Nuki's Note:

I promise, I promise, I promise to write more fluff rather than angst after this. Honest :c

WARNING: This story has a twist ending. See the genre that I put it under.

Time is Too Short

Arms wrapped around her knees, she stared forward at the sun setting along the tops of the trees and roofs of houses. The occasional breeze blew strands of her curls into her face, obstructing her view for just a few moments before dying down once again. Sometimes when she blinked her eyes would remain shut and she'd wonder how long she had been curled up on the school's rooftop- hours, at least. The sky had been quite blue when she skipped her second to last class, and it was now a dull orange fading as the very beginning hints of night began to appear. School was over, long over.

In the back of her mind, she feared what her parents would say whenever she finally decided to get up and leave. She had told them the Guardian's meeting was just running longer than usual due to an event they had to prepare for. A lie, yes, but at least it was believable despite the fact she knew the meeting was also probably over.

The truth was Rima needed time alone to mope in her own self pity. If she stayed in class or attended the meeting, people, or at least someone, would find out. Her own feelings had taken her by surprise today. In fact she could hardly believe she was here, sulking on the rooftop all because of something she had never truly acknowledged until just several hours ago.

"I wondered if you'd be up here …"

Rima's pose broke and she twisted around to uncover the face that belonged to the voice that had caused her stomach to plummet into her feet. Instinctively her eyes narrowed and she jerked back, facing forward. Her insides burned with fury, causing her breathing to stumble and grow heavier.

"The meeting ended awhile ago." Nagihiko's words came out choppy, giving away the fact he wasn't quite sure what to say or do. "I'm sure your parents are waiting for you."

"I can leave by myself." Rima snapped but didn't move.

Nagihiko looked around as if it would help him find something, anything to say to her. When the scenery failed to provide him any spurt of an idea, he resorted to asking the dreadfully obvious.

"Is something wrong?"

Rima bit down on her tongue hard. She put them both through a long, tense pause before standing up and turning to face the boy. Flexing her fingers she took a hard look at her feet before catching Nagihiko's eye and pulling her brows together to form a harsh scowl.

"You're stupid. Everything about you is stupid, stupid, stupid." She hissed.

"What did I do?" Nagihiko sighed dejectedly. Rima insulted him often, but when her insults were merely empty words that she flung at him, he knew she was upset over something.

Red began to outline Rima's vision. She knew that due to her size and appearance, she probably didn't come off as very threatening, but she tried to put as much acid in her tone as possible. "Are you really so dense?"

Nagihiko's confused expression was enough to send the petite girl over the edge. She stomped her foot and held her fists stiff at her side, glaring at Nagihiko with all the rage she could muster.

"I like you!" She exploded. "Is it really that – clearly at least you could see --!" Words escaped her mind, leaving it blank. As a blotch of pink on her cheeks darkened to red, she watched him closely. Nagihiko seemed torn between shock and the possibility that he might have known this in the back corners of his head the whole time.

The rest need not explaining. Rima was a jealous girl. Recently Nagihiko had become … a bit physical with Amu. Amu was dealing with her own relationship strains and often sought Nagihiko for a friendly hug and talk to gain advice and confidence. It was no wonder her envy had taken over her, especially today when Amu had nearly fallen down the stairs and Nagihiko had reached to save her- resulting in her tight in his arms. How ironic that when Nagihiko had first come back as the new Jack, Rima had been jealous that Amu seemed closer to him than her. Now it was the other way around.

"Rima-chan …" Nagihiko shook his head. He knew how greedy Rima could be. She wanted him, which meant she didn't want anyone else, at least no girl, to get anywhere close to him.

With another sigh, he stepped forward and embraced Rima. She resisted for a moment before giving in to what she had desperately yearned for. Nagihiko kept one hand on her head and another on her back for quite some time as she clung to him. Rima was a demanding, difficult girl, but Nagihiko told himself he could make this work. In fact he almost felt thrilled with the challenge of caring for her, she would not be easy, but she would be rewarding.

And then both Nagihiko and Rima were reminded of something: they had been standing on the school roof. When they parted, Rima put her foot back, too far back. Instead of meeting a solid surface her foot met the air hovering above the ground. Everything happened too fast.

Nagihiko may or may not have stuck his hand out in attempt to save her. His body had gone completely numb, heavy as thick lead. He blinked and she was already far out of his grasp. Nagihiko did not emerge from the trance until a spine-tingling mix between a crack and splat came from below. Only when blood leaked to form a pool around the chalk white body did Nagihiko regain control of his systems and ability to move.

"RIMA-CHAN!"

But it was too late.