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The sudden arrival of death was no stranger to Gorou Amamiya.
Throughout his career in medicine, he had witnessed the life in the eyes of a patient dim into a glossy, faint stare, many times. The constant noise of the flatlined heart monitor echoing throughout an otherwise silent room, was it's ever-present companion. The path he had walked was fraught with death, and though the crux of his work was to prevent it, in the end he knew that time caught up with everybody. He had no problem accepting this.
He could remember the last moments of many patients, though most were too long ago to properly recall. Tearful goodbyes from loved ones, for those lucky enough to live a life full of family, friends and love. An echo of hope and contentness always accompanied these, despite the immediate loss that plagued all involved. If death was inevitable, then comfort could at least be found in that event being peaceful and filled with loved ones.
Those less lucky, Gorou found himself remembering far clearer. Those who died suddenly in their sleep, their loved ones being caught utterly by surprise, or perhaps without any loved ones to care at all. The worst of those were the young, those with entire lives left to live, yet due to the curse of mortality were unable to live them.
Throughout it all, Gorou had always considered himself a bystander in the proceedings. It was part of the job, something to face when confronted with, but not to get invested in or emotional over. He had no family left, neither any close friends this far out in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, death would come for him too, and when that day came, he would simply accept it.
Gorou had never feared death before.
That was before he had sat by the bedside of the young girl he had come to love for her perseverance and infectious joy in the face of overwhelming adversity. The young girl that had taught him how, and what it meant, to love someone.
Before he had sat there, praying that every single little breath he saw with the rise and fall of her chest wouldn't be her last.
-x-
The steady beat of noise from the heart monitor was the ticking of the clock to Gorou. It was constantly counting down to an inevitable conclusion that he wished he could avoid. In desperation, and with limited time, he held onto Sarina's weak little hand like a lifeline, as if by holding onto it tightly he could prevent what was to come.
Pained coughs came from her throat, and the intense discomfort was evident from the crease in her brow. Despite this, she gave no verbal sign of her agonized suffering, determined to not let it control her to the very end.
It was just like her.
Gorou's despot focus on the despair crushing his soul was interrupted by her attempt to utter something to him. It took some time, given the weakness of her body, but he was nothing if not patient. Sarina finally managed to choke out a coherent sentence.
"Sensei... Thank you, for always being by my side. Always... cheering me on..."
He desperately wanted to respond, to reassure her that she would be okay. That this was just some horrible dream that they would both wake up from, and that she would overcome this tumour and become the idol she always deeply desired to be.
But they both knew better than that.
"Please, don't be sad, Sensei. You gave me... a reason to live. Thanks to you, I don't feel so scared."
Gorou ducked his head as the tears he could no longer hold back came streaming out, moving his free arm to wipe his eyes.
"I always knew... that this was going to happen eventually."
Sarina's words had shrunk to impossibly quiet whispers.
"Even if mum and dad... couldn't make it, you being here is... everything I could've wanted."
That fury had been swelling up within him, only overshadowed by his outright terror. Her parents hadn't even spared a thought to visit their dying daughter on her deathbed. It was disgusting. If it weren't for the fragile girl's gentle words, he would have swore revenge for her.
In the past, he had shamefully been a little thankful for her parents' disinterest. It gave them one more thing to bond over, and more time together. This all came crashing down in these final moments, and seething hatred for her so-called "mother" and "father" was all that remained. At least his own mother had an excuse for never being there for him, while they just simply didn't care.
But neither rage nor revenge could help her now. All he could offer her of any value was simply love.
-x-
Hours passed. Then minutes, and then seconds. Gorou felt the moment he feared above all else drawing closer and closer. His gaze never once left the girl in front of him, and his hand never once left hers.
Sarina spoke once more, and by the dry sound of her voice, he knew that their time was almost up.
"Sensei, could you... do one last thing for me?"
Their eyes met, her fading, blue eyes gazing inquisitively into his. She delicately reached her shaky arm to the keychain on the desk beside her, and with all her effort brought it into his free hand.
"...Please take good care of it. As if it were me."
Her grip on his hand grew weaker by the second, and in response he grasped hers firmer. He could feel her pulse slowing, and realised that this was it. Swallowing the blockage he felt in his throat, and holding back his tears, Gorou gave Sarina a confident smile, and the last words she would ever hear.
"Always."
-x-
In another life, in another time, after many years of misunderstandings and secrets unraveled, there would be a tearful reunion full of hugs and tears of relief.
But this was not that life, and this was not that time.
Heavy sobs from the man who had lost everything filled the room for hours after. Sarina's smile never left her face, as those beautiful blue eyes that he loved, full of hope and wonder, closed for the last time.