Chapter Text
Being a SHIFTer, Akane Kurashiki could end up in many universes. They could be universes similar to her own, or even universe that weren’t even related to hers at all.
It was a long and lonely night. The second nonary game had taken place around a week ago, and to her greatest surprise, Junpei had been prompted to make all the right decisions. Normally, a situation as devastating as the nonary game would leave someone traumatized, but Akane was different. She had seen worse, in other universes and in her own.
Akane scrolled through her phone, hoping to find something that would interest her. Nothing held her interest for long. She scrolled through Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, but there was nothing that interested her. Planning the next nonary game wasn’t an option- she had planned it out already and just had to wait for the right time to execute it.
Spare time wasn’t something Akane was used to. She was always planning, always plotting, always preparing for the next event in her life. When she wasn’t focused on the future, she was researching. Libraries all across the world began to recognize her face as she moved seamlessly from place to place.
Recently, she had read so much that she physically couldn’t read anymore. She was tired, burnt out, and exhausted. She was at the point where there was nothing left for her to learn about, aside from irrelevant topics that she would certainly never need. Whenever temptation struck, she’d read up on topics that interested her, leading herself down a rabbit hole of useless information.
A loud noise interrupted her thoughts. Akane looked around her minimally-decorated apartment, unable to find the source of the noise. She thought that it might have been Aoi, but he had left for his part-time job at a grocery store. Everytime she went, she thought that he was crazy for wanting to work in that environment.
“Why do you even work there?” Akane remembered herself saying to him.
The whitehaired man spat, “I strive for some sense of normalcy in my life. Besides, it gives me an excuse to buy an outrageous amount of nonperishable food. You know, because this universe could easily be the one where we get a Radical-6 outbreak.”
Akane nodded, “That’s true. I know all the possibilities of DCOM but I can’t say for certain the reality of this universe. After all, I’m not the one whose responsible for that game”
“That answers your question then.”
Akane sighed in defeat.
They had no shortage of money. Due to her and her brother’s supernatural abilities, they had invested in an unethical pharmaceutical company that was just starting out and managed to gain millions of dollars through that.
Their investment in that company was possible because of her parents. When her father had died, her mother had written a will, indicating that her children were to receive all of the family’s assets. She remembered the horrible event that took place later that week.
“Akane!” Aoi ran out of the bathroom, hand clenched over his mouth as tears streamed from his blue eyes.
“What’s wrong Aoi?” Akane said, listening as her brother heaved.
He didn’t say anything. The stench of misfortune permeated the air. Akane could feel the bile rising in her throat as she entered the room and saw-
Immediately, Akane threw the memory to the back of her mind, not wishing to relieve that horrible moment once again. The aftermath had been detrimental, she hadn’t been able to stop crying for days. She remembered the therapy that her school had forced her to go through, the worn-down toys that they had brought her to play with.
They had told her to play.
Akane had forced the doll to shoot herself with a gun in the bathtub.
The therapist had a concerned look on her face as she wrote stuff down on a clipboard.
After that event, Aoi had taken over as her parental figure, using money frugally to ensure that her needs were met. The two of them lived comfortably. Aoi spent enough money to prevent anyone from noticing their lack of a parental figure. He ensured that both of them were able to make it to school and that they wouldn’t have to end up in foster care. He had planned his mother’s funeral to which very few people came.
From an early age, Aoi had filled the role of both her parents and her father.
Perhaps that’s why he works at the grocery store, Akane thought, Maybe it helps him bury the memories of our past.
Looking out the window, Akane looked at the street below. She lived on the third floor of the apartment. The sun was setting and there was a great amount of people walking down the sidewalk, heading to destinations that remained unknown to her.
Christmas was coming up. They were likely shopping for that holiday.
Christmas brought up a bunch of memories, from her brother always getting her what she wanted, to her wishing for happiness. Heck, even one year, she had been incinerated a month before Christmas. Thankfully, it wasn’t in the present universe. Junpei had saved her from that fate.
Stepping away from the window, Akane went into the kitchen. Inside the freezer, she found bagel bites. She opened up the box, placed a few down onto the place, and placed them in the microwave, nuking them until they were warm enough that the cheese melted. She figured that they would be enough until her brother got back to cook supper. The last time she had tried cooking, she had almost burnt the whole building down and had gotten an earful from Aoi. As a result, she was barred from cooking anything that required more than five ingredients for the time being.
The microwave dinged to let her know that her food was finished cooking. She pulled the plate out of the microwave, regretting her choices the instant the plate scalded her hands. She waited a few minutes and ate the bagel bites, cursing as the sauce exploded all over her face. Cursing, she grabbed a paper towel and wiped it down, finishing the rest of the plate in record time.
Placing the plate in the sink to be washed later, Akane grabbed the TV remote and sat down on the couch. The TV was turned on more for background noise, hopefully to tune out her thoughts.
Eventually, Akane’s thoughts reached another place. She imagined herself on a beach trip where things suddenly took a deadly turn. Maybe she’d shift to that universe in an attempt to cure her boredom.
Closing her eyes, Akane felt her eyes close and her consciousness drift away...