Too Late For Saving  

That night after coming back to my apartment and reading Satori's pleading messages, I couldn't contain my anger anymore. She'd killed herself because of her face being ruined by Kimura. Along with her bubbly nose, he'd shattered her dream to be a makeup artist and a model. In her messages, she told me how much she was suffering in silence, and how much the other girls bullied her just because she talked to me.

Makeup was her way to hide the scars on her face, not just from the students but from her only living parent mother. She didn't want to worry her, and so she suffered in silence. It all went on, and apparently, our morning talks helped her feel much better. Especially since in her eyes, my situation was worse yet I always managed to look on the bright side.

If only she knew what I was truly brewing up in my heart, perhaps she would've opened up to me a long time ago, but that time was already too far gone.

"D-Daichi?! W-When did you arrive?!" Noticing me finally at the doorsteps, Akeno pulled her hands out of her panties and huddled away behind the couch. Seeing the phone in my hand, her eyes widened in terror as if she already knew where my mind was headed at the moment. "I-I'm sorry, I was scared…And I didn't want to get in trouble!"

Although her body was hidden behind the couch, I noticed her shoulders nudge to the side as if trying to pick something up.

"Satori, she's dead," turning my head in her direction, I felt my face contorting into a vile grimace. "You raped me, and then ran off with the phone so I couldn't call for help…"

Grabbing hold of the flower pot on the shoe shelf, I threw away the dried rose and began making my way around the couch. Keeping my eyes locked onto her face, I wanted to tear her whole skin off and stuff her in a bag to drown her in salty ocean water.

"W-w-wait, I-I-" her eyes jittered and her fingers struggled to pick up a remote from the ground that she probably intended to use as a weapon. "I'm sorry!"

"Still high on something, aren't you?" Feeling void of all emotions, I stared right into her eyes as she stayed still kneeling on the ground.

"Da-Daichi, I-I'm your aunt, y-you know?" She pleaded, but that ticked me off like a bomb.

Swinging the vase at her face, I shattered it against her ears. Instantly falling to the ground, she began to bleed like a slaughtered cow, which only reminded me of my last moment with my mother. However, this time, I was the assailant and I didn't feel an ounce of fear or regret. Instead, I realized something important. Finally, I understood why my father killed Mom, why he went from a horrible gamble to a murderer who killed his own wife.

'And now, there's only one thing left to do. To follow in his footsteps and end the source of my troubles…' Shifting my head towards the restroom, I was reminded of how my father had slit his own veins and died in the bathtub. Yet unlike him, I wouldn't waste time bleeding minute by minute. 'A fall, that will end things in an instant.'

I knew just the place for it too. Heading out of the apartment, I left my aunt to bleed to death. Her blood was still trailing down my fingers as I made my way to an abandoned skyscraper near the shop where I used to work. On my way there, my mind ached for it to end as soon as possible, yet seeing the children's playground all empty in the night I couldn't help but stop to reminisce about the time before everything went to shit.

I could still see it, as fresh as a day. My mother was swinging me on the swing set while my father watched us both from the park bench. Those days didn't last long, as the moment my father lost his job things kept rolling downhill.

'I should keep going before my mind changes.' Not wanting to let go of the courage that I've gathered, I kept on moving. With my mind gone dark, and my vision set to the top of the abandoned skyscraper, I had no idea when I reached the place. By the time my thoughts returned I was already standing at the edge of the building. Looking down, I noticed a handful of people filming the whole thing while a lone cycle cop rushed towards the entrance.

I knew the man who was coming on up. He was the same cop I have talked to numerous times when reporting thefts at the convenience store.

'Now or never…' Knowing the kind of coward I was, this was possibly the only time I could gather up the courage to jump off the building.

"Wait!" The cop called out to me as he finally reached the top floor. "Get down, d-don't do it!"

"A little too late for me to care for other people suddenly caring about me…" With those words, I cast myself down the damned building.

The last things I remembered were the flashing light from the cameras and the screams from the people behind them. Even so, my death probably didn't stop them from rolling.

'It's done.' I told myself as my consciousness fled away from me.

Laying in that puddle of blood with my head splattered across the pavement, I finally thought that this sick nightmare was finally done with me. But after spending some time in the cold grips of darkness, my eyes were flooded with light that jolted me awake. As if pulled out of a haunting nightmare, I lay there in silence just looking at the ceiling fan spinning above me.

Then as the light from the sun crept onto my eyes, I turned to look at the window that onlooked an unfamiliar sight. 

"Finally, I thought you'd keep me waiting forever," turning to the voice, I saw a deep blue-skinned girl floating right above me.

Shaking my head, I tried to make the phantom disappear, but no matter how many times I tried she kept looming over me. If only I knew back then that she'd be the demonic angel who'd pull me out of my misery, perhaps then I would've taken her more seriously. However, with so much going wrong, I couldn't for the sake of my sanity, accept what I was seeing before my eyes.