I remember the sound of my feet smacking and sliding off the tiles of the hallway floor. I had to see it with my own eyes. I had to know who that girl was. No, I knew who that girl was, I just had to confirm it. I couldn't be Nee-chan, it couldn't be the older sister who had kept us happy and radiated the innocence of a child and pushed it into our hardened hearts. She was the one who taught us that red was the color of a hero. She never stopped smiling, she never stopped laughing, and she never stopped being the best big sister she could be.

So, it couldn't be Nee-chan. It had to be someone else.

If it was up to me, I would have stayed in that classroom and done nothing. I would have just remained where I was and watch for hours on end as police cars, ambulances, and spectators came by and tried to help. I would have wanted to stay there and watch from afar because my legs wouldn't allow that.

See, they knew that if I stayed in that classroom for any longer, I would have done the same as Nee-chan, eventually.

The window was left open, after all.

"Tsubomi! Tsubomi, what happened?" I shouted as I slammed the front doors open and ignored the passing cars as I made my way across the street. A girl in a black middle school uniform was staring down at a distorted and crumpled figure.

"Kosuke..." She whimpered and seemed to be gasping for air. I stopped running and began to approach her cautiously. She was clutching something, and her knees were shaking. I carefully took another step, the quiet clicking resounding across the soundless space as I walked along the path that led to my sisters.

"Tsubomi...?" I placed a hand on my shoulder, and she whipped her head around to me, and I caught a glimpse of something velvet in her hands.

"She's gone."

I just barely caught my sister as she collapsed to her knees in a fit of angry yells and screams as she sobbed her name. I lowered her to the ground and squatted down beside her, the blood that trickled along the ground pooled around my feet and seeped into Tsubomi's skirt. The scarf dragged in it and began to get darker and more crimson coloring in certain patches as it absorbed it. The sound of someone screaming disrupted the two of us and we looked over towards the door.

Shuuya and Kenjirou were standing there.

"Ayano!"

"Nee-chan..." Shuuya started to run over to her body, but Kenjirou shoved him out of the way, knocking him to the ground. He skidded on his side, and the three of us watched as Kenjirou turned the body of the girl over and revealed her face that was bruised and shattered. Her eyes were still open, and they seemed so-

Kenjirou quickly shut them with his fingers and Kano crawled over to the two of them, and brushed her bangs out of her face as he cried over the body. However, there actions did not stop the sudden images from flying through my mind, and I heard a voice waver as it spoke sweetly to me.

"What are you two doing? Call an ambulance!" Kenjirou shouted at the two of us, and although we were a little offended and thrown of balance, Tsubomi took out her phone and began dial while I dashed into the building trying to find someone to help. I climbed staircases and through open classroom doors asking anyone for help, even when they were empty. I finally just started scanning them from the outside, looking in through the little windows above the doors as I ran by.

The end of the hallway loomed at me as I stepped onto the final floor. What was I doing this for? First my dog, Tsubomi's family, Marry's mother, Ayaka, and now Ayano? Everyone was gone. It was exactly seven thirty right now, and everyone had gone home. No teachers or students, or anyone. I wouldn't find anyone at the end of this hallway.

And I didn't.

I went by every room and when I finally came into contact with the wall that marked the end of the top floor, I pressed my palm into it, the plaster from the walls leaving uneven marks in my skin. I balled my hand into a fist and slowly, little by little, I became like my sister, and I crumpled.

I fell to the ground in a fit of rage and began to shout at the ceiling while I slid closer to the floor. The pain in my chest was unbearable. I could hear Lucifer laughing at my misery as I curled into a little ball on the ground. Tears stained my clothes as I coughed and cried and screeched so much, I thought I was going to lose my voice.

Ayano was gone, and there was no one who could change that concrete fact.