Chapter Text
The Rescue
They’ve finally managed to track down Akito. It took a few days, but they had their first bit of good luck in a while after staking out the buildings Inspector Hasegawa pointed out. Everyone in the SEKAI Nightcord had split up to cover ground, and Shizuku-san had managed to spot Shimizu leaving a hardware store, and followed her to an abandoned building.
Rui sent in a more subtle drone to try and record Shimizu, and from outside the apartment, they’d picked up on her talking about leaving once Toya’s trial was over. The trial that ends today . And even if they promised to talk to Inspector Hasegawa, Inspector Hasegawa was at the trial and unreachable, and who could tell if Shimizu would get in a car the second a verdict was handed down. So the 18 of them had put their heads together and came up with a plan, which Sophia-chan then approved of after a lot of begging and convincing.
“Are you all prepared?” Sophia-chan asks.
Everyone in the back of the minivan that Tsukasa had, ahem, “borrowed” from Toya’s father nods. The plan was simple: first lure Shimizu outside the building, then Rui, Tsukasa, and An break into the apartment while Kohane keeps watch. If Shimizu starts to come back, Robo-Nene is on standby to run interference.
Rui had figured out that there was probably something jamming cell phone signals, so he designed radios for all of them, as well as Sophia-chan, who would be able to watch them from a drone.
Rui had done most of the convincing with a presentation of Robo-Nene’s combat capabilities (based on what he learned from Sophia-chan) and the urgency of the situation got her to relent, though she is on standby to send a message to Inspector Hasegawa as soon as he can answer.
Step one: Sophia-chan pilots the drone and plays recordings of Samo-chan and Shibao barking loudly. They spot Shimizu leave the building to deal with the noise not long after, so the rest of the retrieval team rush up to the apartment.
Rui examines the lock on the metal door for a bit before putting on an insulated glove, and uses a pocket blow torch to carve around the lock and open the door.
“You just have that?” An asks.
“It’s important to be prepared,” Rui responds.
The apartment is too nice for a serial killer, but they can still hear Samo-chan and Shibao barking, so Shimizu isn’t on her way back yet. They find the room she’s keeping Akito in and Tsukasa winces at the sight of him.
He’s clearly lost weight since they last saw him, and he’s covered in bruises. His legs are wrapped in bandages and homemade splints, and above all he just seems tired. Tsukasa isn’t sure he’s awake until Akito says something.
“Hey senpai. You and Toya here to yell at me together today?”
“Akito!” Tsukasa whispers. “We’re here to rescue you.”
“Course, you always come with Toya to rescue me. You’re a really good big brother.”
“He’s complimenting Tsukasa-senpai to his face, he’s clearly delirious.” An mutters.
“Toya isn’t here, but we’re going to take you to him!” Tsukasa says.
“What’re you talking about? He’s right behind you.” Akito gives a weak little wave. “Hey, partner! What is it today? I’m a piece of shit, right?”
“I can’t listen to this anymore,” Ena snaps over the radio. “Just carry him out of there.”
“Shinonome-san is right, we don’t have time for this,” Rui says.
“Should we bring the wheelchair?” Tsukasa asks as An helps him get Akito onto his back. Akito doesn’t even react to being picked up, he might as well be asleep.
“No, just go,” Rui says.
“Please don’t,” Akito murmurs into Tsukasa’s back. “I know I’m terrible. I’m awful. I’m a bad partner and I deserve all of this but I don’t want to see her kill you again.”
“Don’t worry Akito! We’ll be fine. By the time Shimizu comes back, we’ll be far away,” Tsukasa reassures him.
“She’s gonna know…”
Tsukasa ignores him, but there’s a problem as soon as they get past the door. Akito gasps in pain and starts grabbing at the watch on his wrist.
“Akito-kun? What is it?” Kohane asks.
“…It’s a shock bracelet, like for a dog,” Rui says, looking at Akito’s arm.
“Don’t those usually shock you once?” An asks.
“Maybe she modified it so that passing through the door once just turns it on? There’s probably a sensor in the door. Maybe we could—”
“We don’t have time! Shimizu is coming back!” Ena says. Damn it, they hadn’t even realized the recording of the dogs stopped.
“I’m really sorry, Aki-kun. We’ll figure out a way to get that off you in the car.”
“I’m sorry,” Akito whimpers. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…”
Akito repeats that mantra as they rush down to the front entrance. They’re almost home free until they lock eyes with Shimizu from the other side of the glass. Shimizu is clearly furious, and she tightens a grip on her… fire axe? Did she bring a fire axe to deal with some barking dogs?
Robo-Nene takes her cue and tackles Shimizu to the side.
“There we go! See, it’s fine!” Tsukasa says to Akito as they rush past and towards the car where Ena is waiting.
“It’s not gonna be enough.” Akito mutters, still breathing heavily from the pain of the collar.
“You shouldn’t doubt Robo-Nene, she’s—”
Behind them, there’s the crunching sound of metal mixed with Shimizu's screams of the damned.
Robo-Nene’s severed head sails past them and hits Kohane, bowling over the small girl. An stops to help her girlfriend, and Akito buries his face in Tsukasa’s back.
“Please no no no no no no no no. Let me wake up already please, I don’t wanna see this again…”
“Tenma, do you mind?” Shimizu asks, stalking past Kohane and An. “You’re upsetting Aki.”
“…Why, Shimizu? Why did you kidnap him?” Tsukasa asks. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Rui moving to get behind her so he needs to keep her attention on him for the time being.
“I don’t feel like talking. Aki needs to go back.” Shimizu says nonchalantly, like Kohane wasn’t bleeding from a cut on her forehead and Akito isn’t absolutely terrified. “You’re just hurting him more by doing this.”
“Why go through all of this trouble?” Tsukasa asks.
“I love him.”
“Enough to kill for him?”
“Any other kind of love is worthless,” Shimizu says. “I’ll show you what I mean.” She grabs onto Rui, who had been about to attack her from behind, and flips him over her shoulder. Then she swings the axe and stops short of his neck. “You love Aoyagi, don’t you? Not the same way I love Aki, but you love him nonetheless. So you want nothing more than to leave here with Aki and prove your darling little brother innocent. But then I take Kamishiro’s head off. Or you can give me back Aki and prove how much you love Kamishiro, but Aoyagi’s going to rot in prison for the rest of his life.” She’s holding the axe in her bad hand, and it’s shaking dangerously close to Rui’s neck. “I’d pick soon, or my hand might just slip.”
Tsukasa swallows.
“Just give up.” Akito says. “Please, I don’t want anyone else dying.”
“Tick-tock, Tenma.”
Tsukasa looks around, trying to find something, anything to do, and his savior comes in the form of Rui’s drone.
Sophia-chan pilots it right into Shimizu’s face, which allows Rui to roll out of the way and tase her.
Shimizu doesn’t stay down, but An tackles her to the ground, punching her squarely in the face. Rui tases Shimizu again, and she finally stays down.
“Is she…?” Akito asks.
“She’s still alive,” An says, “but who knows how long she’ll be out! Let’s go!”
They all get into the back seat of the car and Ena slams on the gas.
“Careful, Shinonome-san! I want to get this bracelet off of Aki-kun without cutting him!” Rui says.
“And I want to be as far away from that psycho bitch as possible!” Ena snaps back. “Is everyone ok?”
“I-I’ll be fine.” Kohane says.
“No way, you need to get that looked at,” An insists.
Rui pulls out a small screwdriver and starts fiddling with the shock bracelet with his insulated glove. Eventually he gets it off, and Akito instantly relaxes.
They all wince at the sight of the raw mess that is Akito’s wrist.
“He requires immediate medical attention,” Sophia-chan says, popping up on Rui’s phone.
“Oh. A red Miku.” Akito lets out a deranged laugh. “Why not? This dream is so cruel.”
“Akito, you’re not dreaming,” Kohane says.
“Yes I am! I’m gonna wake up any second and be back there with her! I should have learned!” Akito starts shaking again and breathing heavily. “I’ve probably been talking in my sleep again… she’ll be mad… she might even—”
“Akito, look at me!” Tsukasa shouts. “You are not dreaming! This is real, and you’re really safe.”
“But if I’m not dreaming, then Toya’s still dead.”
“What?” Tsukasa asks. “Toya’s not dead.”
“No. No no no no don’t do this to me, Senpai.” Akito curls in on himself. “Don’t give me false hope. Toya’s dead and I killed him.”
“Akito…”
Suddenly, the car swerves.
“Um, Ena-san? This isn’t the direction of the hospital,” An points out.
“I know.”
Niijima-san’s done a valiant job of defending Toya and poking holes in the prosecution’s testimony, but at the end of the day each side has equally shaky evidence given Toya’s lack of a solid alibi and the effort put into framing him.
He’s not sure what to expect as the judge deliberates over his final verdict, but what it certainly isn’t is Tsukasa-senpai kicking the door to the court room open and shouting “OBJECTION!” at the top of his lungs.
Then Toya sees that Tsukasa-senpai is carrying Akito on his back. Toya doesn’t hesitate, dodging around bailiffs and meeting them halfway.
“Akito!” Toya gasps. He’s here. He’s really here. Worse for wear, but here, and alive. Tsukasa-senpai smiles and hands Akito off to Toya, who immediately sinks onto the ground because he can’t carry Akito for that long.
“Toya?” Akito asks. “Is that really you?”
“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here,” Toya says.
“I’m sorry. You hate me, don’t you.”
“What? Of course not!”
“I broke my promises, I—”
“Partner, I don’t care about that! I just care that you’re back.”
Akito sobs and buries his face in Toya’s chest. “If this is a dream, please don’t make me wake up.”
“It’s not. Ok?”
“I’m so tired, Toya.”
“That’s fine. You can rest now, I’ll be there when you wake up.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. Trust me, partner.”
After Aoyagi and Shinome have their moment, the prosecutor was decent enough to leap into action and call an ambulance, and let Aoyagi ride with him even if there’s technically more paperwork to be done before he should be able to leave police custody.
Zenkichi offers to give the rest of the kids a lift to the hospital before someone realizes none of them are old enough to drive and they get in more trouble. This also gives him a chance to use his Dad Voice.
“What the actual hell!” Zenkichi demands. “How, with 6 of you—
“The others with SEKAI helped. So did Robo-Nene,” Azusawa says.
“How many people is that”
“20”
“ 20?! Out of 20 people, none of you thought ‘hey maybe Inspector Hasegawa said not to engage with the serial killer for a reason?’”
“We took steps to avoid her!” Tenma says.
“Steps that failed.”
“Ok we didn’t realize she took a fire axe with her, that was our fault, but we also had Robo-Nene!”
“And where is Robo-Nene now?”
No one responds.
“I probably should have made her combat routines more aggressive,” Kamishiro says. “She was holding back.”
“Rest in peace Robo-Nene, we’ll fever norget you,” Azusawa, who clearly has a concussion, adds.
“Oh, she’s fine. I have her AI backed up onto my phone, we just need to get her a new body.”
“We’re roommates!” Sophia says.
“Oh, don’t think you’re getting out of this one, Sophia. I know you’re still young and you’ve mostly interacted with Persona users but you’re a smart girl, you should know what civillains can and can’t handle and if you didn’t you should’ve erred on the side of caution!”
“I’m sorry inspector.”
“Hey, don’t me bean to Sophia-chan!” Azusawa says. “She saved our lives!”
“The fact that she had to is why you should have held back and waited. You didn’t have to do it before the end of the trial. I know the criminal justice system is corrupt, but if you show up with the victim in a murder case alive, the courts will actually reverse that verdict.”
“But she was leaving with Akito! It was going to be our only chance!”
“You found him once, you could find him again!” Zenkichi takes a deep breath and sighs. “Look, kids, I really am happy you found your friend. And I’d be a hypocrite to not respect your rebellious streaks, but I really was trying to keep you from getting hurt.”
“We’re sorry,” Shiraishi says.
Zenkichi looks at them in the rearview mirror. They are good kids, if a little reckless, and it’s not like he doesn’t understand why. “Well, as long as it all worked out. Now who wants ice cream?”
“Yaaay!”
“Great, because once we get to the hospital I’m calling all of your parents.”
Everyone groans.
1 Day Back
Pretty much the second the doctors say it’s alright, Toya’s in the room with him.
“Hey,” he says, carrying a box of cheesecake, though he feels a little embarrassed about it when he sees how many flowers other people sent to Akito’s room.
“Hey, partner.” Akito replies. He doesn’t have his usual energy, but he’s calmed down since yesterday. His eyes move down to Toya’s hand, and it does perk him up a bit. “Is that for me?”
“Yeah,” Toya says, pulling up a chair. He gives Akito the cheesecake, and Akito waits.
“Something wrong?”
Akito blinks. “Oh! Oh no sorry just. Habit I guess.” He takes the fork and digs. “Oh ma gush dis if sho gut.” Tears are streaming down his eyes.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Toya laughs, but instead of rolling his eyes like he normally would, Akito stops instantly.
“Sorry,” he says, eyes downcast.
“It’s not actually a problem, you can keep going,” Toya says. Still Akito slows down, and between bites starts rubbing the bandage on his wrist. “Akito, what happened?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
It’s hard not to, Toya wants to say, but he keeps his mouth shut and pulls out his phone. “Well, someone else really missed you.”
Len barely waits for his cue. “AKITTOOOOO!”
“Len! Boy did I miss you, buddy!”
“Me too!” Len immediately starts pestering Akito with questions about, well, everything. The hospital room, what the food’s like, if Akito’s in pain at all. He asks to see the flowers and other gifts and asks “which one’s from Toya?”
Toya coughs.
“I don’t need anything from Toya, I’m just glad he’s here,” Akito says, and Toya can feel his cheeks turn red.
“Oh, I get it! So when are you going to be able to come visit in person?” Len asks. “We wanna throw a big party! KAITO’s gonna let me DJ!”
“It’s gonna be a bit before I’m out of the hospital. At the very least I have to get surgery.”
“Surgery?! Is it bad?”
“No, no it’s fine!” Akito says. “Fuyune broke my legs and then they didn’t set right, so they’re just gonna… break them again and let them heal up properly.”
“That sounds bad.”
“Nah, they do it all the time. Only thing that sucks is it’ll take like 6-8 weeks to heal.”
“You’re not going to visit for two months?!”
“No, I’ll visit before then. It’s just between my legs healing up and physical therapy, it’s going to be a while before I can perform like normal again. And I’m going to be so out of practice.” Akito sighs.
“But you’re not going to try and do anything early and risk making it worse, right?”
“Y-yeah of course.” Akito says. Something is clearly wrong, he’d usually try and push back.
“Akito—” Toya starts, but he’s cut off by Akito continuing.
“So how are you and the others doing, Len?”
“We’re good, I— Hey Rin, give me some space, I’m not done!” Len flickers for a moment and disappears, and then Rin appears in his place.
“Uggh! It’s my turn! I want to see him too!” Rin huffs. “Hey, Akito! I’m glad you’re back!”
“Glad to be back!”
“I’m still so mad at that girl!” Rin says. “If I got my hands on her I’d—” She makes her point by cracking her knuckles.
“Well, she’s in police custody now, so we don’t have to worry about her,” Akito says.
“It’s so weird that she looked like Toya though without being related,” Rin says aloud. “That’s even more rude. If she looks like Toya, she can act like him!”
“But Rin, you and Len look alike but you don’t act the same.”
“Yeah but—”
Toya tunes out the rest of the conversation. Is that why Akito’s been so tense? Does Toya remind him of Shimizu? Is Akito uncomfortable with him being here?
“Hey Toya, what do you think?”
“Huh?”
“What do you think is better, pudding or cheesecake?” Akito asks.
“Uh, cheesecake.”
“Ha!”
“You’re just saying that because it’s Akito’s favorite.” Rin complains.
“He’s supporting his partner!”
“Whatever!”
Throughout the day, more people come to visit Akito, including his parents. His mom constantly gushes and fusses over him, then leaves him alone with his dad. Once it’s just the two of them, his dad shuffles awkwardly.
“I’m sorry.” his dad says. He sniffs and wipes his eyes. “I’m really happy to have you back.”
And then Ena comes in, they make eye contact, and their dad leaves the two of them alone.
“What happened?” Akito asks.
“Don’t worry about it, that’s between us.” Ena says. “How are you feeling?”
“Stop,” Akito says. “Stop, that was just painful.”
“I’m sorry? I’m trying to be nice!”
“Yeah, and it hurts to watch,” Akito sighs. “I don’t want you pretending to be nice around me because you think I’m going to fall apart in a slight breeze!”
“I’m trying to be nice to you because you were kidnapped and I realized I was gonna regret a lot of shit if you died!”
“Yeah well…” The memory of Ena’s body in his dream flashes across his mind. “I guess I have stuff I’d regret too. But don’t be cloying, that’s just embarrassing.”
“Fine.” She takes Toya’s seat. “So seriously, how are you doing?”
Akito rubs his wrist absentmindedly. “Better. Helps being in a room with windows.”
“You want to talk about any of it?” Ena asks. Akito shudders at the thought. They already know about his legs and the bracelet and they can probably draw conclusions from his bruises, but he doesn’t particularly want to relive the specifics.
“Ok, fine then,” Ena says. “I just want you to know that you’ve got people around who care about you, alright? So if you start spiraling, talk to someone.”
“You’re sounding cloying again.”
“Shut up! You sort of helped with dad when I was in a bad place, I’m just saying I’ll return the favor!”
Akito opens and closes his mouth a couple of times before finding the right thing to say. “Ena? Thanks. And I really missed you.”
“I missed you too, jerk. Wanna watch the latest episode of ‘Sneeze Detective Maho’?”
“Yeah, what’d I miss?”
“Okay, so in the last episode…”
Toya runs into Tsukasa-senpai and Saki in the hospital cafeteria.
“There you are!” Tsukasa-senpai says. “You skipped breakfast to come here, didn’t you?”
He did. He wasn’t sure how to talk with his father about everything so he did what he did best and just avoided it. He’ll have to bring it up at some point though, because he can’t hide at Akito’s house for the time being.
“You know, you can always stay at our place!” Saki says, reading his mind.
“I don’t want to inconvenience—”
“Nonsense!” Tsukasa-senpai says. “Come on, our parents have been worried about you. They’re dying to see you.”
Ah, of course they’d be worried. “Yes, I’ll come over then.”
“Glad to hear it! We have so much to catch up on.”
They all sit down and get something to eat. Toya’s still thinking about Akito, and the Tenmas notice.
“What else is on your mind?” Saki asks.
“It’s Akito,” Toya says, “I think he’s scared of me because I look so much like Shimizu.”
“Did he tell you that?” Tsukasa-senpai asks.
“No, but—”
“Then I don't think that was the case,” Tsukasa-senpai says. “I mean he was so upset over thinking you were dead that Ena-san decided it was better to bring him to you than to bring him straight to the hospital.”
“He thought I was dead?!”
Tsukasa-senpai frowns. “Should I have let him tell you that?”
“No, it’s fine.” A pit starts to grow in Toya’s stomach. He really has no idea what Akito went through, does he?
“I think the best thing you can do,” Saki says, “after going home and getting some rest, is talk to Akito.”
Toya nods. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
After saying goodbye to the Tenmas, Toya doesn’t exactly go straight home. First, he goes to the detention center.
Shimizu is sitting in her jail cell, flipping through a book and looking way too content.
“Took you long enough, Aoyagi,” she says without looking up.
“How’d you know I would come?” Toya asks.
“Because I threaten you.”
“How would you do that? You’re the one behind bars now.”
“Did Aki tell you anything about our time together?”
“Don’t call him that.”
“He’s so sweet, isn’t he? It’s wonderful waking up next to him, or feeling his head on your shoulder. The way he says the word ‘partner’?” Shimizu doesn’t break eye contact with him the entire time. “We even sang together, it’s the most amazing thing in the world—”
Toya crosses his arms. “Does this have a point?”
“—And even better, I got to be his first kiss, and you didn’t. ”
”…Keep going, Shimizu.” Toya says, his words laced with venom.
“Haha~! I wish you could see the look on your face! And now every time you kiss Aki,”
“Call him that one more time. I dare you.”
Shimizu leans in, giving a crazed smirk.
“Every time you kiss Aki, he won’t be able to think of anyone other than me~”
And Toya lunges, grabbing her through the bars. She just grabs him back though and slams his head against them so hard the world starts to spin. He passes out as the guards rush to separate them.
Toya wakes up in the infirmary.
“I could have told you that was going to happen,” a voice says next to him. Of all the people Toya could have expected, Kobayashi wasn’t one of them.
“What are you doing here?”
Kobayashi shrugs. “Same thing as you, probably. Though I wouldn’t have picked a fight with her.”
Toya sits up and Kobayashi passes him an ice pack. “Anyway. Sorry for calling you a murderer.”
“It’s alright,” Toya says, taking it and pressing it to the growing bump on his head.
“See, the more you apologize, the worse I feel.”
“But you didn’t know any better. Honestly, Shimizu probably expected you to put the clues together like that.”
Kobayashi laughs bitterly. “Yep, look at me. The perfect knight.”
“I’m sorry,” Toya says.
“Don’t apologize to me, I nearly helped get you arrested for a crime you didn’t commit.”
“Are you going to talk to Shimizu?” Toya asks. “I don’t want to keep you waiting.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t even know what answer I want from her in the first place. Did she care about me? See me as nothing more than a piece to be discarded? Is one of those really better?”
Toya can’t say.
“Anyway,” Kobayahsi says, sniffing. “So um… my dad kind of freaked out when the news broke and he wants me to transfer schools next year. He thinks I need a clean break.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“Eh, waiting until the end of the school year and staying in Tokyo is the compromise between moving out to the boonies immediately, which is what he wanted to do. Shimizu-sam—,” Kobayahsi takes a deep breath, “Shimizu was the person I was closest with there, so it doesn’t feel like I’m leaving that much behind. I just didn’t want to leave before making it up to Azusawa and Tenma.” Kobayashi stands up, straightening her skirt. “Anyway, that’s the long way of saying I’m staying out of your hair from now on, so don’t worry about me.”
“You don’t have to,” Toya says. “We’d love to see you at our shows.”
“Ugh, stop being such a saint. It’s a pain in the butt.” She heads out the door but stops at the last second. “Maybe one day I’ll feel confident enough to take you up on that offer.”
And then she’s gone.
2 Days Back
The door to his room opens.
Akito looks up, expecting Toya, but instead it’s Fuyune.
“No,” Akito says, heart pounding. She’s dripping with blood that trails through the door.
“Did you think some silly jail cell could keep me away from you, Aki?” Fuyune asks. She leans on top of him.
“Please no.”
“Aki… you’re not supposed to tell me ‘no,’ remember?” She picks up a scalpel from the nurse’s station. “Would carving my name into your skin help remind you?”
“Stop, please!”
“Akito! Wake up!”
Akito snaps awake, and the first thing he sees is two-toned purple hair, and he flinches away. He screws his eyes shut and counts to ten, focusing on keeping his breathing even and the physical sensationof being in the hospital bed, the beeping of the EKG, and the smell of antiseptic.
After getting a chance to find his bearings and remind himself that this is real, he looks up and realizes that it was Toya that he flinched away from.
And he looks heartbroken.
“I’m sorry, I can go get Ena,” Toya says.
“No! Don’t, I’m sorry.” Akito says.
“But I remind you of her.”
“No you don’t, you really don’t. I just had a nightmare.”
“Akito—”
“Please!” Akito doesn’t realize he’s crying until the tear drops hit his hands. “Please… don’t leave me.” God he’s so stupid and selfish. He was the one who left Toya in the first place, didn’t he?
“Alright,” Toya whispers, grabbing Akito’s hand. “Alright, I won’t leave.”
He’s so selfish. He’s the worst partner ever.
“Thank you,” Akito says. “Thank you so much I– wait what happened to your face?”
Toya has a massive bruise on his temple that’s just barely hidden by his hair.
“Um, nothing?”
“That was bad even for you.”
Toya sighs. “I… went to visit Shimizu at the detention center.”
A chill runs down Akito’s spine, “Why would you do that?!” Akito shouts. “She’s dangerous and she hates you!” His knuckle turns white from gripping the side of the bed so hard, and Toya winces in pain as Akito squeezes his hand. The wince snaps Akito out of it, and he pulls his hands away.
“I’m sorry. I guess I wanted to know what would drive her to do all this,” Toya says, shaking his hand a bit.
“You could have asked me. I know her too well now.”
Toya’s frown deepens. Shit. Shit. There he goes again. Why couldn’t he have let Toya leave? Why does he keep being weak like this?
“Sorry,” Akito says, and he starts rubbing his wrists again. “I didn’t mean she replaced you or anything, I just—“
“No! No, you did nothing wrong. I should be the one apologizing,” Toya insists. “I guess she knows exactly how to get to both of us.”
Akito’s throat feels dry. “…she probably told you we sang Fragile together, right?”
Toya stares at him. “She said you sang together and that you kissed—”
“I’m sorry!” Akito says again. “I promised I wouldn’t and—”
Toya takes his hand again “Akito, I’m not upset about that. A song isn’t that important, especially not when a madwoman forced you into it. I’m angry about the fact that she hurt you, and that you’re scared all the time now, and that you apologize like you think I’ll hurt you if you do something wrong.”
“Oh,” Akito says dumbly. “I’m not… scared you’ll hurt me. And I’d understand if you were mad at me.”
“Why would I possibly be mad at you?”
Akito sighs. “Ever since I got here, people have been saying how brave and strong am I for getting through all of that. But I’m not. Towards the end there I just wanted it all to stop, and she wasn’t going to let me die so I just did what she wanted. I kissed her, I called her ‘partner,’ I sang our song with her. A better partner would have fought longer or given up as soon as they thought you were dead.”
“Akito, that’s not true.” Toya says. “You really are amazing, and you managed to come back to me. That’s enough, and I’ll remind you of it every day if I have to.”
Toya’s so close right now and Akito desperately wants to lean in and kiss him, and the main thing that stops him is that he can tell from the look in Toya’s eyes that Toya wants the same thing.
“A better partner wouldn’t let you be this close,” Akito says, tearing his eyes away. “I’ve been so selfish, leading you on like this.”
“Akito, do you not—”
He can’t bear to look at how upset Toya must be right now. “Toya, I love you so much, that’s why we can’t be together. Even though I love you, I make promises I can’t keep and break the ones I can. There’s no one I want to sing with more than you, and I want to keep it like that, but if we were in an actual relationship? I’d just drag you down.”
Toya doesn’t say anything for the longest time. “Akito, would you look at me?”
He can’t resist anything if Toya’s the one asking, so he does.
Toya takes a deep breath. “Just do it.”
“Huh?”
“If that’s what you want, then just do it.” Toya says. “Stop overthinking every little thing. I want to be with you, and you want to be with me. All that’s left is to be in this together. Isn’t that enough?”
Hearing his own words spoken back to him, it feels like a weight’s been lifted from his chest. “Toya, can I—”
“Yes. Please, God, yes —”
And then they kiss, and it’s just like he’s always dreamed. Toya’s lips are soft and sweet, and Akito feels lighter than he ever has in his life.
16 Days Back
The first day after Akito is sent home from the hospital is a blur. People are constantly coming up to him and welcoming him back. The entire soccer team comes up and volunteers to help him out with physical therapy once his casts come off, other people offer to help him with homework and stuff he missed, and even surly Herr-sensei smiles and welcomes him back.
“Welcome back, Akito! You’re well!”
“What?”
“He means you look well,” Toya translates. “He’s trying to practice his Japanese more, don’t worry if he messes up.”
“Oh, alright. Danke, Herr-sensei!” Akito says.
While they’re at school, Toya’s volunteered to help Akito with his things and push his wheelchair, which means at least for a few months they get to be in the same class. Akito does not care how insufferable everyone else finds this.
After school, Ken picks them up and drives them back to Vivid Street, which is somehow more insane. Someone would be forgiven for thinking there was a street festival going on with how much everyone’s celebrating. A couple of Live House owners mention getting ramps for the stages so he can still perform with his friends. At one point out of the corner of his eye Akito spots Arata, but Toya refuses to wheel him over there to give the jerk a piece of his mind for all the things he said to Toya.
“He already apologized,” Toya says.
“Well, that’s not good enough! I wanna kick his ass!” Akito says. “Or at least extort him for new clothes and lunch. He should pay for our dates for the rest of the year.”
Toya laughs.
Mita shows up at one point and tries introducing Akito to his little brother, but the kid’s shy or something because he just rambles some nonsense stuff, throws a get well card with a skull on it in his face, and then runs away.
“I’m sorry about him,” Mita says. “Anyway, I didn’t realize Ena-san was your sister! We should hang out more.”
“How’d you know her?” Akito asks.
“We’re in class together.”
“You got to Kamikou?”
“I have definitely told you this,” Mita sighs.
“I know, I’m just messin’ with you.” Akito says, giving him a light punch. “Though you really should act more like a senpai.”
“You could respect me a bit more…”
“Maybe if you can run for more than 5 minutes without passing out.”
Vivid Street certainly knows how to throw a party, but it disperses eventually. There’s still one more stop on this victory tour though.
“All set?” Akito asks.
“Good to go!” Kohane replies.
Akito pulls out his new phone, and plays “Ready Steady”
The second they arrive, Len rushes over to hug him.
“Hey bud!” Akito says, ruffling his hair.
“I missed you so much!”
“You talked to me every day in the hospital.”
“It’s not the same!”
“Hey, you guys ready?” Tsukasa-senpai says. “We’ve got everything set up!”
For the first time, everyone in the SEKAI Nightcord is together in one place, so of course they’re all going to sing. The various Vocaloids are also there, leading to some pretty fun combos.
They go for hours, and after he and Ena get pretty intense singing “Salamander,” he rolls over to the cafe for a break.
“How are you doing?” MEIKO asks.
Akito looks up at the thin crack in the roof of the cafe. “Better, I think.” He still doesn’t quite feel like he did before Fuyune. The scar on his wrist from the shock bracelet is there to remind him all the time. He still has nightmares about her sometimes, catches himself trying to figure out if he’ll do something she dislikes. There are times he’s alone and worries that all of this is going to be a dream and he’ll be back in their apartment.
“That’s all we can ask,” MEIKO says. “The unfortunate truth is it always takes less time to inflict a wound than it takes to heal.” She hands him a coffee, and gives his shoulder a comforting squeeze. “But you don’t have to do it alone.”
“Akito!” Toya calls, running over to him. “Are you still alright?”
“Definitely.” Akito holds onto Toya’s hand and squeezes it. Toya’s here. He’s here. This is all real, and he’s going to cherish it.
“Oh my God, get a room you two!” An shouts. “How are you not dating?”
“An, what the fuck are you talking about? We’ve been dating for weeks .” Akito says.
“Wait? Seriously?”
“Um, yeah?” To prove his point, Akito tugs on Toya’s arm, and Toya leans down to kiss him. “Get your shit together An, you gotta pay attention to these things.”
Everyone stares at them in stunned silence until Mizuki starts laughing.
“You all owe me SO MUCH MONEY!” they shout.
“You had to stop being pining idiots right at this moment,” An sighs, pulling out some cash and handing it to Mizuki.
Mizuki goes to collect their spoils, and Akito turns to Toya. “Up for a few more songs, partner?”
Toya grins. “Of course.”
“Then let’s show them what the BAD DOGS can really do.”