April 1, Courage Bridge, Nerima, Tokyo
The time was forty minutes past nine at night.
The stars above reflected the still water of the river beneath the Courage Bridge, a blanket of sparkling gems across the dark night sky. The reeds on the riverbanks swayed in the breeze, the fireflies beginning to float around the reeds, lighting the reeds up with little stars of their own, and a flock of sparrows fluttered over the river.
Kaori had not resurfaced yet.
Ten seconds had passed since she had been pushed into the water.
The woman whose bag was stolen, one of those rich people who lived in the good part of town, judging from her clothes, brushed past the stunned Kousei as she carried on, completely oblivious to the fact that a girl had just been shoved off a bridge for her handbag. The thief had already disappeared from sight, his words still ringing in the young man's head.
'Bastard.'
Kousei felt an uncharacteristic rage surge within his body, a primal anger from the most ancient part of his mind. He clenched his knuckles with such an effort that they turned white, and his face was, though tranquil, had the same tranquility that open waters had just before a storm hit.
For a moment, his mind was blank of all but these facts; that Kaori had been hurt, that the man who had done it was nearby, and that Kousei still had time to give chase. The urge to hurt him for laying a finger on the woman he loved, for even touching her, pulsed inside him.
Now that he had Kaori back, even for only a few hours, he would be damned if anyone tried to take her away again. He was only human, and no one would let their beloved come to harm. Even if he couldn't fight Death himself, right now he felt he could fight anyone else, anyone at all who tried to separate him and Kaori.
The events of the day before yesterday sprung to mind, but Kousei quashed those thoughts for now.
He'd lost Kaori once and was about to lose her a second time.
But Kousei Arima was not an angry man.
The anger passed, to be replaced with worry, and then rationality. Kaori hadn't come up yet. He was no medical expert, but he'd heard of cases where people were too stunned by the cold water they fell into by accident and then drowned without the help of bystanders. 'Cold water shock', they called it. It was entirely possible this had happened to her, which meant she was in danger of drowning.
If he was going to lose Kaori, at least he'd ensure he wouldn't lose her like this. Kousei needed to act quickly and carefully.
'Don't leave without saying goodbye again, Kaori. I won't allow it!'
He calmly placed his glasses in his pocket, before running to the side of the bridge he was closest to, grabbing Kaori's violin case on the way. The young man hurriedly slid down the slope as fast as he could, covering his shoes in dirt and mud as he placed the violin case on the ground near the river. Breathing in deeply, Kousei lowered himself into the water, wading in, resisting the urge to shudder as the water's chill ran through him. His breath sped up as he searched for Kaori, his hands searching for any sign of her, fumbling blindly around before-
Got you.
His hands clasped around Kaori's wrists.
With a grunt, Kousei hoisted her up towards the surface, tipping her head up to the air. Her eyes were shut, her lips slightly ajar, and her entire head was drenched, dripping with water. A chill of dread ran through his body, but he paid no heed to it.
'She can't be dead. Not yet. '
He dragged her back onto the riverbank, before flopping onto it himself, the effort of dragging her through the water significantly more difficult than lifting her on his back. His eyes were fixed on Kaori's unmoving face, wide and frantic, waiting for any sign of life, any sign that Kaori intended to live out her last two hours here and not leave him with no warning again, any sign she was still here.
Kousei feared the worst already. He didn't know CPR, he didn't know how to treat a drowning victim. The closest hospital was fifteen minutes away, but that might have been fifteen minutes too late. He fumbled for his phone, checking and praying he hadn't kept it where it might get wet, all the while praying, pleading, begging whoever would listen to keep Kaori with him.
'No. Please, no. You gave her three more hours, whoever you are who brought her back. Please, you can't let her leave yet!'
One second passed. Then two. Then three.
Then Kaori -mercifully, thankfully- gasped for breath, her eyes flying open. Her mouth swirled with water as she spat it out, descending into a violent coughing fit.
Her hair was soaked and dripping with water, she was feeling incredibly off, and she looked like a fish dragged from the sea, but Kousei had never been happier to see her in his life. He clambered over to her, helping her up and resting her against him as she continued coughing the water out of herself.
"I got you, Kaori!" he reassured her hurriedly as she sputtered out the last of the fluid, his relief plain in his voice. "I got you."
She breathed in and out heavily, trying to catch herself as she rested against him for a few minutes. The young woman peered up at him wordlessly, but her gratitude was clear.
After a while, Kaori weakly smiled at him.
"Thanks for saving me, Kousei," she uttered quietly. "Sorry about that."
"Never mind that, are you okay?" he inquired worriedly. "You almost drowned!"
"Please, dying was so one month ago for me," Kaori quipped. "That guy'll have to try harder than that if he wants to get rid of me."
Kousei looked horrified for a few seconds, as did the young woman, before the couple broke out into a fit of snorting and giggles.
This whole situation was absurd. A month ago, Kaori was dead and Kousei never dreamed he'd ever see her again; right now, he'd saved her from her latest brush with death and she was joking about it with two hours left. Only in one of those anime could something like this happen, so absurd was this situation.
"…I think I hurt my leg when I fell in," Kaori said, frowning as she wriggled her right leg and winced. "I can probably walk it, but…would you mind…..giving me a piggyback ride? Like old times?"
"I'll be your steed," Kousei replied, handing Kaori her violin. "Come on. We've got that duet to play. Can't let you leave again without doing one last duet, right?"
Kaori's eyes lit up, before nodding hurriedly, extending her hand upwards for Kousei.
"Yeah. One last duet. The swan song."
April 1, the Arima Residence, Nerima, Tokyo
It was half past ten at night by the time Kousei and Kaori arrived at his home, and forty minutes past ten by the time Kaori had cleaned herself up and Kousei changed into something dry.
The sound of water boiling filled Kousei's house as the young resident of the house opened a jar of hot cocoa for Kaori. A towel was wrapped around his other arm. Kaori herself was upstairs in the room where he kept the piano, dressed in a spare shirt of his; she didn't want to go back home to change for her parents' sake and in any case time was of the essence.
There were questions he needed to ask about this whole thing. Well, just one; all the others, he'd asked the first time she'd died.
How did you come back?
…..
Kaori sat down on the floor, leaning with her head on one of the piano legs, hugging her knees to herself as she faced the window looking into Tsubaki's room next door. The stars continued to shine in the sky above, lending a gentle light into the otherwise dark room, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sporadic dripping of water from her still-damp hair and the movements of Kousei downstairs in his kitchen.
She felt so tired, but a strange, vital energy carried her on. It was the last stretch, the literal eleventh hour. Where she had once miles to go before she slept, now she had one final mile, one final push, and now she would do it with Kousei at her side.
Kaori didn't want to go. If she was honest, she didn't want to leave so soon after coming back. She wanted to know everything about the man she'd fallen in love with; everything that she could possibly ever know (What anime do you like? Do you have any hobbies apart from the piano? Have you ever been abroad?). She wanted to spend an eternity with him; it was so utterly unfair, but then that was how the world was. It demanded compromise; you played with the hand you were dealt and that was that.
However, she didn't feel quite so sad about it. It was as if she'd made her peace with it now; this time, she could give Kousei a proper goodbye. Now, Kaori could go out as she wanted to; playing a duet with her idol, her friend, and for a few hours her lover. Now, she could let go of the last regret she had; her lie was exposed and gone and forgiven, and though Kousei and her parents would hurt from losing her twice, she had faith that they'd get over her.
'I know you guys can do it. You'll never forget me, but you'll leave me behind to keep going. I suppose….that's the best I can hope for.'
She smiled, facing the stars. It would be okay, Kaori felt, after she left. In the end, it would turn out good for everyone, with or without her. Kousei would move on, her parents would move on, but they'd still have their memories of her.
'I heard once that, as long as people still say your name, you're still alive, in a way. I suppose that's true. I hope it is.'
Kaori Miyazono would never die, not really; she would live as long as someone still remembered her. Long after her smile no longer graced her family home, long after her friends forgot the sound of her voice, as long as someone, somebody remembered the tale of the dying girl, the one who had brought light to so many, she would never truly die.
And Kaori was satisfied with that. It was the best she was going to get, after all.
For his sake, she wouldn't cry. For his sake, she'd smile until the very end.
"Your leg okay now?"
Kaori turned around as Kousei walked in, a tray of two mugs of hot cocoa in his hand. He carefully placed it on the floor next to her, before sitting next to her on the other side, taking his mug with him. He passed her the towel, which she took, drying her hair off into it with vigorous rubbing, before discarding it in a scrunched pile underneath the piano behind her. She carefully took the cocoa mug with both hands.
"I can move it without it hurting now, and I can stand and move around if I don't overdo it," she replied. "Thanks for letting me borrow that ointment you had, by the way."
"I usually keep it around for when my hands hurt from playing," he explained. "It helps to soothe the pain. The neighbors gave me some when they moved in."
"The Hondas sound like nice people," Kaori noted, taking a sip of the –extremely delicious and welcome- cocoa. "Maybe you should play for them one day. You know, show them your moves?"
"I will. Sometime," Kousei promised, a light smile on his lips. "Maybe I'll try my hand at writing a piece."
"Oh?" Kaori looked curious, a teasing look on her face. "Look at you being a composer. What'll you call it?"
"I think I'll call it…..Your Lie in April. It'll be inspired by you; just like I was your muse, you'll be mine this time."
"Your Lie in April?" Kaori snorted dismissively. "That sounds like a terrible title for something. Who'd think that was a good title?"
"It's a work in progress," Kousei retorted, before shrugging. "You're one to talk about imaginative titles."
"Oh?" the young woman lifted an eyebrow curiously.
"You just called me 'Friend A' all the time. Like that's any better."
"And what would you want me to call you? Boyfriend?"
Kousei blushed at the thought. Even at this moment, even knowing Kaori would die very soon, the idea of officially being together with her appealed to him somehow.
But then, it had even when he hadn't known she was sick. It remained even after he found out.
"….if I said yes, would you do it?"
Kaori paused briefly, her eyes a mix of confused, elated and annoyed.
She settled on a pleasant surprise.
"….I must have rubbed off on you, because you're pretty shameless now."
"You barged in without knocking. It's fair I just return the favor," Kousei replied calmly.
"…..so I suppose that's it," Kaori declared with finality. "You and I are…boyfriend and girlfriend."
Though the words seemed so immature, they nonetheless elicited some sort of emotion in her that she could only describe as catharsis, a sense of weight coming off of her. The final barrier between them and their relationship had been lifted.
At the very end, they could say they had been together.
"...but if you want me to say you took me out on a good first date, you have another thing coming," Kaori quickly followed up. "Having a terrible argument and then almost drowning would be turnoffs for any other girl, you know."
"…..if I wanted anyone except you, Kaori, you'd be the first to know."
Kaori paused.
"Whoever gets you after me…..I hope she's a great girl," she muttered, her elated tone calming down as the reality of her situation set in. "If it's Tsubaki, the Igawa girl, that one girl you were tutoring…..as long as they're good to you, that's all I want."
She laid eyes on the clock on the wall. It was eleven o'clock.
Kousei's own mood deflated.
"…..yes, I….suppose," he sighed, looking down. Kaori's impending death hung over both their heads like the sword of Damocles.
Still, at least he could say goodbye to her before she went, and that was infinitely better than what had happened last time.
The two of them remained silent for a few moments as they drank their hot cocoa, simply enjoying each other's presence and the warmth of the drink. It was a while before Kousei could come up with the courage to speak his mind.
"…..you know, there is one thing I had to ask," he started. "Do you mind?"
"Shoot away."
"….how did you actually come back?" Kousei inquired. "I know, it's probably weird, but…..how?"
Kaori exhaled deeply. She closed her eyes.
'I'll sound insane, but then…..then I promised that I'd make up for lying to him. He has to hear the truth now.'
"…listen," she implored, more for her own sake than his. "When…..when I was dead, I…..I heard your voice. That wasn't a lie, that part. You asked me to stop being dead, and I heard you. And…..someone showed up. And he asked me where I wanted to be."
"…..what did you say?" Kousei inquired, but in his heart, he already knew the answer.
"I…..I told him….I wanted to be with you," Kaori replied, her voice almost as quiet as a whisper, but her feelings very blatantly clear. "…so he gave me one last chance to fix everything before I went back forever. One day. One more day with you, so I could fix everything and go back with no regrets. That's all I asked for. One more day…..with you, Kousei. Midnight to midnight. He even cured me of my illness, because he thought it wouldn't be fair if he didn't."
Kousei fought the urge to cry. He was about to cry, about to lose Kaori again, about to lose her when they knew they loved each other.
For her sake, however, he had to be brave. For her sake, he had to hide how much he was hurting.
He could cry later. But Kaori needed him now.
"….let's…..get rid of that last regret, then," he offered, before placing his mug aside and standing up. He offered Kaori his hand, which she gladly took. "You ready to perform that duet? I think I have an idea of what we'll play."
"Sure," she nodded. "What's on your mind?"
He went over to his shelf, searching through it for a moment, before producing a thin book that Kaori recognized on sight.
Liebesfreud. Love's Joy.
Kaori cocked her eyebrow for the umpteenth time that day.
"Don't get all corny on me now, Kousei," she chided him.
"….we could play another-"
"I'm kidding," she teased him. "Come on. Let's do it. One last duet."
That night in the Arima residence, Kaori and Kousei made beautiful music.
For only the second time, the two played for an audience; an audience of cicadas, fireflies and sparrows, outside Kousei's window. They played to their hearts' content, played their feelings out, playing until the piece belonged to them and nobody else. The piece once belonged to Fritz Kreisler; it was, in that moment, Kousei Arima's and Kaori Miyazono's piece, but rather than fighting, it seemed a peaceful surrender, the piece fitting to them rather than being forced to fit.
Like that day on stage, they played in perfect harmony. Unlike that day on stage, it was so totally, utterly real.
And in that moment, they expressed their feelings for one another, a bond that could not be severed even by death.
In that moment, though the song was finite, the emotion in it would last a lifetime.
…..
The time was fifty-five minutes past eleven.
Five minutes remained before the cosmic deadline, before Kaori was due to return to the world of the dead.
Kaori sat back down, facing the window, and Kousei sat next to her.
"…..that was...perfect," she uttered, smiling tiredly at her partner. "…..thank you, Kousei. That's…..that's been my dream."
"I'm glad to have helped fulfill it, Kaori," he answered back with his own smile. "…I'll be here until you go."
Kaori exhaled deeply, before looking back towards the window, her eyes on the stars above.
"…..you know, as ways to go, well, go….this isn't bad," she mused wistfully. "The last thing I see are the most beautiful stars, I've played a duet with my idol, and I get to be with the man I love the most. What better could I hope for than that?"
She paused.
(The clock ticked over to eleven fifty-six.)
"Wait. Actually, Kousei….there's one more thing I need to do. One last thing, then I can go with truly no regrets."
"Huh?" the young man seemed confused, tilting his head at her. "What thin-"
He was interrupted as Kaori closed her eyes and pressed her lips onto his.
She tasted of salt and sweetness and desperation and he couldn't imagine anyone else kissing him like she was doing right now.
He resisted for the briefest of moments, before returning the kiss in kind, closing his own eyes and supporting her with his arms.
In that moment, time seemed to slow for them, seemed to give the couple one last opportunity to show their love for one another, to give them one chance at a goodbye that would satisfy them before separating them forever.
(The clock ticked over to eleven fifty-seven.)
It was a brief kiss, by most standards of passionate, romantic kisses, and Kaori was the first to pull back, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
"…..kissing you….wasn't like I'd imagined it'd be," she remarked. "….your lips are all chapped, and too hot."
It was Kousei's turn to lift an eyebrow. "…..seriously?"
"…..I didn't say I didn't….like it."
(The clock ticked over to eleven fifty-eight.)
"….I love you, Kousei," she quietly uttered, her eyes beginning to water. She had so little time left, so she had to get it out quickly. "I love you, I love you, I love you from now until the end of time! Do you understand me?"
Kousei was beginning to cry too, but he tried to hold it back, for his sake, for Kaori's sake.
"I love you too, Kaori! I love you, and I wish you wouldn't leave me! I love you!"
"I'll look for you in Heaven! No matter what, we'll be together then! Promise me, Kousei!"
She hugged him tightly, and the young man could do nothing –saw fit only to- hug her back, hold her tightly and never let her go.
(The clock ticked over to eleven fifty-nine.)
"I…."
(The clock ticked over….)
"…..I promise, Kaori."
(….to twelve midnight.)
"I promise I'll love you forever."
April 2, the Arima Residence, Nerima, Tokyo
It was a new day.
The cicadas were still chirping, the fireflies still dancing about in the cold light of the stars. Nerima remained silent and asleep, the last remnants of Kaori and Kousei's duet echoing out in the streets before fading into the four winds.
The world was asleep, except for Kousei Arima, who remained awake.
It was one minute past twelve midnight.
And Kaori Miyazono was not dead.
(The clock ticked over to two minutes past twelve midnight.)
Kaori remained in Kousei's arms, holding him tightly, closing her eyes tightly as if she expected something painful, terrible, horrible to happen.
(The clock ticked over to three minutes past twelve midnight.)
Slowly, surely, Kaori realized nothing was happening to her.
(The clock ticked over to ten minutes past twelve midnight.)
Finally, she relinquished Kousei from her death-grip of a hug, simply staring at Kousei with wide eyes.
(The clock ticked over to thirty minutes past twelve midnight.)
It took thirty minutes for Kaori to realize that she wasn't dying; nobody was coming, no horrible or peaceful or any other death was coming for her.
She was alive.
Kousei blinked, looking around, as if fully expecting anything to come out to take Kaori away from him, holding her close in what he knew full well would be a futile attempt to protect her; if Kaori was right, then whatever had brought her back to him was a supernatural force far beyond his already limited capability to protect her.
"Kaori….I thought you said you had….until midnight…." he inquired with a cautious hope.
She nodded slowly, before whispering. "I…..do you think whoever was going to get me….forgot?"
"…..maybe he did," he concluded. "...this means you aren't dying anymore, Kaori. Right?"
Kaori looked up at Kousei suddenly, then looked down at herself.
Her illness was cured. Death was not coming for her; at least, not yet.
Kaori was free.
She could live as she wanted.
She wasn't living on borrowed time anymore.
And the tears began to flow as she hugged Kousei tightly, sobbing and crying, letting out all the tears she had been holding back.
"I'm alive," she uttered in relief, tears streaming down her cheeks onto his shirt. "I'm alive, Kousei! I'm alive. I'm…..I'm staying here, with you. I'm not sick, I'm not going to die! I can be with you!"
He simply received her, failing to fight his own tears as he hugged Kaori to himself, holding her close, hoping against hope that nothing would happen to her.
'Did someone hear me out there? Did I reach you? It doesn't matter. As long as Kaori is with me, it doesn't matter.'
Kaori was going to live.
She wasn't going anywhere.
She was here to stay with him and everybody else.
After all that suffering, they had gotten the happy ending they had so wanted.
….
Outside….
The streets were abandoned, except for a sparrow that perched beneath a lamppost. It lurched towards the lamppost, jumping and leaping behind it….
….and a gray-eyed man emerged, with platinum blonde, almost white hair, clad in gray robes, with eyes that seemed to pierce intensely into one's very soul.
"I suppose you didn't pay attention to me when I told you who I was, Miss Miyazono," he mused wistfully, his eyes on the window, watching Kaori and Kousei embrace each other in relief. "I am the ferryman, not the executioner. To kill you would have been beyond my purview; all humans will die, so why should I bother hastening the process? Whether I have you now, or in a hundred years, doesn't matter to me."
He seemed exasperated, but in the way of an old man, seeing the young making mistakes that could only be rectified by experience.
"In any case, I hope I do not see you and Mister Arima for another…eighty years. That…..would be a shame."
He sighed as he extended a bony finger, watching a sparrow fluttered towards it, settling on it.
"…perhaps it was a cruel trick, making you believe that you had only a day to settle things," he continued to muse to nobody. "After all, I never once said I was coming to collect you after you were finished. Perhaps that was cruel, but maybe you might have run away or wasted time, had I let you know what was actually going to happen to you."
He fed the sparrow a tiny worm, smiling at the bird before moving his finger, waving it away.
"…..but even crueler would have been to let you live, should you have had failed to reconcile with Mister Arima. To see your life's work, the thing that drove you for years, go down in flames…that would be the cruelest mercy of them all to let you live afterwards, to live so long with nothing but the guilt and pain of losing fourteen years of your life for nothing."
The gray-eyed man's mouth curled into a smile.
"…..but you did it. You reconciled with Mister Arima. You did what I thought you wouldn't do. You strengthened what you had, and made it better. And so this is a reward rather than punishment."
He closed his eyes briefly, laughing to himself, resembling a bird's chirping more than a human's laugh.
"You really were a woman worth mourning. A unique woman. Mister Arima was right all along."
A mischievous glint shimmered in his eyes.
"Do think of this as my early wedding present, Miss Miyazono and think of it as the greatest present of them all. After all….."
He looked up at the stars, enjoying the view for a few seconds. He rarely ever got to see the sky like this; it was truly beautiful, and brought a hearty smile from his very being when he saw such a rare sky.
"….there's no better present than a future."
Turning around, the gray-eyed man smiled one last time at Kaori and Kousei, the two unaware of his presence, before walking off into the dark night, becoming as imperceptible as the shadows around him.
…..
The two remained wrapped in each other's arms for a long while, until the clock ticked over to one, sobbing and crying to make up for a day, a week, a year of emotions held deep within.
Kaori was going to live. Whether she'd be taken next week or in a hundred years, she was going to live.
The tears that fell that night were not of sadness, like those she'd shed a day ago in her own home. They were those of joy, of relief, of elation.
It was a long while before Kousei was fully aware of his surroundings again, and he noticed that Kaori had gone limp against him. A dreadful chill ran through his spine as he checked his lover, pulling her up to see her face, see if she'd left him suddenly and they'd celebrated too soon.
He sighed in relief.
She had just fallen asleep against him. Her breathing was slow but steady, and a peaceful look was on her face as she slept, wandering off into the realm of dreams. Her arms, however, were still tightly wrapped around Kousei's body; even unconscious, she held on to him for dear life.
Just as she had looked that day in the music room, she was absolutely beautiful.
Kousei flashed a light smile at the sight.
"You must have been awake the whole day, huh," he noted, remembering just how long she'd been "given" to fix everything. "…..you can stay the night, then. I don't think your parents would appreciate me carrying out outside at this time of night."
He closed his eyes, sighing. He lightly placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"And this day's been pretty stressful for me too. I think I'll….need a rest now, too."
'Please, stay at my side, Kaori. I'll always be at yours, no matter what.'
April 2, the Sawabe Residence, Nerima, Tokyo…..
Tsubaki Sawabe had always thought herself a strong person.
She wasn't the smartest person in school, but she worked hard to keep up. She needed to, especially considering she needed to get into that one school that was close to that prestigious music school Kousei wanted to go to, to stay at his side and keep him in good spirits. In sports and in academics, she worked her hardest to be at her best.
Kaori's death had hit her very hard. Yes, she was Kaori's rival for Kousei's heart, and yes, she was infinitely jealous of her ability to steal his heart so effortlessly (she'd known him so long and yet he only had eyes for Kaori, how was that any fair), but she was also Kaori's friend, and losing her was one of the worst things that could ever happen. Her death had hit them all hard. Tsubaki was pretty sure even Watari was feeling it, and he was Watari, that bastion of manly confidence.
She was too vibrant, too cheerful, too sweet to leave the world so soon.
Tsubaki had wanted Kaori out of the way to have Kousei for herself. She just hadn't wanted Kaori to die. She still felt guilty about it now; all that time, she hadn't known just how grave her sickness was.
If I'd known, Kaori, I….I wouldn't have gotten in your way. You deserved that much.
Kousei had taken it even harder than either of them had, and so Watari and Tsubaki had made an unsaid oath to pull Kousei through his grief, even as they worked through their own. For Watari, it was because he was a good man; Tsubaki felt he had been a better friend, even more than her.
For Tsubaki, it was also about making up for what she'd done; all the times she'd tried to discourage Kousei from being with Kaori, all those times she'd wished Kaori would go away, all those times she'd given in to her jealousy. She couldn't make it up to Kaori, so she'd throw herself into making sure Kousei would pull through. In some way, she'd declared herself the inheritor of Kaori's will, to carry on her last wish and make Kousei return to the world he might have abandoned once more.
How sad I feel doesn't matter right now. I've got to pull through this, because everyone's counting on me.
She had to be strong, for herself and Kousei. She had to be the strong one; her grief, her guilt, her loneliness had to be quashed. In any case, it would all be worth it if everyone made it through in one piece.
So Tsubaki thought of herself as a strong person, refusing to cave into her grief and refusing to surrender to it so easily. She didn't think of herself as one of those people who saw the dead everywhere they looked; anyway, ghosts didn't exist, so why would Kaori haunt her?
Which is why when she saw Kaori, sleeping in Kousei's lap, in Kousei's shirt (for the second time), in Kousei's house, from the window of her room as Tsubaki went in, dropping her bag of clothes and baseball gear on her bed, she was utterly and totally shocked.
Tsubaki blinked once. Then twice. Then thrice. She had to be sure she wasn't dreaming. This had to be unreal.
Kaori remained in that exact position no matter how many blinks Tsubaki made.
No amount of blinking would make this illusion of Kaori go away.
It has to be some kind of hallucination, right? That's not Kaori. That can't be. Right? She's dead. The dead don't just come back like that!
Tsubaki couldn't quite figure out what she was feeling; happy that her deceased best friend was alive again, irritated at the fact she was currently sleeping in Kousei's lap, amazed at how Kaori had somehow resurrected from the dead, irritated at the fact that she was currently sleeping in Kousei's lap, guilty that she was feeling not completely happy that Kaori was alive, or irritated at the fact that she was currently sleeping in Kousei's lap.
She settled for "all of the above".
"WHAT?!" Tsubaki yelped loudly, so loudly her voice could be heard, so loudly in fact that Kaori's eyes slowly fluttered open next door. The blonde girl rubbed her eyes blearily, looking for the source of the noise that had woken her up, before her eyes settled on Tsubaki, whose wide-eyed expression could be seen straight through Kousei's window.
The two stared at each other for a brief moment.
Then Tsubaki whirled around, sprinting out of her room, running downstairs towards the front door. She had to get to the bottom of this.
…..
Kousei awoke to the sounds of loud knocking on his door.
He blinked, rubbing his own eyes as he stretched his arms, yawning. The sun was streaming through the window, the sounds of cicadas chirping could be heard through the window, and the air was warm.
And Kaori was still here.
She was already standing up, looking down at him with a worried look. Kousei immediately sprung to full attention at that.
"Morning, Kaori," he uttered out sleepily. "Is….something wrong? Who's that banging on the door?"
"…..that's Tsubaki," she explained, frowning. "You know how you said Tsubaki went out of town yesterday?"
"Yeah?"
"I think she came back. And I think she wants an explanation about…..well, me."
Kousei sighed. He'd hoped to break the news to Tsubaki and Watari less suddenly, and without whatever Tsubaki was liable to do once she found out.
"What do we tell her?" the young man inquired. "How do we explain, well, you?"
Kaori smiled.
"The truth, of course."
…..
Later that morning, Tsubaki demanded an explanation to just about everything, so Kaori and Kousei gave her one; about how Death had resurrected Kaori to give her a second chance, about the meeting, about the argument they'd had, about reconciling hours afterward, everything.
Tsubaki, at first, had refused to believe them, but as she heard more and more, she realized she couldn't deny it, that it all made sense, that it was completely plausible. In fairness to Tsubaki, the dead didn't exactly return from their graves every day, so it was hardly fair to expect her to believe their story. She was, however, highly disappointed (though she pretended not to be) that Kousei and Kaori, in that time, had become a couple.
Later that afternoon, Watari came straight to Kousei's house, having heard the news from Tsubaki, and gave Kaori a great hug upon seeing her again. He was as happy as could be, and even happier once he heard the news of what had happened. He offered to take them all out to dinner –his treat- some time, to celebrate Kaori being back with them. It was an offer they couldn't refuse.
Later that night, the Miyazono parents visited Kousei's house, in order to see if he was okay, knowing of Kaori's plan from the beginning. Their surprise was unmatched when they found Kaori, alive and well, and all four members of the family were locked in a hug for a while. They insisted on bringing Kousei over for dinner; it was their treat, and he was like a son to them anyway.
The next few days were somewhat harrowing for Kaori, as she was worried she still might die. After a week passed, however, the fear went with those days, as she was almost, completely and utterly certain that Death was not coming for her.
Which meant she could focus on her future, both in music and with Kousei.
Later that week, she and Kousei had gone on a proper first date. It was to a nice Western restaurant. She'd felt nervous planning for it, getting ready, fussing over what to wear, but that had all faded away when she met up with Kousei there. It had gone smoothly, and they went on another date, and another, and another.
Their relationship had had its bumps and problems, but it was never anything they couldn't get over eventually with a bit of talking. If death and lies and cowardice couldn't stop Kaori and Kousei, then nothing else so petty could. They'd learned long ago their beloved was flawed; they'd resolved long ago that that wasn't enough to lose them forever.
Her resurrection had become something of an in-joke, as Kaori would often make jokes about being a zombie, even dressing up like one and joking about wanting to eat brains, except Kousei's, which she'd remark didn't exist, much to his chagrin. They once even took a picture of her posing by her gravestone; Kaori had insisted, and after all, who else could brag they took a selfie with their own grave?
Later that year, she'd worked hard to pass the admissions test to get into the same school as Kousei, and passed it she did, with flying colors. The instructor, for once, was very impressed with her talent, a breath of fresh wind for Kaori, who was usually used to being criticized for her unorthodox playing (not that Kaori cared particularly much about the criticism of some musical puritan).
They graduated top of their class; Tsubaki and Watari had attended the graduation ceremony too, to congratulate them, and Hiroko had as well, having seen the boy as her responsibility after Saki's death. The dinner afterward was a fond memory of theirs; probably because a drunken Tsubaki had, in front of just about everyone in the bar, proclaimed Ryota Watari to be her one and only, much to his utter confusion.
They hadn't gotten together after that, but Kaori had given them a few years.
The music world was abuzz as they went on recitals and tournaments, becoming well-known as a pair of musicians who played in perfect sync, whose opposing styles nonetheless combined to make a perfect whole somehow. The names of Miyazono and Arima both haunted the minds of competitors and enthralled them; when they took the stage, nobody else had a whisper of a chance of winning, but nobody cared about winning when they went on, and it seemed neither did they in the midst of their playing. Takeshi and Emi were the only ones who really did mind, though not by much; their idol, in their eyes, was at his peak when Kaori was around.
When they were twenty, Kousei had suddenly proposed to her, after one of their performances in Tokyo. He'd bought a nice ring, too; unsurprisingly, becoming nationally famous musicians was a profitable venture. He'd gotten down on his knee and everything, like a scene straight out of a movie. He wanted to make it official; he wanted to let Kaori know that he intended to be at her side, forever, as long as they lived.
And what else could Kaori say but "Yes?"
Ten years later…..
April 1, Kyoto, Japan
It was twelve midnight.
Kaori and Kousei were on a train heading back to Tokyo. Only a few businessmen were in the same car as them. It was one of those futuristic bullet trains that crossed cities in a matter of hours; a clean train, well-upholstered and all those bells and whistles. It was a fast train, too; they needed to get back into Tokyo in time to meet up with a couple tomorrow who wanted to talk to them about hiring them for an event for a meet-up of the former residents of the town of Itomori. Kousei had heard about that a few years back; it involved some comet or other crashing into town but miraculously killing nobody.
It would seem surprising, but considering his current good life was based on a miracle, he was inclined to believe it. So he agreed to their proposal.
Kaori was asleep, resting her head on Kousei's shoulder for the moment. They'd be back in an hour or so, but she decided she needed to get some rest. They'd had a stressful day, all things considered; but then performing for one of the largest audiences they'd ever had would be stressful, after all. She needed her rest, all things considered.
Stress was bad for pregnant women, the doctor had warned them.
She wasn't showing yet, but then again it had only been a few weeks. Kaori had already insisted on calling their child Haru, for the spring. It was a little corny, Kousei thought, but then he'd married a woman who quoted Peanuts like a holy book, so he wasn't unprepared for corniness. They were going to tell Haru that she –Kaori was sure she'd be a girl, even after he'd insisted it was too early to call- that she'd been brought by storks; the real story, that they'd gotten busy in the toilets after Kaori got too impatient to wait for the wedding night during their reception, was a story that only them and Tsubaki and Watari could ever know. For one, neither Mr. Miyazono nor Hiroko would probably be happy to find out about it.
Kousei and Kaori Arima, they'd been announced as when they'd performed. He'd liked the idea that he could call Kaori family legally now, not that they hadn't basically been since they were fourteen. Even the Miyazonos had treated him like a son long before he became their son for real, though Mr. Miyazono had always warned him off 'shenanigans' with his daughter; not that Kaori paid him any particular heed in that sense.
Kousei exhaled deeply. He still couldn't believe how much his life had changed because of Kaori.
Ten years ago, this life would have been unthinkable. The Kousei Arima of ten years ago wouldn't believe the Kousei Arima of the present, had he told him that he would be married to the woman of his dreams, with a child on the way, living the dream of being musicians.
That was because ten years ago, the woman of his dreams had died, passed away, gone beyond the world where nobody could reach her, and Kousei had believed it was impossible for anyone to ever be anything like Kaori was to him.
So the world answered by giving Kaori back to him.
Sometimes, at night, that realization would keep Kousei up long after Kaori had gone to sleep, the realization that all this was because Death had seen fit to give her a second chance at life. It was an once-in-a-lifetime chance, a chance that nobody else got. It was a chance that they'd both treasure and make the most of. Sometimes, he feared knowing what could have been, what should have been; a world where a miracle hadn't happened on April the first that year, and Kaori remained dead.
That was a world so alien and yet so close, and that was why he was so grateful for every continued second he could spend with Kaori.
The events of the day before he'd visited Kaori's grave flashed through his mind. As the years had gone on, Kousei had slowly become sure that that had had something to do with her resurrection. He didn't know how, and he didn't understand why, but he knew, deep down, it had something to do with her coming back. He kept it a secret, of course, from Kaori; though it wasn't as if either of them were strangers to odd events, he had no evidence that what had happened was related.
He silently thanked whatever deity was up there for granting his wish to be with Kaori.
"Mister Arima. We meet again."
His eyes snapped upwards.
A man with blonde, almost white hair sat in front of him in gray robes of indeterminate material. Those piercing gray eyes of his were something almost as unforgettable in Kousei's mind as Kaori's face.
"…..how did you find me?"
"I find everyone, eventually," he replied calmly. His gaze became directed towards the sleeping Mrs. Arima. "…I see you're happily married now."
"It was a bumpy road," Kousei confessed, still on his guard. "…but we managed. For each other."
"I see that," the gray-eyed man commented, a light smile on his lips. His gaze turned back to Kousei. "Well. In any case, I just came to see how you two were doing."
"…you brought Kaori back, didn't you?" Kousei cut him off, needing to know this.
The gray-eyed man lifted an eyebrow.
"…..I let her come back, Mister Arima," he corrected him gently. "She came back for you. Because of you, she wanted to return. If she hadn't had you, she would never have chosen to return. So don't direct your thanks to me."
He stood up, exhaling.
"Be grateful for the relationship you two share; it is strong, and I hope I never have to come between you a second time. I wish you…..and your child….the best."
Kousei held up a finger as if to tell him to wait, but he blinked, and the gray-eyed man was gone, as if he had never been there in the first place.
"…..Kousei…..how do you know him?"
The man turned to Kaori, who blearily opened her eyes, curious.
"…is he the one you saw, all those years ago? That's him?"
"…..he's the one who let me come back," Kaori confirmed, her curiosity piqued. "How did you two even meet?"
So now, I have to tell her. At least now I know he had something to do with it.
"I suppose I owe you an explanation, then," Kousei remarked. "It…..actually happened while you were dead. Ten years ago.
March 30th, to be precise."
Eurydice
Spring Anew
A/N: I'm still quite surprised you guys thought I would legitimately let Kaori stay dead. I mean, I DID tell you guys I wanted a happy ending for Kaori and Kousei. Kaori being dead precludes a happy ending on her part. I also DID sort of say I didn't want Kaori to be dead; as much as I hate and love the ending, I did feel she got a terrible deal out of the whole thing. I did as best as I could to really hint to you guys that Kaori was going to be just fine, short of outright saying 'Kaori won't die'. Still, if you guys really were fooled, I have to give it to myself for being damn good at messing with people's heads.
Anyway, this is effectively the end of Eurydice chronologically. The next chapter is a prologue, set before the story began, to wrap up one last loose thread that I've been hinting at since the beginning of the story and one that might explain why the title is what it is; what did Kousei do that convinced Death to resurrect Kaori? Any Greek mythology experts might already be able to hazard a guess based on the title.
So, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, criticisms, suggestions, reviews and thoughts, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!