/Epilogue/

//I see you and you see me. But you only see me as you want to see me.//

//We are a puzzle, without you and without me we are not complete.//

//We connect to make a whole, only when the missing piece connects//

//We complete the puzzle.//

Black. What a sad color. Black. I stared into my reflection. I was covered in it. Black. From my shoes to the eye make-up I hardly wore I was dressed in it. It was out of character for me. I couldn't recognize the person staring back at me; the eyes were dull and they stood as if they were just an empty shell. Black. Consumed by it. Black. Numbed by it.

'What am I doing?'

"Kitani," A voice called gently from behind me. I couldn't even see their reflection, it was just a blur to me. "They're ready downstairs."

Kaze. One of my close friends. She looked so much older today and somber. I found myself envying her for the life that still seemed to pulse throughout her body, giving a warming aura. I looked away from my reflection. It was shameful.

"I'll be right there." I reply. Thankfully my voice didn't sound as dead and plain as I felt. It still had the strength and softness from before. My eyes start to sting. 'Before.'

"Kitani..." I felt Kaze's warm hands on my shoulders as she rested her head by the base of my neck where she just barely reached. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and turned to face her, breaking the contact between us but still remaining close. "We shouldn't keep them waiting if they're ready." I noticed the hesitation in Kaze's eyes, but she grasped onto my hand and led me down to where the others were.

My name is Kitani Hiratai. I'm sixteen years old and attend the public high school with my friends. I was born into a loving family of three. My mother, brother, who's my senior by three years, and I. There's no father involved on either mine or my brother's part but that didn't stop my mom from getting us everything we ever needed and more. My brother and I grew up properly and are always complimented when our mom would introduce us to someone new.

After my brother graduated, he took on a job that would have him leave us for two to three years. There was a huge fight between my mom and my brother about whether he would go or not; however, no matter the words that were said, he left anyway. My mom and I stuck it out, we developed a partnership where I would go to school, clean house and help with the yard work, while she would go to work, cover all the financials, and keep us fed. We had it good, I guess you could say. Yeah, we worked it out. She would go out with her friends and I would talk on the phone with mine. I usually stayed up till she came home and when she did we would sit on the couch in front of the television talking about how her night was. One night, however, I ended up falling asleep before she came home. I never heard her come in that night and at first I thought it was because I slept really hard. When I woke up the next morning, I found that her room was empty and her car wasn't in the driveway. It wasn't until later I learned about the accident. The drunk driving accident.

So here I am today. Her funeral. Everybody's here. My aunts and uncles, grandmother, cousins, people from her work, her out of town friends, my friends and they're families. But he's not here. I don't think he even knows. As I place a set of different colored flowers on her coffin, I say a small prayer for her and for the strength to tell him when he comes back. He still has a year. How do I do this? The color will eventually come back into this dull black and white world, and the sun will rise tomorrow. But it will rise on a world where you no longer exist. The colors will come, but they wont be yours. How do I keep going, when everyone is watching, expecting for me to stop?

"Well, how much do you want for it?"

"S-sorry?" I snapped back to find an elderly woman in a funny sun hat looking up at me with an annoyed expression on her face.

"The table, how much do you want for it?" She questioned again.

"Oh! Um..." I looked over at the dinning table she was referring to and felt a small tug in my gut. "Er, you're paying in american money, right?"

"Yes, dear girl, now how much would it be?" The woman answered irritably.

"Fifty."

"Dollars?"

I stared at her in confusion. Didn't she just answer me this question? "Yes. Is something wrong?"

"It's in such good condition, I expected it to be more."

I stared at the table with a pained expression. "Well, if you want to pay more..."

"Oh no! Fifty would be fine." She quickly shoved the money into my hand before scurrying off to find her husband to get the table.

I sighed and shoved the money into my shorts pocket. It was sunny this morning and particularly hot, which was a good thing. If it had been any other type of weather, I probably would've broken down by now. Today I'm selling everything in our house. Next weekend everything should be ready for the real estate people to start showing it off. Everything was being sold, from the lamps, candles, and utensils, to the furniture, washer machines, and stove.

"Here, Irving, the tag is still on the thing." The woman's voice caught my attention and I turned to see them struggling with the plastic wire. I walked over to them, silently pulled out my pocket knife, and sliced through it easily. "There you go. It's officially yours." I actually managed a smile when I said that. Geez. As I walked away, I crumpled the paper tag in my hand. Everything was sold. I dumped it into the nearby garbage bag. Everything.

"So, Kitani, you ready for school tomorrow?" Miharu sighed as she leaned over her bunk to look at me. I sighed as well and looked up. Miharu, my younger cousin by two years was sharing her room with me, being over generous in my opinion since earlier this year she had finally been able to move out from sharing with her younger sister who was asleep in the next room. Tomorrow was going to be her first year in high school and I could tell she was secretly seeking comfort.

"Nope. 'Course not."

Miharu's face fell and her head dropped to lay on the wooden railing. "Why not?" Her muffled voice questioned. I sighed again, not out of annoyance, just out of the subject we were on. "It's school, who would ever be ready for that?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Miharu mumbled before lifting her head and leaning back over the railing, out of my view. I heard her voice and knew she was just staring at the ceiling. "You scared?"

I was quiet for a moment as a flash of my mom came into view. "Are you?" I whispered.

"Sort of." She voiced softly.

I thought about this for a moment then turned on my side and tucked my arm under my pillow. "Don't let it bother you too much, Maru. Things tend to sometimes look gloomy and scary at night. Wait for tomorrow, because once you start living it, you'll realize that it's not that scary, you know?"

There was a long pause of silence.

"Huh?"

I paused, unsure if I had the energy to laugh or even smirk. Instead I just sighed. "Don't worry, Maru. Just live in the now and sleep." I mumbled before burying my head into the pillow. A strong want to cry washed over me spontaneously and I didn't want Miharu to witness it. It's just school. I've done school before. It's the same school as last year, nothing's changed there. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, discouraged by the raggedness in which it left my mouth. Mom just wont be there to come home to...that's all.

The tears streamed from my clenched eyes and I fought back a sob. Poor Miharu. I'm probably making her feel awkward.