By: Dulavente

   16 year old Kira sighed as she slipped into her baby blue satin night gown.

   It was 12 midnight on a December Saturday.

   Kira had blue eyes, brown hair and pale skin.

   For Kira Motsuta, the day had been terrible. First, she woke up at 3:00 Am and couldn't get back to sleep, so she lay in bed until 7:00 Am when she got dressed and prepared for work. She worked at the local grocery store, where she put price labels on items and then shelved them. This was going quite well until about halfway through her shift when she was on a step ladder to reach the top shelf, just as she put the last box of rice krispies cereal on top, a little girl with brown hair and green eyes came jetting towards her with a cart and rammed into Kira's legs, knocking her off the ladder and to the floor. Kira stood with difficulty as the young girl's guessed mother came after her. But Kira didn't leave time for apologies, she immediately started cussing at the little girl, making her cry. This was clearly not the thing to do Kira soon found out, for her boss came to see what all the commotion was and, after the little girls' mother explained what had happened, fired Kira on the spot saying "Always put the customers before yourself, Kira. Respect the customers!!!"

   "HA! Respect the customers my ass.....I have a imprint the shape of a cart end on my leg thanks to that little brat!!" Kira thought at the memory of the pain she experienced during that time and for the hour following.

   "...And then, I hit a dog with my car, my cat killed my favorite stuffed animal I used to sleep with when I was little, and my boyfriend dumped me for another girl....and a slut to top it all off....." Kira spoke to herself as she recalled the rest of the horrible day that followed.

   Kira turned on her radio and began to turn to her bed but stopped when she recognized the sweet tune and tender words of the song....it was the song she used to hear every time she thought of her boyfriend....But now, all that song did was rip her apart inside and remind her of how he betrayed her.......

   Kira swung her tanned leg at the radio, knocking it off the stand, along with an unlit candle. The plug was pulled from the wall as the radio crashed to the floor, and the radio stopped playing.

   She let out a soft cry as she covered her face with her hands and slid to the maroon carpeted floor of her room.

   "Why!? Why'd he leave me, why, why, why!? I'm prettier and better than HER! She probably slept with a guy the night before, anyway! What a jerk, I HATE HIM! I HATE DAICHI!!!"

   Suddenly, out of the blue, a mental picture of her best friend, Naoto, appeared in her head. The mental picture was of him smiling, as always, with that child-like grin of his. His black bangs hanging over his blue eyes.

   Sobbing, Kira stood from her spot on the floor and walked into the kitchen of her house, nobody else lived there, it was her alone. Her family-she had none. Her mom was single when she gave birth to her, and she never knew her father or had any family at all. Her mom died when she was 14.

   Kira slid open the knife drawer beneath the sink and slowly pulled out a large, steak knife that gleamed brightly in the moonlight shining through the window.

   'I'm going to end it,' She thought, 'I'm going to end my life.....it is worthless.....I can't afford to live anymore anyways, I have been falling behind on bill payments for months.....And now that I'm jobless....'

   Kira raised the knife to her throat, swallowed hard and closed her eyes tightly, yet did nothing. Her heart began to race a mile a minute as she felt the cool silver of the knife blade touch her skin.

   Suddenly the phone rang.

   She didn't move. It rang 5 times before she walked over to it and picked it up, "Hello?"

   "Hey, Kira, its me, Naoto. I know its late but I couldn't sleep and I haven't seen you all day, so.....Ya, where were you anyway? You were supposed to meet me at the park at 6:00 remember? You promised!"

   Kira began to cry as the knife slipped from her hand to the floor and she slid to her knees and dropped the phone, realizing how stupid she was being.

   "Kira?" Naoto's voice came from the phone, "Kira? Are you there? Kira, what's going on? Kira!"

   His voice didn't return after that and 15 minutes later a banging erupted on her door and Naoto's voice sounded, "Kira, let me in, Kira!"

   Kira got up and opened the door, Naoto came in and the door slammed behind him.

   It was the dead of winter, and his hair had white flakes of snow resting in it, his cheeks were red and his breathing was heavy, Kira had guessed he ran there, he only lived a few blocks away.

   "N-Naoto-san....what're you doing here? Its so late...."

   "Huh, because you never answered the-" Suddenly Naoto stopped as he saw the knife in Kira's hand.

   "What's with the knife?"

   "Ah...oh....mmm...I-never mind...." Kira stuttered as she searched for something to say, yet found nothing in her mind.

   "You were going to try and kill yourself, weren't you?"

   "I-What?! How did you!?"

   "Lucky guess.....though I wish I were wrong...." Naoto leaned forward and gently took the knife from her hand and put it back in the drawer she retrieved it from. With his almost daily visits to Kira's place, he knew where everything was.

   He took off his jacket and draped it over a chair at the table and started making hot chocolate. Naoto was wearing a long-sleeved black shirt that clung to him almost like a second skin, and a pair of simple, blue, boot-cut jeans.

   Kira watched Naoto's back as he filled two cups with boiling hot water, the steam rising from the water brought a collection of clouds too the room that disappeared almost instantly.

   'What am I going to tell him....he will want to know why I was about to....Do IT.....I'll feel like a total fool telling him why....but....Naoto would find out sooner or later....He always does.....'

   "So...Exactly WHY do you want to kill yourself? What's so bad you need to take your own life to solve it?"

   Silence.

   "Well?" Naoto pressed on sternly as he placed a cup of hot chocolate in front of Kira.

   Kira's face reddened and her body began to shake with silent sobs until she couldn't hold it in anymore and she just let out a small scream and buried her head into her arms.

   Naoto gave her a look of pity and spoke softer, "Kira? What is it?"

   "Well, lets see, I was fired because of a dumb little girl and my big mouth, Dumped because my ex-boyfriend wanted a slut who would screw him whenever he wanted, and I took a poor dog's life, all in one day! And one of the most precious material positions I have was destroyed!"

   "I see...." Naoto said as he looked down into his cup.

   Naoto set the cup down on the counter behind him and turned back around to face Kira.

   "And that's all a reason to end your precious life?"

   "Nobody cares about me anyway....And I haven't been able to pay my bills...."

   Naoto looked affronted as he spoke, "Oh, yes, I don't care about anyone, I'm just a stone-heart with legs! Your friends don't count do they? Just because your idiot ex-boyfriend-"

   "SHUT UP!!" Kira exploded, "My family-they're all dead, okay!? MY boyfriend left me and I have nobody who loves me! Yes, you care about me-but that's different-you are my friend, not a brother, not a lover...."

   "Exactly how DENSE are you!?" Naoto darkly said through gritted teeth.

   Kira stopped sobbing as she processed what he just said.

   "Ah, forget it! You want to kill yourself for them purely effed-up reasons, feel free!" With that last word, Naoto snatched up his jacket and headed for the door but Kira stood and gripped his arm.

   She looked up at him through watery eyes as she shakily asked, "What.....was that supposed to mean? When you said I was dense....?"

   "Huh, why don't you try answering that on your own? What do you think, Kira!? I love you, and a heck of a lot more than that scum you were with! But you are blind to anything other than the darkness in your life!! OPEN YOUR EYES NEXT TIME!!"

   Kira's eyes shot open wide as she heard this.

   "W..What?"

   Kira let go of Naoto's arm and covered her face and started crying.

   'I've been so STUPID, I should have known! Oh, how right he is...I cannot see anything other than what is bad...I'm such a fool!'

   Naoto turned around so he could see Kira. Though he was a little mad, at Kira for never noticing, and at Kirs's ex. boyfriend for being such a jerk, he couldn't help but to feel her sadness too.

   Kira felt two arms wrap around her and peered through a small gap in between her fingers and watched as Naoto pulled her to him.

   "I'm sorry......Naoto....I'm- Shh....Its alright Kira...I may be a little disappointed you didn't figure it out on your own....But I still...Love you..I always will.." Naoto cut Kira off.

   Kira looked up at Naoto....Realizing that, all along....She was never into her ex....She loved Naoto, just....Like Naoto said.....Was blind to it...

   "I.....I love you too....."

   Naoto smiled lightly as he bent down and placed a soft kiss on Kira's lips. Kira's ex-boyfriend hurt her heart.....Her best friend....The one who REALLY loved her.....Healed it...