1- Sorachi

Beneath a gray sky, surrounded by darkened hills and green pastures, lies Mikasa.

A town with quiet streets and even quieter citizens. Cold, often covered in snow, with gray days that fade into each other seamlessly.

Surrounded on nearly all sides by nature untouched by man, this strand of civilization meekly stands out from the greenery around it, as if waiting to be consumed by it.

A girl calmly rides a bike down its empty and noiseless streets. Save for the birds flying on the sky, everything looks frozen; save for the sound of the birds and her bike, everything feels dead.

The cold wind blows on her face and hair as she rides back to the place where her dark thoughts lived and thrived. She had learned long ago that it was impossible to escape them.

Once more she walks that same lonely road. Showered with the mute colors of dawn, her shadow gently fading away behind her.

No power lines or trees, nothing stands between her and the dancing blackened shapes several feet above her.

Once more, she slowly makes her way to the most gruesome reminder of the grim reality she finds herself living in: an unfeeling stone monument that stands immobile atop of every comforting lie, every relief she desperately tried to cling to.

An immense sorrow, a sensation of crushing despair that robbed her of air, defeat. No mater how many times she had tried to move on, no matter how many times she had tried to fight it or live with it, it always felt as awful as the first time she stood there.

Hikari Nakamura stands once more in front of her brother's grave.

She begins speaking words that should've been heard by someone who never will.

"Hey, Aki" with sadness mutters Hikari, as she stares at the withering arrangement of flowers sitting in front of the grave.

"Guess who's about to get out of this stinking town? Me! That's right, I'm going to Tokyo U!" a sad smile formed on her lips as she said these words "I saw the results today, and..."

There is a silence where a reply should've been. Like always.

"Well, you know how it is. It's the Nakamura blood, like dad used to say...meant for great things."

She was now as old as he ever was.

"Who knows where you'd be right now...I'm sure I could have used some help though, you know, to get used to life away from home...maybe some advice..."

In front of the grave of her brother, in front of death, Hikari briefly allows herself to be overpowered by the myriad of dark thoughts that stab into her mind every day, dropping on her knees, holding her face, weeping.

"I...I could really use some help right now...Aki, I really...I..."

Choking back her tears, she struggles to regain her composure. Slowly getting back on her feet as she dusts her plain uniform.

"I...I just don't know..."

Again Hikari shed tears and clawed at herself, but again there was no catharsis. There never was.

"I'm sorry for being so weak. I know you'd hate to see me like this...but it's so hard! It's so hard to pretend that everything can be normal again or that everything will be alright! Akira! It won't be alright! Nothing will ever be! I can't do this anymore, but what else can I do? What else can I-"

Once again, she had to hold back her feelings. Her black hair hangs above her shoulders as she takes a deep breath.

"Akira...I just wish...I just wish I could hear your voice, only once more..."