After a few hours had passed, several cats had curled up around Ichimatsu to comfort him. They could sense the stress, worry, and anxiety that just poured out of him inside his mind.

Harvey, now awake, but still on Ichimatsu's lap, didn't mind the strange cats at all. In fact, he seemed to enjoy them quite well.

Slowly, Ichimatsu faded out of reality, falling into a deep sleep as the sun began to finally set. For the first time in a very long time, Ichimatsu hasn't smoked a single cigar within twenty-four hours.

Ichimatsu stood on the edge of the cliff, staring out into the deep, endless ocean. The waves crashed upon the rock, sometimes so hard that small droplets of water landed on his purple hoodie.

Something about this place was very comforting to Ichimatsu. Deep within his soul, he could feel a strange, yet calming aura. It was like a soft, warm afghan wrapped around his body on a bitterly cold winter night.

Closing his eyes, Ichimatsu breathed slowly and steadily, taking in this feeling as the ocean breeze filled his nostrils.

"Hey, Ichimatsu!" Jyushimatsu gasped, falling down onto the ground as he reached the top of the cliff. "What are you doing here?!"

"What are you doing here...?" Those words echoed inside Ichimatsu's mind as he turned around to face his brother.

"I.." he mumbled, but his voice was smooth and calm. Like he wasn't stressed, but just taking all the time in the world. After all, time is endless, right? "I am...sitting on this cliff, watching the ocean.."

"The ocean? Isn't it pretty!" Jyushimatsu laughed, scooting towards Ichimatsu then siting down beside him. "I used to come here all the time with Homura chan. She loved this place..."

"Loved?" Ichimatsu asked. "Loved is a past tense..."

"Yeah, I know!" Jyushimatsu laughed. "I mean, I'm sure she still loves this place! I hope, wherever she is at right now, she can still go to the beach! I just..really wish she could be here with me again..."

"You mean she's gone? Where did she go...?" Ichimatsu asked.

"She went far away to another world, I think. You know, the afterlife? I mean, I'm not sure if an afterlife exists...but I really do hope I can see Homura again someday..." Jyushimatsu said, his voice sounding choked.

"Why keep going then..if you believe that you could meet her there? I mean..if you want to see her again so badly, why live? She won't be coming back here..." Ichimatsu mumbled.

"But Homura doesn't want people to cheat through their life! You have to take it as it comes! Kinda like bad medicine! Even if it tastes really bad, in the end, it'll make you better! That's how she saw life...for awhile," Jyushimatsu said, smiling with his mouth wide open.

"Cheat through life? How is killing yourself cheating? It's just taking a shortcut..." Ichimatsu mumbled.

"Sometimes shortcuts separate us from the people who love us though! They're scared to go that way sometimes! If we want them to stay with us, we can't get so far ahead that they can't catch up!" Jyushimatsu laughed.

"Catching up..." Ichimatsu repeated.

Suddenly, the little purple bird was beside Ichimatsu, chirping loudly in a panicky kind of chirp.

Then, before Ichimatsu knew it, the five huge black birds came up from behind him, taking him up to the sky somehow.

"Ichimatsu! Don't! Come back!" Jyushimatsu cried loudly. "Don't leave me here! You already took the shortcut once! Please...please don't take it again!"

Ichimatsu awoke.