"My name is Enna", she softly spoke.
"That's..." My head started hurting again.
"A beautiful name. I'll make sure to remember that."
I smiled at her.
"...", she was back at being a mute again.
Now what? What should I do that will help progress the conversation?
'Assistant's advice result available. Do you want to view the full contents of the result? ', Lianne asked.
'There's more? What were you waiting for then? Give it to me.'
A screen opened up in front of my eyes.
[ Analysis report:
Subject details:
Name: Enna Kimura
Age:17
Height:169cm
Weight:53kg
Sizes: 36-24-36
Current stats:
Health:100/100
Emotional health: 12/100
Mental sanity: 45/100
Sexual desire: 30/100
Interest in user(Ray): 60/100
Social interaction desire:5/100
Observation:
•Subject is wearing a high school uniform. Her clothes are intact. Face match with identity card (driver's license), found inside the Arpeicio leather bag, confirmed.
•Subject has her name written on the wrist of her left hand with ink. Name match with identity card confirmed. No visible marks on skin or signs of abuse.
•Wariness towards the user (Ray) observed.
•Subject has looked at the user's face for greater than 10 seconds on more than 3 occasions with a minimum interval of 5 seconds.
Significant facial muscle twitching and flushing of cheeks observed when the user complimented the subject.
•Subject is currently positioned in a dangerous location and her tendencies indicate suicidal intent.
Inferences:
•Subject is a high school student at Ishiyama High.
•Low mental health value combined with a lack of desire to interact are having a synergistic effect against the user's active efforts in trying to get her to converse.
•Subject appears naturally shy and introverted.
•Subject finds the user's face appealing. Possible cause: User has a handsome face.
•Subject is suffering from depression. Cause of depression: Unknown.
Possible causes- lack of self esteem, lack of desire to continue living, poor interactions and conditions in personal life.
Final advice:
Raise her mental sanity above 50 and increase her emotional health as much as possible.
Subject's interest in the user should be piqued and proper wordplay can be used to change the interest to romantic longing.
Romantically approaching the subject is highly recommended since it has the best risk to reward ratio.
Closing the physical distance as soon as possible is recommended to prevent any sudden accidents.
Caution:
Carelessly approaching the target too soon may trigger immediate suicide.
Delay in approaching will initiate suicide.
User is currently not strong enough to catch the subject mid air and survive a 30 storey jump.
Suicide evaluation bar: 50% chance
End report ]
I read the report carefully.
'Lianne.'
'Yes, Ray. How may I be of help?'
'From the next time, you don't need to add the sizes of the girl.'
'Understood. Anything else?'
Anything else? Anything else seriously?There were hundreds of other things I wanted to complain about!
What do you mean by romance with proper wordplay? Isn't that just straight up manipulation?
And why does the report have such a sardonic undertone? It's pretty obvious that I'd die if I jumped with her!
Shit, now is not the time to get angry.
'Yeah, do you know how I should get closer to her?'
Lianne playfully said, 'I cannot say for sure. You need to use Assistant's advice if you need a proper answer. However, this is just my opinion, Ray. You can act like a cool guy. Girls are usually into that.'
Cool? How do I do that?
"Uhm... ", Enna seemed to be saying something.
I had been silent for a while. She must have felt awkward.
"Why are you here?", she asked.
Why am I here? I have no idea.
"Ah, like I said, I was having a bad day so I decided to take a quick nap here. The night breeze feels really good so high in the sky. Speaking of which, the city looks beautiful tonight."
I had to make up stuff as I spoke.
She looked down at the city, possibly contemplating her life's decisions.
Now was my chance to process and plan as much as possible since I couldn't stop the conversation later. This is a high risk plan since the more she looks down, the higher the chances that she'll jump. I need to finish this fast.
'Lianne. I'll use Assistant's advice.'
'Command accepted. What would you like advice on?'
'Give me the best way to close the distance between us, physically and emotionally.'
'Cost analysis initiated. Assistant patronage required: 1 refined point'
'How do I pay?'
'User is currently not feeling any strong emotions. Recommended payment method: Intensifying the pain that the user was feeling before, voluntarily, to raise points which will be automatically refined by the system.'
'So I need to hurt myself?'
'I can administer the pain myself, Ray only needs to give his consent', Lianne said in a grim voice.
Shit. No turning back now. I'll get to regret this later if I survive. For now, I need to save Enna. She looks dangerously close to jumping.
'Do it. Fast!', I told Lianne.
"Enna. Can I ask you something?", I had to get her attention.
Enna looked at me, her eyes were empty. Making her look down was a bad idea.
"What can I do so that you won't jump?"
"Nothing...", she replied with a sea of sadness in her voice.
"Fine. If that's what you wish. I won't stop you. I do not know how much pain you must be feeling right now. Someone like me has no right to dictate your actions. However, before you go, can I atleast talk to you once?"
I have to stall till Lianna completes whatever that she's doing.
"I feel like if I don't, I'll regret it forever. So please, Enna. Talk to me before you let go."
She looked down again, her luscious red hair fluttering with the chilly winds.
And then it hit me! Like 10 sharp daggers piercing every inch of my existence.
'Calculations complete.'
At first, it was hot and metallic. No real pain. Then slowly, the pain receptor signals reaching my brain skyrocketed.
The pain was otherworldly.
How did I not lose myself is a question I'd ask God. A miracle in itself. I blacked out for a second. My body gave in. Almost collapsing, I stopped myself at the last moment. I managed to sit down on the floor, one knee bent.
I was exhaling deeply, my chest was heaving up like a mountain.
I covered my mouth with my hand. I did not want to make any noise. My vision became blurry and the floor seemed to wiggle.
"Okay...Ray...
We can talk a little...", Enna was ready to listen to me.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I removed my hand from my mouth. Making sure my expression and voice was pitch perfect, I replied.
"Give me a second, Enna.", I smiled at her.
'Ray, there's a cigarette with a lighter in the back of your jacket. It's inside a hidden chain. Light it up and slowly approach her while asking her about the cause of her pain.
The best way to close the emotional distance is to show her that you can be a reliable person for her. Using romance is still heavily recommended.'
Lianne seemed to be worried about me.
I slowly moved my hand and fidgeted around inside my jacket.
'Found it.'
I took out the cigarette and put it in my mouth.
Is this my first cigarette? Ugh, whatever. My senses aren't working properly to judge right from wrong.
I lit it up and inhaled deeply. The smoke was disgusting. It made me want to gag as soon as it hit my throat.However, I resisted the urge to look uncool.
With sheer will and mental strength, I forced myself up.
Enna was still looking at me.
I looked up at the night sky and exhaled the putrid gas.
Then, I slowly started walking towards her.