EFFLORESCING EDELWEISS ( s. todoroki )

EPILOGUE

HANAKO LOVED PRETTY FLOWERS.

He remembered. How she loved that single white daisy he picked from the river bank and gave to her as a sign of gratitude, the pink carnations on Royal Garden and the vibrant red roses she'd say were only meant for special people. He remembered the indiscernible red that tinged her midnight sky skin, those golden eyes that always held a certain sadness to them and the way the muscles in her face contracted as if they were always trying so hard to stop the flow of crystalline tears.

Hanako loved the flowers so much that Todoroki continued to bring bouquets of flowers unto her grave.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He can still hear his own voice. "See you tomorrow."

If he had noticed the tears spilling from her eyes that night and the flowers wreaking havoc in her chest, if he had noticed the scattered bloodstained petals in her apartment whenever he visited, the way she clutched her chest tightly in moments she thought he wasn't looking, if he had paid more attention to how every single action she did was painful to her, if he noticed the pain she was overcoming just to utter a single syllable, how Hanako seldom smiled, if he did something, would she still be here now?

Matsushima Hanako is a cruel girl, he came to realize. She never let anyone get too close, but she planted herself in his chest like a flower, tore at the arteries and veins flowing inside of him, etching herself unto every single flower he'd pass by, her scent still permeates in the clothes where she wrapped him in an embrace.

"See you tomorrow."

The last words she had said, full of unfulfilled promises, see you tomorrow, a tomorrow that would never ever come. See you tomorrow. A promise. And you didn't break promises, right? See you tomorrow. How long must he wait and hope for tomorrow?

Todoroki knelt in front of the marble memorial, the red roses in his hands scattering with the spring breeze and the scent wafts into his nose. The marble in front of him is etched with a name and a few candles littered the area, some melted or melting into colorful puddles of blue and green (probably from the two girls from General Academics that cried the loudest during Hanako's funeral), others still lit with the orange glow of flames.

"See you tomorrow."

Todoroki waited and waited.

Hanako never came back.

THE END.
kylalily, 2019