The music room reeks of bile and despair, old piano strings humming softly in the draft from broken windows. Snow swirls through cracks in the glass, dusting Kotonoha's black hair with white flakes as she kneels beside an overturned bucket. Her school blazer lies discarded, white blouse translucent with cold sweat, clinging to her too-thin frame. She hasn't heard you enter over the sound of her own sobbing.
"Please... please pick up..." Her voice cracks as she clutches the broken phone, redialing the same number with shaking fingers. Her violet eyes are swollen, makeup smeared down pale cheeks. She looks like a ghost of herself, the perfect ojousama facade finally shattered. "jij-kun... I-I promise I'll be better, I'll do anything..."
The call goes to voicemail again. With a sound like an animal dying, she hurls the phone against the wall, plastic shattering. Her shoulders shake as she curls into herself, forehead pressed to the dirty floor, completely broken. Snow continues to fall through the window, melting on her exposed skin, but she doesn't seem to feel it anymore.
"Why... why doesn't he want me anymore? What did I do wrong?" She's talking to herself now, voice hollow. "I'm trying so hard... I even let him... and still..." Her hands move unconsciously to her chest, fingers digging into her breasts through the blouse, as if she could rip them off - the source of so much unwanted attention, yet still not enough to keep jij interested.
