I race to the front door, pulling it open with alarming force. Please no! But my intuition struck me correct. I am met with the brunt force of a cold wind. Rain, descending from the dark night sky, pelting my face. Sputtering, I work to close the door, and Kishinuma comes to help me. After a moment of struggle, we manage to shut it again, but we cannot stop the sound of the heavy rain drumming against the walls. I curse.

"Dammit, it's that stupid freak storm from the weather report this morning!" I had wanted to leave Kishinuma's apartment before it struck, but due to certain 'delays,' it appears I have no such luck now.

"How am I supposed to get home in weather like this?!" Kishinuma looks over at me. "I guess you're not going home tonight." Wow, did that sound creepy. I give him a sour look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" His eyes widen, and he shakes his hands rapidly. "Tha-that's not what I meant!" He gives me a look to match mine. "Geeze, what's with you? I meant that, well, since you can't walk in this storm, you'll just have to stay here tonight." A night… here? My face turns red before I can stop myself.

"Th-that's crazy! I can't stay here!" He sees me blushing, though I try to hide my face, and scratches his head. "You don't really have a choice." Deep down, I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that he's right. I sigh, and pull out my phone.

"Alright, I guess you're right. I'll text my sister." As soon as the words left my mouth, we were left in the dark. I jumped a bit, looking around.

"The power?" Kishinuma feels around for his phone, making a light for himself as he makes his way into the kitchen. "The storm must have knocked the power out." He says, searching through one of the cupboards. The power? I look to my phone, and my heart sinks. It didn't just cut the power here, but the storm seems to have also cut the power to the towers as well. Sis is going to flip out…

I shut my phone, and Kishinuma has come back with a candle that he sets on the kotatsu. We sit at opposite ends. "Did you reach your sister." I shake my head. "No reception."

"Oh. Well, you can tell her yourself tomorrow then." I nod, not entirely there. I notice I'm shivering a bit. I bury myself under the blankets there, but I still shiver. And I realize it's because of the fear in the pit of my stomach, making me nauseous. I look around in the shadows of the apartment, shaking now. I can't handle the dark very well anymore.

Kishinuma seems to notice me looking paranoid. "Are you okay?" I swallow, tentatively.

"No… I don't think so." What… did I just say? I had meant to lie. But I don't think I can anymore. But, why am I doing this now? And to Kishinuma! It's not like… I'm his problem. But the words are out now, and I can't take them back. I turn to him. He looks just as surprised as I feel. He opens his mouth to ask me something, but I stop him.

"I can't let it go." I say, forcing the words out. He looks at me solemnly. "Shinozaki…" The words are flowing now, as if I've smashed the dam, and can no longer hold back the rushing water.

"It eats me alive. I'm dying in silence with every passing day. We all are. We're empty shells of who we used to be, trying to get back the place we were before. But how can we do that, when every time we lay awake in a dark room, we see the blue figures out of every corner of our eyes? Every time there's a flash of lightening, your eyes will tell you there's a skeleton laying right next to you, and with the next lash, it's gone. How can we live like that?"

He doesn't have an answer for me. I continue.

"We've been relying on one another. It's all we can do. But when you stopped coming to school… our dynamic broke down. We need you."

"I told you why I wasn't coming. I didn't mean to make things worse or anything. What do you want me to do about it?" He sounds almost angry. I don't have an answer to that question. I'm pushing him too hard.

"I just… don't want us to fall apart. I miss us. I miss hanging out all together as friends." I feel so alone, seeing us isolated in our pain.

"Not a lot of us feel like kicking back and hanging out exactly." I know he's right. I'm making a dumb argument over something we already discussed. But… argh why can't I convey what I want to say?!

"So what do you want from me? What do you want me to do?"

I remember then. I remember having left the class for lunch and heading out into the hallway a few weeks ago. Someone had pulled up Naho's old blog on their phone, and was discussing the Sachiko charm with their friends. When we had got back, I had tried everything to get the occult directory who ran the site to shut it down, but they wouldn't listen to me. Hearing them plan to use the charm made me sick to my stomach. I couldn't take it, and ran out into the hallway, possibly about to break down.

And Kishinuma followed me. I wasn't expecting him to be a doting friendly figure, to stand close and tell me it was going to be okay. And I was right. He was so awkward, approaching me and trying to comfort me as I stood there in silence. It didn't see, he was going to get through to me. But then, he started talking about back then… I didn't know why, but he just did. He told me about when I had fallen into the pool, and how he had jumped in to get me. He told me how gross the water was, although I remembered well enough. And he told me how he dove down into that water to 'pull my ass up' so I could get back home and go on smiling and 'scaring the crap out of people,' as I had always done. He told me he stuck by me for a reason, and that reason wasn't to torture myself with what had happened.

And that's when I realize why I had survived at all. I had noticed it, how he was always checking on us and making sure we weren't totally losing it. But what I didn't notice was how much I had grown to depend on him… And now I sit here, in the dark, with Kishinuma right in front of me. It seems so obvious now. Why did I come here? Why was I so worried? Was it for my friends? Or…

Was it because I was the one who needed him?

"Don't leave me." His eyes widen a bit. It's still really dark, but I can make the faintest traces of pink on his cheeks. My face becomes hot too. It sounds like the words hold more meaning than what I intended to convey, but I have to plead with him. I can't lose my source of strength right now.

"Don't leave me." I repeat. He swallows. "What are you talking about? I'm right here." Idiot… I try another way.

"You were always there for me Kishinuma san, and I'm thankful for that. But, it seems I'm still depending on you to help me up when I fall. And right now, I'm falling pretty hard. So please, don't leave me." He stares at me. Then, he chuckles, I suppose trying to lighten the mood.

"Not to be rude, but isn't Mochida better for that kind of job?" My heart stings a bit. My Mochida… he's in no place to help anyone. He's sweet, kind, compassionate… but he can't handle any more burden than what he already carries. And besides… he only has eyes for Nakashima. I feel sick as I think of the two of them. I push it out of my mind.

At that point, I realize I haven't answered Kishinuma's question, but I also realize, I don't have a way to openly answer it either. So I avoid it altogether.

"It's getting late… is there any place I can sleep." He doesn't question my change of topic. He gets up. "You can have the bed." I get up, and follow him to the closed door inside the kitchen. He opens it, to reveal a small bedroom, consisting of a single bed, and a closet. Or at least, that's all I can make out.

"Thanks… um…" I hesitate. "I don't suppose you have clothes for me to sleep in." He thinks for a moment, going to the closet. "Only a shirt…" Only a shirt?! Ugh, but I can't sleep in my uniform, there's school tomorrow! I feel that my face is really red, and I'm thankful for the darkness now.

"I'll take it." He hesitates, handing me the shirt, which is thankfully quite big. Then he stands there.

"Well don't just stand there, out!" I say. He nods quickly, leaving me in the room, shutting the door behind him. I roll my eyes. Boys….

I carefully undress, folding my uniform neatly so it wouldn't wrinkle and placing it on the edge of the bed. Then I pull the shirt over my head. It stops right below my underwear. Dammit it all…

I go and climb under the covers, so Kishinuma won't see, and praying that we wouldn't run into each other in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or anything like that. Realizing that it's pitch dark, I hurriedly call Kishinuma back in. "I'm done." I say. He enters back in, with the candle.

I see him place it on a nightstand that I hadn't noticed before, then he goes to work putting down sheets on the floor next to me. I look up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He finishes, throwing down a pillow, then laying down. At this point, I'm dozing off. I had had a few weeks, and finally laying down to rest after many sleepless nights makes me realize just how tired I am.

I hear Kishinuma's voice in my head, behind my closed eyes.

"I won't leave you." My eyes open a bit, turning to the floor next to me. "Wha…" Did I hear that correctly? Kishinuma is looking right at me. He's… smiling. "I won't leave you, Ayumi." Did he just use my first name? I blush, but despite my curiosity, I find sleep shutting my eyes again. At all times for me to be tired… And yet I can't help it. I'm drifting… But I hear him once more.

"I will be here for you, for as long as you need me. Because… I lo-"

And then everything is black.