The Sweetness of Tears [IDOLiSH7]

10: Forgiveness

"Riku, please, you have to be okay."

Iori clasped his hands tightly as he waited in front of the hospital room. He prayed for a miracle. He pleaded with fate to give his partner more time in this world. Riku's breathing stopped when the ambulance took him away, but Iori still held on to hope that the doctors would save him.

Tenn sat far away from Iori in a dim hallway, feeling detached from reality. This can't be happening. Why was Riku's attack suddenly so severe?

"Tenn..." Gaku moved to sit beside Tenn and touched the business owner's shoulder. Gaku had not heard the details about what happened during their conversations. He felt sympathetic for Tenn. Stress at work was already swallowing the boy and now, he had to face this painful moment.

"Why...? I don't understand. I was doing all I could to look after him so that he would get better. So why..?" Tenn spoke to Gaku, looking down at the ground. "I've really been wrong all this time. I did what I thought would protect him, but it turns out that I shut him out. You have been telling me. Izumi has been telling me. I am such an idiot." Tenn would not stop blaming himself.

Iori heard what Tenn said and walked over to the boy with the soft pink hair. "Riku always, always says how much he admires you." Iori spoke with a shaky voice. "Somehow, you are so admirable that he feels like he cannot reach you." Iori's whole body shook. It took everything in him to keep standing and not feel like the ground would crack and consume him. He started sobbing. His mind was filled with so much sadness and frustration. He had to fight hard to not give in to despair. "Why didn't you try to listen to what he said, what he was trying to tell you, Tenn-san!?!" Finally, the boy shouted and broke into tears. Falling to his knees, he grabbed hold of Tenn's trousers.

"Riku is dying! He hasn't even got 10 months and he has been trying so hard to tell you that!" Iori pounded Tenn's leg. Gaku hugged Iori and helped him stand up. He held onto Iori's weak body as the boy let himself flop onto a chair. Gaku was trying to calm him down. Tenn gasped, his body trembling in total shock.

"R-Riku is..." His heart, instead of feeling the intensity of sadness, regrets were burning it. "And I said all those things. I said I would do this and that with him when he got better. I said those and he... just smiled." Tenn could never cry. All these years, he went through everything without crying. Right now, he wished he knew how to cry because he could only scream. That was hardly enough to let his emotions out. "WHY, Riku? Gaku? Izumi? WHY WERE YOU ALL HIDING THIS FROM ME!?!"

Still sobbing, Iori forced out his words. "Tenn-san, it was just too hard to say..."

~~

The hospital clock was ticking too loudly because the whole hallway was so quiet. No one moved. No one spoke. No one cried.

"Izumi," Tenn spoke in his hoarse voice. It was so quiet that it almost went unheard. Iori looked at Tenn without knowing what to expect.

"You know that Riku is running out of time, but you still proposed to him?" Tenn asked knowing that if it was him, he would not be able to do that. He thought he was strong when actually he was running away from reality, unlike Iori. Iori nodded. Tenn could see determination through Iori's eyes even though they were all going through a tough moment. "You truly are a brave man, Izumi." Tenn said honestly, finally coming to acknowledge the young boy.

"I just want to make Riku happy. He also made me really happy. If I hadn't met him, I would never have learned to break out of my shell. My life would always be so mundane and meaningless." Iori took a deep breath. "I said to myself that I am prepared, but I am not so sure anymore. I am afraid, terrified even." Iori thought Gaku and Tenn were going to tell him he was half-hearted when Tenn moved closer to him and grabbed his hand.