"Ganta," she whimpered.

I couldn't do this. Not this way. She looked so afraid. I knew it was because I could look into those cranberry eyes, past the ashen hair. She wasn't hiding behind her bronze mask, the wires of her gnarled birdcage. Red Man wasn't here. She was my Shiro, but in her weaker form laid the only chance I'd get to fix all of this.

"Ganta hurts his friends! Ganta is—ngh—a liar!" she managed to cough, with a small splash of blood jumping from her lips. Her innocence, her naiveté, would make this harder for her. It may have been physically easier for me, but I knew that after I killed my Shiro I would immediately follow her.

"Shiro, I love you so much," I stifled a whimper, "the pain is going to go away. I promise." Tears blurred the vision of her guiltless face, and mucus dripped from my nose onto her bodysuit.

"I never meant to hurt you, it's alright," I cooed at her, my face nudging at her cheek. The sound of her crying was tearing me apart. I couldn't take her out like this, not scared and hating me. She couldn't even lift her mittened hands to push me away. Her body trembled ceaselessly though, a vain attempt to move her limbs and flee.

I hugged her, pulling her to a sitting position and placing my hand on the back of her head. "Shh, Shiro. It was an accident. I would never hurt you, ever. You're my friend, Shiro, I love you." Her breathing was frantic, but it slowed slightly as she curled her head into my neck like an infant.

"Ganta, Ganta made an oops?" she stuttered. I bit my lip against the sob welling in my throat.

"Of course, Shiro. I'm weak, remember?" I clenched my jaw tight. Shiro took a deep breath and let it out against my throat. Gently, I stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Sing to me, Ganta, I hurt," she said, drawing her knees to her chest and placing all of her weight on my outstretched legs.

"The naughty little woodpecker," I started, out of tune and shaky. I felt Shiro's body roll a chill down from her shoulders to her toes.

"Red," she said softly, "He touched his friends and they all died." She said it simply, like she knew what was coming. I felt a roll of nausea swell from my stomach to my throat.

"Shiro loves Ganta," she sighed, obviously weaker than before. My Ganta-Gun had torn her apart. The amount of blood was dizzying. I pulled my hand away from her head and it lolled backward. She stared at me, her eyes nearly rolling trying to focus. "Idiot," her lip trembled.

I popped one of my canine teeth through the thick skin of my thumb and placed my hand on the back of her neck. "Everything is better when you do it with a friend," I sniveled. I imagined her eyes lit up, but in reality they were closing. I concentrated on her face, pressed my lips firmly against her forehead, and sent a massive churn of blood through her neck and my face.

The sad little woodpecker, his little poison tears twinkle and shine…