Sousuke Sagara put his back to the wall. He checked his gun, took the safety off, and proceeded to get into position. With one quick, fluid movement, he turned and pointed his gun into the classroom. No one was there—just desks. Cautiously, he took one step in, looking for booby-traps. His eyes scanned the room and he listened, searching for any out-of-place noises.
He slowly walked through the room, pleased to find no traps, people hiding, or bombs. He had just about made it to the other side of the room when he heard a crack underneath his feet. With no time to react, he fell through the floor, helpless to save himself. He cried out in pain as something pierced his back, feeling the intruding object pierce his lung. He had the feeling that it missed his heart by centimeters. For a second he felt lucky, but that feeling ended when, without warning, a desk that was teetering precariously over the edge tipped and fell on him. He was thrown painfully into darkness.
When Kaname heard Sousuke had fallen through the floor, she hadn't believed it. He was so careful; falling through a floor seemed like something that happened to lesser men. Maybe after all the bombs he had let off, the floor had weakened…she didn't know. And now, she didn't even care—she had been told that there was blood, and that was what had made it become real.
She rushed from the tennis courts to the room where he had fallen. She arrived to find that a sizeable crowd had gathered, and Kaname had to fight her way through in order to see. When she finally got to the actual edge, she gasped. Sousuke was down a floor, lying on a bloody slab of concrete, a pool of blood under him. She jumped down.
"Sousuke! Sousuke! Wake up!"
Sousuke opened his eyes to pain in the right part of his back and people in front of him. Everybody that mattered: Weber, Mao, the captain, and…Kaname. He knew some of them weren't really there as there were fuzzy students intermingled with them. Also, they were all crying. Kaname was kneeling in front of him, tears running down her cheeks. He had the feeling she was the only real one.
"K-Kaname." He coughed, as the object in his lung forced some air out the wrong hole. But the coughing made the pain worse, and his face contorted. Kaname reacted.
"Idiot! Don't die on me now! Not after…not after all we've been through! Come on, Sousuke!"
She moved aside as EMTs came and checked out the situation. But he wasn't interested in them. He focused his eyes on Kaname.
"Come one, Sousuke, say you're alright!" As she said this, an EMT come over to inform her of the situation.
"Ma'am, the boy has a piece of rebar stuck in his back. We think it has pierced his lung."
Her eyes went wide in shocked, and covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at Sousuke again. She got closer and knelt by him, the tears pooling and mixing with the blood on the ground. "Sousuke…I love you. I thought I would say that before…You know that time when I was covered with paint, and I asked you if you were scared? Well, now I know exactly how you felt. So…just in case something happened…I wanted to say…I love you."
The EMTs carefully chiseled the piece of concrete with the rebar away from the main slab and put him on a stretcher. He was carried to the emergency vehicle. And it was there that he blacked out from the pain again after thinking I love her too.
Kaname visited the hospital for the seventh day in a row. His condition was the same as it had been since when he had arrived—critical. It got a little bit better after they had removed the rebar and bandaged him up, but she was still scared. He'd had injuries in the past, but they were never this severe. And the amount of blood he had lost was very unnerving. Four liters of blood had to be pumped into him when he arrived. C'mon, Sousuke, don't do this to us… She made her way to the room where he was staying. She was familiar with it by now, and she had even brought most of the items decorating the room. Of course, there were cards and flowers (and even airsoft guns) that were get well gifts from other students, but the rest—the balloons, the army colored sheets, and the toy army truck—they were all from her. She wanted it to be almost like home when he woke up, but she wasn't quite sure how to do that.
She felt a little bit odd since she had finally told Sousuke her feelings, but she also felt relieved, as she felt she now had her bases covered. It had been frightening, telling Sousuke her true feelings, but that idiot never took all the easy hints she had gave him. He was too dense and not educated enough in the real world.
She sat in her usual spot; a chair to the right of the bed. Without warning, she heard a gasp. She looked up at him, but saw his eyes were closed. She kept watching, and he slowly opened his eyes. She smiled as he turned his head and looked at her.
"Kaname…I couldn't….I couldn't leave without saying something…" he rasped, every word forced. And suddenly his words hit her. He was giving up? This couldn't do!
"Leave? No, you're staying right here!" She demanded. He didn't listen.
"Kaname…After long recesses in the dark of my mind, I can say that I enjoy your presence very much as well. By that I mean to say…I like you very much…and could even say that…I love you." He stopped and looked at the ceiling, smiling. After a few minutes he said, "Okay, I can die in peace." He closed his eyes and the heart monitor made a solid line. A never ending beep sounded, letting her know he was now gone.
"What? You idiot! Have more of a will to live!" She hit his bedside table. "Come on, dammit! Live! Why do you have to be so….you? Come on! Sousuke! You are not going to die on me!"
She yelled at him more as tears streamed down her cheeks, but over all of her yelling, she still heard the never ending beep of the flat line. When she tired, she sat down and wept, knowing it was all in vain.
When the doctors came to take him away, she stopped them for one final thing. She asked for privacy, and when they had all left, she leaned over him. Hesitantly, she kissed him. It was awkward, but she would never have another chance. She lingered a little.
"After all we've been through, something like this is what does you in." After a few minutes she finally let go and walked out, giving the doctors a sign that she was done. She had no idea now that he was gone. Things would be a lot lonelier and less fun without Sousuke around….