The door is cracked open about 30 seconds after the initial ring. It's only opened by an inch; if they hadn't paid close attention to it, they wouldn't have noticed it being opened at all.
Both look at each other one last time as they hear a door shut close somewhere on the inside. Aqua fully pushes the door open and steps inside, closely followed by Akane.
The dim hallway is a strong contrast to the outside world. The sun was replaced by darkness, the noise of the wind replaced by the utter silence of the soundproof penthouse, and the core shaking iciness replaced by a strange and sudden warmth.
After a few seconds, their eyes adjust too. They find themself standing at one end of a luxurious-looking hallway, on each side decorated with the finest pieces of art and history that money can buy.
Aqua begins to slowly make his way through the hallway, keeping his guard up at any time while shielding Akane, who is walking right behind him.
They make their way from door to door, going sure to not leave any fingerprints on the handles.
The first room is a spacious Kitchen, equipped with the newest equipment, a large marble kitchen island in the middle of it. The kitchen appears to be connected to the dining room by a half wall.
Is this some kind of trap? Is he really trying to lead Akane and me into some cheap trap? No, that wouldn't fit him... He might be effective and not sadistic, but I don't think he would just get rid of us without even standing in front of us.
But what is it then? Is this some kind of mind game? Is he intentionally sending us through these rooms, but what could be the reason behind it? It doesn't make sense.
The kitchen and dining room appear to be void of any activity, so both step out, back into the hallway, before closing the door and moving on to the next door.
But the next few doors are wrong too.
One of them is a modern bathroom that's larger than Aqua's room and entirely made out of marble. The toilet is one of the high-tech ones reserved for high society, while the shower looks like it has more settings than anybody could test in a single lifetime.
Another room is a big office with bookshelves plastered against every wall. A large mahogany desk is positioned in the dead center of the room. Right behind the desk is a menacing window front reaching from the bottom of the room to the very top of it; the shutters are intentionally almost completely shut, letting in just enough light to make out the interior of the room.
By now, they have reached the halfway point of the hallway, to the right another door, and to the left a set of stairs leading to the second floor.
Aqua carefully places his ear against the door, listening for any sound. His eyes light up as he hears a quiet struggle, like wood scraping against wood on the inside.
He whispers the information to Akane while slowly creaking the door open.
The room is darker than the other ones, so dark that neither Aqua nor Akane can see anything. They both still make their way forward into the unknown, making sure not to make any sounds while listening closely for any movement. The ground beneath their feet changes from the once wooden floor to the feeling of a plastic tarp.
Suddenly, the lights are turned on, startling both of them for a moment. Trying to adapt to the sudden brightness as fast as possible while walking a few steps backwards.
As soon as Aqua's eyes readjust, he analyzes the room. The room looks like it was once a living room, but now it resembles a crime scene after the forensic team was there.
The room has a double-height ceiling with a mezzanine walkway, which is accessible from the second floor. There is also another window front on the opposite side of the room, leading out to a balcony.
In the center of the room, there's Kana, tied to a wooden chair. She seems to be uninjured apart from a few minor bruises. Right behind her stands Hikaru Kamiki, with both of his hands placed on Kana's shoulders.
Kana raises her hanging head ever the slightest, mixed emotions reflecting in her pupils as her gaze lands on Aqua and Akane.
She tries to speak, but the only thing coming out is muffled sounds.
Aqua?! Why did you come? I thought I told you to stay away.
Why would you risk yourself and Ruby for me?
Damn you Aqua, why are you so weird?
You always hurt me, ignore me, disappear on me.
But afterwards, you're always there for me.
Is this out of pity?
Do you think I can't manage on my own?
Or is this because you were unable to save Ai?
Does coming to save me make you feel better?
Does it make you forget your own failure?
No. His motive doesn't matter.
He came, even though it's just me.
Even though I am not Ai, or Akane, or Ruby.
I'm just a failed actress who always ruins everything.
But you still came…
"I came here, now let her go... That was our deal."
Akane is the first to speak up, trying to mimic the way Ruby talks.
"You know I can not do that, not yet."
Kamiki says while letting go of Kana's shoulders and walking over to his coffee table, a few meters to the left. He pours himself a glass of whiskey before walking back over to Kana, starting to slowly sip on his drink before speaking again.
"You will come over here to me, Ruby, and I will let Kana go over to Aqua."
Akane now looks over to Aqua, searching for any form of support.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you so obsessed with my sister?"
Aqua, who stayed quiet until now, finally spoke up too.
"You said you loved Ai. So why would you destroy everything she truly loved?"
Aqua's voice is calm and collected, thinking he could maybe get anything useful out of Kamiki when asking questions, anything that helps to shift the tide into their favor.
"You got me all wrong son, I am not doing this to destroy anything. It is true, I love Ai. But I also love Ruby. I'm doing this for them."
Kamiki's reply is not what Aqua expected, startling him a bit before he finds the words to reply.
"Oh yeah? What kind of love is that supposed to be?"
Kamiki calmly walks back over to the coffee table, which stands pushed up against the wall, picking up a knife placed on top of it without a single care in the world.
"The purest kind of love. The protective love only a parent can feel for their own child."
Kamiki holds the knife up to his face, seemingly inspecting it, gently going over the sharp blade with his thumb.
"Look at us, Aqua. Look at what kind of people we are, Ai, You, Nino-Chan, Me. We were all damned, corrupted by the industry. I need to stop Ruby from continuing to walk down this path."
Aqua takes a single determined step towards Kamiki, who has his back turned to him. But before he can take another one, Kamiki spins around, pointing his knife at Aqua from a distance, staying silent, yet signaling him to stop moving.
"That is no form of love. It is control, you want to take her autonomy away. You would take everything she loves away from her."
Kamiki lowers the knife again as Aqua takes a step back. Kamiki walks back over to Kana, who is still struggling in the chair, placing the knife down on a table next to her chair.
"I know that. But it is what needs to be done. Am I right, Aqua? You have done a lot of bad things too for the greater good."
Aqua takes a second before replying, looking down when he does.
"I get it now. You don't love Ai or Ruby as people, you love their concepts. You love the pure picture you have of them in your mind, and everything that is threatening this picture of them will be eradicated by you."
Aqua raises his head again, his gaze intensely staring ahead at Kamiki, who is standing 10 meters in front of him.
"So what? This is the most realistic form of love. Nobody loves the bad side of people, we all want our loved ones to be perfect, even if it's only in our mind."
Kamiki picks the knife up as Aqua takes another step forward. Akane can only watch in awe; even she is unable to predict the outcome.
"No. Love isn't perfect, it can't be, nothing is perfect. Love is when you can look past the flaws, not when you eliminate them systematically."
Kana stops struggling, sitting perfectly still as Kamiki's knife gently glides over her forehead.
"You love her right? Otherwise you would not have come."
Kamiki's knife continues to glide over Kana's soft skin as he speaks.
"You are the same as me, Aqua. You do not love Kana for who she really is, you love her concept, the child-star who never made it big, but still gives her best everyday while drowning in doubt and self hatred. What if I make it impossible for her? Would you still love her if that persona were no more?"
Kamiki empties his glass of Whiskey before carefully placing it down on the coffee table next to Kana, his gentle circling with the knife stopping as he does.
The artworks Kamiki bought over the past few years are hanging on the wall, perfectly aligned with each other. Some of them look like modern art, while others seem to come out of the Renaissance era.
Snow starts to fall from the sky. It rapidly covers the top of the surrounding skyscrapers and transforms Tokyo into a white winter wonderland. Some people on the ground are trying to get under cover, others are standing in the open, letting the snow cover them, too.
Kamiki's living room is a strong contrast to the chaotic outside world; everything is clean and even in such a situation neatly stacked against the walls to make space in the big room, except for a single dark stain on the wall.
The room falls eerily quiet all of a sudden. The air around Aqua feels like it is going to crush him as he takes a step forward.
The distance between him and Kana - Just a little less than 10 meters - yet it feels like she is unreachable. Eventually, the silence gets disrupted , and the world is resumed by a noise. It is the soft and unmistakable sound of blood trickling onto plastic tarp.