"Lullaby"
A Maison Ikkoku fanfic written by Emily Siazon.
All characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement is
intended.
*********************************************************************

"You're dying." The elderly doctor looked at his patient, only to
find the young man staring blankly at the wall. "I'm sorry."

Soichiro Otonashi never noticed him leave, still overwhelmed by the
news. He'd gone to his physical thinking that it was just going to be
another routine checkup; a visit spent mostly at the waiting room
reading magazines months old until he could be told that he had a
clean bill of health. He was obviously wrong.

Soichiro wordlessly walked out of the antiseptic white office and
into the chilly December rain, oblivious to the water trickling down
his face.

How had this happened? He was still so young.

Maybe the doctor was wrong and he. . . No. It was the most modern
hospital in Tokyo. They didn't make mistakes in those places, did
they?

"What am I going to do?" he muttered while looking at the overcast
sky as if it would give him the answer he sought. "What about my
parents? They're going to be devastated. Who's going to take care of
them after�after I'm gone?"

Soichiro halfheartedly kicked a can across the sidewalk while waiting
for the train. He watched it clatter noisily before ending up near a
giggling high-school girl who never even noticed it.

He looked around to see if anyone else had, but everyone kept right
on walking as if the can didn't exist; as if *he* didn't exist. The
only response he got was the mournful wail of the wind dying briefly,
as if paying its final respects.

******

This idea has been running through my head for some time now, so
I decided to at least start it. I'm not sure whether to stick with third-
person or if first-person would be better. What do you think?

Emily Siazon
******
Overheard from an infomercial: If you suffer from diabetes or a heart
condition, I bet you worry about how bad your nails has been looking
lately.