30 / 03 / 2019 - Daito, Prefecture Osaka, Japan.
2 PM, Saturday, Living Room.
"This is NHK reporting live over the sky of Chuo Ward — what you're seeing right now is one of the sources of disturbance identified all across the Prefecture of Osaka."
Standing behind the sofa, facing the screen in dim light, luminous bloody-ashen gaze, hands crossed above his chest, his face is indifferent.
Thus, through the reflection in his eyes, the scene shifts down to the street below.
"Authorities initially reclaimed it as structural damage or a mass biological infection, but—"
The whirring sound of a helicopter, along with rumbling and darkening skies like the end of the world, coupled with burning buildings and chaotic streets, as if an apocalypse.
"…we can confirm this is not the case at all."
Sounds drifted and echoed through the dark living room; lifting his eyes for a bit to the panoramic view of the open window, like the coming of a storm, along with screams and hysteria.
Moving his gaze back, the female reporter is struggling to hold the mic, her hair blown by the wind, trying to stay calm and formal, addressing the issue as objectively as possible.
But as it is said, can you fight the might of nature?
"There it is, a visible rupture or an unknown phenomenon… opened right into the middle of the road."
As the reporter briefly paused, he took a careful look, engraving it into his mind as his hands clenched. And to describe its colour as red and entirely alien, looking like a shifting mist.
The camera is zooming in, 'Mist gate,' that's what he names it; it doesn't look like a door or gate, it just stays in place, devouring its surroundings, and leaves a distorted swirl of black at its centre.
"Multiple entities are emerging from the edge of the mist, presumed from the source at the very swirl in the centre."
Narrowing his eyes, as of now, out of the mist, he sees silhouettes of various creatures; they are familiar, yet twisted. He could even hear a faint gasp at the side of the sofa.
A pack of rodents, sparse fur, various tumours and cracks covering their skin, jaws elongated with fangs like a crocodile, and their eyes blazing red with blood, wailing or grunting as they walk.
Walking on four feet with claws sharp like an eagle's, but also dark and dirty — less concerning in quality than in quantity, since they are the size of a normal human, and you can imagine the impact.
"Ground units and police are establishing a perimeter, but— we are now seeing a rapid escalation. I repeat, a rapid escalation."
The camera moved to the far edge of the streets — a barricade of police cars amidst the burning city and wrecked vehicles, each officer holding a gun.
After a few minutes of observation, before the impact begins, the camera pulls out, back to the reporter.
"— more of them appear at an increasing rate."
"If you are in the surrounding areas and watching this, you are being urged to evacuate immediately to the nearest safe point."
"Do not approach the surrounding areas under any circumstances. Back to the studio, Hazawa Akami out."
Then the window zooms out as the report is handed back to the female news anchor behind the desk.
Up until then, he had deafened his ears.
He is standing in silence along with others who are probably absorbing this information differently, but his mind is still replaying the scene of the creatures emerging from the mist.
"And then back to us, it's been four hours after the reported impact across Osaka, and as you can see here…"
Snapping back, he untied his crossed hands, damp in cold sweat. His gaze is now glued to the map of Osaka Prefecture and the red points occurring across the area.
Forty-three, exactly forty-three 'mist gates' have opened across Osaka, appearing equally across the 43 municipalities in this prefecture.
He naturally entered his thinking state. The sense of control he has is slowly slipping out of his hands; even if he limits its range and makes a compromise at the end, it is useless.
Everything seems like an illusion. Slowly, a bluish-silver rose from the depths of his eyes, 'What should I even do?' He had foreseen it, but he did not expect it to come so soon.
But is it the time to lament? How long does he have to lament? Perhaps he is still stuck in the past after all?
…
"If you have to just do what you can do… then, I have to work hard, hard enough to ensure that every work is rewarded the way I work at it, but—"
"—just hard enough to be able to achieve everything, no matter what the cost, even then, I wouldn't regret anything."
…
He swore never to reiterate his mistake and to correct his way, so, 'Even if I can't have it, then I'll swear for my sisters and aunt to have it instead.'
Yes, that's the way and must be the way it is supposed to be; a red spot appears as a tint of colour between the silver pool.
Gritting his teeth through closed lips, his eyes begin to turn colder and colder, along with a more rational approach, which he would take this time.
Seconds passed. "What should we do, Akane?" The voice of his twin older brother awakened him, as he felt a hand nudging his shoulder.
Slowly turning his face to the side, his twin's worried face came into view. He did not look into his eyes, but was glued to the screen instead, just like him earlier.
Then he also moved his face down to the sofa instead.
His aunt is absentminded, hugging a cushion above her lap, while his little sister at her side is also sitting blankly, her lips trembling.
"It's clear, right?" He answered his twin's question, and then Ayato took his hands off his shoulder; his bloody-ashen gaze now looked at the sky covered by the storm.
"We need to gather more information as usual,"
Facing Ayato, who is baffled or stunned, his eyebrows raised, his mouth agape as they face each other — it's clear it's not the answer he expected.
Then, under his calm and expressionless face, those features quickly took a turn — eyebrows furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line, gritting his teeth.
"Ты что, ебанулся?! (Are you fucking nuts?!)"
Then Ayato's hands moved as his gaze flicked in response to the approaching hands, but he ignored them and let it be; the hands grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it close to his face.
The situation took a quick turn, Ayato took off his hands and pointed at the television, but he didn't even look away — bloody-ashen and sky-blue eyes locked with each other.
Gradually, the others also noticed the rise in voices that surprised them, so they turned their bodies from the screen and instinctively tried to find out what was going on.
"Почему бы вам самим этого не увидеть? Откройте глаза! (Why don't you see it for yourself? Open your eyes!)"
"Что мы можем с этим делать? А что можете сделать вы и ваши бесполезные способности в этой ситуации? Ничего! (What can we do about this? And what can you and your useless abilities do in this situation? Nothing!)"
"Я выполнял все ваши указания, делал все, что мог, но вот мы здесь! (I followed all your instructions, did everything I could, but here we are!)"
At first, he didn't feel anything much as he had already steeled his resolve, but—
'Is it truly my fault?'
The world slowed down, it's bleak, and silence seems to remind him of what he is — or perhaps it is just an aftereffect of what had happened, as it should be.
If he thinks about it again, his act of curiosity over Irina's matter, the investigation that eventually followed, and the discovery of an extraordinary world — all of this stems from him.
And will eventually end with him, and with his own hands.
At this thought, his heart began to tremble, a shiver ran through his body; the void was pulsating once more, reacting strongly, so that his ears were temporarily deafened by the noise.
But all of this — he is trying to fix this mess, no? Watching the frozen or slowed-down time of Ayato's ferocious and wrathful face, so close yet so far.
Or maybe….
….
….
'Is everything truly useless after all?' As he said it himself.
Despite being granted a chance, a life once more, and even at the cost of erasing that history, is it truly useless? Then again, what is he doing here?
Deep down, he seems to know or at least understand something.
Father, mother, or everything — it is probably his fault, so he is alive to fix this matter, right? He wants to care about them so they are not sad anymore and will not leave him, right?
'Isn't that correct?'
Everything comes around, but in the end, it is the same after all.
No matter what he does, all he needs to do is do well in this one to prove it, and in the future, to protect them well and not let them get hurt.
He needs a chance, he will, he needs to… no matter what, so…
Time flows once again, amidst the clarity of bluish-silver eyes.
"Довольны? Вас всё это устраивает? (Are you satisfied? Are you happy with all of this?)"
Chest heaving as he gazes at that hateful and plain face — no remorse or even any change at all — it makes him sick; taking his hands away from the hem of his shirt.
As the grabbed hem is released, he took a gasp as his body hunched, pupils dilated, but eventually the bluish-silver gaze turned dim and faded to its bloody-ashen.
"Nii-chan!"
He could feel a hand on his back and another on his left hand.
Irina is stroking his back as tears welled in her eyes, standing on the edge of the sofa, her gaze alternating between her two brothers, feeling a pang of guilt over their strife.
And Riscia's gaze is complex as she looks at Ayato too, biting her lips, standing between Ayato and Akane, intending to mediate between them, hands crossed above her chest.
"Ayato… calm down for a bit, okay? Sit down for a while and then talk it over when you have cooled your head."
But Akane interjected from the side as she finished—
"I'm sorry."
Lifting his body, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and over his aunt's shoulder, he is looking at his twin's face — Ayato is clearly surprised once again at his words.
"I'm sorry if, in these past few days, what I did was actually useless."
He shook his head slightly, his face still plain and flat, his bloody-ashen eyes calm with no pulsation in the void inside him, truly lifeless as he needed to be in this moment.
"So, you don't need to go, I'll just go by myself, after all…"
Again, if everything is his fault, then let him fix it himself; there is no need to bother or involve them anymore at this point — to do everything alone, as he should be.
'Isn't this my plan from the start?'
Pursing his lips inwards, the corner of his mouth curved as the decision had been made; he wasted no more time, walking past them and up the stairs on his own.
He needs to be fast, as there are many things to do and prepare.
"Eh?…"
Ignoring the stunned Irina at the side, still standing on the sofa as her eyes opened wide, and after a second, her eyes tracked the figure of her brother.
Unknowingly, a small and confused voice was uttered through her now pale and thin lips.
"Nii-chan…"
And Ayato seems to have misinterpreted it; his face is now red in anger, heaving his breath, and he turned his upper body to pounce on Akane.
"Come back! I'm not done with you!"
But he is being held back by his aunt, who caught his hands.
Riscia's face is desperate and helpless, as this is the first time she has witnessed a true strife between them, therefore lacking the experience and knowledge to handle it.
'I'm sorry, Akane.'
All she can do now is hold back the raging Ayato and try to calm him down enough to think straight and let Akane go back to his room.
…
10 minutes later.
Walking down the stairs, he noticed Irina had obviously prepared herself, wearing a dress and a jacket, along with a white beret; she was swinging her feet in silence, likely waiting for him.
As she noticed him too, she forced a smile and got up from the dining table, following him as he eventually stopped at the living room entrance,
Where his aunt was standing, trying to stop them from going.
"You are not going anywhere… It's right what Ayato said, it is dangerous, as smart as you are, you better be—"
But Akane just shook it off with a smile, not bothered about it at all.
He knows she is probably worried about him, but for now, he doesn't care about it, as there's a more pressing matter.
'Then again, what could you do about it?'
Shaking his head, he ignored her and just walked past her, while,
"You don't have to worry too much about me, I'm just scouting around this neighbourhood, just close the curtain of the window and…"
He felt that someone was still following him even after he said it; he stopped in his steps, but continued what he was saying first before addressing what his sister was doing.
Turning his head behind him, there is Irina, tilting her head, trying very much to appear innocent, and the aunt seemingly apprehensive but not daring to truly stop him — as he expected.
"…there are four stacks of big boxes in my room, beside the wardrobe, filled with—"
But before he could continue, his aunt interjected, hands grasping her lap, her face now a mix of frustration and helplessness.
"…it is a gun, a rifle, right? You got an entire arsenal, from the transaction that day, right?"
She knows the cause and effect of that matter very well, as she can largely guess what Akane thinks, combined with what she had learned in the Dark Network itself.
Although she accompanied him that day to retrieve the cases from the location, he never acknowledged its content to her, but how could it fool her.
Pursing her lips, she thinks and sighs internally, 'She handles arms much more closely than he knows by himself.'
Her gaze is now desperate as she looks at him, which in turn he looks back at with a bit of surprise — not very much of it — instead,
"There's a stack of special magazines containing various special bullets, such as explosive, incendiary, and lethal corrosion…"
"There are four Howa Type-20s, and some P226s inside, there are also various knives for throwing or close use either way…"
After explaining, he didn't bother with his aunt's reaction and instead looked towards Irina, crouching and smiling at her,
"What it is, it's just a second goody rifle, I could even handle more than this if any."
But he seems to hear her mutter under her breath that seems like a gruntle adrift to his ears, causing him to chuckle for a bit, but then…
"No, I want to go too… my ability is certainly useful and could help you, so you don't have to worry…"
But before he even spoke, this little kid had guessed his intention. He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to keep his smile the same,
"Of course, you are the best and always help me, Irina, thank you very much after all of this time—"
Her hands covered his mouth again, before he could talk further. Looking at her, tears had already welled at the corners of her eyes, her lips pursed,
"Why do you talk like that! No matter what, I'll follow you!"
Knowing he couldn't persuade her, he turned to the second choice; his gaze bypassed her, looking straight at his aunt. 'Help me please!'
But the one being asked hesitated over whether to intervene or not, as it seems that both choices will hurt both sides, and she is powerless to stop it.
Her mind tells her over and over that Akane will be okay, as he is not stupid enough. But Irina—
"Take her, she can help you defend the house if necessary. If it goes on long enough, the rate of spread will reach this area…"
"I must hurry before everything goes awry, you don't want to see a flood of monsters on the street, do you!"
Akane's hand pulled off the hands covering his mouth; knowing what he was going to do, Irina hastily turned her upper body in a panic,
"Don't, please don't listen to him, nee-chan!"
She is screaming desperately, tears now unbearable as they trickle down her cheeks, but the decision has been made.
Riscia slowly walked towards her, and Irina, who saw it, tried to avoid it, but opening her eyes wide, her hands were still being held by Akane, leaving her no choice at all.
"No! No! Aka-nii, please no!"
Caught in her soft embrace, Akane let go of her hands, and before this, he smiled and rolled his eyes to ease the atmosphere.
"You don't have to worry too much, and as I said before, you don't have to be so dramatic about it."
Then, ignoring her reaction, he turned his body, put on his shoes, quickly opened the door, and set off on his investigation.
———
3 hours later, Osaka Castle.
"Haahhhh… Hahhhhh…."
Gasping as they lean against the wall of the throne room, looking at a small swirling red mist in the centre — clearly a mist gate.
"Crazy, in the end, why doesn't it spawn any monsters?"
"If you ask me, then who could I ask? Aren't you the one who possesses spatial perception? Why don't you try it out then?"
"Shit, if I knew I wouldn't ask you, but yeah, after what you said, I could feel that this kind of thing is very much unstable…"
"Then…."
"Then…."
The two of them were bickering with each other. Akane is the first to break it, looking at Ayato, who is now walking closer and standing near the mist gate.
"Any change at all?"
He asks while composing his breath after a while, hands on his knees, his dark hoodie completely soaked in sweat.
"I'm sure it is expanding. But what do you want to do with this?"
To this, he looks over to his twin, whose face is also tired and weary but holds confusion in his eyes, met with bloody-ashen that is plain,
"No, nothing at all."
Now he knows the ticket — his chance of amends that will come.