Requested on tumblr. tw; suicide.

- Mira

"…Here goes," Ayano mumbled, looking down at the crowded streets below. Standing atop the roof of her school building, she had climbed over the chain-link fence and now stood peeking over the ledge. For a while now she had been planning this, that is, her suicide.

Well, although it was suicide, it wasn't really. She was doing it to go to the madder red, to save everyone. Things would work out in the end if did this, of this she was sure. The tiny face of her three younger siblings, Tsubomi, Shuuya, and Kousuke appeared in her mind. She was going to do this. Ayano knew she had to, to save them and her other friends.

When she had found her father's files on Takane and Haruka, she knew she had to make a move. She couldn't let him hurt two of her friends, even if it was for research on the madder red. The girl loved her friends, the thought of her father preforming experiments on them made her feel nauseous.

Ever since her mother had died, her father had been different. It was strange, he almost engrossed himself in his work even more to hide from his pain. Of course, she had been sad too, but she knew she needed to be strong for the rest of them. This was the best thing she could do.

Taking one last breath, she began to shift her weight when the door behind her opened. Halting in her actions, she spun around as quickly as possible and came face to face with a dark-haired boy. Gasping in shock, she remained rigid where she stood, not sure what to do.

Walking forward, he came up the fence and stared at her with his blank eyes. A frown marred his usually more cold features, "You…just what are you doing?" he asked, keeping a hand on the fence.

"S-Shintaro," Ayano stuttered, having not expected the other to show up. She really didn't want him to see her do this. Even though he hid it, Ayano knew the other was a fragile person, and even if she wasn't able to save him, she had been someone ever-present in his life. If she were to die, he would be hurt, but if she were to die in front of him, he would be absolutely shattered.

It scared her to think of, because she knew what shattered people did. They did things they should never do. People who were hurt would either hurt themselves or those around them, and she knew exactly which one Shintaro would do. Looking back at the ground uncertainly, she felt all of the confidence she had before dissipate.

"I was looking for you. Some of your friends want to eat lunch with you," he said, hand clenching slightly on the metal. Shintaro was no fool. Truthfully, he was a genius. He knew what was going on, and he did not like it. Unlike anything he had ever felt, minus one incident when he was younger, he felt true fear grip him, twisting within his gut. He was afraid.

"Ah, Shintaro, thanks for telling me!" Ayano quickly recovered, hiding behind her usual smile. Looking away from him, she continued, "But I don't think I'll be able to…tell them I'm sorry, alright?" she turned back, tears gathering in her eyes as she continued to beam at him.

Realizing she had decided what to do, Shintaro quickly climbed over the fence and hopped down beside her. Staring at her as she looked at him, refusing to meet his gaze, he reached out a hand and grabbed her arm. Keeping his grip strong he spoke, "…Why don't you tell them yourself?"

Startled by his reaction, the dark-haired girl took a step back, backed up against the edge of the roof. Regaining her smile quickly, she said, "Ah, well, I don't think I'll be here much longer…I have to do this, for everyone. I'm sorry, Shintaro," she said, looking off into the streets. All of these people…she would help save anyone who had died and been to the haze. She refused to let her world be destroyed.

Feeling her confidence returning, Ayano turned away from Shintaro, "Goodbye, Shintaro," she said, smiling one last time before taking a step back.

Lurching forward, Shintaro kept his grip on her arm, refusing to let go as she dangled below him. Knowing he was the only thing keeping her from falling, he did this best to hold on, and began trying to pull her back up, "You…there's more than one solution to every problem, you know. Don't resort to something like this."

"Shintaro, please, just let go, it'll be okay," she replied, never losing her ever-present smile.

"No," Shintaro said, shaking his head as he kept hod of her. Truthfully, he was not that strong, and he was having trouble keeping his grip on her. It didn't help that it was summer, the heat making his hand sweaty.

"…Shintaro, I love you, and goodbye," Ayano said, keeping her eyes down. Reaching up with her other arm, she pulled his arm off of her own and let herself freefall through the air.

"Ayano…!" Shintaro cried out, reaching his arm down once more for her, half off of the ledge himself. Her words had shocked him, making his grip more lax, but he refused to let her fall. Almost able to reach her arm, he was about to grab it when she pulled it away, showing him her smile one more time before falling onto the asphalt.

Staring down blankly at the bloody mess on the concrete below, he couldn't move or make a sound. No…No…he almost had her. He had almost actually saved her instead of ignoring her tears like before. For the first time he had reached out to another, and that hand had been pushed away. Shintaro had just lost the most important person in his life.

"No…"