Take My Breath Away | Peko Pekoyama

07 | Bloom

Peko's entire world stopped. Her heart dropped. She couldn't breathe even if she tried. Fuyuhiko gasped behind her but she hardly noticed.

The sink was filled with blood and roses. They weren't just petals like Peko had coughed up, but fully grown roses with thorny stems. Some of the pink blood had splattered onto the mirror and made it difficult to see a reflection. The toilet bowl was filled to the brim with bloody flowers, just like the sink. The most startling thing of all though, was the unmoving body of Misa Namura that was collapsed in front of the toilet.

The girl's curly brown hair lay swirled around her like a halo. Her white button up shirt and yellow skirt were stained fuchsia. Peko had never seen her skin so pale. She looked dead.

"Go get Mikan." Peko mumbled numbly.

"Peko, I-"

"Go get Mikan now!" Peko yelled, voice cracking. Fuyuhiko, having never received an order from Peko before, quickly ran off to find the shy nurse. Peko stumbled forward and fell to her knees beside Misa's limp body.

"Misa..." Peko gently brushed a strand of chocolate coloured hair out of the girl's face. An unbearable tightness built in her chest. Hesitantly, she pulled Misa's body onto her lap and held her close. Her skin was practically ice. Trembling fingers searched desperately for a heartbeat. When she couldn't find one, she held the girl even closer.

"Oh, Misa, I am so sorry. I - I should have known, I should have realized. I knew you were sick, I should have insisted that you went to Mikan. If I had then maybe you - maybe you wouldn't be-" Peko did something she hadn't done in over ten years; she cried. Tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto Misa's cold face. Peko took shaky gasps to try to calm herself. It didn't work very well.

"I'm sorry. I am so so sorry." Peko mumbled a thousand apologies into Misa's hair as she buried her face in it, making it wet with her tears. Her body was shaking violently. She was gagging on flowers as they bloomed and rose up in her throat. Peko straightened her back and looked down at Misa. Her eyes were closed but she looked content. The last few times that Peko had seen her, the girl had looked so tired, so sick. But she didn't look tired anymore. Another tear slid down Peko's face.

"I loved you," Peko cried, "I love you."

Peko sobbed even harder as her confession fell upon deaf ears. Squeezing her eyes tight, she allowed herself to be overwhelmed by the grief inside her. She nearly jumped out of her skin as a cool hand brushed against her cheek, sending an icy chill over her skin.

Eyes wide, Peko looked down and was met with a pair of dark brown eyes looking back at her.

"I love you too." Misa smiled. The girls grabbed each other and hugged so tightly that they were almost at risk of cutting off the other's air supply. When they finally released each other, Peko leaned down and rested her forehead against Misa's.

"I thought I had lost you." Peko murmured. Misa smiled.

"Never."

The girls sat there for a while, simply enjoying the other's presence. They almost didn't notice how they weren't struggling for breath anymore. It was like a weight had been taken off of their chests. The pain that had plagued them for so long just evaporated. Misa chuckled quietly.

"You know," said Misa, "some might say that you take my breath away."

Peko glared at her.

"Don't say that. That's not funny. You almost died - stop laughing! It's not funny!"

Misa laughed and gave Peko a quick peck on the nose. Peko rolled her eyes.

Misa almost stopped breathing as she felt Peko lean down and press her lips against hers. It only took a moment for the shock to wear off and for her to wrap her arms around Peko's neck and melt into the kiss.

-

Fuyuhiko and Mikan rushed into the dorm room but stopped in their tracks as they saw the two girls kissing on the floor, both covered in pink blood.

"P-Perhaps we should give them a minute." Mikan suggested. Fuyuhiko nodded and the two left.

-

"Um, Ibuki, what are you doing?" Fuyuhiko asked.

The eccentric girl was in the courtyard, kneeling in one of the flowerbeds that was filled with red roses. She smiled up at the boy.

"The flowers looked lonely, so I'm giving them some friends!"

Fuyuhiko looked beside her and saw several plastic trays with small yellow begonias growing in them.

"Yeah. Those will go well together."