Cynosure

by Autumn Win-Dow

(AoGA House Cup. Words: 1068)


He had expected himself to die when the sun set – lying in his bed as an old man who had finally lost the golden gloss of his silky hair, as well as his youthful appearance which he had maintained until the age of forty. However, despite him losing his best aesthetic features as he grew older, he would be happy with the life he had lived – a life full of immense excitement and interesting happenings, as well as meeting people of whom moulded his life into the one which was about to end.

Narumi had hoped to die a silent, peaceful death – in a home where life was calm and lacking conflict. He wanted his last sight to be the moon, surrounded by the rich glow of the sunset, through the clean glass of his bedside window. He wanted to die with his family and friends by his side, as he lay on the bed.

He wanted a wife. Despite his flirty, narcissistic nature, it was his dream to finally settle down with a woman who loved him not because of his Alice, but his own personality. He longed for a wife, children, and even grandchildren – he wanted a close and tight family to stay by his side at the very end.

Narumi wanted to die in cynosure – he had, for the entirety of his life, lived in the spotlight. He had always been the one under everyone's watch – the glowing light bulb among a thousand burnt ones – and the one who was admired for his many redeeming traits.

He wanted to die in the sight of everyone he loved.


He never got his wish.

Narumi was on the cold, hard surface of the concrete road – a drastic contrast to the comfort of his bed's mattress – as blood oozed from the stab wound in his stomach. He weakly brought his hand towards the blood soaked part of his frilled white shirt, and as soon as his finger made contact to the spot where his skin was pierced, he hissed from the sudden pain he felt from his stomach.

This was most definitely not the way he intended to die.

He wanted a peaceful death, with all of his loved ones by his side, watching him and being there for him during his final moments. He had planned to live up to at least sixty, when the shimmer of his hair would be replaced by the dullness of grey, and his once flawless skin would wrinkle and age from the many happy years he had lived. Instead, his death was nothing but peaceful.

Narumi was lying outside, and he was starting to lose strength from the large wound in his stomach, to the point that he could not even turn his head to the side to look at something more pleasant. Even though his wish was for his last sight to be the moon, it was - instead of being surrounded by a golden light - shrouded in darkness. All he was able to see was the black sky - with the moon as its only light. Like Narumi's life, the moon stood out from the dark night, but he didn't want to see what was in front of him at that moment.

He didn't want to die alone, but even his stabber had abandoned him during the few minutes before his eventual death. Narumi was in the middle of nowhere - there was no sign of any other person within a kilometer radius, ever since his killer had escaped. As his lips trembled, his skin became cold and the red patch on his shirt grew, he longed for someone to tend to him - for someone to even look at him. He wanted to be assured that someone actually cared for him, despite him having no hope in surviving.

Narumi was still unmarried, at the age of thirty. He didn't have a wife, kids or grandkids. He did have friends, but how would they know that Narumi was lying in the middle of the desert, dying, without the ability to contact anyone else around him for help?

He feared the idea of being alone on the day of his death. But in the end, it was exactly what he was. Alone.

Narumi, on the day of his death, was three things - three things which he had sincerely hoped not to be.

He was young - he had always wanted to die an old, aging man with a large family stretching over at least three generations. But as he lay on the hard, rocky floor of the desert, he still maintained his everlasting youth and beauty. His silky blonde hair, his vibrant violent eyes, his smooth skin, his slender figure - they were all present with him as he died.

He was pained - he sincerely hoped that his eventual death would be in his sleep. He wanted to die quickly and peacefully in the comforts of his bed, as if he fell asleep for the last time - his body having no intention to wake back up into reality. Instead, he was in despair as the pain in his stomach started to claw through his entire body - staining his silken shirt with crimson red liquid and pulling him heartlessly into the depths of unconsciousness.

And last of all, he was alone - he was never able to raise the family which he wished so passionately for. After Yuka, he had not fallen in love with another woman, and therefore, he never managed to find a trusting wife before his death date. With that, he had no kids or grandkids to raise and support. He had no family, and his friends were miles away from where he was located.

Narumi wanted to die in cynosure – he had, for the entirety of his life, lived in the spotlight. He had always been the one under everyone's watch – the glowing light bulb among a thousand burnt ones – and the one who was admired for his many redeeming traits.

But ironically, he died, without a single soul knowing about the pain he suffered in his last few minutes.

His life ended in the way opposite to how he wished - young, pained, and alone.

As the hot tears spilled from his eyes and his consciousness started to fade, Narumi was forced to look at the moon as his last sight, despite all of his wishes.


A/N: Whoopee! More angst. :)