On the ride back, the little girl couldn't take her eyes off of the stone, and she vowed to herself that she would always, always take care of this precious stone, though it was common, and imperfect, it was from Kouta... She wouldn't be seeing him for so long...

"Kouta..." She started

"What is it?" He replied

" Say... Tomorow's festival... Would it be possible..." She then turned beet red again. " For us to go together?" Kouta considered it, but then thought back on his promise to Yuka.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I've already promised, that I will go with my cousin tomorow."

"Really... Well, then it's okay..." she responded. The cousin he will be playing with tomorow... Is it a boy... Or is it a gir- I'm so stupid! Getting all jealous right now...

Then... You might as well kill him now...

Shit! It's that voice again... It's so loud...

If a human pisses you off, its okay to crush him.

Like hell its okay!

Ah, Kouta must be going to the festival with another girl...

...

Kill him now, and the sadness will only last until tomorrow...

I said no more! Just who the hell are you!

... Oh, you know that well enough...

"Uhng, c... Can't breathe..." Was all Kouta could manage to get out, as he found the pink haired girl he befriended strangling him. Realizing what she was doing, and snapping out of it, the girl immediately flung herself away from him.

"I... I'm sorry! Are you okay?" The girl asked in desperation, as her only friend is gasping for air.

"W... Why did you do that all of the suden?" He asked almost fearfully.

I... Really... Tried to kill Kouta... She thought in terror.

"Why..." Was all Kouta could force out, as the pink haired girl found herself nearly to point of crying. She knew that she could no longer oppose the voice on her own.

"Kouta... I have a request to ask of you..." She started.

"Yes?"

"If I were ever to... Kill lots of people at once... You would have to..." She looked him in the eyes, "Kill me then, Kouta... Please..." She whispered.

"What weird things are you saying?" Kouta started, but was interupted by his friend for seemingly the first time.

"I beg of you!" She cried, "I want you to kill me. By myself... I would become relucant to take my own life so... It would have to be...

"Thank you for today." The pink haired girl said in an indescribable tone later that day.

"Yup" was his only response.

"Um... Kouta..." She started, that cousin you're going with to the festival tomorrow... Is it a boy? Or... Is it a... girl?" She tried not to show signs of struggle, but she couldn't. Kouta stood there nervously. He knew if he told her the truth... That she would suffer...

"It's a guy." He managed. A smile plastered itself upon her face.

"Ah! I see." She said, back to how cheery she was at the zoo. I lied... He thought to himself.

How could I be so jealous... I would have followed that voice and killed his cousin if it were a girl... Thought the pink haired youth.

"Tomorow evening on your way home... I will come to see you off at the station" she said as she ran off.

"Wait, What?" Kouta yelled, but she was too far away to hear him. That's bad. he thought, she might find out... What should I do?

THE NEXT MORNING

"You protect this letter too... I leave it to you." Said the girl to the grave of her dog, as she buried a small bottle with a note in it next to the boulder.

"Hey! Big bro!" Shouted a dark haired little girl that couldn't be over the age of 7, "I've found lots of shells! Look! Look!" She exclaimed as she held out a handful of seashells to a familiar pair of youths later that day at the beach.

"These aren't very pretty." Replied Kouta carelessly. "Go find shinier ones, I may praise you then" He said as he yawned.

The little girl, obviously angry, kicked Kouta in the leg and ran off.

The other child accompanying Kouta was too deep in thought to notice. This is the day Kouta will be going back home... "Kouta-kun..."

"Hmm? What?" Replied the boy

"Is there anything you want to tell me? After all this is the last day..." The blonde girl asked, blushing. Kouta blushed, but soon regained his composure.

"Not really, Yuka." He said carelessly. "Why?" The girl's face suddenly went angry.

"Stupid! Stupid!" She yelled in frustration, "Kouta, I hate you, Hate you, Hate you!" Kouta did not beg or apologize like Yuka intended though, he just got up, and walked away.

"Well, okay. Then I'm going home right now." He replied. Tears started to form in her eyes. She picked up the largest sea-shell she could find, and threw it at Kouta's head.

"KOUTA-KUN, YOU'RE STUPID! STUPID!" She cried, but her anger left as she saw Kouta fall to the ground.

"Kouta-Kun!" She yelled as she dashed towards him.

"Kouta-kun, what's wrong? You're pretending right?" She called worriedly. She then began to cry.

"Kouta! Wake up! Or I'll hit you! Kouta! KOUTA! Then he opened his eyes and grinned at her.

"Surprised eh?" He laughed, but his laughter was ended when she hit him.

"WAH! I'm sorry! an-" then he looked up at her to see her in tears, dripping down her face.

"Thank god... You're okay..." She choked out. Kouta was about to appologize again, but was hit by another seashell.

"Wha?" And he looked in the direction he was hit. The little girl was holding out a huge seashell, with no imperfections, and was glossy, and shining. It almost looked like it was made of glass.

"Woah.. That's pretty.." Kouta exclaimed as a huge triumphant smile came across the girls dirty face. I guess Kanae wanted to find a shell so much that she got herself dirty... Kouta thought.

"Ehhehehehe!" Kanae laughed in triumph "So?" She asked. Kouta responded by patting her on the head, "Yeah yeah, you're really great!" he declared, as she smiled and giggled.

"Oh well, I give it to you now bro!" She said, giving him the pretty shell.

"Thank you... I'll take good care of it." Kouta said happily.

"You'd BETTER!" She yelled at him.

"Oh, well it looks like its time to go to the festival! Kouta announced.

"Yep!" Yuka agreed happily. As they walked on to the future...

"Hey Yuka-chan, once clumsy always clumsy..." Kouta stated as she broke another of the stensils at the festival.

"I'm not a kid anymore, this year I will hand over the victory to you." She declared.

"Huh?" Was all Kouta could say. Maybe it will be next year... Yuka thought.

"Kouta."

"Waah!" Was the only thing Kouta could think as Yuke ran over and hugged him so hard he couldn't get out of her lock.

"No, no, no! Don't go back to Hokkaidou!" She cried into hysteria.

"Stupid! What are you doing! He yelled as he saw everyone around them staring and some of the teenage girls were giggling so hard they were falling over by the dozen with laughter.

"I... I don't want to risk not having you come back next summer!" Yuka screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Stop crying Yuka, aren't you supposed to be grown up now?" Kouta said trying to calm her down. Oh man, if she saw this there'd be no way out...

The pink haired girl walked down the aisles of the festival, growing more and more depressed about being there all alone. I want to meet with Kouta quickly... And after I do... I will tell Kouta that I love him. Though the small talk wouldn't do anything, I'll talk about that letter, too. Because I adore him... It's the first time that I've come to trust another person... And more than anything I really would just like to hug him. But... I absolutely won't say it out loud.

And then she saw him. She smiled admiringly, but that smile soon faded when he saw who he was with. Another girl, latched on to him.