52. Broken
'Goodbye.'
Rin sits lifelessly in her backyard, on the porch, and gazes out without really seeing. Her heart doesn't feel like it exists; is she even alive? Is her heart beating, or did it stop when she heard him say that word?
'Goodbye'. A bittersweet farewell from the man she loved most. She can't bear to think of his name.
She can't even bring herself to cry. It was so sudden, so mind-numbingly instant, that she can't even really comprehend it.
"Meow~"
Rin's dull blue eyes trail down to her cat, Hikari, then narrow when she sees something in the mouth of her little baby. "Hikari? Honey, what do you have there…?" She says, reaching down and plucking the thin red cloth from her feet.
Her fingers tighten as she realizes what it is. Red ribbon. The same red ribbon that…
"Here, Rin."
"Eh? What's in your hand?"
"See this ribbon? I want you to keep it. It's a sign that we're tied by the red thread of fate. Nothing can separate us."
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing. I promise."
Wet splotches drip onto the cloth, and the tears that had been hiding away finally reveal themselves. Hoarse sobs wrack her body, and Hikari jumps up and curls into her lap, settling into a comforting, furry white ball.
"Len…" Rin utters his name brokenly, clutching the ribbon in a deathgrip. "Len, why…?"
As her master weeps over her broken heart, Hikari snuggles close and purrs, lending her sorrowful human her support.
A/N: This is inspired by 'Please, World'.