[F/N] [L/N] meets with an eccentric girl named Mina Ashido by chance. Through this meeting, [F/N] learns of Mina's "secret" and ends up spending Mina's final August with her.
My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia and its characters belong to Kohei...
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"Hey, [F/N]!" my dad called out. "There's someone at the door! Can you get it for me?"
I had been lying on my bed for hours. After somehow just coming to the realization that Mina wouldn't be around for that long, I was unable to sleep. It was like all of my motivation was sucked from my body, leaving me powerless to do anything.
"Yeah...!" I shouted with little energy. Sluggishly, I dragged myself out of bed. There weren't many words that could describe how I felt at that moment. Well, there probably was a lot, but since I had never felt like that before, I myself didn't know how to describe it. Looking back on it now, I think the only word I would use is... despair.
The click of my door lock being undone was a lot louder than any time before then. Everything around me seemed to be louder and much more pressuring. It felt like the world itself was caving in on me, not giving me any chance to escape. I was scared. Emotions that I had never felt before were filling my head.
As I walked out of my room and made my way to the front door, I saw my dad playing with my baby sister. They had the biggest smiles on their faces as they played on without a care in the world. How can they smile like that? How can they smile like that while I can't? Why can't I smile... but Mina can?
I placed my palm on my forehead and grit my teeth. "Damn..." I muttered. That was the only thing I could muster while my mind was clouded with confusion.
Once I finally made it to the front door, I grabbed the handle and opened it. Before the door was wide open, I noticed something suddenly.
'What if Mina is behind this door?' I thought. 'That didn't even cross my mind... Can I really let her see me like this? What would she think if she saw me like this? Well... that doesn't really matter. I'll just try and put on my usual face as well as I can... I don't want her to worry,'
Expecting Mina behind the door, I attempted to go back to my resting face. But, as the door fully opened, I noticed that it wasn't even Mina behind the door. Except, it was a woman that I recognized almost instantly, but I wasn't sure where I recognized her from. She had fluffy pink hair, basically the same color as Mina's, but she was definitely a lot older than her. The only answer I could think of came to mind, and I proceeded to say it out loud.
"Mina's... mother?" I asked, squinting my eyes from the sunlight pouring in through the door.
She calmly nodded and bowed. "Yes, I'm Mina's mother. I'm assuming your name is [F/N] [L/N], correct?"
"Mhm, that's me," I replied.
"Ah..." she mustered with a sad smile. "We haven't really met before, but I've been over here for your mother's work parties. Sorry to come over so suddenly,"
"No, it's fine," I said. "Did you need something from my mom?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm not here to visit your mother. I'm here to talk to you about something, actually,"
My heart dropped at those words. All the bad possibilities filled my head. My face began to gradually become hotter and hotter, and lines of sweat streamed down my face as a result. My breathing became sporadic and I grabbed my shirt where my heart would be with a tight grip. I gulped and took a shaky step forward.
"I-Is... Is Mina okay...?" I asked, my voice cracking a few times through that small statement. Mina's mother gasped quietly and stared at me with shocked eyes before closing them and smiling.
"You care about her that much?" she asked quietly. Then, she opened her eyes back up. "Yes, Mina is fine. There's nothing to worry about,"
The grip on my shirt slowly lessened. I took a deep breath and relaxed my tense body. Looking down, all I could do was put on a relieved smile.
'Thank god...' I thought.
"But..." said Mina's mother. "I am here to talk to you about Mina's... situation,"
I slowly looked back up. "Situation...?"
"Yes, her... disease," she said.
I didn't want to talk about it. Especially after my recent realization. Why would I want to talk about it? Was there any point in talking about it? There was a point, but I was too ignorant to take notice of it at the time. But, even if I was ignorant, I still accepted the fact that it needed to be talked about. I wasn't sure for what reason, but that didn't matter then. I just knew that it needed to be talked about.
"Yesterday I took her to get checked out at the hospital..." she said. "And we got some... bad news..."
'Bad news...?' I thought. 'Why... why would she come here just to tell me bad news...?'
"After we learned the news, Mina asked me if I could tell you," she explained. "Since... she said she wouldn't be able to do it herself,"
By this point, Mrs. Ashido's lip was trembling. Just by that alone, I could tell that whatever the bad news would be, there's a reason why she called it bad. The one thing I needed on that day was good news... and I never got it.
"What's the bad news...?" I asked. A momentary silence followed. Mrs. Ashido took a deep breath and looked at me with tears welling up in her eyes and a broken smile on her face.
"Mina's life expectancy was shortened... to the end of August..."
...
'What?' I thought. 'Shortened? Her life expectancy was shortened? No. No, no, no... Tell the doctors to make it longer then... They can do that, right? The should be able to do that... right? Maybe they're wrong. Tell them to run their tests again. I bet it'll be different if they just do it one more time,'
"I'm... very sorry, [F/N]..." she said. "This news struck us, too... But, I hope you can enjoy Mina's... final days... with her as much as you can,"
'Her final days? Why are they her final days? Are you saying they can't extend her life by just a little? Not even by just a few days? Why? Why? Why, why, why, why? Why can't they?'
She breathed loudly through her nose and smiled at me one more time. "We all take bad news differently... But, even so, I hope you can try to accept it... Mina wouldn't want us crying over her, right? If you need help, you can visit us at any time. I'm sure she'd love to see you,"
'Accept it? How can I just accept it so easily? Do you think I can just accept the death of someone who I thought was close to me so easily? They must be wrong. This has to be just a prank. One big disgusting awful prank. Yeah, she wouldn't just die like this. No way. I won't believe it.'
"Well, I'll be going now," she said. "Take care, [F/N]," Then, she walked away, down the street.
'It's not a prank... is it? I should've known from the start... Mina is going to... die,'
After Mrs. Ashido told me the news, I didn't look up once. No actual conversation was had. Only my inner thoughts fighting with each other, trying to find a more satisfying outcome. But, there was none.
After walking back inside, I entered my room and passed out on my bed, emotionally drained.
