Chapter Text
Ena was finishing up the cover art for N25's new song. It was a simple drawing of a girl on her knees in a storm, head in her hands. It was a fairly good drawing, but it didn't really convey the song's emotions very well. She decided to scroll Pinterest for ideas. She needed a break anyways.
As she was about to open the app, a notification caught her eye. "Tragic plane crash kills all 250 passengers after getting hit by lightning." Of course Ena got this notification right as Akito was halfway to the U.S.
She opened the notification and... No. No. Nononononono..... It was a flight from Shibuya, Japan to Los Angeles, California... That was just a coincidence, though... right?? There are probably plenty of flights from that exact airline, at those exact times, with those exact conditions all the time! She was just being paranoid. Akito was safe. Everything's fine. Everything WILL be fine. More than fine, even! Everything will be perfect! Akito will have a fun time in the U.S., singing and dancing and eating and sleeping or whatever the fuck he's doing. Everything's alright. Everything's fine. There's nothing wrong. It's just a random flight, which has nothing to do with Ena or her friends or family. It's okay. It just so happens to be the same flight number. Everything is OKAY!
A sharp knock on the front door startles her out of her panic. It's probably just a package or something. Maybe Airi came over uninvited again.
"Ena! Can you answer the door?" Her mom shouted from the bathroom where she was taking a bath.
She sprinted to the front door and shoved it open so fast she nearly hit herself with it. Outside was a man she didn't recognize, wearing some sort of uniform.
"Is this the Shinonome household?"
"Y-yes! Uhh... You must be... A mailman..? Or my mom's coworker?"
"No, I'm here to inform you of the death of Shinonome Akito. His plane crashed in a storm, no survivors."
Suddenly, time stopped. There were no sounds except the rain and the uncontrollable beating of her heart. She felt her knees go weak and tears streamed down her face. There's no way. He's alive. They got the wrong person. She had to tell the man that he'd come to the wrong house. That her little brother was still alive. And yet no words came out. All she could let out were choked sobs as she clenched her fist so hard her palms bled and as the rain soaked her hair and back, the drops falling on her like little knives attacking her for being so irresponsible. Why did she let Akito go on that flight? Shit. She got up, holding the door frame for support and looked at the man. All she could manage was a whisper. "He's alive..."
The man simply looked sad. He opened his mouth to speak, but Ena started yelling at him. "FUCK YOU! DON'T EVEN START! YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO.. to... I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO BUT IT CAN'T BE GOOD! YOU'RE JUST LYING! AKITO'S ALIVE! MY LITTLE BROTHER IS-" She felt a hand cover her mouth and looked down at the man who was now on the floor with a bright red scratch mark on his cheek. Ena attempted an apology, but all she achieved was a small choking noise before running back to her room and slamming the door shut.
Instead of running to her bed and screaming into her pillow like she normally did when mad, she just stood there. She stared blankly at the drawing tablet, drawing still open. Then down at the phone that was on the floor. She hasn't even noticed she dropped it. She stumbled forward and added a detail to the drawing. A plane. The sight made her throw the tablet across the room. It hit the wall and cracked but she didn't care. She just screamed. An agonizing, deafening scream unlike any she'd ever made before. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why couldn't she be there? Why didn't she stop him? Why couldn't the flight have been delayed? Why did she care so much?! WHY?!
She checked the time. 12:59 AM of course. She stumbled into her chair. Maybe if she just pretended everything was fine, it would be.
She opened Nightcord and was immediately greeted with her girlfriend's cheerful voice.
"Hiya, everyone~~~!! How's the song coming along?"
"It's alright, I looked at your music video. It's coming along nicely." Kanade said. But Ena could hardly hear her. It felt like she wasn't even in her own body.
"How about you, Enanan? How's the cover art coming along?"
...
"Helloooo???? Enanannnnn??????"
Ena replied simply.
"I'm here. The cover art is done. I'll send it over now." Except it didn't feel like her.
"Woah! What happened?? You sound like Yuki when she's-"
"SHUT UP!"
Ena yanked the cable of her earphones, causing her right ear to bleed. She could hear Kanade and Mizuki's muffled voices, but she just got up and sent the drawing straight from her tablet into the Nightcord groupchat. She stumbled back to her desk, and left the call, thinking of Akito's words. "It's not like I'm never coming back." What a liar.
And that was the last time anyone saw Ena Shinonome alive.