Author's Note: Clannad strictly belongs to its respective (and undoubtedly genius) creators. Plain and simple enough, don't you think? This story is based on and dedicated to a true story simply known as 'The Last Assignment From a Dying Teacher'. I'm just flinging all cares out the window and writing as I go along! This is a fanfiction that revolves around Youhei Sunohara and Kyou Fujibayashi; however, all of the cast will get a spot in the limelight. So I hope you enjoy!
Heavenbound
Prologue - The Beginning of the End
They say fools never learn.
"Heh." He took a quick swipe at the pink-hued tip of his nose, scoffing with dry listlessness. His footprints were pressed against the white blanket of snow, as though they were attempting to make their own mark in a world like this.
'In a world like this? Why would anyone even bother?' His thoughts echoed within the deepest crevices of his mind.
They rang so clearly, like a voice in the dark.
If only he could say the same about his vision, which was blurred beneath the ongoing stream of tears that had left his face numb. He ran his fingers through his once-blonde locks, shifting them out of the path of his tears.
"Well... I suppose I'll have to be the first fool to break that mold." A curt, melancholy chuckle broke out for a moment, but it was easily silenced by the sound of its own despondent resonance. His lower lip trembled as he tried to register the cold, granite stone jutting out of the ground. This grave marker was the last thing he wanted to rest his gaze upon.
"R-right... Fujibayashi?" Youhei. Youhei Sunohara was his name.
Though there was no one here to call out to him. Sunohara could cry out to Fujibayashi all he wanted. But that meant nothing. Nothing at all anymore.
How long had it been since then? Mere seconds? Minutes? Years?
When time was fleeting and the concept of inevitability was merely that. A concept. When his carefree laughter bellowed at the thought of fate. When all his friends believed that... nothing would ever change.
What a dream.
But it was just that. Merely a dream.
The others had respected his space and taken their own diverging paths elsewhere. He was left to wallow in his own shadows, in the trailing memories that were left behind. Left here to gaze at a cold gravestone of a person who would never see the light of day again.
His sapphire eyes were clouded in unmistakable grief and murky tears; blood shot. Oh good God above, how terribly bloodshot they were. He would let out another weak scoff, as though he was trying to hold himself together. But no amount of dry, empty laughter would bring back...
The name was caught in his throat.
'Fujibayashi. Loving teacher.'
The gravestone read like so, smooth like the path of a wishing star and painfully staggering like the emptiness of space. But that's just how life was. Cold. So very cold.
The tips of his fingers ran down the gravestone slowly, as though they were trying to take in the full extent of what had come to be. His fingers stopped at the quote inscribed in the gravestone right below. And he let out a single, breathless chuckle. "Only you, Fujibayashi." He muttered under his breath, lightheaded at just how much one person could still feel so real even though they were gone. "Only you."
"Someday, when we meet face-to-face again, please let me hear you say, "I was happy". That's all I could ever wish for."
Afternotes: It's the beginning of the end after all, huh? Take note of the titles and just hold on to your hearts, ladies and gentlemen. The real story's about to begin.