Well everything was pointless. All of that for nothing she dies, end of the story. It was too long for what its worth.
Nah, I wouldn't say that. While Kaori's death was sad, Shizuku started the story borderline suicidal, but her bond with Kaori allowed her to heal, patch things up with her old friend and rekindle her love of writing
There's more to this story than just whether or not Kaori and Shizuku get together, there's all of the personal growth Shizuku went through as the story progressed.