10th of January, 12:00 am, Akane's room
Akane finally finished the last page of the book given to her by Tsukuyomi. It wasn't particularly long, yet she still needed hours upon hours to truly understand it all. She took one worried look out of the window before she swiftly stood up; her legs felt like jelly as she grabbed her coat from the rack. She carefully peeked out of her room, checking if the coast was clear, before stepping out. The faint smell of the dinner she had ditched still lingered in the air as she passed by the kitchen. She fidgeted for her keys, trying to make as little noise as possible — her mother always locked the door before heading to bed, acting like they wouldn't live in one of the calmest neighbourhoods in Tokyo.
After a few quiet scratching noises, she could feel her key entering the lock. She began to turn it in the contraption, one click, and then a second one. Just as she pulled her key back out and reached for the handle, she was hit by the blinding, bright lights of the ceiling lamp. Her keys clattered to the floor as her entire body flinched. "And where do you think you're going?" Her mom's voice made the hair on Akane's neck stand up.
"Nowhere… I mean, I go jogging." Akane's posture was a bit cursed as she slowly turned to face her mother.
"Oh, is that so? I didn't know that today's youth wear coats for midnight runs."
Akane turned slightly red, followed by a short sigh. "It's really nothing, Mom, just go back to sleep."
Akane's mom stood still for a moment before she sighed, too. Her arms, which were crossed before, fell, now hanging limp down next to her body as she looked down. "Akane…" She couldn't bring out the words, yet her body language tells Akane everything she needed to know.
Akane was hit by a surge of guilt as she looked at her mom's exhausted body. "I'm past that… But I must do what I need to do."
Akane's mom sat down on the second step of the staircase behind her, her head still hanging. "But… It's just lately you've been acting so strange again… I know your pattern… I'm worried," she said, her voice quiet.
Akane listened to her mother. Each word she spoke felt like a stab right into her heart, but the worst part was that she knew her mother had every right to be worried.
"I-I'm sorry, Mom…" Akane said. Then she quietly sighed before continuing, "I'm sorry for not speaking to you back then… back when…" Akane trailed off for a moment before continuing, "But now it's different, and it's important, really important… So please, I know I don't deserve your trust, but can you give it to me anyway?"
The hallway stayed quiet for a long moment before Akane's mom stood up, rubbing her eyes for a few seconds before stepping over to Akane, only stopping when their faces were practically mere centimeters apart.
Akane still avoided eye contact as she felt hot breath hit her face.
"Look into my eyes," her mom said, slow but certain.
Akane hesitated for a moment before she looked up, finally meeting her mother's gaze. She always thought that she would never see eyes sparkle brighter than Kana's while she acts, but she was wrong. Her mother's eyes looked like the sparkling stars and distant yet vibrant galaxies in the night sky.
"It's said that one gaze can say more than a million words… I hope that saying is true, because then you know how much you mean to me. No mother would want to bury their child. I hope you keep that in mind when making decisions."
Akane stood completely still, fully engulfed by the ever-changing look of her mother's eyes. Dozens of emotions coursed through Akane — It seemed like the saying was right.
Then Akane finally looked away, letting out a breath that she didn't know she was holding in. "Thanks," she muttered, before quickly opening the door and stepping out into the cold night.
The fresh January air made Akane shiver — A few minutes in this climate and her lips would probably bust open. She kept her head down as she walked onto the sidewalk, her steps fast and determined.
What have you just gotten yourself into again…
Well, I suppose it's not entirely your fault this time.
This Amaterasu guy seems to be a real piece of work…
And him making Tsukuyomi completely useless also doesn't help even a single bit…
What should I do…
How am I supposed to beat this ancient power of nature?
If you really still don't want to go on vacation with me after all this is done, then I'm seriously mad…
Akane turned onto a different street; she was just a few blocks away from Aqua's house as she heard a faint siren in the distance, yet she paid no mind to it since medical emergencies can happen anywhere at any time, even in the nice neighborhoods.
Amaterasu is really OP, but that dread part could be useful.
The book says that Amaterasu can only influence people who were sad beforehand.
I think this means that people who aren't like that can't be influenced by him.
That would mean that I am safe from him…
It is just Aqua, but if I somehow managed to just ease his mind by a little bit, it could be eno-
Another turn, and Akane was ripped out of her thoughts as she saw what was causing the commotion. She stood on one end of Aqua's road; multiple police vehicles and an ambulance were parked along it.
Wait… one… two… three…
Akane began to count the houses as she kept going, picking up pace with each step, as the realization grew within her.
Akane, who was now almost running, tried to enter the premises, but before she could slip beneath the tape, she was roughly shoved back by a bulky officer, making her almost fall. "Nobody is allowed to enter the crime scene before the forensic team is done with their job." he said in a harsh and unapologetic tone. "What happened? Is my Bo-... friend okay?" Akane said while stepping closer again.
The officer, who had already begun to walk away, turned back. "I am not permitted to share an-." Akane had stopped listening to him midway through his sentence; instead, she was now looking right past him. Miyako stood in the doorway, seemingly talking to another detective.
"Hey! Miyako!" Akane shouted while waving her hands, trying to draw her attention. After a moment of this, Miyako turned her head, spotting Akane. She let the officer she was talking to finish and excused herself right after. Then she walked over to Akane, her steps quick, before elegantly slipping through under the barrier tape that was drawn around the entire property.
"What's going on? Is Aqua okay? Where is he? What happened?" Akane started to let a barrage of questions rain down on Miyako before she was even entirely on her side of the barrier.
"Calm down."
Now Miyako was the one Akane looked past, trying to catch a better look through the partially opened front door. "Then tell me what happened. Where is Aqua?" Akane said to Miyako, still not looking at her, a hint of panic grew in her voice.
"Alright, alright. I suppose I can tell you…" Miyako dropped her voice a bit, "But don't say anything to the officers."
Miyako waited for Akane to nod before continuing. "Earlier, while I was gone, someone broke into Ruby's room and attacked her. Aqua heard this and came to help her. While helping her, he lost his temper a bit…" Miyako looked around again to make completely sure nobody was standing close by. "You should've seen the guy… I've seen a lot of gruesome stuff in my life, but I've never seen a face look like this before… The officers told me that if I had waited for just a few more minutes, he would've most certainly died-"
"Okay, but where is Aqua? Did they arrest him?" Akane, a bit pale, regained her voice and chimed in, interrupting Miyako.
The sirens of the surrounding vehicles were long off by now. Maybe so as not to wake up the entire neighbourhood, maybe they realized that Aqua was gone anyway.
"No… Aqua fled the scene…" Miyako said, "The police are saying that nothing is certain yet, but that fleeing from the scene can be seen as admitting guilt… They want to charge him with attempted homicide…"
Akane's chest tightened, and she coughed as the words hit her like truck-kun. Her eyes turned watery, and she fell onto her knees. The hard asphalt of the road ripped the fabric of her pants open, the skin on her knees busting open right along with her pants. "Attempted homicide…" Her voice sounded monotone. "That's at least a few years… Maybe even death…"
Miyako could do nothing except quickly kneel in front of Akane and hold her tight as she began to quietly whimper into the crook of her neck. Miyako could feel the moist fabric on her skin, she didn't mention it, though; instead, she just held the back of Akane's head.
"Please stop crying…" Miyako whispered, "It will be fine… We'll get Aqua the best lawyers money can buy…" Miyako took a small break between her sentences and sighed, "Listen, I'm already doing everything I can to save him. I even placed the attacker's weapon closer to his unconscious body. I know this is much, but you should just sit still and let me handle it."
Akane's sobs halted in an instant; the two of them just sat there like frozen in time, for a moment. "You handle it?" She pushed herself slightly away from Miyako, looking at her with glassy eyes. "No. I appreciate you doing this for him, I really do. But only I can really help him now."
Akane hastily got onto her feet and cleared her nose. Now that she stood, she too could feel the pain in her knees. But it didn't break her down; instead, she uses it as fuel. "God damn it, as if this wasn't already bad enough, now he is injured and wanted, too…" The words were aimed at her. Her gaze had already stopped resting on Miyako a moment ago, it was now surveying the surroundings, searching for something, anything-
Akane turned, and a cold gust of wind blew through her hair as she began to walk, this time even faster than on her way here. "I need to find him."