Gently, Setsu rolled over in his sleep. He heard quiet noises coming from Eiji, but they seemed to be just him a little restless in his sleep. It was probably from all the extra sugar he had eaten in the celebrations for winning the Nationals. Seigaku had won of course, which made Eiji and Oishi the best junior high doubles team in Japan. That was almost a week ago.
"Setsu-nii," Eiji groaned slightly. Setsu waited for Eiji to continue, but he didn't. Eiji sounded as if he rolled over and was then still again.
Setsu closed his eyes and pulled his cover up. His eyes closed over what seemed like a second but his eyes opened two hours later. This time he jumped out of bed. He couldn't hear Eiji breath like he normally did.
"Eiji, you okay?" Setsu asked, shaking his brother's shoulder. There was no response. He shook Eiji again and still no response. Setsu really could not hear or feel a single breath. Eiji's skin was cold to touch.
Setsu turned on the light, taking a look at Eiji's pale face and blue lips. It suddenly became clear: Eiji was dead.
Setsu slammed open his door and banged on the walls as he ran down the stairs. It was quite a racket. Hige was disturbed by the sound and was barking loudly.
"What's going on?" Loud voices asked as they emerged from their rooms.
"Setsu! Get back to bed," his grandfather sighed.
Setsu held the phone in his hand as he began to choke. Tears were starting, his fears so strong he couldn't help but cry. "Eiji… he's-"
Shou was in Eiji and Setsu's room in seconds. Setsu's words were true. "Call an ambulance already!" Shou shouted, gently manoeuvring Eiji from his bed. Eiji was completely limp and freezing cold. The life that previously filled his face was gone.
A few minutes passed and the ambulance arrived. They looked very grave. "We're so sorry, but he's long gone. He's probably been dead for an hour or so."
"Can't you do anything?" The Kikumaru mother asked.
The paramedics shook their heads. "There is nothing we can do to bring back your son."
-Nine Hundred and Four Paper Cranes-
Dr Kobayashi answered his phone. He was about to leave for the hospital when they called him. "Hello? Dr Kobayashi speaking." The mood suddenly dropped. "I see. Thank you. I'm leaving now."
Nurse Kobayashi looked at her husband carefully. "What happened?" she asked, deciphering his expression with ease.
Dr Kobayashi sighed. "Eiji-kun died overnight," he said quietly. He had been Eiji's doctor for almost ten years. Slowly, the stubborn red head had grown on him.
"Do they know what happened yet?" Nurse Kobayashi asked. Her husband shook his head.
"They think his lung or throat collapsed. Either that or his heart had stopped beating," he breathed.
"He really died?" Rika asked, gripping onto the doorway.
Dr Kobayashi nodded. "Rika, he did. I'm sorry."
Rika took a deep breath. "I'm going to visit Fuji-kun," she said, tying up her hair rather quickly.
Nurse Kobayashi sighed. "Rika, you'll see him at school. Just wait and you can come with me." The front door shut and Nurse Kobayashi sighed.
-Nine Hundred and Seventeen Paper Cranes-
Fuji opened the door, rather surprised to see Rika of all people there. Fuji had decided to be neutral of feelings toward Rika after all people had done for her. Rika was overly-forgiving; Fuji often joked about her forgiving a murderer as he killed her or a thief as he stole a prized possession and never gave it back.
He couldn't see her face, her hair completely masking her expression as her head hung low. Fuji gently held her chin and lifted her head. She was crying. "Kobayashi-chan, what happened?"
Rika wiped her eyes. "Eiji… he died during the night."
Fuji froze. "He's dead?" he asked.
Rika nodded as she began to cry again. She tried to hold them back as she stepped up and leaned gently on Fuji's chest. Normally she would be embarrassed but she was also in hysterical tears.
"Shou won't stop calling me I told him that I'm busy tonight," Yumiko comment. "Syuusuke, who is this?"
Fuji snapped back to reality. "Ah, neechan, this is Kobayashi Rika, Eiji's girlfriend."
Yumiko looked at the teen girl. "She's kinda cute. Eiji's very lucky," she smiled. "Invite her in."
As Fuji gently pulled away, Yumiko caught a glance of Rika's face, tears gently soaking them through. "Eiji died overnight, neechan. That's why she's here," Fuji explained.
Yumiko suddenly realised why Shou was continuously calling her. She felt so selfish. She had only thought of herself. "Come in, come in. Sit down and I'll get you some tea."
-Nine Hundred and Thirty Two paper Cranes-
It was certainly an odd sightseeing Rika and Fuji near each other. Everyone was well aware that the only reason the pair even talked to each other was because of Eiji. Fuji was just not the type of person to get along with an overly-forgiving, nervous person. It seemed Rika couldn't speak confidently unless they were close friends; something she and Fuji definitely were not and Fuji wouldn't go out of his way to get close to someone who couldn't speak with him.
"Fuji-kun, Kobayashi-san, it's nice to see you both getting along today," Nakamura-sensei smiled.
Fuji nodded and Rika blushed a little. She turned up at his house and taken advantage of their hospitality. She was the only one crying while those who had known Eiji for much longer than she had held back tears.
"Thank you," Fuji smiled as he looked at Rika. "Let's go, Kobayashi-chan."
Rika nodded, following almost silently. "Fuji-kun," she almost whispered. "Why are you being so kind to me? I know you don't like me."
Fuji opened his eyes. "Because it's easier not having to think about what you're saying. Until the news about Eiji is announced, I'm afraid I might say something without thinking."
Rika nodded. She should have figured that out. It was convenient for him so it had to happen. "I… I see," she whispered. The thought of Eiji sparked tears again.
Fuji was confused. Girls were strange creatures. "Did I say something wrong?" he asked.
"Not at all," Rika choked out. "I don't think I'll make it through class today."
Fuji pulled Rika in closer. He didn't like seeing girls cry and had been taught by his mother and sister to always be nice and help a crying girl. If his father intervened… well, he didn't. His father knew better than to try. "It'll be okay," he repeated from memory of how to comfort someone. "You can get through this."
-Nine Hundred and Sixty One Paper Cranes-
Rika waited patiently for Fuji after tennis practice. Eiji's death still hadn't been announced. The school had no idea that he had died.
"Rika," Nurse Kobayashi said. "Go home. Yumiko-san is going to pick up Fuji-kun, I'm sure of it."
Rika shook her head. "I'm okay," she said. "Why am I the only person crying?"
Her mother sat down next to her. "Eiji-kun's family are all crying, Rika. But your father, Fuji-kun and I have been holding back tears for a while. Fuji-kun has to lie to his team and we, your father and I, have to be professional. You're free to cry without worrying. Could you imagine Fuji-kun crying? It'd ruin his reputation too."
Rika nodded. "So I'm not the only one who wants to cry?"
Nurse Kobayashi shook her head. "Later, we can cry together, okay?"
Rika nodded as her mother stood up, dusted off her clothes and left. Shortly after, the tennis team slowly came passed. "Ah, Rika-san," Oishi smiled. "Do you know where Eiji is today?"
Rika shook her head. "I don't know, sorry," she lied.
Oishi nodded. "Take care!" he dismissed as he left. The others had continued walking anyway.
Rika held back tears until she couldn't see anyone else. Fuji was nowhere to be seen. "Ah, Tezuka-kun!" she said as she quickly wiped her eyes.
Tezuka stopped. "Is something the matter, Kobayashi-san?"
Rika shook her head. "No. It's okay. Have you seen Fuji-kun?"
Tezuka was in thought for a moment. "I think he's still in the change rooms."
"Th-thank you, Tezuka-kun," she said, her voice beginning to waver again.
Tezuka, if it were possible, frowned. "What happened to Eiji, Kobayashi-san?" he asked.
"What? No-nothing," she said defensively. Her voice cracked. She knew that everything became clear to Tezuka.
"Is he alright?" Tezuka asked. He knew he had gotten his guess right by her answer. Eiji was his teammate and Tezuka was captain – he should know exactly what is going on with the members of his team so he could deal with it the right way.
"He… he died. He's been sick for a long time and… he's finally not in any pain," she began to sob.
Tezuka seemed calm as per usual. "I see. Well then, please accept my condolences. If you see his family, please pa-" Tezuka paused. "Does Fuji know?"
Rika had never seen Tezuka like this. "Y-yes. He found out this morning when I went to his house. Why-?"
"Come with me," Tezuka said as he offered his hand. Rika took it as Tezuka walked briskly to the change rooms. Tezuka was speeding up until they were running. He was well aware holding onto Rika was slowing himself down, but he wanted her to come along. He didn't share the same bond with Eiji as Rika and Fuji did.
The change rooms were silent. They could hear the running water in the showers through the walls. Tezuka let go of Rika's hand as he grabbed a towel. "Wait here."
Tezuka opened the door to hear Rika behind him. "My parents both work in a hospital. I've seen more than you think. I've seen blood covered organs," Rika explained. "I can handle a fourteen year old."
Tezuka nodded. "Fuji, are you in here?" There was still one shower running and the sound of choked sobs.
Fuji sat, still in his tennis uniform, under the running shower, eyes open and knees curled up into his chest. He was soaked through as his bottom lip bled from bitting it so hard to restrain his tears.
"Fuji," Tezuka sighed with mild relief as he turned off the tap and wrapped Fuji in the towel. The water had been cold; Fuji was shivering.
"It's okay," Rika said with surprising confidence in her voice. "It's okay now, I promise."
Tezuka looked at her. He had always known her as the shy girl in class 3-6. She didn't speak much, yet alone confidently.
They helped Fuji to his feet and helped him out of the showers into the change rooms. Gently, while Tezuka held him up, Rika changed his clothes. It was a time of seriousness, so all immature thoughts were gone from her head.
"Fuji-kun, it's alright now. We're here for you," she continued to say as she took the towel and dried his dripping hair.
"Tezuka-kun, he has a fever," Rika said with slight alarm. Sitting under freezing cold water in his clothes was the worst idea Fuji could have had.
Tezuka checked Fuji's temperature against his own. It wasn't too high, but certainly was more than usual. "We'll get Fuji-san to take him to see a doctor later. For now, he needs to get home."
-Nine Hundred and Seventy Five Paper Cranes-
"Good morning class," Nakamura-sensei greeted as he stood up the front of the class. The class greeted him back and were seated as he pulled out chalk from his bag. "Today, we're not doing geography as your timetable does say."
There were the sounds of chalk on the board continued as the students tried to read it. "Are Kobayashi-san and Fuji-kun here today?" Nakamura-sensei asked as he finished the kanji off.
There was no reply so he turned around, uncovering the rest of the kanji. "I see they are not. Well, I suppose that's a good thing."
"Memorial for Kikumaru Eiji's… funeral?" one girl spoke allowed. "Funeral? What are you talking about?"
Nakamura-sensei nodded. "The other night, Kikumaru-kun died. It seems that Kikumaru-kun was very ill for a very long time," he began to explain. "Your attitude toward Kikumaru-kun was atrocious. Every single one of you treated him like he was trash." Nakamura-sensei's voice was raising.
"But, sensei, we didn-"
"That doesn't matter. Every single one of you thought that Kikumaru-kun was lying while he was dying all by himself," Nakamura-sensei said. "I hope you all go out and apologise to those who stood up for Kikumaru-kun considering they were strong enough to stay by his side."
The class went quiet as the door opened slowly. "Sensei, sorry I'm late," Rika apologised quietly. Everyone was silent as their heads hung down in shame. "Did I miss something?" she asked as she noticed the class were all rather lifeless.
"I was just telling the class about how we're making up a memorial for Kikumaru-kun's funeral," Nakamura-sensei explained as Rika sat down in her seat. Rika nodded.
"So, what's an idea to celebrate the life of Kikumaru-kun?" Nakamura-sensei asked.
"It has to involve tennis," someone mentioned. Ideas eventually flowed from the class, Rika unable to even open her mouth. For the class to be this compassionate for Eiji… Nakamura-sensei had to have said something.
Rika was in shock. The unison of her class had been something she hadn't seen in a very long time.
-Nine Hundred and Ninety One Paper Cranes-
"How do you explain 'Kikumaru Eiji'? Well, to start, he was a relative, younger brother, son, grandson, nephew, cousin, friend, acquaintance and inspiring to many. To Rika, a lover and to me… Eiji was my best friend," Fuji began to speak, his hands curling around tightly. He looked up. "For him, I'd do anything. I did anything I could, but sometimes it was what I thought was best and really wasn't that way at all. I made assumptions and get very protective of Eiji. On more than one occasion, I got very carried away." Fuji chuckled a little. "I'm very sorry again, Rika-chan."
"Eiji was optimistic to most. He didn't let anything bring him down when things got hard. The ability to fall in his struggles but then rise again – it's to be admired. He cared strongly for his friends and family, as few as they became over time. He was loyal and out to protect everyone from the pain he was going through. His face perfectly masked his misfortune to the point I forgot just how unwell he was on many occasions."
Fuji took a deep breath. "The thing most people didn't realise about Eiji is just how much he hid from those he protected. Eiji, without the support of his family and friends, would have given up. He often considered it, but he knew he had to do it. Tennis was his dream, as everyone who met him knew. Every time he was told he was going to die before he got to Nationals, he would deny it, but as time went on, he was trying to convince himself that he wasn't going to die, rather than everyone else."
If I were to picture where Eiji was happiest, he would be on a tennis court. He lived to play in the National Tournament to become the number-one middle school doubles pair in Japan with Oishi Syuuichirou. He had said if he lived just to play that match, he could die completely fulfilled. I laughed and asked about his other dreams. He simply replied, 'I've come this far to be in that match. Every second after that match is a gift.' Eiji matured much faster than any of us. To accept that he was going to die – not enough people gave him credit for his maturity."
Eiji was fourteen, turning fifteen this November. He loved his family, his friends, and most of all, Rika who supported him when I couldn't. I must admit, I was a little jealous that she could help him for longer than I could."
'Eiji' is a name of a true fighter – a winner – who should be admired. Eiji cannot be described in just words. No, Eiji was and is more than that," Fuji concluded, taking a deep breath and looking around at everyone. He could see everyone in the room staring at him at that exact moment; his eyes open and yet soft, not sharp like they usually were when they were open.
"Thank you, Fuji-kun," Shou said as he put one hand on his shoulder. "Now we have Eiji's class, 3-6, which both Fuji-kun and Rika-san are a part of."
The presentation was beautiful. It carefully captured what Eiji really was to the class 3-6. The video had many pictures of Eiji with smiles on his face, some of the pictures with a much less seen side of Eiji. It was quite obvious that the artistic tensai had taken them. No one else had that skill and mastery of a camera to not be noticed by Eiji.
The students of the class who were part of the music club played an accompaniment while the students of the class recalled their strongest memory of Eiji.
"I remember, second day of school, some of the seniors were pulling on my hair and kicking me because I didn't have the right socks on. They immediately called me poor because they thought I couldn't afford the socks when I really did have them, I just put on my middle school socks by accident. Kikumaru-kun came and defended me. I thought he was strange at first, knowing how to fix my hair so it wasn't all frizzy and messy. Then I found out he had two older sisters who liked to dress him up because he was the littlest of the five. When his older brother picked him up, I just realised the bond their family had and I went home to my little sister and began to try and tell her stories. I didn't want to fight with her; I wanted to be as close as Kikumaru-kun was to his family."
Yumiko smiled at Shou. She gently nudged him as he folded his arms. "There's more," she said as she looked forward. Strung together were paper cranes, many of different colours, but a whole section of cranes in black and white.
"These are a combination of Eiji's and other paper cranes we have made with Eiji in mind. There are nine-hundred and four cranes by Eiji himself and the remaining cranes are by those who know Eiji. Each one is a picture that reminded them of Eiji and a message on the back that has been folded as well. There are nine-hundred and ninety-one cranes all connected together so far. We want the Kikumaru Family to take part in our chain so we can wish for Eiji to now be at peace and for Eiji to never fade from our memories," Nakamura-sensei said as the class held the chains out for everyone to see. "Kobayashi-san, Fuji-kun, can you please give the members of Kikumaru-kun's family some paper and a pen?"
Fuji and Rika nodded, handing the pieces of paper to the family members. Each had a different portrait of the Kikumaru family. There were tears in the room while the members of the Kikumaru family wrote messages on the back and carefully folded their cranes.
"Shou, wait," Yumiko said just as Shou was starting to fold his crane. Shou stopped as he looked at Yumiko. "I forgot to write something on mine. Do you mind if I?"
Shou handed Yumiko his crane as she quickly scribbled a note down on the bottom of the piece of paper then handed it back. Shou read it and he looked at Yumiko. "What's this?"
Yumiko smiled. "I'll explain later. Quick, quick," she said and Shou folded up the crane. He handed it back to Fuji. Fuji gave his sister a look as she poked out her tongue at her brother. It seemed Fuji got it more than Shou did.
The service concluded and Shou stood up the front again. His voice was wavering a little, but he held on for as long as he could. "We're so thankful, everyone. I've been so afraid of what would happen to Eiji after he died ever since the day we found out – I was seventeen years old at the time and was constantly told I shouldn't worry about what might happen but what is happening. I'm no longer afraid because I know he'll live on inside of all of us. Thank you for everything!" Shou bowed, tears beginning to well up in the corners of his eyes.
Slowly, the room began to move. There were a lot of tears around the room. Shou wiped his eyes as Yumiko wrapped her arms around him. Fuji wasn't lying when he said they had known each other for a long time. Yumiko had started being tutored by Shou in her first year of middle school. That was about eleven years ago. He had continued to tutor her all the way through to the end of high school. They never stopped speaking to each other in all those years.
"Come on. Eiji wouldn't like to see you cry, would he?" Yumiko said. Shou shook his head.
Shou wiped his eyes again and took a deep breath. He'd stop crying now. "What did you mean on the bottom of the crane?"
Yumiko smiled. "Saa… who knows."
Fuji stepped up to Rika, wiping the tears from her face. "You look better with a smile, Rika-chan," he smiled.
"Since when did you decide to call me 'Rika-chan', Fuji-kun?" she asked with a small laugh.
Fuji nodded. "That's true," he chuckled. "I don't know. Since I think Eiji would like it if we get along."
Rika chuckled. "I think he knew we were always going to get along some day," she said with a smile. Since Eiji had died and they had spent more time with each other, they had become more comfortable with each other. Somehow, the crying had only brought them even closer.
Fuji took Rika's hand as they looked at the pictures of Eiji still playing as a sign of comfort. They would do their best not to cry as they said their final goodbyes to the Eiji of that world. They would always thank Eiji for being around. Because Eiji had given them a true friend they never realised they had and Eiji had shown them that in the darkest times, there was still hope for the future.
Eiji would never be forgotten.
-One Thousand Paper Cranes-
(A.N:Please review! The Epilogue sort of chapter will be up tomorrow!)