Jitsu -A different story-

"Surely the last thing she wanted at that moment was that I see her in that state, and by her own words, besides her parents, I was the first person to whom she revealed what was happening to her…" Kurono had already escaped a little of that immersive memory, but that didn't mean he wasn't explaining to Shizune everything he had been through. "A disease. That's what she said. All of that had started several years ago, presenting with difficulties walking on some occasions until moments in which she was not able to control her own body... She repeated to me many times that it happened when she least expected it, and could even go months by without exaggerated symptoms, in addition she had her medication that helped her lead a relatively normal life, but that time it had been more serious than before."

With everything Kurono had just told her, Shizune could understand the bigger picture that Mei was going through. If she truly hadn't told anyone else about her condition, it was possibly due to some fear or more complicated feelings that only she understood, but other than that, she could notice the pained expression forming on Kurono's face every second.

"She also apologized to me for not having told me all that before, but I had no way or reason to blame her, my concern for her was greater than anything else at that moment, so I simply dedicated myself to asking her anything that would help me understand her situation better." Kurono brought one of his hands to his face to cover his eyes with it, he was trying very hard to express everything that came to his mind, and it was clear that it hurt him to remember all that. "That day I was accompanying her until she fell completely asleep, and her father was the one who helped me return home despite the hour. He also made me understand everything that was happening better, explaining to me when it all started and that Mei's disease was unfortunately a hereditary aspect... Although, in addition to that, he also thanked me for the fact that I cared so much about her."

Shizune felt that saying a phrase like "I understand" couldn't be said by her since she hadn't been in that kind of situation. It was true that she knew quite a bit about the pain of losing someone dear, but from what Kurono said, he was suffering from the fact of knowing that a person who was important to him was going through all that pain.

"I was greeted by Kazumi-nee that day, she probably would have been filled with questions due to the hour, but no attitude other than concern could be seen on her face when she saw me, and I had to explain to her what was happening." It was also clear to Shizune that Kazumi would be aware of most of the things that Kurono was expressing to her, perhaps for that reason she had told her to take charge of discovering what was in Kurono's mind. "After that... The days passed and my routine had become just spending most of my time with Mei, which she always scolded me for because she thought I was overreacting, always telling me that it wasn't the first time something like this had happened to her and that it wouldn't be long before returned to her normal life. I deeply believed in her words… Or was that what I was trying to do since my concern for her did not go away with anything."

And like on several occasions, Shizune felt that she should say something, but she couldn't find the right words for it. She could only see Kurono's figure and hear those words that carried a combination of incredibly complicated feelings that little by little threatened to try to break him. It wasn't clear if it was because he was putting up with it or it had reached a point where he was trying to ignore them, but it hadn't been enough for his voice to crack this time.

"Those days turned into weeks, a time in which the situation did not change and only got worse, Mei's condition was affected even more by her disease, and although she almost always tried to hide all that, I could feel what she tried to hide behind that smile she always showed me... Kazumi-nee had also accompanied me to see how she was sometimes, maybe you would think that I would try to contact Mei's friends... But she had begged me not to, Besides, her parents had already explained the whole situation at school, but they asked that they not specify anything about it with our classmates." Kurono's hand fell from his face, revealing his eyes again, thus allowing Shizune to know what he was hiding. "I didn't know what to do... First of all, I didn't know if I could do anything, I had been trapped in that same cycle, the cycle in which I would simply go see Mei, always hoping that someone told me that she was fine now, that all of this was going to end, that I was no longer going to see how she suffered inside…"

Kurono wasn't seeing anything at the moment, but the shine in her eyes, as well as the color they were turning, was enough to make Shizune extremely worried.

"And it was that day… The day was never missing when I would find her father or mother outside the room, but at that time none of them were there. My gaze stayed fixed on the door that I had crossed so many times before doing so once again, I wanted to find Mei's figure sitting in that same place, distracted by something else, and although it was painful, I needed to see the small smile that she gave me when he saw me… But that day… There was only one empty room." And it was at that precise moment… That was the moment in which Kurono couldn't take it anymore. It wasn't just that feeling that had taken over him. The memory of Mei, the memory of his parents... Everything had combined into a simple feeling... A great and deep pain.

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Hi, first of all, an apology. My computer died just as I was going to start posting chapters again and there was a pause again. I know it's been a while and you may be a little lost, but in short, after the trip to Shizune's town, the situation arose where Kurono is reliving memories about his past and talking about it to Shizune, so that it is the current plot that the story is going through.