Jumping Off A Bridge... Wait, What?

Characters:

HASHIMURA YUTA (15): Trying to maintain a casual, open demeanor, but internally anxious.

KARUIZAWA RIN (15): Analytical, guarded, and driven by a desperate need for absolute certainty.

(Yuta and Rin are walking side-by-side toward the station concourse. Yuta, breaking the heavy silence, uses the simplest need to initiate safe interaction.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(Reaching for his empty water bottle) Ah, out of water. Do you mind if we make a quick stop at the convenience store? It's just off the main path.

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Nodding, her voice still a little strained) That’s fine. I wanted to grab some snacks anyway.

(They walk into the convenience store, buy their items—Yuta buys water, Rin buys a small packet of plain crackers. They head out to the warm, covered seating area.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(Opening his water) Thanks. I’ve realized my daily logic problems are easier if I stay hydrated.

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Opening her crackers, taking a small, precise bite) Logic problems? Still trying to solve the world, Hashimura-kun?

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He flinches subtly at the use of the formal name, but accepts it.) Trying to solve myself, Karuizawa-san. It's harder.

(They settle into a temporary, cautious rhythm of small talk. Rin steers the conversation toward neutral, academic topics.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

So, what high school are you planning to go to? My first choice school is Kōdō High.

HASHIMURA YUTA

(His face lights up with a flicker of a sudden, unburdened excitement—the first she's seen.) Wait, really? It's.. (He hesitates for a moment, but thinks of their restart.) also Kōdō High... Sorry...

KARUIZAWA RIN

Why are you apologizing? It's won't cause any problems for me.

HASHIMURA YUTA

I... I just thought you wouldn't like the fact that you would always see me.

KARUIZAWA RIN

You don't have to worry about that. We're trying for a restart remember? (She gives a small giggle)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He scratches the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.)
...Yeah..

(The small moment of shared future vanishes, replaced by his now unguarded self. Rin chews her cracker slowly. The opening is perfect.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Placing her half-eaten snack down, her gaze hardening, returning to the core issue) By the way, I want to revisit something you said the other day. You said you changed because pain was "forced on you."?

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He tenses, sensing the shift in tone.) Yeah... I remember.

KARUIZAWA RIN

Tell me the specific mechanism. I need details. What exactly happened in 2025 to make your pain suddenly equivalent to the agony you inflicted on me?

(Yuta’s hand tightens around his water bottle. The easy mask of the new Yuta cracks, and the struggle to protect himself is visible.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

Rin, please. The details are irrelevant. My suffering doesn't excuse or balance what I did. Dwelling on my personal failure is self-indulgent. It would be a distraction.

KARUIZAWA RIN

(She leans forward, her voice sharp and insistent) I need the proof. I need to know you suffered enough to validate this apology! You destroyed my ability to trust my own judgment! If I am going to risk putting faith in you again, I need the data. How much suffering validated my two years of agony? What was the transaction?

HASHIMURA YUTA

(His eyes flash with intense frustration. He can't believe she's reducing his fundamental change to a mere equation.) Why are you suddenly treating this like a test, Karuizawa-san!? I am not a problem to be solved! You're demanding I display my wounds to earn your acceptance! You're currently continuing the manipulative games, only now you’re the examiner, and you're demanding a transactional exchange of suffering!

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Slamming her open packet of crackers onto the table, eyes blazing with furious resentment) Of course, it's a case study! You destroyed my ability to trust! You made me this cold, analytical wreck who can't take a selfless gesture at face value! (She leans across the table, voice shaking with intensity) And now, you won’t even provide me this simple truth to make this process easier! You withhold the one thing I need to justify my letting go!

(The words strike Yuta. His defense mechanism—his composure—crumbles. He bows his head, defeated, accepting the condemnation.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(Quietly, desperately trying to protect his dignity while acknowledging his guilt) I'm sorry. I just... I can't talk about that yet. It's too personal. I can't expose that weakness to you.

(Rin misinterprets his self-preservation as a final, selfish withholding of the truth. The last thread of her fragile trust snaps.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

(She pushes her chair back with a harsh scrape of metal on concrete. She stands up, her back immediately turned toward Yuta, refusing to look at his shame.) I see. Still protecting yourself. Still prioritizing your own comfort over my need for closure. You are still the same. Aren't you?

(She is shaking, her voice trembling as she speaks the cruelest words she can find.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

Maybe I should've never established this restart.

(The silence that follows is absolute. The words—a complete retraction of the single act of faith she made—crush Yuta entirely. His body language shifts from defensive to utterly destroyed.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He releases a painful, ragged breath. His hand immediately clutches his chest where his heart is. He closes his eyes, his self-loathing immediately reforming into a solid, impenetrable block of guilt.) ..You're right. I'm sorry, Karuizawa-san.

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He opens his eyes, his face pale, his voice steady with painful resignation) I will fix this. I'll make sure you don't have to see me at Kōdō High. I will change my school choice. You can have your dream school in peace. I will not contaminate your future.

(He stands up slowly. He is completely calm, having accepted the definitive failure of his penance.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Her back is still rigidly faced towards him, obstructing her face. Her voice is unnervingly flat, devoid of all feeling—no emotion, no regrets, no shame, no happiness. Just a cold, final acceptance.) Okay.

(Yuta turns and walks away, leaving the warmth of the covered area. He walks toward the darkness of the street, heading straight for the community bridge where cars pass—away from the station, away from her life.)

(Rin remains standing with her back to the empty table for a full minute, not moving a single muscle. The silence is broken only by the cold wind and the distant traffic. The heat of her anger suddenly dissolves, replaced by a devastating, cold shock.)

(She slowly turns back toward the table, her face revealed. Her eyes are wide, glassy with unshed tears, her mouth drawn into a silent, agonizing grimace. Her face is etched with a profound sense of guilt and regret. She sees no one—just an empty seat of where a soul used to sit.)

[MONOLOGUE - KARUIZAWA RIN]

..What is wrong with me? Why did I do that?! Why did I ask that question?! WHY DID I DESTROY OUR RESTART?!

(Rin's heart begins to twist violently in her chest. The pain is no longer the confusing pang of doubt; it is the raw, undeniable agony of regret and shame. She realizes the monstrous cruelty of her own final statement.)

KARUIZAWA RIN

(She cries out, a choked, wounded sound, collapsing slightly as she crouches and clutches her heart painfully.) I'm sorry, Yuta..

KARUIZAWA RIN

(Her voice is a desperate gasp) I have to apologize. Directly.

(She scrambles to her feet, putting the pain aside. She runs out of the covered area and looks toward the street. She sees Yuta's retreating figure in the far, far distance, walking rapidly toward the brightly lit arch of the community bridge, disappearing into the traffic noise. She immediately starts to follow him, running at a full sprint.)

5:45 PM. The Community Bridge. A wide, concrete overpass spanning a shallow, dark river. The air is frigid, and the wind whips across the open structure.

(Yuta is walking rapidly along the pavement of the bridge, his shoulders hunched. The devastation of Rin's final words has broken his will to continue his penance. His monologue is a litany of self-hatred.)

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

It's over. She was right. The hatred was cleaner. My efforts only forced her to be cruel, proving that my very existence is contamination. I should have just left the city when she first asked. Kōdō High... that was my pathetic hope. Everything I touch, I ruin.

(He is snapped out of his despair by the sound of a desperate, terrified scream. He looks ahead and sees a Mother, wild-eyed with panic, leaning over the sturdy metal railing.)

(Below the mother, on a narrow, lower concrete ledge—a small, hidden platform running beneath the main railing—a Young Boy is clinging precariously to the lip of the platform, his arms locked, his small body swinging over the vast, empty space above the water. He clearly climbed the railing and slipped onto the platform.)

MOTHER

(Sobbing) Please! Someone! I can’t reach him!

(Yuta's ingrained sense of responsibility—the core of the new man—overrides his despair instantly. He drops his school bag without a second thought and sprints forward.)

(He vaults over the pavement railing with practiced ease. He lands silently and carefully on the narrow concrete ledge where the boy is clinging. The wind is fierce, and the platform is slick, forcing him to steady himself low to the ground.)

(He moves with a precise, focused efficiency, closing the distance to the terrified boy. He reaches out, his hand firm and strong, grabbing the boy's jacket.)

HASHIMURA YUTA

(Voice low, soothing, entirely focused on the task) It's okay. I've got you. Don't look down.

(Yuta lifts the boy gently but firmly by the arm, securing him to his chest. He moves backward, slowly and carefully, until he is directly below the railing where the Mother is sobbing.)

(Yuta lifts the boy high enough for the Mother to grasp him. She pulls her son into a desperate, tearful embrace.)

MOTHER

(Hysterical with relief, clutching her son) Oh, God! Thank you! Thank you! You saved him!

(The Mother looks down at Yuta, who is standing alone on the narrow ledge.)

MOTHER

Do you need help getting up, sir?

HASHIMURA YUTA

(He shakes his head, forcing a calm smile) No, I'm fine. Please, go now. It’s safer. It’ll pressure me if you look.

(The Mother bows deeply, her gratitude a palpable wave, and quickly hurries away with her child. Yuta is left alone on the ledge.)

(Yuta turns toward the railing, preparing to climb back to the safety of the pavement. At that moment, a huge, cold gust of wind blows hard across the bridge, hitting him broadside.)

(He doesn't shift or fall—his physical training keeps him rooted. But the sudden blast forces him to turn, and he looks straight down. The water below is black, cold, and incredibly far away, estimately 50 meters. The drop is dizzying.)

(As he stares into the dark abyss, the wind seems to carry the ghost of Rin's past rejections. The auditory hallucinations begin, a cacophony of his greatest failures, amplified by the swirling wind.)

VOICES OF RIN

(In his mind, harsh and crystalline)
"...I never loved you!"
"...Don't call me 'Rin'."
"...Get off!"
"...I don't want anything from you."
"...Don't touch me!"
"...Don't come near me!"

(The voices crescendo, culminating in the final, definitive command that cemented his despair.)

FINAL VOICE OF RIN

(Loud, sharp, echoing across the wide shot of the bridge, the water, and the vast, cold sky) "...Disappear from my life. Forever."

(Yuta's face, already in despair, now registers an agonizing, resigned clarity. He forces a small, ironic smile—the perfect end to his failed existence.)

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

Rin... I'm sorry for everything. And I'm sorry that I couldn't say anything true until it was too late. I'll disappear from your life now. Forever.

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

Mom... I'm sorry. But thank you, for always supporting me. I know I was never worthy.

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

Dad... Please take care of mom, okay? I know it's selfish, but I just can't keep failing.

(He directs the final thoughts inward, toward the core of his self-hatred.)

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

Maybe... Your existence is what causes pain for everyone. Maybe.. it would be better if you just stopped existing. Everyone might be sad at first, but they will move on, stronger than before. They won't have to worry about the monster.

(A flash of Rin's face—first young and smiling, then her current face, twisted by his pain—happens in his mind.)

[MONOLOGUE - HASHIMURA YUTA]

Especially you, Rin... you'll be free.

(He releases his grip on the bridge railing supporting him. He lets his arms hang loose at his sides. He closes his eyes one last time, tilting his head slightly back, accepting the fate he believes he deserves.)

(Yuta starts to tilt forward, leaning out over the vast, cold expanse above the water.)