Sadness Overwhelming

Kanade felt the warmth around her as she closed her eyes and concentrated. All around her the world seemed to disappear, replaced by nothing but silver cords linking bright souls together. She could see in this trance, all the souls that were connected in the Afterlife. From her own brightly glowing soul, she could see the strong link between her and her soulmate, Yuri Nakamura. Deep in her trance, she reached out to Yuri and smiled softly, feeling the other woman's presence so close.

Secure in the fact that Yuri was safe and sound, Kanade began to examine the small little threads that also attached to her. As the Angel of Love, one of her special abilities that she had managed to hone over the years was the ability to see someone's soulmate. She could also see the tiny links that linked her to the other Battlefront members, their souls all connected in the smallest of ways. She reached out and touched the next brightest link, following it to where Fujimaki sat downtown, attempting to actually study. She smiled and felt his lifebond partner next to him, strumming a guitar. Hisako was close to him, and the two of them were doing quite well.

Kanade continued this process, following through to all her friends until she reached Hideyoshi Kinoshita His lifebond had yet to be acknowledged ( just like Yoshidayama, Nara, Nishimoto, Noda, Oyama, Harima, Takamatsu, Matsushita and TK, who are all still single), and his partner, Minami Shimada was just as miserable as Hideyoshi was. She could feel the brightness of Hideyoshi's soul slowly draining away, fading. This worried her. If they lost anyone of them, they'd all no longer be complete. Eyes flying open, she called quickly to her lover, heart pounding.

"Yurippe, we have to do something. We're losing Hideyoshi. If he and Minami don't stop fighting this, I'm afraid we'll lose Hideyoshi permanently." She cried, her heart constricting in fear. While it was true that the older members weren't as close physically to the younger members, their souls were still connected. Now that Kanade had touched Hideyoshi, she could feel his pain and anger, his frustration.

"We need to get everyone together. Tonight; Start calling, I'll get some snacks or something. Make a story up. Those two needs to be together by the end of tonight... or..." Kanade broke down then, her sobs muffled as she clinged to Yuri.

Kanade stood there, her eyes hooded as she watched the interaction amongst the other Battlefront members in the living room of the apartment she shared with Yuri. Everyone was there so far but Hideyoshi and Minami, and Kanade began to worry. She could see Hinata and Yui bent over a comic magazine, their souls linked brightly. Yuuji and Shouko sat on the couch, curled around each other as they played a computer game on Yuuji's laptop, their silver cords dancing and flashing about them. In the kitchen she could hear the banter between Mussolini, Shiina, Akihisa and Mizuki as they looked for the snacks that Kanade had eventually forced Yuri to buy. She knew, without having to see, that Akihisa and Mizuki would be holding hands, their minds and souls linked in a profound way that Mussolini and Shiina could even begin to comprehend.

The knock on the door brought Kanade out of her reverie and she answered, looking right at the face of Hideyoshi. He was breathless. "Hey Kanade!" he greeted her. She quietly moved out of his way, letting him remove his shoes in the foyer.

"Where's Minami?" she asked. Daisuke shrugged.

"She said something about coming along. She had a lot of homework, so knowing her she's probably trying to finish it up." Hideyoshi made his way into the kitchen, immediately drawn to the food. Kanade glanced up at the clock, seeing that it was almost time to start. She had to wait until Minami was here, had to inform them of this… had to get them together before they lost the both of them, permanently.

Minami stared over the piece of paper that she had laboured on for days. Her head hurt, her heart hurts more. She couldn't stand the aching loneliness anymore. No one understood the pressures she. She had to continue to keep up her genius pace, taking more courses than anyone, bogged down in homework, and seeing her grades slowly begin to decline as she tried. And now, in high school, with the pressures starting again to get into the decent universities, she couldn't take it anymore. She had spoken to Naoi earlier, explained her plan. Her classmate, normally upbeat, had only nodded in her sad agreement. The Student Council President had also felt the pressures of his friend's life, and if this was what his friend had wished...

Then it would happen that way.

It had just taken many, many hours to figure out the right things to write - The right way to do this. There were the cowardly ways, but Minami was never a coward. Standing up on the chair, she began to lace the rope to the light fixture, her eyes narrowed as her mind continued to flit through all the many things that she would no longer have to see through. She looked at the clock, noticing it was almost time that she would have to arrive at Kanade and Yuri's - were it not for this life altering decision she was now making. Hopping off the chair, she quickly fired of an email that would be sent to the other i-Phones. It was succinct and to the point. "I love you all. I'm sorry." Was all it stated; She knew they would get it at the same moment she left this world. Then, it would be too late to stop her.

Pressing the send button, she didn't wait to watch as the email was sent to her friends. Instead, she stood on the chair and slipped her neck through the noose that she had carefully created. She thought for a moment, her only regret that he had never gotten the chance to whisper to Hideyoshi Kinoshita how much she loved him. At least, the young woman would now be free. She could move on.

And with a beautiful smile caressing the features of the girl, Minami kicked out the chair from underneath her. Searing pain lashed at her neck as she dangled from the noose, and then, pure blackness as her neck snapped.

Every single i-Phone present beeped. Everyone reached for their terminals, but in the midst of reaching for his, Hideyoshi fell to the ground, clutching at his throat. "NOOO!" he screamed, feeling something within him snap. As his scream echoed throughout the room, every last person sat up, feeling a wrenching loss.

Kanade screamed. She had been too late, and the despair and darkness that had threatened Minami's very self had taken over. Her last minute efforts were thwarted and now they were all feeling the effects; None more so than Hideyoshi.

The younger man remained crumpled up on her kitchen floor, his sobs escaping, his breath slowly fading. Akihisa held the boy in his arms, watching as Hideyoshi slowly faded, the other half of his soul draining. Without Minami's half, without Minami, Hideyoshi was nothing. He couldn't even live, their bond was that strong; Everyone could feel apart of themselves slowly being leeched as they watched Hideyoshi lay on Kanade's floor, his life draining with every moment.

"Minami... how could you do this to me?" Hideyoshi cried softly, his last words soft. "I loved you." he cried.

And his eyes slowly drifted shut, to never open again. At least, without life around them, they could be together in death.