Work Text:
“You are cordially invited to the akao festival to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Please dress in full traditional attire and bring flowers.
xx xxxxxxxx in Osaka on May 5th at 4pm.
Miss Akao “
So on May 5th, Akira was in her room, a rather luxurious room with a large double bed where there were flowers that her grandmother had carefully prepared for her.
Next to it were luxury jewels that had belonged to his family for generations; his mother had made a selection for him.
She takes a pair of earrings with a small diamond and a red butterfly; the earrings belonged to Rion, that's why Mima had put them in the box.
Akira puts them on and then straightens her hair into a bun which she then clips with a clip that belonged to her mother; it was the tradition to carry the clip between women in the family.
She sighs before looking at herself in the mirror; Akira looks like a wool doll, the perfect girl her parents want her to be.
Akira instinctively puts his hand on his arm; the scar still hurts.
“I miss them,” said Akira
She looks in the mirror again, puts her hair in place and adds lip balm before going to put on her shoes which are right next to her wardrobe, Akira's feet already hurt.
“Akira, are you ready, my darling?” Mima asked.
“Yes Mima,” said Akira, opening her bedroom door.
Her grandmother Mima is a tall woman with blue hair, now very dark, tied in a rolled bun, and wears a traditional outfit similar to Akira's except that Mima wears a red belt.
Mima steps towards her to kiss her on the cheek before saying
“You look magnificent, Akira!” she said with a big smile.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Did you put on a concealer and makeup on your arm?” she asked, grabbing her hand.
“Yes, like Mom asked me to,” Akira replied, raising her sleeve so that her Mima could see her arm and the wound covered with a thick layer of makeup. She smiled before handing it back to her.
“Good. But don’t forget to put on the bracelets, they have belonged to our family for several centuries and… Rion wore them to his first spring festival,” said Mima, taking the bracelets from the dressing table and slipping the two rings around the wrist of her little girl who did not want to wear them.
“I know, Mima,” she said, taking one of the rings… she looked even more like a doll
“You know, it was at my first spring festival that I met your grandfather… maybe you’ll meet your future husband today,” she said with a big smile.
“You never know,” she said.
After that, the two girls left the room and went down the stairs to reach the large living room where there were quite a few people. Akira swallowed her saliva and pinched her lips before greeting her grandfather who was talking with a man.
“You are ravishing, Akira,” said her grandfather.
“Thank you. I’m going to go greet the guests, I’ll be back later,” said Akira, leaving to greet them.
“My little girl isn’t pretty!” the grandfather repeated.
“She looks like her mother and Rion,” said the gentleman.
Akira heads towards the drinks stand and is spotted by her mother, a woman with blue hair in a braid. She was the spitting image of the adult Akira, but unlike her mother, she was authoritarian and didn't want Akira to become an assassin like Rion.
“You’re already dehydrated,” her mother asked, her eyes questioning. “You’ve only just put on your makeup.”
“That’s for later,” said Akira
“It’s the boy’s job to buy a girl a drink, not the other way around. I don’t know what you learned from the JCC, but we don’t work like that,” said his mother.
“I know. Forgive me, Mother,” said Akira, leaving the full glass on the table, then headed towards the terrace where there were quite a few young people. Akira waved to them before going to sit on one of the benches.
“Hello, you must be Akira,” said a boy who approached her.
" Yes "
“My name is Yuki, we’ve met before at school,” Yuki said with a big smile.
“You were at the JCC,” Akira said enthusiastically.
“What… no, I went to Osaka Preparatory School,” said Yuki, staring at Akira after his first sentence.
“Ah yes, that school,” she said in a small voice. She knew her grandparents would never invite anyone from the FJA to a spring festival, especially after the one in Rion…
“Your parents said you went to a girls’ boarding school to study Japanese traditions,” Yuki recounts.
“Oh yes… I was there,” she said, putting her hand on her arm.
“So, what are you going to do next year? I’m planning to go to university to become a doctor,” said Yuki, taking a sip of her drink.
“I don’t know yet…” said Akira, who wasn’t really listening to the conversation.
“You know, Akira… we could go out together. Since you don’t know what you want to do and I plan to become a doctor, we’d be a good match,” said Yuki.
“One more,” said Akira
“We would be like your grandparents… I mean,” said Yuki, continuing to speak.
Akira bites her lip then looks at the ground to think of a way to end this conversation trapped by her grandparents, she looks at her right shoe and throws it away into a bush of course yuki does not see it because he was concentrated on talking about his future projects.
“Oh, I’ve lost my shoe,” said Akira. She thanked Rion for teaching her this technique when she was six years old.
“Oh no, wait, I’ll help you,” said Yuki, getting up.
“No, don’t worry, I’ll do it myself,” she begins to say. Akira gets up and hops on one foot before tripping over a pebble and falling right where her shoe is.
“What’s going on, Akira?” Yuki asked.
“I fell, it’s nothing…” she said.
“We can’t just leave the queen of the day on the ground,” said Shin, extending a hand to help Akira up. Dressed in a green kimono, he had a bouquet of flowers hanging from his left arm.
“Shin,” said Akira, getting up and grabbing his shoe.
“So glad to see you again. You look magnificent,” said Shin, kissing her cheek.
“Do you know Akira?” Yuki asked.
“I am Shin, a friend of Akira and you?” said Shin, making Akira put his shoe back on.
“Yuki, are you sure you’re invited?” Yuki asked, sounding rather arrogant.
“Yes, invited by a certain Mima…” said Shin
“Okay. So I’ll leave you with him, Akira. We’ll talk later,” said Yuki before leaving.
" Goodbye "
Akira smiled and Shin handed her the flowers; they were lilies.
“I feel like I’m suffocating in this kimono,” said Shin, who finally regained his true personality, which delighted Akira, because she hadn’t immediately recognized the Shin that Akira had met at the JCC exam.
“I can’t believe you’re here!” she said, giving him a hug.
“It’s thanks to Mima and Lu, by the way, she sends you a kiss, and Atari too,” said Shin
“Is Atari still with Heisuke?” she asks.
“Yes, they’re very much in love. She wanted to come, but since she’s a former member of the FJA and your parents… she didn’t want to disrupt the party. But Atari asked me to give you a flower that’s on the gift table,” Shin said, smiling.
“Thank you to her, and I’m sorry about this costume, my mima wanted me to look pretty so she insisted on the makeup and hairstyle,” she said, straightening her hair.
“But you look magnificent like that! I think this is the first time I’ve seen you wearing makeup,” he said, helping her straighten her hair, then he saw that her mark was masked by makeup.
“Thank you…” she said, blushing. “Would you like something to eat or drink?”
“Yes, of course!” said Shin
The two went back inside and then headed towards the bar so Shin could serve himself, then served Akira under the amused gaze of her grandmother.
“They’re cute,” said Mima, placing her hand on her cheek.
“You know the boy,” said the grandfather.
“Yes, I met him once in Tokyo,” said Mima.
His mother, far less pleased, heads towards them to "greet" Shin, looking at him with almost disgust before speaking.
“You are,” she asks.
“Shin Asakura,” he said with a smile.
“Mom is a friend of mine. We met when I came back from boarding school,” said Akira.
“I see. Your face looks familiar, haven’t we met before?” said his mother.
“No, otherwise I’ll remember,” said Shin, handing Akira a tray of raw vegetables.
“Rin, my darling, come here,” said Akira’s father, calling her from across the room.
“I’m coming,” she said. “We’ll see each other later.”
Rin then goes to her husband, Akira turns around and then takes something to eat to calm her stress.
Shin saw the scene and put a hand on Akira's back.
“Do you think if we escape now, people will see it?” Shin said.
“You want to leave already?” said Akira, clearing his throat.
“Let’s go to a quieter room, come on,” said Shin, grabbing her hand. Then the two went to the kitchen where maids were preparing the dishes.
“Staircase,” said Shin
“Yes, straight ahead,” said Akira
Then the two of them race up the stairs to land on the first floor, Shin heads towards the first room he sees, opens it and enters.
It was a very spacious room with lots of paintings, it looked like a cozy suite or something.
Shin removes the top of his kimono to show his tank top and sits on the bed, followed by Akira who is carrying the two plates.
“Do you know who this room belongs to?” Shin asked.
“No, you know, there are so many rooms that I have trouble finding my way around,” said Akira.
“You haven’t seen the great Lu Castle in China. We went there this summer, it was amazing!!” said Shin
“Wow, you're so lucky!” said Akira
“I find it hard to imagine finding anything bigger, is this your main residence?” Shin asks.
“Yes, my parents live near Tokyo, so I spend most of my time with my grandparents,” she said.
“They are nice,” Shin asks.
“Yes, it was actually my grandfather who coached Rion back then,” she said enthusiastically.
“Your grandfather…” said Shin
“He runs an assassination school in Osaka. He’s a retired assassin who trains the new generation,” she said.
“Okay…I think Nao mentioned it to me once,” said Shin, who started eating while listening to Akira.
“In three weeks I’m going to be trained by him, of course it won’t be easy but I’ve been through worse,” said Akira
“Three weeks because of your arm,” Shin asked questioningly.
“Yes, and by the time my parents get back to Tokyo,” said Akira
“I see,” he said.
“Is everything alright, Shin…?” Akira asked, worried about Shin’s answers. It wasn’t like him to speak like that.
“Yes, of course, but I think you should wait before returning to assassination. It’s fairly quiet at the moment, and you can always study,” said Shin.
“I know you want to protect me, but it’s going to be okay. This time I’m surrounded,” said Akira.
“Then you can work with the shop; Mr. Sakamoto plans to open a shop in Osaka,” said Shin.
“No, that’s not what I want to do… I want to avoid situations like Rion and Uzuki’s. I know that it’s through assassination and the FJA’s new policy that I can help,” she said, while eating.
“Okay then, if that’s your dream. But don’t die, I still want to see you,” said Shin.
“Me too,” she said, blushing.
Akira gets up and goes to the wardrobe and opens it; it was filled with things belonging to her family, outfits that some of which seemed familiar to her. She takes one out; it was a pretty black dress with the same shape as the one Rion wore in one of the family photos.
“That dress is pretty,” said Akira
“Yes, and what if you tried?” Shin asked.
“It’s not my size…” she said, putting the dress back in the wardrobe.
Shin gets up in turn and looks at the clothes in the wardrobe, he takes out two and puts them on the bed.
“How about dressing up?” said Shin, putting on the shirt of the costume he had just taken.
“We can’t,” said Akira
“It’s your party, so you can do whatever you want,” said Shin, putting on the jacket. He turned his back to the wardrobe. “If you want to change, I’ll stand behind you.”
“This dress is definitely too big,” she said.
“Akira, we only have one life. You can now live yours however you want, okay?” said Shin.
She smiles then heads towards the bathroom with the dress, she opens her kimono revealing her tank top, she puts on the purple dress which comes below her knees, Akira looks at herself in the mirror we see her makeup planned for her kimono, she splashes some water on her neck to remove the foundation which is too light.
Akira then takes a glove and runs it under water to remove the foundation from her arm, and then the pad showing the large scar
“Might as well stay natural,” she said.
She throws it in the trash, arranges her hair into a bun and the flower that Shin had given her, Akira, she smiles one last time before leaving the bathroom to see Shin dressed in a 3-piece suit.
“You look even more beautiful than in the kimono,” said Shin.
“Thank you… you’re not bad looking either,” she said, walking towards him.
“I see you’ve let your scar breathe,” he said, taking her arm.
“Yes,” she said, blushing.
Then someone knocks on the door; Akira and Shin freeze.
“Akira, you’re here, my darling.”
It was Mima, so Akira opened it to let her in.
“You changed,” said Mima
“If this causes any problems, it’s my fault!” said Shin.
“I really like your outfits because it’s my dress and your grandfather’s,” said Mima, tearing off Akira’s outfit.
“That’s your outfit,” said Akira.
“Yes, I wore it on our first date. Just seeing you brings back memories…” she said, her eyes shining. Mima retied Shin’s tie. “There you go, young man, you’re all set.”
“Thank you Mima,” said Shin with a small smile.
“Akira, if you want to go for a walk with Shin, go ahead. Your grandfather is talking about the war and how he defeated enemies in 56,” said Mima, laughing. She went into the bathroom, grabbed Akira’s kimono, and put it on the bed right next to Shin’s.
“We just wanted to put them up, nothing more,” said Akira, panicked at the idea of destroying his grandmother’s ideas.
At the same moment, Rin arrives with a glass of sake. She looks at her daughter and the horrible scar on her arm, gets angry, and grabs her daughter's arm and her kimono.
“Mom, what are you doing?” said Akira
“I’m saving your life,” she said, taking a handkerchief to cover the mark. “I don’t want you to be like her.”
“Rin, you’re imagining things,” said Mima, taking Rin’s arm and pushing Akira towards Shin. “I’m the one who told her to wear that dress.”
“Why do you hate this brand so much?” Akira asks, mounting it, this brand still red in the shape of a country when Blue returned home with the bandage, Rin thought she was having a heart attack.
his daughter… his baby had been injured in a fight that had nothing to do with her, cursed ever since that day.
“Because she represents your life as an assassin, the one your father and I don’t want!! We just wanted you to have a normal life away from her and your grandparents,” said Rin
“I thought being an assassin was a family trait,” Shin retorted.
“My mother failed the test… she’s not an assassin and doesn’t have the gift like me and Rion,” Akira said slowly, which annoyed her mother.
Rin hates talking about that time; just seeing Akira's eyes reminds him of the long training sessions with Rion.
They trained twice a day to develop their skills and fighting style; Rin was jealous of Rion because she had everything…
Everything Rin wanted, and now Akira had it.
“And Rin made the choice to go into the normal world,” said Mima.
“I don’t want Akira to end up like Rion; just a month ago she almost died,” Rin said through tears.
Akira had never seen her mother in tears; even when she broke her leg, Rin hadn't cried.
“I will personally ensure her safety, don’t worry. And if Akira returns to the normal world, we will accept her,” Mima said, looking at her granddaughter with a big smile.
She rolled her eyes, and Mima realized that her daughter wasn't taking her seriously, but seeing Akira's reaction, she thought it was better if Akira was with them rather than at her parents' house.
Rin understood this well, she looks at Akira's mark, grabs her glass and drops the last drops of alcohol on the scar before returning near the level of the door.
“She won’t listen to me anyway… I’m going to get myself another drink now. Akira, do what you want, but be home by 8 p.m.,” Rin said before slamming the door behind her. She dried her last tears before going downstairs and joining her husband, who saw her state.
“Everything is fine,” said her husband, worried about his wife’s behavior.
“Yes, I just dropped my glass on the way upstairs, would you mind getting me another one?” she said, pointing to the empty glass.
“Of course, I’ll be right back,” replied the husband, kissing his wife before heading towards the counter.
“What do you want to do?” Shin asked.
“I don’t know…” said Akira, playing with his hands, anxious about making a decision after what had happened.
“I have an idea, Shin. If you went to the gardens with Akira, it would do her good. I’ll take care of the guests,” said Mima.
“The air will do you good,” Shin told her, gently taking her hand.
“Okay,” she said.
The two leave the room under the gaze of Mima, who smiles at seeing the young people together, Mima leaves the room to go to the kitchen.
She told a maid to bring cakes and two drinks to Akira, who were in the garden, before resuming her role as hostess.
Upon arriving in the beautiful garden, Shin, accompanied by Akira, stopped on the steps of a large porch, soon joined by a waitress who offered them a large tray of cakes and two non-alcoholic drinks.
“Enjoy your meal,” she said before leaving.
"Thank you," the two say, Shin takes a napkin to put all sorts of cakes in in order to give it to Akira, then he does it for himself.
Shin ate and it was delicious, it reminded him of aoi dishes.
“I’m quite uncomfortable about what happened,” said Akira
“It’s not your fault,” Shin said, “before you tell me, ‘But… your mother wants to stop you from living because you remind her of her sister. Akira, you shouldn’t live for her, but only for yourself and your own goals. If you want to become an assassin, become one. I’d be happy to encourage you. If you want to live like your grandparents, no problem, because I know it’s you who wants that, not your grandmother or your mother.’” Shin continued, his voice tightening.
“Thank you Shin,” said Akira, eating a slice of cake.
“Now what are you planning to do about your spring festival?” Shin asked.
“I’m going to eat a nice pizza while watching a movie,” said Akira. “I’ve been preparing for this party for a week, I deserve a break.”
“Great! And are you free this week to come see us in Tokyo?” Shin asked with a smile.
“Yes,” said Akira, “I would be delighted to go to Tokyo to see the progress of your shop,” smiling.
“Yes, the shop,” Shin said, laughing.
Then Shin tells Akira what is happening in Tokyo, Heisuke was now in the new order with Atari, Amane, Nao are still studying at the JCC.
As for Natsuki and Mafuyu, they are currently in Korea for "a vacation" and to sell Natsuki's tools.
Akira therefore had a date with Shin this week to visit Tokyo.
Later that day, Shin left to return to Tokyo and Akira did as she had promised, she watched a movie in her pretty dress.
Her parents left three hours ago, claiming they were going to another party.
The party lasted more than five hours before the guests slipped away to avoid another wartime anecdote.
When Mima goes into Akira's room after tidying everything up, she sees Akira asleep in her dress and earrings; she seems peaceful.
Mima enters and puts a long blanket over him before kissing him on the cheek and leaves to join her husband to sleep after all this day.