Akane's hands tremble as she her phone out, calling Aqua. But it goes straight to voicemail, so she decides to text him instead.
She stands on the dark street, her legs unmoving, while her fingers are typing away, drafting, deleting, and rewriting until she's finally happy with the result, a few minutes later.
'Hey Aqua, I had this crazy thought: What if Aqua believes that now that it's over, he isn't needed anymore?
And to be honest, that thought scares me so much. It scares me because I know this feeling too, and how overwhelming it can be.
I occasionally think back to the day on which you saved me. My memories of it are vivid, but one thing I know is that I never truly wanted to die.
I was just so tired of feeling like my presence was making everyone else around me miserable.
Now I know how dumb my behavior was back then, but I also still know how real it felt to me. How I really thought there was no other way for me.
Look, I just don't want to lose you, and I'm certain that you don't really want to die either.
So please, if you ever feel lost or not needed, call me. 24 hours a day; seven days a week. I will be there for you whenever you need someone.
I know all of this might sound crazy to you, but you thinking I'm a bit crazy would be ten trillion times better than losing you, while not having done anything to prevent it.
Stay safe, and sleep well,
Akane <3'
She sends the message, quickly slipping her phone back into her pocket and continuing to walk on the deserted road, feeling slightly embarrassed about all of this.
About 2 hours prior, December 26th, Streets of Tokyo
Ichigo and Aqua just left Shibuya; they are driving eastbound while not saying a single word. The snow has stopped again, and most of it has melted already. Life on the streets is resuming as it was before.
They drive for half an hour. The towering buildings around them fade into the distance behind them as they leave Tokyo via the Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. After entering the Chiba prefecture, they drive another hour south before finally coming to a stop at a rural dock.
"This is where you got your boat parked? Why don't you have it closer to where you live?"
Ichigo turns the engine off, looking around nervously, but leaning back in his seat as he realizes that it's too dark to make anything out.
"Could you please just hurry up, Aqua? I got more than a single boat, okay? Now get out and look around."
Aqua does as told and steps out of the car, ignoring the cold winter air hitting his face.
"You just wait here, I will be back in 5 minutes."
The only source of light other than the moon is a lone streetlamp. Aqua checks out the area. No people are nearby, and only a single security camera hangs on the wall of a small booth, overseeing the dock.
He slips back into the car after surveying the area, making sure to avoid the camera's field of view.
"Okay, they seem to have one camera overlooking the dock, but no on site personnel, we might be far away from the crime scene, but driving seven black bags away from the shore would raise suspicion."
He leans back, thinking for a moment.
"Okay, I have an idea. You just have to get on your boat like you'd go out fishing. Then you drive off like you'd normally would, but instead of driving away you just drive a few meters downstream out of the range on the camera. Let's just hope the current isn't too strong."
Ichigo stays quiet for a moment, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.
"I still can't believe you actually did this… Let's just get this over with."
Aqua steps out of the van again, waiting for Ichigo to do the same.
"You can act like you are against this as much as you want, but you know I had no other option… Just get on the boat. I'm going to drive the van a few meters downstream and meet you there."
Aqua walks over to the driver's side while Ichigo is already on his way to the boat. Ichigo's boat looks quite new; it can't be older than 5 years. It is probably the dream boat of many, yet here it is, standing at some dock in the middle of nowhere, hull already turning green from the seaweed growing on it.
Aqua moves the Van a few meters down the road. The streetlight is too far away to be of any use; now the only light source is the dim moonlight, dipping the surrounding trees into silverish light.
Ichigo steers the boat as close to the riverbank as possible without capsizing. The distance between the riverbank and the boat is still about five meters.
Holding the boat steady, Ichigo watches as Aqua wades through the freezing water, bringing bag after bag onboard. The icy river completely soaks him all the way up to the hips, but he doesn't care about it in the slightest.
A few minutes later, all seven bags are secured. Aqua returns the van to the dock, parks it, and returns to the boat.
Before entering the boat, Aqua grabs a few heavy rocks, placing them on the boat next to the bags, finally climbing on board afterwards.
…
They head south for about thirty minutes, coming to a halt about 80 kilometers east of Izu-Oshima.
Together, they start filling the bags with enough rocks to keep them submerged. They start dropping the bags over the railing. First, they drop the bags with the trap in them.
They continue dropping bags when they see that the method works; bag after bag disappears beneath the moonlit ocean surface.
After a few minutes of work, they're finally done; the deck of the boat is now completely empty apart from Aqua and Ichigo.
Kamiki's remains and the rest of the evidence slowly sink to the bottom of the ocean, to hopefully never be seen again by any other human.
Ichigo starts the engine again and begins to drive back towards mainland Japan.
"We should not return just yet. Let us stay a bit longer, make it look like a fishing trip, which would be less suspicious."
Ichigo sighs as he turns the engine off again, bringing the boat to another halt.
"Do we have to? I don't want to spend any second more than necessary doing this."
Shallow waves quietly crash against the sides of the boat, gently shaking it back and forth.
"Yes, we do have to. We are going to do this the correct way; if we mess up even a bit, it could be over for all of us."
Aqua makes a small pause.
"Ruby, Kana and I were all actively involved in this, I am sure you know what would happen to Ichigo productions if we get caught. No PR team could save you."
Ichigo takes a step towards Aqua, who is by now seated on a padded bench.
"Are you threatening me right now, Aqua? You killed someone, you're a murderer. This could have been solved differently… Where did Miyako go wrong when she raised you?"
Ichigo takes another step forward before grabbing Aqua by his collar.
"This is so fucked up, and you just sit here, leaning back like nothing happened?"
Aqua grabs Ichigo's hand while standing up, forcing it away from his collar.
"You have no right to say that. It is not Miyako's fault I turned out this way. She was there for Ruby when you ran away from the responsibility, so keep her name out of your mouth."
Aqua pushes Ichigo, making him tumble backwards, landing on the padded bench on the opposite side of the deck, almost falling over the railing. Aqua sits down again, his voice, which was slightly raised, turned back to his usual cold tone.
"I was not threatening anyone. I was just telling the objective truth of what would happen when we get caught."
Ichigo hurries back onto his feet, but keeps his distance from Aqua.
"What would Ai say if she could see you right now? Do you think she would be proud of you?"
Aqua stares at Ichigo for a few seconds, his eyes flashing with various emotions, before he gets up and turns away, leaning over the railing and looking towards the seemingly endless ocean around them.
"It's not about that, I did what I had to do. And I would do it again in a heartbeat, I don't need anybody's approval. I don't need anyone, and no one needs me anymore."
Ichigo looks at the back of Aqua's head for a long minute before turning away, heading into the booth while muttering.
"You truly are a lost cause, Aqua."
Aqua continues staring over the railing. The horizon is fading together with the ocean, making it seem like he is in the middle of a void. The only light coming from the rising moon.
The moon is beautiful tonight. It is guiding you and giving you light, even when the sun is nowhere near it.
Why do I think about this right now? It is just a lone rock floating through space; it couldn't even shine without the sun. Yeah, the moon would be nothing without the sun… Yet I somehow still think the moon is prettier…
Did I really go too far?
Aqua looks down at his hands.
I killed him, my own father. And afterwards, I used the knowledge I obtained so I could save lives to hack him into pieces. And I don't feel bad even in the slightest about it.
Maybe Ichigo is right. Maybe I am too far gone. Too far gone to even know how I really feel.
Do I regret what happened? No, No, I don't
Similar thoughts continue to spiral through Aqua's head. He can feel how the boat starts to move again, which makes him tumble to the side.
"Do you really think that?"
Aqua's head turns empty, devoid of any coherent thoughts, as he hears a strange voice coming from his right.
He slowly turns his head, the deck suddenly feeling darker than before. He can see a figure leaning against the back railing of the boat, the figure looks like the hallucinations of Gorou he has from time to time, but this isn't Gorou; he is far taller and slimmer, his voice also just sounds wrong, yet beautiful.
"The moon is great, she is a true beauty, but like you said, just a rock. I personally prefer the sun."