𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑤𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑦 ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑤𝑠 | t. oikawa

chapter 6

I didn't see her for a week after we went out to Osaka. She's in my class so I don't understand why she doesn't come up to me. Maybe she's in the music room.

I knock on the door of the room, gathering any attention. Surprised, I see her behind a piano running her fingers through the keys. I clear my throat and she looks up from the instrument. "Tooru, hi!" I make my way beside her, dropping my bag beside the grand piano and sitting next to her on the piano bench. "I was just fiddling around with the keys. What brings you here?"

"You've been ignoring me which is unusual for you."

"You probably didn't want to be seen with me. But I'm glad we finally talked. Do you play Tooru?"

"I dabble a bit." I played the melody of Prayer X and she was amazed at my little skills.

"You've watched Banana Fish as well?" Her eyes were wide as she asked.

"Yea, this was the first song I learned on the piano. You want me to teach you?"

She eagerly nods and I start showing her the notes. "So place your fingers here so it's easier. Try it out" Her notes was still a little shaky but her progress has been good so far. She was able to pick up the notes as we went along, finally being able to learn the melody. "Great job, now we-" I was cut off by the warning bell, making her groan as I got up off the seat. "I promise I'll teach you the full song with the bass and melody. Let's go y/n?" I take her hand, walking to our classroom with our hands wrapped up with each other. She was feeling uncomfortable but I reassured her that it was alright. "Do you have an appointment today y/n?" Her eyes were dilated and her skin was turning pale. "y/n?" I stoop to her level, just before she could collapse on my shoulder. "Y/N!" She was unconscious in my arms as we dropped to the floor, trying to wake her up. People started to crowd around us as I made a large commotion. "Please wake up y/n."

Teachers started to rush between students who were frantically calling 119 or whispering amongst themselves. I felt the tears prick my fingers as I grasped onto her hand tight, slowly feeling her skin cool and the only warmth was from my hand. Tears were falling on her face as the teachers tried to take her away from me. "Tooru, come on, let her go. We'll take good care of her."

"No, no please don't take her away from me. I'll do anything just don't take her." I sobbed through the words feeling the tears pool in my eyes. "y/n please wake up, please you can't go yet." I whisper into her ear before hearing the sirens pull up at the front of the school. I carried her in my arms and took her inside the ambulance instead, Sensei trailing behind us and getting in on the other side of the vehicle. My hand never parted from her cold ones. She laid there as if she was lifeless but the beeping noises of the machine reassured me.

They ran her into the operating room, sensei trying to hold me back from barging in and holding her in my arms. I fell to the cold tiles, breaking down into tears as Sensei rubbed his hand on my back, attempting to calm me down. He brings me to my feet and sits me down on the steel waiting chair. He brought a solo cup full of water and told me to drink it. "She'll be fine." he kept telling me but I knew more that she wasn't going to be.

Hours passed and finally the doctor came to talk to us. Just in the nick of time, her parents run in, breathless and her mom had tears streaming down her face. Sensei left afterwards and told me that I was excused from school. "Are you here for Ms. l/n?" She points at the three of us, nodding profusely.

"She is in a stable state but her blood sugar is spiked way up. We can't say that her pancreas is better nor the cancer cells are slowly reducing. Matter of fact they are growing at a
rapid pace that it has now infected almost every part of her body. She has to be admitted into the hospital and we'll talk about her options. She is awake but she is very weak. Please come one at a time"

Her mom went in first, spending only a couple of minutes with her. She exits with a phone to her ear, informing her husband that they have to leave soon for a business emergency. Her dad nods and enters her ward. For the time he was absent, her mom sparked a conversation with me. "Are you y/n's boyfriend?" No but I wouldn't mind.

"No Mrs. l/n, I'm just a very close school friend who happened to know about her disease."

"Well, as you know, she is dying and I'm glad she has found someone that makes her feel like she isn't. I hear about you a lot so you must have had a large impact on her. But of course, you chose to dip your feet into her life and now you're in her whirlpool. It will be difficult not to be attached to her. She's a vibrant and beautiful as everyone has told me and they never forget a person like her. But son, she's almost gone. What will happen to you after she's gone? I'm not telling you to take yourself away from my daughter as you are the only one that makes her this happy but don't get attached. I don't want the person she cares the most to be unhappy. She keeps telling me that." She cares about me? I looked at her confused. "She didn't tell you? She's talked about you so many times and how much she wants to comfort you and make you open up to her because of how alive you make her feel. I must have thought-." Her husband walks through the doors and waits for her. "Well I must go Oikawa. Feel free to spend the night with her." I wave good bye as she turns the corner with her arm around her husband's.

I walk into her ward, seeing the weakened girl stare out to catch the last bit of the sunset. "Hi, stranger." I call to her as I shut her door. She turns and gives me a weak smile.

"Hey Tooru."