...
"Akiraaa?"
"Hellooo? I know you can hear me, I saw your eyes twitch~"
She groaned, getting up slowly before the searing pain in her side bit her spine like it was saying "yeah, not now. We're still boiling hot."
A soft hiss escaped her lips as her hand hovered over her side with hesitation. The pain sucked, but the cause of it— smiling, cross-legged and head hovering over her— was what made it worse.
"Uhh, sensei..." She groaned, hand grazing the surface of her skin, "what... happened? Did you hit me?"
Her fingers touched a soft area on her rib. Two broken bones.
One scratch her lung's surface just enough to make her heart sneeze into a frenzy.
And the other one just mushy and soft like a poorly baked cake.
Rinta, noticing the hurt in her eyes, realized that this was the Akira whom she wanted to talk to, the one who came with Dacchi.
"Sorry, I had to. You seemed to be...uhm... depressed sooo, I put you to sleep."
Akira glanced over her shoulder.
The ribs glanced with her.
She stopped mid turn and shifted her whole body to face hers— well, more like dragged her body.
"Why would you...do that? I thought we were friends—"
Rinta's eyes softened, "We are, believe me, I am your friend, I'm just... trying to help."
"By breaking my ribs!?"
Rinta laughed awkwardly, "Uh, Y-Yeah, sorry about that. I'll try to keep your feelings in mind."
Akira sighed, breath coming in short bursts as the memory of everything that had happened tugged at her heart like a open wound.
First rogue nurse calling her a demon.
Then getting blasted with the worst pain she'd ever felt for an attack that wasn't made for people.
Now her boyfriend?
She wanted to curl up, but...well, she couldn't. The emotions were too heavy, her body was eating her pain receptors like they had the right to abuse her in her own skin.
"Seems like everyone just wants to get rid of me..." she whispered to herself, "I should've just died back then..."
For a brief moment, Rinta's eyes glowed as she paused.
Akira didn't care.
Then she unpaused and murmured, voice suddenly... tentative and softer:
"Don't say that, Akira. It's not your fault those girls bullied you when you were young. They were just jerks. You defended yourself, that's all..."
Her eyes rose up to meet her teacher's, her lashes wet with tears that refused to fall, "H-How did you know? Did I... tell you that?"
"No, Hinasuke did. Even though you two...had a fight, he still cares you know?" She said, placing a hand over hers.
That was a lie.
A bold-faced lie.
She wiped the tears that clung onto her long lashes, "And you should know that Rinta cares too, y'know?"
Lie.
"more than you think."
Akira's tears fell.
Oh god, how she missed this.
Missed being treated fairly.
Missed being cared for.
Missed being treated...human.
"It's...just been so hard for me—" her voice cracked halfway through, head sagging as the pain fueled her tears into overdrive— into an excuse to cry.
"Shh, there there. It'll be alright..." Rinta murmured into her ear, "Rinta will make it aaall better, okay?"
She nodded, snot peeking through as she pulled it back.
[ "Ugh. Gross..." ]
"But first," she said, hands cupping those watery cheeks, "Rinta needs you to tell me everything. Why do you know things you're not supposed to? Why are you saying that...I am your teacher?"
The violet haired mess in her grasp, felt tears prick at the edges of her eyes, "Because you are..." Her voice wobbled, "You are my teacher! You have to believe me—"
"I do, Akira," and she really did believe her.
She knew the truth afterall.
"I do believe you, your eyes aren't lying, but if I'm gonna help you, I need you to allow me to help you by telling me everything."
And the girl...agreed.
She told her everything.
Down to every single move that she'd ever taught her.
Down to every single bad thing that happened to her in that asylum.
Down to the moment she lost part of herself when he jumped off that bridge.
Everything.
Every single lie, every single sin, every single life she'd taken all in the name of figuring out who she was when she wasn't in control.
They say "what you don't know, doesn't kill you."
Akira's truth testified otherwise.
And in the end she just clung onto her desperately, like a child denied of warmth all her life.
Because when Akashi died, it felt like she was.
...
"I've been so lost without my brother. I miss him. I don't know what to do without—" voice cracked, heart along with it.
"There there, Akira. It's okay, it's okay..." Rinta murmured.
She almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
"You've gone through soooo much pain all on your own,"
The tears only fell harder, fingers piecing deep enough to cause blood.
But Rinta whispered through it all, whispered through her lost mind. Through the fog, into the heart of this lost woman in her eyes who only ever seemed to just want... purpose.
"But it's okay," voice like velvet, "I'm here. Rinta will make it all better..."
Akira's breath stuttered.
Because down to the root of it all, she wasn't after finding out who her alter ego was and why she led her into Ayanaki.
Down to the root of it all.
All Akira wanted was for things to be...better. All she wanted was for the pain to just go away.
For the voices in her head to stop calling her names.
For all this suffering to...Just. Stop.
The air flickered with a soft yellow hue.
Rinta's eyes radiated a deep gold as she hushed the girl into softer whispers until finally she fell asleep, curled up, her against her lap as she flipped into a place that freed her of judgment and torment.
And when she saw her steady rhythmic breathing...
Rinta grinned.
"It worked, Rin..."
"We did it... we've saved everyone."
Her eyes slid down, darkening upon grazing the surface of Akira's form:
"Too bad though. I was beginning to like this crybaby version of her. But...I can't kill you yet, you'll be a far much more valuable asset to Ayanaki when Kuro comes back with valuable assassin information."
She grinned in dark delight as she brushed a strand from the corner of her mouth, behind her ear:
"Sleep well, Akira... because when you wake up, Kuro's gonna do a whole lot more than just cry."
The air stuttered, the walls loosing their color as it all centered into the woman holding the cards all in play...
"She's gonna be the single variable that tips the scales."
She giggled.
"Kuro...the playmaker."