A/N: I hope you like it! Don't forget to vote and comment! Thank you!

I hate what I'm feeling right now.

I'm in darkness.

I am drowning with fear underwater.

What happened to me after I had my last performance in the competition?

Was I able to reach her?

Did she survive?

I want to know!

Let me out of this darkness!

I'm begging you!

Third Person POV;

Arima Kousei's eyes opened slowly that morning the day after he had lost his consciousness.

Upon the time his eyes opened, he wondered why he could see a strange white ceiling and smell of disinfectants around him.

His right hand was also connected somewhere and a heart clip was attached to his finger.

Seto Hiroko cried in relief after seeing that he already woke up. He heard her cries and so, he was able to be more conscious to his surroundings.

While he was looking around while he's in his soft bed, it finally dawned on him that he's in the hospital.

The needle of the IV fluid was attached at the back of his hand while a white clip was also attached at his pointer finger. When he saw it, he became aware that there's a heart monitor at his right side. His head hurt that worried Seto Hiroko as he sit up but it soon dissipated.

"You finally woken up," cried Seto Hiroko in relief.

"Hiroko-san," he spoke weakly under his breathing mask. "What happened to me?"

She couldn't even say anything to him honestly or it's okay to tell him that he has the same sickness as her mother. It surprised her when Kousei did not even ask why he's in the hospital. She took off the breathing mask and stared at him with worried eyes but Kousei was still able to smile.

"I fainted, didn't I? If I'm in the hospital, Seto-san, could you check what had happened to Kaori? She's in the surgery yesterday!" Kousei spoke up in between breaths. "I should had been here awake if I didn't faint!"

His chest felt like she swallowed so much thorns while saying those words which made him wince badly.

"She survived her surgery. There's nothing to worry about. Kousei, please stop worrying for someone else! Why don't you begin worrying for yourself even for a bit?" Seto. Hiroko exclaimed. "Do you want to meet her?"

Kousei gazed away. He was just so happy to know that Kaori survived her surgery. "I thought she'll leave me. I really thought I'll lose her, Hiroko-san. Yes. I want to see her again."

A few seconds later, he finally became curious about why he's actually confined in the hospital. "Why am I here? What's wrong with me? Seto Hiroko- san, answer me!"

"Your heart's frail. That's what the doctor said. You have a congenital heart disease. It's a birth defect. It was corrected long ago but as that's so long ago already, your heart wasn't able to carry the stress and pain you were having that the old sutures on your heart began peeling off."

Kousei was shocked by what he heard. "That's a lie, right? How? Why? How can I have a heart disease?"

"I'm sorry but it is true," she replied to him.

Kousei stared at his own trembling hands. "Do my friends know my situation?"

"We told them. I think it's much better that they know," she answered him.

"What about father? Does he know?" he asked her. "I want to see my dad."

"He left after he saw you transferred here in this room but he'll come back. I promise that to you. Most of all, you may have a Congenital Heart Disease but the doctor says that your condition doesn't need a surgery yet," Hiroko told him. "Don't worry too much, understood?"

Kousei laid back down in his hospital bed to rest and covered himself up with his blanket to go back to sleep since he's still suffering from cold and chest pain.

...

Kaori was happily walking down the hospital after waking up from recovering from her surgery since she missed walking so much when she suddenly heard a commotion coming from her left side.

The doctors were all shouting 'Emergency! Emergency!'

She wasn't actually interested to go there when suddenly, she heard the name, 'Arima Kousei'.

She ran immediately there and searched around to check if she had heard clearly. She sighed in relief when she knew that it was actually a different person and she just heard someone speak his name in that direction but, her heart still pounded dangerously when she heard two familiar pianists talking about Kousei.

"Are you sure that Arima Kousei would want to see us?" Emi asked Aiza Takeshi while they were sitting on the white chairs near the pediatric clinic in the hospital.

Aiza sighed. "It's still a good thing that he's just confined for a check-up, right?"

"Kousei would need visitors, of course. Come on, let's go, Aiza," Emi stood up from her seat and walked. Aiza followed her.

Kaori followed them but then, she was surprised when she witnessed that Aiza and Emi were stopped by Seto Hiroko in front of Kousei's hospital room to get inside. "He doesn't want to see anyone yet. His two best friends also came by today but he just quickly made them leave. I don't know what's going on with him, right now."

Seto's eyes shifted on Kaori when she saw her watching them. "I believe there is someone he would actually want to see."

They stared at her while Seto Hiroko pointed at Kousei's door, asking Kaori to get inside.

Kaori quickly understood what she meant. She entered Kousei's room immediately so she can visit him. When she was finally inside, she saw Kousei staring at her with joyful tears flowing down his eyes.

Kousei took off the clip of the heart monitor on his finger to free himself from his bed. He quickly stood up to hug her tight. "You really survived!"

"Didn't I say I wanted to play with you all over again?" Kaori told her cheerfully.

"I thought you left me already!" cried Kousei.

While they were crying together, an envelope fell down from Kaori's pocket. Kousei saw it and he quickly picked it up that made her very nervous that she tried to snatch it when she knew what he held.

Kaori was able to observe Kousei's room at the time she was trying to snatch her letter from him in which he picked up deliberately when the letter fell down the floor accidentally from her pocket. Her eyes shifted to the huge room where Kousei's confined in. She was shocked and felt sad when she saw that there's a heart monitor inside that made her forget taking back the letter which she particularly wrote for Kousei if she doesn't survive her surgery.

Kousei read the letter silently on his bed when he knew that it was for him. He began to laugh how Kaori insulted her in that letter. Kaori stared worriedly at Kousei after seeing a room filled with lots of medical equipment that made her wonder how sick he truly is and why he needed to have those intimidating and frightening machines.

Seto Hiroko returned to the room where she noticed that Kousei was currently reading a letter on his bed. She smiled and stood beside Kaori. "You're Miyazono Kaori, right? The lady that made Kousei go back to his piano?"

"Ahhh.... Yes. I am," she answered with a smile. Silence came over them for a few seconds.

"Hiroko-san, why is Kousei in the hospital?" she asked her.

Seto Hiroko became silent and she wondered how she'll answer her. She was about to answer when the two of them got distracted by Kousei looking at them strangely. He had finished reading her letter.

"Is this true?" he asked Kaori.

Kaori blushed. "I'm sorry if I did lie at you but it's true. I like you."

Kousei blushed more. "I like you too but what about Watari and Tsubaki? Is it true she like me?"

Kaori looked at the ceiling. "Watari Ryota knows that I like you and not him. He is practically hiding something from us, though. I wonder what it is. With Tsubaki, I am going to leave that to you how you would confront her."

Kaori's confession shocked the two more that made Kousei's ward shout at her, "So you practically lied to get closer to Kousei!!! Kids these days! Why didn't you just ask Kousei that you want to be friends with him?"

"I had no space. The three of them are very much intact together," Kaori pouted.

Kousei looked at her sadly and honestly told her, "I'm happy that you're very much well now unlike the days that I saw you suffering. It'll be unfair if I don't tell you what's wrong with me."

Silence overwhelmed them a bit until Kousei confesses, "I have a Congenital Heart Disease."

Kaori's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe that the pianist she loves so deeply have a dangerous birth defect.

...

The next day, Miyazono Kaori was finally released from the hospital. Her doctor told her that for now, she'll be fine like she was before and for her to actually be cured, she still have to drink the medications given to her.

Kousei was also released for a while at that time but before he was released completely, he went through some more tests to check the defects of his heart, how serious it is and how his doctors could correct them.

He was finally dressed up to go back to his home when he received a list of medication that he'll be taking in from now on from his teacher, Seto Hiroko. "Your doctor would call me when it's already time for you to return back here. For now, buy your medicines, understood?"

Kousei just sighed as he leave the hospital but as he was going home, he quickly found Kaori, waving at him. "Can I come with you?"

He blushed that made Kaori blush, too. "Of course. It's not like we're dating, right?"

"Both of us had just left the hospital, is it alright for both of us to stress ourselves quick?" Kousei asked her.

Kaori laughed. "Who said we're stressing ourselves? Also, I think it's time to confess what made me sick before."

Kousei swallowed deep and stopped walking but he just kept staring at her.

"I had cancer but now, I'm in remission. I'd slowly get better, that's what my doctor said," Kaori told him. "You said you have a heart disease, right? Don't you give up on it or get depressed over it! Medical Technology these days is better than before!"

Kousei smiled together with her until Kaori pulled him up with a big smile on her face. "You're buying medicine, right? I'll lead you to the closest pharmacy!"

...

Without them knowing, Tsubaki was watching them and can overhear them. She accidentally saw them chatting happily together.

Kousei and Kaori have mutual understanding and that made her feel jealous. Even she knows that what she feels currently was a disappointment, she couldn't stop her jealousy.

Tsubaki painfully smiled and reminded herself that Kousei likes Kaori, not her.

Most of all, if she's actually a true friend, she would let her friend happy with the girl whom her friend actually likes.

It hurt her more when Kaori told Kousei, "You said you like me in the hospital. Do you really like me? I told you that Tsubaki-chan likes you too, right?"

Kousei stared at her while blushing so hard and his head's getting so red. "I love you, Kaori! I really, really, really, really love you! Tsubaki? Tsubaki's just a sister to me. You're different. I really like you, Kaori and I want to be your accompanist once again. Let me be your accompanist again, okay?" he confessed to her.

Kaori hugged him. "I love you, too... Kousei-kun!"

Tsubaki may be watching them from far away but for her, if Kousei was happy, that's enough. She's happy if Kousei's happy and so, she walked away, content with her relationship with him and wished for the love of her friends to flourish further. She hopes that their love will be tight enough and strong enough while they undergo new challenges as a couple together.

Kousei's clock began ticking slowly. How long will his clock keep ticking?

A/N: I hope you like this new update!