Prologue
"Come on guys! Let's do our best in this final high school year!"
"To reach our desired college!"
"To achieve our dream!"
"Let's do this, everyone!"
"Izumi, you seem to be a little exciting there..."
~0O0~
'Right now, the massive increase in industrial manufacturing has led to a serious issue of air pollution. Many environmental experts in Japan fear that this is one of the worst cases Japan has ever faced, which is unknown when it will be solved...'
Sometimes, when I'm alone with an empty mind, I ask myself, 'what would be the worst luck I could even get?'
Throughout my 17 years of living, I've been encountering bad luck after bad luck. Life was difficult for me back then. I've managed to get over some of them, and I've also gotten injured from some of them. Sometimes some people were affected by my bad luck aura, whether they were relevant or not. To put it simply, it was not easy to live a day, get used to the injuries, and even bear the responsibility that someone had just got affected.
High school years were easier for me though. The aura, let's just say it's still there. I've still had some injuries, big or small, of all sorts of sizes from my bad luck. However, I've managed to meet and make friends with some people who, I don't know how to say this, are willing to bear the bad luck with me? Inuzuka-kun, my best friend, he's always been there for me since day one. Nekozaki-san, she probably can team up with Inuzuka as the loudest of the bunch, but she is a good person with a big heart. Hachimitsu-san, she is the most introverted one, does not talk much, but deep inside I know she is very caring and willing to do anything for her friends.
And then, there is Shikimori-san. How can I describe her? The sun of my life, my spiritual support? Geez, I'm really in a loss for words. How about I just simply call her my girlfriend?
She has been there for me since the very start. She has the cute side of a girl, but also a cool side of a boy, which I find really interesting. She's always protected me from any possible bad luck, and sometimes, I have to reconsider if my role in our relationship is actually a boyfriend or not.
Together, they really are my best friends, who I want to stick with for the rest of my life, until the day I die, until death separates us... Or just put it simply, I want to be with them forever...
Forever... huh...
As I think of that word, my head becomes dizzier. The cold air from the air conditioner blows behind the scruff of my neck, gives me a little reality check, and sends me back from my thought. I'm in a hospital room, sitting on a hospital bed, with the beeping noise from the heart moderator and some background noise from the TV hanging on the wall. They are broadcasting some news that seems to be about pollution and its consequences. This should be something I've already used to, if I don't want to say that it is so familiar.
So why am I hating it so much...?
I look at the outside of the closed door, through the glass panel. I can see that my parents are discussing something with the doctor, and it's certainly not a good news at all. My mom is covering her mouth and lowering her face, and I can also see some tears forming from her eyes. She must be trying to hold her cry, with my dad rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. Deep inside, I really want to hop out of this bed, swiftly open the door and hug my mom, comfort her from any sadness she is bearing right now. However, for some reason, I can't even move my leg, feel like something is stopping me from getting out this room.
Oh... I remember now...
Few days ago, when I was studying and preparing for school, suddenly I started coughing violently. My chest was hurt so bad, I felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife. However, the worse came, as I was coughing, I was terrified to see blood on my hand. The next thing I can only remember is my parents noticed what was wrong with me, and they called the ambulance as my view slowly blacked out. When I woke up, I was in this hospital room, waiting for something worse to come for me.
Seems like my bad luck has won again, huh...
The door of my hospital room opens, brings me back to reality. As the doctor walks in, I can see my parents follow behind, with sorrow on their faces. Mom and dad then sit on the side of the bed, with my dad starts rubbing my back to comfort me, while my mom looks at me with her usual caring eyes. I look up at the doctor, who is holding something that I assume it is my diagnosis.
"Izumi Yuu-san?" He asked.
"... Yes?" I replied, awaiting the worst to come.
"Izumi-san, after some diagnostic tests, including X-ray taking and CT scanning, this is your diagnosis as the result from them." The doctor said, as he handed the diagnosis to me, carefully encased in a paper document. "At the moment, we cannot determine what level it is, but I recommend that you and your family should be mentally prepared for what to come."
"... I understand, doctor."
"Your treatment schedule will be arranged soon. For now, please take the meds we have listed and follow our instructions." The doctor said. My family then says thank to him as he takes his leave.
I hold the document on my hands, still shaking violently from the cold, freezing air, and perhaps also because of my fear. I am really scared, scared of what is about to come, fear of anything bad that can possibly appear on the diagnosis, something that can heavily affect my future. I take a glance at my parents, who have already known the result, with my mom trying to hold back her tears, while my dad is having his unusual gloomy look on his face.
However, I've been through so many terrible things to get to this point. I've been through every difficulty possible, every injury I've got, every terrible outcome. I know in times like this, I've been taught by them, my friends, to push on and be brave. Therefore, with all of my courage, I take the diagnosis from the document and read what appears on it.
And so, I feel like I have been mentally collapsed. Before I know it, I start tearing up in my parents' arms, with droplets of tears falling down the diagnosis paper.
'What would be the worst luck I could possibly get?'
~0O0~
"Y-Yuu-kun, i-if you need help with anything, feel free to call us, okay?"
"... I know, mom. Thank you..." I answered my mom, who was calling from downstairs, before walking into my room.
Usually, home is my safest place to go, where my parents always await me, where I get all the protection possible. They don't say 'home sweet home' for nothing.
But now, why does this place seem so... colorless? I should be happy when I return home, but why am I still having this heavy feeling in my chest? At this point, I just want to shout out 'I'm home!' as loud as possible, shake out all of the burdens I've been piling up inside. However, I feel that something is stuck in my throat, something disgusting and annoying, stopping me from saying any word. Walking to my room, I feel like I'm having leaden hanging on my feet, with each and every heavy step I'm taking.
Finally arrived at my room, I sit down on my bed, trying to pull myself together, especially after everything that happened in the hospital. I try to tell myself that everything is okay, it's just simply a disease, which has been medically treated before. It's nothing so bad compared to what I've been through...
However, then I look at the pile of medicine in my hand, with different kinds of tablets and capsules, and that has pulled me back into reality. Following the doctor's instructions, I take some of the meds, put them in my mouth, and take a sip of water to swallow them easier.
How strange... I thought those medicines were supposed to be bitter and hard to swallow... So what is this dry, garbage-like taste in my mouth...?
Sitting alone in my bedroom, with darkness surrounding my view, I can hear my parents discussing my condition downstairs. Although it's not very clear, I know my mom is trying to hold her emotion, based on her small but vocal weeping sounds, with my dad trying to calm her down, just like back in the hospital. I need to find something to brighten up my mood, so I take out my phone, which I barely use because of the poor internet connection in the hospital.
When I turn on my lock screen, appears on it are the notifications from the messaging app, particularly from our group chat. Hachimitsu-san might have shared something with the group, perhaps any meme she had found on the internet, which could explain why Nekozaki-san replied with a laughing emoji.
However, what catches my attention more are the notifications from Inuzuka-san and especially, from Shikimoro-san herself. Because of my diagnostic tests, my parents might have asked my school for me to be absent for a few days. I scroll down the notifications, carefully not to tap on them, because I don't feel like I want to read the messages in the app and get signaled as 'read'.
From: Inuzuka-san
'Hey bro, is anything fine? Lemme know when you're going back to school ok? Shikimori was scary without you around, so I'm very terrified rn LOL'
From: Shikimori-san
'Are you okay? Text 2 me when you're going to school ok? I'll be waiting.'
Before I know it, tears begin to form in the corner of my eyes again. Take a look at the diagnosis again, flopping at the corner of my bed, the feeling of collapsing back in the hospital has come back to me again, mixed with the feeling of guilt for not being able to reply to their messages, for not keeping in touch with them. Right now, I just want to go to sleep, and forget anything that happened today.
I cover myself with my blanket, curl into a ball and weep silently, desperately hoping that I can get to sleep as fast as possible. I just want to go to sleep, I don't want to recall what happened today. I wish that everything, my condition, right now is just a dream...
I, Izumi Yuu, have been diagnosed with lung cancer...
End of Prologue
~0O0~
Hey, it's me, Mr. Author here, or Fonku, or some might have known me as TheNameIsKaze, other might have known me as "the one who has never continued his fics for 3 years".
After 3 years of hiatus, studying for my graduation test, suffering with GPA, settling in my university, I'm glad to say that I've finally come back with a new fanfic.
This manga, Shikimori-san Is not just a Cutie, has a special place in me. It's been so long since I've invested my time into reading a daily-school-life manga. Since this couple is special, I've been wanting to write a fanfic that dedicated to them. So yeah, here we are.
Before you guys leave any review, I'll let this out first out of the batch: I have a bad habit of leaving things under hiatus for so long. You could see that in the fics I've written before. So just don't expect me to update this frequently, because I also have a university life, in which deadlines keep piling up every single day. But if I have free time, I'll be updating this fanfic when I can.
With all being said, feel free to leave any review, and see you in the next chapter!