'Please, Rei-chan, just let me say this before I don't have the courage left to say it.'
Behind those red-rimmed frames, Rei closed his eyes in a futile attempt to rid himself of the pleading voice he just couldn't block out. Nagisa had looked so serious, the most serious Rei had ever seen him, but he was struggling to understand what his friend told them. He kept waiting for Nagisa to do his 'gotcha' face and laugh about the looks on their faces, but it never happened and it angered Rei.
At least that would have been easier to accept than his best friend having cancer. It didn't make sense.
So Rei decided to do the only thing he could when life didn't make sense: research.
After a quick text to his parents, Rei turned back to the window and distracted himself with the scenery until the train pulled into the station. From there, he stepped out into the afternoon sunshine and walked briskly to the library.
"I'm home," Gou called, pausing to take her boots off in the entryway.
"Welcome back," Mrs. Matsouka called from the kitchen. "There's leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry."
"Thanks Mom," Gou answered. "I'll just go wash up and be down in a minute."
As she started up the stairs, Gou heard her mother's voice from the hallway. "Did you have a good time with your friends?"
Gou froze mid-step as she held a hand to her chest.
Not really, she thought to herself, and quickly climbed the rest of the stairs to her bedroom. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she quickly typed out a text and hit 'send'. Setting her phone down on the bed, Gou let out a sigh before walking across the hall to the bathroom to clean up for dinner.
Meanwhile, in a coffee shop in Tokyo, a tall, well-built first year college student was sipping on a cup of hot chocolate and working on the end of semester paper due later that coming week when his phone lit up and began to vibrate on the table next to him. Picking it up and flipping it open, he was surprised to see that the text message was not from Haru. When he opened the message, he felt his breath catch in his chest.
Call me ASAP. Something is very wrong with Nagisa.
His fingers flew across the keys as he dialed the familiar number. After three rings, his call was answered.
"Hello, Haru? It's me, Makoto. Did you get a text just now, too?"
That train ride home could not have been more lonely for Nagisa as his friend's words played over and over in his head.
'That's hardly something to make light of, Nagisa-kun.'
'If you didn't want to come over, you didn't have to come up with such an elaborate excuse.'
'It's Kou, and I honestly don't know what to believe, Nagisa.'
Blinking back tears, Nagisa forced his attention at the world outside his window. He had not expected his friends to outright refuse to acknowledge what he told them, but at least they had heard it from him and that was what mattered most to Nagisa. Whether they chose to support him or not was a decision Rei and Gou had to make on their own.
When he got home, Nagisa was greeted with only a hug from his mother and sister, both knowing words weren't necessary. Then, after going to the kitchen and grabbing a meal supplement shake out of the refrigerator, Nagisa slowly climbed the stairs to his bedroom and silently cried himself to sleep.
Sunday passed with Nagisa spending most of the day resting, only leaving his room to go to the bathroom. His parents took turns checking on their son, trying not to be discouraged when the snacks they brought him remained untouched. When he was gently encouraged to soak in the tub for awhile, Mrs. Hazuki cleaned his room as thoroughly as she could before taking the laundry to the wash. Downstairs, the adults focused on cleaning. Everything. From ceiling to floor, nothing was left untouched; when they had finally finished the house shined, and the Hazukis managed to focus on something other than their own anxiety about the coming weeks.
In the morning their family would walk down a path of uncertainty, and once they did there was no turning back.