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There was a crashing storm that overtook Yokohama. Water pounding down from the sky at ravishing speeds. Higuchi had seen Akutagawa go out, when the rain had just started. But hours later, Akutagawa has not returned . Higuchi looked at her sister with pleading eyes as she held her back. A thousand thoughts swarmed her brain like the storm outside, pouring down violently for what seemed to be forever.
“I saw him head for the mountains!” She gasped out. “Please, sister!” She tried to hold back tears. She tried to believe that everything would be okay, but she knew it was fruitless. She knew that something was wrong; the feeling rooting itself in her gut.
Her sister gave her a sad look but let her go silently. Higuchi ran out the door, slamming it hard behind her. She picked up the pace as she made it up the mountain. Almost there, almost there. When she made it up, it took everything in her to not burst out crying when she saw Akutagawa lying among shrubbery and rocks. She leaned down and cupped Akutagawa’s face as softly as she could. There was when she let out a few tears.
“Oh, God,” she sniffled, but then paused. “Akutagawa?”
His face was as cold as ice and was much, much paler than she had ever seen him. Her previous panic came crashing down again like water through a now broken dam. Hot tears ran down her face as she tried to assess what could have happened. He couldn’t be dead, he fought so hard to be alive. There was no way, right? She pulled him closer than she was ever allowed before and sobbed into his weak body, noticing faintly but trying hard to ignore that she couldn’t hear his pulse.
Her sister yelled for her. She yelled back as hard as she could, but her voice was breaking. She called for an ambulance when Higuchi came down holding Akutagwa, staring at her with a wet, red face.
A few days later, when Higuchi went to check on him, Akutagawa seemed as fine as ever. He gave her a brief nod, and she thought she saw a small smile as well. She was taken with that look on his face, much preferring it over the scowl he’d usually give her.
Before the incident, Akutagawa would barely pay attention to her. He was a close friend, but they didn’t spend time together all that much. Not like when Akutagawa first joined the Port Mafia. Higuchi always longed for those days again. She hoped that she could help him, but all she could do was stand by him. Against everything, she vowed this. Even when he said otherwise; when he’d look her in the eye as she felt her cheek bruise again and spit out the words like he couldn’t wait to say them once more, breaking her heart once more. He knew she wasn’t going to listen. She knew he didn’t mean what he said. But stunted, bruised, his eyes dark, he’d look at her and say it.
She would walk home after one of these moments and cry. She would grab her first aid kit as if it would be the last time. She would place an ice pack on her cheek and look at herself vacantly in the bathroom mirror. It stung thinking about it.
But, suddenly, here he was, grabbing her hand and carefully looking at it. “I see you’ve painted your nails?” which left Higuchi lost for words.
He let go; walked away. She stood gaping at his back. What happened? But by all means, she was glad he wasn’t being so stuck up anymore and refusing her help. In battle, he’d actually work with her. He’d follow when she stepped in, instead of insisting that he could do it alone. All was fine and dandy, except that it was against all Akutagawa had been before. Maybe her saving him again changed something in him? She couldn’t lie, it was enjoyable to work with him now. But it also wasn’t at all how Higuchi knew Akutagawa to be.
So after a mission, she and Akutagawa were walking to the Port Mafia headquarters. Higuchi tilted her head to look at him. “You’re not like Akutagawa at all,” she said, an offhand comment that she didn’t mean to let slip.
He turned to her. “Huh?” She watched as half of his face dissolved, worm-like tentacles extending outward. Panic hit Higuchi’s face immediately. He stared at her with a face that disturbed her to her core. She watched for a while as she saw the tentacles move out to her.
With a vise grip, he grabbed hold of her by the shoulders. “Don’t tell anyone,” he held her in a way Akutagawa wouldn’t dare, his hands squeezing her tight and desperately. His arms were shaky when he pulled her into a crushing hug, causing her body to tense up
He whispered. “Please.” Her ears rang. Her breath hitched. But then Higuchi carefully placed her chin onto his shoulder.
“Promise.”