For some reason, I was climbing a staircase for God knows how long. I had no idea why I was running nor did I know the destination. There was no end to that staircase. It went up and down again and again.

My mind was a bit numb. I had lost control of my body long ago. As if I was just a viewer of a first-person shooter game. Except there was no shooting, only running.

Finally, I reached the end after a while. Bright light gushed in through the opening and engulfed me as I walked into an open space. It was the rooftop of my old middle school building.

I was out of breath. And everything seemed blurry. However, I could still recognize the girl wearing the sailor uniform. She stood by the railing on the other side of the rooftop. I couldn't see her face from this side. More than half her body was covered with her long dark hair waving down her shoulders to her hips. It seemed like I knew her all too well.

She slowly got up to the railing, balancing herself barely. Watching her stumbling on that thin wall, my heart throbbed crazy, louder than ever. I screamed, "Rurii!!"

My voice did not reach her or maybe she ignored it. I dashed toward her. But the 10 meters distance seemed to be never-ending. No matter how much I ran, the gap remained the same. This intense emotion, this cruel agony, all of these were too familiar to me.

The world around me slowed down. I watched her look back for once. Tears dribbled down her chicks, as her eyes screamed for help. But I could do nothing but stare helplessly, as she fell, plunging into her abyss.

"Nooo!!" I scrambled down to my knees.

The next moment the scenery around me completely changed, as if I was teleported somewhere else. It was a plain field and ahead there was a pitched road. I got up to my feet and looked around.

Soon I discovered a group of people a bit farther down the road. They were standing there in a circle surrounding something. As I got closer I could hear grasp and woos coming from them. Did they find a snake? The curiosity in my mind rose, even though usually I was indifferent toward distractions.

I slipped past the crowd to get a look at the supposed snake. The moment it caught my eyes my whole body froze. The asthma I never had came back.

"R-ruri?" My voice quivered.

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She lay on a puddle of blood with her limbs facing in ways they were not supposed to. To be honest, the scene was not crazier than the deaths I had seen inside the game. Those death scenes were realistic to the point after all. However, this one seemed to tear my heart apart.

I sat down beside her lifeless body, ignoring the warm blood soaking my school uniform. My trembling hand reached for her left cheek. It was so cold and pale.

I could feel the piercing cold gazes of my schoolmates behind my back. All around me everyone pointed at me and chanted, "Killer! Murderer!"

Soon my grief got replaced with a different unknown feeling. "I didn't…You are wrong…" I yelled out.

No one listened to me. They kept repeating the same words, "Murderer! Killer!"

"No!! Stop it!!" I shut my eyes tight and covered both my ears. Nevertheless, the voices reached me crystal clear. Even closing my eyes did not work. I could still see them staring at me with their dreadful and disgusted look.

"P-please believe me…I-I didn't…How could I…She is the only one…I ever loved…" I mumbled, still plugging my ears. I crawled to the ground to protect myself from everyone, from everything. It didn't help. "Please! Stop!!" I cried out again.

It continued for a while. Then just like a little sunshine piercing through the thick cloud, a voice came to save me from all this pain and anguish.

"Onii-chan!"

"Riko?" I opened my eyes, removed my hand covering my ears, and looked around to find her in the crowd.

"Onii-chan!!" The voice reverberated again.

"Riko? Did you come for me?" My heart eased up a bit with the newfound hope. "I knew it! You would never misunderstand me." I finally smiled after ages.

"What the hell are you saying? Wake up?"

"Huh?" I was dumbfounded. Right away, my head began to throb with a piercing pain all around. "Ugh!'

"Wake up, damnit!" She kept yelling.

I opened my eyes and saw Riko readying herself for a focus punch.

"Wait! Don't punch! I am awake." I shouted, looking up at Riko who was standing above me with her fist directed at me.

"Alright but get up fast. We gotta visit Dad, remember?"

"Huh? Ah, yeah." I said, massaging my forehead. "Mom's home?"

"No. She said she will be there."

"I see. By the way, your panty's in full view."

"Argh!" Listening to my words, she went for the punch again but her fist stopped right above my nose. Then retracting her fist she got down from the bed and walked out of the room like some polite noble girl.

What the… well whatever…so that was a dream, huh?..sigh…

I got out of bed and went into the washing room. My gaze fell onto the mirror.

What a mess.

Then I noticed my eyes were red and my cheeks were wet for some reason. I kept staring at the mirror for a while. Pieces of that dream came back to me. No, not the dream. It was much more clear and substantial.