“Stop!” Was all Shera managed to blurt out before she lugged herself towards the young man. She quickly grabbed the back of his shirt, but it was soaked from the rain and hard to gain any traction to. Frantic, she swung her arm around his hunched-over body, latched onto his waist and threw the both of them backwards with all her might.

It would have been the perfect save, but during that instant her mind failed to register the fact that her foot had slipped on the wet floor and she flew backwards, meeting the floor with a painful crash.

She could focus on nothing but the resounding pain radiating from the back of her head.

“Are you ok? Does anything hurt?”

An unfamiliar voice was calling her. It was a low voice with a soothing tone, but sounded too monotonous for what was being said.

Am I hearing things because I’m dead?  Was her first reaction, but the voice spoke again.

“Are you in pain?”

Of course I’m in pain.  Shera thought, getting annoyed of the voice already. She wanted to offer a retort but couldn’t think of anything though the throbbing in her head.

“Are you alive…?” Said the voice again, now hesitant. “How do you check again…?”

She heard mumbling before something pressed at the side of her neck.

“I can’t feel anything. It might be… Here.”

Shera proceeded to feel more presses on her neck, shifting from one area to another.

That bastard, he’s trying to check her pulse.

“Stop-Stop it! Geeze so annoying!” Shera flustered around trying to sit up, as if being rudely awoken from a dream.

“Argh… It hurts.” she covered her face with both hands, massaging her eye sockets in vain attempt to relieve the headache.

“Are you injured? Is it your head?” The voice called again. He edged closer and she felt a touch to the back of her skull.

“I’m fine!” Shera shoved the stranger back with a push. Coming to her senses a little, she realized it was the red-haired student she had encountered at the rooftop.

He sat a small distance away and took up an ambiguous expression. Growing nervous from his unrelenting stare, she struggled for a topic to break the silence.

“It’s… A good thing you didn’t jump”

No answer.

“Like, I don’t know why you wanted to do it, but I think it’s better not to. Give yourself a second chance”.

He bobbed his head, and continued to eye her carefully. Shera felt like dying of embarrassment.

This guy isn’t normal. Unable to take it anymore, Shera cried out. “Argh! Stop looking at me like that!”

“….”

“…Like that! Stop it!”

He finally released his gaze, and it dropped uncomfortably to his side. His brows pressed together, his expression serious and concerned.

His lips parted. “Sorry, you just seemed really strange.”

“I’M stange?!” Shera blurted out her words, unable to contain them. She slapped a hand to her chest. “I’m not the strange one! Who was it who decided they wanted to jump off the building’s rails? Who?? And you’re calling me the strange one?!”

The young man didn’t say anything for a full minute, and Shera was just starting to reflect on her outburst before he opened his mouth again to speak.

“I wasn’t about to jump.”