Shadow screamed, pacing around the dark room.

Hitori was rapidly tossing and turning, throwing his pillow over his ears, trying desperately to pretend this fiend wasn't mimicking Nageki's last "words" exactly.

Shadow wailed and choked on imaginary tears.

"You're going to wake the neighbors…" Hitori said, sitting up, looking the figure dead in its glowing orange eyes.

Shadow took a deep breath, and screamed ten times louder and higher, a choked sob in the middle, just like someone being tortured slowly and painfully.

Just like Nageki.

"STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP- OH GOD STOP IT." Hitori screeched back when Shadow's cry didn't cease. He hugged his knees and cried to himself.

A faint thumping was heard, and Hitori lifted his head. That couldn't have been the door. It was 4:57 in the morning.

But, despite, three more thumps were heard.

Hitori heaved himself from the bed, perfectly fine with showing the stranger how utterly ridiculous the hour was by answering the door in nothing but his underwear and exhausted face.

When he opened the door, a part of him was surprised to see a cute blond in a droopy sweater in front of him, shaking with presumably nervousness, as it wasn't cold. Hitori was surprised, but his face didn't show it.

"Yes?" he grumbled.

The little blond looked from Hitori's feet all the way up to his dreary face. It sort of shocked him, as he had such a lovely body and face, but both seemed to have taken quite a beating from life. He could sympathize.

"U-um… I heard you screaming… I mean- I-I heard screaming, and I just- well I w-wanted to know if you…"

Hitori looked around at the other apartment doors. Oh god, how many people had he woken up?

"Did I wake you? Am I disrupting everybirdie? God, I am so, so sor-"

"No! Heavens, no… I uh- I sleep during the day a-and… I-I'm up at night instead… And I only live… a few doors down so… it was just me- uh- just me you would've w-woken…"

Hitori gave a faint smile. "I'm Hitori; I don't believe we've met before, besides passing in the halls…" Hitori stuck out his hand. "What's your name?"

The blond seemed even more frightened than before, as if his name was the code to a nuclear bomb. He looked at the taller boy's hand and trembled.

"I-I'm Kazuaki N-Nanaki…" He stuttered, debating whether he should take the seemingly friendly hand or not.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! He didn't say his last name, so why did I? Idiot!

Despite his harsh thoughts, Kazuaki forced a smile.

"Kazuaki, would you like to come in for some tea?"

Kazuaki's face turned bright pink. Why was such a cute guy inviting him in his apartment upon their first proper meeting? This had to be a scam.

"O-oh U-uhm… S-sure… I-if t-that's… if that's ok…W-with you…I guess…"

Hitori smiled a little bigger, and let the jittering blond in.

Upon putting a t-shirt on (and just a t-shirt), Hitori prepared some tea and sat down with Kazuaki at the dining table. He glanced in the corner, and saw Shadow with his arms folded, obviously disliking this new company.

Hitori tried to hide his satisfied smirk at the being's distress.

"So, Kazuaki, do you go to college?"

"O-oh yes…"

…Over that simple conversation, the two became friends.

And later, lovers.

It was pleasant, as Shadow began to appear less (you must remember, Shadow is a being from Hitori's trauma-induced schizophrenia, not a real spirit of any sort), and both boys seemed to grow happier with the other around. Suicides and self-harm grew to be uninteresting, replaced with cuddles and kisses. It was nice.

One night, Shadow did come back. Hitori practically flopped himself upright, having been enjoying a good night's rest, as he had been so nicely experiencing ever since Shadow's disappearance. Shadow was sitting with his legs crossed; observing his shadow-y hand, as though there was something besides endless black to look at.

"You need to get a move on, Hitori"

"What…" Hitori said groggily, hardly registering.

Shadow leaned in real close to Hitori's face. "On coming to get me," He hissed.

Hitori tried to wake himself up.

"I have an idea… However," Shadow continued vanishing and then reappearing, carelessly lying in the air, as if draped over a bedside.

"W-what do you…"

"You need to die."

Hitori's eyes peeled open.

"But, not really. People need to think you're dead. Isa needs to think you're dead."

Hitori listened.

"You need to become somebirdie else, and then become a teacher at that school."

Hitori rubbed one of his eyes. "W-what will we use for the corpse…"

"Him," Shadow said with a grin.

Hitori was mortified. "No, I will not. There's- there has to be some other way… somebirdie else…"

"Well, who else, Uzune? You're both suicidal… And he trusts you completely…"

Shadow was in Hitori's face again. "But, I know you lied about that… You're really not suicidal…"

Hitori looked at the boy next to him as he tossed in his sleep.

"Think about the opportunity, Hitori… You can call it a double suicide. Romanticize it. Say you'll die together, and in turn be together forever…"

Hitori felt like he was going to vomit.