Facing The Loss. Hikigaya Gone.

Later that night, while everyone sleeps, Hikigaya tosses in his bed. In his dream, he sits on the edge of a tall building, so tall you cannot see the ground and only a few other buildings come up around it. He is half dressed like Watchdog as he looks at his hands. His eyes have bags around them as if he has been crying. He looks up from his hands slowly to see a figure that looks like his sister standing in the air in front of him.

Voice "How could you have failed so miserably."

Hikigaya stares at her expressionless.

Voice "You were right there and still couldn't save your sister. It really is all your fault. You're a failure."

Hikigaya stands up on the edge still staring at the figure.

Hikigaya "Why do you hate me?"

Voice "I don't. You hate you. I am only telling you what you need to hear. How you let your own sister die right before you."

Hikigaya looks down over the edge as tears start to drop into the clouds below.

Hikigaya "I didn't… I tried…"

Voice "You failed. Just like you always do. You can't do anything else."

As he cries he looks back up at the figure.

Hikigaya "I can do one thing right."

He lifts his leg as if to walk forward over the edge. The figure smiles at him.

Voice "It is the only thing you can do."

The figure opens her arms to him as if encouraging him to come. He leans forward before stepping over the edge. Suddenly, Hikigaya wakes up in his bed, panting and sweating. He stares intently at nothing as he thinks of his dream. Tears begin to fill his eyes as he begins to sob quietly to himself.

Hikigaya "i'm sorry… i'm sorry… i'm sorry…"

He whispers to himself while just outside his door, Shiori sits against it listening to him. She lowers herself with slight tears in her eyes.

Shiori "What do I do?.."

She stays leaning against his door for the night.

Shiori "What happened?"

Shiori struggles over the edge of a wooden face as she holds something.

Shiori "How did we end up in this place?"

She holds the hand of someone over a forest area. She strains as she holds tightly onto Hikigaya's hand over the edge of a cliff.

Shiori "Why… Hikigaya?.."

Some time before…

Hikigaya gets up out of his room and goes to the bathroom. He splashes his face with water and looks in the mirror. He looks tired and worn out. He leaves the bathroom to see Shiori standing in the hall looking away.

Hikigaya "Hey."

Shiori "Hey."

She looks at him and gives him a soft smile. Her smile then fades a little as she looks down.

Shiori "They're uh… They're cleaning out her room."

Hikigaya "What?"

He walks to her and looks down the hall to see Asami watching as Takanou and Hamasaki move boxes from Amber's room. He approaches his mother.

Hikigaya "What are you guys doing?"

He asks softly. Asami turns and looks at him with a smile.

Asami "It's been a few months now. I figured it was time we clean out her room and move her stuff into a safer place, not taking up so much space."

She says with a smile. They stare for a moment as Asami begins to shake a little. Hikigaya looks at her then his eyes widen when he sees her crying.

Asami "I just want… her stuff to be safe…"

He stares intensely as Hamasaki comes over and comforts her. Riku then comes up the stairs.

Riku "What you guys doing?"

They look at her as Asami composes herself. She clears her throat and kneels in front of him.

Asami "We're cleaning out Amber's room sweetheart."

Riku "But why? Doesn't she need it when she gets back?"

Asami "She's… not coming back dear…"

Riku "How come? Didn't she love us? We love her so why won't she come back?"

Asami begins to shake and cry again. Hamasaki takes Riku's hand before picking him up.

Hamasaki "Riku baby, we shouldn't talk about this right now, okay?"

Riku "I just want to know. She was so nice to me. She was a great big sis so why won't she come back to us?"

Hamasaki takes him back downstairs as tears come from Takanou too as he continues to move boxes. Asami sobs on the floor a bit as Hikigaya watches everything. His eyes shake as he clenches his fists. Shiori feels him freaking out and gently places her hand on his back.

Shiori "Hikigaya..? Are you okay?"

He stops for a moment and looks up before turning around with a big smile on his face.

Hikigaya "I'm fine. I'm gonna help your dad with Amber's stuff. She was my sister after all, right?"

He walks away from her and into Amber's room as Shiori stares with a concerned look.

Later that day…

Asami "Okay, we're gonna take her stuff and put it away now. We'll be right back."

Hikigaya "Okay mom! Don't worry about a thing, love you!"

He says with a big smile on his face. She smiles back warmly as Takanou and Hamasaki leave with her. Hikigaya stares at the door as Riku comes up behind him and tugs at his leg.

Riku "Hey, why won't big sis Amber come back?"

Hikigaya turns and crouches in front of him smiling.

Hikigaya "Because… I killed her."

Riku gets a shocked expression.

Riku "W-what?.."

Hikigaya "That's right, but don't worry! I know how to fix it. I can make it all go away."

He says with a smile. Riku trembles a bit with fear of his words. Shiori comes down the stairs as Riku runs from Hikigaya and into another room. Shiori looks at him confused.

Shiori "What happened?"

Hikigaya "Oh nothing happened. I just told him not to worry about Amber."

Shiori "Hikigaya, he's too young to really understand that yet."

He's still smiling while Shiori looks at him concerned.

Shiori "Hikigaya, it's okay for it to hurt."

Hikigaya "Don't worry about that! Besides, I know how to make everyone's lives better again! Soon, they'll forget all about this… Anyway, I'm going to my room."

He says still smiling then marches straight up to his room but Shiori tries to follow him.

Shiori "Wait, Hikigaya. This doesn't seem right. We need to-"

She follows him but he manages to slam the door shut behind him. She immediately grabs the handle but he locks the door behind him. She stands there for a moment before sighing and walking away. He spends the rest of the night in his room and doesn't even come out when his parents return. Eventually, the day comes to an end and everyone heads upstairs to bed.

Hamasaki "Are you sure Hikigaya is okay? I haven't seen him since we left…"

Asami "He's never been one to talk about what he's feeling. Maybe he just needs some space."

Hamasaki nods as they head to bed. Shiori goes to her door but stops and looks at his door for a moment. She sighs then goes into her room and closes her door behind her.

Shiori opens her eyes in the flat desert world again. There are many clouds leaving little view of the sky and a dark shadow cast over the land. As she stands up, she realizes that this time there is a heavy wind blowing dust everywhere. Not so hard as to knock her over but enough for it to be very noticeable. She lowers her head a bit before she hears something.

Boy "Shiori."

She turns around to see the boy from before back again.

Shiori "It's you again."

The boy nods before looking down. They stand in silence for a moment.

Shiori "You said before you couldn't give me an answer on what to do. So how about a different question?"

The boy looks at her.

Shiori "If you had a friend who was hurting, how would you help them?"

The boy stares at her for a moment before looking away.

Boy "I'm not sure. I suppose I'd just listen to them until I could figure it out on my own."

Shiori smiles a bit at him.

Shiori "You seem pretty smart for someone your age."

The boy doesn't respond. He stares at her in silence for a moment.

Boy "Shiori…"

She is surprised by him suddenly saying her name.

Boy "Please… I don't want to be alone…"

The boy starts crying as the light covering his eyes slowly fades. Shiori's eyes grow wide as she sees a young Hikigaya standing before her.

Young Hikigaya "Help me…"

He says while crying. Shiori rushes to him and gets on her knees and grabs his arms gently as he rubs his eyes.

Shiori "Hey! Hey, it's okay! I'm here! Tell me what's wrong."

Young Hikigaya "It hurts… I can't stop seeing it… It's so loud…"

Shiori "It's okay. I'm right here.."

She says with tears forming in her eyes as well. She pulls him in close for a hug but as she does he starts to glow and fade away, the wind taking the light energy. Shiori is surprised and falls back onto her butt as she looks up.

Shiori "Hikigaya..?"

She then sits up in her bed, awake. She is not sweating or panting as if she had a nightmare but something had abruptly awoken her. She stares off for a moment before her eyes grow wide. She quickly gets out of bed and rushes out of her room. She tries to open Hikigaya's door but it's still locked. She gets frustrated before running back into her room and going outside on her balcony. She then hops over the small barrier separating her large one from the small, thin balcony Hikigaya has. She then opens the door leading to his room only to find his room empty. She looks around for a moment.

Shiori "Oh no…"

She turns around and looks out before running back into her room for a moment to put on socks and shoes and then jumping off of her balcony and landing in front of the house. She looks up then starts running down the street.

Shiori 'Where did you go, Hikigaya?'