Purotekuta

EPILOGUE

The brick pathway leading up to the dorm house of the graduating class 2-A from ten years ago. It is a path I have walked many times, but it's never felt as it once did before the incident.
          It wasn't extremely difficult to convince the principal of Mamoru High School to let my classmates and I stay in the dorm house, my father's reputation making it all the easier.
          It's extremely rare to find all my classmates in the dorm house and hasn't happened since the first year we all became pro protectors. Only two of us have our own protector agencies—myself and Ikari. Everyone else works for other protector agencies in the country.
          In my eighth year as a pro protector, I became number one. A year after that, Ikari was number one. Ever since we both held the number one spot, we've both been alternating who is the number one protector, though not by choice.
          If only Akio were still here; if only he had the chance to become a pro. Akio would have dominated us all, becoming the greatest protector who ever lived.
          I look up as I walk towards the dorm house, stuck thinking about Akio.
          Amai has grown to be a great young boy as well. This is his first year as a student at Mamoru High School, and he is excelling at almost everything. His affinity is troublesome with safety since he could easily kill somebody by accident. Although he was placed in Mr. Kaze's class this year, so he should be alright.
          As I push open the double doors to enter the dorm house, I find Akihiko and Ikari sitting in the common room.
          My ears perk up, a smile spreading across my face. Holding my wings high, I make my way over to them.
          "Hey, Hajime! How've things been going?" Akihiko says, a smile lighting up his face.
          "Pretty good, if I do say so myself!" I say, making my way over to sit across from him. "What about you, Akihiko? How's protector work lately?"
          "Ah, it's alright, I guess. I would rather be capturing villains than doing all this paperwork, but crime has been on a low around Sir Lotus's agency lately." I nod, trying my best to keep my tail from wagging. I never really had a lot of control over my tail, though, so the tip of it ends up wagging slightly.
          It's nice to be able to talk with Akihiko again. Sir Lotus's agency isn't as close to Mamoru as some of my other classmates' agencies.
          Usually, when I see Akihiko at the dorm house, he's on a break of some sort.
          I glance at Ikari, who is already looking at me. I keep eye contact.
          Ever since Akio's death, he hasn't talked as much to us. He and Akio didn't talk much, and when they did it was short. They never really had a long conversation.
          Despite the relationship they had with each other, it was obvious to us, Akio included, that Ikari cared deeply for Akio and would protect him at all costs. The fact that Akio died, and Ikari couldn't do anything about it took a toll on him.
          Ikari still upholds his image when in public and as a pro protector, and is still as hotheaded as ever, but whenever he comes to the dorm house, he's so quiet that it's rare to see him talk to anyone besides Kane.
          "Hey," I say carefully, not expecting him to respond with anything more than a nod.
          "Hey."
          I'm shocked.
          Ikari barely ever talks to me, as he blames me just as much as himself for Akio's death, probably even more so. I was the one that was there, I was the one that did nothing to protect him, I was the reason that Akio had to die in the first place because I wasn't strong enough to protect myself.
          I test the waters a bit more, not wanting to overstep.
          "How have you been?" I say. He looks at me pointedly as if to say, 'don't test me, dummy.'
          "Okay, I guess." I nod, not wanting to say anything further for fear that I might ruin the small bit of acceptance that I've earned back from him.
          The first two years after Akio's death were really hard on him. He was angry—so, so angry. He trained himself to the point of collapsing every day, and even after he collapsed, he would get back up and keep training.
          He yelled at everyone for doing even the slightest things wrong, got mad at us for not doing things correctly.
          He stayed up late, which is unusual for him as he always went to bed earlier than everyone else. He would go out at night and come back at sunrise.
          He was tired, he barely ate anything, he overworked himself, and he got angry at anything and everything. Those two years after Akio's death were the two years that he was still in Mamoru Highschool with us. He was always second best in our class, which angered him further, especially since it was I who was always first.
          Ikari was in denial for the first two months after Akio's death, and when he finally came to terms with everything after two years, he stopped talking. Kane was his closest friend during school and was the only one who could manage to hold a conversation with him.
          I get up from the couch and make my way over to the kitchen.
          "Any requests for dinner?" I ask as I walk over to the pantry to look at the supplies we have.
          I always make extras so that there are leftovers just in case anyone else comes when I'm asleep or I'm not there that day for some reason, though I normally am since my agency is so close.
          I especially always keep supplies to make the stuffed sweet potatoes with marshmallows since it was Akio's favorite.
          "Hmmm... I've been craving something soupy lately. Could you make some Ramen?"
          "Cheapy bag kind or home-cooked? Home-cooked takes longer, but I guarantee you it tastes significantly better."
          "Let's go with home cooked! I haven't had some in a while, ha-ha!" I nod, tie on the apron hanging on the hook next to the pantry and get to work.