Memories of Bloodstained White Roses - Classroom of the Elite

Chapter 3

Winter break had begun. Kiyotaka had judged that if he didn't love soon that this would be one of Kei's final months, so he had been trying to spend as much time as possible with her. Christmas was only a few days away, and of course they had planned to spend the holiday together. They would walk around the stores at Keyaki mall while the snow gently fell around them, covering the ground in a thick white blanket with footprints dotted about.

Kiyotaka sighed while thinking about the winter season. He didn't dislike it, actually thinking it was quite beautiful, but he had seen enough of white in his years. He wouldn't get to spend another summer with Kei, he wouldn't get to share his favorite season with her once again.

White roses. White snow. It was too sickeningly white. He couldn't bear the thought of letting her die in such a cold and heartless way such as this. His incapacity for love still haunted his everyday thoughts in a constant manner.

Others had started to notice the differences in Kei, her closest friends had almost figured out what was happening, but she begged Kiyotaka to help her cover it up. He disagreed with keeping it entirely a secret from them, especially if she was going to die soon, but he would respect her wishes until the very end. She deserved to be in control of her own destiny, he shouldn't be the one taking her future away.

On Christmas Eve, they spent the entire day together. They had breakfast together and stayed together until the late hours of the night. Kei had prepared her present for him beforehand, setting it in the corner of his room and waiting until the next day for the contents of it to be revealed.

They sat together and chatted for as long as they could think of topics to keep the flow of the conversation going. Some were random, others were more philosophical that turned into something humorous proceeding Kei's misunderstanding of the topic. It didn't matter what it was, they just enjoyed their time together talking. It was exactly because they knew that there was never a guarantee of a next time that they cherished the moment as much as possible.

Eventually the flow trailed into a comfortable silence. Just by gazing at each other's faces they could talk in ways that words could never convey. Kiyotaka leaned into her face and they shared a kiss. They didn't break away immediately, instead staying in the same state. Eventually, Kei had to turn away to cough up more petals, but afterwards she immediately embraced him once again.

"I'm really really happy that I get to spend Christmas with you," she whispered into his ear.

Kiyotaka was in a state of speechlessness. Her warmth and endless positivity even in the face of complete darkness, that was the most admirable trait she possessed. She was a ray of sunshine that peeked its way into his life that had never known the warmth of the sun. Who needed summer when he already had a part of it in the cold winter. He felt the corners of his mouth curve up into a smile without it being forced. A real, genuine smile. "I think... I think I feel happy too." She heard the change in his voice and backed away to get a look at his face. He was actually smiling, she couldn't believe how different it looked from all the fake ones.

"Wait, really?! That's amazing, Kiyotaka! You–you got to feel happy!" She was incredibly proud of him, but also gave herself a bit of credit for being able to break him out of his shell. She took a moment to savor the image of his smile into her mind. She took out her phone and got a picture of it, however it was a shame that it was too late to use the photo. "This means... it's not impossible for you to lov–" the end of her sentence was broken by coughing. When she looked at her hands there were still blood stained petals, they hadn't withered away yet. There was still time to go before he could love her, but they were getting close.