It happened over a year ago. I had no idea how to help him and now he's gone. You must be wondering what I am talking about. Well two years ago, I had just got home and when I walked into the front door, I heard a noise coming from the bathroom down the hall. It sounded like someone coughing. I ran toward the bathroom and when I get there, I see my roommate and best friend, Riku, standing over the sink. He was holding a towel like cloth up to his mouth. I put my hand against his back as he continues to cough. This is something I'm used to. You see, Riku is sick. With what, no one knows. Not even the best doctors in town know what is wrong with him. After a few seconds the coughing dies down and Riku looks up at me. His long silver hair falling in his face, but something is different about this coughing fit. There was something red dripping down his chin. I looked at the cloth in his hand and it too had some red stuff on it. That's when I realized that Riku had coughed up blood. He gives me a smile and stands all the way up. "Hey, Sora. Your home early today." Said Riku. "So, I guess...you...got…" Then his eyes went completely blank and he passed out. I caught him before he could hit the ground. I was in complete shock. He has never passed out before.
"Riku….RIKU….Come on, buddy, this isn't funny" I thought he might be playing some joke on me, but he wasn't waking up. I wrapped his arm around the back of my neck and tried my best to get him to his room down the hall. You see, even though we're both nineteen, he was still taller than me by a good few inches. I set him down on his bed and ran to call Kairi, our other best friend.

Kairi and I, after some difficulties, got Riku to the hospital. We were watching him sleep and listening to the heart monitor beep. Kairi was sitting in a chair, near the window, on the other side of the room, while I leaned on the wall near the door, waiting for the doctor to come back. A few more minutes passed by, when we finally heard the clicking sound of the door opening and then closing again. Kairi shot right up from the chair, while I push off of the wall to greet the doctor.
"Hey, guys. How's he doing? Had any coughing fits while I was gone?" she said. "No, Ma'am" I told her. She didn't looking at me; she went over to Riku and looked at his face with sort of a look of pity. "Poor boy, barley even 21 and…" She cut herself off and took a step back. First, looking at Kairi then at me. I looked into her eyes and all I could see was sadness.
"And what?" Said Kairi, her voice shaking like she was about to cry. I walk over to her. "You never finished your sentence." Kairi added. "Well, I'm so sorry to say this but…" That is when Kairi broke into tears. "...Riku is dying."
"I knew it" We were all in shock at who said that. We all look at the bed to see Riku was lifting himself up into a sitting position. "Riku" I whispered and went to help him up. "You heard everything, didn't you?" I asked him. "I heard all I need to hear." He replied. "What did you hear when you awoke?" the doctor asked Riku
"Kairi saying 'You didn't finish your sentence'." He answered.
"I see."
"I want to go home" Riku said.
"Riku." Kairi whispered.
"You can't. As your doctor I don…"
"I DON'T CARE." Riku screamed. "I just…I just wanna go home." And with that the doctor left the room.

Weeks passed by sense then and things got worse. Every time he started coughing, I would suggest going to the hospital and he would always say "What's the point of going to the hospital if I'm going to die anyway." Everytime he said that my chest would hurt.
One day I and Kairi were at the beach, watching the sun set. We weren't talking about anything real important. Then Kairi started to talk about Riku and that's when I snapped. "I hate this." I said.
"What?" Kairi said turning to me, but my head was facing down.
"Riku…Riku is such…he's such a dump-ass." I was so mad, I was staggering. "What's wrong with him? He doesn't even notice that all we want to do is help him. All we want is for him to get better. Now days he can't even take to steps out of bed without falling over." That is when Kairi slapped me.
"What's wrong with you? Don't you see that all he wants is for his best friend to be there for him and I know that isn't me, Sora." I wasn't looking at her, but I knew that she was in tears, as was I. "Why can't you see, Sora, that Riku doesn't have much time left and all he wants is for you to be there for him? Just go, Sora, go be with your best friend, that's all he wants." I look at her. Her eyes glued to the sunset. "Kairi," I said starting to walk away and when I was right behind her I said "Thank you." And start to run to the parking lot.

When I got to the apartment, I had called Riku about five times and he never answered his phone. I'm getting really worried now. I ran up to the door and went inside the small apartment. "Riku…Riku…are you here?" There was no answer. I walk to his room and saw him laying face down on the floor. "RIKU" I was really scared now. What if I was too late? I run to him and rolled him onto his back. 'Good. He was still breathing' I thought. But it was slow and heavy, like it was more of a task for him rather than a natural thing he does every day.
I sit down on the floor and left him into my arms, his head resting on my fore arm.
"Riku, can you hear me?" He started to open his eyes.
"Sora?"
"Hey, buddy." He had his eye's completely open now and the where faded. His beautiful turquoise eyes where losing their shine and I couldn't hold it in anymore, I couldn't be strong for him. I broke into tears right then and there. "Riku…Riku, I'm so sorry…I'm sorry I couldn't see what you where trying to tell me." I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore, every minute they became darker and I knew I had to because I knew that I would never see them again, but I couldn't. Then I felt something cold on my cheek. I open my eyes and look him in the face.
"It's okay." His words were weak. "I'm just…glad that you're…you're here …now!" then his hand slipped from my face, but I quickly caught it.
"Riku?"
"Tell…Kairi that…I'll…miss…" and then he closed his eyes. The last of his life had vanished and his body went limp. It took me a while for my mind to register what had just happened. When it did, I dropped his hand and wrapped my arm around him and gave him one last hug and said "I'll tell her... good night…..Riku."

Weeks passed by, I was standing in front of a grave that read 'Riku Jou 1990-2009'. I heard a noise behind me and I turn to see Kairi in a beautiful short white dress. She was also holding a bundle of white flowers.
"Hey, Kairi. Those for Riku?" I asked.
"Of course they are." She looked at my empty hands that were shoved into my pockets. "You know, you should start bringing some for him." she replied.
"Well, Riku never really like flowers."
"Well it doesn't matter," She set the flowers in front of the grave stone. "It's still a nice thing to do." She looked up at me. I was wearing a pair of jeans and a short sleeved blue t-shirt. "You know, you should also start wearing nicer …cloths." She noticed something on my shoulder and was staring at it with a confused look on her face.
"What?" I asked her. She took hold of my elbow and rolled my sleeve up. "Oh, I see." On my shoulder was the Oblivion and Way to Dawn keyblades in an 'X' form. Behind them was a blue heart with a crown atop it. In the top section of the Keyblades said 'Riku' and in the side sections said '1990' and '2009'.
"I guess a tattoo always works" She said smiling with a tears streaming down her face.
"I guess." I said smiling back while a tear rolled down my cheek.