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Aunt Nagi is missing.
She hasn’t been seen since yesterday afternoon. She didn’t come back home for the night, and once the first rays of dawn rose above the town, everyone started searching. Dad wanted her to stay home, but she can’t bring herself to do nothing when Aunt Nagi is missing.
“Come on, we’re nearly there,” She calls out to the rest of her team. Aunt Nagi has always loved sunflowers, which is why she wanted to check in the sunflower fields that surround the town. Right now, the sea of yellow sways on the horizon, getting closer with each step.
“She better be here,” Akito grumbles, though his complaining falls flat over the worry in his voice. It’s late in the morning, and the sun is already warming their backs, with not a cloud in sight. It's a shame they can't really enjoy such a beautiful morning.
The sandy path finally reaches the sunflowers. They stand tall, taller than even Toya, towering over them as they get deeper into the field. She adjusts her hat on her head to provide more shade against the blinding sun. She blinks against the sand flying in the air, stirred around by the breeze.
A figure sways on the road ahead, in tandem with the sunflowers. Familiar brown waves bounce with each step.
She barely opens her mouth before Akito takes off, kicking up dust as he runs forward, chasing after Aunt Nagi. She shields her face from the sand cloud, coughing to get rid of the particles. With a moment’s delay, they follow after him. The loose sand is slippery under their shoes, and she almost trips on the unstable ground.
“Aunt Nagi!” She calls, hoping to get her attention.
Aunt Nagi doesn’t turn around, continuing to walk ahead.
She holds down her hat as she runs, watching Akito gain on Aunt Nagi with each dusty step. Akito's athletic, diligently going on runs every morning. Not only is he holding out great on the slippery sand, but he's also closing the gap between himself and Aunt Nagi. Maybe a minute more, and everything will be over.
Aunt Nagi turns right and walks into the field.
She hears a muted string of expletives on the road ahead, and she watches the pottymouth veer to the right. The sunflowers quickly try to swallow Akito, with his bright orange hair being the only sign of where he is.
“Slow down! You're gonna get lost!” She calls to him, doing her best to follow him as closely as she can.
Akito keeps running, the flowers falling out of rhythm as he pushes them to the side. She blinks, and they return to their previous gentle sway.
The bright mop of orange is gone.
“Akito!” She calls again, almost tripping over her feet.
Kohane catches her, and the three of them slow down to a halt.
“Damn it! Now we're missing two people!” She kicks the dirt, watching it stain the white tip of her shoes.
“Akito has good navigation skills,” Toya soothes, though the worry in his voice overpowers any comfort present. “If you’d like, we can search for him first.”
“We could split up?” Kohane suggests, “We can cover more ground that way, and we'll be looking for both Akito and Nagi-san.”
“That's a good idea, Azusawa,” Toya nods. The two of them look towards her expectantly.
She doesn't want to split up.
“Sure.” The word is ripped out of her throat, and when she tries to move her head, it falls into a nod. What's going on? If they split up, then there's going to be five people lost in the fields instead of two. “If I call out, you wave your hat, Kohane, and you can raise your hand, Toya. Just so we can check in on each other,” She manages to say, words catching on her vocal chords and clacking against her teeth on the way out.
The other two, thankfully, nod in agreement. Toya takes off in the same direction they were just running in, while Kohane turns to the left.
She heads to the right, carefully stepping between the flowers. They cast shadows down to the ground, making everything darker despite the sun. As she walks, she glances up at the sun; it's the only constant to orient herself in the endless swaying yellow. She slowly moves towards it. The way out should be away from it.
The field opens up, for just a moment; the sun backlights Aunt Nagi’s head. It looks like a halo, and her gut churns at the sight. Aunt Nagi isn’t dead. There’s no reason for her to appear surrounded by divine light.
When she blinks, Aunt Nagi disappears, swallowed up by the flowers.
“Aunt Nagi!” She tries to run forward, but it’s way too late. The sunflowers sway as before, uninterrupted. Aunt Nagi is gone.
She holds back a frustrated sigh and forces herself to keep going. She can’t stop now. She needs to find Aunt Nagi, and Akito, and Kohane and Toya. She can’t just give up.
Something rustles to her left.
She whips around to see the flowers out of sync, slowly returning to their previous gentle sway, and she swears there was the faintest flash of orange amidst the yellow.
“Akito!” She tries. No one answers.
When she looks up to get back on track, the sun is in front of her, beckoning her forward.
Her heartbeat picks up, and she forces herself to take slow, steady breaths. She turns to the right. The sun is still in front of her.
She lost her only point of orientation.
She looks behind herself, but the sea of yellow is exactly the same as the waves in front of her. The road should be behind her. She takes a careful step back, then another, then turns around to get out of the field. She's not sure how long she walks for, but the field is endless. She knows she wasn't that far into it. She should've found the sandy road by now.
“Everyone!? Are you there!?” She tries, taking her hat off to wave it around. She jumps a few times to peek over the sunflowers.
The sea sways with the breeze, uninterrupted. The only sounds that can be heard are the rustling of flowers and her shoes on the dirt.
She's alone.
Everyone left her.
She tries to keep going, but she's walking in circles; chasing after every momentary flash of brown and orange and blue and mousy blonde, only for her fingers to grasp stem after stem in an attempt to keep someone by her side. It's silent. All other sounds are muted by the roar of blood in her ears. Her knees buckle underneath her, and she falls, rocks digging into her knees. When she looks up, the sky is heavy with dark clouds. She shivers against the harsh, cold wind whipping her skin.
She shifts to sit on the ground. Maybe she can take a break, gather herself and then keep going. She lets out a frustrated sigh, keeping her head up to keep an eye on the clouds. Rain is the last thing she needs right now. She misses the sun.
The shadows around her shift. Confused, she looks around, only to see the sunflowers slowly turning to face her. A shiver runs up her spine.
They’re watching her.
They’re looking down on her.
A sharp smell fills the air, pressing in on her chest; it's like ozone during thunderstorms, foretelling that something’s about to happen. Copper fills her nose and pushes into her lungs, and it’s a second more until the first drop falls onto her face. It’s warm. More droplets fall, and she watches as they catch on the petals, drawing thin, red lines against the yellow and dripping down to the ground.
It’s like blood.
She shrieks; it looks like blood and smells like blood, and she tries to tell herself it’s rusty water instead. Her hands move to grab onto the brim of her hat, but she pauses right as she’s about to curl in on herself.
She can’t help but watch as the sunflowers slowly wither, sunny yellow giving way to black, stems collapsing, unable to hold their own weight. The flowers steadily shrivel up, and she looks away, trying to fit herself under her hat. She hears the drops drum out against the brim. It’s a funeral march just for her ears.
She bites her lip, unwilling to join the sky in it’s cries. She refuses to think about Aunt Nagi, and Kohane, and Akito and Toya. Thinking about them will bring bad luck to them. They’re capable, and they’re safe. They have to be.
She’s not sure how long it takes, but eventually, the rain lets up. Silence falls over the field, and slowly, she straightens up.
Twisted stems and shriveled up petals tangle in a web of black, covering the ground. It stretches endlessly, a dead underbrush, and there’s nothing peeking out of it on the horizon.
She’s alone.
Something glistens in the merciless sun, and she moves to crawl towards that light. Her arms shake as she drags herself forward, a heavy feeling deep in her heart. A few items shine against the ground, and she carefully wipes off the dirt that covers them. A butterfly on a leather strap. A pair of sunflower earrings. A layered necklace with a sunflower and butterfly charms.
A set of golden dangling earrings and a necklace she remembers playing with when she was younger.
She wails, her arms giving out as she falls to the ground. Sobs shake her body, filling the empty field with the sound.
They’re all gone.
She wakes up alone in the dark.
She forces her erratic breathing into something steadier. She's at home, and everyone's asleep. Heart still racing, she reaches for her phone to check the time. It's not even five A.M yet.
An
hey sorry to bother you<
can you come over whenevers possible<
its fine if no<
With a shaky sigh, she places her phone back. She drags herself off her messy bed and heads to the bathroom to wash her face. Phantom coppery drops streak down her face, and she furiously scrubs her cheeks until they're gone.
She comes back, feeling slightly better, and begins to fix her bed.
She jumps when a notification rings out. Tossing her covers aside, she picks her phone up to check it.
The ugly one
>u good?
>i can run over right now
An
please<
She breathes out in relief. Someone's coming. She won't be alone.
She finishes fixing her bed and sits down at the edge, fidgeting anxiously with her hands. Someone's coming. Akito messaged her back. He's alive.
She's not sure how long she spends like this, repeating those thoughts in her head like a mantra. If Akito's alive, then so is Toya, then so is Kohane. They're alive. They haven't left her behind.
Eventually, her phone pings, confirming that Akito's here. She doesn't bother checking the notificiation, instead hurrying to open the door for him.
He barely walks in before she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. He's warm and panting, and she can feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. He wordlessly hugs her back, the familiar scent of citrus and sweat helping ground her.
“Thanks,” She mumbles out, pulling away to lock the door.
“‘S no problem.” Akito rubs his neck.
She wordlessly leads him to her room, closing the door behind them and settling back on her bed. Akito looks around, sliding his backpack off his shoulders, before sitting down on the edge.
“Anythin’ ya need?” I brought ya some leftover cheesecake. Didn't have much else at home, sorry.” He takes out the box and places it on her nightstand.
“Sleep?” Despite the about seven hours she got, she doesn't feel at all refreshed. And she's not sure she'll be able to fall asleep, even with Akito here. Unless…
“Lay down with me?” She asks, scooting over and laying down facing the wall. Feeling Akito beside her should help keep the nightmares at bay.
To his credit, Akito moves to spoon her without complaint. “You're gonna hafta save me from Ken-san later, ya know.” Despite his words, he throws an arm around her.
“I will. Goodnight, Akito.” She closes her eyes, hoping to rest.
“Night.”
Moments later, her eyes fly open in shock, as a slow melody fills her room. Akito's humming, something soft and light, and the vibrations travel from his chest to hers. She closes her eyes again, with a warmth nestling right where the vibrations settle inside her. With Akito's voice serving as protection, she shouldn't have any issues with sleep.
She wakes up later, swaddled up in her blankets, feeling the best she has in a while. When she turns around, Akito's still there, idly scrolling through his phone.
“Mornin’. Sleep well?” When she nods, he continues. “Ken-san came by shortly after ya fell asleep. Thought he was gonna say somethin’ and wake ya up, so I glared at him until he left. He's not gonna be happy ‘bout this.”
She huffs out a small laugh. They're going to be fine, even if Dad's gonna be upset at them.
“Lemme get ready.” She slowly unwraps herself and drags herself up.
Akito only hums, moving to sit on the bed.
“The others said they'll be here soon, by the way,” He says as he puts away his phone in his pocket.
“Really?” She can't help the way she whips around to face him, relief flooding her veins. Everyone's safe.
“Yeah. They're comin’ over after breakfast.” He stands up from the bed, turning his head towards her. “Uh. Should I leave while you change?” He rubs his neck with an unsure, awkward expression. It's relieving to see him make these faces.
“Nah, I'll go to the bathroom.” She gets up as well, picks out some clothes and rushes to get changed. She doesn't want to let Akito out of her sight for long. What if he disappears again? It's irrational, but her hands shake as she pulls on a T-shirt. Her reflection in the mirror has her eyes blown wide.
Once she’s done, she hurries back to her room. Akito’s still there, crouched in front of her CD's and carefully looking through them. He turns away to face her once she opens the door.
“Come on, let's go to breakfast. You'll be fine.” She waits for him to get up, then heads towards their dining table.
“Good morning,” She greets, taking her usual spot. Akito sits down next to her, and she smiles a little at the extra plate already laid out.
“Morning. When’d you get into my house, kid?” Dad's looking curiously at Akito, who refuses to look away.
“Earlier today. An let me in,” He answers with a shrug.
“I asked him to cuddle,” She butts in before Dad can respond. His eyes soften with something like worry as they land on her, then close with a sigh.
“Warn me next time you're gonna have a sleepover,” Dad relents with a shake of his head.
“Will do. Also, Kohane and Toya are coming over soon.”
Dad nods in acknowledgement, then they can say their thanks and start eating. She hasn't realized just how hungry she was, and she practically inhales her breakfast. It's not long after they finish when the doorbell rings out, and she opens the door to see Kohane and Toya, leaning heavily against the wall and panting.
“An-chan!” Kohane greets, peeling herself off the wall to hug her. An wraps her arms around her tightly, inhaling her usual peachy scent. She's safe.
“Did ya two run here?” Akito asks, humor dancing in his voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see him reach out a hand to Toya, who gratefully accepts it.
“Yes. It—” Toya starts, interrupted by a desperate inhale, “wasn't the smartest.”
She smiles into Kohane's hair. It's nice, that they care so much about her. She does feel a bit guilty about ruining their days, so she forces herself to pull away.
“Let's go to my room.” She waits until they take off their shoes to lead them inside. Once the door is closed, she drops down on her bed.
“Do you want to talk about what happened, An-chan?” Kohane asks, taking a seat on the bed. She can feel Kohane's worried gaze move over her face, and she turns away.
Does she want to talk about it? She should, she worried them so much by asking them to come over so early.
She thinks back to the endless field and shudders.
A tender hand in her hair makes her look up, only to see Toya hovering over her.
“Your hair is tangled, Shiraishi,” He comments, fingers carefully avoiding the biggest knots. “May I brush it for you?” Toya's head tilts, and he looks just like a pleading puppy. She can see why Akito folds so easily, because just a moment later she's moving to sit in front of her bed.
“Brush is in one of the baskets on the rack,” She instructs, not bothering to hide her excitement. She always liked it when Aunt Nagi played with her hair. Sometimes she'd curl it for her, to make it just like her own waves, sometimes she tied it up or braided it for her. Then, she'd watch her as she shows off to anyone who would listen, pointing back to Aunt Nagi with a smile.
In the present, her smile falls back into a frown. Toya's carefully brushing through her hair, but it's not the same. Never will be.
“I had a nightmare,” She blurts out, distracting from her current thoughts before she spirals. “Aunt Nagi was gone, and we went searching for her, and then we split up and you left me,” She continues, trying her best to keep her voice from trembling. The brush and Toya's hands moving through her hair are helping, just a bit. “And the sunflowers all looked at me, and then they withered, and everything was dead.” She wipes her cheeks, phantom red racing along her tears. “And— And I think you were dead, too,” She whispers, her voice cracking.
Before she can try to curl up and hide her face in her knees, Kohane wraps her arms around her.
“I’m here, An-chan.” Kohane takes her hand and presses it against her sternum. She can feel Kohane's heart beat through the material, she can feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. “We're not going to leave you.”
She hugs Kohane back with her free hand, relaxing into her. They stay like this for a while; she can feel Toya’s fingers grazing her neck and shoulders, small, purposeful touches to remind her of his presence. The brush soon goes away, but Toya’s fingers don’t still. Instead, she feels him part out three sections, then meticulously work them into a braid. She’d like to point him to her hairties, but she doesn’t want to move and the braid falls apart once he's done.
“An, where’s your hair stuff?” Akito asks somewhere to the side.
“Same box as the brush,” She murmurs out. This is nice. Except Kohane’s trying to pull away, and she clings to her as much as she can. Why is she leaving?
“Let me sit behind you, An-chan. I want to do your hair too.” Reluctantly, she lets her move, and she does feel Kohane settle behind her, taking Toya’s place. Akito unceremoniously dumps the whole basket right next to her, so she grabs the hem of his hoodie and pulls him in.
“What’re you doin’,” He deadpans. She only pulls at him again to get him to sit between her legs. He’s not Kohane, but he’s a surprisingly amazing cuddle buddy, so she wraps her arms around him, placing her hands over his heart. “‘M not a fuckin’ teddy bear.”
Despite his protests, he doesn’t try to pull away, so she hides her face in his back and lets Kohane work. Kohane undoes the braid, then brushes through her hair a few times. This time, she can feel her hair get split in half, and Kohane starts to work near her ear. Toya sits to her side, assisting Kohane whenever she softly calls out for a hairtie.
“Done!” Kohane declares. She peels herself away from Akito's back and watches as Toya grabs the mirror off her nightstand, then accepts it once he reaches out.
“Awww, we match!” She admires herself in the mirror, turning her head from side to side. Kohane tied her hair off in two low ponytails, with small braided sections starting off each ponytail. It looks quite cute, and she can't help but beam at Kohane.
“Lemme go, ‘s my turn.” Akito starts to squirm in her hold, and she does release him.
“Someone's feeling competitive, hm?” She teases as he takes Kohane's place.
“Shut it.” Akito starts undoing her hair.
“Does this mean I should cuddle with you now, Shiraishi?” Toya asks, his head tilted. Despite his Toya-style politeness, she can tell he really wants to hug her.
“Come here.” She opens her arms, and Toya takes the same position as Akito.
“Would you like to feel my heartbeat as well?” He asks, taking one of her hands into his own. His palm isn’t as cold as it usually is, and she places her hand under his, twining their fingers together, before putting their hands over his heart.
Above her, Akito already got to work. Her hair is split in half, then she feels a few smaller sections get tied off. She's not sure what exactly he has planned, so she lets herself relax into Toya. His heart is steady under her palm, beating out a strong rhythm, and she has to do her best to not doze off.
“Done.” Akito's voice is smug as he claps his hands. Kohane holds out the mirror to her with a smile.
“Whoa!” She gasps, raising her free hand up to carefully prod her hair. Akito's space buns are near professional, and with the star clips in they really hold up to their name. He also kept the ideas from her previous hairstyles, by braiding a few small braids to peek out from the rest of her hair.
“You look great, An-chan!” Kohane squeals with a smile. Behind her back, she can feel Akito radiating an obnoxious, proud smugness, so she elbows him in the shin and ignores it when he kicks her hip.
“These space buns suit you, Shiraishi,” Toya hums, “Would you like us to do your nails as well? I noticed that your polish has chipped off quite a lot.” Toya takes her hand away from his chest, then moves his hand under hers to inspect her nails.
“Oh! Sure.” She lets go of Toya to grab her box of nail stuff. She puts away the other box while she’s up, and once she grabs everything she turns back to see the other three up on her bed, waiting for her to close the circle. She sits between Toya and Akito and drops the box in the middle.
“Anythin’ ya want?” Akito asks, taking out the polish remover to start cleaning off the remnants of the muted red she had before. It stains the cotton pad with bloodied rust, and she shivers at the sight.
She takes a moment to think. She doesn’t want to see any more red and yellow, not after today. She had enough of those for the next while.
“Not really. Just no red and no yellow, please.”
Akito hums in acknowledgement, while the other two start picking out colors. Soon enough, her hands are held between the three of them as they focus on their work. Toya's meticulously covering her ring finger in a light teal, while Kohane finishes painting her index finger in a pastel pink. Akito holds her other hand, and he's already drawing something small and intricate on her thumb, like the show off he is. She keeps looking between their drawings as they slowly make shape: a pink flower she recognizes from one of their flyers, a fat little hamster with a misshapen face, and a starry sky to go with her hair. Once they're done, they swap with terrifying, wordless coordination: Akito takes her pinky on the same hand, Kohane takes her middle finger, giving Toya the freedom to paint on her other thumb.
“Can we do your nails later?” She asks, watching as Akito draws a mic in impressive detail, considering the space available.
“I'd like that,” Toya responds, looking up from his work, which kinda reminds her of the particles in SEKAI.
Kohane only hums, focused on drawing Phenny, who's coming along quite nice.
“Akito, you sure you don't wanna be a nail artist on the side?” She pointedly looks between the starry sky and the mic. He briefly looks up, meeting her eyes with an exasperated glare, then wordlessly looks back down.
Once they're done, they fill out the remaining nails with plain color: orange ring finger and pink index finger on one hand, then teal on her middle finger and blue on her pinky on the other. She suggests matching them across their hands, and smiles when they all agree. She focuses on her designs, letting the polish paint over any remaining sadness.
Partway through, Akito's phone rings. He only groans, places down the brush he was using to paint a crow on Toya's middle finger and picks up.
“This better be important,” He grumbles, pressing his phone down with his arm and taking his brush again.
From the other side, she can hear muted shouting that sounds like Ena-san.
“I left ya a note that I'll buy you more, the hell else d'ya want?” Akito frowns, and she holds back a laugh as more muted yelling follows.
“Shut up! Nothin's fucking open at five, and I panicked.”
She looks back to the box on her nightstand, then at Akito again. Did he risk Ena-san's wrath by bringing her his sister's cheesecake?
“Yeah,” Akito heaves out a heavy sigh. “‘m over at An's. Everythin's fine. Promise I'll buy ya the cheesecake on my way back from work. Bye.” He lets his phone fall back to the bed behind him.
“Is that Ena-san's cheesecake?” She prods.
“Yeah. I risked my life for this, so ya better enjoy it.” Akito briefly looks up from Toya's hand.
“Thanks,” She answers with a chuckle, “Man, I wish I had an older sister.” She frowns as her light tone flattens out into something more wistful.
Someone reliable and responsible, but also fun to be around. Someone who can be a role model to her, admirable in how she carries herself. Someone she can borrow clothes from, someone who will do her hair.
Someone like Aunt Nagi.
Her hand trembles, smudging the already crooked branch she was drawing.
“Damn it,” She curses. Why is her voice so weak all of a sudden?
“An-chan, are you okay?” Kohane asks, joining their free hands together.
“Yeah,” She assures, but it comes out uncertain. She tries to swallow down the tears threatening to come out. “I don’t know why I did that.” Her voice breaks, again, halfway through the sentence.
“Come here.” Kohane waits until Toya and Akito take their hands from the middle, then brings her into a hug. She cries into Kohane’s shoulder, clutching onto her tighly with her newly decorated nails. It was going so well, so why is she sad again?
There’s a careful finger drawing patterns on her knee, and a rough hand petting her head. They’re all safe, they’re all here, and she finally lets herself cry. Sobs rock her body, while she tries her best to listen to the soft assurances Kohane is offering. The words are muted, garbled over the sounds from her throat that drown out everything else. She swallows heavily, doing her best to quiet down and follow Kohane’s voice.
She's not sure how long it takes, but her sobs eventually quiet down. Slowly, she peels herself away from Kohane and accepts the tissue from Akito's outstretched hand.
“I think I'd like the cheesecake now,” She mumbles out while drying off her face.
She tosses the used tissue into her trashcan, smiling a little when she nails the shot. Akito places the box in her lap, patting the top of it fondly, almost affectionately.
“‘s lemon cheesecake with a mint glaze. Tastes jus’ like lemonade, you're gonna like it,” He assures.
“Thanks. You sure you don't want any?” She teases, opening the box. Akito even packed her a wooden fork, and she smiles as she picks it up.
“Nah, it's all yours.” He shakes his head, even though he follows her hand as she portions off a bite and brings it to her mouth with sad eyes. The cheesecake does taste like lemonade, sweet and sour and refreshing.
“Akito, you mentioned work in your call with Ena-san. When does your shift start?” Toya asks.
Akito jolts a little, pulled out of his cheesecake daze, then pats around to find his phone.
“Shit,” He winces once he turns on his phone. “I gotta go. Sorry, An.”
“I shtill haf Kohane an Toya,” She mumbles out with her mouth full. She doesn't want Akito to go, but she can't force him to ditch work.
Akito releases a long, guilty sigh, then opens his arms. “C'mere.”
She puts away the cheesecake and returns the hug, squeezing tight.
“Take care, ‘kay?” He whispers into her hair, then pulls away. He gets up from the bed, pocketing his phone, and slings his backpack over his shoulder. She watches as he heads for the door, a weird feeling swirling inside of her.
“Thank you. And be careful,” She calls out before he can leave her room. An anxious jolt runs through her body at the thought of letting Akito out of her sight.
“I'll let ya know when I get there, ‘kay?” He offers, and she nods gratefully. “Bye, everyone.”
A chorus of goodbyes sees him out of the door. Kohane quickly moves to take Akito's spot, and she relaxes just a bit. Akito's message arrives later, right when she’s trying out some makeup on Kohane, and she smiles in relief.
Everything will be fine.