A/N: Hello there.
"Akari, wake up." Haru said, lightly slapping Akari's cheeks with his palms.
Her eyes creaked open, and closed again when the sunlight drowned into her room.
"Haru, close the window," she said, crawling into the blankets again. "It's a Sunday. Why are you waking me up so early?"
"It's one in the afternoon." Haru said.
Akari shot straight up. "Really? Wow, I don't think I've ever slept that long before."
A soft mew was heard from the doorway as Mako crawled his way up into Akari's bed and into her lap. Haru smiled as she stroked the kitten's fur and whispered a soft, 'good afternoon' to it.
"I just woke you up to tell you that I'm going to be out of the house for a while. See you later." Haru said, walkng towards her bedroom door.
"Wait!" Akari said, a bit too loudly. "Where are you going?"
"To Samezuka with the swim team to train for the day. See you." Haru said, leaving her room and walking out of the house.
Akari pouted. "Meanie face." She looked at the cat looking up at her with big green eyes. "Haru's a big meanie face, right?"
The cat meowed and jumped out of bed.
She sighed. "I guess not."
"Haruka-senpai! You're late!" Gou said, blowing her whistle.
"Sorry." He said, quickly stripping down into his swimsuit and stuffing his clothes into his duffel bag.
"You sure took your sweet time getting here." Nagisa said, his eyebrows moving up and down. "What kept you? Hmm?" He pestered.
"Nagisa, it's rude to stick your nose into other people's business!" Rei scolded.
"I had to wake up Akari." He said, shortly, not even minding Rei's statement. Grabbing his goggles and swimming cap out of a compartment in his duffel bag and putting them on, he calmly made his way to the pool and jumped in.
Gou giggled and wrote some statistics on her clipboard about the team, and sat down on the nearest bench.
"What's so funny, Gou-chan?" Makoto asked, smiling.
"Oh, nothing." She blushed, embarrassed that he had caught her giggling to herself. "I was just thinking about how cute it was that Haru cares about Akari so much."
Makoto chuckled and sat next to her. "Well, that's what love does to someone. So, what's the regiman for today?"
"Oh, here." She said handing him a paper. "First, you guys will-"
"Gou-chan!" Someone shouted. "You're here!"
Gou sighed. "Good afternoon, Mikoshiba-senpai."
After making herself breakfast, she cuddled on the sofa with a soft blanket and Mako in her lap as she watched the latest episode of her drama.
"He's so stupid, right Mako? It's so obvious that the murderer is his sister's boyfriend." She said, looking down at the cat for approval, only to find him asleep.
"Oops, sorry." She whispered, turning down the volume from the television so Mako can sleep peacefully.
Just then, her cell phone beeped, indicating a text message. She grabbed her phone that was next to her on the couch.
Her eyes widened as she looked at the message from the unknown number.
"Did that asshole leave my little princess alone in the house?"
She gently lifted Mako off her lap and placed him on a cushion as she grabbed the nearest thing she could use as a weapon.
A baseball bat that Haru never uses.
WIth a tight grip, she listened for any sign of movement; like a twig breaking, or a floorboard creaking.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone went off again.
"No need for a weapon. That could seriously hurt me you know?"
"Go away, Nishimura!" Akari shouted, waking up Mako in the process. Her heart was beating crazily in her heart, almost to the point of pain.
"Why should I?" A voice said from the window by the living room.
Facing her body and the bat in the direction of the window, she prepared herself to swing if he got any closer.
"Lower the bat, I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to have a conversation." He said.
"How should I know if you're telling the truth or not? You could hurt me like how you did when I was a child." She retorted.
"Do you want to know what really happened to Chii-chan?"
"Gou-chan! Didn't you get my text earlier?" Mikoshiba asked.
"Text?" Gou said as she checked her phone.
"Yeah. Training is canceled today due to pool cleaning." He said.
"Oh! Sorry!" Gou gasped. "Guys! Practice is canceled today!"
"Huh?!" Nagisa shouted. "Why? I want to swim!"
"Pool cleaning is today! Sorry, I didn't hear my phone go off when Mikoshiba texted me. You can all go home now!" Gou said, walking out of the building.
Makoto sighed. "Let's shower and go home guys."
"We should hurry! Haru misses Akari-chan!" Nagisa sang.
"Nagisa." Haru threatened.
"He didn't deny it!" Nagisa shouted, taking off towards the showers.
Akari's eyes widened and teared up at the mention of her cousin's name. Her grip on the bat loosened ever so slightly, and her arm lowered.
"Now do you want to hear what I have to say?"
Akari nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Nishimura sighed and leaned on the windowsill. "You'd be shocked at how much the doctors hide from the family."
Akari eyed him with curiousity and suspicion as he spoke.
"I'm going to be blunt here: Akari's parents were not murdered by someone." He stated.
"What?" Akari gasped. "Then, what-"
"They were killed in a car accident on the way back from a business meeting. The driver lost control of the car and they crashed into the side of a building. They were killed immediately upon impact."
"Oh, no..." Akari gasped.
"Chihiro was an only child, so ultimately she would feel lonely without her parents. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Nishimura hinted.
Upon realization, a tear slid out of Akari's eyes. "Don't tell me-"
"She killed herself when she got to her fiance's estate. She shot herself with her fiance's father's gun."
Akari dropped the bat and fell onto her knees as tears slid nonstop from her eyes. "No! She didn't!" She shouted through her tears. "She would never do that... You don't know her like how I know her!" She sobbed.
Nishimura jumped into the living room through the window. "You're right," he confessed, "but the evidence is never wrong."
The front door opened. "Akari, I'm home- Hey!" Haru said, throwing his duffel to the side and running towards a shaking Akari on the floor. "What did you do to her?!" He shouted at Nishimura as he held her in his arms.
"H-He didn't touch me..." Akari said.
"Then what-"
"I'm telling her the truth behind her cousin's death." Nishimura said.
"Do you think she wants to hear it?! She's already suffering enough-"
"Haru.." Akari spoke up. "I don't want to hear it, I need to hear it." She got out of Haru's arms and sat properly on the cushion near the table. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "Continue, please."
"Akari-" Haru began.
"She was suffering from depression that was caused by the sudden loss of her parents, so she thought the only thing left to do was to kill herself." Nishimura said.
Haru's eyes widened as he looked over to his fiance. His heart broke when he saw her tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto the floor. Yet, she still tried so hard to remain strong.
"Here," Nishimura said, handing Akari a piece of paper he took out of his pocket. "It's a note from Chihiro."
Akari looked up at him with tear ridden eyes. "H-How do you have this?"
"Chihiro gave it to me before she went to see her fiance."
She opened the paper and began crying again once she saw the ever-familiar handwriting.
"Nishimura-kun,
Hi. I'm sorry, but these will be the last words you'll ever read from me. I just wanted to write out all my emotions onto a single piece of lined paper.
If you find this, please give it to my little Akari. This note is meant for her. I didn't have the heart to give it to her personally.
But, it would be rude to use you just as a messenger dog.
Nishimura-kun, I don't think you know how much I've hidden from you. I know about your feelings about me, and they truly made me happy, because I feel the same way for you. You've always been so kind, caring, attentive, and loyal to me even since we were children to now, and I couldn't ask for anything more of you.
I'm sorry I haven't made my feelings known. I couldn't for the sake of father's business.
By the time you read this, I will have already left the house, and maybe this life.
I took quite a while thinking about my last words to you, but I've decided on them.
I love you, Nishimura-kun. I'll always love you.
.
Akari, you've always been a source of strength and courage for me. You mean the world to me. You don't know how much I cherish you.
I know you've always looked up to me like I was a role model to you, but in all honesty, I hope you don't end up like me. I'm not perfect, in fact I'm far from perfect. I want you to grow and become a strong, capable young woman. I want you to follow your passions, and your dreams. You don't always have to follow the rules set by your father. Even though you are his daughter, you are still a human being, and you have the capability of making your own choices.
I have no doubt that father will have a designated fiance for you, but being the person I know you are, I know you have the potential to make the most of your situation.
Be yourself, Akari. Don't let others tell you what to do.
Thank you, my precious Akari. I hope you like your present.
-Chii-chan.
Akari held the letter close to her heart and sobbed her heart out, letting all her emotions out into the open. Her tears formed a puddle on the floor as she mumbled her deceased cousin's name over and over again.
Nishimura looked at the young woman with sadness in his eyes before taking out a small box from his pocket.
"Here's the present she mentioned. She gave it to me with the letter." he said, placing the box on the floor in front of her and leaving out the window.
Haru walked over to his fiance and held her in his arms as she cried. The letter she hugged got more stained with her tears, and wrinkled with every second that passed.
After Akari had calmed down, she reached out for the box and opened it, revealing a necklace with a locket attached. The locket held a picture of herself and her cousin when they were still young.
"Chii-chan..." She whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve.
"I'll help you put it on." Haru said.
After hooking the necklace on, Haru sat back and wiped a few tears threating to fall from his eyes as well.
.
Then he heard Akari breathing heavily and croaking for help as she clutched her chest in pain, and time stopped all around him as she said his name in pain.
"H-Haru, it, it hurts.." she said, before falling onto the floor, crying, sweating and deep breathing.
"Akari!" He shouted. Grabbing his phone, he called the ambulance.
"My fiance is having a heart attack!"
