Kana had forgotten the most basic 101 when it came to being an actress in modern times. You ALWAYS check if the offer was legitimate, especially if it sounded too good to be true. She went to work immediately after reading Miyako's mail, spending hours upon hours looking deeper into this TV program.
She pressed on a news article from just a few months back; her eyes widened as she read it. It was about a young actor who got into a serious car accident; they said he barely survived, and his wife was even unluckier. Months later, he made his comeback on their show. To his discomfort, they started showing him images of the accident and mocked what happened. Afterwards, he quit acting, and nobody had seen him since.
She found another article from just a few months back. It described how they invited a teen idol onto their show. Halfway through the set, in front of thousands of fans, they just revealed her secret relationship. Upon realization, she ran off the stage, trying to hide her face before forever disappearing behind the curtains, too.
10th of January, 5:00 pm, Kana's house
"This is horrible," Kana whispered to herself, completely submerged in her screen. The further she scrolled down, the more scandals popped up. However, somehow they were never sued or faced major backlash. Their lawyer team was apparently just as ruthless as they were, while their audience seemed to be a bunch of diehard sadists. "What kind of person would do stuff like that? That's not just mean… It's nothing less than evil." Kana pulled her phone out, scrolling through her contact list. At first, her finger hovered over Ruby's contact details. No, she wants to be left alone, she thought as she kept scrolling, eventually hovering over Aqua's contact. When she tried to call him, though, he didn't pick up — just as always.
Maybe Mem… No, I need a more objective assessment of the situation…
I know who could help me… But do I really have to?
Kana quietly sighed. Then she called Akane. She really didn't want to do this. She never considered Akane as one of her close friends, so calling her, instead of Ruby or Mem-Cho, for something this important felt more than just a bit off.
The phone rang a few times, far less than how often it had rang when she tried to call Ruby earlier that day, before Akane picked up. "Kana? Haven't heard from you in a while. How are you doing?" Akane said, sounding calm, but her voice was a bit faster than usual.
"I'm holding out…" Kana replied, "How about you?" She quickly added to not seem like an asshole.
"I'm fine too. Thanks for asking… So, why did you call me?" Akane asked.
The soft cushions felt like heaven against her strained back as she leaned back in her chair. She had gotten this chair years ago; it was one of those really expensive ones that promise to make your back pain disappear — and from the way it looked, it didn't lie.
Look…" Kana used her free hand to brush through her red hair, gently tugging on it and swirling it around her finger. "I messed up a bit, I agreed to appear on some scummy TV program… Well, I obviously didn't know it was scummy when I agreed, but- *sigh* They have a really bad history."
"Oh… That's not good… But you agreed to appear on TV? A lot of things must've happened since we last spoke. But I'm happy for you," Akane said.
Kana, who had momentarily paused it, resumed her spiraling motion for a few seconds, then she pulled her hand away entirely and set it down on her lap; the spins her chair made however, they continued. "Yeah, a lot happened, and I might've forgotten to tell you. Sorry.
"No, it's totally fine… Back to the problem. Should I try to find a way to get out of the contract, or what is it?" Akane asked.
Kana could almost feel the sweat of her palms seep through the thin fabric of her skirt. "No, that's not it… I want you to honestly tell me if you believe that I can withstand their treatment. You know, the celebrities they used for their success never knew what they were in for. But I know their schemes, so I could prepare myself."
"... Judging from what I've seen," Akane said, "I know you can do it."
"You're right. But tell me, why do you believe that I can do it? Like, what if all of these others thought that they were so much smarter than the system, too?" Kana asked as the same scenery of her room passed by her eyes over and over again.
"Well, I can't say for certain, but you have a few advantages. For example, you know what they plan on doing… Also, such TV programs usually target naive and inexperienced celebrities… Kana, believe me when I tell you, you are neither of these things. You've been doing this for almost two decades and seen the worst sides of it. If you can't do it, no one else I know who's around our age could do it either," Akane said with full confidence.
"Stop praising me like that or I'll get all emotional," Kana smiled, a hint of irony in her voice. Yet, she couldn't deny the warm feeling spreading in her chest when she listened to Akane's words.
"I have an idea… It's a bit risky, but I wouldn't tell you if I didn't believe that you could pull it off. How about you try to turn the tide and embarrass the moderator instead? You can't do it too aggressively, otherwise you'll look like a villain, but I believe you can find the middle ground."
"That sounds like a brilliant idea. Thanks, Akane," Kana said as a bright grin formed on her face and her eyes quite literally lit up.
"No problem." The call stayed silent for a moment while Kana's smile started to shrink again. "You know what, Akane? I think we should act together again in the near future… I'll be honest now, so please don't hate me for it. When I first saw you act, I hated it, I hated the way you imitated instead of giving a role your own flair… But I was wrong about you, you do give roles your own flair, and your acting isn't just imitation… So I want to apologize."
Akane's mind was now a bit overwhelmed. Helping Kana out was the easiest thing of all time for her, but this? The guilt about being the reason why Kana was cut to begin with suddenly flooded back, overwhelming her for a moment before she could contain it again.
"Are you sure? You aren't mad because I was the reason for… You know, for what happened to your face…" Akane asked hesitantly.
Kana's smile faltered even further as she reached for her face with her free hand. The wound felt weird beneath her sweaty palm. It hadn't fully healed into a scar just yet; regardless of this, it feels just off, unexplainable even.
"Not really…" she murmured, "Sometimes, late at night, I start giving you the fault for it… But that's not a fair thing to do. I know that you didn't want to hurt me, and it is also the lesser of two evils compared to what could've happened to Aqua and Ruby."
Akane blinked away the small tears that had begun to form in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry, regardless… It's probably worse when you don't have anyone who's at fault for what happened. Am I right?"
The last few days in Tokyo, the sky had been swarmed by clouds, and the wind, the wind was the worst part. Today was the first day when the sun broke through the thick layer and spared the ground a bit of much-needed light for it to prosper as it should.
"...Enough of this. You didn't respond to my proposal about acting together," Kana said.
"You're right. I'd love to act with you again in the future. Let's look at how things stand when we both have more free time, alright?" Akane proposed as she knew better than anyone else that she had no plans on ever acting again, not after what she had done to Kana.
Kana's finger began to swirl her hair all over again. "That sounds great, I'll call you again soon, alright?"
"Alright, bye."
…
After the call had ended, Akane's room got filled with a heavy silence that pressed down on her from seemingly all sides — mentally, but it definitely felt like being physically squished. She had her phone gripped tight in between her thumb and her other fingers while the mysterious book lay open atop her desk once more.
Was lying to Kana really the right thing to do? Every kid knows that lies have short legs…
Well, not all of them, but this one definitely does. She will probably be so disappointed when she finds out I won't be able to act with her again.
But it's better like that. She has enough on her mind already, so worrying about this too wouldn't be good.
I really wouldn't want to be the reason for her being hurt again.
This time, it would just be her career and not her body, but I think that might even be a bit worse for her.
Akane shook her head and stuck her nose back into her book; however, the tranquility which she felt whenever she read, even if it was just artificial this time around, didn't last for more than a few minutes, when she noticed that the quiet ticking of the grandfather clock, her granddad had bought before she was even born, had stopped for the first time in years.
She couldn't really explain it, but the lack of its presence felt like an itch that she couldn't quite scratch. No matter what she tried, she just wasn't able to focus on anything without its rhythmic placidity in the otherwise so plain background. "Why did this thing stop working?" She groaned as she stood up from her chair. The second she stood, a cold shiver ran down her spine; her old office chair, which usually creaked whenever someone sat down or stood up, remained perfectly silent.
Matter of fact, now that she looked more closely, she noticed something else. Akane had always been a person who noticed small details; it was sort of a gift and a curse. Knowing this, she was even more baffled that she hadn't noticed that her room had changed, her bed wasn't hers anymore, when looking even closer, it wasn't even a bed anymore, it was nothing more than something.
The same went for everything else. Her chair, her table, her posters, the entire room looked like it wasn't even her room anymore. "W-What is going on?" Akane stammered out as she tumbled backwards, trying to find anything to grasp onto until she finally held her windowsill in her hand.
Her panicked eyes darted out of the window and onto the quiet road just meters ahead, though scared by her sudden ability to turn objects into incomprehensible concepts, she quickly looked away again — she wouldn't want to ruin the entire world after all — yet not before she had noticed that not even the lone car which was meant to drive past her house moved.
"T-Tsukuyomi? No, you are the other one." Akane said out into what had once been her room, but was now just a scene that made her head spin.
"You are correct, I am the other one," a bodiless voice spoke directly into her river of thoughts. "But I am not who you may think I am."
Akane flinched; then, even though she knew it was pointless, she looked around herself to spot whoever it was that spoke to her.
"W-Who are you?" she managed to stammer out; her breathing ragged, hands curled into fists, and ears ringing as if they wanted to take the liberty of drawing out the utter silence themselves. Yet, no matter how intimidating she tried to sound, an underlying sense of timidness clung to her words.
"I am Susanoo, the holder of the 3rd great power, the power of the storm," the voice within her dome said, "I would recommend you close your eyes."
"Uhu, and why would I do that?" Akane said as she took a resolved step forward. "Who says I trust you?" Her voice was sprinkled with newfound confidence since apparently whoever was causing all this wasn't as omnipotent as she had first believed.
"It is your choice, but unless you want to turn insane, I'd recommend that you shut your eyes and only open them once I say so," the voice in her head said in the same distant manner of speech.
Akane looked around the bits and pieces that were still left over of the room she once knew. There was, for example, her nightstand, still mostly unaffected. Never mind, she looked at it for too long. But that one piece of her wall was still- gone.
A piece of her deep within loved the area around her; it felt like the walls finally talked back to her after years of only her doing the talking, it felt almost like they'd finally appreciate her. Another part of her was scared, though. Who was this? Why was this? How was this? And most prominently: what was this?
But no matter if the fascination or the fear was stronger, neither of them held their own against the overwhelming pain this caused her. She could barely stand, let alone think a single clear thought — perhaps the walls talking was not such a great thing after all.
"Alright, alright," she mumbled before shutting her eyes. She shut them so tight that the usual red one can see when closing their eyes normally was replaced by utter darkness.
"That was a smart thing to do, I expected nothing less from you. Just hold on a few more seconds…" The voice, which was now more present than before, said, "Okay, you can open them again."
The moment she did, she found herself back in her chair, in her room, in her house, in her world. "Wha- How- Why?" Akane stammered out, the vivid pictures of what she had just seen still burned deep into her eyes.
"That was a necessary step I had to take. Interacting with the mortal is usually not possible for me. My voice is such an abstract concept that most think it's the wind blowing around their ears; therefore, I needed to show you enough horrors to be desensitized, while keeping your sanity," the voice replied to Akane.
"Okay, alright, I think I understand," Akane pants out as she tries to relax her tense muscles. Her first few clear thoughts were spent on analyzing the situation, she quickly came to the conclusion that if the voice really wanted to harm her, by now, he would've definitely had the chance to do so.
"Let's say I believe you. What do you want from me?" The tension in her chest eased further, though her pulse still fluttered unevenly. A faint warmth seeped into her fingertips, as if reassurance was flowing through her veins.
"I need you to stop Amaterasu for me. I believe you already know that this would be highly beneficial for both of us," the voice responded.
Akane finally managed to sink back into her chair. "Okay, so I guess you really are on my side… I'm trying, I really do, but it's just so hard," she said as she buried her head in her hands, roughly massaging her temple with her fingertips.
"I know. And I want to apologize for leaving you alone all this time. You must have a lot of questions about the things I didn't include in my books… So ask away."
Akane's hands froze mid-movement. She held this position for a moment before raising her head as if she were facing somebody. "Wait… You wrote these books?"
"Yes, it would be pretty hard for anyone else, wouldn't it? My wind allows me to see and hear everything. Yet, how you just saw, I am mostly unable to interact with the real world."
Akane almost jumped when she heard the grandfather clock tick once. Before this, the sound was like a good friend to her, but now she had almost forgotten how it sounded. But the sound didn't come alone; it came with an idea, "Okay, then tell me where Aqua is right now."
"Your friend is in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Setagaya. Here, let me show you," the voice inside her head replied without hesitation as if he had already expected this question.
Her eyes widened once more, and a sharp chill rushed down her arms while it left goosebumps in its wake. It wasn't as bad as before, but getting a phantom image burnt into your vision was still a new concept even now.
"This… This is amazing," she stuttered out, after the picture of Aqua's location was permanently saved in her brain. After another break to comprehend what just happened, she spoke, her voice less hesitant, "Okay, can you tell me more about Amaterasu?"
The fact that time seemed to resume around her was dismissed as the voice in her head just broke the laws of physics once again, "As you wish. He is the evil of this world, wherever he goes, destruction follows, yet he can only influence those who carry dread at the brink of insanity inside them." Susanoo took a short break. "As for his goal, he wants to obtain a body."
"But-" Akane thought for a moment. "Why does he need a body?"
"It enhances his strength by the utmost… But what he wants to do with this strength is a mystery even to me."
"Can you tell me what he plans exactly?" Akane asked, by now taking notes on her small notepad, which she took everywhere she went.
"Amaterasu wants to build up so much misery in your friend that it will become too much for him. This will split his soul and his body. The soul will die without a body, while the body will turn into a Shura, a mindless husk that can be inhabited by another soul at will," the voice inside her head said.
The room fell eerily quiet. Then Akane heard a bird singing outside her window, grounding her again. "But how does he plan on doing that? Is he just going to kill all of Aqua's friends?"
"No, Amaterasu is unable to hurt anyone but Aqua… Yet, his exact plan remains a mystery even to me… I only know what's spoken or done; I can't look into the minds of others either."
Akane exhaled shakily, her body sinking deeper into the chair. The phantom still lingered in her bones, yet her heartbeat steadied — a fragile anchor against the immensity of what she had just learned. "That- That's horrible. Please tell me what I can do to prevent this."
"You need to remove Amaterasu's grasp… In simpler words… You need to find a way to make Aqua happy."