“I killed someone yesterday.” That’s what you had said to me.

You were crying in front of my room, soaked as a stray kitten, as the rain fell continuously, without caring for your beautiful frightened face. Even though the spring had just begun, you were shivering like crazy. That’s how the tale starts… The memory of that Spring's day.

"The one I killed…" She paused and took a deep breath, "The one laying next to me was my father." Her voice faltered but she mastered her will to continue, "He used to threaten me, to force me to do his bidding. Things got worse in time until he hit me. I grew sick of it, so I stuck this knife to his heart, and wound up fatally injuring him, as his eyes stared at me with disbelief."

"He is dead now and I am a murderer," She dropped to her knees and started weeping silently. Then she covered her teary face with those blood soaked hands and said, "I don’t think I can stay here anymore, I need to get out of here, I am going to run away, I’m going to leave this place and die, " She shakily stood up, her legs trembling like leaves, but her gaze burned with determination.

And then I replied in a kind voice as I grabbed your hand, "Then take me with you."

We grabbed our wallets, we grabbed a knife, as we stuffed them into a bag filled with our precious games and phones. We destroyed everything we no longer needed. All of those pictures, diaries, videos, everything. Now that had come into this, everything was a waste of memories.

The tale of you and I, murderer and human trash, who never managed to become anything, mindlessly spending her day wasting time, as her best friend was suffering.

And then we ran away, with no destination in mind, we kept on running, from this narrow world we call life.

We left our family, our classmates, and everything, together with you. In the first place, who could possibly stop us? No one managed to ask how our day went, or what kind of games we'd like to play. Even then, those kinds of thoughts were simply nothing more than self satisfaction.

Going far, far away to a place where no one would be, to die together.

What value does this world hold anymore? Well, didn't it just make a murderer? I wasn't able to do anything, no, I chose to not do anything. But really, who is the fault here? I was made powerless. I couldn't save someone, I was not a hero.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

This world no longer holds any value, I mean after all, a murderer was just made.

You did nothing wrong.

In the end, no one was able to love us. After all, why would anyone? We didn't try to be loved, we were simply living our life without anyone interfering with us. Through that we were able to trust one another. I could feel your firm soft hand as I held it. There was not a single tremble within it. You smiled as you saw my willingness.

With nothing stopping us, the two of us walked atop the railroad tracks. We laughed, talked about everything that happened, and we played games. We didn't care about anything anymore.

We ran without a care in this world, stealing everything we came across. There was not a single fear stopping us, "Now that it has come to this, everything can just die," you said, while laughing with the most precious laugh I've ever seen from you.

If someone would see us, would they laugh at us? Or would they look at us with pity?

If a hero exists, would he still save us? Or would he think of us as the filth of the world that needs to be cleansed? Not that mattered, after all, such a thing could only exist as a dream.

“What a ridiculous dream. I mean, just look at me, in flesh and real. Not knowing happiness all your life, don't you feel empty? Even if someone were to give us the things we longed for, what is the point of that anymore?"

We ran towards the park we used to play in. We ran around while dancing without a sense of shame in the middle of the night. I saw your smile as you suddenly reached for your bag. Your eyes were beaming with a sense of helplessness and satisfaction.

And suddenly you took the knife, “Sayoko, you're my reason to exist. The only reason I'm still here is because you exist by my side, always. I'm the only one lost cause between us. So please, stop here. Stop searching for me.

I should be the only one to die here.”

And then you cut at your neck in front of me. You smiled at me for the last time as blood poured from your neck. You were looking at me with empty eyes. It felt like I was having a nightmare, something that could be fixed with a simple wake up call. Yet, I couldn't find it, I could only stand there, watching you suffer. It was just like a scene from some movie.

I wanted to tell you to stop. You did nothing wrong, so that’s enough already. Let’s throw it all out. That's what you wanted me to say, right?

Time passed by in a flash. Days turned into weeks, as weeks turned into months. Even then, I could remember everything just like it happened yesterday.

I kept trying to search for you. However, no matter where I go, I couldn't manage to find you. I cursed everything in this world. If I could trade everyone in this world for you, I would've done that.

Until suddenly, everyone disappeared.

And you appeared, Hinako.

[https://i.imgur.io/yMuUBmK_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium]