Author's Note: Well, only one person voted in my poll, but I decided to start writing this anyways. I'm going to keep the poll up, but I'll take this one off the list.

Warning: There is death! Not of Sana or Akito, but still death. Also, somebody cuts their wrists. Now you've been warned, so don't try to say that you weren't.

--

"Hello?"

"Hello. Are you a relative of Misako Kurata?"

"Yes, I'm her daughter," Sana said, giving the phone a strange look and wondering about the serious-sounding voice on the other end.

"I'm sorry to say that your mother and Rei Sagami were in a car accident today. They are both in critical condition right now."

Sana's eyes widened, and she didn't wait for any more information. Instead, she just slammed the phone down, slipped her shoes on, and ran as fast as possible to the hospital.

--

A while later, the police who had called her before drove her home. He didn't want her to have to see her "family" in the state they were in anymore.

However, he said he would stay and call her when he got any news of them.

--

Four hours after she got home, four hours full of staring blankly at a television that she didn't even realize was turned off, the call came.

"Hello?" Sana answered, emotionless.

"Is this Miss Sana Kurata?"

"That's me."

"I'm calling from the hospital again." It was the same policeman as before. Sana let a gleam of hope enter her eyes. Maybe they were okay!

"How are they?" Sana asked impatiently.

"I…" He paused. This was his least favorite part of his job. Usually a doctor would do this, but not today. He was going to keep the promise he'd made to the girl earlier.

"I'm sorry to say that Mr. Sagami died about an hour ago," he continued. "And your mother died just a few minutes ago."

Sana's eyes went blank again, and she dropped the phone to the floor. She didn't bother to pick it back up or turn it off. She sank to her knees, the world seemingly spinning around her. Her eyes filled with silent tears, but they didn't fall.

Sana's world was crumbling around her. Suddenly, she leaned over, puking. A few minutes later, she got enough sense in herself to try to clean it up, so she went to the kitchen. Still in shock, she stood by the counter in silence for about five minutes.

Then, she saw the knife just a few inches away from her right hand.

If it would ease the pain even the slightest bit, she would try it.

--

It had been a week since the last time Akito had seen Sana. It had been a week since anybody at their school had seen her for that matter. Nobody knew what had happened to her.

Akito was pondering this when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it and was surprised to see the girl in question standing there, rubbing her forearms to stay warm. He quickly let her in and let her up to his room, wondering about the vacant look that she was trying to hide.

"Where have you been lately?" he asked, sitting on his bed while Sana remained standing.

"Mama and Rei…" she nearly choked on the words, tears once again coming to her eyes, but she quickly hid her pain. "Mama and Rei died. I've been at meetings about who I'll live with now. They decided I should move in with Keiko, since she's, you know, my mom. I just wanted to say goodbye, because I probably won't see you much now that I'm moving, " Sana finished, pulling at the bottom of the sleeves of her long-sleeved shirt. She looked away from Akito, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Her prayers were in vain, though. 'What the…? She never wears long-sleeved shirts, no matter how freezing it is. And why does she keep pulling on the sleeves?' Instead of saying something about it, though, he concentrated on what she'd said. "Oh God… I'm so sorry, Sana. How are you?" Akito asked, for once not trying to hide the concern in his voice or on his face.

"I'm fine," Sana said, faking a smile. It didn't reach her eyes, though.

Akito stood up and took a step forward, but stopped when he noticed something else. She had stopped fidgeting with her sleeves for a minute, and one of them rode up an inch or two, revealing a scar.

Akito's eyes widened as he pulled her into his embrace. "I can't believe I wasn't there. I should have stopped you," he muttered to himself. She had been traumatized badly enough to hurt herself, and he hadn't even noticed.

Feeling herself being pulled into the hug, Sana's eyes grew. She heard what he said and realized what he'd seen. All at once, the emotional pain, the exhaustion, and the realization of what she'd been doing to herself tumbled down on her, and she burst out crying. The tears that she'd blocked up for the past week cascaded down her cheeks, and she heaved violent sobs.

Sana remembered almost every moment she'd spent with Rei and her mother in a flash, including the only time they had every yelled at each other. She'd felt like it was her fault, but now she knew it wasn't. She just wished that they were here to tell her that themselves.

Akito gently lowered both of them onto the floor before she just collapsed, and they both knelt there for a long time, still hugging. She cried, and when it finally became quieter, he ran his hand through her hair, whispering, "Don't worry. I won't let anything like this happen to you, ever again. Look at me."

Sana looked up into the golden eyes that she could get lost in so easily, and she instantly knew that whatever he said and was going to say was true. Akito would protect her. She tried to look away, but was stopped by his gentle hand under her chin. He tilted her head back towards him again, resisting the urge to kiss her.

"I'm not going to let you be alone anymore," he said. Sana nodded silently and put her head back on his shoulder, soaking his shirts with tears.

"I know," she whispered as he went back to stroking her hair. "Thank you, Akito."

--

Author's Note: Yeah, I know, bad ending, sorry! Well, this was my first attempt at a tragedy-type-thing.

Please review! Yes, I know, I hate reading that, too. And writing it. But it's the only way I actually get any reviews, so… Sorry!

Oh, and extra credit to anyone who can figure out what song inspired this… How about… A congratulations and a cookie? No, sorry, no cookie… But you will get a congratulations! And a one-shot of your choice! (I have to know the show or book, but I'll make one for anything I know, with whatever couples and/or plot you choose.)