Bloody and bruised black, a body lie beneath sight. Tremulous under the boot pressed against it's skull. Eyes bloodshot with tension, red streams flowing from them. Limbs ragged and twitching, like a doll with tattered seams. Writhing in a state of bare agony, screaming the same phrase over and over, endlessly.

"It's all I have left, don't take it away!" A voice echoed, piercing and heartbreaking, "It's all I have left…" "It's all I have left…" "IT'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!"

I awoke in a frantic state, unaware the location I was in. A rush of tears cascaded down my cheeks. I was unable to breath, suffocating on the weeping that pursued. "I never wanted this…" I clung fervently to this thought as I did my knees to my chest, "I never wanted any of this…"

It was always like this, on the occasional morning I was burdened to awake this way. The same nightmare clawing at my heart, always following with stinging, hot tears. It felt real, every second, as though it were the reality I had come to know. As if it was the only thing that was, or will be. It made a hole on my heart, just festering and raw. All a reminder of what I'd done.

With a deep breath exhausted from my lungs, I began again to focus on this reality, my reality. I lay my gaze upon the mirror and rinsed my face thoroughly as though there was something to wash from my being. The guilt almost unbearable, it felt as though something were consuming a part of my very soul. No one knew of anything I had done except for Sato, yet I never gave him details. Only reassuring that I had done something worthy of no ones praise.

My eyes were dry and hurt whenever I sought to blink. The dark lines that lie beneath them were a further reminder that I needed rest. To no expense of anyone but myself, I still had to go to school. Though, I could've stayed behind and slept, and yet waking up to an empty apartment was again a depressing thought. In the end I had reluctantly worked up the will to head out.

I got ready for school, a shower followed by throwing on my uniform and grabbing my bag. I had decided to take the elevator instead of float down for once. As the doors opened I noticed upon a young woman, she had to be in my age range. She was a little shorter than I am, an average physical appearance. The one thing that did it though was hair; bright-pink, long hair tied in at the sides of her head by red ribbons. She was adorned in a dress, a white summer dress, going to the knees. She had a rather large luggage bag with her, dragging it around on its wheels. She exited, and I entered, perplexed by her presence in this building.

I wondered what she was doing there at that time, it was an apartment for students, and it was a bit late to be visiting this early. I had always left at late intervals, that was only because I knew I didn't go very far to get to school or really cared if I were tardy. At least I showed up, that's better than not at all if you ask me.

I left my mind wander more, "Was she a student? A new tenant? I don't think I like the idea of living with her, cute as she might have been." Whatever the case, I didn't really care or had the thought capacity to think over it with my lack of sleep.

I made my way to school, late as expected. Arriving in class without an eye on me, I sat in my desk with my head resting atop my arms. It was another habit of mine, but it's better than the hard surface of the wooden desks. Ignoring the lecture altogether, I sat in a state of exhaustion. The dreams had always taken their toll on my energy, and I was always dead tired as a result. More often than not I was plagued by insomnia as well, which was hell when the two coincided.

I heard a deep sigh hover over myself, "Valentine, are you even going to try? Or should I just give you the average grade you put no effort towards?" The teacher spoke aloud to me, though I never cared to listen. "How can you just waste away the intelligence you have, I know for an absolute fact you are smarter than this," he sat down in a chair adjacent, "You're better than this, I know that. Why lessen your ability to show that you can rise to be something great?"

I was beginning to get irritated with his ranting. After a few more minutes I had enough, I was sick of hearing him. Caring as it was, he knew nothing about me. I raised my head to look him in the eyes, "Just stop, save your pity for someone who deserves it, because I do not. Now leave me alone, I don't care what you or anyone else thinks."

He was taken aback, the eyes of the class on me like a target. He wasn't the type to show anger, but he certainly looked hurt by my words. "Just, get out of my class. I'm sorry, but I can't deal with you right now."