Akira hadn't stopped staring at the confectioneries in her grasp— a box of cookies and a neatly wrapped pair of Ohagi, in truth the only reason she was still staring was because she was listening. Her ears, always able to catch even the tiniest of whispers from a few feet away, twitched intently as she listened carefully to their words.
They were talking about her. About her condition. That..she was sick?
As far as she was concerned, there wasn't a single hair follicle out of place about her. And there they were, her own friends whispering behind her back.
Her heart clenched a little when she heard Yano's shaking voice speak up. She never showed that side of her, and although it didn't make sense why she was so overprotective about Yoshida, she felt her heart bleed at the memory.
The shock in his eyes. The tenseness of Yano's shoulders when she stepped between them. Then there was her, fist bloodied by sheer impact with her palm. She stared at her bandaged hand. The bleeding stopped a long while ago, and although she knew she'd heal, the pain was unbearable.
[ "When did your hands become so heavy and hard?" ]
Finally after a little while longer, she turned around and walked up to the counter and paid for just those two items.
Once outside, the chatter stopped as an awkward silence filled the tense air between them.
Usually Yoshi would pop a joke or two, but...his mouth hesitated to even twitch, afraid that he might hit another nerve. Akira locked eyes with Yano for a brief moment before Yano looked away and she whispered, "Finally got your things?"
Akira's eyes softened at that. She had no idea Yano could even sound like that, "Yeah, I am. Thanks for asking."
"You know...just because you need Ohagi doesn't mean you're getting out of eating when we get there." Hinasuke chuckled softly, hands in his pockets, trying to make the air slightly more breathable.
Yoshida let a small chuckle slip, broke it off halfway and pressed his lips together, eyes darting between Akira and Hina, "Guess that means we better get going—"
"Yoshida."
The blondie's shoulders tensed, and out the corner of her eyes, she saw Yano's foot inch closer. That hurt to see.
With a shaky sigh, Akira mummured, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. I should've known you did mean anything by it. It's just..." her voice trailed off, Hina's body moved to comfort her, but she held out a hand, "... It's just..." She continued, "I've been trying to cope with Akashi's death and I don't know how to come to terms with it now that he's gone. I've been trying to hold on to some semblance of normalcy in my life and when I finally have it, he leaves me all alone like I've got the strength to figure out who took him away from me..." she wiped a tear just before it fell, but it quickly replaced with another, "I'm a mess without you guys keeping me together. You guys are my only strength. I can't have my strength making fun of me when I need them to support me."
"Akira, I swear, I wasn't—"
"I know, I know, Yoshi. And I forgive you for it. It's just..." she let a shaky breath out, her eyes fixed on him, "Don't do what you did again. If I'm gonna figure out who killed my brother then I'm going to need your help. All of you."
At that, Yano's teeth clenched as she looked away. Hina's eyes softened a bit before he nodded, "Yeah. Sure, we're gonna help you, Aki."
Yoshida hesitated, but when he met Hina's subtle nod, he gave her a small smile, "Yeah, okay... we're gonna help you. Always."
Her heart fluttered, then she smiled a little, "Thank you."
They walked forward a little bit more, but when they noticed Yano stay behind, Yoshida turned, "Yano? You alright, babe?"
Akira's figure stuttered for a brief moment before she also turned around.
Hinasuke glanced over his shoulder, "Yano. Let's go."
Yano's feet tapped faster against the concrete floor, pedestrians passing by and customers going in and out of the store before she grit her teeth, "Dammit, I don't understand!"
Her voice cracked in the air, startling nearby people.
Hina's eyes darkened a little bit.
Yoshida's expression sank a little.
And Akira just stared, her eyes gentle but she was still on her guard.
"Huh? What's going on?" A bypasser said.
"I think I heard someone scream?"
"Yo, pull out your phone, this gonna get juicy."
A lot of people— though not all at once— stopped to see what the commotion was about. Others removed their phones. Some just...stared.
And yet Yano didn't care. She seemed fed up with all this.
Fed up with this bullshit.
What the hell did she mean by murdered?
Everyone knew how Akashi killed himself. She still had nightmares about the way Akira screamed that day.
And since she was already fired up— and Yano being blunt— she wasn't going to hold back.
Her body turned on its heel, her eyes blazing with anger as she screamed, "Why are you doing this!?"
"Why are you hurting yourself!? And why are you making us suffer for it?!"
Hina's eyes darkened further as he remained glaring at her
Akira's head tilted a little, her voice a bit unstable, "What? Yano, I said sorry—"
"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT!!"
Yoshida walked up tentatively to her, like he was approaching a wounded animal, "Yano, babe, you're causing a scene, okay? Just calm down and breathe—"
"CALM DOWN?! FOR WHAT!? SHE TRIED TO KILL YOU!"
Hina's figure tensed. Akira wanted to respond, but the quiet man beside her, focused on Yano, stood in front of her, "Let her talk."
"Yano, babe, she wasn't going to kill me—"
"YES SHE WAS!!"
"No, hun. She wasn't going to, come on, you know that—"
When his hand grazed her arm, she jolted back, her anger spiraling further, "DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
Some gasps escaped from the crowd, some sneeres and chuckles.
Yoshida didn't pay heed to them. He was only focused on her now, "Yano, listen to me."
"Why? Why do you always let her do this kind of stuff to all of us?" Her voice lowered, shakier now, "She's coping, I get it. She needs help, I understand. I wanna help her too, but how the hell am I supposed to help her when she's killing me too? How can I help her when she's hurting us too? How? When she's wrong, you don't correct her, you just let her spiral into her insanity like she's right."
"Babe, it's her condition. She didn't ask for it, okay? She's trying the best she can to handle Akashi's death—"
Yano's voice rose again, "AREN'T WE ALL!? SHE WASN'T THE ONLY ONE AFFECTED BY AKASHI'S DAMN SUICIDE!"
"YANO!"
Her eyes snapped to Hinasuke, boiling with fury, as a tear darted across her cheek, "Yell at me all you want! But don't look at me like I'm the one in the wrong when all I'm trying to do is try to help her without losing myself in the process! I've got issues too! I've got my traumas too! But I always put those aside for her because she needs me! Because she needs someone to lean on! NOT SOMEONE WHO FEEDS HER LIES BECAUSE HE'S TOO AFRAID TO ACCEPT THAT SHE MIGHT ALREADY BE BEYOND SAVING!"
The crowd rippled, swayed by her words though they lacked the context they could tell that whatever she was saying came from the deepest depths of her heart.
Yoshida's expression softened in hurt, "Yano, I'm not denying you of attention or help either. It's just...babe, you know she needs help. She couldn't handle Akashi's death. Only we know the horrible things she's been through."
Yano's eyes narrowed in anger, "My Father took his life in front of my eyes! And I never told ANYONE about it. I carried that on my own and pushed through! For 22 goddamn years, Yoshida! Yet I never thought about that when it came to her because I KNEW she was in an even worse position than I was. So I sucked it up, hid it and cared for her as if she were my little sister! No one knows her like I do! No one's as close to her as much as I am! And that's why I'm so PISSED OFF! BECAUSE YOU TWO ARE CODDLING HER INSTEAD OF TELLING HER THE DAMN TRUTH!"
Her voice lowered again, just above a whisper, "You know what she said to me when we were alone sometimes? When I'd walk in on her crying her eyes out whenever the nights got a little bit too dark? When I look at her, I see a girl who's never had anyone for herself, so I try to be the one she needs."
She chuckled softly, "She used to call me 'Older sister', she still does, dammit. So when I know the things I do, heard the cries that I have and cared for the tears none of you two have or will ever see, do you know how painful it is for me to have to see the two you coddle her like nothing's wrong?"
"The doctor said she doesn't need any more stresses, Yano. That's why we're doing this, you know that, babe. Why are you bringing this up now—?"
"BECAUSE SHE'S DESTROYING US, YOSHIDA! YOU! ME! HINASUKE! AND—" Her voice cracked, "And herself."
Yano wiped a tear before it fell, "I don't give a shit about what the doctor said. I don't give a damn about coddling her. I love her! That's my little sister! So hate me all you want, but she needs to accept the truth that Akashi is dead. And I don't care how you try to put it, but the truth is that he killed himself!"
At that, Hinasuke was about to step forward, but then Akira moved before him.
"How do you know that to be true, Yano?"
Akira's voice was steady, but her eyes were dark.
Yano glanced at her, her gaze sharp and accusing, "Because we all saw it. You. Me. Hina and Yoshida. We all saw him jump off that bridge that day."
Bridge?
"What bridge? Akashi never died at a bridge. He died in my apartment at Kyoto High, we all know this, what the hell are you talking about?"
Yano's teeth bared again as she finally snapped, no longer holding it in:
"I'M SO SICK OF YOUR BULLSHIT!!"
The more this dragged on, the more people it gathered. One of which— a tall man who wore a jacket with a familiar symbol that had 3 red triangles that met at the center, left a small space for a number...
And that number was one.
When Akira heard Yano say that, her violet eyes immediately darkened, "What are you talking about, Yano..."
Yoshida tried to get the both of them to calm down, but it wasn't helping.
Yano was fed up with Akira.
And Akira was even more confused than she initially was before.
Yano stepped forward, her chest burning and her eyes wide and glaring at Akira, "HOW CAN YOU STAND THERE AND TELL ME THAT BULLSHIT!? HOW CAN YOU DENY YOUR OWN BROTHER'S SELFISH ACTIONS—?!"
Akira silenced her with a resounding slap on the cheek. Her eyes were pulsating a faint violet. Her palm burned as she pulled back, unaware of the dangling flesh that had separated from her skin.
The crowd was dead silent, as if they were too afraid to raise their own voices.
The flashlights illuminated in the dark.
The people kept quiet. And just watched.
Hinasuke was already moving forward, Yoshida's eyes slid to Yano who straightened up at full length, meeting her figure overlapping over her just a bit.
Her eyes slowly started to radiate a deep red, "I've been trying to keep myself calm for your sake, Akira. I love you because you're like a little sister to me. No, you are a little sister to me."
"Yano, babe, listen it was a mistake." Yoshi said, walking closer now, separating the two.
Yano's eyes never left the violet orbs staring back at her as she muttered, "You can slap me. Lay your hands on me..."
"Let's go cool you off, Yano, you've said enough."
She put her foot down. It sank into the concrete, crushing her heel into the floor making Yoshida incapable of moving her anymore.
"But if you so much as lay a finger on Yoshida ever again..."
Her veins glowed a bright red, "I'll kill you."
And that was all it took.
Akira's eyes sank into a deep purple as she stepped forward, body coiling as she was ready to dash at her, the concrete cracking under her intense pressure, but Hinasuke held her shoulder once and her energy just...left.
"No. That's enough, Aki." He said, voice low.
Now an idiot in the crowd was dumb enough to scream, "Let her fight! We wanna see blood!" And when he did Hinasuke's darkened emerald eyes pierced a glare at him directly.
But for Akira?
For her that was more than enough reason for her to have already closed the distance faster than Hinasuke could've realized she was gone from his grasp.
And when her other hand, the bandaged one that was still healing, almost drilled a hole through his chest...
Her hand smashed into a hard surface.
The sound her already broken hand made was inhuman. The bones of her wrist shattered and parts of her forearm bones cracked and splintered out the surface of her skin.
For a brief moment, she couldn't feel the pain. She was only focused solely on the taunting man behind the immovable object in front of her.
Then slowly, when the sound of flesh and bone separating reached everyone's ears, that's when the most blood curdling scream of pure agony cursed everyone's ears as Akira staggered back, clutching her arm as she cried.
In less than a heartbeat's notice, Hinasuke was already in front of her, Yoshida's staff was already summoned and Yano's glowing hands had already manifested a pair of dual katanas, her breath shallow as she stood behind Akira.
The only reason the taunter hadn't died in that moment...
Was because of the tall silver haired behemoth standing before them.
And when Hinasuke's eyes slid to meet his, his breath faltered.
It was him.
The 1st rank Karamatsu Ayanaki Fighter:
"Shit. Why the hell are you here?"
"Interesting play you have here, Saiichi's little dog."
Yoshi's eyes narrowed into disgust from sheer focus when he realized who it was.
Yano's breath faltered as she stood there rooted to the floor, her veins popping out.
Of all the people to run into, he was, by far, the worst one.
Tobio Miata.
The Blessing in a Curse's body.