"So you killed yourself. In front of me. And for 3 whole months I didn't talk to anyone. Not that I didn't want to...I COULDN'T. You scarred me, Shi. So much that...well..."
Hinasuke stood by the door of her bedroom. It was beginning to reek in there. The room hadn't been opened in months now, he could smell her through the door.
Yet despite the awful smell in the air, he stood there, patient and quiet. Like he always did. Then finally, he knocked once, twice and stood there, forehead against the door as always.
"Aki. It's me, Hina. I'm back again from campus. Just...came to check up on you."
Nothing. No response.
He sighed as he chuckled to himself, "Akira, you know that we need you, right? That—"
His voice cracked, but he swallowed it back. He promised himself on the way here that he wouldn't cry.
"That...we miss you, right?"
Still no response.
His eyes stung again as he laughed at himself, "Gosh, Aki, I—"
"Make it stop."
His breath hitched. His body leaned back—eyes sharp and glued to the door.
That was the first time she'd spoken since Akashi's death.
He whispered softly, "Aki?"
There was a small silence. Then suddenly, too sudden for him to react, all the windows simultaneously shattered, bringing the downpour of the rain inside the apartment building as Hinasuke shut his ears.
Then, her voice screeched like a dying child, "MAKE IT STOP!!!"
"AKIRA!"
"I was hearing a voice that day...No, not just that day, every single day after you left me, Shi. She would never shut up. She always kept saying how it was 'My fault' you died, how 'Useless' I was to you, HOW I WAS A FUCKING FAILURE AND—"
"...and I had enough. I couldn't take it anymore so, I did what any normal person would've done."
"I tried to kill myself the same way he did. Jumping out that window, except..."
"AKIRA! NO!!"
His hand brushed hers for just a fraction of a heartbeat too late.
Her body hurtled to the ground, her scalp fusing with the car beneath her as she fell headfirst.
"Hehe. Who woulda' thought.."
"Doctor, how is she?"
"It's a miracle she's even alive. I've never seen anything like this throughout my career. Her entire body is perfectly fine."
"...that a Hybrid couldn't die from something like that?"
"I know I didn't. That was the theory though, turns out the practical is (*chuckle*) a WHOLE lot harder..."
"Will she be okay? Will she recover? Nothing bad happened to her brains, right?"
"Yoshida!"
"I need to know, Yano! That's our friend!"
The doctor removed his glasses as his eyes fixated on Hinasuke, "I don't know how to say this, but we might need to run a couple more tests on her."
"So they drugged me. Stayed unconscious for...2 weeks. Well, at least I did. When I woke up, I was lost as hell..."
"I didn't remember getting home. Or cuttin' my hair. But when I woke up..."
"Who the hell thought it would be funny to shave my damn hair!?" She cried, pulling her short hair, her voice cracking as she screamed at them.
Hinasuke looked at Akira, confused and lost, "Aki...you shaved your hair."
"Yeah," Yoshida muttered, "We even asked you what happened for you to shave your hair, but you were all...cold and just ignored us."
"You shoved me aside when I tried to talk to you, told me to 'Mind my own business.'" Yano said, her voice soft, but still carrying an undertone of anger. Almost like she hadn't forgiven her for it.
Akira took a step back, heart hammering in her ears, chest tight, breath ragged, memories unwanted.
She promised herself to never cut her hair. Not when it was the only thing that reminded her of Akashi.
"Are you trying to screw with me?" she hissed shakily, "You guys thought it would be funny for you to cut the only memory I had of Akashi and then play DUMB?!" She cried, her voice shaking the room when her tone rose.
Hinasuke got up, his voice soft, "Akira, babe, listen—"
But she flinched.
"'Babe'?"
"I'm having the worst moment in my entire life, Hinasuke Hashibira! My mother is gone! My brother is gone! The FATHER that I never KNEW LEFT ME WHEN I WAS A KID!" Her voice lowered to a soft whisper:
"I've never had anyone besides you three as my friends. You guys are my family. I need you guys. I love you guys. I—" her voice faltered as she crumbled to the ground, "I hold you guys closest to my heart because despite everything about me. Despite me being a disgusting disgrace of a woman...you guys still accepted me. You didn't shut me out. You kept me close, like I was one of you, like I was worth it..."
"Akira, we—"
"DON'T TOUCH ME!!"
Hinasuke's hand snapped back at him. Yoshida and Yano stood up, "Hina, dude, I think we should give her some space, she's not doing alright—"
"I love you guys..." she continued to whisper, "I care about you, but you guys chose to repay that love by making fun of me. By making me out to be a fool."
"Aki, we didn't—" Yano tried to reason, but Akira just glared at her, her eyes glowing a deep violet.
"I see you as my older sister, Yano. I listen to everything you tell me because I trust you..."
She slowly rose up to her feet, "...but you're no different from the bitches that wanted to cut my hair that day..."
"Akira, Yano didn't do it, none of us did!" Yoshida said, stepping between them.
"I'm going to slaughter you if you say another word, Blondie."
Yoshida's mouth faltered before he sighed softly, "Aki, look—"
Her heel flew to meet his jaw—sharp, precise and fast.
But Hina's hand was faster.
"Akira." His voice rumbled, eyes burning a bright red as his hands wrapped around her ankle like a vise.
She grit her teeth, "LET GO OF ME!"
"You. Need. To. Calm. Down."
He swept his foot beneath hers.
She lost her balance.
He pulled her into his grasp, hand on her neck. His finger pressed her neck.
She gasped then everything went black.
"When I woke up, I was in the hospital again. I didn't make a sound when I stirred, but then that's when I heard it."
"...She has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Meaning that she likely has two or more persons in her head. All of them are completely different."
"So...I was officially diagnosed with D.I.D. Guess that explains the two week knock out..."
"But still, getting used to it was a whole other story. For starters, I went to bed that day and woke up 2 months later, on my birthday."
"I later found out that the other ME, went ahead and got us all signed up with The Ayanaki Order. Apparently they were impressed by my skills and abilities which I still knew absolutely nothing about..."
"And now? I go to bed after Christmas and wake up in a hospital bed with a nurse trying to kill me."
"And now, my boyfriend..."
"Then I'll remind you why you can't!"
"...just tried to kill me."
Akira sighed as she walked up to the ledge of the new hole in the building she had made.
She looked ahead.
She'd punched him harder than she thought she would.
"Dammit, I hit you too hard." She muttered to herself, glaring at her fists, eyes softened.
Her feet tensed as she leapt through the holes, landing right in front of Hinasuke, whose eyes widened in shock and fear as he glanced at her.
"You won't win, Hina..."