꧁ LIFE and DEATH ꧂

REMEMBER

(Lovely art by AidaIro-sensei :) It's actually my lock screen background.) 

Shoutout to @-sunflower_rain- for being a fellow In The Heights fan! :D Also, thanks to @Mintywolfforever and @YashirotheGreat for spamming my poor mailbox with over 200 notifications in only a few hours. XD 

Warning: Prepare for angst! I'm going to do my very best to make you cry. >:) (Also, I didn't edit this so I could post it quicker. XD)

Enjoy!

The normal of Spring should have come already; the winter winds on their way to becoming summer breezes.

But no, she had come a month or so too early. The trees still cast dark shadows on the icy ground, and the slabs of stone that marked the ground remained freezing to the touch.

Nevertheless, she crouched, placing her hand on the gravestone, and wiped away the snow that covered the words scrawled across it.

Amane Yugi

An Amazing Brother, Son, and Friend

2002 - 2020

"It's been a crazy year," Nene confessed, lowering herself to her knees. She didn't care how cold it was–she would let herself freeze if she could see Amane again. "That's why I'm early, sorry. But I brought your favorite--donuts!" She produced the napkin-wrapped treat from inside of her coat. "Here." Nene laid it on the grave.

The dead, being dead, couldn't hear. Or taste. Or talk. Or listen. So Nene had never been sure why she came here.

She could pretend all she wanted that he was still here when she was younger.

Amane, at his house, doing homework when she was at home.

Amane, grabbing popcorn in the kitchen for movie night when she was in the living room.

Amane, just on the other side of the classroom wall when she was in Science.

Amane...

But he wasn't there. She could pretend all she liked, but he wasn't there.

And he never would be again.

"Amane..." Nene began to cry. "Did you really have to die? Why?!" She punched the grave before falling over and landing on her back.

Nene was suddenly sobbing, her body wracked with pain.

Phantom pains left by a phantom boy.

Her legs hurt, from his joking kisses on her ankles.

Her neck hurt, from the way he tucked his face under her hair.

And her arms hurt, from the way he held her hands that last time he saw .

Dead from COVID at age 18.

It was a long battle; he really had stuck out to the end. A month and a half in the hospital, all the treatments they had for him.

But he had gotten sick too early for vaccines or anything, really, that might]actually help him.

Nene's one gratifying memory of him in the hospital was the day before he died.

Amane had seemed so much better; the coughing and hacking were practically gone, and he had removed the equipment that usually pumped air into his lungs.

He was sitting up, eating breakfast, when Nene walked in.

"Yashiro!" he cheered, placing his food on the small table next to his cot. "Aww, didja come to visit me?"