Just A Little More Time

Chapter 1:- The Reset Button

'Did I reach her?' Kousei thought after he finished his performance. He was crying because he knew what was about to come but still denied it. Kaori's death. It felt so surreal that the girl he met last spring is going to die.
For the first few second, the whole crowd was silent but after that, they all erupted into cheers and many of them were crying, mostly adults, because they understood the meaning behind his performance.
All the cheering snapped Kousei back to reality. He realised he was just sitting there and doing nothing. He quickly stood up, bowed and then went to the backstage. Once, he was there, he quickly ran past Emi and Takeshi and to the Hikarigaoka Hospital.
He ran for about 30 minutes and arrived at the hospital. He was huffing and breathing heavily with his hands on his knees.
'Wow. Never thought I could run that fast.' He thought and went inside the hospital and to where the surgery was happening.
When he reached it, he peeked from the wall and saw the doctor talking to Kaori's parents and listened to what he was saying.
"I'm sorry Miyazono - san. But the operation was unsuccessful and Kaori - san couldn't survive. We tri-" Kousei didn't listen after this. What was even left to hear? He left there with a blank face and went to the fire exit area.
Once he reached there, the same broke. He screamed. He screamed and started crying and bawling his eyes out.
"Why? Why do everyone I love and want to protect leave me. First Mon and now Kaori. What did I do, God? What did I do to deserve this?" He asked the heavens.
He kept crying for what felt like hours and then finally had the courage to go see Kaori.
When he reached the reception, he asked for the doctor who operated on her and went to meet him.
Once outside his door, he knocked and heard a "come in" and went inside.
Inside he saw the doctor doing some paperwork. He(Kousei) said, "Excuse me, but can I please see Kaori Miyazono?"
The doctor said without looking, "You can't unless you are family."
"I'm not family but please let me." He said pleadingly.
The doctor started looking up and said, "I'm sorry but unless you ar-"
The doctor stopped mid sentence and Kousei was confused as to what he was saying. Meanwhile, the doctor was thinking, 'Black hair, check. Blue eyes, check. Wears a glasses, check. Well, looks like Kaori - san was talking about him.'
"Were you saying something?" Kousei asked.
"No. Nevermind. Tell me, are you Arima Kousei?" The doctor asked and Kousei was confused but still nodded.
"Alright. Kaori - san left me with a letter. I think it was for you." The doctor replied with a smile and handed Kousei a letter with kanji for Arima Kousei on the bottom.
"Thank you." Kousei simply said and walked out of the hospital to his home.
-----------------------------------------------------------

It's been a week since Kaori's funeral and Kousei was still crying. He couldn't go to her funeral as it was way to painful to see someone who filled his world with colour getting buried.
The sky was dark and it was raining heavily as if the heavens were crying for her loss.
He still hasn't opened the letter. Afraid of what was written in it. But today, he will open it face whatever she wanted to tell him.
He searched a few minutes for the letter and found. He carefully removed the seal so as to not tear anything.
In it, he found her handwriting and it read:

Hey, you! 

I mean, Dear Kousei,

You were just here, and now I’m writing you a letter, kinda weird, right?

You’re a mess, you know that? You’re meek, and a quitter, and neurotic.

The first time I ever saw you, I was five years old. It was at a recital for the piano school I went to back then. You marched out onto that stage, and then made us all laugh by knocking over the bench. You sat on that giant piano, and with the first note you played, the world became more colorful. It was like you found a deluxe box of crayons on the keys, and tossed them everywhere Suddenly, the girl next to me starts bawling her eyes out.