was joking, but it eventually came to me that they were actually serious.

 

 "A-arigatou..." was the only word that I can say.

 

~.~.~

 

 A week has already passed and no 'help' from Kei and Kim was noticed by me. 

 

 Actually...it was as if they had completely forgotten about the promise they told me. But they were still treating me as their friend...Maybe they just gave up the idea of helping me since I'm hopeless.

 

 Later in the afternoon, I went alone in the same hospital where I had my check-up last week. I waited patiently in the doctor's office and there he personally gave me my test results.

 

 "Kitagawa-san..." he started saying... "I am very sorry to say this but..you only have three months to live."

 

   

 

                                                  

>>CHAPTER END<<

 

 

a/n: so much words for a boring chapter! TAT

   But I do hope that I could make the next chapters more interesting. :D