"Haah... Haaah..." I panted as my legs felt like they were soon about to give out from how long I had been sprinting without a moment to rest.It was as if they would soon be broken off like twigs yet, I couldn't stop to do anything about it either. There was no time to rest, not when there was so much at stake right now.I passed the stores of the streets and disregarded those passing by the area and before long, I bolted past the familiar gates of the school compounds and reached the front, there I found the many pitched-up banners and flower stands to commemorate the students of their graduation.It looked to be still in session and though there were many out in the front of the school taking pictures and chatting away at final conversations with classmates and teachers, I didn't hesitate to run through the school grounds to get to my destination.Eyes quickly shot towards me and though they found it odd that I was running, none made an attempt to stop me rushing through the venue and passing my familiar faces, it quickly caused a stir, leading those that were initially watching now engaged to take action in stopping me.Yet their slow attempts to catch up didn't make a difference to impede me and eventually, I made it into the doors of the school. I pushed passed many who were simply walking through and up the stairs, I felt my body slowly crying for the sweet relief of rest.But once again, I stopped myself from slowing down, and up the decorated stars full of small banners representing the graduating classes, I eventually reached the upper floors of the building.I steered myself to take the final steps forth and opened the door that led to a small balcony, there I found Riku standing at the very edge; her back turned against me as her head pointed toward the clear blue skies of the morning.As soon as the door came fully open, she turned to look and as her eyes fixed to look, we then made eye contact. I was still panting even now but the fact that she was still well and alive relieved me beyond comprehension.Above all else, her safety was what I valued most at that moment. After all, she wasn't immortal, unlike me..."Riku-chan! Pant... pant... Please... don't..." I said as my lungs begged for me to simply fall to the ground and take a breather."Eito...kun? Is... Is that really you...?" She said, on the verge of crying once more as her eyes looked reddened from who knows how of sobbing.We remained standing there for a second longer, with me still leaning on the door frame as Riku took a step down from the edge of the building in response to my arrival.The wind blew harshly, gushing forth a gust of wind that complimented the skirt Riku wore as the soft light of the sun highlighted her current complexion.She looked as if she was out of a storybook, her dazzling eyes and flowing hair. My ached each second I hesitated and unable to wait any longer, I tried to speak out towards her; my eyes weary, unready to begin conversing with the one I had already hurt once."Riku-chan, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. Everything I said, you didn't deserve to hear those things and... and-" I tried to say yet, the words couldn't leave my mouth fast enough before she intervened."Eito-kun... you don't need to apologize, I really deserved what you said that day, since I lied in your face just like that... The betrayal I brought onto you and the pain that I suffered at that moment, it's incomparable...""You lost everything after all and with nobody by your side, I lied to you because I was so selfish then..." She said in a while smiling, yet the tears that flowed down her cheeks contrasted greatly to the way she tried to portray herself."That's wrong! Throughout these days, I saw you tried so desperately in each moment of the time we spent together! Even if you had lied, you don't deserve everything bad that comes to you, it isn't fair...""If you think otherwise then... Then the moment I tried to take my own life would be the most selfish way of attaining what I want..." I said to her; the words coming back like a double-edged sword, stabbing straight through my heart with deep and heavy emotions."No... You're wrong, I'm the one to blame here... I hurt you and... I-" She said, wanting to put herself in the seat of the antagonist as she tried to pull in all the blame upon herself."Ri... RIKU! I LOVE YOU!" I shouted aloud for the whole school to hear; her face turned towards me and her cheeks turned red in an instant.She was shocked beyond belief by my words and in such a state, she took a step back. Yet in a state of confusion, she forgot where she was standing, and kicking her heel on the edge of the school building, she began falling."RIKU!" I screamed forth and sprinted outward to the edge and in a spur of the moment, dived down to catch her. My heart rose to its highest peak and in free-fall, I desperately clawed toward her and did all I could to catch her.The palpitations of my heart were painful as each beat rang through my ears like vibrating gongs being sounded. I looked toward her, the sun that pierced through the clouds, illuminating her crying face while the winds that blew forth scattered her hair, leaving only our eyes that looked at one another.I could tell from just one look she was afraid beyond belief, she wasn't just ready to die just yet right here. I was all too familiar with that feeling as well and with both my arms, I swung my arms forth and just barely caught her in the nick of time.I held her tight and turned her around, I positioned myself to take the fall but for the remainder second that felt like an eternity, I could feel her own heartbeat racing just as mine was. It felt somewhat comforting yet unnerving, the feeling of someone so terrified at the thought of death to the point their heart could beat so quickly. I could only imagine the adrenaline that coursed through her veins and though she wasn't safe just yet, I comforted her the best I could, holding her in a tight embrace as we quickly fell down to the white-tiled floors of the back of the school............The blaring of sirens, flashing of red and blue, and the chatter of surrounding bystanders.
My head felt like it was about to fall off my shoulders from how dizzied I was at that moment and with the added headache that persisted and sparked volts of pain through my cranium, I struggled to keep myself from falling over.
Yet above all else, one thing remained constant in my thoughts, and getting up on all fours, I turned to my right to see Riku being carried off in a stretcher. "How long was I out for?" I thought as I tried to stand up straight."Riku... Wait a second..." I said aloud, only to fall back on the ground from the amount of dizziness I sustained."Sir! Please remain on the floor for the time being, a stretcher will be administered to you this instant! Hang tight and listen to what we have to say! The paramedics have arrived!" A lady said aloud and a couple of seconds later, I was brought into and carried away to an ambulance.My vision blurred and though I couldn't help but want to quickly approach Riku to assess her current condition, I decided against it as the ambulance had arrived on the scene."She was better off in the care of the paramedics after all..." I thought as I slowly fell into unconsciousness once more in the confines of the white ambulance which took me away to the hospitals nearby............The sounds of a heartbeat monitor, the distant and barely audible as well as the smell of the epiphany of cleanliness, reminded me of a memory I would rather not venture back to remember. I clenched my fists and as my eyes slowly opened, there I found the familiar face of Maruka-san speaking with what seemed to be a doctor with how he dressed and acted."Ah! Eito-kun! You're awake! Thank goodness, after I heard of what had happened to you, I couldn't stop worrying about it on the drive to the hospital..." She said concerningly as she hugged me even as the doctor warned her to refrain from doing so."Maruka... san? What are you doing here, is this the hospital?" I asked of her as I held my head, trying to adjust my half-asleep state to a regular one."Young man, you sustained a concussion from the fall you took back there while trying to save that girl. Aside from that, it is miraculous that you received no other injuries other than that..." He said as he set aside a clipboard to the side while taking a step forth."Right... wait, hold on! Where's Riku!" I said aloud, rising quickly from my bed only to feel a wave of pain waft through my head."Calm down, she's currently-" Maruka tried to explain yet I was already off my bed barefooted and quick out of my room; my heart pounding hard once more as I grew more and more concerned about what happened to Riku after I fell unconscious.I stepped into the white halls where I saw nurses pacing by and doctors busying themselves with their own work as they checked again and again the clipboard in hand. Standing there with the surging feel of rising tension, I turned to each direction and before long, began to roam the hall full of doors that led to rooms patients were being treated in. I had put not a second of forethought of where I was headed but I couldn't simply stand there right then for Riku was all that was in my mind after all.But thankfully after a few turns, I spotted the tag that labelled Riku Kobayashi right next to a door that seemed to lead in. I was just about to turn the knob in before I was then stopped by a nurse who told me that I wasn't allowed to head in just yet.She quickly explained the reason why I couldn't walk in and though the decision to not adhere to her words crossed my mind, it was immediately dismissed as Maruka-san caught up to where I wandered off; her face full of worry as to the sudden departure I made."Eito... Please listen to the nurses here, you can go in at a later date but not right now.Riku-chan is fine, I was trying to tell you that before you ran off... She didn't sustain any life-threatening wounds..." She said, explaining the rest of the details to me as she stood idly a couple of steps away from me."Riku is fine then... Thank goodness..." I said, breathing a sigh of relief as my feet gave in and the adrenaline rush that fueled my approach dispersed all at once."Eitoo-kun! You really shouldn't be exerting yourself so much just after what you have been through! Here, let me help you out..."There's something I need to tell you anyways..." She said towards me as she pulled and helped me up while wrapping her shoulders around mine............I walked away from the door and sat down on a metallic bench near Riku's room, I slowly but surely calmed down. A small bit of my heart was still drenched in water, the worry I held onto still very well apparent as there was never a mention if Riku was truly alright or not.I made a glance toward to door to my left; my eyes fixed on the wooden base of the door while from a distance, my next-door neighbor returned with a cup of something piping hot."Here... I got some tea from the cafeteria but, they're not that great. It's pretty bitter compared to the high-quality tea leaves your mother used to treat me to..." She said as she took a sip of the dark transparent drink despite her criticism, only to revolt from the taste."Yeah... Mom really did have a hobby in tea making..." I said as I took a small gulp only to react in the same way as she did."Heh, she really did have a knack for those things..." She said as silence soon followed between the two of us.The two of us remained in a state of awkwardness for a minute long, letting the distant noise of a clock tick kill the time as I faced away from looking at Maruka-san directly.With what had happened mere hours ago, much is still very well apparent in my mind. The things I said towards Riku then resurfaced and recalling them, I felt embarrassed saying whatever was on my mind back then
The cringe I felt in the aftermath of saying such time stabbed me straight into the heart where it hurt most."To be young huh... Hye, listen, Eito-kun. The thing that I wanted to talk to you about... It's about Riku. You see, I actually got to talk with her before you woke up, and from what I heard... "It's quite tragic honestly..." She said, holding the paper cup of tea with both hands as she looked down to the floor."Riku actually apologized to me for hurting you, quite the surprise I know. To think that the first thing she'd say after such an event was say sorry, it certainly shocked me...""But from how you reacted when you woke up before, I guess it wasn't that far-stretched of a response after all...""Though it was what she said after that made me want to talk to you in the first place." She said, turning to see me eye to eye as her expression turned slightly serious."Riku's mother actually passed away not long ago...""She was a child of a single mother and yet, just last Thursday, that tragic girl lost her mother to an unfortunate accident that took her life...""A tragic tale really... Afterward, she confessed to me saying that on that Friday, she was going to end her life and yet, it was you who managed to stop her from doing so..." Maruka continued, finishing the rest of her drink in a second gulp and crunching it up with her hands."She mentioned how you were the one that brightened up her world and for a short while, you were the one that was actively saving and keeping her life round...""And for the rest of the story... I think you should hear that from Riku-chan herself." She said, brimming with a heartfelt smile as she got up from her seat while helping me throw the empty paper cups away."Well then, I know it is a little sudden but I have to go now... My daughter is coming back tonight from spring break and I need to prepare dinner for her and my useless husband..." "But I'm still glad that you're doing okay, take care now~ I'll be sure to leave some of the leftovers and bring them over to the hospital," She said while bidding her farewells towards me as she began walking away from the hallway.I returned a farewell with a wave but as she walked out of sight, all I could do then was sit there and quietly think through what I had just heard from Maruka-san."She was going through so much and yet...""I pushed her away so harshly without considering how she really felt... I really am scum, aren't I..." I said, whispering under my own breath as my eyes began to blur from tears.I gripped my hands til they turned white, letting my nails dig deep into the skin of my palms while regretting the very words I threw toward Riku back then."If... If only I hadn't said all those things... Wouldn't have had not resorted to doing such things?" I said as tears then flowed from my eyes and down my cheeks.I remained there, sitting in the middle of a hospital hallway where not a single soul was standing in sight, and as the sounds of mechanical beeping sounded in the background, what was left was but the sounds of me sobbing and sniffling away at my regrets...