It's 3 days after the last semester's test. At 1:27 PM, Shoyo walks into the gym entranceway and entered the main gym. He saw almost everyone inside warming up, stretching, and spiking some balls. Yachi Hitoka, one of the managers there was supposed to be in there too, but she's nowhere to be found. Shoyo would just think that she had something else to do first.

Shoyo sat down on the floor to check his phone for a second. He saw a text notification from Hitoka and checked on that first out of the others.

Hitoka

I'm sorry I couldn't go to school today, I went through some trouble in the morning. I'm at the hospital right now but I'm okay.

Shoyo's heartbeat just went faster and his eyes widened a little. He immediately packed everything inside his bag, stood up, and quickly walks to leave the gym.

"Hinata? Where are you going? The practice's about to start." said a third-year, Hisashi Kinoshita.

"I have to go to... somewhere important! So I won't be joining practice today." Shoyo replied with panic.

"Oh alright, I'll tell the others." Hisashi slowly walked to the court then Shoyo leaves the gym.

He went through the side of the school building and rides his bike to the hospital. He pedals extra fast in the empty road. Once he makes it he rushed to Hitoka's room and saw her eating an apple in her bed while watching the outside. She noticed the door sliding open through the sound it made.

There was a figure of her boyfriend, Hinata Shoyo, who's breathing fast and sweating a little. He ran towards her and held the small bed railings. "Hitoka! Are... You okay?"

"I'm fine! For now." Hitoka answered as she took another bite of her apple.

Shoyo relaxed and let go of the railing. He looks at her with a gloomy face. "What exactly happened to you that morning?" Hitoka dropped her head to the left and placed her apple at the bowl on the bed desk in front of her.

"That morning, I woke up normally as always...

Hitoka then does her morning routine then goes to school with her mom since she just got home and has a holiday, she wants to take her to school.

It was a normal trip until my head feels painful and I start vomiting blood. My mom immediately took me to the hospital...

The doctors said its one of a complication of cirrhosis when it's getting worse. They also updated that there's still no donor available for liver transplantation so the life expectancy is still as high as 50%. She's close to getting end-stage hepatitis C which could increase the risk of other diseases.

I stayed here for today so the doctors could observe more, that's why I skipped school today. Then I texted you and I knew you would come here." Hitoka's holding her sad feeling as she explained all she did that morning. She wants to live longer, she's questioning herself why did she have to get cirrhosis. She's afraid to die.

Shoyo wants to speak, but his mind wouldn't give an idea of what to speak. The room stays quiet, only sounds of the wind blowing and making the leaves of the tree outside hitting the window. Hitoka grabbed her bitten apple from the bowl and took another bite. At the same time, Shoyo managed to think of something to speak. "Of course I would come here. I'm worried about you, Hitoka. I have a promise to myself that I will make you happy till the end."

Hitoka's tears started showing up slowly. She tried to hold it so it doesn't fall, "I'm sorry that I made you included in my problems, I may make you... complicated." Hitoka apologized.

"It's fine, I don't like seeing anyone suffering and I love to help. Is... That a good reason, it's hard to explain." Shoyo replied and questioned at the same time.

"I understand." Hitoka grinned for a moment and then erased that grin away from her face, which transmitted to Shoyo, and the room started to become quiet again.

Until one second, Shoyo looked down and took a deep breath like he's going to speak then hold it for a moment, "I'm actually glad I get to help you."

"Why?" Hitoka questioned as she blinked and at the same time, aim her eyeball at him. However, her head didn't move.

Shoyo lifted his head with a broken expression on his face, he holds the bed's railing very tight and tighter as he speaks. "Because I get to know you more, I get to be part of your life, I've hugged you and make you warm, I could be called someone you call happiness, I'm grateful to have those chances. I loved you not because it's on your bucket list, it's because I really am. Please keep smiling even if life's getting painful."

Hitoka's heart suddenly felt touched and got a bigger beat, instantly making the rest of it faster. She shuts her eyes and makes them tighter while grasping her chest with her right hand. "I will, and I'll do anything to stay awake!" said Hitoka, opening her tightly shut eyes and kept it half-opened. She tried to stick a smile on her face, but instead, the tears she held falls and flows on her cheeks.

Shoyo reached out his hands and wipes her tears away. He could tell how broken she was by just touching her face. He then placed his hands with the finger full of Hitoka's tears on his chest where the heart should be. "I'll never forget you, I'll keep you inside my heart and treasure it for a long time even until you fell asleep."