Work Text:
"I never thought I’d end up with someone like you.
You were everything I wasn’t. Loud. Bright. Always moving, always talking. You walked into a room and made sure everyone knew it. I tried to disappear in crowds. You ran toward people. I avoided them. You laughed like you weren’t afraid of anything, and I lived like everything could break me if I let it too close.
We were complete opposites. And I didn’t think it could work.
Honestly, I didn’t want it to.
But you kept showing up. Kept teasing me. Kept talking to me like I was someone worth knowing. You didn’t care that I didn’t always know what to say, or that I got overwhelmed. You never flinched when I shut down or pulled away.
You just waited or pulled me back in.
You always pulled me back in.
I used to think you were annoying. Too much.
But then I started looking forward to your voice.
And your hands.
And the way you looked at me like I was the only one in the room.
God, you made me feel like I was alive. Like I was seen.
I fought it. For a long time. I didn’t know how to let someone in without losing pieces of myself.
But you didn’t take from me.
You gave.
All
the
time.
Even when you were tired. Even when I didn’t say thank you.
You loved me without needing me to be anyone but myself.
And somehow, that’s when I started to change.
You made me better. Not softer, not louder — just more me.
And now I don’t know who I am without you.
I keep thinking I’m gonna hear you again. Your laugh. The way you called me ‘Omi’ like it meant something special. Like it was ours.
But I don’t hear anything now.
Just…
silence.
And not the kind I used to like.
It’s the kind that eats at you. The kind that makes the world feel too big and too empty.
You always said sunflowers were your favorite. Said they turned toward the sun no matter what.
I think that’s what you did for me.
I was cold, stuck in my own shadow… and you just..
kept turning me toward the light.
Even when I didn’t want to move. Even when I didn’t know how.
You made it easy to believe in something.
I didn’t think we’d last.
And then suddenly, I couldn’t imagine a life without you.
And now… here I am.
Doing exactly that.
Living in a world where you’re not here.
Trying to get through each day without hearing your dumb jokes or seeing you dance in the kitchen or feeling your hand grab mine like it was the most normal thing in the world.
I hate it.
I hate that you’re not here.
I hate that the world keeps going like it doesn’t know it’s missing something.
You were everything I never thought I needed.
Everything I never thought I’d deserve.
And now...
you're gone.
And I’m still here. With all this love and nowhere to put it.
I never imagined building a life with someone like you…
But I sure as hell never imagined what it would be like to live without you."
Kiyoomi’s voice quiets, almost lost in the wind as he lowers the bouquet of sunflowers to the base of the grave. His hand lingers there, fingers grazing the engraved letters like they might still be warm. Like maybe he’ll wake up and this won’t be real