Kuroudo would've thought she was referring to another Mitsuke if she hadn't gasped at the sight of him.
"Ku-kuroudo," the female stuttered in a soft voice, recognizing the all-too-familiar golden locks and gleaming sapphire eyes of the dashing Gear Fighter. She seemed too horrified to move at first, but eventually she managed to take a step or two back. Before she could find the willpower to turn around, run away and pretend she hadn't said anything, however, the young man had grabbed her by the arm, refusing to let her go without knowing what was going on.
He was surprised to see how terrified she was; all those times he had seen her, she was the calm, ever-confident member of the Ohmori family who made Mitsuke look like a wuss in comparison. But the panicked gleam in her raven eyes, the paleness of her face, the trembling of her hands, the absence of her smile… something had to be terribly wrong for her to have lost her composure just like that.
"Let me go…" she pleaded, her voice breaking into his reverie. She was at the verge of collapsing.
"Yukina-san, what's going on? Where's Mitsuke?" the blonde asked, trying to keep his voice calm and controlled to avoid frightening the other even more. He staggered under her weight, despite the fact that he was strong for his age, not because she was heavy --- in fact, she was rather petite --- but because he felt that his knees were also at the verge of giving way. Her prayer, which he had overheard unintentionally, had sounded so forlorn, so desperate, almost as if his friend was only one tiny step away from the hands of death…
He shook those dark thoughts away as he led Yukina to a bench somewhere near the park's entrance. There, they sat next to each other in a deadly silence, though the young woman had started to sob. As a matter of fact, she was gripping the edge of the bench so hard, her hands began to turn white due to the pressure. Not a good sign.
No. Mitsuke's strong. And stubbornly strong-willed. He won't give up. I know he won't, Kuroudo thought desperately, inhaling sharply. Then, he turned sideways slightly to face the distressed girl, who was only two years older than his friend. However, he clearly noticed that she now appeared older than that, looking more like an aunt instead of a sister. She needed to release some of her worries and anxieties, before those would take their toll on her, too.
Following that line of thought brought Kuroudo back to his original question, which he didn't hesitate to voice out for the second time. And perhaps due to worry, his voice wavered. "What happened to Mitsuke, Yukina-san?"
Silence.
Having received no reply, the Gear Fighter averted his eyes from her to the wishing well that was erected not very far from where they sat. She had mentioned that she wanted to see her brother alive and well, wanted to see him pull through… had Mitsuke been caught in an accident, plunging him into a life-or-death situation? But if that was the case, where had he been all this time? He hadn't reported to any of their Christmas break practice sessions, and nobody seemed to know where he had run off to…
"Coronary heart disease."
The blonde's eyes flew wide open in utter shock, caught off-guard. "What?"
"Mitsuke… he's sick. Been sick, had it with him since he was little… Coronary heart disease, that's what the doctors said… We never expected it, really, him being a sporty, enthusiastic boy and all… but… but… I don't know how it happened, I don't know why it had to happen to him…" And then her tears came in full force. "We th-thought it was… n-nothing… but… a few months ago… it… it st-started… the chest p-pains, the… oh, you should h-have seen him, Kuroudo… s-suddenly he's out of br-breath… holding his ch-chest and gasping i-in pain… s-sometimes the attacks would h-happen at night, and… he… he'd scream and curl into a b-ball, as if it w-would make t-the p-pain just g-go a-away…"
It took Kuroudo a long time to digest the information; for many breath-holding heartbeats he just stared at the weeping young woman, unable to believe what he had just been told. But it wasn't the end of the story just yet; Yukina had more, much more to tell him. And it wasn't any better than what she had already mentioned.
Through sobs, she said, "W-we brought h-him… to a d-doctor… though he pr-protested, of course, th-that he… he was f-fine… he's like th-that, he doesn't w-want people worrying a-about h-him… and we f-found out that he's al-already g-gravely ill… th-there's a blockage in one of h-his co-coronary arteries, y-you know, those b-blood vessels th-that carry blood to the h-heart's muscle w-wall…" She paused to stifle a cry of anger and frustration. "H-he was… g-going… going t-to die if n-nothing w-would be done, we were t-told, m-most probably through a h-heart a-attack… and so… and so… m-mom agreed that he… h-he undergo s-surgery as soon as the t-term would e-end for Christmas… a b-by-pass operation…
"H-he was scared… d-denied it, buh-but I could t-tell, h-his eyes be-betrayed him… shortly b-before term ended, h-he went t-to his fr-friends… he told Kyousuke, Ka-azuya a-and Hiroshi where h-he was g-going… m-made them pr-promise… promise to k-keep it a s-secret… fr-from you---"
"Why?! Why didn't he want me to know?! Am I not his friend, too?! After all this time--!" Those words, unfortunately, left the blonde's mouth before he willed them to, and so he immediately regretted his outburst. He bowed his head and stared at the ground instead, trying to see through the concrete grains that comprised it, wondering in silence why it had to be kept a secret from him. He couldn't understand why Mitsuke decided to do such a thing, when they've gone through so much together. It was simply… outrageous.
But Yukina's explanation made the fangs of guilt sink into his heart painfully; how could he have thought of such ill things against his comrade? "Because h-he didn't… didn't want… t-to let you d-down, Kuroudo," she answered, this time turning to face the sullen Gear Fighter. She was still in tears, but her confession seemed to have done her a lot of good. "My br-brother… he looks up to y-you a lot. Funny h-how he'd named y-you his role model over our own f-father… s-saw that homework of his just the previous t-term… drew you with all th-those fancy y-yellow locks, I th-thought he w-was drawing a g-girl… he s-sucks at arts, you know?"
She giggled, amused at the memory, but her laughter soon died down as her tears struggled to return to their position. "You're the b-best Gear Fighter he h-has ever known… He keeps r-repeating th-that. He was really h-happy when you chose h-him to be part of the team… 'Kuroudo p-picked me! He picked me, Oneesan!' he k-kept on telling me… when he f-found out h-he was sick, he warned me n-not to tell you a-anything even if I h-had to… threatened me, in fact… He didn't want you to th-think of him as a l-loser, a wimp… then he l-left his Gear, his keys and his re-resignation letter with m-me and ordered… that if he w-wouldn't wake up… f-five days after the operation…"
Kuroudo knew what was coming; but he wanted to know what Mitsuke had written. Swallowing to force down the lump that settled on his throat, he questioned in a voice barely above the whisper, "Where… where's the letter?"
"I… I couldn't g-give it to you… I'm sorry, b-but I couldn't help it… I… I r-read it… and after I d-did… after I did… I knew I c-couldn't give it… couldn't possibly…" She met his piercing Mediterranean blue eyes with her morose ebony ones, tears streaming out uncontrollably. "I didn't w-want… didn't want to b-believe that he… h-he… was g-going to die… and he wrote i-it as if h-he was already… already… so I… I l-left the Griffon Nova… and h-his keys… but… but n-not the l-letter!"
The blonde had heard enough.
"Take me to him," he whispered in a low, barely audible voice, standing up as he did so. He stood there, unmoving for a few more heartbeats, his head bowed and his bangs casting a dark shadow over his eyes. "Take me to him now."