[Date written: July 20th, 2016. Just a little songfic for these two adorable ones~ Requested by PokemonRio after I mentioned this awesome song by Starset! Oh, and I'm not fully accustomed to writing for Shikimo, so I might get her OOC. Just saying.]

I can see you running, running
Every night from the same darkness
It's coming, coming
But you are not alone

He looks like him. She thought, kneeling before the young man's lifeless body, the soul barely holding on. With shaking fingers, she reached up, brushing the stray strands of the man's dark hair away from his closed eyes.

Why does he look like.. Like him? Why does he look like.. Kishan?

Shikimo had seen flashes of this man-- no, this boy's life. He was-- no, had been only eighteen years old - only eighteen, and he had severe multiple personality disorder. She'd seen him look so happy while he was with that girl - Madeleine Lawrence, was it? - yet his eyes held a certain darkness.

He wounded himself trying to escape from his mind--

She took his bloodied wrist, the cloth falling away to reveal tiny, uniform scars across his skin - some faded to almost unnoticeable white lines, the rest hardly scabbed over before his death.

And now he decided to take his own life by his own hands.

She could feel Rivel's presence somewhere in the room, the lingering aura of death pervading the monochrome walls. Shikimo stood, a name falling from her lips.

"Maddox," she whispered, the word tasting foreign upon her tongue. She looked down at the boy, at the peaceful smile on his lips regardless of the hidden wounds he had done to himself over the years.

He hadn't complained even once during his short lifetime. He hadn't told of his predicament to anyone.

He resolved to find a solution on his own.

He was alone-- Shikimo shook her head, her hazel-green eyes looking towards the body again.

Wasn't he?

If you just say the word
I'll be there by your side
You make me more
You make me superhuman
And if you need me to
I will save you

He'd passed the trial.

Relief coursed through her veins as she looked at the boy, looking at a loss after everything that ever conspired. He had chosen to become a wandering spirit, and she'd volunteered to help him through the motions, so to speak. She bounced on her tiptoes, her usual yellow rabbit at her side as he - Maddox - made his way over to her.

"You.. You're that girl, aren't you?" He blurted, a slight crimson tinge to his cheeks as he realized what he had just spoken. He raised his hands in an abashed gesture, the flush to his skin darkening by the second. "Ah.. Er.. Pardon me. I didn't mean to--"

Shikimo giggled, grabbing his hand. "It's fine, Maddy~" she said, the singsong to her voice apparent as she tugged him along, with the occasional yelp from the taller male.

"Er.. You're the First.. Angel, was it? For Heaven? I'm sorry if I don't understand anything, I'm just--" he cut himself off, running his free hand helplessly through his mess of dark hair.

"I'm Shikimo!" She nodded, turning back to him with a cheery grin, which he returned with an uncertain smile.

"And I'm Maddox... But you know that already."

Again, she let out a soft giggle at his uncertainty. "Yup!"

Send out the signal and I'll fly low
If it means the death of me, I won't let go
And if I'm lost in the world's shadows
I'll use the light that comes to me
From your halo

He sat, alone, watching the lives of the people he once knew go by below. As stealthily as she could manage, she walked up to him, taking a seat beside the silent boy. His shoulders immediately tensed, his entire frame alert as she peered down along with him.

"Who are you looking at, Maddy?" She questioned, curiosity clear in her tone. He sighed, looking away.

"She's... She was someone I.." He paused, uncertain. Shikimo hummed, kicking her feet back and forth as she looked down at the blonde girl he had been staring at less than a minute ago.

In blunt words, the girl was pretty - curly blonde hair tied into a somewhat messy ponytail, bright blue eyes (which were now rimmed with red, possibly from crying), and skin tan from usually being in the sun. As they watched, the girl clutched a silver necklace to her chest, which made Maddox reflexively touch the chain around his own neck, an exact copy of the one the girl held.

"Say, Maddy, was she your girlfriend?" She asked, to which the boy stiffened, immediately shaking his head.

"Madeleine and I weren't anything like that.." He said, lowering his hands as his gaze drifted back to the image. This time a blonde boy stood beside the girl, shock crossing his face at something the former had said. Maddox winced, placing a hand to his forehead.

Shikimo frowned, placing both hands on his cheeks in a vain attempt to tug his lips up to a smile.

"Don't look like that, Maddy!" She said as sternly as she could be,

"I don't like sad-y things."

When you're backed against the wall
I could be the one who's always there to break your fall
You are not alone
You're the sun, you're the day
The light that guides me through
Never run, run away
I will save you

He hunched against the wall, clutching at his hair as muffled sobs wracked his frame. Shikimo hurried over to him, holding onto his shoulder as she knelt in front of the boy.

"Maddy? What's--"

"Stay away from me," he whispered hoarsely, barely looking up to meet her concerned gaze. "Just.. Move away from me, Shikimo. Please." His blue-gray eyes, so utterly similar to his, looked haunted, filing with tears. He gasped, breathing heavily as his eyes shut tight.

"I'm not moving from here, Maddox," she said firmly, now holding onto both of his shoulders as the boy trembled.

"I don't want to hurt you." His voice was a pleading whisper, nearing a guttural cry as he repeated it once again: "I don't want to hurt you, Shikimo, please!"

She stubbornly shook her head, her arms wrapping around him in an embrace as he cried, his attempts to break free lessening as each second passed. "I-- no, we're already dead, Maddy. You can't hurt me." She said soothingly, burying her face into the crook of his neck as his hands held onto her petite figure, almost as though he was terrified to let go.

"I shouldn't have been given another chance at this," he said lowly, his tears still streaming down his cheeks. "I'm a monster monster monster monster monster monster I don't deserve this I--"

"Maddy, stop." Shikimo whispered softly, her eyes starting to cloud with her own tears. She pulled away from the embrace, smoothing out his hair. "Don't hurt yourself over this. Listen to me.

"You're not a monster. You deserve to be given a chance like everyone else. You're.." She paused, smiling through the tears in her eyes. He looked at her questioningly, opening his mouth as if to protest--

--Only to be cut off as she flung her arms around his neck, pulling him into another hug.

"You're my Maddy. You're not someone evil. You're just--"

"Broken." He cut in, a slight, humorless smile on his lips.

She pouted. "Well, but broken things can still be fixed, right?"

Send out the signal and I'll fly low
If it means the death of me, I won't let go
And if I'm lost in the worlds shadows
I'll use the light that comes to me
From your halo

[WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?! Omfg I'm sorry Maddy.. Hope you still liked this, guys!]