A Whisper of Last Breath

‘Where have you been all day?’ her father barked the moment they pushed open the door. He stood fuming, arms crossed, glaring at them.

Their smiles dropped immediately.

‘You spend your whole day loitering around- what, just what do you think you are doing?!’

‘Oh no-’ Izumi murmured, fear lacing her voice.

‘Is that how you plan to clear your exams? Is that how you will become a doctor?’

‘Dad—’

‘How unserious can you be? Wasting your time until night!’

Izumi swallowed. ‘Dad, it’s just one day— I don’t think it will affect me that much-’

‘One day? Then it will be two days, then three- before you know it, you will develop a habit of roaming around without purpose! And then what? you will never have a career! Your life— your whole life— will be destroyed!’

Balsos sighed. ‘Does he know anything besides studying?’ he sounded annoyed, dramatically throwing his skeletal arms in the air.

‘Apparently not,’ Izumi whispered back.

‘You have to be efficient to survive in the physical world for, sure,’ Balsos went on, ‘but unless you indulge in what your heart wants, you will never truly live!’

Silence fell between them in which her father continued to glare at them.

Then Izumi spoke.

‘You don’t have to worry about it anymore, my life-’ she said quietly. ‘-my life, won’t be destroyed.’

Her father stared at her, stunned.

‘You can relax about that matter.’

Her mother whimpered but didn’t say anything.

Her father, fists clenched at his sides, trembled with barely contained rage, but Izumi ignored him. She simply turned and walked to her room.

So did Ryusuke—to avoid becoming the next target.

There was no strength left in her to argue with him. Besides, everything he said now felt…… pointless. Irrelevant.

Sliding the door shut behind her, she sank to the floor, against the frame. A defeated sigh escaped her lips as she dropped her head against it.

Life?

Her life would be over after few hours.

No matter how and what curses her father hurled at her, none of it mean anything anymore.

For someone who had spent all her life worrying about fulfilling her father’s expectations, to make sure he could be proud of her; She always worked herself to her bones, every night studying till two or three in the morning, sacrificing her hobbies, friendships, even the smallest moments of joy— scribbling her notebooks black with ink, chasing a future that never felt like hers.

And for what?

For him to never say a single word of appreciation.

It was exhausting.

And suddenly, nothing he say could reach her.

She is gone; her life is gone.

In just few hours, this body would be corpse.

And the biggest regret?

All of it.

Every single moment.

Each and every single moment.

She had toiled away her life for something she didn’t even care about.

“If I had spent my life doing what I wanted, even if I was taken so soon, I wouldn’t have regretted it this much,” she whispered. “Because at least then… I would have lived.”

Tears welled up in her eyes.

I pity me.

Giving gifts to my friends, to my brother, to my mother- just to share a last bit of warmth, to replace whatever regret I could to make up for the lost time—

I am so stupid….

A sob left her quivering lips, raw and broken. She folded into herself.

There is no way I can make up for the lost time.

Her breath hitched. Heavy tears rolled down her cheeks. The ache remained pain and unrelenting.

Why, why, just why-

These suffocating, silent goodbyes weighed down her chest. Breathless and defeated, she felt so lost.

She didn’t know what to do anymore, where to go, who to ask, who to explain-

Each and everything were cruelly overwhelming.

After what felt like an eternity of crying, she finally calmed down. But something— something felt heavy in her chest. An unnatural weight.

To distract herself, Izumi slowly rose up from the floor, retrieved her tablet from the cupboard. She sat down on the chair, flicking through her artworks as she stared longingly— at the rough sketches, comic ideas, unfinished character designs; her fingers caressed the tablet, trembling.

She dreamt of being a comic writer one day.

But none of it would ever be known….

Then, as a desperate whisper that didn’t want to fade, a fleeting wish resurfaced.

Before she could second-guess herself, she created a new account on social media.

And she uploaded everything.

Every single piece she had ever created.

Her mother called for dinner. All the while during the dinner, her father rambled about the new medical books and test papers.

Izumi only replied him enough to not turn anything into argument, nodding along to whatever suggestion he gave.

Her brother, clearly irked. Left the table before even finishing his food.

Izumi could have left as well.

But these were the last moments she had left.

Having finished her food, she clambered the stairs. She went to her brother’s room.

‘Good night,’ she said softly, pulling him into a tight hug.

He frowned btu didn’t care. ‘You are acting weird.’

She just smiled.

As soon as she dashed to her room, she burst into tears.

It was too much.

All of it was too much.

On her darkest days, all she yearned for was just joy.

And it was just a call away.

It was just downstairs, having a meal with her mother.

Chatting and playing with her little brother.

Going out and enjoying the sun, the rain and the blooming flowers.

What was she doing all her life, shunting away her desires?

Her desires made her who she was. They gave her an identity.

She put herself in a cage.

Heavy tears dripped down her cheeks as she clutched her heart.

A knock on the door.

Izumi wiped her tears hastily before opening it.

Her father stood in front of her, arms crossed, his face red with rage.

‘I need to talk to you,’ he said.

Izumi nodded. She glanced at the watch.

10:00 PM.

‘I got a call from your teacher,’ he said.

Her heart skipped a beat.

‘You bunked your class today?’

She didn’t reply.

‘Honestly, I don’t understand what is going on with you. Why do I have to lecture you all the time? I give you all the facilities so that you can become something in your life, but no, you want to waste your time, loitering around with your friends. You don’t seem to care about anything but yourself-’

Izumi flinched.

A strange anger bubbled inside her.

I only care about myself?

When she had spent almost all of her life, completely all of it- trying to please him?

‘Enough, Dad!’ she yelled. ‘Is there anything else you even care about?’

An unnatural weight settled in her chest.

She had just wanted— just once, in her final moments— to embrace him.

She swallowed back her anger and forced herself to say, ‘I am sorry, I’ll take care.’

‘Take care?’ Her father snapped.

‘Sorry Dad,’ she whispered. ‘Some things have been on my mind….. and I wasn’t really sure of what I was doing—’

‘What troubles can you have? Your only job is to study. I don’t understand what else do you even have to worry about? I pay the bills; I provide all the facilities— there are people out there who have to work twice hard to make something out of their life—’

A sharp pang cracked through her skull.

A throbbing pain surged in her head.

Her father’s voice was drowned, muffled by a sharp ringing sound that was drilling into her head.

Then—

A flash of white blinding light.

A memory.

A toddler’s voice.

‘Daddy, Daddy!’ three-year old Izumi ran towards her father with open arms.

‘My sweetest little girl.’

He bent down, grinning as she leapt into his arms.

‘Daddy, I love you!’

‘I love you too, my daughter!’ her father kissed her forehead. ‘Do you want ice cream?’ he put her over his shoulders.

‘Yes! Ice-cream!’ Izumi squealed, throwing her little arms in the air.

The memory shattered like glass.

Izumi swayed, her arms unconsciously reaching forward.

Her lifeless eyes shimmered with tears.

A last whisper of hope for love escaped her trembling lips.

‘Daddy?’

Her father’s words faltered on his lips. Color flushed out of his cheeks He took a step back terribly scared.

‘I-Izumi?’

She collapsed.

falling forwards on her father, stiff and motionless.

Her small arms barely wrapped around his waist— a weak embrace, like a child reaching for a father who was already gone.

He stood frozen.

Waiting for her to let go.

Waiting for her to say something—anything.

But then he felt it. The unnatural stillness of her body.

His world shattered.

'Are you okay?' His voice trembled.

But it was too late. The clock had struck 10:13.

He shook her.

No reply. The body felt cold.

I-Izumi?

Izumi!

But Izumi was gone— to a place where she could no longer hear him anymore.

He pulled her back into his arms, shaking her, his hands trembling. Her eyes remained shut. No amount of pleading or shaking made her twitch.

Fear gripped his heart

‘Hey, get up. Izumi— Izumi, my daughter- my girl,’ he patted her face, voice cracking.

His chest tightened. His eyes burned red, heart hammering. He gasped for breath.

He turned, his throat locking as he tried to call for her mother and Ryusuke. The words trapped in his throat as he shook violently.

Staggering toward Ryusuke’s room, his vision blurred. His foot slipped—

He crashed down the stairs.

Her mother ran out of the kitchen upon hearing the noise, her hands dripping with soap from dishes.

Ryusuke thundered out of his room. His eyes widened at the sight of his father lying supine at the foot of the stairs. He sprinted forward, grabbing his father and pulling him up around his shoulders.

‘Dad— are you okay?’

But his father wasn’t listening. Sweating profusely, eyes widened, her father pointed to Izumi’s room— his lips moved soundlessly. Then he shot to his feet, and bolted to her room.

Ryusuke and their mother exchanged a panicked look before dashing up after him.

Izumi was cold as stone.

The ambulance arrived in a blur.

Her father ran alongside the stretcher, breathless, his heart pounding in terror.

Then— his world crumbled.

They declared her dead.

The words shattered the air.

Her mother collapsed the moment she heard the words.

Ryusuke dropped to his knees.

Disbelief clung to his face. His soul shattered at the sight of his sister’s lifeless body. His mind screaming to wake up from this nightmare.

But there was no waking up.

Izumi— their daughter, Ryusuke’s sister— was gone.