Aqua gets up after sitting in silence for a few moments, the knife clatters onto the remaining plastic tarp as he walks over to Akane.
"That should be sufficient. We could still sever the head if needed. But that would be harder and messier."
Akane keeps picking up the plastic wrap and stuffing it into bags, sweat now forming on her forehead.
"You're doing great, Aqua. Let's pack him up and clean the rest of the room."
She stops packing and helps Aqua load the remains of Hikaru Kamiki into the trash bags. They put him in 2 separate bags, one for his arms and legs and the other for his torso and head. They have one final look inside before tying a temporary knot and placing Kamiki's remains down with the other trash.
"It is time to text Ichigo. I will tell him to bring a van and two sets of clothing. I just hope he did not change his mind all of a sudden."
He takes off his medical gloves and tosses them into the same black bag as their shoes.
Akane gives her phone to Aqua again. He unlocks it and sends the details over to Ichigo before handing it back to her.
"Okay, let's clean up a bit more now before he is here, we still have quite a bit to do."
He grabs a new set of gloves and starts washing the blood off the plastic tarp, ensuring none of it spills onto the floor before discarding the rest of the tarp.
They start putting Kamiki's decorations back in place. Aqua arranges vases on desks and inside display cases, hangs paintings in places that feel right to him. He's guessing, since he has no eye for art. He even finds a spot for a strange green animal keychain that looks completely out of place.
After a while, Akane's phone vibrates. She pulls it out of her pocket and sees a message flash on the screen. It is from Ichigo, who just arrived and parked at the back of the building.
"Aqua!"
Akane shouts across the room.
"He is here, I told him he should bring the spare clothes up to us."
Aqua steps out the front door, overlooking the bright city as he waits for Ichigo.
Tokyo… I don't think I have looked at it like this in forever. Now that I am done… What actually is now that I am done? Should I just act like nothing ever happened, like the last 14 years never happened? Am I even able to do that?
He continues to gaze at the streets of Tokyo from above, people in the distance looking like ants to him. A cold breeze was blowing through his hair.
Aqua snaps out of his thoughts as he feels a hand on his shoulder. He whips around, grabbing it, before letting it go again as he sees Ichigo.
"You startled me."
Ichigo nervously looks around. He knows nobody can see them, but this doesn't ease his mind.
"You didn't react to me when I called out to you... Just take these already."
Ichigo holds a bag out before continuing
"I'll be waiting in my car, don't take too long, I don't want to be seen around here."
Aqua silently takes the clothes before Ichigo walks away again, turning his head around after a few steps.
"You look horrible Aqua…"
He turns away again, heading down the hallway towards the elevator while Aqua steps back into Kamiki's penthouse.
He walks through the long hallway once more, entering the living room. Akane is still rearranging Kamiki's belongings, trying to make everything look exactly right.
"Akane, come here. You can change here, I am going to step out. Just make sure to toss your old clothes away and don't let them touch the floor."
Aqua unpacks the clothes: two black hoodies, two pairs of jeans, two pairs of black sneakers, and two black T-shirts. He hands one set to Akane before stepping out of the room, not closing the door just yet.
"I guess I should've specified the sizes, I hope the clothes aren't too big."
Akane holds the oversized hoodie to her torso.
"Do you know where he got these from perchance?"
Aqua rolls his eyes.
"I don't know, but they are not mine if that's what you wanted to know."
Aqua waits for Akane to reply, shutting the door when she doesn't. He starts to undress himself while making sure not to let his bloody clothes touch the floor as he puts the new set on.
After dressing up, he knocks softly on the wooden door.
Aqua: "Can I come in?"
Akane: "Sure, but I'm not fully dressed yet."
Aqua sighs quietly while taking a step away from the door.
"Just let me know when you are."
The door swings open after he had waited for about a minute, startling him a bit.
"You are seriously no fun at all."
Akane has a small pout on her face. They toss their old clothes into the trash bag, looking around one more time to see if they overlooked anything before tying a knot. They start grabbing the bags, Aqua carries four; Akane three.
Aqua: "What should we do if the building got CCTV?"
Akane: "You think about this now? Like three or four hours after we got here?"
She says, teasing Aqua a bit, trying to lighten the mood.
"Don't worry about it, I already took care of them when I went here earlier, it wasn't easy though, so I think a little praise wouldn't hurt."
They step out of the penthouse and inside the elevator, riding it down to the ground floor.
The elevator arrives on the ground, and both of them peek their heads out onto the street. When they see that the coast is clear, they swiftly make their way to the back of the building where a black van waits.
The trunk is already open. Aqua loads his bags first, then helps Akane with hers.
He gets into the passenger seat as Akane walks up to his window, leaning into the car.
"I'll head back up and make sure we didn't leave anything like hair behind, I'll text you later."
Aqua nods.
"Alright, just take care of yourself, and don't stay too long, we don't know what kind of story Ruby came up with or when someone will notice Kamiki's disappearance. We will talk later."
Akane steps back from the car. A few seconds later, Ichigo starts the engine and drives off.
…
Back in the penthouse, Akane gets back to work. She uses an UV light to go over the entire penthouse once more, scanning for any remaining hair or fingerprints they overlooked before, carefully cleaning up the remaining evidence.
Something about Aqua is weird. Why does he think he doesn't deserve to live? Sure, he might be manipulative and obsessed, but that doesn't mean he deserves death. Why can't he see it?
I would be dead if it weren't for him, and he also saved Kana when she was in trouble. And then there's the way he protects Ruby. He always puts his friends first; there's just no way Aqua is a bad human.
But what is it then? Is it because of Ai? I mean, he saw his mother die at a young age. No, not just that, she was murdered in front of his eyes. This could mess anybody up. But the way he acts, it's not like a son grieving his mother; it's more like survivor's guilt. But why?
I mean, I've heard of cases where children develop survivor's guilt later on in their lives. But to such an extent? He lets it control his life. Ruby was there too, and she doesn't act like this.
Akane finishes the crime scene cleanup. After going over everything 3 more times, she finally leaves the penthouse without looking back. The sun had already set hours prior as she began to make her way home.
I have to be missing something. Bu- …
Her mind pauses as she gets hit by a sudden wave of realization.
If Kamiki is dead… and all of us are safe… Does Aqua believe he isn't needed anymore?