Unconditionally Yours.

Chapter 32 [END]

3 YEARS LATER...

Nagi jolted awake, his heart pounding in his chest as he frantically searched for the warmth beside him. His eyes, wide with a mixture of fear and hope, scanned the empty space where Y/N usually nestled against him.

The clock on his nightstand mocked him with its 10 a.m. display. Panic surged through him, momentarily eclipsing the grief that had been his constant companion for the past few weeks.

Reo, who was sitting in the chair beside the bed, gazed in concern at Nagi. "Nagi? What's wrong?" His voice, usually boisterous, was soft and soothing. Nagi, gasping for breath, looked around his room, desperately searching for something to anchor him to reality. It was then he realised, with a sickening jolt, that the terror wasn't just a dream. The dream was still there, vivid, raw, and bleeding into his waking reality.

It was the dream he had every night since... since she was gone.

The dream where she was alive, laughing, her hair catching the sunlight just like it always did. Reo's eyes softened as his mouth formed a thin line. "You... had that dream again, did you?.."
Nagi swallowed, the lump in his throat too large to ignore. He nodded, tears brimming in his eyes. "...It was all just a dream," he whispered, his voice hoarse from disuse. Gently, Reo drew him into a hug, offering silent comfort as Nagi choked back sobs, the pain of the dream echoing his own pain.

The image of Y/N, smiling and radiant, was etched in his mind, a cruel reminder of the life they had been robbed of. It was unfair. She promised she would never leave him and she would take care of him, yet she broke that promise.

Nagi snuggled deeper into Reo's shirt. "Why her??? Why she got shot?? Why not somebody else??... If I only I could have step infront of her faster.." he whispered.
Reo closed his eyes, letting tears fall down his cheeks as he listened to his friend's sobbing.
"Then she would have never died and she would be here with me right now if not for that fucking shooter!"

Later that afternoon, the air hung heavy with unspoken grief at Y/N's grave. Her family, their faces etched with sorrow, gathered around her tombstone, placed upon a bed of white lilies. Shizuko, stood beside her parents, her eyes red-rimmed, tears silently tracing paths down her cheeks as her hand clutched the bouquet of Y/N's favorite flowers. Nagi, his hand tightly clasping his shirt, stood in silence, his heart a leaden weight in his chest. The sight of her tombstone, the finality of it all, brought a fresh wave of pain crashing over him.

As Nagi suddenly felt someone's hand on his shoulder, he was too unbothered to even flinch. He looked up and was met with his father's gentle, but sad smile. "I'm sure that she's watching over you.. and all of us right now."
Nagi's mother observed the scene infront of her in silence as she wiped her tears with her handkerchief.

The boy could almost hear Y/N's laughter, feel the warmth of her hand in his, and the memory was a bittersweet torture, a reminder of what he had lost and what he would never have again. Dammit. This is so unfair.

Nagi returned his empty gaze back to her tombstone. "You... are really such a hassle. Y/N. But I still will love you unconditionally. Rest in peace."