26th of December, 2 am, Miyako's house
After dropping off Mem-Cho at her house, Miyako initially drove towards Kana's place, but Kana wanted to stay over at Miyako's house to wait for Aqua to eventually return.
The house is eerily quiet as Kana stands in the kitchen. She tries to be as quiet as possible while making a cup of black coffee, so she doesn't disturb Miyako, who has already gone to bed.
She is lost in her thoughts as someone places their hand on her shoulder.
Kana whips around, "Aq-".
Her demeanor falls slightly.
"Oh, it's you, Ruby. You should go to sleep; we have a long day behind us."
"Kana… I don't want to be pushy, but it feels like you're really hurt by something. I could never just go to sleep now."
Ruby places her other hand on Kana's other shoulder so their eyes can meet. Kana tries to avoid her gaze, like Ruby's eyes could read her mind.
"Okay, I'll tell you, but not because I want to… You just wouldn't stop nagging and I don't want to have you staying awake all night because of me."
Kana turns back around, continuing to make her coffee while Ruby walks over to the dinner table. She sits down and waits for a few minutes until Kana finally comes in.
In Kana's hand is a cup of coffee, the cup is B-Komachi themed with Ruby posing on the left, Kana in the middle, and Mem-Cho on the right.
Kana sits down on the opposite end of the table; the table feels longer than she remembers. She takes a long sip from the coffee before starting to talk.
"It's nothing really, it's just, I couldn't see Aqua at our show. He promised me he would be there, and he didn't even text me that he wouldn't come. I just think it's strange, but to be fair I can't even be mad at him."
"Ohhh, I get it. You are worried about my Onii chan…"
Ruby replies, trying to lighten the tense mood a bit.
"No, I'm not. He stood me up without even having the decency to tell me about it. Why would I worry about him? It just wouldn't make any sense for me to worry about him; he can go to hell for all I care anyway. So stop teasing me."
Kana deliberately looks slightly down, avoiding Ruby's gaze while talking.
"It's okay, Kana. I'm sure he is fine, he often just stays out all night, probably doing shady stuff or something. Miyako didn't even worry about him a single bit, so you shouldn't either."
Ruby says, further trying to calm Kana down after her earlier attempt to lighten the mood didn't help at all.
"Yea you are probably right… he'll be fine. Thanks, Ruby…"
Kana looks up again and smiles at Ruby.
"...But I'll still stay up a bit more…"
Kana's gaze shifts from Ruby's face over to her now-empty cup
"...It's not like I could sleep now anyways."
"Alright, Kana, just, if you want to talk about something, talk to me." Ruby stands up from her chair, pushing it back a bit while walking out, turning around one more time, but not saying anything before she leaves Kana alone.
…
A few minutes pass, the ticking of the clock on the wall seems louder than ever before compared to the silence in the rest of the house, until Kana speaks again.
She is talking to herself, making sure nobody can hear her. "I just really hoped that you meant it this time, that you actually cared… But you're still just a liar. But why do I still care?"
"Maybe I should call him… Just once… to make sure."
26th of December, about 5 am, Miura city
Aqua tries checking his phone for the time, but it is on 0%
She grew out her hair just for me…
"Can you check for the time?"
Akane stays pressed against Aqua while using her left hand to fidget for her phone in her pocket. Pulling it out when she finally gets a hold of it, she hands it to Aqua without looking at the screen.
Aqua turns it on, the clock says it's 4:47 am.
"It is time to go, the trains start driving in 13 minutes. We should take the first train back home."
Akane presses himself even tighter against him before pulling away and standing up. She throws her arms into the air, stretching herself, while yawning.
"Okay, let's go and do this."
She enthusiastically takes a few steps before turning back to look at Aqua.
"What are you waiting for? We have a bus to catch."
…
Aqua and Akane reach the station. It is still dark, and the station is quite deserted; only about 10 people are waiting.
Both Aqua and Akane keep their heads down so that they won't get recognized while they buy 2 tickets for the bus leaving in 10 minutes for the Misakiguchi station.
They both sit down on a nearby bench, waiting for the bus to arrive.
Akane breaks the silence after a few minutes.
"Aqua, how do you feel about me?"
Aqua stays silent for a moment.
"I obviously like you, I mean you are smart, kind, a good friend to me-"
Akane interrupts him.
"Aqua, that's not what I meant."
Aqua replies without missing a beat.
"I know what you meant."
"I just don't have an answer for the question."
Akane jumps up as she sees their bus drive into the lot. Aqua swiftly does the same. A few, maybe 5 or 6 other people board the bus with them, yet the bus is still quite empty.
They sit down in the back of the bus, about 4 rows in front of the last row. Akane leans against the window, looking at the dark outside world as the bus starts driving.
The drive is uneventful, Akane looks out of the window while Aqua looks straight ahead. The bus reaches its stop after about 25 minutes.
They don't say a word to each other as they enter their next train, heading to the Shinagawa station in Tokyo. But their silence is not awkward; it's methodical, both of them are silently scheming.
They arrive at the Shinagawa station after riding the train for just over an hour, just to immediately board the next one heading towards Shibuya. Still barely talking, working together on a deeper level that doesn't require words.
Another 20 minutes go by until they reach Shibuya and enter the next train, taking them eastwards to a smaller train station, from here on it's only a single stop that's left.
Aqua and Akane both know the area they're in by now. Aqua's house isn't far away anymore.
Their train comes to a final halt at a small 2-lane train station in the middle of a residential suburban neighbourhood, the streets are quiet rows of houses and small family-owned businesses.
26th of December, 8 am, Tokyo
Aqua and Akane get off the train at their stations and begin the silent walk to Aqua's house. Both of them make sure that nobody is following them, but nobody they see looks suspicious.
"I came up with a few ideas how we could go about all of this, and I would like to hear your opinion."
Aqua doesn't reply
"So, maybe we should just try it with the police, they already got Nino, if she tells on him… maybe"
Aqua: "Maybe, but when we do this he could lose his face, and once this happens. Then he would have nothing else to lose, this could make him even more dangerous and unpredictable."
Akane: "You're right, this could make it all just worse."
Her voice turns quieter before she clears her throat and continues like before
"We could also use someone as bait… I know you don't like the idea, but we can't play it safe forever, I would volunteer, I could-"
"Akane"
Aqua interrupts Akane the moment he understands what she is saying.
"We've talked about this before. I will certainly not use Ruby, Kana, or you as bait for this psycho."
Akane continues to present a few more ideas, they become more and more desperate until they finally reach Miyako's house.
They both look around one last time before walking up to the door. Aqua fidgets around with his key for a bit, trying to find the right one before finally unlocking the door.
The hallway in front of them is dark, and a dreadful feeling comes over Aqua.
He busts through the door connecting the hallway with the dining room while signaling Akane to stay a few steps behind him.
The room is silent and tidy. Aqua looks around the room for a moment before he notices Kana, her whole body is covered by shadows as she is sitting at the dining table. She is looking down at her feet before looking up at Aqua.
The room is dark; the only light is a few rays of the rising sun coming through the blinds. It's not nearly enough to illuminate the entire room.
"Did something happen? Why is the room so dark and why are you sitting here all alone? Did something happen to Ruby? You have to tell me Kana."
Aqua takes another step into the room, but he freezes the moment Kana speaks up, something about her voice making him stop.
Kana: "You missed it."
Kana jumps up, her cup falling onto the floor and spilling all its contents over it. But she doesn't even seem to notice it as she approaches Aqua, only stopping when standing about 3 meters away from him.
Now that she stepped into the dim light coming from outside, Aqua could clearly see her smeared makeup and the dried tears on her cheeks.
"108 times… I called you 108 times."
Kana's voice is shaky.
"I stayed up all night worrying about you just for you to come back and ask about Ruby? Ruby is asleep, she is safe and sound in her bed."
Aqua doesn't reply.
"You missed my last show, I was looking for you the entire time, and you didn't even text me, and all my calls went to voice mail… Where we're yo-"
Kana finally notices Akane standing silently a few steps behind Aqua.
Kana's eyes turn empty as her mind starts to make up stories.
A long moment passes as Kana's thoughts start spiraling between the uncertainty of Aqua really having betrayed her in such a way, or if she's just reading too much into it.
Every passing second of Aqua standing, not replying, shifts her further away from him.
"You asshole aren't even denying it."
Kana walks towards Aqua, her steps determined. She stops just before him and slaps him across his face with all her might. His face recoiling to the side, and hers slightly twitching.
"I've had enough of this. I know myself that my performances were never the best, but lying like that?-"
Kana looks up at Aqua, while his cheek starts to turn reddish.
"I was actually worried about you, all while you were enjoying yourself. The two of you probably had a good laugh, right? Or did you forget about it all together? Doesn't matter, you can go die or continue to fuck Akane, but leave me alone in the future."
Kana storms off, pushing past Aqua and deliberately bumping into Akane as she storms out of the house. Tears start to stream down her face as she disappears into the distance.