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He was an idiot.
She was sure of that much at least. She could recall the numerous times when Akito had tried desperately to confess to Touya and he ended up saying something dumb instead. When he did successfully confess to him, he still somehow believed that Touya didn’t like him back, a feat that even her, Shiraishi An, the definition of density, was stunned by.
That’s not to mention his failure with school work, either. The man would fail every test even with his boyfriend’s tutelage. She wasn’t better in that regard, but at least she seemed aware of her failures. Akito still would make fun of her for failing until she pointed out he was doing worse than she was
And he was annoying as well
He’d constantly pick at her for loving her girlfriend as much as she did. Who wouldn’t want to talk about their girlfriend when their girlfriend was as pretty, talented, smart, and amazing as Kohane was. And he’d talk about Touya like that too! Always talking about how Touya was better than both herself and her girlfriend combined, a crime that she would never stand for.
There was so much about Shinonome Akito that would make a sane person hate him. So why did it hurt so much?
The funeral was small. Only family and close family friends were able to attend. An was lucky enough to be able to attend due to the length of time she knew the man. Even though it was the smallest crowd she had ever been apart of, the depression in the air was palpable.
When he was alive, Akito would constantly complain about bickering with his sister, how his sister was so talented and yet so thoroughly unaware of her talent, how his sister was so emotional over the littlest of things and would worry far too much about “that Akiyama person”. And yet there she was, sobbing loudly at the foot of his grave. She was far from the only one in complete despair, either. Touya, the once stoic member of the group, was so distraught about the loss of his partner that Tenma-senpai and his sister had to pull him away to even attempt to console him.
Those two had every right in the world to be sad. They were his family, and they knew him better than she ever would.
And yet, it still hurt
She had no right to be as sad about this as they were. He probably hated her anyways. But she’d be lying if she said it didn’t pain her. He wasn’t her blood, and yet he felt like the younger brother she never had.
Sure they bickered and fought, but at the end of the day, she still cared deeply for the dumbass. She would still help him when he was in need, and she knew he would do the same for her. Whenever she wanted to confess to Kohane, he was the first person she told.
Kohane was the first person to check on her after the funeral. She didn’t deserve Kohane’s kindness, and yet Kohane would always reach out to help her. Kohane was the one who proposed that the three of them continued as Vivid BAD SQUAD. She reasoned that it was the only way they could properly be able to honor Akito’s memory as he wouldn’t have wanted them to give up on their dream.
Touya was the first to agree. Despite the fact that he was the one who had the most reason to reject the idea, he was the one who was the most passionate about moving forward for Akito’s sake.
Her two group mates had encouraged her to channel her grief into honoring the memories, both good and bad. Of course, she knew it would be hard, but An had realized that the people closest to her would be able to provide her some joy among the pain.
Even if she didn’t have time left, she knew she had to honor the man that she thought of as her own blood.