~Hospital corridor~

Reiji: "WHAT!?" that voice was loud enough to severe a pretty big part of the doctor's hearing. The old man simply closed his right eye in annoyance before putting a finger in one of his ears to cushion the loud eerie ringing still present in them almost as if he had been exposed to loud gunfire.

Doctor: "I don't think it's necessary for you to wake up the other patients as well…" the doctor remarked while trying to keep his own calm in this situation.

Reiji: "I…I'm sorry…but…" the man stood there motionless. He had no idea what to do or what to say.

The doctor had explained to him a couple of minutes ago what he had found in Rin's chest radiograph and the results of his diagnostic were nowhere close to what he had been expecting.

Reiji: "Please, doctor! This has to be a mistake! Just tell me that all of this is just a joke and that everything is actually normal! Please!" by this point the girl's guardian didn't care anymore about dignity or pride. He was willing to fall on the ground and simply beg the doctor just for him to change his words. However, the older man knew that he could not lie about such a serious situation.

Doctor: "Believe me, I wish I could. This is the first time in my career I have experienced such a thing with a child so this is as bad for me as it is for you!" despite those words Reiji didn't stop panicking.

Then again, he knew he couldn't after this point. The only thing he knew was that Rin must not die. Whatever it was he just knew that she must not die no matter what. He had sworn to Aki that he would protect her daughter!

Reiji: "But…but…there must be something you can do, right? RIGHT!?" his face was that of a madman. The doctor quickly realized just from his expression that Reiji was in serious pain right now, almost like he was the father of the child or something.

Doctor: "I will try my best to save her. However, judging from the size of the tumor I'm pretty sure it's already too late to even give her medication. I don't want to sound pessimistic or anything sir but…" he said putting his hand over Reiji's shoulder in a comforting way "…I'm afraid only a miracle can save her now…"

Reiji: "No…NOO!" he was reminded. He was reminded of those memories. At those words Reiji put both of his hands over his head almost like trying to stop his brain from unlocking those traumatic memories. "NONONONO!"

Shaking his head so hard the young male was squeezing his eyes as images of Aki on the hospital bed reappeared in his head.

Reiji: "This can't be happening! This has to be a joke! JUST A CRUEL FUCKING JOKE!" he could feel the tears warning to erupt any second then. He thought that squeezing his eyes would keep them at bay but apparently it was not so as the water began rolling down his cheeks.

It was painful to see a fully grown man crying like that in front of him but the doctor had no idea what to say to stop Reiji from shedding any more tears.

Doctor: "I'm sorry! I wish I could do something…" but that phrase only deepened the lad's sobbing and aggravated the situation.

Reiji couldn't stand his life anymore. Ever since he had been a kid he had been in deep and serious hurt. His parents had never loved him, his childhood had been a complete mess and most importantly he had to run away from them. Such a thing was simply cruel for him. Then, when he had been older, fate had seemed to become merciful to him and had brought him happiness and joy for a second. That was when he had met Aki…a woman who had seemed to be perfect.

Gentle…beautiful…generous…and most importantly…loving. She had been the embodiment of femininity and she had proven herself to be the only thing which had brought him a meaning in his life. He had enjoyed his time with her…every single day actually. There was no second when he had been with her which he had regretted. That was…until he had discovered that fate had not brought him happiness. Fate had just been playing with him that whole time and had given him happiness just so it could snatch it back and laugh at his expense.

That was how Aki had been forcefully seized from his arms and taken to another world…leaving him behind in pure despair. That was how he had realized how cruel reality can be. And the only thing which Aki left behind for him…was Rin.

Rin was the only remnant he had from his last love and although she wasn't his child he cared for her more than anything simply because she was proof that he had once been happy in his life. But now…fate decided to toy with him yet again and take even that now.

How could this happen? Why is this possible? Why did Kami hate him so much? Had he done something wrong in a previous life? Had he been a serial killer and pedophilic rapist to deserve such a punishment in this life?

Reiji: "(calming down) This is not fair…" he whispered while trying to regain control over his body. His tears were painful to shed and when he looked at the concerned look this medic was throwing him he knew that he should stop now.

Reiji: "Please excuse me. I had a hard life…mostly because I had lost someone important to me a few years ago as well…she was the girl's mother…" he explained in a serious voice raising the doctor's eyebrow.

Doctor: "Her mother you say? Did she die of lung cancer as well?" the medic asked as an idea popped up in his head.

Reiji: "(curious) Huh? Yes. Why?" something seemed to have shifted in the air once he had responded to that question. It was like the doctor suddenly realized something as his face changed completely and a smile appeared on him.

Doctor: "I see. So that's how it is…" and just with that the older man began to rub his chin with his fingers and stare at the ceiling while thinking about it. Reiji couldn't help but stare in pure bewilderment at him.

Reiji: "W-…what do you mean? Is something wrong?"

Doctor: "I believe I have figured out why Rin has cancer at such a young age!" that certainly attracted the man's curiosity.

Reiji: "You do? Tell me, then! Why?" his impatience was getting the better of him when the doctor moved his head to look at him almost as if he had discovered a new continent on this planet.

Doctor: "IT MUST BE GENETIC!" he yelled in excessive confidence and pride with his discovery. Reiji just looked at him not really sure what he was supposed to make of that.

Reiji: "Uh…what?"

Doctor: "It all makes sense now! The lung cancer must have been something which she was predisposed to ever since birth! You see, in some rare cases cancer develops in the body of the patient simply because his organism being susceptible to that specific type of cancer. That is, a parent who is prone to that disease just because of her body can transmit that susceptibility towards that particular disease through her genetic code to her children! If a nonsmoking woman dies of lung cancer, for example, then the cause is most likely genetic. And that also gives her children the chance of developing that same condition themselves later in their lives just because the child possesses 50% of their mother's DNA!" as the doctor kept on rambling about medical mumbo-jumbo which Reiji didn't give 2 shits about, the man decided that this made no more sense anymore and that he should close the conversation before it got any weirder than this.

Reiji: "I appreciate your explanations doctor but I don't want to talk about this…" he said with a depressed look on his face.

Doctor: "(snapping back to normal) Ah, of course. Pardon me" he said a little ashamed by what he had been doing.

Reiji: "In any case…can I just go and see her?" that sudden question let the doctor know that the young man desired to end this discussion as soon as possible.

Doctor: "Yes, of course. However, may I ask if you want me to start giving her anti-cancer medication? By this point I feel like it would only burden the girl since I very much doubt it will do her any good…"

At that Reiji just closed his eyes in annoyance and remembered Aki's situation when she had been in hospital. He knew very well the medication had stopped helping her condition during her last weeks of her life. Worse, it had seemed to have begun provoking side effects and even worsening her condition. He did not desire such a thing to happen to Rin as well.

Reiji: "No! If she will die at least leave her to die in peace!" and with that he headed towards Rin's room.

~Rin's new room~

For some reason she had been moved from her old hospital room which she had been forced to share with other patients to a new chamber which was dedicated only for her. This new room was spacious considering the fact that it had only 1 bed (her bed), more advanced medical equipment and was just downright more suited for comfort. However, what was weird was that the rooms on this new floor were all 1 patient only chambers and they seemed a lot better and more carefully managed and maintained than those crowded rooms on the other floors of the hospital.

Also, the windows didn't seem to open more than 15 cm on this floor. She didn't even want to know the reason for that design choice.

Rin: "This must mean that they think I'm going to die soon…" she was surprised at how easily she had fooled these adults. She had imagined that the doctor would have seen through her act almost right away and blow her cover to Reiji instantly.

That was not the case. And what worried her the most was that this doctor was said to be one of the best this hospital had to offer. For such an experienced man to be this easily fooled by a young girl like herself…she pitied the medical system in her country.

As she thought that the door to this new room opened and when she looked to see who it was she could feel a smile making its way to her mouth.

Rin: "Ohaio, Reiji!" that smile of hers…when Reiji saw that he felt like his heart skipped a beat. She was so pure…so innocent…he felt the need to puke when thinking of her death.

Reiji: "Ohaio, Rin-chan! I brought you some fruits to help you!" he said nicely while doing his best not to burst into tears in front of this young girl. As her guardian he had to not show himself distressed in front of her. It was his duty to explain to her the situation without making her sad…or in this case depressed.

Rin: "Ah, arigato. I really needed something different from the usual ecchi food they serve here!" and by saying that she snatched the bag from his hands and began to search through it.

There was nothing too unusual in there: just the regular apples, strawberries, bananas and oranges.

After she began peeling the oranges to enjoy their taste she soon realized that Reiji was silent. He had been silent almost all the time after handing her the bag which scared her. He wasn't usually this quiet. And that was when she realized what was happening.

Rin: "Reiji. Can I ask you something?"

Reiji: "Mm. Ask anything you want!"

Rin: "What did the doctor say? About…my condition?" that was it. When looking into her sad eyes, into those girly and harmless eyes, he felt like he couldn't lie.

He had to tell the truth. After all, she wasn't going to last much longer. He couldn't just say that she was fine, could he?

Reiji: "Well…you're…uh…show should I put this?...You're…" she coughed another couple of times which only made his face grimace. "…you're…"

Rin: "(with a sad smile on her) Am I going to die…like ka-san?" that was all the man could take. He snapped. He knew he shouldn't have. He knew he should have been more subtle about it (or at least even a LITTLE SUBTLE) but he just couldn't stand to look at her anymore.

Reiji: "I WON'T EVER LET THAT HAPPEN! THAT DOCTOR WAS LYING! HE MUST BE LYING! I WON'T ALLOW SUCH A THING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, RIN! I'll go to another doctor and make him recheck your lungs, I'll donate you anything you may need and if there is any doctor somewhere in the world who can cure you then I swear I will find him!" he said while hugging her all of a sudden and tightening his embrace as much as he could. He was so close to her he could feel her heartbeats. And that was all he could take. Tears began to flow down his face.

At these signs Rin realized that moment what she had done. This was just a prank to fool her teacher to make him confess to her. It was only to force his hand and make him realize his feelings for her. But…by seeing Reiji this hurt just because of this she finally understood the gravity of what she had done.

And now she regretted it. She regretted ever coming up with this stupid idea. She wanted to see sensei confess to her but if the cost was her guardian suffering this much…she began doubting her decisions.

Rin: "What have I done? I'm sorry Reiji! I'm such a monster!" seeing his suffering just because of her own actions was too much. She burst into tears as well alongside him.

Rin: "(sob)Reiji…Reiji…" she hated herself at this point. No, she despised the day when she came up with this atrocious idea.

However…what could she do now? She was already halfway through her plan! She couldn't just tell him that all of this was just acting and then ruin everything when she was so close to the ending. If she did that then everything her and her friends had worked on up until then would just go down the drain; not to mention it would make all the suffering which Reiji was going through right now meaningless. If she made him suffer then at least make him suffer for a reason and finish what she had started! And hope that in the end, she will get what she was hoping for…

~1 week later, school, classroom~

Aoki: "Ok, mina! Thanks for all your hard work and I hope you will enjoy the weekend as much as you can! I wish you farewell and I hope to see you all Monday! Goodbye!" the teacher wished them as everyone began packing their bags. Everyone except one student though.

Student: "Uh…sensei…can I ask you one question?" one boy timidly inquired with a worried look on his face. That particular boy seemed to have been distressed all day and that had been bugging Aoki.

Aoki: "Yes? What is it?"

Student: "Uh…well. It's about your girlfriend. Is she alright?" that question couldn't have been phrased any worse than that as Aoki felt his face begin to blush almost right away.

Aoki: "SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" he tried to correct that misunderstanding which seemed to have been going through the kids in that whole class. Still, when he looked at how everyone's faces changed when that question had been worded the man couldn't help but share their sorrow. "They really do miss her, don't they? I guess that the kids really do like her energetic type after all!" but those thoughts didn't last long as he began to think of an answer to give these children.

Aoki: "Honestly even I don't know anything about Kokonoe. I guess I should have made time and find out what happened to her. Maybe I really am a careless teacher…" he contemplated as more and more ideas began popping up in his head.

He could have been honest with these kids and just say that he had no idea of what had happened to her but he decided against it. He didn't want to leave the impression that he was a teacher who didn't care about their wellbeing so he made up his mind and chosen to lie to them.

Aoki: "Ah yes. She's fine. I've spoken to her yesterday actually and she said that she only had an asthma attack when she was taken by the ambulance to the hospital last week. She's currently fine and she wants you not to worry about her! Good. As long as she'll be gone I'll just have to make the kids not worry too much. She should be back to school soon anyways…" he thought to himself as the lie seemed to have worked with most of his students. Most except for 2 actually: Rin's friends.

Kuro: "I can't believe he would lie to us like that! This guy is nothing but a shameless jerk!" being part of Kokonoe's plan these girls already knew what was going on and they knew that Rin should have been diagnosed with cancer by now. However, the fact that their teacher didn't even know about this, and worse, even lied to everyone almost like he thought that everything would work fine by itself in the end just infuriated her.

Mimi: "Kuro-chan. I'm sure that Aoki-sensei said that just because he doesn't want anyone to get worried about her…" she tried to defend her teacher the best she could although she had to admit that his ignorance towards his student's wellbeing and condition, especially after that worrying scene at school, was pretty infuriating.

Kuro: "That's not the problem, Mimi-chan! Rin-chan fainted in the middle of the class and pretended to be unconscious that whole time and he didn't even bother to check up on her condition ever since that day?! He doesn't even know she has cancer! And this whole plan of hers was just to get his attention in the first place!" her friend could not deny any of those words. She had to admit that seeing Aoki so ignorant and uncaring towards Rin's health issues was irritating as hell and as soon as Kuro saw Mimi stop defending the man she saw that as an opportunity to go after him and give him a piece of her mind.

Aoki: "Huh? Kagami? Usa? What's happening? Why are you two still here? Shouldn't you be heading home like all the other kid-…" that was when he felt a punch right in his abdomen when the black haired girl decided that physical abuse was the only way to go against this man. Aoki immediately covered his stomach with his hands as he fought the urge to spit what fluids came back up his throat. In doing so he also bent down a little reflexively while enduring the pain.

Mimi: "Kuro-chan!" she yelled at her friend for doing that to their teacher.

Kuro: "What? He deserved it!" she tried to defend herself when the man suddenly recovered and glared at her.

Aoki: "What was that for?! Why are you so violent today, Kagami?" he asked only to be responded to with another glare back.

Kuro: "Urusai, virgin! You deserve even worse for lying to everyone like that!" she pointed her finger accusatively at him only to make him realize that they knew something.

Aoki: "Wh-what are you talking about? Are you saying that you know something about Kokonoe?" that was when Kuro realized the flaw in her plan: she never should have done that. Now the teacher was aware of the fact that they knew something and that could very quickly expose Rin's plans. Now she needed to cover up their tracks fast!

Kuro: "Uh…well…uhhh…" this had been a bad move. Her rash actions were going to expose them and she had no idea what to say now. She would have taken everything back now but it was already too late.

Aoki: "You guys…you know something, don't you? Is something going on with Kokonoe? Did she do something bad again?" he began to throw them another glare which only made Kuro stammer a little. Understanding that her friend was not going to get them out of this mess Mimi decided it was her turn to fix things.

Mimi: "Uh…well. What Kuro-chan was trying to say is that we kept in contact with Rin-chan this whole time since we are her best friends and we know about her condition!" she tried to explain to him. That did seem to work when Aoki's expression became less harsh and gentler suddenly.

Aoki: "And what exactly do you know about her then? How is she?" he inquired as he soon seemed to have lost any suspicions about them. Mimi began to ponder if she should let him know of the fact that Rin had cancer or not but decided that if he had been this unconcerned about her wellbeing up until now then he would most likely continue to be the same even after today so someone had to tell him about her. Gulping a little Mimi looked at him with a serious face.

Mimi: "Sensei…Rin-chan is…"

~That same day, hospital, nighttime~

Rin: "It's been a week now…and nobody came to see me. I thought that sensei would have been a lot more worried over me but I guess I was wrong!" this was very bad.

Her entire plan was to trick her teacher into thinking that she was terminally ill so that he would open up to her when he thought she would be enjoying her last days. And although that had seemed like a good strategy at first, it all had backfired on her almost instantaneously.

Not only had he not come to check up on her, he had not even called her or anything. She had asked Reiji if anyone from her school had contacted him either but the response was always the same. It was almost like nobody even cared that she was in the hospital. Everyone was just ignoring her…making her existence feel almost unnecessary.

Rin: "I almost wish I could die now…" she grudgingly thought to herself. Then again now she had no idea what to do anymore.

She was supposed to die in just a week and that meant that she didn't have that much time to fool around playing patient. In just a week everyone will be expecting her to die and that obviously was a problem.

She had thought about pretending to make a miraculous recovery at the very last day and all but she knew very well that even Reiji wouldn't fall for that. Sooner or later they will all find out the truth and that will be the end of her plan.

Well, in a way, she knew all the time that sooner or later her plan will end and everyone will find out the truth and will punish her gravely for what she had done. However, she was ready to accept all that if her plan would succeed. If she would have fooled her teacher into admitting his feelings for her before her plan ended then it would be a victory. The sad part was that she didn't had that much time left and if he would not show up in the next week then all this trouble she had caused would be in vain.

And her getting grounded for nothing didn't sound all that appealing.

Rin: "I guess I should have thought about this more thoroughly after all. I just thought he would show up the very next day after I got in this hospital…I guess I was wrong. Maybe he actually doesn't like me…" that was probably the worst outcome her plan could have taken and sadly for her, this was what reality had in store for her. Maybe this was God's way of punishing her for all the pain she had brought upon Reiji, for making him sad and depressed like that for a second time in his life.

Then again, if that was the case then she shouldn't mind that punishment. She fully deserved it and she knew it.

Speaking of Reiji, the man had made her go to a private clinic a couple of days ago to recheck her lungs for any trace of cancer. Being in the worried state he had been in she couldn't really accuse him of wanting to make sure that she was really that sick. Of course, she had not wanted to go there but she knew that being too stubborn and refusing it would bring suspicion upon her so she had eventually given in and had accepted it.

The obvious problem was that neither she, nor her friends, would be able to alter her results there so that diagnostic would most likely be correct this time. If Reiji will find those results before the ending of this new week then he would find out that everything had been a lie this whole time.

Rin: "I wonder what to do…If I give away my plan to him now he will get very mad at me but at least I will end his depression earlier and make it easier on myself since it would be like me admitting that it was all my fault. If I'll wait for another week and risk him finding out on his own about this then I'm going to be in even worse trouble…What should I do?" she basically had the choice of taking the safe route and confessing right then to him about everything and just hope that he won't get too mad at her (but also quitting her plan and reducing any chances of success with her teacher to zero) or taking the risky route and just hope that Reiji won't find out about her condition before her teacher will show up (if he would ever show up). The latter had a chance of success with Aoki but the more days kept passing the more her doubts about taking this route were growing.

Rin: "Maybe I should just quit it right now…I don't want to see Reiji suffer like that any longer…" but just as she thought that she heard a voice from behind her door.

~Corridor~

Nurse: "I'm sorry sir but visiting hours are over. I'm afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow!" the young lady tried to reason with this seemingly worried and anxious man.

Aoki: "I know and I'm very sorry about this. It's just that I really need to see her as soon as possible! I promise it won't take too long!" he couldn't believe what he was doing. He was bothering this hospital at this late hour just so he could visit Kokonoe. In all honesty he could very well have listened to that nurse and go back home and return the next day but after having heard of the girl's condition from her friends…and knowing that she was in such grave pain…something in him almost snapped and he became worried...so worried that he felt the need to talk to her right away even if he needed to just plunge through the hospital entrance and break all the doors in his way if need be.

Nurse: "Sir, you do realize that the girl is probably sleeping right now, don't you?" at that the man looked down on the floor for a second almost like he was ashamed of what he was doing. However, that didn't last long and immediately afterwards he looked back up at her with renewed determination in his eyes.

Aoki: "I understand that. And I know that I'm probably disturbing other patients' sleep as well just by being here. But…please, it's been a week since I've last seen her and only today have I found out that she has cancer. I'm worried sick about her…" he admitted everything as the young female stared at him with dubious eyes not really sure if she should buy the story or not.

Nurse: "Are you part of her family or something?"

Aoki: "Uh…not really. You can say in a way that I'm someone very close to her though…" this nurse wasn't in the mood of arguing right now and she knew very well that only by negotiating with that man at that time she was creating more commotion and disturbing the other patients even worse than what would have happened if she just allowed him to go see the girl.

Looking in his worried and desperate eyes the woman eventually gave in and decided to allow him to enter just so that they wouldn't bother the other patients any further.

Nurse: "Fine, you may see her. However, you have only 10 minutes. No more!"

Aoki: "Thank you!"

~Kokonoe's room~

The door to that chamber slowly opened as light began to flow in and disturb the girl's eyes. From the sudden gush of brightness a figure emerged…the figure of a young man…a man she had been waiting for a week now.

As his eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness of the room he slowly closed the door behind him and wondered if he should switch on the lights or not. In all honesty the room was illuminated pretty well by the moonlight entering from the windows and he knew that if Kokonoe was sleeping switching on the lights would only bother her.

Deciding against that action he slowly made his way to the only bed he could find in that chamber. He tried to walk slowly and cautiously simply because he thought that she was sleeping.

Rin: "Ohaio, sensei!" she brightly smiled at him, letting him know that being sneaky wouldn't help him at all.

Aoki: "K-Kokonoe? You're awake? At this hour?" he looked a little surprised at that.

Rin: "It's only 23:16, sensei (cough). It's not really that late you know!" maybe it wasn't for him but wasn't this past bedtime for her?

And, anyway, what could she have done to stay awake that long in that room? It wasn't like there was anything to do in that hospital room, was there?

Aoki: "In any case…you're probably wondering why I came this late, aren't you?" he asked scratching the back of his head trying to think of an excuse as Rin just continued to stare at him waiting for him to give her his explanation. "Well…the truth is…I…well…it's that I…uhh…" he didn't know how to word what he wanted to say. If he revealed her the truth then she would find out that he hadn't bothered to check up on her that whole time and that would make him look bad. Then again, that was the truth.

Aoki: "I…uhh…"

Rin: "You forgot to come check up on me, didn't you, sensei? You found out about my condition today and now, feeling worried and guilty you decided to come see me even at this hour!" as expected from Kokonoe, she managed to figure it out by herself. Her teacher raised his head all of a sudden in pure shock…not really knowing how to respond to that. She just hit the nail pointblank with that one and left him completely open. He knew he could try to lie to her now but was it really necessary? And would she really buy it since she already figured everything out by herself?

Aoki: "Uh…well…yes…I did forget to check up on you this whole time. I'm very sorry!" he said lowering his head in disappointment.

In actuality, teachers are not obligated by any law or moral system to check up on their students when they get sick and get into the hospital. However, most teachers do that just because of concern and that usually is also a sign of friendship and bond between the teacher and his pupil.

But he…now that he thought about it he had failed to do that. Mostly because he had thought Kokonoe's condition to be temporary and decided to brush it off. Never had he ever thought of her actually having cancer, of all things. To say that he was surprised wouldn't even scratch the bottom of the barrel.

Rin: "It's ok, sensei. (cough cough) I forgive you. I'm just happy you came to see me…" that almost felt like an insult to him. For a second he thought that she said that intentionally just to make him feel even worse about himself and hurt him.

Aoki: "Gomen, honto ni gomen…I never knew…If I would have known I would hav-…" but then he stopped himself mid-sentence when he realized what he was about to say. If he knew she had cancer only then would he have come to visit her? That didn't sound like an excuse at all.

Immediately he tried to rephrase that as well as the girl began giggling beside him enjoying his struggle at not trying to offend her in any way.

Rin: "Sometimes he can really be cute…" she thought to herself as the man was almost panicking over how he should reword his sentences. "Ne, sensei…"

Aoki: "Huh? What is it?"

Rin: "What do you think is going (cough) to happen after I die?" hearing that made Aoki feel sick as well. That sounded unusually weird coming from her and that scared him even worse.

Aoki: "Huh? What do you mean? You're not going to die! The doctors here will surely do their best to treat you and brin-…"

Rin: "They already said that in 5 days I'll die!" that took him by surprise. Did the doctors actually tell her that? Now he really was worried.

Aoki: "But…but…isn't the medication helping you at all?"

Rin: "They didn't give me any! They already said that it was too late and I shouldn't bother with that!" that almost left him speechless.

Aoki: "Bu-…but…you look so healthy!" he tried to ignore her occasional coughs. Honestly she really did look well to him and he couldn't believe that a girl like herself would die so soon so easily.

Rin: "I know. But that's (cough) what the doctor said. He said that it's supposed to be genetic or something like that…" he couldn't believe this. His student was going to die in a couple of days…his favorite student even.

The man felt all his energy leave his body. He wanted to comfort her, he really did, but he had no idea what to say. This was the first time in his life when he had ever been confronted with such a situation. Indeed he was scared but what could he do?

He just stood there, while his student was suffering on the bed. He felt so bad for her. But…he didn't know what to say.

As they stood there in the darkness none of them could say anything anymore. It was almost like they both just froze over. The teacher didn't know how to respond to that and so he decided that the best solution was to stay silent. However, this was the first time in a whole week when Kokonoe got to see him and she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass.

Rin: "Ne…sensei. Since I'm going to die soon…isn't there (cough cough) something you want to tell me?" that caught his curiosity.

Aoki: "Huh? What?"

Rin: "Isn't there something you'd want me to know before dying? Something which you'd regret over if you didn't say it to me before (cough) I'm gone forever from your life?" that sounded pretty serious so Aoki did his best to think over what she was trying to get at. He thought about many things but he couldn't really imagine what she would have wanted to hear from him. Seeing this, Rin decided to force him a little bit. "Don't you want to tell me how you feel about me? How you'd miss me? How you love me?"

She wanted to see his affection and his confession. However, her plan quickly backfired yet again when she suddenly saw his eyes beginning to frown.

Aoki: "Oi, Kokonoe! This is serious! You shouldn't joke about that in a time like this!" he tried to scold her although he only added to the girl's frustration.

Rin: "Huh? I'm not joking! Sensei, are you saying that you didn't come here to tell me that?"

Aoki: "Quit that already! I just came here to see you again! Of course I'm worried because of you! Demo, you shouldn't be talking about things like that!" he was mad at her. But that only because he knew that she was taking advantage of her own condition to get to him. He and everyone else seemed to have been worried sick about her, especially after he had found out that she had a serious condition like cancer and now she was abusing that just to get his attention. That irritated him.

Rin: "Then what do you want from me…?" she quietly said as she felt something snap inside her. This was the first time when she had ever felt this way. She felt annoyed...no, rather, furious because of him. She had thought that he would have cracked once he saw her in the hospital bed like that. Apparently she was wrong though.

Aoki: "Huh? What do you mean?" obviously he was confused.

Rin: "What am I supposed to do to make you admit that you love me? What am I supposed to do? Is being here on the verge of death not enough for you? What more do you want?" this was the first time in her life when she felt furious at her teacher. Then again, she had all the reasons to be like that. After all the effort she had put into this plan of course she would be mad.

Her teacher just stared at her, not sure how he was supposed to respond to that. He was scared. He finally understood that that was what she wanted to hear from him. She really wanted him to love her. She wanted him to tell her that he loved her. She wanted him to treat her like an adult. However…he couldn't do that.

Aoki: "Kokonoe…you can't expect me to do that! I know you like me but…you're still a child…even if you're like this I just can-…" but he was cut off when he saw her glare which was directed towards him.

Rin: "I see…so you're still saying things like that…" her face suddenly became unreadable. She looked hurt for a second but immediately afterwards she dropped any sign of emotion off her face making herself completely expressionless to him. He immediately realized that he had made a mistake he shouldn't have.

Aoki: "Kokonoe…I…"

Rin: "Arigato for coming sensei. I really appreciate it. However, I'm kind of sleepy right now so can you leave, please…?" but it was too late. He realized his mistake when there was no more time to fix it anymore.

Aoki: "Kokonoe…I'm sorry…I didn't mean it like that. What I wanted to say was tha-…"

Rin: "Sensei. Can you leave me alone now? I want to sleep!" her voice didn't sound soft and sweet anymore, almost like she stopped trying to seem like that. That very second he understood that he had made a fatal error in his judgment and now this was going to cost him gravely.

Aoki: "Kokonoe, I really didn't mean that. I ju-…"

Nurse: "You heard her sir. She wants to sleep. I'm afraid I can't let you continue to harass our patients anymore like that. Please exit this room now!" the nurse suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a glare on her face. The man stood there not really sure what he was supposed to do now. He wanted to apologize to her, he really did.

Aoki: "Kokonoe, please, listen to me…!" he tried but the girl hid under the covers of her bed to block his words out. "Kokonoe…!" but he was then grabbed by the nurse and pulled away.

Nurse: "Sir, this is your last warning. Either get out willingly or I'm calling security!" she began to drag him out by force. The man didn't want to go, he needed to rectify his mistakes but he quickly realized that no matter what he would say anymore the small girl will not listen to him. It was already too late to make amends anymore.

Aoki: "Hai…I understand…" he said in a low voice giving in to the nurse's commands. He slowly walked out of the room accompanied by her with a defeated look on his face, finally understanding how much of an idiot he really was. "I'm sorry, Kokonoe. I didn't want to hurt you!" he said one final phrase before exiting the chamber.

Thankfully he didn't seem to have heard the girl's sobbing behind her covers.

Rin: "My plan…failed…"