If Love Could Be The Cure We Need - A MakoHaru Medical AU

Chapter 2: Photograph

Makoto Tachibana

The trunk of the tree against my back feels extremely nice in comparison to the plastic foldaway chairs we have everywhere else. My eyes float over the pages of "The Fault in our Stars" while I try to concentrate on reading the part where Gus and Hazel are finally on the plane to Amsterdam.

It's rest period and therefore the best time to sneak into the woods for a break from lessons, rules and the smell of disinfectant. Everyone always adores this time off, because it's the only moment we can be at least a little free from everything.

I look up from my book to see Nagisa trying to get a good picture of Rei using his most recent birthday present; a Polaroid camera which Nagisa has been using a lot lately. He wants to capture the moments we spend here, because different from most of the people here Nagisa is actually enjoying himself most of the time.

While Rei tries to convince Nagisa that he's not beautiful on photos, Rin is also laying against one of the large tree trunks trying to nap a little.

It's moments like these that we're just like "normal" teenagers; chilling with friends, taking pictures together and actually having fun. We're ignoring the fact that we're going to have to go inside again in an hour or so and that when we do we're going to be pitied by teachers, monitored by nurses and looked after every second of the day like we're toddlers again.

Because we aren't normal teenagers, we don't go to normal school where we get actual homework and when we do something wrong we actually have to go to detention. No, instead of that we just get a warning or just an angry gaze from someone, because we're already going through enough.

Rin's the one that hates this the most, because he doesn't think he needs the special care when he "just has a tiny case of Idiopathic Pulmonary Disease". He's wrong, he does need the care, but I'm not lying when I say that Rin seems to be doing the best of the four of us.

Nagisa might ignore how sick he actually is, but doing chemotherapy to lessen the symptoms of his Polycythemia Vera can't be taken lightly. So every time he shrugs off a bleeding nose or a huge bruise on his leg or arm I can't help but worry.

The same goes for Rei, who's been stuck in a wheelchair for as long as I know him; which is only three months but still. I know for a fact that Duchenne Muscular Disease doesn't have a long life expectancy and Rei knows it too.

And then there's me...

"Mako." Nagisa's loud and cheerful voice interrupts my thoughts and when I look up I see his camera pointed at me. "Smile!"

I feel how my cheeks get warmer, because I know how bad I'll look on that picture with my pale skin and messy hair which desperately needs a shower. I glance away, focusing on a leaf with a slight smile on my face when a click sounds followed by the photo rolling out of the camera.

My eyes go back to Nagisa who's shaking the picture through the air until I start to appear on the little piece of photo paper. When the picture has appeared Nagisa he flops down beside me and hands it to me. "You shouldn't look away on pictures, you know?" Nagisa tells me. "But still, it's a nice pic, right?"

"Yeah."I chuckle as I watch myself on the picture, it's so different from all the pictures hanging from the walls at my parents' house. Instead of wearing a school uniform or hugging my younger siblings, I'm now laying against a tree holding a book Nagisa suggested I'd read while wearing my pajama at all times of the day.

"Here." Nagisa forces the camera into my hand and I have to lay down the book because otherwise I'll drop one of the two. Nagisa walks up to Rei and wraps his arms around him from the back. "Can you take a picture of Rei and me?"

I point the camera at them and hope for the best result when I push the button and the picture rolls out. Nagisa immediately runs up to me to see what the picture of the two of them looks like, not realizing that it takes some time to see.

While he and Rei wait for the picture to appear, Rin's finally opening his eyes, accepting that he's not going to be able to sleep without his pillow and I open my book again so I can read a little more about the adventures Hazel and Gus are going to experience in The Netherlands before we have to get back inside for our last period of the day.

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Writersnote:

Hey there!
Okay, so maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't: every chapter is named after a song that kind of goes with the story's plot. I made a playlist with all songs, which I will add in my writersnote for the last chapter to prevent spoiling you through the songs. 

Anyway, I wanted to let you know about the chapter title songs :)

Love, Noa <3