I'm happy it wasn't a lie
'I should have known better.'
'I could have stopped him.'
Those were the thoughts of Hoshino Aquamarine as he fell backwards, blood dripping from his stomach. There was so much of it.
If it weren't for those white roses perhaps he could have avoided the knife or more likely he could have kept it inside to reduce the bleeding, but all he could think about was that evening when her life drained away around him, when could feel her body get cold and her eyes lost all of its light while surrounded in a sea of blood and white roses.
It was a struggle to even remain conscious but he had to stay awake. The stranger ranted about something, he didn't have the energy to listen, he was just looking out for a name and whether he'd step inside.
A footstep.
'No! Stay away!'
'Why are her steps so loud all of a sudden?'
Luckily for him the stranger thought those footsteps meant something else and fled.
"AQUA!"
He heard her scream. Minutes, hours or seconds later, he really couldn't tell everything was quickly becoming a blur.
"AQUA NO! STAY WITH ME! KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!"
She kept screaming, begging and all he could do was stare up at her. She had taken her shirt off and was desperately trying to stop his bleeding. It was futile. He had already lost too much blood. He would perish before anyone else could arrive.
"I WAS MEANT TO PROTECT YOU! I WANTED TO SAVE YOU!"
She had probably been crying for a while now, but her tears only now reached his face. She was only here coincidentally, same as him, but he didn't mind. She made him feel normal. She made him forget about Gorou Amamiya. Allowed him to be silenced, even after he pushed her away again and again for his own selfish revenge.
"I'll be fine."
He said weakly.
"LIAR!"
That's right, he was.
Aqua was a liar. Just like her and just like her.
However, she was the one who saw through all of them. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much Gorou told him to, they just wouldn't work.
Her hand squeezed his. He remembered her last words. Ai's last words. Mama's last words. Even though she was dying, she sounded happy. He never figured out why.
As he looked up all he could see was her face. Tears and snot running down as her panic and desperation reached its peak.
"Akane. . ."
He remembered what he said to her. Every lie, every truth. How she didn't seem to believe her when he admitted to having had lustful thoughts about her. How could he not? Even now, she was nothing less than absolutely breathtaking.
There was one thing he still needed to tell her. Truth be told, a rarity for a liar like him, he was always scared to say it to her. What if it wasn't the truth? He didn't have that problem with anyone else. Just her. Just the girl who caught his attention with her deductions, with her mimic of Ai and her resolve to stay with him.
Perhaps she wasn't his star like Kana, but she didn't have to be. He didn't want her to be because…
"I love you."
His voice was barely as loud as a whisper, but she must have heard him. Her hands stopped what they were doing and just clung to his body.
'Now I get it. I'm so happy that I didn't lie. You were the same, weren't you… Mama?'
With a smile on his face and love in his eyes, he was glad the last thing he saw was her. It was such a beautiful thing to see.
"I love you."
He repeated, earnestly before he perished. In the arms of the one he wanted to protect, who wanted to protect him, save him from himself and kill him.
It was an end far too beautiful for an ugly liar like him. Far better than he deserved, for he hurt and disappointed her and everyone he cared about.
Only in death was the liar finally allowed to speak the truth.
