Oddly enough , this was triggered by episode 10 of Nagi no Asukara , when Sayu asks Miuna 'how do you keep precious things precious?'
Anyway , despite the randomness of my inspiration , I hope you like this.
They'd had a good life, over the years. They'd both managed to get past all that had happened in middle school , successfully gone on to high school and then university . They managed to do quite well for themselves, Kouichi becoming an art teacher, and Mei eventually ending up as a tour guide at an art gallery. And eventually , almost inevitably , they became close enough to get married one snowy winter.
Those who knew them expected children to soon be on the way. But for whatever reason, this was something that didn't happen. So Kouichi decided that they should take the route of fostering, and Mei came home one day with two stray kittens. Adding that to the fact they had many friends with growing families, they were never alone.
In some senses, they had changed. Mei no longer hid her eye behind an eye patch, instead opting to style her hair so that it's unusual green could only be glimpsed behind her fringe, leaving others to wonder if it was merely an illusion. And while she was still a quiet person by nature, she was more sociable. Kouichi was never able to take up running again , as his lungs never recovered fully after all those years , but by now , he accepted it . Infact , he had grown a lot more accepting of things , and was now more happy to observe and contemplate the world instead of always asking questions, although he still retained much of his boyish curiosity. And no matter what any onlooker may have thought , they were a good match for each other , and they were able to tell each other anything.
Which was why Kouichi was instantly able to tell when something was up with Mei.
It was the summer , nearing the holidays , and although Mei had woken up before him, she was lying there , watching him. As they didn't have any foster children in the house currently , it was quite normal for them to not start the day upon waking , but Mei's face was troubled , and as soon as she noticed him awake , she turned away , and got up.
"Are you okay?"
There was no answer, but he detected a faint nod, so Kouichi simply sighed , and got up to get ready to go to the middle school he taught at.
The breakfast table was silent. Without a child or two there , it was usually quiet , but never silent. Every time he tried to start a conversation, she stiffened , and wouldn't respond. Her movements were almost drifty , like a ghost. And he really knew something was up when he saw her pull out something he'd thought he'd never see again-her eye patch.
If this had been a decade ago , he would have instantly jumped in with queries as to what was wrong. But for some reason, he decided not to . Instead , he decided , it was best to wait.
…
For once , he had gotten home before her. He changed , made dinner ,served it onto two plates ,and left one in the microwave. He decided to eat his straight away, as he had a lot of work to mark.
And that is what he was doing when she finally came in.
"Mei."
She turned , looked at him blankly.
"Long day?"
She nodded faintly , and went upstairs to change.
She came back down a few minutes later in her pyjamas. Her eye patch was still on.
"Dinner's in the microwave." He told her, while carefully watching her for any clues.
"Not hungry." He expected her to walk away , but instead , she took a seat across from him at the dining room table , and regarded him.
They sat like that for a while , Mei watching Kouichi mark work , until , finally , he'd had enough.
"What is it?"
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She said , unconvincingly.
"You've been strange all day , Mei."
She didn't respond , but she did bite her lip and look down , torn. Kouichi regarded her for a moment. Then , he came around to where she was sitting , and crouched down in front of her , as if she were a child. Mei looked up at him from behind her fringe , but remained silent.
When he reached for her eye patch , she gasped. She started to protest , but didn't physically try to stop him. He slowly took it off , and looked into her eyes-both of them. And when she flinched and turned away , squeezing her eyes shut , he started to realise what was happening.
"The colour of death?" he asked gently.
Still refusing to look at him , she nodded. Kouichi sighed. From experience, he knew that when Mei saw someone in the colour of death, that person had anything between a minute to 2 weeks left of their life. Considering he was still alive, he was probably one of the more lucky ones. But still…even so…
"How….how do you keep precious things precious?" lost in his own thoughts , he almost missed the question, asked in Mei's quiet voice.
He blinked for a moment, dazed by what he had just learnt. Then , he leaned forward and gathered Mei in his arms , while they both cried and cried.
…
Mingling tears , exchanged dreams , shared fears ,entwined limbs. That night , they refused to let go of each other as the minutes of the night weighed down on them , as bright and cold as stars.
How do you keep precious things precious?
There was no way of knowing. But hopefully, they'd soon have an answer.