Born To Die (Muichiro x OC)

04 • Pillars & Percents

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses have wilted and the violets are dead.
You took off with my heart...

...And I took off with your head.

The human body was quite the conundrum, per se. It could never be fully understood. Death was among those things that made no sense. A stopped heart could be restored. A drop of body temperature could be lifted.

A dying patient could live.

So why was it, that at the end of the day, it was inevitable? No matter how healthy a human could be, why did death have to be the end? What was it, exactly? One would think that after thousands of years to being exposed to illness and old age, the human body would adapt to survive longer, or at least become more dependable. But when a mind was caged in what humans called mortality, it chipped away at their potential. 

At their will.

Maybe that was it, Tokito thought. Maybe because it was the will to stay alive that truly kept someone's heart beating. Maybe coming to terms with their death was what caused it. Maybe the body sensed that they were ready to let go, and let go.

So don't let go.

It's been a month. Tokito found himself where he usually spent his days: on a bench just outside of Kurumi's room with her beside him. He was staring up at the lights above their heads. Since they had no way to tell wether it was day or night from within the hospital, they all had to learn how to read a clock and check it every hour. At 8:00 was when they were usually ordered to go to bed. It was currently 7:53.

"Want some?" Kurumi asked sweetly, holding up a bag of chips that Doctor Kocho had given her earlier. Her legs swung beneath her as she giggled happily. Tokito tilted his head. Even after a month, I still can't tell what goes on in that mind of hers. She's such a strange girl.

He looked away. "No thanks. I'm not really hungry." He wondered what death felt like. Was it like all the cliches he read in books about how people's lives flashed before their eyes? Or was it more swift, taking the person out instantaneously? No memories and no chance to relive anything at all? Not that any of the memories Tokito had made were any good. Except maybe...

He turned back to Kurumi. "Your family," he started, a bit hesitantly. "They come here every week, right?"

Kurumi hummed in response. "More or less." She took a bite of the chips. Something was definitely going through her mind. "About them... next time they come, can I introduce you to them? I won't if you don't want to."

Tokito glanced at the floor. "I don't want to." That isn't true, his brain argued, forcing him to stuff his thoughts down. My shattered soul. It's not worth their time.

"But you're always so lonely," she said softly, inspecting the bag of chips thoroughly. She has ulterior motives, Tokito immediately picked up. What's she trying to ask? Oh. Does she want to know about my family? Would I tell her if she asked?

I... don't know.

Either way, that wasn't what she asked.

"Hey, can we braid each other's hair?"

Tokito blinked at her. "You want to braid my hair?" What a peculiar question, and a random one, at that. "I mean... Sure, I guess."