There was no wind on the school rooftop when Kyou finished eating his bentou. One might imagine that the rooftop would be a good spot to have lunch, but the surrounding buildings, deprived of life and beauty, were not inviting at all. The noise coming from the streets below did nothing to create a pleasant environment, but Kyou liked it here. After all, he was blissfully alone.

Putting in his earphones to listen to more Chopin, he fixed his gaze far into the distance as he contemplated his current life once again.

Born into a middle-class family and having lost his father at a young age, his greatest worry was his mother. Kyou had never been an unstoppable, thrill-seeking child, but even in his introversion, his mother always did her best to bring a smile to his face. And while he rarely smiled, her love always brought color to his life. There was just one problem: he had no way of giving that love back. For as long as he could remember, his mother was determined to work long hours, which reduced her chances of finding love again to zero. He had tried to bring up the topic with her a few times, but it always ended in a never-ending hug session that made him want to jump away like a struggling cat. Eventually, he concluded that he would never change her mind.

Of course, once he went to a far-away public university, she would be able to focus on herself again. But that was still two and a half years away. Being forced to endure this meaningless life for so long was going to drive him crazy for sure. The thought of his loving mother suffering because he was alive was too unbearable for him, and at some point, his feelings escaped his mouth when he muttered, "I wish I was never born."

Immediately, someone grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him against the railing, turning him around with such force that his earphones fell off, hanging around his neck.

"What did you say?" Ai's voice was as sharp as a dagger, her eyes filled with uncontrollable anger. It was as if her own life was at stake here, and in some ways, it wasn't far from the truth.

Kyou was still in shock after being so abruptly pulled out of his comfort zone, his eyes wide as he looked at a furious Ai—an Ai he had never seen before.

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A couple of seconds passed before she decided she couldn't wait any longer for a response. "Amatsuki Kyou, you being alive has changed the lives of many people around you. Some of them you'll never even know how you affected, but you changed them anyway. For some, you are the only spark of light they have in a world of darkness and sadness. Throwing yourself away like that is like stepping over all those people! I won't have that!"

Kyou was still unable to organize his thoughts, as the meaning of her words was mostly lost on him.

"Never say that again!" Her words were a clear order he should never disobey, though he couldn't quite understand why.

"Did you understand me?"

"Yes..." he replied, but the only thing he understood was what he should not say, not why he should not say it. It didn't make sense in the slightest. But he knew Ai wasn't crazy. She had a reason. It just eluded him what that was. A woman's heart is hard to explain, his mother would say. Well, you can say that again! he thought.

He considered asking about it, but her anger was too much of a hassle for him to try to find out the answer right now.

Hearing his reply, Ai released him and crossed her arms, closing her eyes with an angry expression still on her face, but her voice softened when she said, "Good."

An awkward silence followed, as both of them had no idea how to react to this situation. Kyou was more interested in observing her than speaking, looking for any clue as to what had just happened. He noticed she started looking at the ground, seemingly lost in thoughts of the past, but he decided it would be wise not to ask about it. He wasn't sure he could handle another outburst of anger.

"Ai, is everything alright?" a girl's voice reached them. She had short black hair, paired with black eyes, and a black choker around her neck. School regulations had relaxed in the past decades, as could be seen.

"Mia?! Yes, everything is alright now." Her relaxed tone tried to dissolve any tensions that might have arisen in Mia and herself.

Kyou looked at Mia with a glint of curiosity that quickly faded when she returned a disgusted gaze. He scoffed at that with a smirk and said, "I'm going back to class."

"Ah, okay. See you later." Ai was still unsure about how to speak to him again.

As he was passing by Mia, she murmured, "You hurt Ai-chan again, and I will crush your balls."

Kyou stopped walking. A death threat would have been more welcome.

"You can't blame me for people hurting themselves on their own. It is their prerogative."

"As it is mine to ignore whatever you say."

Kyou shook his head with a smile of disbelief and walked away, unwilling to have another nonsensical discussion. He had already had too much for today.