The Liar and The Patient

Epilogue

"Here we are."

"Thank you, driver-san!"

Nishikata stood in front of the bus sign with his hands on Natsu's wheelchair as the bus drove away. He blanked out looking into the distance. It was later in the after when they arrived. The orange autumn leaves blended seamlessly into the burning skyline, that was slowly taken over by the night. His eyes traced a pair of sparrows that flew side by side, eventually perching on a tree branch in the distance.

"Is there anything wrong?" Natsu turned around and asked with a slight frown. "Are you nervous?" She was wearing the sailor style uniform of Shodoshima junior high as they both had just got off of school with her hair tied into a single ponytail on the back as opposed to the two strains on her shoulders, giving her a more lively look. She also had a thin blanket over her legs, as the weather was getting gradually colder.

"It's like the sixth time we visit her, why would I be nervous?" Nishikata let out an awkward chuckle.

"Because you were nervous every single time." Natsu grinned with a hint of playfulness.

"Then why didn't you mention it before?" Nishikata gave her a confused frown.

"It's more obvious today, that's all." Natsu replied as her smile became more gentle. "Let's go, Takagi onee-san is waiting!"

"I don't like how you are getting better at reading me." Nishikata sighed as he began pushing the wheelchair.

"Maybe I would be on her level one day." Natsu said casually and turned her head back to the front.

"That's not gonna happen." Nishikata chuckled.

After a bit of walking, they arrived at the cemetery. It was the same cemetery they visited almost a year ago. The old, depressing graveyard filled with yellow sand went through quite the overhaul in the past eleven months. The place was much cleaner than before, with proper stone pavements, the removal of those random electric poles, and added slopes for handicaps to go to the elevated side of the cemetery. The two found their destination quickly, and were face to face with Takagi's family tomb. It was the same tombstone that he had stumbled across back when he accompanied Natsu on visiting Toutarou. Yet, unlike that time, her ashes were actually there. After pouring water on the stone, joining hands in prayer and offering the flowers, Nishikata took a step back and stared at it.

"Need some time with her?" Natsu asked after a few seconds of complete silence.

"Nah, it's ok." Nishikata jolted a little.

"I will go see Toutarou." Natsu proposed as she nudged at a tombstone not so far away.

Nishikata pursed his lips and thought for a good second. He took a look at the tombstone, then cast a glance at Natsu. The young girl seemed genuinely worried with her brows locked into a frown. "Sure," he said eventually, "be careful by yourself."

Natsu smiled knowingly and went away. After she had gone a fair distance, Nishikata got down on one knee.

"Hi, Takagi-san. I'm here to see you again." He said, "like I mentioned every month before, senior high school is so rough. But there's a lot of interesting stuff as well! Club has been a lot of fun too. Um... Oh! School festival is next week! My class is making a haunted house and I'm the prop team leader, so that's exciting..." He hesitated for a bit, then he swung his backpack to the front and opened the zipper. "Hey, remember this?" He said as and took a light yellow envelope from his backpack. "It's been six months already, can I open it now?"

No reply. Nishikata chuckled painfully and carefully opened the letter. Inside was a white note paper, vastly different from the first letter. He unfolded it. Beside the words themselves, evidence of rewrites and errors were scattered throughout as white-outs or even messy scribbles. It read as follow: