Life After Death

The Discovery

Light shined through the darkness. It flickered before her very eyes, like a lightbulb about to go. Then it stayed lit, but that's all it was. Light. She lay there, trying to pry the darkness for more. Voices then started to come from the distance. But none could be understood. She pushed and pushed for the light to increase. And it did. The light grew brighter and the darkness shrunk and disappeared. Then the voices came with it.

"I cannot imagine how this could have happened... It just doesn't make any sense..."

Her eyes laid on a white color, which she soon recognized as a ceiling. Her ceiling in her room. Then she turned her head onto what felt to be her pillow to see a fuzzy image of a familiar figure.

"Ah. Takeba..."

"Mitsuru-sempai..." Her voice came out groggingly, almost unrecognizable to herself. It spoke for the rest of her body. She felt stiff and restrained. Her stomach was in knots and her head was foged.

"I'm relieved to see you awake," The graduate expressed to her. "I was about to worry if..." Then she stopped, turning away from the younger girl. But she soon turned back.

"How are you feeling?" Mitsuru spoke again, this time, staring right into her eyes.

Feeling... Well before she went out, she felt... Sick. She remembered swaying all over the place before collapsing... Where was she before she...?

Makoto's room.

Makoto...

"Makoto!" She blurted out, the only thing her mind was running on. She shot up in her bed, regretting it once her head pounded. "W-Was I dreaming?! Is he really...?!" She searched her sempai's eyes for confusion, but only got the one she was hoping not to see.

"Yes..." Mitsuru turned away once more. "He's... Passed on..." This time, she did not turn back.

Tears. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks. They wouldn't stop, even though the pain in her head only increased the longer she sobbed. Burying her face in her hands, she hoped it would all end. This nightmare... This lie...

Then a feeling rose within her.

She searched around the room with her eyes, her hands over her mouth. Mitsuru handed her a wastebin without questions and let the girl puke inside. She took no mind to the noises and hurls, but did show a bit of a new expression on her face.

"At first, we thought it was shock from the sudden tragedy, but then..."

Yukari finished and looked up with both a mixed expression of drowsiness and confusion.

"But what...?" She quietly questioned, still keeping the bin in her grasps.

"I looked into symptoms, but passing out and throwing up isn't any of them..." Mitsuru continued, not looking at her anymore. "Maybe it's..." She stopped for a moment. Then she stood up.

"I need to get some things from the pharmacy," she declared. "I'll return as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll send Fuka in to be with you while I'm gone," and without a backwards glance, the red haired girl was gone.

She would protest and question her actions, but she felt too groggy to. Besides, she felt more rising in her throat...

...

March 6th, 2010

Late Night

Yukari's Room

Just like she promised, Mitsuru was back. Yukari couldn't tell how long, but it wasn't too long, that's for sure.

The older girl shoved a small box into her hands.

"I know this is jumping to conclusions, but go into the bathroom and try this," Mitsuru flat out told her. She wouldn't budge, but Yukari wouldn't bother to push her at all, so she took the item and looked at it.

She sweated a little.

"O-Okay, if you say so..." She got up and passed by Mitsuru to leave her room and down the hall to the ladies' room. Fuka, who was also in the room, timidly followed behind her.

As Yukari stepped into a stall, Fuka stood outside the door. "I-I'll be here if you need any help..." she softly spoke,

then went silent.

She did what the box told her. After going through the process of peeing, she lifted it up to her gaze and looked at it. As the results started to appear, her body trembled, then dropped the item all together.

"Y-Yukari?!"

She covered her mouth with both hands, staring at the item on the floor. Hyperventilating, she read it again and again. But each time, it said the same thing.

Positive.

"Ohmygod... Ohmygod... No...!" She couldn't catch her heartbeat nor her breath. All that happened was the gasps turning into sobs.

"Yukari, please! Answer me!" Fuka continued to beg. "What's the matter?!" She pressed her ear to the stall door, only for it to come slamming open. Fuka stumbled and watched as Yukari ran out and to a sink. She splashed water into her face, again and again, hoping to wake up somewhere else.

"Takeba!"

Mitsuru stood in the doorway. She looked around and notice the situation, her expression changing.

"Takeba..." She whispered as she walked over. "It's okay... It's going to be alright..." She rubbed the shoulders of the girl, but the girl brushed them off.

"No!" Yukari shouted, in the middle of a sob. "No, you don't understand! I'm...! Ohmygod..." She broke down even further, her thoughts just a solid blob and not anything of worth.

"I know, it's very terrifying and unbelievable, but you need to calm down..." Mitsuru spoke again, this time, more out of character for her. "This is something that you're experiencing early as a woman, is all... At least try to be happy..."

"NO!" She shouted again, this time shoving the older girl. "My life! It's ruined! I...! I cannot face anyone anymore!" She pushed past the two girls and out of the bathroom. She did not look back or stop till she was in her room and the door locked. Throwing herself onto her bed, she continued to sob.

She sobbed herself into a deep slumber... Nothing close to peace is what she felt.