[Ha.

Sakura can already see where this is going. There's no small part of her that wants to dive back into her madness and fight the tide, but it isn't satisfying anymore. The images are stuck in her mind's eye -- not just of John's loss, how he'd cope with losing everything, but of every person she's ever dared to care about.

Where once their misery brought her pleasure, it turns her stomach now. The girl watches silent as the strands of her white hair bleed into purple]

... Don't torture yourself with those images, Howard-san.

[She brings her knees up to her forehead, hiding her face with tears in her voice]

... I don't want to hurt my friends.

I just. Sometimes I think this is the only way. I'm going to turn into this, aren't I? And if I can't stop myself, then I... deserve to be alone at the end.

[...]

But maybe you would still be there. I don't know if I could hurt you. [It isn't just affection, in the end. It's an unknown. Sakura could likely take the life of every human, if she were pushed to it. But Howard... might simply survive her efforts. Because he's stronger.]

Then, at least, I could still have someone who cared.