He saw the dark figure rush past him faster than his eyes could keep up. He felt the cold metal to the back of his head. He heard the cold voice speaking, but the words didn't make sense. They didn't mean anything.
The only thing he could make sense of was the click.
He knew what would come next. He didn't have to see Tsubomi's horrified face to know what would happen to him.
His one regret was being unable to tell her how he felt.
He had been in love with her since they had been kids, back in the orphanage before being taken in by Ayano's family.
She was much stronger than he ever could be. She had been through so much and yet she still smiled. He wanted nothing more than to make her smile. He wanted to make her happy, to make her forget about everything negative that had plagued their lives. He wanted to fix all of the problems that kept her up at night.
He wished he could go over to her, say something stupid and be punched in the stomach. He secretly loved that because it was her way of showing affection. It was something special only the two of them shared.
He wished he could hear the amused tone in her voice when she called him an idiot or said his brain needed fixing. He wished he could be with her, to feel the comforting warmth of her by his side.
But he couldn't. He would never make her laugh again. He would never be punched or slapped by her again.
He would never protect her again, just like he couldn't protect her now.
She was right. He was just a useless idiot.
Her terrified face, the fear in her wide eyes brimming with tears, the way her pretty green hair tumbled out of her hood; this would be the last image he would ever see.
Kido screamed. Blood spattered over her, warm blood, crimson blood; Kano's blood. He crumpled to the ground. She leaped forward, stretching her arms out to catch him as he fell.
This had to be a prank. It had to be a joke.
He couldn't be dead.
He absolutely could not be dead.
There was definitely no way Kano could possibly be dead. He couldn't be that stupid, he just couldn't be.
His body was limp in her arms. His blood felt warm on her hands, slipping through her fingers like the life had slipped from his eyes. Tears fell onto his bloody face. Her vision blurred as her mind failed to make sense of the situation.
How could this happen? How could he be dead? How could the one person she cared about most be dead?
Hadn't the world been cruel enough? She had lost her whole family and everything she knew in a fire. Kano was her new family, the person she felt closest to. He understood her better than anyone. He was there for her no matter what. He was always by her side. When she needed someone, he was the one she'd run to.
When she was scared, he protected her. When she was sad, he comforted her. When she was happy, he was the reason.
How could the world just take him away like that?!
A shadow cast over his pale face. Kido looked up in time to see Kano's killer as he shot approached her, gun out and pointed at her. He shot five bullets. Each of them hit their target.
She felt pain, but only for a second. Darkness consumed her like it had consumed Kano. The cold emptiness of death was suffocating, slowly squeezing the life out of her.
Kido's last thought focused on the boy she loved. She hoped they would meet up again in the afterlife. She hoped they would be together, forever.
Her lifeless corpse fell over his, shielding his open eyes from the horrible world that took their lives away.
