The air on the butterfly estate was barely breathable. At least for three people, it was painful to inhale it; as if poison had filled their lungs, urging them to cough up imaginary blood. The couple had perfectly heard what the insect pillar had said, but they refused to believe that. Not after they had finally found love. Not after they were so close to having a happy ending. Not when she had gone through a major surgery and survived. Not when they were happy.

Not now. Dear God, not now.

"Dying...? What... what do you mean by that?" you asked, lips quivering, heart clenched. Your glassy eyes searched for Shinobu's in order to get some answer out of them, but she quickly averted them out of the strong mix of emotions that lingered on the air. "S-Shinobu, am I really dying?"

The female closed her eyes momentarily. Either to get strength and clear her thoughts, or to hide how they began turning red and filled with tears. It had been so long since she shed a tear, that now the lump on her throat and the twirling of her stomach were symptoms that she could barely recognize as sadness.

She was always feeling angry. But now?

Now it was only an intense sorrow that ate her whole.

Her head hung low as she attempted to get herself to speak. To tell the truth. To admit that there wasn't much she could do.

"No. She's not dying."

Muichiro's tone of voice was cold; bearing a mix of anger and passive-aggressiveness that would send chills to anyone who heard it. Shinobu lifted her gaze to meet his sour expression, startled by that chilling sound which she had never heard him utter before.

"Tell me she's not dying, Shinobu. There's no way that she's dying when you're taking care of her. She's in your care, you had to make sure that she was fine, so she can't be dying. This isn't funny."

Shinobu's eyebrows furrowed whilst she listened to those words. And again, anger built up inside of her. Her fists clenched over her lap, urging her to control herself like she's used to.

"And you think that it's funny for me to tell her that she's dying and that I can't do anything to save her?"

"Are you sure that you can't do anything, or is it that you haven't tried?"

"Believe me when I say that I tried everything, but her body isn't responding to the medication! Even now, she's dying! She's eventually going to start feeling the pain and have slow, agonizing death!"

She felt a warm liquid sliding down her cheeks, which suddenly felt hot. She watched the tears hit the back of her hands like the pouring rain that rampaged outside.

"But... But she looks healthy now... she was laughing with us a minute ago..."

And just like that, his tone had changed. It wasn't aggressive or cold. It became quiet, and sad, and tired, and regretful, and weak. Too weak, as if he was begging for everything he had just heard to be a lie.

"I'm sorry" she breathed out as she pressed her lips into a hard line.

Hot torrents of grief coursed down his face, overwhelming him too much to the point in which he was already shaking. He didn't know what to say or think, lost in the red-inked works that repeated on his mind over and over again, saying that the person he lived for was going to die.

Before he could stutter a thousands no's, he felt a familiar warmth over his hand. He quickly turned to stare at you, and he felt his whole world fall.

A weak smile adorned your lips, face showing a gentleness that melted his heart. Each of your hands had reached for both Shinobu's and his in an attempt to calm them down.

"It's okay. You're not going to lose me"

"[Y/N]..." Shinobu began, wanting to tell you the reasons why keeping hope was useless. But she couldn't. Not when she looked at the smile that you struggled to keep.

"I'm going to be fine. I've been sick my entire life, remember? I'm used to this" you said, tilting your head as you closed your eyes while holding the smile.

That's when Shinobu's heart broke. The flood of uncontrollable tears, the tightening in her throat, swarmed her; she began blaming herself. It was her fault that you were dying, not anyone else's. She cared about you, she cherished you, she would go so far as to call you her little sister even though it had barely been a year and three months since she met you. Her hands were stained with your blood, and when you die, her head would be plagued with memories of you.

And it was all her fault.

Your eyes widened in complete shock when you saw Shinobu get off the chair and on her knees, her forehead on the cold metal railing of your bed, her hands gripping it as well. She shut her eyes tight as tears kept streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry"

"S-Shinobu, it's okay! It's not your fa—"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not enough to save you, [Y/N]. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry...!" she bawled, gripping the railing tighter, teeth as clenched as her heart.

"I-It's fine...!"

"No, it's not fine! You barely just began living, you were going to be happy. And it's all my fault, because I spent hours looking for a solution, but I couldn't find one. So I'm sorry."

You let out a tear full of grief, eyebrows knitted together as you worriedly stared at Shinobu's posture. It was as if she was ashamed, or afraid, of losing you.

"Calm down, Shinobu. I'm still here, I'm not dead, and I'm not going to die. Tengen-sama told me that I can't die because I'm flamboyant. Himejima-san and the girls prayed all night for my health. And I have Tokito-sama with me, so there's no way I'm dying. I can't leave him alone, can I?" you said in the sweetest voice possible, squeezing her hand and urging her to lift her head up and stop kneeling. "I can't leave you alone either"

Muichiro was hardly able to watch the scene, his view clouded with tears.

«Even though everything is falling apart, she has light behind her eyes. It's her who's suffering the most, but she's comforting us instead.»

He wanted to be able to comfort you, but all he could to do was cry a river and wish to hug you until you fell asleep.

Shinobu bit her lip, squeezing back your hand. She lifted her head up, hesitantly, as sadness reflected her pale hues. But then, with the sole view of your paleness and fragility, and of the tears that inevitably flooded your face, it was replaced with a burning fire. How you were trembling, attempting to hold a smile just for them, hurt her.

She convinced herself that to protect that smile, she had to be a little idealistic and do anything until you breathed your last.

"I don't want you to die, [Y/N]..." she stated, startling both you and the ravenette boy next to you. "I don't know how, but I'll try to find a way... just, please hold on. I promise I'll try to find one, so please, be strong"

The tears that swarmed you didn't stop, but your expression melt into a softer one, swayed by Shinobu's words. Even though it was almost impossible, she tried to hold onto the possibility of saving you.

Shinobu stood up, sniffing and drying her tears.

"T-Thank you so much, Shinobu..." you whispered, overwhelmed by her words. You couldn't stop sobbing and letting out tears, drying them with your white sleeves. Your smile was gone, all your strength leaving your body with it.

"You should get some sleep, [Y/N]. It'll help your body, and it's also good for calming you down; okay?" she said, slowly going back to her smiley persona after that sudden breakdown.

"Mm-hmm" you hummed, resting your back on your pillows.

Muichiro didn't say much, taking it into his own task tugging you into bed. You closed your eyes as he covered you with the blanket and planted a kiss on your forehead.

Shinobu watched him walk out of the room, following close behind him. She wished to stay a little longer, but decided to save time. She needed all the time she could get to get your body to respond to medication before you got any worse.

Muichiro, though, wasn't nearly as able to walk down the hall as she was. He supported his weight by leaning against a wall, a pained expression painted on his face. His hand traveled up to his chest, wrinkling the fabric on his uniform over his heart, clenching his teeth as he felt the tears welling up.

Muffled sobs escaped his throat as he begged for air after being robbed of it by the sole remembrance of the events that had just taken place. His body slowly slid down the wall until he was kneeling on the floor.

«God, if you're really there, don't take her away from me. I beg of you, take me instead. If it's her fate to die, trade my life with hers; be it now, in a month or in a year, but please let my [Y/N] live.»