1 He died in front of her very own eyes.
A bouquet of freshly picked white roses fell from her arms, so as her tears. Her eyes witnessed how death can easily take a person's life away. She screamed his name but a hand stopped her from running to him. She kept on screaming until a few people took action, calling an ambulance to rush him to the hospital.
"Yuki!" She shoved the hand that stopped her from going to him and rushed to him, trying to keep him conscious. He is already bathing with his own blood. He reached for her cheek weakly while staring at her eyes which are supposed to be smiling and not crying.
"Never stop loving people when I'm already gone." He coughed more blood and more tears fell from her eyes. He never wanted to make her cry. He never wanted to see her cry.
"You'll stay with me, right? Yuki, stay for me. The ambulance will be here soon." She cried, taking her handkerchief from her pocket to wipe some blood off from his lips.
"I love you so much, Megumi. Thank you so much." Those were his last words before he can finally close his eyes and have his eternal rest.
"I love you more. Please stay with me. Stay with me! Yuki!" The ambulance finally came and the medics immediately got him on the stretcher and put him inside the ambulance. She went inside as well, already forgetting the bouquet of white roses that Yuki gave to her for their date.
-
"Megu-chan!" She turned her head when a voice called her from behind. She turned around and smiled at her friend who is also her bandmate.
She is wearing a blue hoodie, a black cap, an above-knee white skirt, a white knee high socks and a pair of rubber shoes. She has a choker around her neck with a little key as a pendant.
"There will be no practice today. You can go home early." She nodded her head and her smile got wider.
After that, she ran back to the classroom to get her bag and go somewhere. She noticed that one of her classmates is still there and seems to be sleeping while listening to music with the help of a music player and earphones.
She tiptoed and pulled one of the earphones from his ear and blew some air gently to it, chuckling softly at her own antics. Her classmate opened his eyes and glared at her. She just stuck her tongue out and grabbed her bag to leave already.
Sato Megumi is a first year high school student and the classmate she just teased is also her bandmate. His name is Hironaka Itsuki and he is in charge of the guitar. He doesn't speak much and most of the time, he is alone inside their classroom when they don't have band practice. She is in charge of the bass guitar and sometimes, she is practicing to play drums.
She looked at her watch and saw that it is almost four in the afternoon. She started to run out of the school premises, passing by the shoe locker area only because she never bothered to wear the indoor shoes. She is always wearing rubber shoes and the disciplinary teacher is calling her attention every school day because she barely wears the school uniform.
She stopped by a small flower shop and bought a bouquet of white roses. It is her favorite. She smiled at its mild scent and after paying, she went straight to the graveyard. Every Friday, she is buying white roses for Yuki. She placed it besides his gravestone. She removed the dried leaves that covered his name and she smiled faintly. It's been a year since he died from an accident.
He was dead on arrival at the hospital. He lost a lot of blood and that day was the last day she had a date with him. She never thought it would happen. She never thought that he would leave her that early. They used to plan their future together but now, all of those turned into dreams, dreams she will never be able to achieve anymore.
She has the habit of staying there for some hours when she has no band practice. After talking about her day, she will lie down besides his gravestone and will set an alarm to wake her up after a short nap. She is only doing that when the weather is good.
One time, one of the cleaners of the graveyard thought that something happened to her because she was having a nap but she explained it to the cleaner and received a nag from her. As a peace offering, she bought some food for her. It's been a year since she started doing that, so all of the cleaners know who she is already.
"I miss you so much already. I hope you miss me, too." She mumbled while gently caressing his gravestone. She is wearing the blue hoodie that she got from him and until now, she can't let it go even though her mother told her to do so.
She will never be able to let it go. It is the most important thing she got from him and she has no plans on throwing it away even if it is already old and faded.
-
Megumi met Yuki during her first year in middle school. Since it was her first year, she struggled from making friends. He was the first one to approach her. They became friends and with that, she got more friends with him. He was in the same section with her. He got interested in her when he saw her playing the bass guitar. He never thought that a girl could do that. He courted her for a few months and they got together officially after the winter break.
The whole class knows that they were a couple, so when he died in an accident last year, they got worried about Megumi and they felt relieved when they saw her feeling and getting better. Those who are closest to her are her bandmates and they know about her past. Though they are trying not to mention Yuki's name, they know that she always visits him at the graveyard. They were not that close with him but they know that he is a good person. They saw how he took care of Megumi, their youngest member.
"Icchan, do you want to go with me? I will visit the new pastry shop near the train station. They said that the macaroons there are good." Megumi asked while fixing her things inside her bag.
For her, it is another day to annoy Itsuki. She has the habit of annoying him and seeing how he glares at her. He shook his head and got up from his seat, carrying his bag on his shoulder. He will practice playing the guitar instead. It is much better for him than to be with this annoying girl.
"Icchan, go with me. Please?" She pouted while hugging his arm. He looked at her and heaved a sigh. He took the cap she is wearing and wore it instead.
"Let's go." She smiled widely when he finally agreed. She grabbed her bag and started walking out of the classroom with him.
Somehow, she is feeling sad because whenever she is asking Yoshiyuki before to go somewhere else with her, he will say no first to see her pouting with puppy eyes. And when he finally saw it, he would already go with her. She missed those moments when she would hold hands with him while walking and sometimes, she would just hug his arm while resting her head on his shoulder. Yuki never protested about it. He was even leaving kisses on top of her head while holding her hand tight.
All of those are memories now. She will never have those moments again since he is already gone. She doesn't want to act clingy with Itsuki because she knows that he has lots of fangirls at school. Who would not fall in love with him, anyways? Even though some girls are calling him Ice Prince for rejecting those who confessed to him, he is still gaining more fangirls.
To her, Itsuki is only a bandmate and a classmate. Also a friend. She doesn't really see him as a man since Yuki got her heart to his grave. He did tell her to never stop loving people but she just can't do that, especially when the person you love the most left you and will never come back to you anymore.
"I want to try all of these. Yuki—" She suddenly stopped from talking when she realized that the person she is with now is not him but Itsuki.
Itsuki heard this but he preferred not to say anything. She immediately got her wallet from her bag and asked the staff to give her a box of macaroons with all flavors served inside the glass counters. When she received the box, she gave the payment but Itsuki stopped her and paid for it instead. He took the box from her and slid his fingers through hers to hold it tight before getting out of the shop.
"Icchan.." She mumbled while following him. She doesn't know where they will go, so she just followed him until he stopped from walking.
"Here. You don't need to pay for these." He gave the box of macaroons to her and let her hand go. He took the cap off from his head and wore it on her.
"Thank you." She whispered while staring at the box on her hand. Itsuki didn't bother to say goodbye to her and just left her alone there on the sidewalk. He knows where she will go after buying those and he doesn't want to accompany her.
Who would want to see the girl he loves crying because of another man? He doesn't want to disrespect the dead but he wants to tell her to move on already and love him instead. He doesn't need to torture himself just because she is not yet done loving a dead person.
It was the first day of school when he met her. Students are supposed to be at the school gymnasium to welcome the freshmen but he saw her outside and waited for the program to end.
He asked her why is staying there but she ignored him instead. He saw her staring at a necklace with a little padlock as a pendant. When she looked at him, he saw her crying. It seemed she didn't notice him there, so when she saw him, she immediately wiped her tears. After that, he learned from some students that her boyfriend died in an accident.
"Itsuki!" Megumi ran after him and grabbed his hand to stop him from walking away. She missed it. She missed on how someone can hold her hand like that.
"Let's eat these together." She said but when he looked at her, she was already about to cry. He wants to wipe those tears for her but he doesn't have the rights to do so.
Isn't that a form of torture already? That he will be a replacement to her lost love. He doesn't know when he started to love her. He just realized that he is already in love with her and he doesn't even have any reason for it because for him, she is perfect. Maybe, he is a masochist. He may accept her love, if there will be a chance that it will happen, even if it hurts him. He is already tired seeing her crying and being sad. Why can't she see him? He is just there, waiting for her to look at him.
