It's over...she's gone.

Kousei had tears running down his cheeks as he looked up to the light and sucked in a shaky inhale before standing up and facing the audience to bow, hiding his tear-stained face, then quickly but subtly walked away, his heart dropping every time he thinks about the girl who gave him life for the first time in a long time.

But now she's gone. So his life immediately turned upside down all over again. And she left him... Just like his mother.

As Kousei disappeared backstage he felt his heart break once more before he broke down and fell onto his bottom against a wall, his knees curled up to his chest and his face hidden between them, his quiet yet loud sobs sounding throughout the corridor.

I never even gave her a proper goodbye, I never gave Kaori a proper goodbye... I...I never...I never had the guts to tell her that-

"KOUSEI!"

Kousei sniffed and tried to control his breathing before peeking an eye out and catching Tsubaki and Watari's running forms.

"Watari...? Tsu...baki?" Kousei sniffled and lifted his head up, trying to pretend he wasn't crying even though it was impossible with his fogged up glasses and red nose and eyes.

"Kousei!" Watari yelled once more when he was a foot away from Kousei, practically yelling to his now-sensitive ears.

"Ow...Watari... Why're you yelling?" Kousei's voice was tight and he swallowed the huge lump in his throat before taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes, trying to get rid of the tears.

"It's...it's Kaori..." Watari wasn't as enthusiastic as Kousei thought he would be but there was a hint of happiness in his eyes.

"What?" Kousei straightened his back and after he finished cleaning his glasses he put them on, blinking at his two friends.

"She's...well, she did it." Tsubaki put on a smile.

"Eh?" Kousei kept looking back and forth between his friends, not getting it.

There's no way...she was just...

Watari held out his phone and showed Kousei the email he got from the hospital. "She's okay! She made it through the surgery, Kousei!"

Kousei couldn't speak correctly, his mind was in a fuzz. She's...alive? She's not gone? Kousei read the email, which said 'The surgery was a success. Feel free to come to check up on Miyazono when you have the time to do so.'

"I..." Kousei didn't have the exact words for what he has to say, so he instead shot up from the floor and ran past Tsubaki and Watari, rushing out the room to appear in the lobby of Towa Hall, making a beeline to the hospital.

"Wow..." muttered Watari, resting his hands on his hips and smirking. "He really has the hots for her."

Tsubaki stared at the doors Kousei just went through and sighed, mumbling, "Yeah..."

"Should we go too? I mean, she is our friend after all." Watari smiled and grabbed her elbow, rushing off to where Kousei was headed without letting Tsubaki give an answer.

~0000~

Kousei burst through the hospital doors and stumbled in, out of breath from the amount of running.

Oh my God...that was the fastest I've ever ran since I first found out Kaori was in here. Kousei looked around in his blue suit and spotted the main desk, so he calmed himself and walked over to it, his legs throbbing from the sprinting.

"I..." Kousei stopped his word to take a breath and placed both his hands on the desk, catching his breath. "S-sorry..."

The person at the desk nodded and said, "No, it's okay. Just tell me what you need."

Kousei placed his hands on his knees and looked up to the lady, his eyes wide and desperate with his face sweaty. "I-I need to see Miyazono Kaori!"

The lady nodded and typed a little on her keyboard and after spotting Kaori's name she turned to Kousei as he slowly straightened and adjusted his glasses.

"She's in her room right now, you know where it is right?"

Kousei frantically nodded and gave her a thumbs-up in thanks before speeding away, making sure not to hit anyone on the way.

But, just as Kousei went away, Watari and Tsubaki came through the doors, startling the lady Kousei was just speaking to. They weren't as out of breath as Kousei considering all the running they do from sports but they're still a little beat.

They both strode up to the desk and slammed their hands on it and simultaneously yelled out, "We need to see-"

"Miyazono Kaori?" the lady bluntly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Watari and Tsubaki nodded, waiting for approval.

"Go on ahead. She's in her room. Your friend is probably already there by now," she said, looking back at her papers.

"Thank you!" the two yelled out one more time before making it over to Kaori's room, where they know they'd for sure find Kousei.

~0000~

Barging through one more door, Kousei let the door stop to not make a loud noise and breathed in then out while his eyes widened at Kaori's being, whom was looking out the window.

"K-Kaori?" Kousei wanted to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Upon hearing her name, Kaori turned her head to look at the person who called her and her eyes widened, a glint of pride and joy in them.

"Kousei!" Kaori grinned and watched as he slowly walked to her bed.

"You're here right? I'm not imagining things?" Kousei wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or Kaori.

Kaori decided to mess with Kousei a little and her face feigned sadness. "Well...maybe you are...I didn't pass the surgery Kousei..."

Kousei widened his eyes in disbelief and looked to the ground. "Wha- but the nurse...a-and the message... Am I dreaming? I hope this isn't a sick joke..." Kousei stopped talking and furrowed his brow in confusion when Kaori started laughing.

"I'm just kidding." Kaori let her laughter die down and sighed in bliss while she stared at Kousei. "I'm not dead, dummy. What, did you think I wasn't gonna make it?!"

Kousei immediately noticed the aura turning dark and grit his teeth in fear and waved his hands in front of him, blurting, "Nonononono, no, no...I-I had faith you were gonna make it! Please don't hit me!" Kousei said his last sentence in a little voice as he winced and covered himself when he saw Kaori about to throw a book at him, but then she smiled sadly and put it down, confusing Kousei.

Kaori sighed and moved so she could move from her sitting position to lay down on the bed and stare at the ceiling. "I'm not gonna hit you...dummy Kousei."

Kousei unblocked himself and stared at her. "Huh?"

But Kaori never got to answer him since the door behind Kousei slid open, which made him fly to the floor from the immense frighten, and the two brunettes both blurted, "KAORI YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Kaori turned her head and smiled at the two of them, sitting up once again, and chirped, "Yup! And I'm all good!" She threw her arms out as if to show how she looks lively again since her hospitalization.

Watari smiled at her. "Great! But...um...hey." Kaori moved her eyes to him and she bit the inside of her lip in worry of what he has to say, considering what happened during their last meeting. She didn't really think about it much because she thought she was going to die.

"So...can we still be friends?" Watari shrugged his shoulders a little, sliding his hands into his pockets. "You're cool, so I wanna still be friends."

Kaori felt a tremendous weight lift off her shoulders so she gave him a smile and a wink. "Yup! You're cool too, but it just wasn't...y'know..."

Watari nodded in agreement.

"Wait...what did I miss?" asked Tsubaki, eyeing the blonde and brunette.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, me and Kaori weren't made for each other so we parted ways. Guess I was just too much for her to handle." Watari smirked and dramatically looked away.

"Ooh...you sure were." Kaori gave him a grin.

"Oh..." was the only response Kousei had to that. He was still left on the floor but he was seated with his hands keeping him up from behind.

"Well...glad we can all still be friends!" says Tsubaki.

"Yeah..." muttered the left-out Kousei. But that loneliness soon ended when Kaori spoke up.

"So...Kousei."

Kousei looked up and saw Kaori slowly bringing her lips to a small smile. "Did you go?"

Kousei felt his heart tighten at what she meant and he looked down, his memories of the last couple minutes flashing in his head. "Yes..."

Kaori smiled fully and would've hugged him if she was able to get out the bed. "That's great!"

Watari and Tsubaki looked in between the two before looking at each other and nodding, agreeing with what was going on in their heads.

"Well, I have to go to a soccer meeting with my teammates... Can't be late now, can I?" grinned Watari, turning around to walk away while waving goodbye.

Tsubaki tried to come up with an excuse to leave but her mind was blank so she came up with a lame one like: "I have to go too. Softball meeting. Um...I can't be late either. Have fun you two!" Tsubaki walked out the door and shouted the last part before her voice was blocked by the door she was closing.

Silence. That was all there was. Well, only until Kousei broke it.

"So...how're you doing?" Kousei picked himself up from the ground and turned his body to Kaori, facing her with his hands fiddling with themselves on his sides.

Kaori looked up to the ceiling to pretend to be thinking before saying, "Oh, I'm fine. I just can't completely walk now, but I will be able to soon if I practice a little more." Her piercing blue eyes landed back on him. Kousei stared into them, getting lost before shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut as he walked toward her bed, but opened his eyes once his knee hit the foot of the cushion.

"Here." He held out his hand and stared at Kaori expectantly.

"What?" Kaori glanced at his hand before looking back up to him.

"Grab my hand, I'm gonna help you walk so you can get out of here faster." Kousei gave her a gentle smile. Kaori stared at his hand before slowly reaching out to grab it and Kousei felt his cheeks sizzle in a blush.

"That'd be great, thanks Kousei." Kaori smiled at him and placed her other hand on his shoulder while he awkwardly wrapped an arm around her waist to help her off the bed and onto her feet.

"Whoa..." Kaori muttered, struggling to stand on her own two feet.

"Does it hurt?" Kousei asked, grabbing her by her shoulders to help her stand straight.

Kaori extended her arms to help her balance herself and let out a breath when she finally stopped struggling.

"Not really."

Kousei smiled a little, grabbing her hand a little more confidently and used his other to grab her elbow to help her move forward a step. "Tell me when you want me to let go..." says Kousei, keeping an eye on the way she's walking. Kaori nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder to get a little more leverage and slowly started to gain her balance. It was silent as the two slowly made way to the wall on the other side of the room and when they were half-way there, Kaori suddenly let go of Kousei's shoulders and started to walk all on her own even though there were a couple of stumbles here and there but she began to walk a little more normally by the time she reached the wall.

"It looks like you did it, Kaori." Kousei smiled at her and his eyes sparkled like never before, knowing he'll be able to be with Kaori possibly - and hopefully - the rest of his years.

"Y...yeah." Kaori's back was turned toward Kousei when she smiled and she looked up from the floor before turning around from the spot she was on, her eyes almost tearful.

"Hey Kousei?"

Kousei looked into her eyes. "Yeah?"

Kaori grinned and pointed her finger at him. "Once I'm out of the hospital, let's go on a journey!"

Kousei felt his heart skip a beat at those words and he grew a grin from her contagious one and nodded a little. "Yeah...let's...let's go on a journey!"

I'm glad... Kousei watched as Kaori slowly walked to her bed with progress and smiled a little more.

I'm glad...you're here with me.

So...hello!

Yeah, this is an AU where Kaori is gonna live and I got this idea from an author who wrote an AU like this on another story on another website...so I got inspired to do one myself since I just can't stop crying every time I think about Kaori and Kousei's last moments together.

I really hope this was okay, I seriously tried my very best to keep them in character but I feel like I was so bad at that.

Anyways, I hope this was at least okay.

Next chapter...I hope I can get it out soon, just school 'n all.

Okay, enough of my talking.

Till next chapter!

(P.S. sorry this was short)