6 Months earlier, June 17th, Japan
The blazing sun grilled the asphalt down below on earth, while not a single gust of wind rustled through the leaves. You could've thought time was paused if it weren't for the quiet song of the forest, sung by the birds who flew overhead. Aqua was alone, standing in the middle of nowhere atop a deserted rooftop. The building beneath him seemed to be about three, maybe four stories tall. "Show yourself, I know you are around here somewhere," he said with a voice firm and cold enough, it could probably calm the scorching summer down a bit.
"How did you know?" A voice sounded; yet, no steps to indicate someone had come up onto the rooftop came alongside.
"Intuition," Aqua replied.
"Very well. Your recent actions have piqued my interest. Therefore I will hear you out."
Aqua finally turned around. The rooftop they're standing on was completely empty apart from a few birds who sat on the guard railing. "I have always wondered... What happens to souls that aren't like Ruby's and mine? Where do they go?"
Aqua stumbled back as a sudden gust of wind, far stronger than he himself, blew over the rooftop.
"That is... such a boring question, Aqua."
Aqua took a step forward as soon as the wind had calmed down again. "Just answer the question, Tsukuyomi. Or are you unable to do so perhaps?"
Tsukuyomi stood unmoving for a few moments as the nearby birds flew off into the distance. "Very sharp of you. It is correct, I can prevent souls from leaving. But where they end up if I do not is not mine to know."
Aqua turned away from Tsukuyomi and walked towards the railing. The vast forest stretched into the distance as he leaned over it. "I have another question. Are there others like you?"
The entire world around them fell quiet as soon as Aqua finished his sentence. The distant car honks, which came from the opposite side of the building, disappeared, and the birds stopped singing — even the quiet hum of the power lines disappeared.
"...Ahh. I see what you are trying to achieve. But be warned, Aqua. The path you want to walk will not lead to happiness, reaching its end will only give birth to more despair."
Aqua snapped around and took a few steps towards Tsukuyomi; the sound of his feet hitting the ground echoed around him, even though there were no walls.
"I don't care if it will lead me to happiness or not…" he barked out, "It is only important that I walk it."
Tsukuyomi didn't move even a centimeter, yet no matter how many steps Aqua took, he never appeared to get any closer to her whatsoever. "There are plenty. I know of hundreds, but it's probably thousands. Most don't even know they hold any powers at all. You could be one of them for all you know... Yet all of them are barely stronger than the average human, all but two... Perhaps three."
Aqua gave up on trying to get any closer as he, too, realized that Tsukuyomi had once again used her powers to make a fool of him. "Okay I-"
"Enough!" Tsukuyomi interrupted Aqua, "I have said more than enough, any more would break it."
Her tone of voice didn't change, yet the volume of it was almost unbearable. "...I will not help you walk down the path of the Shura. Your true destiny lies somewhere else."
Aqua began to walk again, slowly gaining velocity but still not moving away from his position. "But-"
Tsukuyomi spoke up again. "This is farewell Aqua. I cannot hinder you, yet I will also not help you either."
Tsukuyomi disappeared as the sounds of the world around Aqua returned, the birds sang, the distant cars honked, and Aqua ran headfirst, with a loud thud, into the guard railing of the rooftop.
26th of December, 9:30 pm, 80km east of Izu-Oshima and 60km south of Chiba.
Aqua stumbled back and crashed into a stack of buckets and a few fishing rods, knocking them over as he fell backwards. Seconds later, the door to the captain's cabin swung open, and Ichigo rushed out onto a deck completely empty, apart from Aqua and the fishing equipment. "What happened?!" he asked as he looked around, his eyes more worried than before. He continued to sit in the midst of the pushed-over fishing equipment as he intensely stared across the empty deck. He only spoke up after he had made sure the deck really was empty. "I must be tired. I haven't slept in a while."
Ichigo sighed as he walked back into the cabin, leaving Aqua all alone on the deck again.
Am I going crazy now? I could swear I saw-
No, it is completely impossible, I must be tired… I should really go back home and sleep.
But can I even sleep now? Should I not be talking to Ruby, trying to explain-... Would that even help, though? I think I really pushed her limits this time...
And Kana, she could not even look at me after what I have done to her. She might say that it wasn't my fault, but deep down, both of us know the truth.
Aqua shook his head as he got up from the floor. The cold metal of the buckets burnt Aqua's hands even more than they already were as he began to pick them up and neatly stack them the exact way they were placed.
Kamiki's death doesn't change the facts. All of them would still be better off without me, now more than ever.
...
The rest of the ride back to shore went by quickly. Aqua jumped off the boat at the exact position where he had entered it over an hour prior. His clothes, which were damp at best before, were now soaked by the icy water once more. He watched through the trees as Ichigo drove his boat up the stream back to the dock again, wondering how long it would be until the boat would go on another adventure.
"Sorry for making you wait," is what Aqua mumbled as he finally, too, slipped back into the van. Ichigo was already strapped into his seat with the keys inside the ignition and his hands on the steering wheel. Aqua sat down and also put on his seatbelt before he turned his head left and tried to look out of his window; yet, all he was able to see was his own reflection.
"Don't worry," Ichigo replied as he leaned over and opened the glove compartment; a moment of rustling later, he pulled a blue towel out of it. "Here, dry those pants off. I wouldn't want you catching a cold."
Aqua looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment. Then he reluctantly grabbed the towel out of Ichigo's hands. "Thanks," he muttered while he began to try and rub his pants dry with it. Ichigo bit his lower lip hard enough to taste iron as he looked at Aqua for a moment longer than he had intended, before he turned on the ignition and pulled away from the dock and into the night.
…
During the entire 90-minute drive back home, neither of them said a single word to the other. Aqua was too lost in his thoughts, or rather imprisoned by them, while Ichigo occasionally, during the calm patches of road, glanced over at Aqua; yet he too never said a word. At last, Ichigo turned one final corner, in an already familiar neighbourhood, onto an even quieter suburban road than the last; he hit the brakes in front of an ordinary house, almost exactly like every other house along the road. Ichigo had barely enough time to look at the house, which he dreaded seeing; it filled him with all kinds of emotions about what he could've had if he hadn't run away all those years ago, before he heard the passenger door open and shut again.
"Hey, kid," Ichigo said after he quickly rolled the tinted window of the van down.
Aqua turned his head slightly and stopped distancing himself further; he didn't look at Ichigo, and much less turned around, though. It was more like he'd want him to say what he had to say and then move on.
"You know... I was a bit harsh on you earlier. Don't take what I said to heart... you're holding out great, just... Stay safe… You hear me?" Ichigo said with the hesitancy practically trickling out of his mouth and down into the earth beneath.
Aqua pondered for a moment; then he took a deep breath as he put his hand into the pocket of his pants and turned around after all. "Don't feel sorry." He did his best to smile as he spoke, yet Ichigo probably didn't even see it through the dark night, "You were not entirely wrong with what you said. Anyways... Thanks for the help. I appreciate it."
Aqua quickly pulled his hand out of the pocket of his pants; his keys glittered for a second as the faint light hit them at the right angle. Before Ichigo could even think about replying, Aqua had unlocked the front door in one swift motion and stepped inside. Before he even considered flicking the light switch on, he peeked through the red curtains, which were there to protect their hallway from curious eyes. It was most likely not long before Ichigo drove off again, but to Aqua, it felt like minutes had passed in which he held his breath. Aqua let go of the curtain as the sound of his motor distanced itself further and further until it had eventually disappeared entirely.
"I hope he doesn't think that it was his fault," Aqua murmured as he gracefully stepped through the entrance hall. He had managed to memorize its layout ages ago, so even in the utter darkness, he found his way up the stairs and down the long hallway atop.
Just as suddenly as he had begun moving, he halted again. He stood a few inches away from the door with his hand on its handle. He remained like that for a few moments before his hand fell next to him, as limp as a dead man's. "I should leave Ruby out of this," he said as he stepped away from her door and entered his own. His room is perfectly organized, like always. The few things he owned were neatly placed on the shelves, void of any dust. Everything was either gifts he got from his friends over the years or necessities.
His moist pants wet his bed in seconds as he sat down on it. He leaned over to his nightstand and plugged his phone into the charger. He held it in his hand until his screen sprang back to life, showing 1% as he turned it on. His home screen remained silent for just a second; the clock read 11:52 pm, before the barrage of Kana's missed calls flooded in. His ears might have still heard the high-pitched noise penetrate his skull, yet his thoughts were back at the earlier encounter.
If I could have just stopped her, it would all be different now. But I was frozen, unable to speak...
No, I could have prevented it far sooner; I just should have gone to her graduation concert. That way I could have-
What's done is done.
He turned the screen of his phone off and placed it on the nightstand. This only amplified its vibrations, though, each one of them added a new layer of guilt to Aqua's consciousness.
This is all because I was greedy. Because I was greedy and wanted more than I deserved, she lost everything… I should just finally, finally be a man and do it.
Inspecting it closely, the powder inside it falling from side to side as he shifted it, he inspected his small plastic vial once again.
The amount I gave to Ruby was only a tiny bit, and it managed to knock her out in minutes.
One second, and it would all be over; I could never hurt any of them ever again.
Aqua tossed the cap of the vial across the room before he grabbed a half-empty water bottle from the floor next to his bed, all while his phone kept relentlessly vibrating.
Okay, breathe Aqua. You need to do this for the sake of the others. I would just keep hurting them over and over again. This is the only way they will eventually not be hurt by me anymore.
The sound of him half-heartedly shaking the bottle with the white powder now inside it was the only thing that could be heard; the relentless bombardment of messages had finally stopped.
Yet, the peace didn't last.
Once, twice more, the phone vibrated as Aqua placed the neck of the bottle on his lips.