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Standing alone with just a microphone, a blonde boy wearing all black stood below shining letters reading his name, ‘TSUKASA’, with no happiness in his lightless eyes. Sadness and hidden anger looming over his poor soul as his shattered voice sung out to the crowd. Silence engulfed the audience, as these aliens.. no.. monsters had stood and stared at the shining star of the stage. ‘Their’ shining star.
Tsukasa had lost what he had loved the most, what he wanted to live for, a girl that resembled him in many ways. Gone missing from the last round of this hellscape. He didn’t understand why and how she had managed to leave, since she was the closest thing as family to him stuck in this fake reality of Earth. He even gave up his own freedom for the sake of her, he wanted to see her safe, happy. Tsukasa couldn’t let go of her, the memories he had with her from their childhood to adulthood.
He's always saved her, that is what being a good ‘brother’ is to Tsukasa. Even being beaten and battered by them still hasn’t changed the way Tsukasa viewed this new world of theirs. His resilience is not surprising to them, he had always been quite a bother to them, nobody wanted him anyway. Except for him , but he doesn’t remember that.
Yet all of it was for naught, he couldn’t save her. Tsukasa couldn’t even save his own damn sister. Only a fool can do that, a fool gets himself cornered to a wall and gets tossed around like a used toy for those monsters to find pleasure for themselves, their pleasure disregards the screams of terror and uncomfortable silence of Tsukasa’s physical and mental well being. This fool called 'Tsukasa' had nothing left for him, yet he still chose to fight for answers. That is what he is used to for as long as he remembers.
Though he had forgotten one thing, one person who had been with him equally as long as his sister. A boy with particular orange hair had been standing with him on stage dressed in all white, as this was their last test together. The letters light up with his name, ‘AKITO’, someone Tsukasa knew for a while, yet even in their final round together, Tsukasa couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes after all that had happened. Akito knew this, but he wished that Tsukasa could look at him one last time, until one of their hearts had stopped beating.
Akito had been watching Tsukasa from many distances, wishing to get closer to the boy, to touch the boy, to make Tsukasa see with his own two eyes. And yet every time he tried it, was all for nothing, he saved him, time and time again, yet Tsukasa had left him and chose to disregard the choice of freedom. The day with the meteor shower still lingers in Akito’s mind till the end of time. And even the rare times he had ever gotten close to Tsukasa, he was not even conscious to see Akito. The only time Akito had made Tsukasa look at him was to tease and upset the boy, yet it only hurt the both of them more.
His memory of the boy can be summed up to a small interaction with the two, in their younger age with a flower. A beautiful yet.. somewhat dead orange flower the two had found. Tsukasa had found it while Akito followed suit, such a beautiful flower slowly wilting away.
“Is it dead?” Asked the little Akito.
“…No..! I’ll bring it back to life!! Haha!!” Tsukasa had sat beside the flower and attempted to cheer it back to life.
“…” Akito questioned the boy's method but quickly followed and started to do the same.
“I think it’s working.”
“It is!?”
“..No you idiot.”
Akito recalled Tsukasa throwing a fit because of his words. Accidentally punching him in the face in doing so, Akito remembers the expression on Tsukasa’s face so clearly that it felt like he didn’t deserve seeing it. Or his childhood self shaped if that way, either way it was one memory that had been with him ever since..
Throughout the song Akito couldn’t help but stare at Tsukasa, his sullen eyes and shaking vocals, he knew the boy was trying his best not to break in front of the audience that despised him, it was an unfair scenario as Akito has been treated far differently than Tsukasa. But Akito was the only person there who.. loved him. He loved Tsukasa for who he is, even if it hurts to love him. A one sided love that cannot be fixed with just a confession, he HAD to get Tsukasa to look at him. He needed to look at Akito, he was so desperate to see those beautiful eyes of his.
Akito tried everything, but it was never enough.
He wasn’t enough, he was sick of the silence between him and Tsukasa. He needed to act more.. aggressively.
As Akito started to sing his cry the sky had turned dark, as rain started to pour over the two boys. Akito’s loud vocals and confidence made the audience cheer for his victory, his points slowly rising up that will soon end in the death of Tsukasa. Tsukasa, knowing this, didn’t care anymore, he was broken down so badly that he thought he didn’t have anything left other than the freedom of death to take him with it’s cold deathly hands.
Tsukasa could only sing his lines before his inevitable death, as the rain and thunder escalated. The everlasting melody and memories they shared in their separate ways has suddenly faded away as Akito did not join him in their last duet. Instead he saw him throw away his microphone and walk over to him, throwing away his victory for Tsukasa. Akito had thrown away the one chance for him to come out unharmed without any serious consequences.
“Lost in forever’s embrace.”
Those lyrics uttered out of Tsukasa’s mouth before being forcefully grabbed to look at Akito, only a few seconds of silence between the two. Before being drawn into a kiss, an aggressive one at best, the drops of rain slipping down their faces as Akito did not let Tsukasa breathe even for a single second. The cold icy lips of his putting on a show for the audience left to see, even if Tsukasa kept pulling out, Akito did not want this to end soon.
But everything had to end soon, so Akito took a deep breath and pulled away from their kiss and proceeded to ‘choke’ Tsukasa with his own two hands, giving the boy no time to react at all. Gripping onto Tsukasa’s neck with enough strength to lay him unconscious for the time being without hurting him badly, he was careful with him. And Akito knew the consequences of this action, he planned this out the way he wanted. This was the show that he wanted, he wanted to drown in Tsukasa’s embrace before he died.
With one last soft kiss on his lips, he finally saw Tsukasa’s eyes close.
Akito fully expected to get killed during this, and he was right. Those guards had already started to open fire at him, shooting his side and shoulder. Yet he kept standing, his hands trembling as he kept his grip on the boy's neck, slowly looking over at the points he finally let go of the boy's neck, realizing that he’d lost the round. A plan that he had concocted without anyone noticing. Causing Tsukasa to wake back up from his unconscious state.
As he opened his eyes he finally saw him, he finally saw Akito. Falling down with blood running down his mouth, those shining green eyes of his had turned dark and dull, he saw the boy mouth words that can’t be heard because of the loud screams and cheers from the crowd below, then slowly smile at him dearly as if this was.. just a trick to get Tsukasa to look at him for the final moments of his life. Considering Akito, it may have been one.
Tsukasa had won. He won because of the sacrifice Akito made for him.
But was this really.. a true victory?
Tsukasa stood over Akito’s body as he could only just stare at him, unsure if his ‘’friend’’ was alive. The rain was still pouring above him, while tears were falling off Tsukasa’s face. To him, this was a loss far worse than death, he had lost another person he had been with for a while. Though.. Akito isn’t just a person to Tsukasa, it’s difficult to picture Akito as a friend or foe anymore, seeing him bleeding out on the ground, Tsukasa just stood in a deafening silence.
Tsukasa had finally looked at Akito, but it was Akito who wasn’t looking back at him.