Title: The Heart's Reason

Notes: This fanfiction will be based more on the manga rather than the anime, and events will begin just right after the manga ended.

Reason for this story: Eichi deserves another chance.

All disclaimers apply. :) Enjoy!

Prologue

There is no such thing as death,

In nature, nothing dies:

For each sad moment of decay

Some forms of life arise.

-Charles Mackay

"Don't go anywhere! Please stay by my side!"

Eichi Sakurai's eyes widened as he stared down from above. Those words… the words he was waiting for back then… Mitsuki…!

He flew lower, to be able to see her better. Has she realized that he was there? After those three years of looking after her… maybe… maybe she did, after all. Suddenly, he stopped in mid-air. That shinigami that disappeared on the night of Mitsuki's last concert as Full Moon - Why was he there? He looked a bit different, though. His ponytail was gone and he wasn't wearing shinigami clothes anymore. Thoughts were running through his mind.

"Sure," he said with a reassuring smile. "I won't go anywhere."

Those were the words he had always hoped to say. Only if Mitsuki had stopped him back then! He could only stare at horror when that shinigami – now a true human – carried Mituski up into the air and kissed her. The crowd gave a squeal of surprise and began cheering, "Encore! Encore!"

As Mitsuki sang her final song, tears fell from Eichi's eyes. He felt so hurt… so lonely. Their hands were linked together, the way that Eichi always hoped they would do. Why were all these things happening now? Why wasn't it with him?

He could feel himself lose his consciousness. All he could hear was the faint sound of Mitsuki's voice and the flapping of birds' wings.

With his last train of thought and strength, he called out to her, as loudly as he could. His tears kept flowing – they couldn't stop. He kept screaming her name, for her to look at him, to see him before he was gone. But there was no voice.

Why? Why won't she look at me? He thought. His face gave a look of pain as he reached down to them, but it was no use. Mitsuki didn't feel his presence anymore. She was smiling, and she was happy.

And when she laughed, just as he was going away. The largest feeling of pain stabbed through his heart. She… she was happy now.

He clenched his fists together, and closed his eyes. Slowly, he forced a smile to come out, and he gave Mitsuki one last look through his tears. Everything was blurry, he couldn't see anything.

He was told this once… that the only thing that chained him into the human world was Mitsuki's feelings for him, and the way she treasured their memories. That was the only thing that gave him the ability to watch over her every single day… and now…

… she had let him go.

With that last smile on his face, he disappeared, not seeing that below, Mitsuki was smiling back.

Eichi awoke in a bright place.

Slowly, he stood up as he rubbed his throbbing head. Where am I? he thought, and at once, he stood up. Mitsuki! He looked around and saw nothing, except for the huge golden gate that stood in front of him.

From that gate, a hooded figure carrying a book walked towards him.

"Who are you?" Eichi called out. He realized that he felt no fear for this stranger. Only pure curiosity.

Through his hood, the figure smiled. "I am the Guardian of the Gate. I welcome souls into the Afterlife."

Eichi looked around once more, and discovered that the nothingness turned into clouds. "Am I in Heaven?" he asked.

After hearing the boy's question, the figure laughed with a booming, yet reassuring voice. "Heaven does not exist. In the Afterlife, everyone is equal and is given Rest." He raised his head. "I welcome you, Sakurai Eichi. Your soul is now at peace. You may now enter this Gate."

A look of determination entered the boy's face.

"But I'm not ready to die. I want to live."

And hearing that, the Guardian smiled.

To be continued.

End Notes: As you may have noticed, I just retold the last chapter of FMWS with a few additions. The real story starts at chapter 1! Please leave a review so I can improve! Also, if it's not a bother, drop by my profile and vote in my polls as I really want to hear others' opinions.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you next chapter (which, if everything turns out good, will be released within this week)!

Seru-chan