The crisp smell of winter filled Haku's nose, giving her lungs a new life. Below her, over the edge of a cliff, the rollicking, frigid waves of the lake splashed loudly, the only sound in her mind. The breeze lightly blew her silver hair, her crimson eyes shut.
"Goodbye…" she breathed. Her last breath, or at least that's what she thought. The toes of her school shoes curled over the rock's edge, and she let herself fall.
"What are you doing?" a loud voice barely reached her ears over the roaring of the water and air mixed together. But before she fell for very long, a hand roughly grabbed her wrist, making her swing for a moment, then dangle from the ledge.
A boy with spiky blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes was holding her, his large eyes filled with fear. Haku looked back up at him, her drooping eyes confused. She had seen this boy before, in their school, she presumed. Yes, Len Kagamine, a sophomore.
"Hang on!" he yelled, pulling with as much strength he could muster up to drag her back over the edge. She struggled against his efforts, but was beaten and pulled back up to land. On all-fours, she breathed heavily, her silver hair falling over her eyes. Haku dug her nails into the snow on the large rock, making her knuckles go white.
"W-why did you save me?" she asked, stumbling over her words. A lump had risen in her throat, tears streaming down her pale face.
"What are you thinking?" the boy shouted, ignoring her question. Len had seen her before too, he knew that. A friend of Miku's and Neru's, Haku Yowane, junior in Mica Highschool. That she tried to take her own life distressed him, even if all he knew was her name.
"Why did you save me?" her voice shook as it rose, met by silence. Len sat there, staring at the girl he had stopped from committing suicide.
"You don't deserve to die." Len mumbled in reply, looking down, away from her glare.
"You don't even know me! You don't know what I've done, who I've hurt…!"
"But I do know you can't die!"
They sat in silence, Haku's shoulders shaking violently. Trying to keep in sobs, she bit her lip so hard that blood started to well up. As it landed in the snow, she noticed how it matched her eyes.
"C'mon." Len finally spoke up, holding out his hand. Haku glanced up, seeing the outstretched appendage. Still shaking, she reluctantly grabbed it, swaying to her feet. She felt paper-thin, as if the air could whisk her away at any moment. Her legs shook with fierce abandon, making her stumble into Len.
"I still don't understand why…" she breathed. Another breath. A shuddering breath that filled her lungs with frozen air.
"Why what?" the blonde asked, supporting Haku as they walked. He held onto her as if she was his lifeline, although it was more the other way around.
"Why you saved me… You don't even know me! You don't have a reason for wanting to stop me!" the silver-haired girl cried, the latter coming out as a yell.
Len managed a smile, looking into her depressed red eyes, wide and watery from crying, "You don't need to have a reason to save someone."