終点 ( shuten )
— red mark, ending point

— ○ —

09 | e n d i n g  p o i n t

It was so empty without Akira. Akane was always a silent one, but now she almost didn't talk at all. Sometimes she would tell her mother about some things she needed, but other than that, she was silent like a dead person.

Haruka knew that it would be happening soon.

Excited? Haruka couldn't tell if he was, but he noticed that the fact that he would be talking to the girl soon made him feel better. He wasn't doing very good physically, since he would die soon. But it didn't matter to him.

Only humans are naive enough to fear death.

It was ironic, wasn't it? The beings that had another chance, had another life on the other side feared death. And the beings that would be turned to ashes, completely deleted from the world after death, weren't scared at all. Haruka was about to delve further into these thoughts, but seeing Akane stand up from her bed, he was distracted.

Akane decided to take a walk the first time in the week. She did roam around her room every now and then, but her mother didn't let her move from the bed much. She wanted to make sure she did everything to keep her frail child healthy.

Akane's legs felt like jelly when she was walking. It's like she had no strength left in her body. She slowly stepped out of the room and walked through the corridor, heading towards the balcony. There was a huge balcony on this side of the hospital and patients always went there to spend some alone time.

Akane stepped into the large space to see that a little boy was standing there, alone. She wasn't very social, but she still went up to him and said, "Hello."

The boy seemed to be in deep thought, and Akane's voice snapped him out of it. He flinched a little, but the next moment he flashed a sweet smile and said, "Hello! How are you?"

"He has better manners than Akira."  Haruka thought.

Akane was a bit surprised. She thought that her appearance told everyone that she would be gone soon. But this boy didn't understand, rather asked if she was doing good or not.

Or was he just faking it?

It didn't seem like that, though. His eyes sparkled when he talked and his smile was very sweet. It all seemed genuine.

Akane pushed all of her thoughts away. She told herself that she was over thinking.

"I'm doing.. so so. Thank you for asking." She smiled as well. "What about you?"

"Not so good, I heard the doctor say that I won't be here for much longer." He scratched the back of his neck. "But don't tell mom if you see her, she'll be very upset if she hears that I know about this."

"A fellow sufferer, huh..."  Haruka thought.

Akane's eyes widened. The last few months, she was feeling very upset about her health. She wanted to live, she wanted to be here with everyone else. But she couldn't, and that made her feel very low about herself.

She cried alone at night when no one watched. She wrote all the hateful things she could think of about herself in her diary. But nothing helped. The pain inside her heart didn't go away.

But this little boy, he didn't show weakness at all. He was rather smiling when he talked about his own death, acting as if it was completely normal.

Akane felt a sting of jealousy. She wished she could be strong like the boy.

But it was only for a moment, because she felt warm adoration take over her heart for the boy. She smiled wider and said, "I see. I'm going away soon, too."

"Oh!" The boy nodded. "You look really tired though, sis. Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I guess." Akane shrugged. "But it's boring to lay down all day." She pouted her lips, resting her cheeks on her hands with her elbows on the railing.

The boy giggled. "That's true." He then looked at the wrist watch he wore. It seemed to remind him of something, because Haruka noticed that he had jumped a little. "Oh, it's so late!"

"Huh?" Akane didn't know what time it was, so she just waited for the boy to explain.

"I have to go back now, sis, my mom's waiting for me." He said.

"Oh, alright. See you around." Akane said with a smile as she nodded.

"See you!" The boy chirped and went away. Just when he was gone, Akane realized that she forgot to ask his name.

After enjoying the view for a few minutes, the red haired girl sat down on one of the benches the hospital provided in the balcony. Haruka sat beside her, staring at her to see what she would do next.

Akane took out her phone. Other times she would check if she had any notifications from Kuro, but the last day she had said her goodbye to him. They both were sobbing, but Akane still put up a smile when she hugged him.

She told him not to contact her anymore.

Sighing to herself, Akane went to the diary app she used. She went through all her previous entries. There weren't many entries towards the start of the year, but after Haruka died, she started writing long entries.

She opened a new page and started writing.

"Looking back on my life right now. It's been too short, in my opinion. Everything happened so fast. I grew up and went to school, and there I met two angels, Haruka and Akira. Akira left us soon and Haruka left just a while ago. Who knew all the three of us had such little time? But in all honesty, I'm grateful. I'm grateful that I got to live. I got to know people, to know their love. What pains me the most isn't the fear of death, but that I'll have to leave everyone here. My mother, my friends, my love, everyone.

Well, at least I'm coming to see dad, Haruka and Akira again. That makes me a little happy.

I haven't loved people enough. I haven't told my mum I love her enough times. I haven't hugged Haruka or Akira tight enough. I haven't said a proper goodbye to Kuro. Thinking this way, my life seems pretty meaningless.

But it has meaning. People have loved me, I have meant a lot to them. They were kind enough to give me a special place in their lives."

At this point, Akane's head started spinning. Haruka was feeling light too. He didn't quite acknowledge anything that was happening. His brain couldn't focus and he felt like he was being carried away by the wind. He felt that Akane was uncomfortable too, so he spread his wings and covered both Akane and himself with them.

Akane put her phone down and placed her forehead on her palms, her elbows on her legs. After a minute or two, she again took the phone and started typing.

"And I'm grateful for that. For everything everyone has ever done for me, I'm so grateful. Thank you for making my life beautiful.

I love everyone I know. If I had a bit more time, I would live with all my might."

Satisfied with what she wrote, the red haired girl stood up. Haruka stood up too, following Akane as she headed to her cabin. At this point he was like a robot. He never had emotions to begin with, and now even his consciousness wasn't fully active. He just mindlessly did whatever Akane did.

Akane's entire body felt unusual. Her head felt like it was in the clouds, literally. Her muscles were a bit numb, but there was a little ache to them. But she ignored it. She always ignored physical pain. The way she walked was odd as well. She couldn't place her steps straight. She was tumbling but she didn't fall. Her vision was blurry too.

"Ring! " A familiar voice called. Haruka and Akane both turned to see that it was Akane's mother. "Where were you?" She didn't look angry. Rather she seemed worried and a little surprised.

"Oh," Akane smiled. "I went to the balcony to get some fresh air. I met a cute little boy."

"Ah, that's good." The worry seemed to fade from her features. "I'm glad you're happy."

"Yeah." Akane nodded and walked with her mother back to her cabin.

At least she thought so.

Haruka suddenly had it all go black. His five senses along with his consciousness became inactive. He fell into what it seemed like the void, falling forever and ever.

Akane passed out. The last thing she heard was her mother's voice, calling out her name.

She was in the same state as Haruka, a mere existence at that point.