"Long ago, before I was born, there's been a hole in this village, one that connects to the far shore. From time to time, hungry monsters would emerge out of the hole and devour the villagers. Eventually, casting a girl into the hole like bait became necessary. It was unfortunate. But when they did, the monsters would not come for years, and the villagers could live free from fear. All those poor girls were told that they were crossing over to a paradise of the Gods and Buddhas. That they would be granted eternal happiness by those Gods and Buddhas."
"But I know the truth. Neither the land of the Gods nor happiness lies at the bottom of that hole."
----------
Nene was frozen in M/n's deep embrace, taking a few moments to catch up that it was M/n, and Hanako stood in front of her protectively. "Sorry we took so long," M/n whispered to her, so quietly as if he were talking to himself and didn't want anyone to hear his conversation. His arms tightened around her and Nene finally realized, this was truly M/n! And there was Hanako! Tears struck Nene's eyes and she lifted her weak, scared, arms and wrapped them around M/n, holding him just as tightly as he held her. "You're here!" Nene said with overwhelming gratitude. She didn't think she'd ever felt so relieved and happy ever in her life as much as now. She let her tears cascade down her cheeks, staining M/n's girlish clothing. Once she let go of M/n, Nene finally got a good look at her friend.
". . .What are you wearing?" She asked, observing the feminine clothing that M/n wore. M/n's face visibly reddened, "That doesn't matter." He brushed it off, his hands finding themselves on Nene's shoulders, "But are you okay?" He asked. Nene nodded, "Now that you and Hanako are here," She said with a small smile.
"They're not from the village!"
"Who are you!?" The village people shouted, their weapons now pointed dead at Hanako, who still stood his ground in front of M/n and Nene. Nene watched as Hanako threw something at the village people, was that a mask? It looked like one the villagers were wearing. Nene suddenly realized that M/n was also holding one, a feminine-looking one, so he tossed it to the side. The mask that Hanako threw hit one of the men right smack in the center of his face. He made a noise of distress and staggered back a bit. The masks must've been heavy to make him fall back that much.
Hanako took a step backward, closer to Nene and M/n. Nene gripped onto M/n's arm, fearful. "Sorry, but the wedding's off!" Hanako stated joyfully, "No way in hell am I going to allow my assistant to get married to a guy I've never met." He declared. The villagers stalked closer and closer, their weapons never backing down. Nene saw that Hanako didn't have his knife with him, why was that? He always had it on him, always had it out when something bad was happening. What happened while she was sleeping soundly? She clung closer to M/n as they all started moving backward, closer to the cliff.
It was only until there was a black, tar-like substance that started emerging and spilling over the villagers, making their way closer and closer. Nene shrieked. "Wh-What is that!?" She said, looking back and forth between the inky blackness and M/n, who didn't have an answer for her, only a confused glance.
The villagers started screeching and shouting in terror as they were swallowed by the blackness. "It's the Gods' wrath!"
"Please! Please forgive us!"
"Let us finish the ceremony!" They wailed, and all Nene could do was watch in horror, moving back, now desperately wanting to get away from the ooze over the angry village people.
"This is all your fault!" A villager shouted, a man. He emerged from the inkyness, crawling to Nene with a spear in his hand. She was afraid, ready to shriek in terror as the man kept stalking forward. Fearful as well, M/n stood in front of her protectively. Although he was scared, he couldn't let Nene get hurt! Hanako was thinking the same thing and stepped in front of M/n. The approaching man raised his spear. "If it weren't for you!" He shouted, his voice rasping. He staggered, Nene looked up at the man.
What was happening?
The man was decomposing in front of Nene's eyes! She watched as the flesh peeled back to reveal bone, and more holes emerged in the man's body, revealing dying organs and rotting cartilage. Nene screamed and M/n gasped, finding himself looking right into the horror. Every other villager behind the decomposing man had the same fate once they came in contact with the ooze, shouting in fear and hopelessness as they fell within seconds, nothing but a pile of bones that eventually turned to dust, being carried away by the ooze and soft winds. Hanako was now right in front of M/n, pushing him further back and away from the decomposing villagers frantically. Since Nene was behind M/n, she was also shoved backward. The blackness didn't back down, moving forward with no intentions of stopping, taking out every villager and coming close to Hanako, who kept pushing back.
"What's going on!?" Nene asked, terrified, traumatized.
"They're rotting away," Hanako answered in disbelief. Hanako, the Seventh of the all-knowing School Mysteries, was confused.
"Because of that inky stuff?" M/n said, holding onto the arm that Nene was latched to. Something cracked under Nene's feet, she looked down at it and saw that the rock was crumbling beneath her, falling into the hole of death. Nene screeched and held onto M/n tighter, scrambling to move away from the ledge. Before she could say any warning the rock collapsed, and Nene fell, taking M/n and Hanako down with her.
Nene screamed and flailed her arms. She stopped once she felt a hand firmly grasp hers. She looked up to meet the eyes of a panicked M/n, who was desperately holding Nene's hand, trying his best to keep a tight hold. His other hand held Hanako's, who was keeping them from falling to their death by holding onto the ledge.
It wasn't long until Hanako's hand started giving out, and the three started slipping. Nene wailed in fear. "Don't let go!" She screeched.
"I'm trying!" Hanako shouted back, panicking.
"𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺," A voice said. Hanako looked past the crumbling rock he desperately held on to, looking high enough to realize the person who spoke was Sumire. She walked closer and closer to Hanako's hand, he thought she was going to step on it, making him let go.
But she jumped instead. "𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴." She said with grace, falling.
Nene saw something fall from beside her, it startled her and she looked at the object that fell.
Sumire smiled up at Nene sadly before disappearing and succumbing to the hole of death and dread.
----------
Aoi could hear footsteps. It was light and sloshy, like walking through water. Aoi wasn't the one who was walking, but she was moving, was she being carried by someone? She was groggy, her eyelids lined with long lashes opened slowly. She was looking down, right at ripples of water. The sound was calming, it almost lulled Aoi back to slumber. But the person who she thought was carrying her stumbled, and it woke her fully. She let out a noise of wakening.
"Oh, are you awake?" A familiar boy's voice asked Aoi. Her eyes opened fully, meeting the back of the person who dragged her down the trash hole.
". . .Akane?" Aoi questioned sluggishly slow, her voice was hushed and groggy, her vocal chords not ready to speak yet. Akane staggered again, keeping a tight hold on Aoi as he regained his footing yet again, "I'm sorry about dragging you-" He was interrupted by his own painful coughing, "Dragging you down whatever this place is." He finished.
"I'll get us out of here as soon as possible I promise-" Akane stumbled, and couldn't regain himself this time. Aoi yelped as he fell forward, taking her down with him. She landed right into the water, her hair becoming damp and her clothes growing heavy from the water income. She moved so she was now sitting upright, looking at Akane with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry. Right now it's just a little bit hard to. . .move." He spoke slowly, shallow breaths emitting from him. Aoi looked down at him, "You shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard, then." She said. Akane smiled, "Aww, are you worried about me? You're too kind, Aoi. . ." He said, turning his head to look right into the violet eyes of Aoi. "I'll be okay." He reassured her. His eyes started to close and Aoi looked around, there was a building not too far away. She stood, but before she could take a step, a hand wrapped itself around her wrist, stopping her. She looked at Akane, he stared back up at her. She kneeled back down, "Get some rest, Akane."
"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." She told him. Akane gave one final smile, before giving into his tiredness, closing his eyes and whisking away into slumber, slumping down and letting go of her hand. Aoi watched as his chest rose, and fell. She did this for a few minutes before looking back at that sheltered area. It would be a good place to rest. Aoi stood, now fully aware of how drenched with water she was, Akane really dragged her into a nasty fall. But no matter, her worry needed to be focused on Akane and how to move him safely and easily to the sheltered area.
Aoi hooked her arms under Akane's, trying to pull him up. But he was heavy, and the water wasn't helping. Aoi didn't want to drag him but there wasn't any other way. She set Akane down slowly, lightly, and waited for a moment before doing the same action, her arms going under Akane's, and her slowly dragging him over to the shelter. Aoi was grateful that the shelter wasn't that far away, but it certainly felt like a long way away from how slow she was moving. Akane's wounds were becoming worse, bleeding more.
Eventually, Aoi made it to the shelter. She laid Akane down on his back and ripped a long strip of fabric from his shirt, beginning to wrap it tightly around Akane's injury, stopping the bleeding to the best of her abilities. Thankfully, her abilities were pretty good. She sat next to Akane, there was nothing else she could do but wait.
----------
It was sudden. So, incredibly, sudden. Nene opened her closed eyes, her irises meeting grass as green as polished emeralds. She was then able to feel the pricks of the grass against her skin. She raised her head which felt like a thousand pounds, seeing M/n lying next to her. She was still gripping his arm, quite tightly. He looked at Nene in surprise. Nene looked around the area. "Huh?" She let out confusingly. This wasn't the cliff.
"This is. . .where we were yesterday," M/n said, standing once Nene let go of his arm. She also brought herself to a standing position, Hanako close behind. Moving, M/n's foot brushed against something, and he looked down to find Hanako's knife. How did it get there? He picked it up, "Hey, Hanako," The apparition looked at him. M/n handed the knife over, handle first. Hanako took it gratefully, thanking M/n.
Two familiar orbs started circling Hanako. So, the Haku-Jodai were here as well, they seemed to be in good shape.
"𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶," A voice said sympathetically. Nene looked quickly at the voice of Sumire, seeing her standing behind the rocks she was first unsettled by. Their painted faces were just as she left them, closed in serenity and small red smiles. Hanako pointed his new-found knife at her, standing protectively in front of Nene, M/n next to him, giving a death stare.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭," She said with certainty. Hanako didn't put his knife down, "What are you trying to pull?" He asked.
"Why did you make Nene take your place?" M/n questioned after, glare hardening at Sumire. Sumire didn't respond.
"What did Number Six tell you to do?" Hanako continued with his questions. Sumire closed her eyes and maneuvered her way around the little painted statues, now standing in front of them. "𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺–𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩–𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺." She smiled, "𝘚𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮." Sumire started tracing her delicate fingers along the rough surface of the stones.
"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺. . .𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. . 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘰, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?" She said sadly. Nene took a step toward Sumire, but M/n stopped her before she could take any more steps closer to her. But that didn't stop Sumire from taking a few steps closer to Nene. "𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥." Sumire kept walking until she was right in front of Nene, M/n tried to separate the two, still not trusting Sumire (rightfully so). But Nene stopped him from moving any closer to her and Sumire. Nene now stood in front of Sumire, despite the protests coming from both Hanako and M/n.
Sumire moved her hair to the side, showing her neck. "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵?" She asked. "𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯." She concluded, her neck revealing a Yorishiro seal. Hanako was flabbergasted and had no idea she was a Yorishiro, and Nene acted like she'd known this since the beginning, and M/n didn't know what to think about it. Hanako was about to explode about it so Nene covered his mouth before he could make a loud fuss, but could still hear his muffled sounds of confusion. Keeping her hand over Hanako's mouth, Nene directed her attention to Sumire. "Can I ask you a question?" She asked.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘺," She answered.
"Just what do you see in Number Six? He's like, the actual worst," She said harshly. M/n couldn't help but nod along with Nene's question. Number Six, in no way, seems like a good person, let alone a person someone else could fall in love with. Sumire went silent, so Nene continued, "I sort of saw your memories while in a daze from that weird wedding thing, Number Six never smiles, he's extremely rude, and he kidnapped Aoi! There isn't a single thing about him that's good!" Nene blew up about it, going over the top, and getting angrier and angrier.
". . .𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦," Sumire said quietly, stuttering a little, she seemed to be doubting her own words now that she thought about it. Truly thought about it.
"All of it is true!" Nene rebutted. "Being stuck in an angst-filled village with gloominess and terribleness, like this one, is the only reason why you'd fall in love with a lousy man like Number Six!" She ranted angrily, eventually letting go of Hanako and walking up to Sumire, who was dumbfounded, lost for words, no rebuttal. Nene grabbed her hands, "Sumire, do you want to run away from this horrible village with us!?" She shouted her question, making a point heard from miles and miles away.
"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵!?" Sumire said, finally finding words to say. What Nene had said took M/n aback, causing him to grab Nene from Sumire, pulling her away, also taking Hanako with him. "One moment," He said to Sumire, trying to give her a kind smile but failing, Sumire could see he didn't mean genuinely. M/n then brought Nene close to him, Hanako as well, and whispered harshly. "What are you thinking?" He asked harshly, looking at Nene with utter confusion. "After everything that's happened, after everything that Sumire has done, why would you want her to join us?"
"You want to save Aoi, right?" Hanako backed up, "The best way is to take the seal off her."
"If you take the seal off her, Aoi could stop acting all weird and go back to normal." M/n reasoned.
Nene remembered when Aoi pushed them all down the trash heap, causing them to end up in this anger-filled village in the first place. Nene was conflicted, "Yeah, maybe you're right, but. . Is that really the only way out?" She asked, taking both Hanako and M/n aback. The only way out? "Shouldn't it be? Take the Yorishiro and we leave, right?" M/n said.
"The thing is. . When Number Six first took Aoi away, he said he was doing it for the school. That woman with the weird mask–the one that was leading me to that cliff-thing–said something similar," Nene gripped her clothes, the ones she was dressed in for the "Wedding."
"I bet Sumire's full name is Sumire Akane." Nene inferred, glancing back at the clueless Sumire, who observed her conversations. Nene was sure Sumire couldn't hear the hushed conversation.
"Aoi's last name?" M/n said slowly. Nene nodded, "So, I think what Sumire is going through, the same is happening to Aoi. And if that's true, the school is facing the same thing as this village. That now, tons of supernaturals are coming through the hole, and to calm them down. . .Number Six has to throw someone in the hole!" She hypothesized.
"But we don't do rituals in the real world, we've been fine without throwing people in holes," M/n said, giving Nene a questioning look.
"Which means, there has to be another way to fix things! A way that Number Six doesn't know about!" Nene concluded. She seemed proud of her conclusion, then within a matter of seconds, extremely doubtful. She turned to Hanako, "Please tell me I'm right about that. . .People aren't being sacrificed at the school, right?" She asked, scared. M/n looked at Hanako for an answer.
"No, I guess we haven't sacrificed anyone in my time," Hanako answered. Nene's proud smile was back on her face. "Then we just need to do this a different way, we need to close up that hole differently than what Number Six was planning. fixing that should bring back Aoi as well!"
"You were really thinking about this, huh?" M/n commented, surprised that Nene came up with all of this during their short one-day stay.
"Why do we have to take her with us?" Hanako asked, gesturing back to the clueless Sumire. Nene stumbled while answering, "W-Well. . .I bet Sumire knows a lot of stuff I don't know, stuff even you don't know, Hanako. And. . .And she's strong, too! Maybe she'll fight Number Six for us if we need to!" Nene reasoned.
"Sumire has constantly confessed her love for Number Six, and you think she'll fight him?" M/n asked, not believing that Sumire would do anything along the lines of hurting her dearly precious Number Six.
"We still shouldn't trust her," Hanako said. M/n nodded. "She's toyed with us before, she could do it again." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳," Sumire said, she was looming behind Hanako. He jumped and lunged away from Sumire, latching himself onto M/n like a cat that was sprayed with water. M/n staggered back from the newfound weight and force.
"𝘕𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦?" Sumire asked, she stood up straight and moved to brush shoulders with Nene. Why was she so attached to Nene?
"W-well, I haven't. . I haven't figured that out yet," Nene said sheepishly, looking around as if she'd find something useful in leaving. Hanako let go of M/n, sighing, "Sumire," He called, the female looked at him expectantly. "Can you promise to never attack me or M/n again?" He asked, looking hard at her. He wasn't worried about Sumire hurting Nene, they seemed to be best friends at this point. Haku-Jodai floated into his hand, and the orb must've done something because the next moment, something landed behind Hanako, creating a cloud of dust.
"If you can promise me, I guess I'll allow you to come along," He said, leaning against the newly appeared hunk of metal.
"The elevator?" M/n mumbled. It's what he thought it was, the elevator that led to freedom. Finally, a way out of here.
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Aoi watched as Akane stirred, continuing to observe him as he groggily opened his eyes. His orange irises reveal themselves and stare right into Aoi's violet eyes. "You're awake," She said quietly. Akane grabbed a hold of his bearings, moving to sit upright. But he winced, and cradled at his wound gently, looking down at it once he felt tied fabric instead of bloodied skin. He was. . .wrapped up? Akane looked at Aoi, who only shrugged. "It was painful to look at, so I covered it up, I didn't mean anything by it," She brushed off. Although she was monotone and didn't seem to mean it at all–like she said–Akane gushed at her kindness. "Are you an angel?" He asked with stars in his eyes. "Will you marry me?" He asked with complete adoration.
"Sure. Let's get married," Aoi said, offering a small smile.
"What!?" Akane responded, never expecting Aoi to actually say yes. Aoi looked off to the side. "Even if I did agree to marry you, you'd only end up being disappointed anyway," She said with certainty. Akane looked at her, an unknown expression on his face.
"It's stupid. What do you see in me, Akane? You've used many different words to put me on a pedestal. But, every time you'd compliment me, I'd think, "Who is he talking about?" I'm. .Nothing like how you say I am." Akane was at a loss for words.
"You haven't been seeing me, Akane. Even though I know you think you have. You're all the same. You all make up your own versions of me. . .My dad lies to me all the time, and Nene does the same thing, M/n too, they've been keeping a million secrets from me. And then there's you, Akane. You don't want to date me, ever, do you?" Aoi said. Akane got a hold of his voice, leaning towards Aoi. "Of course I do!" He said, truthful.
"You do? Do you really love me?" Aoi asked, she held up an object, and Akane gasped when seeing it. It was his watch! The one he uses to stop time! But how did she get a hold of it? While he was unconscious? "Really?" Aoi repeated. "Do you love me?" She looked genuinely hurt.
"That's-"
"You know," Aoi interrupted, "I've asked you. Why did you suddenly start wearing glasses? What are you up to after school? You always seem to disappear. Are you hiding something from me?" Aoi turned the clock around, bringing the object closer to her. Akane reached his hand to her. "Aoi-" The clock was thrown into his head, it bounced off and landed on the watery floor. Akane cast his head downward. Aoi stood, "I want people to stop trying to get close to me," She said, starting to walk away.
"Goodbye," She said. But before she could take any more than five steps away from Akane, a hand caught her wrist, and pulled her back, slamming her down into the ground, water splashing like a tidepool, soaking Aoi and spattering Akane. She was shocked, to say the least, not expecting Akane to stop her, let alone so harshly.
"I had no idea you felt that way, Aoi," Akane said, standing over Aoi, "If you want to know so badly, I'll tell you all about me. Even though I swore I'd never tell you this," He reached a hand down towards Aoi, she thought he was going to help her up before his hand grasped the collar of her outfit, she gasped as Akane pulled her closer to his face. She'd never seen Akane glare at her before, she didn't know if she was fine with it or not. Aoi struggled in Akane's strong hold, he didn't let go of her.
"The truth is. . .I've always utterly despised you." Aoi stopped struggling, only looking into Akane's eyes with surprise. He smiled, "Didn't see that coming? I thought you knew." He said, his smile never fading. "Aoi, the girl whose beauty is only skin-deep. How long do you think I've been in your life? I know you very well, on a much deeper level than you may think. You're always on guard and trust no one. You're smart, really, really smart, and though, a part of you is always looking down on people. Maybe the reason why no one tries to get to know you is because you never try to get to know anyone else. I've seen it all the time with Nene and M/n, you're only acting, pretending to be nice to them. There isn't a single person you can truly be yourself around. You brought that onto yourself." Akane brought Aoi even closer, smiling but his glare was prominent. Aoi watched, and listened, silently with wide eyes.
"You're always feeling sorry for yourself. You're a coward who cares about nothing but yourself. But still, your ego is fragile. That's why you remove yourself before anyone starts to hate you. That's what I have always. . .Always, ever since we were kids, hated you about!" Akane's grip on Aoi tightened, then loosened, his smile started fading and his glare left his face with a brush of wind. Aoi felt tears welling up in her eyes, it took everything out of her to keep them in her eyes and not let them spill down her flushed cheeks.
But it was hopeless, she was crying, and she couldn't do anything about it.
"Why are you crying?" Akane asked her. "Does it make you sad to know that I hate you?" He said.
". . .No." Aoi responded.
"I only told you what you wanted to know," Akane reasoned.
"I didn't ask you to tell me!" Aoi shouted, giving in to the tears, letting them spill down her face and drip off her chin, colliding with the floor, her salty tears becoming one with the watery surface. Aoi reached a hand and pushed at Akane, trying to get him to let go of her. "I hate you, too! Let me go!" She shouted, sobbing. But Akane didn't let go of her, instead, his hold of her tightened, making sure she wouldn't be able to break free of him.
"Just let me go," Aoi said, her arms falling by her sides. Akane looked at her, "Hey," He said. She looked up at him, tears more prominent. "Do you remember the one time we fought? It was a long long time ago, back in grade school. I got so mad I blared at you that I hated you. And you started crying. But you never cried, no matter how many mean girls pushed and pulled your hair, or how many boys made fun of you, so it really shook me up when you started crying. But when I saw you make that face when I said that stupid thing, I thought. . .you were just so cute." Akane let go of Aoi, but she didn't move to leave, only sitting further down, drowning in her tears. Akane pulled his gloves off his hands, reaching up and wiping Aoi's tears away, but they just kept coming, his hand didn't leave her face. "Nothing has changed, we're both the same as we were that day." Aoi slapped Akane's hand off her face, "Don't touch me!" She shouted defensively, angered. But Akane grabbed her flailing hand, stopping her in her assault.
He brought her hand up to his face and kissed her palm. Aoi's face flushed at the feeling of his chapped lips against her soft hand.
"I love you. And I'll love you my entire life." Akane said, closing his eyes, then opening them and meeting Aoi's eyes. Aoi was speechless, a speechless, blushing, mess. Akane moved her hand away from his face, smiling and chuckling at her reaction.
"You just told me you hated me. But still, hearing me say I hated you made you cry, huh Aoi? That side of you is just so adorable-" Aoi punched Akane before he could finish his sentence, right in the gut, right where his wound was. He hunched forward, grasping his injury. "You might just kill me if you keep hitting me, you know." He said, out of breath.
"You're stupid Akane! Just stupid! I hate you, and you said that you hated me, too!" She shouted, moving away from Akane. But Akane persisted and recovered from the punch to his gut, moving towards Aoi and hugging her, bringing her close to him. "I was lying." He said. "I'm sorry," He apologized, his face lying atop Aoi's silky violet hair.
"Do you really hate me? Or do you like me? Even just a little bit?" Akane asked. Aoi didn't meet his eyes. "Oh, good!" He said happily, back to his smiley self.
"But I didn't say anything. ." Aoi trailed off. But Akane only grinned, bringing her closer to him, "You don't have to. We've been friends since childhood, I know." He said, letting go of the hug, their faces inches away.
The moment was ruined by the loud sound of clunking metal and footsteps.
"There we go," A voice said, male. Akane quickly moved away from Aoi and turned to the voice, keeping her close to him. ". . .President?" Akane said slowly, surprised to see Teru of all people. The school president looked over Akane, then looked over Aoi.
They were awfully close.
"Hey, am I. . .Interrupting something?" He asked, a smile at the end indicating that he didn't care if he was interrupting, finding it amusing over anything.
Akane looked at Aoi, and Aoi looked at Akane, then in the position they were in. Akane quickly let go of Aoi, moving a few feet away from her, he glared at Teru, "Go away!" He shouted, embarrassed.
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"A helpful hand. People will do anything to get a hold of one."
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