A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! And now, ladies and gentlemen, my faithful readers, I present to you… definiteness! A glimpse—no even more—a scope of Kaorin's heart! Her very soul, I say! But, enough with this idle banter! Please, my dearest viewers… read on!

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"What the hell is this?!" Kaorin's father yelled, brandishing the book.

"I-It's just a book of poems…" Kaorin said meekly. The storm clouds overhead gave a deep rumble.

"Poems that you've been writing?!"

"Y-Yes…"

"And this… this one…" he said, rage frothing in his voice, "is about that big girl, Sakaki, isn't it?!"

It was a mistake writing her name at the bottom of the poem. Kaorin said nothing.

"Answer me!" he roared, his voice louder than the thunder in the clouds.

"…yes." Lighting shone above them.

Kaorin suddenly felt something solid connect with her chest. In a flash, he had thrown the book, yet the pain was nothing compared to the turmoil brewing in her heart.

"Leave. Get the hell out. You goddamned lesbian."

"Wh-What?!" Kaorin was simply stunned. She knew her parents would be livid when they found out about her feelings, but this…?

"Get the hell away from me. I have no daughter!" he spit on the ground in front of her.

"D-Dad, I—"

"Don't you dare call me that ever again." The darkness in his voice injured Kaorin in a way she never imagined possible. Her heart started a dull, painful throbbing. "Leave."

The door was slammed shut. The lock clicked audibly. Kaorin fell to her knees, clutching her poems, hot tears falling freely from her eyes. Her parents… abandoned her? Just like that? Just because of what she felt? Because of love?

She couldn't understand it. Her head began throbbing in tune with her heart's wails, and she began sobbing. Why…? Why…? Why? Why? Why?!

Her body felt weak… heavy. She suddenly began to ache everywhere. She watched the door, hoping that someone would open it, assuring her that it would be alright. Though, deep in her heart, she knew this was a false hope. She had never seen her father—the mere thought of the word made her sob even louder—so angry.

The fact that her mother made no appearance only assured her of her deepest fears. Her parents truly abandoned her… they were just going to leave her here… alone. The sky rumbled. The black void above her could hardly compare to the emptiness consuming Kaorin's heart.

Rain began to fall, clattering down around her, rudely violating her sorrow, blending with her tears. Kaorin stood feebly, clutching the book close to her heart. She stared at the door for a few moments. Hopelessness engulfed her. Slowly, painfully, she staggered away from her former home.

She did not know where she was going, only that it had to be away from her parents. Would anyone accept her? If her own parents rejected her, then why wouldn't everyone else?

Would her friends reject her, too? Would… would Sakaki-san reject her, as well? Kaorin's heart sank deeply. She began to ache more. The intensity of the rain increased. Kaorin trudged on, paying no attention to where she wandered. Sakaki-san surely would. If her own parents could not love her, why should Sakaki? Why should anyone? Her friends would abandon her.

She'd have no place in the world. People like her are not accepted anywhere. She would have to live out life with no job, no home, no family, no love. Her life and existence would be wholly meaningless. She vaguely wondered how long it would be before she was begging for food on Tokyo street corners.

There would be no one to save her. No one to save her by chance this time. Her family hated her. It was so difficult to comprehend, yet as she slipped deeper and deeper into the city, with every step her heart began to accept this truth with immeasurable pain.

She paid no attention to where she was going. The tears in her eyes clouded her vision. The rain was so thick, she could hardly see in front of her. No wonder there were no cars out. She didn't even have to wait to cross the streets… not that she would have anyway. Being hit by a car now would be a blessing from God…

Maybe then her parents would realize their mistake. After she had died in some horrible accident due to their cruel neglect. Even through her childhood, all she could remember was neglect. Her father worked all day, to the latest hours of night, and it was not until a few years ago that Kaorin was allowed to be awake in the hours of his return. Her mother has always been distant, detached, being a perfect puppet to the most diabolical puppet-master.

The cold chilled Kaorin's very bones. The rain had soaked through her clothes completely. Must she suffer physically, as well? Was it not sufficient that her very heart was torn from her chest? She hugged her poems close, as if they were some sort of ironic replacement.

It didn't matter how much she had to suffer. If it was like this, it would not be long before she simply wasted away. It wouldn't matter. No one will ever love her. She will be alone until the day of her demise. Then, her companion would be the sweet, chilled arms of death. Perhaps she could find love in death? Why should she even continue existing in a world that has no love for her? That has no plans for her?

She wouldn't be an amazing astronomer, like she had hoped. All of her studies had been for naught. Her dreams of discovering new constellations and planets would never become a reality. None of her dreams would become a reality…

Without her parents' support, she could not live anywhere, she could not go to college, she could not do anything. She would be nothing but a burden on anyone she comes in contact with.

So, she would have to abandon any hope of her friends helping her… Chihiro, Chiyo, even Sakaki-san. If Kaorin relied on them, then she would only be hurting them. She would have to bear this pain on her own.

But it was so difficult. The pain seared through her very soul, an icy flame both freezing her essence and burning away her sanity. She looked around again. She had no idea where she was. It didn't matter, though. The sooner she died, the sooner the world could be a better place.

The world would be a better place, wouldn't it? Without someone like her… it would be a better place. Society had no place for someone like her. It never would. She could never be accepted. Why did she even have hope? Sakaki would have never loved her in the same way that Kaorin loves Sakaki. It, simply, could never be. She was destined, fated, ordained, intended to suffer.

Would it be possible for one to suffer this much on one's own? Probably not. No, undeniably not. Kaorin felt as if she was simply becoming a shell, just a body needlessly consuming space in the universe. No one would listen to her, now… no one except the stars.

The stars… the astronomical lights that she had been so fascinated with since her childhood. She would often spend the nights laying awake in her bed, memorizing the shape of the moon, looking for the constellations, comparing the brightness between them. The stars had been her companion for her entire life so far… why would they deny her now?

Would the stars deny her as her parents did? Would the stars accept her love for Sakaki? If only she could be in the stars. In the cosmos, she would be free forever. No hate, no love, just bliss.

But, is a life without love worth living? No, it was not. She knew this as fact. A life without love is a meaningless life. Without Sakaki, Kaorin was meaningless. She had no purpose, no reason to be.

Her legs felt weak. How far had she walked? How long has it been? Had she lost her comprehension of time, as well? She slumped up against a wall, and slowly slid into a sitting position. She could go no further. She sat there and sobbed for what felt like a decade. The rain only served to increase in intensity. Then, suddenly, it stopped. She opened her eyes.

It was still raining, but no rain fell on her. The light from the nearby street lamp had been blocked by something… she looked up. There was a figure, silhouetted by the light behind it, holding an umbrella. Kaorin made no effort to move. How much was she intended to suffer before the end?

She only wished that she could look upon the stars one last time.