Mari knew she had told him it was over yet the image she saw burned her to her very core and she grinded her teeth. Sakiko's eyes were narrowed, a vague smirk on her face and Yumichika's eyes were closed and his expression was relaxed, the kind of serenity she imaged settled on her face when she was kissing him. But instead he had that expression while his lips were pressed against Sakiko's and the anger that was welling up inside her was quickly melting into a deep sadness; so deep that she began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. She shut her phone and let it slip from her fingers and it hit the floor with a painful cracking sound but Mari's ears were ringing too loudly to hear it as she returned Suki to the table top. She walked slowly towards the kitchen and leaned against the counter, gazing at the set of knives organized on the counter and her finger tips brushed against the soft skin on the inside of her arm. The pain in her stomach and her chest was unbearable and heavy as if she was carrying weights inside her. He had officially lost interest and the photo was proof enough.

Mari had lost him; she'd lost his soft lavender eyes and the brush of his soft, sweet-smelling hair against her cheek when she hugged him and she'd lost the softness of his hand in hers and she'd lost the feel of kissing the inside of a rose when she kissed him. She'd lost all the sweet words, the only person who would steady her when she was close to breaking down and she'd lost the one person she thought she'd never lose. She lost the one person who was so desperate to be with her that he risked his very life against the law just to see her every day. She lost the hug and kiss she received every night before falling asleep and she'd lost the one that could help her sleep at night when nothing else could. When he was around, she felt genuinely happy and she wanted to help everyone and spread her own happiness around but now that he was gone, she felt as if her insides were decaying and she'd never be happy again. She felt uncontrollable hot tears sliding down her cheeks and dripping from her chin to the floor; Sakiko had won, that was evident. Mari lifted one of the knives, holding it to her skin; a regular weapon like this couldn't kill her and it would only damage her gigai but she would still feel the pain of it.

She gently brushed it against her wrist before pressing down and watching as the blood spilled from her wound and she could feel the stinging of it so much that it numbed her pain just a bit. She gave herself another two before her knees buckled and she fell to the floor in a ball of tears, sobbing to herself. She left the knife on the floor, hurrying quietly to the bedroom after noticing the time on the clock and she pulled on a sweatshirt, hoping Emiko wasn't awake enough to notice the blood on Mari's arm. Mari returned to the living room, wiping off her face until the tears finally stopped and her eye lashes dried and she gazed at the table with an empty expression on her face, ignoring Suki as she meowed at her from her lap. It wasn't long after when the door opened and, just as Mari expected, revealing Yumichika leading in Sakiko, who had the same bored look of contempt she always wore on her face. It bothered Mari more than usual, knowing she had kissed the lips Mari had been yearning for for days and she could still dare to look so bored. Sakiko sat down across from Mari at the table and Yumichika disappeared into the kitchen without a word.

Mari continued gazing at the table, even after Sakiko chuckled quietly, tilting her head to one side, an evil grin on her face. "Oh, Mari, you're pathetic. Let me guess... you got jumped by some guys today didn't you? It hurts... doesn't it?"

Mari's brow furrowed with realization and she lifted her gaze to her. "You're saying... you were behind that?"

Sakiko laughed, careful to keep quiet so Yumichika wouldn't hear before letting her gaze fall on Mari again. "I knew you're too much of a weakling to fight them off. You're truly an idiot, Mari."

Mari's hands clenched to fists. "You're the lowest witch out there, Sakiko. You do realize that I wasn't the one who got jumped, right? It was Emiko. She's a regular human and she's got nothing to do with our little unnecessary quarrel and you dragged her into it. She's so afraid she doesn't even want to be touched."

Sakiko's smile disappeared from her face as she gazed at Mari with wide eyes. "Emiko? Oh, I... I didn't know..."

"Besides, you've already won. How do you expect me to continue on like this?"

Sakiko's brow furrowed. "What do you mean I've won? I won't have won until you feel the same way I felt and I know you won't until you've considered suicide. That's how low I felt, Mari. I want you to feel that way too. And then, I want to kill you myself. So I won't win until you're dead."

Mari looked away, getting to her feet. "Like I said, Sakiko, you've won." Sakiko said nothing as Mari led Suki into her bedroom, where Emiko was silently asleep and Mari shut the door, curling up on her side of the bed, tears spilling from her eyes. Sakiko had won.

Mari gazed at the window all night and Emiko continued to sleep until the next morning and she rolled out of bed just after Mari had heard Yumichika leave. Mari continued to gaze out as she listened to Emiko wash up in the bathroom before returning to the room. Mari turned to face her. "Emiko... I don't know how to tell you this but... I think it's time for me to go back home."

Emiko stiffened. "Go back home? Why?"

Mari sighed, gazing at her disappointed face. "Because... well... I don't know. I just feel like I'll be safer there, and plus I won't have to deal with Yumichika and Sakiko. I think it'd be best. If you need someone to talk to, don't be shy about contacting Akio. He's more fit to be your best friend anyway, since he's a much better person than I am."

Emiko shook her head. "No, I don't want that. Take me with you if you go! Please?"

Mari was quick to reject the offer. "I'm sorry, Emiko. Maybe I can see you on the other side one day. But only if you grow old and let yourself die of natural causes. Don't hurt yourself, okay?" Emiko gazed at Mari with a blank expression on her face as she watched Mari skirt the brim of the room and she opened the door. "Goodbye, Emiko." Mari slowly closed the door, feeling like a rag that had been drenched in water and just pulled out. Her heart was like a million weights in her chest and her feet and eyelids were like cinderblocks; she was running low on the energy to be awake even. Her gaze found her cell phone on the table and she lifted it up, opening it to see the same image she had seen the day before that had originally made her feel so depressed and she sighed deeply, closing the image and shutting her phone. She slunk out of the apartment and up to the stairs, climbing and climbing until there were no more stairs and they led to a door and she pushed it open and gazed up at the sky from the roof of the building, cracking her knuckles. She sat down in a corner, gazing up at the sky.

If she were gone, maybe Sakiko would spare Akio and Yumichika and allow them to return to the soul society and maybe Emiko's life would improve and she wouldn't have to worry as much about being assaulted by random thugs on her way home or to school. Suki could be adopted into a loving family that would treat her better than Mari ever did and everyone would live happily ever after. Mari gazed down at herself; she wasn't sure how to leave the gigai at all but she did know how to manifest her zanpakuto and she knew that it could harm her. She watched as it appeared in her lap and she slowly lifted it, unsheathing the blade and she gazed at her reflection in it before setting it down and lifting up her cell phone. She opened up a new message to Akio and she wrote, 'Hey, Akio, I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me and I'm finally going to rid you of your burden today. Sorry for wasting your time. Goodbye.' and she hit the send button with tears in her eyes.

Mari lifted up her blade again, gazing at her teary eyed reflection, trying to imagine how her friends would react to her death but the thoughts were distorted by her depressed emotions and she could only imagine them living on happily yet part of her knew that wasn't accurate. Maybe they would be upset by it but it would be for the best if she were gone. She couldn't be the cause of everybody's problems if she were dead, now could she?

Mari gazed at her reflection, picturing everyone after her death for some long moments, in the meantime receiving a dozen calls from Akio that had gone ignored. Finally, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding the blade against her throat; the calls had stopped and she knew that meant he must be on his way so she needed to do it before he could stop her. She held it pressed into her skin until she imagined it actually slicing her open and she winced; anyone who'd find her body would find a mess of blood and gore along with her and she didn't want that. She instead aimed the tip of her sword at her heart, keeping her eyes squeezed closed and the moment she felt the tip of the blade prick her skin, she heard the door open and rushed footsteps so she hurriedly attempted to force it into her heart before Akio could stop her.

But the blade never went past her skin, never even deep enough to need more treatment than a band aid and the more she tried to force it in, the more she realized she couldn't and her eyes slowly opened. Instead of seeing Akio, her gaze found Yumichika, gazing at her with wide, tear filled eyes and he was kneeling down right in front of her in his school uniform, his hands clenching her blade and his blood was dripping on to her legs. Her eyes grew wide as she gazed at him and the surprise was so great that he managed to pull her sword from her hands and toss it aside before pulling her firmly into his arms and she could feel the wetness of his tears soaking into her shirt over her shoulder and the warmth of his blood over her sides. She let her hands fall to the floor, listening to his quiet sobs in her ear and she gazed blankly straight again, tears sliding down her own cheeks.

"Yumichika..." she murmured, "How... how did you find me here?"

She heard nothing but soft sobs for a few long moments before he murmured in response, "Akio called me and told me what you said to him. I couldn't find you in the apartment but I noticed that the door to the stairs was open and I found you up here."

Mari said nothing, continuing to gaze off into the distance before feeling a rush of anger and she put her hands on his shoulders, attempting to pry him off of her. "Wait a second, get off of me, you lying freak." He lifted his gaze to her in confusion and she gave him a glare. "You said you loved me and you pretended to be upset when I told you we were done but then you went off and kissed Misaki. Do you know how that made me feel, Yumichika? I thought my fears were confirmed and you were actually just pretending throughout our entire relationship because you pitied me and you were secretly happy when I said that. I started to wonder if maybe all of my current relationships were like that and everyone just pitied me because they knew I couldn't do any better and I figured that maybe if I killed myself, I'd make everyone feel okay again, just like you felt okay when we broke up. You never really loved me, did you, Yumichika?"

Yumichika's eyes grew wide as he withdrew his hands which were cut quite deeply and were still bleeding. "Mari, are you insane? Do you really think I could fake all of that? I did love you and I told you that a million times. In fact, I still love you. You're the most beautiful... you're amazing and I... I don't even know what to say anymore. What do you want me to say? You won't believe me anyway."

Mari sighed, looking away. "Why don't you just leave me alone? I'm sure Misaki can give you everything I can't. She's much prettier than me and you seem to like her so much anyway. I'm sure you wouldn't be ashamed to show her off to your classmate friends or whatever."

Yumichika sighed deeply, rolling his eyes. "You're impossible, Mari."

Mari groaned, getting to her feet. "I truly don't understand how you could possibly sit there and be angry and insult me when I never did anything to you. All you've done since we got here is hurt me, yet you have the audacity to talk to me like you're the innocent one. Seriously, just leave me alone. You clearly don't actually want me here so just go tell Akio that you got here too late and leave; you don't have to feel obligated to 'rescue' me when I don't need rescuing."

Yumichika got to his feet as well, holding up his bloody hands. "If I only tried to stop you because I felt obligated to, I wouldn't have been so panicked that I grabbed your blade instead of realizing in time I could have just taken the hilt. Mari, really... Think about it, even if I had faked everything, even then, I never would have wanted you dead. No one wants you dead."

Mari crossed her arms, looking away. "Misaki does."

"What are you talking about? Misaki might be mean to you but she doesn't want you dead."

Mari chuckled, shaking her head. "She's the whole reason we're in this mess anyway. All of this is intentional. You don't know her as well as you think you do."

"We're not talking about Misaki right now."

Mari clenched her hands into fists. "You don't love me, you're a liar. If you loved me as much as you say you did, then you wouldn't be defending her. Constantly defending her like you know her when you don't. You shouldn't have gotten involved in this situation in the first place. Sometimes... sometimes I wish that I never did get my memories back. You'd be at home and I wouldn't be in so much pain and Akio would be okay. Emiko wouldn't have cried herself to sleep yesterday and she would probably be happy at home right now, getting ready for school."

Yumichika furrowed his brow. "Okay, first of all... what does Misaki have to do with Akio and Emiko? And second... do you really wish that you didn't get your memories back? Do you even remember how torturous that was for me? You're cruel if you really wish that."

Mari put both her fists to her cheeks, pouting. "Oh, boohoo, you little crybaby, do you want a tissue? That was in the past. You were different back then. We were different back then. Back then, I worried about what we would eat for breakfast because I knew we would be eating together and I knew I'd wake up to a kiss and an 'I love you'. Now, I wake up to wearing a mini skirt in the cold to a big building full of people I can't stand, except for Emiko, and I don't even get a good morning. Most days you don't even say a word to me. Other than making me food, you usually just pretend I don't even exist. Do you know how much it hurts to have the only person you really, truly love above all else to just... ignore you like that?"

Yumichika gazed at her blankly for a few long moments before softly saying, "You're right."

Mari narrowed her eyes before glancing left and right and then returning her gaze to him. "I'm right?"

Yumichika nodded. "Let's go get something to eat."

Mari scratched her head, furrowing her brow. "Why? Are you trying to trick me?"

He lifted his hands again, gazing at the blood that continued to spill. "I don't know. My hands hurt and I've lost a lot of blood. I'm kind of dizzy."

Mari nibbled on her lip; although she was angry with him she still loved him too much to let him bleed like this. She grasped his wrists gently. "Let's go inside and I'll get you bandaged up, okay? Then we can get something to eat."

He smiled at her nervously. "Well Akio is loaning us his car... let's just pick up some bandages on the way to any place you want to eat at and we'll have a wonderful day today. How does that sound?"

Mari gazed at him for a moment; he was lying. She knew it because if he had Akio's car, that meant that Akio must be here too. When Akio called Yumichika, he was most likely at or near school and Akio comes from the opposite direction of school and Yumichika had arrived too quickly to have stopped by Akio's house before. If Akio was here too, that meant they were trying to hide something from her and Yumichika seemed intent on taking her out; if that was the case then she wanted to pretend she believed him just so she could have him for herself again, just for today. She also trusted Akio's judgment and she knew that if he was hiding something from her, it was for her benefit. So, instead of objecting, she gave Yumichika a smile and nodded. "That sounds great."

Akio's hands were trembling as he stood outside of Mari and Yumichika's apartment, reaching for the doorknob and he squeezed his eyes closed as he grasped it, turning it and opening it quickly. His eyes opened slowly, afraid of what he'd see and he felt a bit relieved when it appeared to be vacant but he knew better than to be too relieved. He stepped inside, gazing around until he found Emiko standing in the kitchen, a half dead look on her face as she faced the sink, her hand clenched tightly into a fist.

"Emiko," he breathed, "what's wrong? Have you seen Mari? Do you know where she went?" Emiko turned towards him slowly and the knife in her hand opposite him became visible and he stiffened. "Emiko... what were you going to do with that knife?"

She gazed at him for a moment before lifting the knife and touching its side with one hand. "We're going to lose her, Akio. Who knows? Maybe we already have."

Akio's hands clenched into fists. "Did you see where she went? I can stop her before she does it, Emiko."

Emiko sighed, shaking her head. "You don't understand, Akio. You don't understand. You can't just stop her. She wants to leave us and if that's her choice, let's let her have it. But unfortunately, I... I need her at this point. If she leaves me, what will I do? I don't have many friends at school, my parents care more about their work than they do about me, and I can't survive in this society unless I have good grades but that's not what I want. Is there something wrong with me? All I want to do anymore is sleep and stay in bed. I hardly have the motivation to do anything. I'm supposed to be my parents' pride and joy, so they can go to every family party and brag about how well I'm doing in school and leave out what little friends I have or how I can maintain my depression better than I can maintain a relationship."

Akio lifted his hands, his eyes wide as he gazed at her and his heart raced as images of Sakiko flashed through his mind; she was hurting too, just like Emiko. "Emiko... it's okay. You're okay. Don't... don't do this. Mari will be okay and so will you... okay? Right now, I'm not worried Mari will be hurt... I'm worried you will. I'll die before anything ever happens to Mari."

Emiko shook her head, a tear sliding down her cheek. He took a small step forward and she quickly brought the blade of the knife to her throat. "I sort of envy Mari because of her relationship with you. I wish I had someone who cared about me that much." Akio's hands in front of him clenched into fists as he gazed at her, desperately trying to think of something to say to stop her but all he could think of was Sakiko; he never knew what to say to her either. "I need you to do me a favor. I need you to tell Misaki and Yumichika that they're both scum and I'll never forgive them. And I need you to tell my parents that even though they hardly ever paid any attention to me, I loved them and I wish they would have taken a look at my paintings sometimes and talked to me about something other than school. Tell them that I'm sorry I let those assholes violate me and that I'm sorry I'm weak and that I'm sorry I'm not the daughter they wanted. And if you see Mari again... tell her that I love her, okay? That she was the best friend I've ever had and that she made me feel loved and special but maybe I got too attached. I don't know what I'd do without her and I know that even if she doesn't kill herself, she's going to have to leave me eventually and thinking about it scares me so much and just... I don't know."

"Emiko," Akio softly told her, "things will improve and Mari won't die and she certainly won't want you dead, either. Let your time come and you can see her on the other side and by then, you can have all the time together that you want."

Emiko's gaze dropped to the floor. "I don't want to wait that long. I don't want to live. Goodbye, Akio. Thanks for trying."

Before Akio could say another word, Emiko was on the kitchen floor, the blood quickly spreading all over the floor. His hands were trembling as he gazed at her before slowly approaching her body, kneeling down beside her. "Emiko, you idiot. Thanks for leaving it to me to give your parents the worst news they'll ever have to hear and to tell your school that they need to tell the other students something so grim. I hope you're happy."

The door burst open and Yumichika rushed in, his face pale and his eyes wide, widening even more upon seeing Emiko's body. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," he sighed, "Go get to Mari. I think she's upstairs."

He nodded. "You'll take care of this?"

Akio nodded, turning to gaze at Emiko. "Yeah, I will." He watched as Yumichika rushed back out of the apartment before he returned his gaze to Emiko, sighing. "I wonder how long this is going to take." He got back to his feet and lifted up his cell phone, dialing 9-1-1 before telling them what Emiko had done and explaining where they lived and requesting an ambulance. Once he finished, he returned his gaze to Emiko. "I know Mari wants you to live through this. I know she does. Finding out what happened is going to break her heart; there isn't even any guarantee that you'll run into her on the other side."