The Beginning of the End
Now, speaking of Mafuyu… after a few minutes of Kanade sitting there and sulking about her pitiful life and how it was going to even more pitifully end, she got a text from her.
“I’m coming over, whether you like it or not.”
That almost terrified Kanade, making her freak out already more than she was. So, the next best thing Kanade decided to do was clean up. As there were blood and flowers basically everywhere it’d be hard, but she was sure she’d manage. Thankfully, Mafuyu didn’t think of coming till later in the day, probably courtesy of school or some other commitment. So thankfully that left Kanade the whole day, with her somehow managing to clean it all up without her falling over on the spot, hearing a knock on the door a little after five in the evening, with Kanade’s brain going into haywire overdrive but reassuring herself she’d be fine, going and opening the door, seeing Mafuyu. She wanted to hug her so badly but she resisted, not wanting Mafuyu to feel her laboured breathing. Kanade then invited her inside, taking the pair of them to her room, where Kanade kept on composing while Mafuyu sat on Kanade’s bed.
After a little while, tears began to snake out of Kanade’s eyes, roll down and fall off her cheeks. She didn’t want to die, to leave all of this and especially Mafuyu alone and behind, the thought of it almost enough to send Kanade bawling. Though she only let quiet tears spill out of her eyes as she continued making Mafuyu’s song, though unfortunately the other presence in the room noticed, asking her a question.
“Why’re you crying, Kanade?” Mafuyu asked, her voice as caring and emotive as it got, which was still quite rare.
“O-oh, Mafuyu.. It’s nothing to worry about, okay?? Just a little more emotive than usual..” Kanade replied as Mafuyu turned Kanade’s office chair around to face her, with Kanade midway through wiping her eyes, though after a few wipes she noticed.. Blood. No, no. Those were just tears, Kanade was being silly. What kind of person cried blood? Even though they seemed like they had more viscosity and were more opaque, Kanade pushed those thoughts out of her head, continuing on either way, Kanade quickly turned her chair back around so that Mafuyu wouldn’t see the tears, whatever they were, grabbing some tissues and wiping her eyes, hiding it from said girl very well, who was already sitting back down on Kanade’s bed, not wanting to pry, and she didn’t suspect anything else either after Kanade’s brief tears had been cleared up. And as Kanade threw the tissue she used to wipe her eyes away, her worst fears were realised. She had cried blood. Though Kanade didn’t want to admit it, deciding to just move on and continue what she was doing before. But now, Kanade was so close, she was just about done with her last song for Mafuyu. she was sure was going to save her with this song, she was so so sure. Though as she was working, her eyes started stinging, in her tear ducts. Weird, but she ignored it and pushed on. Though as she worked, the stinging only grew and grew across her eyes, turning into an ache all over both her eyeballs, and got more painful and horrible to bear, and adding to that, her vision was starting to go too, from whatever pain that there must be. And in a few more seconds, a purple petal, with just barely visible streaks of white in it entered what was left of Kanade’s vision, making her now completely aware of the cause, the flowers that were currently rapidly trying to break out of Kanade's chest. and Kanade hated that fact, she hated it with every fibre of her being she had left. She didn't want to be leaving Mafuyu behind, but it seems like she'd almost have to. Though after a few more minutes, and Kanade basically going blind at this point, the stinging pain searing now, Kanade just started coughing. And coughing, and coughing, and coughing. And in no way was it going to stop, Kanade could tell. Even so, she still tried to work through all of that and stop it, only just managing to place the last note in the song with a final click of her bloodied mouse as she fell off her chair, falling to the ground, with Mafuyu clamouring and crying over her body, immediately racing over to the frail girl. From what she could hear, Kanade felt so, so bad. She didn’t want to have this happen, she didn’t want to see Mafuyu like this. She never wanted to worry her, to concern her, to make her think about her negatively, or cause concern. The only thing Kanade ever wanted was to save her, make her happy, make her life more enjoyable, and be there for her. nothing more, nothing less. And as the minutes grew on, blood started pooling under the both of them, with Mafuyu having picked Kanade up and holding her close as the flowers just ever-rapidly grew and grew, beautiful bouquets full of flowers and blood all over, with Kanade even feeling as the plant ripped pathways up to grow through her body and wrestled her lungs, vividly feeling the roots grip and rip and tear through her, her breathing just as laboured as ever now with the holes all in her lungs and the flowers already blocking her airways. Though thankfully, Kanade could still feel Mafuyu’s hold on her and her presence, which helped calm her a bit, admittedly. Kanade wasn’t even sure how, but it happened, and she was glad for it. She couldn’t be any more grateful. And after a few more minutes when Kanade could calm down her breathing and coughing enough, Kanade gently shushed Mafuyu’s cries, not wanting her to feel that way at all. After Kanade had gotten Mafuyu to stop crying, Kanade just held her as close as she could, not wanting to meet the end yet. And whenever she did, she still wanted to meet it with Mafuyu there, the only thing that made Kanade’s life worth living. Mafuyu still was crying silent tears, yes, of course she’d be. Wait no, that’s not right. Mafuyu never showed emotion, it wasn’t possible. But somehow it now was, with Kanade not knowing how but grateful she’d managed to help, in whatever way that was, Kanade of course didn’t know. From her time at medical school, Mafuyu knew how to stop bleeding. It’d be the most gruesome way, but she had to do it, if she wanted Kanade to live. So, Mafuyu gently took off Kanade’s jacket that she always wore then laid said girl gently down into the ground, compressing it over the slowly growing wound in Kanade’s chest. But soon it got too big for the impromptu jacket compress, falling right through to Kanade’s ribcage and lungs, with Mafuyu quickly taking the jumper off of the cavity, then looking down to her lungs which had punctures all over from what she could see through Kanade’s tiny ribcage, but they were still pumping. How the hell they were, Mafuyu would never ever have a single fucking clue. The sight of it immediately made Mafuyu throw up over the other side of where they were sitting and lying, though that didn’t deter her, with her ever so gently taking Kanade’s flowering body in her arms, holding her close despite the sickening bloodied flowers growing in her chest. Kanade then reached up her arms towards Mafuyu’s face and gently cupped it, looking up into her eyes. The look screamed for her to not be left alone like this, for Mafuyu to stay. For her to stay forever. Begging. And Mafuyu looked back, silently responding to that look. Her own told kanade that she wouldn't leave, she'd be with her till the end, whenever that came, even though she never ever wanted it to. She always thought it’d be her. And after a little while of mustering up the strength, kanade sat up in Mafuyu's lap a little more, still looking right at her, speaking her last words.
“M-Mafu-Mafuyu. I just wan-wanted to- to thank y-you. For e-everything. i-i-I’m so s-sorry i h-h-haven’t said a-anything. B-but i-i.. I c-can’t even b-begin to t-tell you how s-sorry i-i am. But.. now’s n-not the time f-for ap-apologies. I n-need to te-tell you h-how i tr-truly f-feel..”
“K-kanade..” was the only word Mafuyu could muster before Kanade herself once again shut Mafuyu down, speaking again.
“Ma-Mafu-Mafuyu.. I-.. I love you..” Kanade finally said, her final last words. She’d finally said them. Though after she did, just as her lips, her lungs had stopped moving too, signalling her end.
And even though Mafuyu had just about a million things she wanted to say, she just responded to Kanade.
“Kanade… I love you too..”
even though she knew it was pointless, she still said it.
Even though Kanade would never hear her, she still said it.
Even though she’d run out of time, she still said it.
Even if kanade was dead now, she’d still said it. She’d still said it back.
The worst part was, Mafuyu didn’t even know whether Kanade was still somehow alive, or she’d been killed by Mafuyu’s own ignorance, stupidity, and insolence. In fact, Mafuyu didn’t even know why she never bothered to notice. She’d known something was wrong the whole entire time, but she just didn’t pry, out of kindness and privacy, and not wanting to get into other’s unwanted business. Well, turns out that was the wrong move, and it’d most likely resulted in a checkmate. Endgame. The final endroll.
Kanade’s end credits would roll soon, and it would all be Mafuyu’s fault. Every. Single. Thing.