A Twilight Promise

Ryujii's door slides open. Apparently, someone is visiting him. "Yo, mom." Ryujii greets his mother casually. "Ryujii, when will you start to understand things?" His mother, Kyoko said in a worried voice. It seems like their relationship had been reconciled for a time. They are actually opening up to each other now, no secrets at all.

"So, do your head still hurts now?" Kyoko asked. "A bit... But I'm fine." Ryujii replied, Kyoko seems to be fidgeting, as Ryujii is about to ask her about it, the door slide opens.

"Excuse me, I'm Dr Hiro. I'll be the doctor in charge of treating your condition from now on, nice to make acquaintance with you." A doctor followed with nurses enters the room, Kyoko bowed slightly to Dr Hiro and exited the room.

"Ryujii-kun, it seems like you have similar symptoms to a rare condition..." Dr Hiro paused for a moment. The atmosphere is tense. Before he starts talking again, a nurse suddenly opens the door. "Doctor! Patient Yuuki had just collapsed at the staircase, please attend to her immediately!" The nurse seems worried, so as everyone. Ryujii is clueless before he tried to ask, Dr Hiro interrupted him. "Sorry, I need to go to my patient, she totally needs my attention now, I'll come back later." He leaves the room abruptly. Following the doctor, the nurses leave the room as well, the room becomes empty.

"... Well, it's not like I'm that important at all... Why do I even bother about that hottie?" Ryujii thought. He was expecting his mother to enter the room, but minutes passed without any movements, he decided to take a look outside. Slowly walking to the door, through the glass, he saw his mother, trembling, with a terrified look.

He slides the door open and reaches his mother. "Hey, mom, what's the matter?" Ryujii asked. She turns to him, looking surprised and quickly fake a smile. "N-Nothing! Nothing at all! I'm just glad you're fine..." Behind the fake smile, a small drop of tear made her eyes shiny for a moment.

Kyoko is acting weird around Ryujii. He didn't notice it since all he did is wondering the condition that Dr Hiro didn't explain just now. The two talked for a while before evening. Kyoko leaves the hospital, having something on her mind. She took out an envelope and looked at its contents. It says that Ryujii has a rare condition in which there is currently no way to cure it, he still has approximately six months remaining. This is a harsh truth to her.

It's evening, Ryujii looked outside the window. The sun sets, which reminds him of Yuuki's request. He scratched his head. "Aahh... I guess I have no choice then..." He mumbles. He walked to the staircase, he heard footsteps. "It must be her, so she's fine huh?" He thought, then he climbed the stairs way to the rooftop.

The Sun already set. The sky, however, is still dyed orange. The light shines through a figure, winds blow through her, her hair flutters. "So... Beautiful..." He thought. The figure turned around, as expected, it's Yuuki. "Ryujii-kun, over here!" Yuuki said as she excitedly waves her hand towards him. He walked to her, as time ticks, the lights gradually changed. It's twilight.

He looked at her, she seems focused on the view, with a smile on her face. The smile is not a happy one, it's a bitter one. As the light gradually goes away, a shine appeared in her eyes, she then closes her eyes and claps her hand. "Thank you for another day!" She said. Yuuki turns to Ryujii and held his hand. "Hey, Ryujii-kun, how is that?" Yuuki smiled to him, who had never touched a girl's hand other than his own mother's, he flustered.

The two talked for a while, and gets to know each other better, he gets to know about her condition, while she gets to know why he became a delinquent. To Ryujii, he found a friend who he doesn't need to put up a tough front to be able to talk with. To her, she finally found a friend to share her secret with, both of them are happy. But time is also counting down even they didn't notice at all.