Remorse

As soon as he heard the news, he didn't want to believe it. It wasn't true. No. He was sure of it. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. She was supposed to be there for him forever, when he needed her. She was supposed to be the one to comfort him when he was down.

No.

He buried his face in his hands and felt sorry.

Sorry that he couldn't tell her he loved her so much. Sorry that he could never again run his fingers through her soft hair. Sorry that he had lost her.

Remorse was bitter.

He bit his lip.

He couldn't imagine life without her. He would sleep and wake up without the feeling of her in his arms. He would not be able to talk to her anymore, like he used to.

Life would be different.

He glanced at the clock. 7:25 am. Damn. He was late.

He slipped on his school shirt and shorts and ran a towel over his tear-stained face. He looked like shit, but he didn't care.

He didn't bother to run to school. Instead, he walked slowly, hands in his pocket, tuning out sounds of cars whizzing past and snatches of gossip here and there. He looked around.

How come everything seemed so normal?

He walked into class an hour late.

The teacher scolded him, but he didn't care. The teacher, she didn't understand.

The Regulars, they knew.

Momo had offered to treat him to burgers, but he had refused. It was generous, and certainly unexpected from his senpai, but he wasn't hungry.

Kikumaru had bounced a lot and tried to cheer him up, but it didn't work.

Oishi had a long talk with him which he really didn't want to listen to.

Tezuka had noticed his performance slip and had asked him to buck up. He snorted. It was only that one match he lost to Horio. He growled.

Kawamura had brought sushi for him. Sadly, it was eaten by Kikumaru and Momo.

Inui had offered him comfort in a form of Inui juice. He had thrown up after smelling it.

Fuji had smiled at him a lot. It was beginning to creep him out.

Kaidoh had patted him on the back and hissed. Needless to say, it was the most comfort he had received the whole day.

He had gone straight home after practice. Usually, he would be at the burger joint with Momo, but he wasn't hungry today.

He took out a photo album he had of her. She was pretty, and many people had told her so.

He thought so too.

He traced his fingers over her face. It had only been a few days, but he missed her already.

He missed her soft, curious eyes staring up at him every time he talked to her. Those beautiful eyes.

He could still remember them.

Soft and brown.

He fought the tears that threatened to spill.

He decided to sleep the sense of loss off.

He snuggled into the warm covers of his blanket and instinctively reached for her.

She wasn't there.

He sat up, saddened by the realization that hit him. She was dead, and she was no longer a part of his life.

He dug deeper down into the soft folds on his blanket and silently wished for everything to turn out right. He closed his eyes and wished every hard that maybe, just maybe, the next day, when he woke up, everything would be alright. Yes. Everything would be alright in the end.

And she'd still be alive. She would still be there to welcome him home everyday.

Karupin would still be alive.

He smiled at the thought and drifted off to sleep.

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A/N: um... so, did you like it? Haha. I want to thank Pebble and JL for giving me the idea for this story. You guys are so lame. Haha. Leave a review, or flame if you like. I don't care.