"21 years ago...a couple were expecting a baby girl."
"...except...they weren't happy about it."
.
[ 21 years ago. ]
.
His hands hovered over the doorknob.
His jaw tensed as he swallowed.
"I'm...home."
The man set his bags down.
Walked over to the woman who lay on the couch, her body frail and almost inhumanly thin.
( "Every time he looked at my mom...there was always a pain that shot through his chest." )
"Hey, honey..." she whispered, her voice breathy and raspy. "How was your day?"
Oh God...
Even hearing her speak hurt.
He swallowed hard.
"Good. I-uh...I got to the briefing on time. Everything's going according to plan." He murmured.
A thin smile spread across her fragile lips.
Her hand rose, barely.
He caught it immediately.
Pressed it to his cheek.
"How was yours?" he barely managed to say, eyes glossy and red-rimmed.
His wife's eyes softened as she ran a hand across her stomach.
"We spent our day just fine." She giggled a little. It cracked into a small cough. "She's getting bigger..."
The man nodded despite himself as he kissed her palm. "That's good, honey. That's really good."
( "My mom was sick because of me...the doctors told her she couldn't have me. That it'd be impossible for both of us to survive..." )
( "My dad..." )
.
[ 22 years ago. ]
.
He dug his hands into his scalp as he paced around.
The smaller woman, despite her tears, refused to back down.
"I'm sorry...but I cannot do that to Akashi. He's wanted a sibling for so long and now when he finally gets one, you—" her voice cracked.
The man couldn't face her.
He leaned against the wall, his shoulders tense as she hesitantly stepped forward.
Somewhere in the house...
a little boy with blonde hair peeked down at them from the stairs.
He couldn't quite understand what the fuss was about.
Mom and dad never really fought after all.
The lady's hand rested hesitantly on his shoulder.
He slapped it away.
The boy flinched from where he was.
The woman held her hand, her gaze shifting from tenderness to determination.
"I-I'm...h-honey, I didn't mean that—"
"I'm not aborting my baby." The woman said, staring the man in the face.
His eyes softened. "Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just..." He sighed.
He pressed his palms together, trying to get himself together. "Look, let's just...think of another way to do this..."
( "My dad must've begged her to abort me." )
( "She should've listened..." )
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[ 21 years ago: 4 August. ]
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"Congratulations. She's a healthy baby girl."
The nurse handed the baby over to the woman.
The woman, barely conscious, her bloody face tense with exhaustion, smiled as she held her baby.
The baby cooed in her arms. And from outside, a young man paced the hallway with his son waiting anxiously beside him.
The doctor came out.
His face seemed grim.
"The baby's been delivered."
The man's eyes lit up with hope.
"Is my wife...?"
The doctor's eyes flickered to the young boy standing behind the man's leg.
"You can...go and see her."
( "She gave birth to me. Against all odds...my mom survived." )
( "But..." )
.
[ 19 years ago. ]
.
"...and as you can see here, the mileage seems to have spread."
The couple's hands met.
"What does...all this mean, doctor? Will my wife be alright? Will my daughter be alright?"
The doctor sighed softly as he looked at them.
"I'm sorry but...your wife's developed a seriously rare genetic variation of cancer. We...we can't treat it."
( "...my mom's body couldn't recover from the stress it underwent. She was...dying...because of me." )
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[ 18 years ago. ]
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"Say 'mama', Aki, c'mon."
The little girl only looked at her mother and laughed, grabbing her nose.
She smiled sadly.
"Oh, Aki..."
She laughed despite herself, wiping her tears.
"My little angel. Why won't you let me hear that beautiful voice of yours?"
The child only giggled even more and wiped her drool on her shirt.
That made the woman laugh gently.
Her eyes lingered on the little girl.
"Come on. Let's try again, shall we?"
The man watched the two of them from afar.
"Dad...why doesn't Akira talk?"
The man looked at his son.
Bright blue eyes.
Innocent eyes.
He looked at his wife sitting by the bench.
A horrible cough escaped her as she set Akira aside.
His heart cracked as he watched her hide the red-stained handkerchief into her pocket.
Then he looked back at the little boy.
He offered a broken smile. Picked him up and whispered.
"Because your little sister is special, Akashi."
The boy nodded, not quite sure what he truly meant, but...he trusted him.
"So...does that mean that...she'll have superpowers? Like you?"
The man laughed as he threw his son up into the air.
"Sure. Why not?"
.
[ 17 years ago: 29 July. ]
.
( "I only remember one thing from that day..." )
The sun rose a bit later that day.
Like it was afraid of what the rest of the day held.
A certain man and his son walked into the bedroom.
There, a nanny, much older than the young couple, held the daughter in her hands as she slept.
The man took one glance at his wife.
And he left.
The son remained.
The nanny's eyes met the young lad's with pity as she held out her hand.
"Come, Akashi." The nanny whispered.
The three stood there watching the woman lie there.
IV drips.
The smell of medication in the air.
And a mumbling three-year-old in the arms of an old woman whose heart grieved what her eyes rested on as the ECG echoed through the room.
Then—
( "...when I was 3 years old..." )
Beep.
( "I remember...opening my eyes..." )
Beep.
( "...and my mom smiling at me. Asking me to say 'mama' one more time." )
A single straight line.
The nanny's eyes welled with tears.
Akashi's eyes began pooling.
"Mom...?"
He walked over to his mother.
"Akashi, come...let's...let's go get your father."
She led him away.
He never stopped looking at her.
"Don't...don't leave her all alone." the boy whispered. "She'll be lonely."
Those words crushed the nanny as she led them down the stairs with a bleeding heart.
And somewhere, between the first and last step...
a little girl murmured her first words in her sleep.
"...mama."
...
( "...my mom...died." )
( "...all because she was too stubborn to see the bigger picture." )
.
[ Present Day. ]
.
Yui and Ren sat there in silence.
Because what do you say to that?
How do you even begin...
to tackle that kind of grief?
Akira wiped the tears she hadn't noticed falling.
"I took away my brother's mom...when he was only 12." She murmured. "I took away my dad's wife..."
A small hic left her as she tried to smile—and failed.
"My dad left soon after she died...and the only person who took care of me from that day on" she paused, a tiny breath leaving her lips. "was Akashi."
A long silence settled between them.
Then a small broken, watery chuckle left her mouth. "I robbed my older brother of his childhood..."
Her gaze fell as she looked at her shaking fingers. "And I stole any happiness my dad might've had with his wife..."
The coffee ran warm.
And the rest of the world around them kept moving, oblivious to the heavy weight that had been shared between them.
Akira, surprisingly, was the first to adjust in her seat as she wiped her tears slowly.
"...I've always been a screw-up." she whispered, finally facing them now. "It's who I am. The world's reminded me of that."
She took a shuddering breath, trying to steady herself. "So I try. I try to make...as few mistakes as I can to make up for being the mistake I am—"
"No, that's enough." Yui finally said, her eyes fierce despite the tears that had fallen. "You don't get to decide you're a mistake before you even get to try, Akira."
Akira didn't comment on that.
Yui wasn't the first to say it.
Akashi had said that too.
And it always ended with an argument.
She didn't have the strength for those anymore.
So she just cleaned her face and left a tip on the table.
"We should get going. We don't wanna be late for school. Mrs Juri probably has a few things she needs to say to me—"
"We're not going to campus today." Ren said firmly.
That made Akira pause.
She looked up.
Confused.
"What?"
He got up, propped his bag over his shoulder.
"C'mon. Let's go."
Yui took a moment before she understood what he meant.
"Yeah, c'mon, Akira."
"W-Where are you taking me?" she asked gently.
"On the best day of your goddamn life." Ren muttered beneath his breath.
The hybrid tilted her head.
She didn't know what to expect.
Part of her didn't want to.
But...
She followed them anyway.