I'm tired of this life.
As if every second I breathe hands me another share of pain.
If this is called "living," then why was it given to us?
Why, from the moment we open our eyes, are we taught only how to lose?..
A cold wind tugs at my clothes, pulling me toward the edge of the building.
I look down—there is no sound there, no color. Just emptiness.
For a brief moment, I think:
Maybe this time, everything really will end…
That's when I hear a fragile voice, so thin it feels like it might shatter:
"Arata… don't…"
I lift my head.
Above me, trembling like a grain of light, a tiny being hovers—Archie.
The voice is so faint it feels as if it's coming from inside me; I can't tell who is speaking.
"Archie, enough already…" I say, my eyes filling with tears.
"How many times have you saved me?
I'm exhausted.
I have nowhere to stay… nothing to eat…
By staying in this world, I'm just a burden—to everyone, and most of all to myself."
Archie falls silent for a moment.
His wings tremble, as if he's afraid.
But he's still there—small, yet stubbornly glowing.
"Arata… live again."
The voice was so delicate it sounded as if it were carried by the wind.
"Don't give up on this world… There will always be suffering, but in the end, you will reach everything you're meant to."
Arata's eyes widened.
For an instant, time stopped.
He knew that voice… from somewhere.
"Ten years ago…" he whispered.
Dusty memories of childhood rose before his eyes.
He was ten years old.
His mother, holding little Arata Ren in her arms, had said:
"Always live, Ren…
The world will test you in many ways.
But don't lose love,
Because one day… everything will be alright."
Now Arata remembered that scene so clearly it was as if his mother's voice had come alive again in the night.
His lips trembled.
"One day… when will that 'one day' come?" he said, his throat tightening.
Archie slowly drifted closer.
With his small, glowing hand, he touched Arata's cheek.
"Arata… come on, let's go.
Let's try once more… maybe life will smile at us this time."
Tears began to fall from Arata's eyes.
His voice was muffled, as if pulled from deep inside him.
"This time?.."
"How many times have you said that, Archie…
And yet nothing changes.
I sink deeper.
I get crushed more and more.
My staying in this life… has no meaning at all."
Silence settled in.
The faint sound of Archie's wings dissolved into the depth of the night.
Arata looked down—the emptiness was still there, but now it felt as if that void was inside him.