$ s = Character('Shiki')
$ y = Character('Yuki')
$ g1 = Character('Girl 1')
$ g2 = Character('Girl 2')
$ g3 = Character('Girl 3')
$ b1 = Character('Lookout 1')
$ b2 = Character('Lookout 2')

# [Office]

"Kobayashi" "Ah, Mister Kurogane Yuki. We finally meet."

"An older man in a black suit stood up and shook my hand energetically."

"Kobayashi" "As discussed over the phone, we will be going over the paperwork needed to finalize your inheritance from your late uncle:"

"Kobayashi" "The sum of one hundred million Yen and the guardianship of his foster daughter."

"Honestly, I wanted nothing to do with him or anyone else from my extended family."

"They completely ignored me after my dad died four years ago. Left me hangin' high and dry."

"Though if I were in their shoes... I'd probably do the same to me."

"Kobayashi" "Now then, if you would begin by filling this form out..."

"He passed me the top sheet from a ridiculously thick stack of papers."

"Was he kidding me? Damn paper pusher."

"Family name. Kurogane, read as 'iron.'"

"Given name. Yuki, ironically read as 'lucky.'"

"Date of birth. 19xx April 13. A Friday. An unlucky month *and* an unlucky day in some cultures."

###

"...I was twenty years old, huh?"

"Twenty years... twenty dead relatives. One dead every year I was alive."

"It started with my mom... and then my grandparents... then uncles and aunts and cousins..."

"There was no apparent pattern to their deaths, but they were often complaining about long streaks of bad luck before they died."

"The more superstitious ones said it was because I cursed the entire family."

"Their belief only got stronger with each year."

"Of course, they didn't say anything to me directly at the funeral services, but they didn't need to."

"I could tell from their cold stares, their hushed whispers, their distant backs..."

"Somehow, my classmates caught wind of it, too."

"'Cursed Kid.' 'Monster.' 'Demon.' 'Black Hand.' 'Shinigami.'"

"Of all of the nicknames they had for me, 'Shinigami' had to be the most accurate one."

"A death god. Taker of lives and bringer of misfortune."

"Sums me up perfectly."

###

"..."

"Kobayashi" "Now then, I'll leave you two to get acquainted with one other. Have a good day, Mister Kurogane."


"...She was like a finely-detailed, life-sized doll."

"Aside from the occasional blink, she was just as lifeless as one, too."

y "...Yo."

s "..."

"She didn't react at all, but she seemed to be listening at least."

y "I can't think of any other way to say this, but are you all right with this setup?"

y "People won't think too highly of you if they knew you were staying at a guy's place."

"Without the slightest change in her facial expression, she gave a slight nod."

"Well, I can't blame her for not being entirely enthusiastic about staying with me."

"*I* wasn't too happy to have her either."

"What the hell was her dad thinking, anyway?" 

"Dumping her on me of all people... Obviously he didn't care about his daughter much."

###

"..."

"She was quiet during the entire trip back to the apartment."

"When riding on the train, she sat two or three seats away from me."

"When walking, she was always following from several steps behind me."

"It was kinda creepy."

"It was better than having a chatty teenager though - I could at least pretend that she wasn't there if I needed to."

y "Well, this is it. It's a bit small, but you'll have to deal with it."

y "The bathroom's over here, and your futon's in one of the closets over there."

y "I've only got two rules: clean up after yourself and don't burn the place down. We'll get along fine if you can manage that much."

"She started unpacking her things."

"Slowly. Silently. Like a prisoner forced against her will."

"Just watching her was pissing me off."

y "Look, I know you don't want to be here, but you don't have to make a big deal out of it."

y "I don't mind the silent treatment, but stop dragging your feet around like that, will ya?!"

y "Just bear with me for a few years, and you can go wherever you want afterwards."

s "I-I'm sorry."

"A flash of surprise and fear."

y "..."

"She really didn't have any idea why I yelled at her, did she?"

s "..."

"All of a sudden, I felt pretty stupid."

"...Damn, I needed to get out."

###

"..."

"Without a specific place to go to, I started walking around aimlessly."

"It didn't matter where I was going, I just wanted to get away from there. Away from the girl. Away from my relative."

"I had every right to be mad when it came to them, didn't I?"

"Of course I did."

"They were the ones whispering about me behind my back."

"They were the ones who wanted me dead to save themselves."

"They were the ones who conveniently forgot about me after my dad died."

"And now they shove this girl onto me and expect me to take care of her?"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"...But it wasn't fair for her either."

"She didn't ask to move here, much less ask to live with the person responsible for her parents' deaths."

"Looking at it that way, I guess I wasn't being any better than them."

"..."

###

"When I got back, I found her sitting stiffly at the table, staring blankly at the wall in front of her."

"Just how long had she been sitting like that?"

y "Yo. You eat yet?"

"She shook her head."

y "Anything you wanna eat in particular?"

"Another shake."

"It was just fine since the only thing I had was instant ramen."

"After I set down a cup in front of her, she watched the steam rise ."

"I was starting to think that she might be a bit slow in the head."

y "What? You too good for instant ramen?"

"Shake."

y "Then what's the prob-"

s "Itadakimasu."

###
"......"

"Life with the girl wasn't terrible. In fact, it was much easier than expected for life with a teenage girl."

"Our schedules mostly worked out pretty well: they lined up just well enough for us to not see each other for most of the day."

"And then there were those times when we were both awake and in the apartment."

"She usually got back an hour after school was out."

"Guess she was involved in some sort of club even though she didn't look to be that type."

"After that, we'd do our own thing until dinner time."

"If she didn't take up space, I'd have forgotten that she was there."

"Every day, I'd ask her what she wanted to eat, and we'd end up eating instant ramen."

"We'd even eat it for both meals on Sundays."

"Not surprisingly, she was pretty low maintenance, and it wasn't like I forced her to live this cheap lifestyle either."

"I mean, there was that inheritance money that came with her."

"I didn't want to use *their* money for myself, but I wouldn't mind using it if she wanted something."

"However, she didn't seem to want to use it for herself either, so it just sits in the bank doing nothing."


###

"......"

# school grounds

g1 "Who do you think you are, acting like you're so high and mighty?"

g1 "Are we not good enough for you to waste words on? Pisses me off..."

g2 "Here, let me help you, Princess. Maybe you'll feel like talking once you're on the same, lowly level as us."

g3 "Ahaha, look at her! She didn't even bat an eye!"

g2 "Oh look, your clothes are all dirty now! We'll help you clean it off..."

"The sound of shrill giggles reached my ears when I passed by the rear gates to my former high school."

"Not so surprisingly, some girl was apparently being picked on."

g3 "Are you kidding me? No matter what we do to her, she doesn't react to it."

g3 "This is great!"

g1 "Just look at that stupidly blank expression on her face. Is she retarded or something?"

"This 'Princess' they were bothering sounded awfully familiar."

g2 "Even retards can feel pain, right...?"

g2 "Want me to change that expression on her pretty face?"

b1 "(Man, chicks can be pretty scary, huh?)"

b2 "(You said it. Glad I'm not on their bad side...)"

"When I passed by the gate, I had just enough of an angle to see the bullies and their victim:"

"Three girls, their lookouts, and *her*."

"Given the school's reputation for rampant bullying, I wasn't too surprised to find her like this."

"The school wasn't kind to me either, and *I* managed to survive."

"If I could deal with it, so could she."

s "..."

"Damn, did she see me?" 

"Forget that, she was *staring* at me."

"Staring with the same sad, confused look in her eyes that she had that first day."

"That same damn sad clueless victim look."

"...Dammit!"

"I set my bags down and strolled onto the school grounds."

"It's been, what, two or three years already?"

"Maybe there were still some kids here who remembered me."

y "...Yo. I'm here to pick up my little sister..."

###

"..."

"It ended exactly the way I wanted it to."

"The girls looked pissed, and the dudes looked like they wanted to piss their pants."

"Hopefully this would discourage anyone here from picking on *her* again."

"She slowly rose to her feet."

"Other than the fact that she was dripping wet, it looked like nothing happened to her."

"She even looked completely unshaken."

"There was also a big brown stain on the front of her wet, white- Argh!"

y "Hey, put this on, will ya?"

"She silently slipped into the oversized jacket."

s "...Thank you."

y "Uh, don't get me wrong. I didn't come to save you."

y "I just happened to be in the area, and those kids were pissing me off by being too loud."

y "See? Groceries."

s "..."

y "...Besides, I'd be in serious trouble if you died on me."

s "..."

"We started going back towards the apartment. Like always, she followed from several steps behind me."

y "So. What do you want for dinner tonight?"

s "..."

"From the sounds of it, it was going to be another night of instant ramen."

# smile

s "Not ramen."

###

"......"

# NVL mode

"Good morning, 'onii-chan'! Don't forget that we have a date this afternoon. Leave your evening open~!"

"<3 Your 'little sister'"

# Resume ADV

"I bit back a smile as I crumpled the note in my hands."

"Things were pretty different since that day - even though we weren't in that kind of relationship, the note was some proof of how far she'd gone."

"But it wasn't a sudden change. Not by far."

"While the bullying incident did get the ball rolling, I had to build on that trust to reach this point. Or something like that."

"I kinda wish she'd stop teasing me about the whole 'onii-chan' thing though."

"It was embarrassing and uncool... but it wasn't a bad feeling either."

###

"..."

s "Ah, Yuki. Did you wait long?"

y "No longer than five minutes. What's with the note anyway?"

s "Did you like it?" 

y "Absolutely not."

s "And how about work?"

y "Got someone to fill in for me."

s "Good."

s "Let's go then. On our date."

y "Idiot. Don't say things that'll give people the wrong idea."

"It was hard to believe that the girl in front of me was the same, lifeless girl dumped onto me months ago."

"She wasn't like this with just anyone either, and I was kind of proud of that fact."

"We went to the usual places for her so-called 'date':"

"The cake shop, the arcade, the cafe, the store selling frilly dresses, the pet shop..."

"(As usual, I gave her crap for trying to befriend the animals even though they were scared stiff by me.)"

"At first, she seemed to be having more fun than usual."

"As the afternoon went on, she seemed to be forcing herself more and more."

"Even *I* could see through the fake laughter and smiles."

"She obviously had something on her mind."

"I didn't know if she knew it, but... her bad luck streak had been going for at least a couple weeks now."

"So far things had only happened when I was around her."

"Just looking at today, the cafe waiter nearly spilled some the coffee on her head."

"Unfortunately, he got my lap instead."

"We also got nothing but crappy hands on the Mahjong game we usually played at the arcade."

"And that wasn't counting the vending machines that robbed us."

"...I was seriously scared for her."

y "It's getting late. You wanna go home after this?"

s "Um... there's one more place that I want to go to."

s "Is that all right?"

y "Sure."

"We ended up at the playground near the apartment."

"Since it was past the time for good kids to be out playing, it was completely deserted."

"Not even the sound of cars or cicadas could be heard."

"Everything was completely still."

"...It was actually kinda creepy."

s "Um... this is kinda of embarrassing..."

s "Would you mind closing your eyes, Yuki?"

# scene black

"She took a deep breath."

s "These past months with you have been very enjoyable."

s "When I'm with you, it feels like... it feels like I'm not alone any more."

s "For the first time, I've found someone who understands what I'm feeling, someone who can relate to me."

s "They were the best moments of my life."

"My heart leapt into my throat. I wasn't sure if I liked where this was going."

s "You're a good person, Yuki."

s "You're strong, but you're also kind and gentle even though you think it's uncool."

s "But no one else sees that side of you - you push everyone away and end up being alone like me..."

s "You're always blaming yourself, saying that it's your fault that everyone died. But it's not true!"

s "You deserve a better life than this, and I'm not saying this only because I like you."

"She took my hands with her own."

y "H-hey. People'll get the wrong idea if they see us."

s "It's all right. There's no one around, is there?"

"I could almost see her shy, playful smile in my head as she spoke."

s "The real reason for today... is that I want you to do me a favor."

"She moved my hands up, cupping them loosely around something soft and warm."

s "I..."

s "I want you to kill me."

y "Wait, what?"

# [Eyes open. Hands around Shiki's neck, Shiki's eyes closed. Release.]

y "Why?"

s "You've seen the signs, haven't you? There isn't much time left."

y "Idiot! So we've had a string of bad luck. So what?"

y "Just because something like this happened before everyone else died..."

"Who was I kidding?"

"It was a death sign, the surest mark of the next target." 

"No exceptions."

y "...it don't matter." 

y "'Sides, if you like living like this that much, shouldn't you try to enjoy it 'til the very end?"

y "I mean, I like it, too - this lifestyle."

# Shiki tears

s "Thank you, Yuki... but... you'll die if you don't."

y "Wait, what?"

s "*You're* the one who's marked for death, Yuki."

s "As the last Kurogane, you don't have much time left while I'm still alive."

y "...Stop joking around. You're not fooling anyone like that, you know."

s "But it's true."

s "Everyone who died..."

s "Everything that was wrong with your life..."

s "It was all because of me."

# Shiki's eyes open, red

s "...Because I am a shinigami."

y "..."

y "A death god? You're kidding me."

"One look into those blood-red eyes was all it took for me to believe her."

"Pain. Suffering. Loneliness."

"It felt like an icy hand was closing around my heart, and it took everything I had to stay on my feet."

s "Do you feel it? This is the real me." 

s "A monster that only exists to bring death and misfortune to the people around me."

s "And what you've experienced is what happens when a shinigami is accepted into a family."

y "It don't matter... what's done is done."

# [cruel smile]

s "How about this then? Do you want to know *why* I ended up with the Kurogane family?"

s "Money. My foster father - your uncle - made a deal with a shinigami for money."

s "You humans have a most convenient legal system, you know?"

s "The way the loss of life is compensated and possessions are transferred..."

s "Where do you suppose all that inheritance money you received came from?"

y "..."

s "And you know what?"

s "Once he realized what was going on, he killed himself. And that's how I ended up with you."

y "..."

y "Is it true? Everything you said just now."

# [sad smile]

s "...Every word."

y "...and I really will die if I don't kill you."

s "...Yeah."

"This was messed up. Really messed up."

"My feelings were all twisted, and I didn't know what to think any more."

"...But I had to make a choice. I..."

# - "Didn't want to die."
# http://www.geocities.com/kikered/s_end1.txt

# - "Didn't want to be alone any more."
# http://www.geocities.com/kikered/s_end2.txt