Not My Type

十一

 "We're going to the mountains."

A few hours had passed since [Name]'s bizarre announcement. After setting up their things near a cliff ([Name] had insisted that the view of the sunset would be breathtaking), the pair walked deeper into the woods. Other than the crunch of the ground and the occasional cicada noises, Akane and [Name] were enveloped with silence. Surprisingly, it wasn't the awkward silence that bothered Akane. Everything was peaceful.

If he had closed his eyes and stopped walking, Akane would've forgot the impending doom that was approaching the girl beside him. Akane clicked his tongue and shook his head. He was here to help her paint. It wouldn't be becoming for him to forget his objective. It was pointless for him to keep overthinking about [Name]'s fate.

 "Earth to Akane! I'll throw you in the waterfall if you don't answer me right now!"

 "What?!" Akane blinked. [Name]'s face was close to his; she was gripping both of his shoulders. "Hey, you wouldn't think of doing that after I accompanied you, right?"

A smirk formed on the artist's lips. "I wonder. I mean, I did save you after you decided it was a good idea to collapse in front of the station. Imagine what would've happened if someone tried to put you in danger."

Despite racking his brain for a response, nothing came to Akane's mind. He could only nod in agreement. [Name] laughed at this, shaking her head before she started walking towards the base of the waterfall. Akane felt his chest tighten. Neither of them had any idea how deep the base was.

 "[Name], what do you think you're doing?"

 "There's something behind the waterfall. I'm sure of that." Her reply only worsened Akane's confusion. "Why aren't you following me? Don't tell me you don't trust me, Akane?"

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, the bespectacled boy couldn't do anything but continue walking. Fortunately, the water only reached up to their chests. Even now, when they were only a few meters away from the crashing water current, Akane couldn't fathom how they were supposed to get inside whatever the waterfall was hiding.

 "As I thought. This space is still there." [Name] walked towards the waterfall without any warning, her figure disappearing. Akane was at a loss for words, yet immediately decided to follow suit.

The cave the two students ended up in was void of light. Thankfully enough, [Name] didn't keep walking. She stared at Akane as he brought out his waterproof flashlight and turned it on. Drops of water occasionally fell from the ceiling, colliding with the slippery ground with a soft sound.

 "What did you do when you came here before, [Name]?" Akane whispered. He wasn't exactly sure why he bothered to lower the volume of his voice. The thought of danger creeping up to them made him stay on guard. "I thought you said you were sickly. You seemed like an active child."

[Name] narrowed her eyes at this. "Well, might I tell you that I only became like this after..." she trailed off. This earned her a raised eyebrow from Akane. "I-I, I wasn't like this before, okay?" She turned her head straight in the direction they were going, avoiding the look of confusion Akane sent her.

Once again, silence enveloped the pair. The two of them kept walking and finally, after half an hour, they reached the end of the cave. Akane wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or surprised that there wasn't anything there. [Name], on the other hand, was surprised. She immediately left Akane's side and went to examine the surroundings.

 "How come no one's here?" [Name]'s words echoed throughout the cave.

 "So you weren't looking for something? But someone?" Akane gulped at this. "Why on earth would you think someone would bother living inside a cave? Without a flashlight, you can't see a thing here."

The artist turned around, arms crossed defensively. "But Mizu said he was comfortable here."

Akane rested his forehead on the palm of his hand. Trying to process everything [Name] said was a difficult job, considering that unless he wasn't aware of the legibility of the supernatural, he wouldn't believe her. "You're telling me that you actually did meet someone here a long time ago? I don't even want to ask how or why."

 "Mizu was my playmate when I was a child." [Name] answered.

 "Are you sure you weren't talking to a kappa back then?"

 "What? Of course not!"

While [Name] continued recounting her days with Mizu—whoever that was—Akane took of his glasses and wiped them. He kept nodding his head, pretending to listen to the girl defensively explaining how Mizu was real.

 "Like I keep telling you, Mizu is real!"

 "Yeah yeah. Say what you want." Akane was about to put his glasses back on when he felt a chill go down his spine. His spectacles dropped to the ground, which made [Name] pause.

Cold, clammy hands gripped Akane's shoulders from behind. "Hi there, I'm the Mizu [Nickname] is talking about!"

Akane froze in his spot and slowly turned his head to peek behind him. Sharp, ruby eyes met his. As much as Akane was tempted to grab [Name]'s wrist and run for dear life, Mizu wasn't keen on letting him go. Attempting to recover his composure, Akane exhaled and cleared his throat. He returned his attention to [Name], only to see that she was looking at him with worry.

 "Are you okay? Should we go out now?" she asked.

 "You've been ignoring me since you arrived and yet you're going to leave without at least greeting me?"

Ignore? [Name] didn't seem to be able to see Mizu. "Let's stay here and rest for a few minutes more. Then we can leave. Is that alright?" When [Name] nodded her head, Akane heaved a sigh of relief. "Could you describe what this Mizu looks like?" Mizu's grip on Akane's shoulders loosened and he went to stand beside [Name].

Long white hair. Ruby red eyes. A scar on the neck. Long black nails that looked like claws. Other than these features, Mizu appeared like a normal human. Still, [Name] couldn't see him.

 "Mizu had beautiful white hair and these red eyes that looked like gems. If my memory serves me right, he was a pretty boy. Quite eccentric, but pretty nonetheless."

Akane's lips formed a straight line. So the demon beside [Name] really was Mizu. How come she was able to see him a long time ago, yet couldn't see him now?

 "How did the two of you stop seeing each other?" he asked.

Both Mizu and [Name] answered in unison:

 "We fought over something."

 "[Name] forgot about me."