“Even So, With You, As the Flowers Scatter” 11

Chapter 10: Shattering Flash
April 21st, 5:00 AM.
Kyoichi opened his eyes before his bedside alarm could ring. A dull pulse throbbed deep in his head, and a slight nausea scraped at his throat. He pinched the prescribed painkiller with his fingers and washed it down with a glass of water, his stomach twisting.
(One more day—if I can just get through that)
He pulled a thin booklet of the “Kokin Wakashu” from the bookshelf by his bed and opened it to the poem he had sent last night. The notes he had scribbled in the margins were blurred and unreadable. Even so, just tracing the characters with his fingertips lit a warmth deep in his chest.

7:30 AM.
The commuter train trapped the humidity of the rain that had just cleared, and the vinyl of the hanging straps stuck to his palms. Beyond the train window, the clouds were still low.
His smartphone vibrated.
> Tests are going well. I'll know the details by noon.
There was no signature. Yet, at a single glance, Ouka's voice came back to him.
> Thank you for letting me know. You'll be fine.
He started to type a reply, but couldn't find the words and stopped. When he closed the screen, his vision blurred into double, and pain shot through his temples again. He gripped the hanging strap tighter.

8:55 AM.
Staff morning meeting. The vice principal's voice reading the weekly report echoed from afar. The light flickered in patches, and the letters danced like black raindrops.
(Endure it)
As if tracing a map in his mind with his fingertips, he extracted only today's lessons and submissions. The pain receded slightly. But, as if to strike at that opening, a violent flash pierced his vision.
His clenched back teeth creaked. He felt sweat running down his cheeks. Rika Wakamatsu looked at him anxiously, but Kyoichi shook his head.

10:00 AM.
The first modern literature class. Every time the printed text blurred, he covered it up by drawing lines on the blackboard. The faces of the students taking notes seemed far away, and the classroom ventilation fan spun with a raspy sound.
By the time he finished writing on the board, a shock like being struck from the inside hit the back of his head. His chest contracted with a chill, and his vision rippled in white.
(Not yet—thirty more minutes)
He put down the chalk and, while maintaining his voice, switched the rest of the time to self-study. The students murmured. The moment he walked out into the hallway, his knees buckled slightly.

11:10 AM.
Classical literature preparation room. He rested his elbows on the desk and held his forehead. The pain changed into the shape of a blade, stabbing him alternately from left and right. The moment he stood up, clutching a stack of handouts to head to the library, the ceiling collapsed.
—He heard no sound. There was only a high-pitched ringing in the distance like glass creaking, his vision inverted, and the sensation of falling to the floor from his right side.
(It's like the sound of cherry blossoms scattering)
Just as that fantasy crossed his mind, he blacked out.

☆

He heard the sound of water droplets falling in the darkness.
“...Mr. Yoshino, can you hear me?”
Someone called out. He tried to answer, but his tongue wouldn't move.
(Am I floating?)
The roar of his pulse jumped in his ears, and the next moment, a sharp pain split the top of his head. A voiceless voice stuck in his throat, and his consciousness fell into deep darkness.

☆

A faint light shone behind his eyelids, and fragmented conversations drifted by.
“Subarachnoid... massive hemorrhage...”
“Contact info... the director... family”
“Prepare CT... consciousness level three”
(Ou...ka)
He wanted to call her name, but his vocal cords remained silent.
Far behind him, the heart rate monitor let out a warning sound, and the light cut off completely.

☆

He had no sense of time. While drifting aimlessly at the bottom of a dark river, the same image played over and over again.
A girl in a blue uniform falling amidst a blizzard of cherry blossoms, and a boy—his former self—crying out. His current self appeared there, reaching out his arms to embrace them both, but his fingers crumbled into light.
An endless loop.
(I said I wouldn't run away. There is still something I haven't said)
Every time his thoughts melted into the darkness, he tried to stand up again. But his body shattered into fragments, and the image played in reverse once more.

☆

In the distance, an electronic sound was drawn out, and someone said:
“Brain waves, flat. Confirmed—”
Another voice overlapped with it. A sobbing voice. Whether it was his father or mother, he couldn't tell.
(Stop it. Not yet—)
He tried to scream, but the darkness gave no answer.

☆

When he felt the light for the last time, a faint relief filled his chest.
The schoolyard after the rain, Ouka standing under the cherry trees, smiling at him. The collar of her uniform swayed in the wind, and she placed a hand on her chest, her lips moving to say, “I'm going now.”
Her figure blurred, the light converged, and the scenery turned into a single tanka poem.
In this spring of gentle light,
Why do the flowers scatter,With such restless hearts?

(Spring, it still continues) The moment he thought that, a white flash ran through the center of the image, and everything ceased.

To Chapter 11→

Prologue —The Scattered Voice Falls Upon My Heart—
Chapter 1: Colorless Spring
Chapter 2: Pale Crimson Premonition
Chapter 3: Cherry Blossom Remedial Class
Chapter 4: Father's Shadow, Daughter's Resolve
Chapter 5: Wavering Teachers
Chapter 6: Twilight Promise
Chapter 7: Rainy Donor Notification
Chapter 8: Hospital Room Confession
Chapter 9: White Dawn
Chapter 10: Shattering Flash
Chapter 11: Quiet Handover
Chapter 12: New Heartbeat
Chapter 13: Classroom After the Rain
Chapter 14: Hill Road of Fragrant Breezes
Epilogue

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