Author's notes: As this is an interlude, it is shorter than the other chapters. This chapter is mostly Hikari's thoughts, a break from Mimi's bitching and Taichi's sleeping. Yay.

To Kaye: OOC stands for Out Of Character.

Hikari gazed at her brother's retreating shadow from the kitchen. The house was so dark, so empty. Otou-san was coming home late yet again. He hadn't even bothered to call home this time.

Beep, went the phone as she checked the messages.

There are no messages.

Okaa-san had finally given up on them. Each time she called, the children had to speak to her in hushed tones, hidden under the security of their blankets. If their father ever found out, they would be dead meat. Once, he'd even thrown the phone out of the window when he was drunk.

Hikari couldn't understand it. Her parents had been so loving just a few years ago. Now they seemed to be at war with each other. Her mother once told her that when there was no love left in the relationship, it was no use trying to salvage it.

And that was the reason why she never tried to make Takeru change his mind, because she knew.

He doesn't love me anymore.

A plate crashed as it hit the floor. Hikari winced at the noise. Her brother poked his head out of their bedroom door to check it if she was all right, then closed it again. She smiled a little while picking up the shards of porcelain. At least someone still cared.

The pieces of plate made loud clanging sounds as she threw them, one by one, into the rubbish bin. At last, she came to the last piece. Ever so slowly, Hikari drew a line across her wrist with the shattered porcelain.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Bright red blood trickled down her hand and dripped into the sink.

She felt the physical pain rising up in her, erasing her emotional pain and hurt, making her feel as though she was alive again.

"Hikari, you okay?" asked a figure standing in the hallway. She shook herself back to reality and ran her bleeding wrist under tap water.

Ouch.

Somehow this pain was quite different from the previous one.

"I'm fine, Onii-chan," she replied quickly, before he walked into the kitchen. After a moment's hesitation, she heard his footsteps die away and the click of a shutting door.

She looked out of the window and for a while, just a split second, the falling snow seemed to be the colour of blood.

Hikari was up early the next morning, as usual. She was glad that their winter uniform had extraordinarily long sleeves because they hid the bandages she had used to cover her wounds.

Leaving a note on her brother's lunchbox, she left the house quietly.

The roads were slippery due to last night's heavy downfall of snow. Still, people didn't expect an accident to happen on the safe roads of Odaiba.

She had seen the car coming towards her. She knew that there had been enough time for her to move away.

And yet, she had stood frozen in the middle of the road, not because she was too shocked to react, but because she wanted to be there.

Although the driver tried hard to swerve his car around, the impact still sent the girl flying into the air. Passers-by said it was the most serious accident they had ever seen and they pitied the poor schoolgirl who was too frightened to budge.

But Hikari knew, as she felt the full impact of the hit. She knew she had wanted this to happen.

Taichi got out of bed feeling very strange. As he groped his way around the room, he saw the Crest of Light lying on Hikari's bed. There seemed to be a sort of pulsing glow around it.

Once, twice, thrice, it pulsed. Then the glow disappeared altogether.

He didn't really know what was going on here, but Taichi flew out of the house in search for his little sister.

To readers: I can't believe I just transformed Hikari into a suicidal maniac. Argh. Anyway, tell me if she should die or be saved in time. Hikari-fans, please don't hate me!! She just seemed to be the correct person to be angsting. I promise, next chapter won't be so gloomy. Please review.

Revised: 16th September 2007