"When do I sleep? My eyes are heavy all the time, but when I close them, they burn. So I haven't slept in a while. The cold nights are torture! My head hurts. I miss home. I miss Mom and Maki. I miss Misao!"
Park Misao meets Ibuki Kaoru as he is att...
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The sun was setting with its rim touching its reflection in the water. The streets were lit and bustling with all kinds of people. It was the onset of summer in Incheon, and the weather had never been so touching. The breeze flew slowly, making the trees dance, and the sky was clear, dawning a few evening stars.
Park Misao could not have asked for anything more than a sunset view she got to see every day after school. The view would clear her mind of all evil thoughts. She rode her bicycle while feeling the breeze touching her skin every moment. As she rode down the street, she came to a sudden halt. A boy roughly her age was standing on the top of an old rusty building, inching closer to the edge as if attempting to jump.
Misao's heart sank as she witnessed him. She figured out that the boy was attempting to suicide but couldn't gather the courage to do so. Misao parked her bicycle outside the building near a lamp post that had just been lit. She rushed up to stop the boy from hurting himself. Luckily, the boy hadn't yet mustered the courage to jump.
When she reached, she yelled out at the boy, "Stop! What are you doing ?!"
He froze that instant and turned around towards Misao. He was thin, weak and depressed. His hair was messy; he hadn't had a haircut in years. He wore an old, loose grey T-shirt with rough-looking jeans. However, Misao was least bothered by his appearance.
"There is no stopping. I have tried to, but now it is too late," his voice had years of pain in it that he had not gotten rid of.
He walked backwards and closing his eyes, he let himself go. At that moment, Misao sprinted towards him and, in the nick of time, held him back by his shirt.
"No! You cannot! You cannot do this!" Misao grabbed him back up, panting heavily.
The boy was stunned by Misao's action and said, "Why does my life matter to you? I don't even know you."
"It may not to me, but it does to someone. I cannot live with the guilt of knowing that I let a person die, and now his family is going through pain because of me. I just cannot."
"My family might as well feel better if I die."
These words left Misao awestruck and too dumbfounded to speak.
