K A R M A A K A B A N E
赤羽 業
student no. 1
I'm sorry for the news.
I never thought I'd hate the phrase so much until I heard about the situation we'd be going through.
Just a few days after Christmas, a couple of days after promising to stay in contact, I witnessed a number of unanswered calls and delivered-zoned texts.
Right then, I knew that something was up, but, as much as I didn't want to admit it, it actually broke me when I heard her guardian pick up one of my calls to tell me the news.
Iroha was confined in the hospital, was rushed to the emergency room and was declared in a critical state. Her disease was about to reemerge and was ready to spread through out her body — that was what the doctors said.
It just proved that misfortune truly did hit during the least expected moments.
Today was January 6th, and it also just happened to be the day Nagisa and the others planned to visit Kayano who was still in confinement.
"Why the sudden change of heart, though, Karma-kun?" the blue-haired male turned to me. "I thought you were pretty busy".
"I have something going on" I told him rather limitedly, knowing that the boy and the rest of the gang was oblivious to Iroha's state.
"Ah, I see" Nagisa smiled.
"Anyways, send my regards to Kayano-chan. You guys can go home without me" I turned to Nagisa, making sure I seemed normal like usual. "This time, when you see her, make sure you get a room when you do that ey?~".
"Karma-kun! That was the only thing I can come up with in the heat of the moment" he defended.
"Riiight~".
I laughed him off, walking away right when we arrived, before walking down the hall in search for Iroha's room number.
✖︎︎●✖︎
The sound of their voices were audible enough through that small crack of that door.
I could clearly make out what they were saying.
"I know, Hiyori-nee".
"You better take care of yourself more, you know how sensitive and fragile you'd be especially that---"
"That those things implanted into my body are starting to die down?".
"Iroha, we're trying to reverse the cycle for a reason".
"But can you? As far as I know, I only have 3 months left, and I want to at least make the most out of it".
"We're making sure that we won't let you die. At least fight it. You always give up the fight when you know it's this bad" her guardian told her, before walking up to the door to leave the room and catching sight of me.
"Ah..." I was about to greet her when she beat me to it.
"Akabane-kun, right?" she smiled anxiously, "Iroha's just inside, I hope you didn't hear any of that---".
"It's fine" I replied rather politely. "I'd just like to talk to her in private, if I may?".
"Of course" she allowed me to enter, before giving a short goodbye. "I'll be on my way for now. Please take care of her".
I returned a curt nod before entering the room to be greeted by that sickeningly bright smile Iroha would put on when she's trying hard to hide something from me.
Stop acting strong, damn it, I wanted to say, and yet I ate my words seeing just how well the girl faked her smile.
How have I not noticed?
It was a habit of hers, to always put on a tough attitude because she was too stubborn to admit her own defeat; too stubborn to admit her weaknesses.
I just wished I knew how bad her secret was when I started suspecting that attitude.
"Hey there!" She grinned goofily as I sat on the side of her bed.
I flicked her forehead, earning that typical hiss from the girl.
"What the hell was that for?!".
"For everything" I countered. "Don't you 'hey there' me".
"Ehh. You can't be mad because I couldn't answer your calls---".
"That has nothing to do with it" I cut her off. "I overheard everything you two were talking about".
"Ah..." with the sudden drop of the mood, the girl still attempted to ward me off with her smile.
"I didn't want you to find out" she mumbled.
"Who else knew about it?" I asked her, knowing that if she said that, someone must've found out before I did.
"Uh... Itona, Hotaru and Ishikawa were here awhile ago" she explained. "The twins thought it was just anemia or something. Itona knew everything beforehand".
"And?" I waited for her to tell me the rest as my hand went through my crimson hair, tousling it messily. "What else am I missing?".
"There's a way to cure me... but... there's only a small chance of success and it'll take a couple of years in rehabilitation, plus it's all the way in America" she said. "I declined of course---".
I hit her hard enough, hoping it's bring some sense into her.
"What was that for?!" She covered her head defensively.
"You should've accepted it, dumbass!" I shot at her, scaring the girl with the sudden raise of my voice.
"It doesn't matter if it's all the way back in America, or even if it only has a 5% of success. What fucking matters is the chance that you can fucking survive".
At that moment, she exposed herself to her vulnerability, allowing the tears she'd hold back for so long to finally fall down her face.
She was scared and the most I could do was wipe away her tears as she cried. So, when they started to fall and she did her best to hold them back and wipe them away, I took a hold of her wrists to pull them away before I placed my lips on hers.
Once we pulled away, I looked her in the eye and smirked, "You wouldn't want another video of you crying, would you?~".
She stopped crying, only to hit me back playfully, "Way to ruin the mood Karma".
"Well, as long as you're lively enough to hit back, I'd say you're still healthy".
"I'd be released before the new term starts anyways" she waved me off. "Just don't let anyone else know, okay?".