Despairful Music

Important to Them

A/N: HI EVERYONE!!! GUESS WHO IT IS? Okay, okay, so, it's sure been a while. During that while I've kinda changed my writing style so there's gonna be a sudden change from present to past tense but I'll still write in first person. Sorry for leaving yall on that cliff hanger. HERE WE GO!

"A body has been discovered! Please meet in classroom 1-3."

...

Silence.

Everything went silent for a while. There was no more than the sound of my heavy breathing for a few seconds. Soon, my ears picked up the sound of Saki's quiet sobs, which began to escalate until she was wailing.

Next was the sound of Saki crawling forward to rest her brother's head in her lap.

I picked up the sound of Saki's voice, barely a whisper. "Tsukasa... Tsukasa, no. Not him," then it began to get louder, "Not him. Not Tsukasa. ANYONE! ANYONE BUT TSUKASA! WHY HIM??"

The pounding of footsteps followed.

"Who-" Ichika started, then froze at the sight of her best friend holding her dead brother in her arms. "Saki... Oh no..."

Honami started crying.

I noticed Kohane had come with them as well.

I just stood frozen. What could I do? I didn't know Tsukasa all that well, but it didn't mean I didn't care about him. He was important. He was important to Saki. He was important to Nene, and Emu, and...

Rui. He was important to Rui. Mizuki's best friend, Rui. Rui, who was already starting to lose it. Rui, who was becoming overprotective of his trope for this very reason. Rui, who didn't want to let Tsukasa out of his sight. Then there was me. Me, who had convinced Emu that Rui's behavior was unjust. Me, who had allowed for this to happen.

...

Was I to blame for Tsukasa's death? If I hadn't been in that hall that night, or if I hadn't told Emu that Rui needed to be stopped, would he still be alive? Would Saki be standing next to me happily, singing with Tsukasa and his friends?

Then the dreaded moment came.

As soon as I saw purple flash I knew he was here. I watched him kneel down and grab Tsukasa forcefully from Saki with a dead expression in his eyes. Next, I saw pink. I don't think I'd ever seen that vibrant and positive girl cry and scream and wail. Emu, the only one who laughed in such grim situations, was crying. If Emu was so sad, was there any more joy left in that room? I saw green too. She just kind of stood there, tears fighting to fall. I wanted to tell her it was okay to cry.

I heard a gasp behind me. Haruka and Minori were here. They just kind of stood like I did, not sure what to think or do.

I turned around and found that Kanade was there as well. I wasn't sure when she showed up.

I walked out of the room. I couldn't stay there. Not when Rui and Saki were wordlessly fighting over who got to hold Tsukasa's dead body.

Kanade followed me.

Once I was out of the room, I put my back against the closest wall and sunk to the ground. I buried my head and my knees, and finally allowed myself to cry.

I heard a thump as someone landed next to me, then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I could only assume it belonged to Kanade.

"Stop it. You've been saying that this whole time. You keep pretending everything will be alright."

I had, hadn't I? I kept looking on the bright side. But, I was wrong. There's nothing bright about this place. Why do I even keep trying?

"I'm sorry... for what I said."

I looked up.

"I didn't mean it. It was... wrong of me."

Kanade looked upset. She didn't look like she had slept. I mean, Kanade never looked like she had slept but, this Kanade most definitely had not had even a wink.

When I didn't say anything, Kanade began to look uncomfortable, then began speaking again. "I mean, I stayed up all night thinking about it." Ah, that would explain it. "And I realized it's not bad to be positive. You were trying your best to cope with this in your own way and I invalidated your feelings."

I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing but a broken sob came out.

Kanade didn't know what to do. She just stared at me and patted my back until my vision eventually went black.