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Sitting in the rocky broken down well was a limp body covered in blood slowly evaporating into thin air like any other supernatural would. Except this one was just a teenager, the ripe age of 14. A brother. A friend.
Teru stared down at his younger brother, the one he had slashed himself with his own lightning, he was attacking Yashiro, but was that really an excuse? He could feel his stomach beginning to turn the same way it bit back then after his first kill.
Tears started to swell up as the full realization hit him like a stone. His brother was dead. There was no way to bring him back.
Well…
Except… If they can get back to the old world that is.
A warm shaky hand was placed against his stiff shoulder; beside him was Aoi who had also been taking small glances into the well. Akane was covering his mouth and his eyes were tight.
“That's it. We're going back to school. And I’m going to turn back time.” Akane’s fingers continued to lay against Teru’s shoulder as he spoke to the rest of the group.
“Ao-chan, Nene, can you guys go on ahead? Just for a moment…” Akane nervously smiled as the two girls left the room. Aoi with her arm wrapped around Nene pulling her out of the four walls that were slowly consuming the smell of burning flesh. The same sent supernaturals would give off as they left this earth and pass on to the far shore.
Akane slid his hand down to Teru’s wrist pulling him away from the well. “Teru, I need you to listen.”
The younger boy placed his hands against the older one's upper arm, attempting to get him to look up and meet his eyes. It almost worked, but Teru wouldn’t look up higher than Akane’s chest.
“It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna get him back.” Akane’s voice broke. At a horrible time really it was just making the younger boy more unsure about his words and more worried if they were just causing Teru to feel even worse.
Akane wrapped Teru in his arms surrounding the older boy in his scent covering the one of blood and decomposition.
Teru collapsed in Akane’s hold. Tears flooded down his cheeks as he pressed his forehead in the nape of the younger one’s neck. The two slipped into the floor, Teru sitting on Akane’s lap as he continued to wail.
A hand sliding up and down his back as the only source of comfort.
“Aoi?” Teru’s voice was clogged with the ball that sat at the bottom of his thought closing his airway.
“Yeah?” Akane felt like tearing up again just from the sound of Teru’s voice. He had never seen him so open and vulnerable like this.
“You promise? You promise we will be able to save Kou.”
“Yes. We will.” Even if I have to risk my life to do so, he thought. He couldn’t bare saying that out loud.
But the truth was. He would actually do anything for Teru. Even if. Even if it meant throwing his own life to do so.
Teru would never let that happen, so he was careful never to mention it.
“Aoi?”
“Yeah?”
“It was my fault wasn’t it?”
“What?! No, of course not.” Akane pulled away looking Teru in the eyes. Not understanding how this exorcist could assume and say things like this.
“Well I did kill him.” The word Kill felt so heavy now. Like a bullet shooting right into the bullseye; except now it wasn’t filled with relief and joy.
“Well- STILL. You were protecting Yahsiro. Think about what might have happened to her if you didn’t. Plus it might now have even been Kou. It could have just been supernatural with a mimic ability.”
“Mimics would have turned back into their original selfs after I electrocuted them.” The tears on Teru’s face looked to have stopped, but the water was still burned against his skin with the matching bloodshot red eyes and watery tear ducts.
“Okay well still. It wasn’t fully Kou. I think the house affected him in some way. So I believe the best course of action from here would be to find a way out before another one of us turns out dead.” That line could have easily been played off as a joke, but the seriousness in Akane’s tone proved otherwise.
Teru gave a small nod letting Akane take the lead in everything for once as he lost most of his motivation by now.
Akane stood up throwing his hand in front of Teru waiting for him to take his hand.
Their hands slid together like oil on water except if the two liquids were actually able to mix and work together.
Akane’s fingertips were warm against Teru’s ice cold ones. The younger boy pulled the older one up onto his feet; holding him up not wanting Teru to fall from his legs that had happened to fall asleep as they now were sending sharp needles through his nerves.
“Akane,” Teru mumbled, not making any sort of direct eye contact. “Thank you.”
Aoi felt his face begin to warm, uncertain of how to feel after the president called him by his first name for the very first time. “Wow, you should be nicer like this alllll the time.” Akane chuckled at his own joke watching Teru’s face fall in a similar smile rolling his eyes at the younger one’s sarcasm.
“Well c’mon we shouldn’t make the girls wait any longer. Plus we need to get out of here as you said.” Teru walked forward up to the door with Akane following right behind him.
The two boys walked out of the room walking up the long stairway, leaving behind the stench that engulfed the room. Along with the body of Teru’s younger brother. The one who will always be known to hold everyone together no matter the situation. Truly someone you could never forget or hate.