Disclaimer: I do not own KNB or the picture.

Kise Ryouta's Pov:

The moment I woke this morning, I could feel something was wrong. My stomach had a sinking feeling to it, but I shook it off. Maybe it was something I ate last night, I thought to myself. Shaking the thought out of my head, I smiled at the thought of my date with Hisako today.

"Ryouta! Get up! You're having your date with Hisako-chan today, right? You wouldn't want to keep her waiting, do you?" my mom called from downstairs.

Glancing at the time, I almost fell off the bed, "Thanks Kaa-chan!" I called out, rushing to the bathroom to take a shower and change.

Drying my hair with a towel, I couldn't help but to smile when I saw the picture on my drawer. It was of me and Hisako, when we were children. A time where our biggest troubles were what flavor of ice cream we wanted. Not like the confusing life of high school students we have. I almost dread the future as adults.

"Bye Kaa-chan," I shouted to my mom as I bolted out the door, "I'll get something to eat on the way out!" I could faintly hear the sound of my mom laughing at me, but I ignored it, choosing to sprint over to the flower shop.

"Kise, what can I do for you today?" a familiar elderly voice greeted me.

"Ohayou Ojii-san~!" I greeted him with a huge smile, "Do you have any flowers I can buy?"

"Well this is a floral shop. It would be bad if I didn't," he chuckled.

I laughed sheepishly, "Whoops."

"What flowers do you want?" Ojii-san asked, "Or do you not know?" He probably saw my confused look and laughed, "Describe what you want to say to the person you want to give the flowers to. I'll do everything else."

"Thanks Ojii-san," I smiled, "Eto, she's kind, patient with me, and the sweetest person I know, even though she's a little on the clumsy side. She's always smiling even when she's hurt. Even though people don't notice her, I want to tell her that I'll always see her. I want to thank her for staying by my side throughout these years and that I love her. There so much more to her, but I can't put it into words."

Ojii-san smiled at me kindly, "She sounds like a very sweet girl. Here are the flowers, asters for patience, coreopsis for always cheerful, daisies for loyalness, forget-me-nots for the memories that you share, and red chrysanthemums. They mean I love you. She has feelings for you for a while right? So I included, ambrosia, which means your love is reciprocated."

"Ojii-san, can you include red tulips and peruvian lilies? Those have always been her favorites," I asked, not wanting to be too much of a bother to him.

"Do you know what they mean?" He questioned me with a gentle smile on his face, as he arranged the flowers, "Red tulips mean true love and peruvian lilies mean friendship and devotion. You're very lucky to have a girl like her. Don't let her get away."

I thanked him as I accepted the beautiful bouquet, "Don't worry Ojii-san, I'll never let her go." If only I had known.

Humming a tune I heard Hisako sing, I frowned slightly at the sky. It was growing darker and stormy, rain clouds growing larger, almost ready for a downpour. "I hope that doesn't affect my date with Hisako," I muttered. Walking into the hospital where Hisako was, I asked the receptionist what room she was in. I totally forgot the room number, after all my mom dragged me here without telling me anything. I'll thank her later for that.

"Um excuse me ma'am, can you tell me what room Maeda Hisako is in?" I asked her politely. She was a middle age woman who was staring at me with a faint blush on her face. But the moment she heard the name and looked at the screen to find her, her smile dropped and the blush disappeared.

"She's in room 87," She sent me a sympathetic glance. I wonder why...Oh well. I can't wait to see Hisako~!

Opening the doors, I was expected to be greeted with Hisako smiling sweetly at me, not this…

Hisako's mother was on the chair, sobbing over the bed. She held onto what looked like a piece of paper as if it were the only thing that kept her from collapsing. Her sorrowful cries filled the empty room. The room was empty, cleared of all stuff. Nothing that was there from yesterday was here today, except Ki-chan, and the paper cranes on the table. Deep down, I could sense something was off, but I pushed it down.

"Oba-san," I asked hesitantly, "Where's Hisako?"

At the sound of her name, her mother cried harder. I could almost feel the anguish and grief that she was feeling. But why did she cry when she heard Hisako's name? My blood ran cold. No, it can't be. The flowers dropped onto the ground with a dull thud. all of a sudden the room was spinning. No, it can't be! She promised! She promised she would stay! This was a joke right? Someone tell me this isn't true!

"Oba-san, where's Hisako?" desperation ringing in my voice. Looking at the mirror in the corner of the room, I could see the crazed and desperate look in my dull eyes. But I couldn't bring myself to care. She couldn't be gone! A burning pain exploded in my heart, and I could feel tears burn at my vision.

"Kise-san, right?" a calm voice asked me. I quickly turned around at the voice, and the doctor flinched at the sight of me. "I'm sorry for your loss." Was all he said, was that the only words he could say? This was Hisako. The one who comforted me, cared for me...truly loved me.

The world came crashing down on me. I fell to my knees, an indescribable pain hitting me. "Hisako," I whimpered, "Hisako, Hisako, HISAKO!" An anguish screamed exploded from my me as I sobbed uncontrollably. Her name fells between my lips over and over again, I whispered her name like a mantra. Why? WHY?! She was the constant pillar of strength throughout the years of my life. The only person to stay by my side as the others came and gone. Why did she have to be taken away from me?! It wasn't fair!

"Why?" I whispered hoarsely, looking at the doctor. He looked at me sympathetically.

"Maeda-san had tuberculosis for a while now. She passed away last night. She was smiling when she died." NO NO NO! HISAKO! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! You promised that you would stay. God don't do this to me. I would never be able to see her smiles anymore. I wouldn't be able to see her green eyes sparkle with happiness again. I would never be able to hold her in my arms, or tell her that I love her again.

"She left you this," the doctor placed a letter in my hands, before patting me on the back and walking away. I couldn't bare to look at it, but I had to. The last things that Hisako had written...The last thing that she poured her heart into.

Opening the envelope with shaking hands, I slowly opened up the letter. But after reading the first sentence, I couldn't stop crying. My heart was in too much pain, in denial, even though my brain told me to get over her death. Folding it up again, I set it aside. Not right now. It's too early. I can't read it right now. It's not...it's just not possible.

"Ryouta," Hisoka's mother's pain filled voice called out my name. When I looked up at her, I noticed how her eyes were like mine, full of grief and anguish, and denial. She was holding a piece of paper to me.

Taking it in my hands, I looked at her questioningly.

"Have you heard of the legend that if you folded a thousand paper cranes, one wish will come true? W-we started to fold these paper cranes. Before her d-d," she choked on her tears, "her death last night, we folded 999 paper cranes together. For her sake, w-would you...I'm sorry," she mumbled before her grief took over her again.

Looking at the paper crane, realization overcame me. Slowly and clumsily, I started to fold the paper. I could almost hear Hisako teasingly criticizing how messy it was. Tears streamed down my face onto the paper crane. They blurred my sight, but I stubbornly wiped them away. Fold after fold, crease after crease, until the paper crane was finished.

I beamed, turning around holding up the paper crane, "Look Hisako! I did…" My arms fell at my side, limp.

There was no playful laughter. No congratulations. No smiles. No looks of love. Only the sounds of suppressed sobs.

She's really gone. She's not coming back. With those words echoing in my head I fell against the wall, my bangs covering my golden eyes that were filling with tears. My head fell back against the wall, so that my face was face the ceiling. Closing my eyes, I felt a steady streams of tears fall down my face.

Gomene, Ryouta. The wind blew in from the open window. Almost, though very faint, I could hear Hisako's sweet voice. The painfully kind voice of hers. I could almost hear it. The way she said it, with a sincere smile, and a cheerful tone. But this time, I could hear the tint of grief underneath, as if she were trying not to cry.

"Hisako," I mumbled, choking on my sobs. All those years with her, how could I have been so blind to not have seen her feelings. Maybe we would have had a happy ending. But in the end, she still would have died. All I had now where the memories of her. "I'm sorry," I cried, my fedora falling onto my face, as if trying to hide my tears. "For everything, I really am sorry."

Reaching over to grab Ki-chan from the ground, I pulled it close to me. Her sweet scent of cotton candy was still lingering on it. Hugging it tight to me, I could almost pretend that it was Hisako. The tiring non-stop attack of emotions, and the grief that I was feeling, slowly numbed my senses and lulled me to a sleep.

As my eyes closed, I could almost feel what felt like a pair of lips kissing the top of my head, the familiar scent of cotton candy overpowering my other senses.

Hisako, I called out. We were at the shore of the beach. The sun was starting to set, creating a beautiful displays of warm hues.

Her back was faced towards me, her hands behind her back. Her brown hair flowing in the wind. She was standing barefoot in the shallow ocean water, the edge of her white dress skimming the surface of the water.

Hm? she asked, looking at me with her green eyes sparkling of love.

I love you. I told her.

Giggling quietly, she walked up to me and hugged. I love you too. she whispered in my ear. Leaning on her tiptoes, she placed a chaste kiss on my lips. My arms wrapped her waist, pulling her closer to me. All too the soon the kiss ended. I looked at her, memorizing every detail.

As I leaned down for a another kiss, a sudden wind forced us apart. Hisako! I cried out, reaching for her hand. She shook her head sadly. Slowly, her body was starting to fade in sparkles.

Hisako!

Ryouta, you know that I love you right? she asked me, her smile still on her face, as if she weren't disappearing.

I nodded my head furiously. My eyes were overflowing with tears. Hisako!

Live your life Ryouta. Don't grieve over me. Smile. Hisako said, putting her hand on my cheek, lovingly.

I put my hand over hers, leaning my forehead against hers.

She smiled at me, Sayonara Ryouta. Aishiteru. With those words, the rest of her disappeared into the wind.

HISAKO! I cried out, reaching for where she was. Falling onto my knees, I stared at where she was. Don't cry. She said. Taking a deep breath, I forced the tears away. Shaking standing up, I cupped my mouth and shouted, HISAKO! AISHITERU! I could almost hear her saying Baka, embarrassed.

Smiling to myself, I said, It'll be okay. Hisako, I'll be okay.

Overhead, birds that looked like paper cranes flew across the sky.

Everything will be okay. After all, Hisako's watching over me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So yeah, this is the end of the story. Well, I still have to publish the Epilogue, but I think I've done enoUgh writing to last me at least a week. I mean seriously, I don't know ABout you, but writing 24 pages on Google Docs within like 5 days is a lot. I don't think I wrote this much even during NaNoWriMo.

I seriously am feeling so guilty killing off Hisako and making Kise suffer so much. If you guys didn't know, Hisako means enduring child. I chose that name with the thought of having her endure so much in her life, but still having a smile on her face everyday.

Well, if I enough requests, I might do an alternative ending. Or if Keiko-chan over here manages to wear me down enough to do so. Which will probably end up happening...ANYWAYS! Check out her stories, they are seriously the best things ever.

Here's the link below:

iheartcookieslol

Until next time, BAI BAI~!

~Kira-Sempai