12 Part 2 - Our first Promise

'Wait... What is she trying to do? She's even closer to the ledge compared to last night. Is she trying to kill herself?! There's no time to think, this could be bad.'

"Emilia, stop!"

At that time, I start sprinting to her as fast as I can. Nothing much was in my mind when I ran, all I was thinking was I need to reach her before something inevitable happens. It felt so weird when adrenaline inside you start pumping in your brain. My surrounding seems static. The time was moving so slow. I shouted her name over and over. Hoping that she would turn around at me.

Finally, I was able to grab onto her hand and quickly pull her towards me. We both fell on the floor at the same time. She was within my arm, I hugged her closer and shouted,

"Are you freaking idiot?! What the hell are you thinking you're doing?!"

She didn't reply anything back to me. Instead, her arm starts wrapping around my body and she began to tear up. I didn't know what should I even do at the time. So, I just slowly stroke her hair and let her calm down for a moment. It took her a few minutes to calm down though, she was crying non-stop. Even after she stopped, she still clutches on me tightly.

"Y-You can let go now," I said to her gently.

Emilia shook her head while her face nuzzles to my chest. I don't know what to even feel right now, it's quite awkward but at the same time good. I never had a girl clinging to me like this before. Anyways, I'm glad she's finally feeling better now. I guess it's a perfect time to ask about her problem.

"What were you trying to do just now?" I carefully asked her as my hand keep stroking her hair.

She was trembling at that moment but then she answered me, "I'm sorry,"

"What are you apologizing for?" I replied to her.

"I'm scared... I'm really scared..." Emilia said with a slightly broken voice. She gripped my clothes tightly as if she was about to cry again.

"It's okay, you don't have to answer me right away. I'll stay here until you feel much better," I tried to ease her up.

We sat there for quite a while. Time passes indefinitely, the sky slowly gets darker and the breeze blowing through our bodies feels slightly colder. Neither of us moves an inch nor says a word to one another. It was really quiet and soothing at the same time. Afterwards, she's able to let go of her grip on me. Her eyes constantly look to the ground as she sits straight up. Her hand was holding one another. All I can do at that time is just smile at her.

"I'm pretty sure we can talk now right?" I asked her softly.

She nodded while looking away from me.

"What were you doing up here?" I start asking her questions.

"I... don't know..." Emilia replied.

"Were you trying to hurt yourself just now?"

She flinched when I asked the question at her and started to look nervous. As usual, she didn't give me an answer and shut herself entirely. Anyway, I kept asking her a different type of question despite knowing what the answer is.

"Was it because I didn't give you an answer to your question last night?" Still, no answers from her.

I realized that she still wearing the same clothes as she did last night. Even the sweater I gave to her is still there. Does that mean she didn't go back to her room after leaving the rooftop? I don't know, but it will be best if I ask her now.

"After leaving the rooftop last night, you didn't go back to your room?"

"I did... But after dinner, I start strolling around the hallway and... I end up didn't feel like going back to my room." She finally replied softly.

"Then? Where did you sleep last night?"

"Somewhere..." Emilia said.

'Where might it be? Well, it's better if I don't ask too deep into it for now. Having her reply in the first place is already a good start. She might feel uncomfortable if I keep asking her more.' I said to myself.

"I'm sorry." I started apologizing.

She was confused at first and asked me, "For... what?"

"For not giving you the answer to your request last night."

She suddenly smiled, but it wasn't just any smile. She was trying to hide her true feelings from me. So that I don't feel bad for it.

"It's okay..." She replied. "I'm truly pathetic aren't I... I made a foolish request... I even make you worried for me... I was even acting selfishly right now and troubled many people at the same time..."

"No... you didn't." I quickly interfered with her words.

"Most of it was my fault. I made you feel this way. I never tried to understand your situation nor the problems that you have. I was too obsessed to get closer to you. But when I did, I got scared by the request that you made to me,"

She shook her head quickly, "Just forget about the things I said last night. I shouldn't have said it,"

"Nope," I replied to her. "I can't just ignore it after knowing about it."

"But..."

I put my index finger on my lips and said, "Shhh... I'm not done talking,"

"You didn't give me a chance to tell you my answer last night. Besides, you didn't even give me some time to think about it."

"Because I realized that it was a stupid thing to ask for," She desperately explains.

"It's not stupid. I'll give you my answer right now," I replied to her.

"O...Okay..." She was nervous about it.

"I will help you out, Emilia. I will try my best to show what happiness you deserve in this world before you die,"

She didn't seem convinced with my answer, and so she asked. "Wha- but how would you help me with it? It's not something easy to do. We don't even know where to start or what to do about it."

"Well, about that. This is where your role comes in,"

"What do you mean?" Emilia was quite confused with my word.

"After thinking of ways to help you out last night, I finally come to a solution that the best thing to do is by making a bucket list with you," I thoroughly explain to her.

"A bucket... list?" Emilia said.

"Yes, a bucket list. I know that at one point, I wouldn't even know how to help you with the request. But with this, it will be simpler if you make a list of things you want to do or achieves,"

Her doubt towards me changes as her eyes sparkle with joy when she listens to what I'm saying. It was obvious how excited she is at that time.

"And with this bucket list, I'll help you complete every single one of the wishes you have in there. No matter how hard it is. I promise,"

She suddenly jumps towards me and hugged me tightly. It almost made me fall on my back, but somehow I managed to balance myself out. She was smiling so brightly, her body gently presses against mine and it felt so warm. Then, I can hear her voice saying to me,

"Mhm, thank you... It sounds like a wonderful idea..." She started tearing up once again. But this time, it was a tear of joy. This is the first time I've ever seen that she put out her real feelings without being covered by a fake smile. I'm glad. I'm truly glad. I patted her back and said to her,

"Woah! No need to cry now okay?! How about we head back to your room? Maria worried sick about you right now,"

She flinched and let go of me when I said that. "Oh no... Aunt Maria will scold me so bad if we go back now..." She was sniffling her nose off and wipes her tears away as she says that.

"Well...You can't avoid that somehow. But don't worry! I'll try to talk to her not to scold you badly okay?" I tried to convince her.

"Thanks..." She replied to me as she nods.

We both finally left the rooftop a couple of minutes later. She just followed me slowly from the back. Although she didn't say a word as we heading back to her room, she looks like she's feeling much better right now. Despite her nose isn't stop getting runny and her eyes were swollen due to crying too much, her mood finally returns back to normal. She looks quite excited but at the same time, she is scared to see Maria again.

After going out of the staircase, we approached her room and saw that Maria was standing right in front of the door. She saw both of us walking together. Expecting that she would be mad at Emilia when we approached her, she rather looked pretty calm. She placed her hands onto Emilia's shoulder and asked if everything is fine with her.

Emilia kept apologizing to Maria and other staff members for troubling them and making them worried. But Maria was totally okay with it. She was glad that nothing bad happened to her and that is all that matters. In the end, Emilia didn't get scolded by Maria. Not even once. But ironically, I was the one getting scold because Adam told her I left my room to search for Emilia when she said not to go out. It wasn't really enjoyable for me at that time that's for sure.

Because of that, Maria punished me by asking the cafeteria to put more portion of those disgusting food that I hate on my plate for three whole days. She doesn't even let me go out to buy some snacks after rehabilitation. "Go straight to your room when you're done and if I caught you for buying snacks at the convenience store, I'll add another extra day to your punishment" that's what she said to me.

Emilia on the other hand suddenly fell sick. She caught a fever, a really bad one in fact. Maria told me not to worry about it, Emilia usually gets sick if she put a lot of pressure onto her body. She was bedridden for almost 4 days.

When everything returned back to normal, it is finally the day for me to see Emilia again. We will start making her bucket list today. Somehow, I don't know what to expect but I'm really excited about it for some reason. I just stood quietly in front of the door to her room. A few seconds later, I knocked and let myself in when she let me. As soon as I close the door behind me, I smiled at her and said

"Are you ready to make your bucket list?"