As Kenmei traveled down the road at a slow walking pace, her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of fog around her face. After a moment, she realized that it was from her own breath warming the chilled air and she calmed, having been so startled in that moment that she stopped walking. Taking in a few deep breaths, she pulled her coat around her body tighter, ignoring the new clouds that billowed around her face. Glancing around, she started to become aware of her surroundings, starting to wonder just how far she had walked. As her foot shifted a bit, the loose gravel beneath her feet crunched, confirming that she had reached a dirt road.
In her daze, she had reached the countryside, a small farm area right outside of her hometown. It was dusk, the green land and hills bathed in a soft orange light, bringing a warmth to the chilled air. Though she wanted to recognize the brilliant colors of the evening, everything just seemed cold and grey. As a gust of wind came by, it pushed her hood off her head, disrupting her still damp, thick hair. Reaching up to fix it, she felt a bit of surprise that it was still wet. The cold, she assumed, was preventing it from drying, even after the few hours she had spent walking around outside.
'Don't ever go outside with wet hair in the cold,' she could hear her mother scolding her. 'You'll get sick.'
Heeding the imaginary warning, she pulled her hood back up over her head, careful not to pull the earphones out of her ears. The soft piano music that filled her mind eased her erratic thoughts, and she knew if the buds left her ears, she would lose what little control she had on her emotions. She had already been fighting with herself to not go near the cliff that was just across the road, fearful of what her fragile mind may decide to do in the moment. So, with the gravel crunching beneath her feet, she continued to make her way down the road.
After her bath, she had gone through a huge fight with her father about the water that had spilt on the bathroom floor. Furious, he had demanded that she clean it, with nothing but a towel, and she refused. Instead, she had gotten dressed and left, with no desire to return. At this point, she knew it wouldn't matter to him if she came back or not. It would be one less burden on him. He could sell the house, or get a new wife that would pamper him, cook for him and sleep with him whenever he demanded. In her twenty years of life, Kenmei had never once see him share an ounce of love for another person, and she had doubts that any woman would want him.
But, he had money, and for many women, that's all they cared about. With no one in the way, he could do as he pleased. Maybe I should just give him what he wants, she thought to herself behind the soft melody in her ears. Why should I stick around if the rest of my family is gone? No job, no friends, no goals. The ocean is right over there, after all…. Teary eyes looked towards the cliff, watching the grass sway in the breeze right on the edge of oblivion. As if drawn by some unknown force, she began to walk towards it, clenching her hands tightly in her pockets as they began to shake. She stopped as she reached the edge, gazing out upon the orange tinted waters of the ocean.
Though the scent of salt was always in the air, it was almost overwhelming on the edge of the cliff. The breeze was stronger, and it chilled the exposed skin of Kenmei's face, chilling the single tear that had escaped from her eyes. Slowly, she tore her eyes away from the horizon to look down, making her stomach swelling with nausea and her mind growing dizzy. It was a long way down, too long for her to calculate. But, the waves crashed against the jagged rocks of the shore, and Kenmei knew death was certain for anyone who fell from here. Panic building within her, she took a few steps back, her entire body trembling.
It was just too frightening. What was she thinking? How could she possibly throw herself off a cliff like that? Beginning to breathe heavily in her panic, she ran, following the edge of the cliff as she sobbed. She wasn't sure how long she ran for, but time came to a sudden halt as the front of her shoe caught into a chunk of grass. Falling flat onto her stomach, she gasped loudly as the air was forced from her lungs, wincing at the feeling of a rock or lump of dirt dug uncomfortably into her stomach. With a defeated groan, Kenmei rolled over onto her back, bringing a hand up to rest on her chest as she took in deep breaths.
'You're such a klutz, Mei! You're always falling over, you should be more careful,' the voice of her brother scolded her. 'Here, let me help you up.'
She opened her eyes to stare up at the clouds, waiting for the help that would never come. The light from the setting sun starting to become more scarce, the clouds above began to darken, as if imitating her sadness. Sniffling, her nose nearly frozen from the cold wind, she forced herself to sit up, glancing around a bit. As she calmed from the fall, she noticed that her music had stopped. Odd, she thought, as she could have sworn she could still hear singing.
But, my music doesn't have any singing… Confused, she reached up and ripped the headphone buds out of her ears, listening closely. Sure enough, even without the earphones in, she swore she could hear a faint song. Even more bizarre, it was not a woman's voice. It was quite the handsome voice of a man, and as she listened, she felt her cheeks begin to grow warm. It was an attractive voice, to be sure, and she began to grow curious as to where it was coming from. Very few people lived out here, and in all her times walking, she had never heard it before.
Carefully and quietly, she stood, beginning to look around for the source of the voice. The wind made it difficult for her to pinpoint the location, as it swirled around her and made it seem like it was coming from every direction. Her attention was grabbed by a cough, as if someone were clearing their throat, and the soft sound of regular frustrated speaking. With this, she realized that the voice was coming from over the cliff and she quickly made her way over to it.
Being sure to keep good hold of her balance, she looked out over the edge, noticing that she was much closer to the water than she had been before. In her earlier panic, she didn't realize that she had run downhill, but now it became obvious to her why she had fallen like that. Kenmei didn't have much time to dwell on this, however, as she heard what sounded like a loud yawn, pulling her attention down to the right side of the cliff. There was a small alcove off to this side, where the water was calm. The rocks were more spread out, and there was even a small beach area made from what looked like pebbles.
Curious, she walked closer, continuing down the hill slowly. She still could not see anyone, but she had not seen anyone leave the area either, so she assumed they hadn't left. Suddenly, as the singing began again, she stopped, feeling her chest flush with heat. It was obvious, now, that the voice was coming from within that small beach area, and she needed to figure out how to get down there. Swallowing her nerves, she moved closer to the edge, looking down into the calm waters below. She thought that she saw a black mass in the water, but she could not be sure, as she was too high up to really be able to see.
With her focus on the form in the water, she didn't notice the rock under her feet beginning to give way until it was too late. She squealed loudly as it fell away, her body twisting in reflex as her torso slammed into the cliffside, only hanging on by her fingers dug into the dirt and rock. Kicking her legs in a frantic attempt to find a steady rock to step onto, she could hear a voice calling to her and she turned her head the best she could, looking down over her shoulder.
The black mass she had been looking at before was now facing her, pale skin with surprised crimson eyes staring up at her. The black, she realized, had been hair, as it floated around the shoulders of the person and sprouted from the top of their head with no stylistic effort. "Hey! What the fuck are you doing?" Kenmei could recognize the voice as the one who had been singing, but his speaking voice was different. It sounded off, as if he had a subtle accent that she couldn't quite put a finger on. Her thoughts were pulled from her as she began to slip, trying to pull herself up. "I-I'm falling!"
Her heart and mind began to race, her feet slipping from each rock she tried to step on. They were wet and slippery from the ocean air, and the grass was starting to give way to her grip. At this height, she knew she would either severely injure herself or die if she fell. Would that really be so bad? The thoughts returned to her, slowing her panicked attempts to save herself. That man down there, he wouldn't be able to help me… I just need to let go. Tears began to fall as she stared at her hands, feeling them beginning to grow numb. If I just let go, I can be with them. I won't have to be alone like this anymore.
Her fingers beginning to release their grip, her mind was pulled back at the sound of the man's voice below her, turning back to look down at him again. "Hey, are you jumping on purpose?" Kenmei grew confused, her heart leaping as her right foot finally fell steady on a rock. "W-what? No, no I slipped!" She had to face back forward, the strain on her neck making her dizzy. Still, she listened to his voice, feeling oddly comforted by it.
"I'd rather not be a witness to you dying. If you want to fall, then tell me so I'll leave."
Kenmei felt her panic rise again, forcing that empty numbness into submission. "N-no, I don't want to fall! You have to help me!" Trying to control herself so she wouldn't start crying, she tried to focus on finding another spot for her still dangling left foot.
"Ugh, humans are a pain… Look, just drop down from the cliff three-ish feet, you'll land on another patch of grass that will support you."
"Humans?" Kenmei repeated his odd phrasing, trying to look down to see this patch he was talking about. "What do you mean humans?"
"Just shut up and fall already!"
Taking in a deep breath, Kenmei clenched her eyes shut tightly, slowly beginning to lower herself down. Once she could no longer hold on, she released her grasp on the cliff, screaming as she fell. Though her terror was short lived, as she landed onto a patch of land that, just as he had said, supported her easily. Her entire body trembling, she looked back down at him, noticing him glower up at her with intense annoyance. "You're going to leave now, right? You're kind of interrupting my alone time." Kenmei could only stare down at him in shock, his rudeness completely baffling her.
"Excuse me? How can you be so rude to someone who almost just died?" She pointed up at the top of the cliff, matching his glare. The man shrugged, his hair falling around his shoulders at the movement. "It doesn't matter to me. The way you were acting, it seemed like you wanted to jump. You were hardly trying to pull yourself up at all." He began to move backwards a bit, his hair trailing behind him on the surface of the water like it was a creature of its own. Kenmei leaned back against the cliff wall, her chest still heaving with panicked breaths. "You could have tried to come up and help me."
The man below began to laugh, a cocky sound that filled Kenmei with irritation. Could this really have been the person singing before? She wasn't sure, but she did know she was growing upset with him, this stranger that was laughing at her misfortune. Carefully, she began to stand, noticing that there was a small path that led down to the pebbled beach below. Beginning to make her way down, she was intent on confronting him, and also thanking him for helping her.
"Hey! Don't come any closer!"
His threat stopped her, and she almost lost her balance, having to grip onto a root sticking out of the cliff to stay on the path. "W-what?" Her gaze moved back down to him, noticing him staring up at her warily. He seemed as if he were ready to take off at any second, and he was much further out from the beach than he had been before. Kenmei shook her head, continuing her advancement. "I-I just want to say something to you." The man grumbled, and she could feel his eyes on her. "Uh, you can't say it from there?"
"N-no!" Kenmei gasped as she almost slipped again but was able to keep herself steady. "I need to be on solid ground, just give me second." The man snickered, obviously taking some joy in seeing her struggle. "Legs suck, huh?" Kenmei thought she noted a tone in his voice in that question that did not express familiarity, but instead ignorance. "U-uhm…" She was caught off guard by such a question, finally reaching the pebbled beach. "I suppose they can sometimes." She looked back out at him, noticing that he was still quite a ways from the beach.
His gaze on her was still cautious, and his hair seemed to surround him like a shield. He bobbed with unnerving ease in the water, as if he didn't struggle at all to keep himself afloat. Kenmei assumed that he was just standing, not wanting to look too deeply into something she was probably misunderstanding. She stopped as she reached the edge of the water, nervously fixing her coat that had become displaced during her ordeal. "I just wanted to say thank you… For helping me." The man kept his blank stare on her for a while before he shrugged.
"You're welcome, I guess. What are you doing out here, anyways?" He began to float off to the side again, but the water never came up any higher or lower from his collarbone. Kenmei watched him for a moment, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Well… I was just out for a walk and I thought I heard someone singing, so I grew curious. Was that you?" She gave a quiet gasp at how quickly he stopped, watching as his face flushed violently red, almost matching the color of his eyes as he stared at her. He coughed loudly a few times, a hand coming up out of the water to wave at her dismissively as he turned his back to her.
"N-no, no, that wasn't me, I don't know what you're talking about!"
Kenmei couldn't help a small smile from spreading across her face, finding his bashfulness quite cute. "Oh, I see. If you say so." She stood in silence for a moment, contemplating her next questions.
"If I may ask… Why are you out here in the water when it's nearly freezing?"
