30 / 03 / 2019 - Daito, Prefecture Osaka, Japan.
Three hours ago, outside the apartment.
"I think I already said that I'll go alone."
"Then why don't you refute it, damn it?!"
His dim eyes looked at his annoyed twin, ruffling his hair in frustration, one hand on his hip. He had already donned a black jacket over the casual yellow shirt, wearing track pants for ease of movement.
Actually, he doesn't even understand why, though. So, standing in the parking lot, amidst the sun and quiet street, he just needed to reaffirm his goal.
"You… hahhh…."
Letting out a long sigh of frustration, he kept up his impatient self and crossed his hands above his chest, looking straight at him coldly.
"Earlier, why didn't you refute me as you used to?… and why did you apologise instead?"
Questioning him, Ayato narrowed his eyes. The two are just standing two feet apart in the parking lot, beneath the tree.
Though he is still silent, thinking with his hands in his pockets, Akane's face did not change, looking at his twin in silence without an answer in his mind — why?
He couldn't understand it; since his awakening, he actually didn't do much, cannot do much, so everything Ayato said is logical, isn't it right?
Why didn't he refute it? What's there to refute, if all of this is true? So…
"I'm in the wrong, so I should apologise, no?"
"I don't contribute much to the findings in these past few days; much of it is done by you and Irina."
"I'm just leeching off your contribution and power, so it isn't wrong to say I'm useless?"
At his words, Ayato's dampened anger seemed to flare up, grinding his teeth; in the depths of his narrowed eyes, those sky-blue eyes flashed a hint of coldness.
"You are strange, what the fuck is strange with you?!"
He is angry, very angry at the moment; this is not him at all. What the hell just happened?!
Walking towards him, hands at his side, he was just watching silently, accepting everything. Why? But why? Why standing there? Why don't you nag at how cowardly he is?
Clenching his jaw, he arrives in front of him, the same height, the same face; his bloody-ashen is lifeless and dim, bleak, just like the first time he saw it that day.
Isn't he the one who is supposed to be in the wrong? Isn't he the one who is always hiding behind his indecisiveness, letting Akane take the front and do everything for him?!
Both are staying silent, one biting his own lips in anger, reluctant to say anything, while the other is silent, eyes half-lidded, ready to accept anything that comes.
The light shines through the dark clouds, some rays falling and illuminating the street around them, like pillars of white.
The violent wind blows through them, causing the trees beside to croak and the leaves to rustle greatly, their hair swept apart.
Chill, it is cold; the falling light cannot even dispel the haze, the smell of ash, rusty — or perhaps it is just the burning — as his nose twitched lightly, causing him to look towards the sky.
As he said it himself, he had thought about it logically and analytically; there is nothing wrong with what he evaluates about himself; rather, what his twin said just reaffirms what he lacks.
The bloody-ashen eyes reflecting the grey, darkening sky — a storm that came so suddenly, without a warning at all; nothing has to announce its coming, just like this, it can come at any time.
In the end, why do they have to care for his voice? The tragedy will happen regardless, so what he does is futile, and since it's futile—
'It's not bad at all, it's like teasing death maybe?'
Pulling his gaze away, this time he looks towards the silent sky-blue eyes, persisting in quietness as he ever was and always will be.
"There's nothing wrong, actually. Your words earlier just rang a bell in my heart, that's all."
This earned another wave of frustration from his twin on the opposite side.
As his gaze lowered, he clenched his hands, and looking up again, veins were faintly visible across his neck and temple.
And again, no need to lament in helplessness, to slumber in decadence — granted upon the choice, he shall and must walk this path; it is his goal after all, as these three weeks spent in nothing.
'Not enough, not nearly enough,'
He needed to push himself further; he shook his head, ignored his brother, turned his body.
Intended to walk out from under the tree, towards the entrance gate and security post, hands in his pockets.
'And now is the best chance for it', and as he thought lastly, a hand caught his shoulder, stopping him in his step.
'You won't say anything, but your action says the opposite.'
What a man of contradiction you are, really. Turning his head to look back, from his periphery, is the face of his twin; he has now calmed down, his eyes low.
His jaw loosened, his lips opened for a bit, and then pressed again; the hands grabbing his shoulder loosened and fell limply to his side.
"I'm sorry, Akane."
Hmmm, interesting. This time, he intended to wait and see it for himself, turning his upper body to face Ayato, his expression unchanged.
"What for?"
At these words, his expression seems to fall further, crumpled, but then again, it too eventually falls into silence — or perhaps remorse. Why? His shoulders dropped, hands loosened.
"I… I'm sorry… for my earlier words, it's just I can't help it, I'm afraid and a coward, isn't it?"
"You are not a coward, Ayato. Everyone fears death, no? So your response is normal; it is hard to stand up in this situation."
"But I'm discrediting you! You are not useless, so why do you accept it, damn it?!"
Screaming out of his lungs, the abnormal attitude of the twin opposite him is so strange that it terrifies him; heaving his breath, his head hangs low.
"If you weren't also insulting me that day, how could I stand up now?! So stop saying you are useless — I'm the useless one here as I can't do anything but hide behind your back!"
"So… I'm sorry, and please get back to normal again…"
Looking over his guilty, withdrawn self — so this is what it's all about? Over that petty talk? Slowly, a smirk formed on his perfunctory pale face, his brows softening considerably,
"You are weird."
"I'm not mad at all or anything, but if it eases you, then I'll forgive you."
He can't say that what Ayato said is not right when it is logically right, so he had to agree to disagree; after all, he doesn't have that much time to argue over this matter.
'Whatever,' considering it done, turning his body back, he began to continue his steps while looking at the sky, enjoying his own pace and the tranquility this situation offers,
"If you wish to follow, then hurry up, or those creatures will flood up to our area later."
His voice echoes far away, resounding across the parking lot, leaving Ayato still under the tree, biting his lips as the feeling of guilt is still there.
His eyes followed the figure of his twin far away. He could feel it — or probably knew — that something must have changed. 'Is it related to nine months ago?'
Hands clenched once again, cold with sweat. A memory of nothing, of blankness, and then — what did you actually carry over this long coma, Akane?
At the end of the day, it seems that what he did in these nine months is worthless compared to what his twin hides from him.
…..
30 minutes later, Tsurumi Ryokuchi Park.
"What do we look for, actually?"
"You think we are wandering, I presume?"
"Of course! Since we are walking in such a dead town without a clear motive!"
"You are the one who is following me, then you are the one who complains."
"Then again, be honest with me, what do you want to do?"
And the one being asked is now looking towards the distance, where smoke columns rise from the city.
'Where is that mist gate?'
While he is thinking, the cold wind blows up once again, rustling over his hood. Narrowing his eyes to a slit, he let out a sigh, his mouth churning, formulating an answer.
"It's mainly three things,"
Then he turned his head to the left, where the streets are; it can't be exactly called quiet, as once in a while, there's a passing car and people in a hurry.
It is not even an exaggeration that while they are walking, someone is actually more worried about him, and they directly ask him to come with them for safety.
The corner of his eyes twitched slightly, as this happened countless times along the way, forcing him and Ayato to run or take a more hidden route, but now it is finally quiet.
In the moment, they are sitting in front of the stadium, resting after the long walk here on foot, a cold drink from a vending machine in each of their hands.
Ayato let his legs stretch out to the steps below as he listened quietly; his expression had obviously turned somber since noticing the rising smoke from far earlier.
"One is to know what the current situation is on the extraordinary side and their response."
"If capable, we should also map their routes or even the path of activity, which can be used later."
"Second, is to find out the current situation in the city, and how the impact of the thing I called 'Mist Gate' itself is on the city, but—"
Now, he too shifted his gaze towards the direction of the city, precisely Osaka, the centre of its own prefecture — well, anyone can assume by the signs.
"—I think it's pretty bad in itself."
Both of them are looking at it silently, each to their own thoughts, but regardless,
"The third is to record the location of the 'Mist Gate' and, if possible, I would like to know the spread rate of those monsters."
They both fell into silence once again, after a moment of bickering earlier; it seems they are still concerned with what was on their minds, though Akane did not mind at all.
"That's it?"
"Also, you have a contact with that person from Heaven Gate, right? Have you tried to contact them?"
Moving his hands to his back, both hands propped his body as he leaned back, taking this matter seriously — he would quit whining; the best he could do was to survive and think of everything later.
"You don't want to complain again?"
Akane is quite surprised; he blinked slowly as he looked over his twin at the side, who is now composed, or perhaps had already sorted himself out earlier.
But of course, the corner of Ayato's mouth twitched slightly and he let out a sigh; he did not refute, just lowering his head and staring at the ground in silence.
"Hmmmmm…"
Humming thoughtfully, he then lifted his head and looked at the dark sky, his eyebrows drawn together slightly, his lips pursed.
But Ayato did not urge him, just waiting patiently for Akane to answer in silence, with a calm face.
"Don't you find it strange, with all of this situation?"
After a moment, he said this while holding the knee of his straightened leg, leaning forward and massaging it as his feet cooled down after the walk.
Now he is thinking, preoccupied by a certain smoothness in the situation that he can't ignore since he began this investigation.
"I think they already saw this coming — this massacre, or all of this seems to hint at something deeper,"
This doubt deepened when he saw the battle that day, their agent so busy handling it, and then various factions flocking here.
Their knowledge surely exceeds what he knows by leaps and bounds.
'But this is precisely a point of suspiciousness — this may not be a simple matter then.'
Everything, every single thing, is not a simple matter, but he does doubt whether a grassroots officer knows about it, or even worse.
His eyebrows loosened, lifting his eyelids to take a breath, 'Or maybe even an agent or grassroots extraordinary doesn't know about this either?'
Then the scale is more tremendous than what he thought; he had already underestimated the situation before he even began, by relying on the simple means at hand.
The void pulsated inside him, rippled through his entire body; his eyes closed naturally as a shiver ran through his entire body, causing him to tremble slightly.
'I'm hitting the foot of an elephant with a matchstick, no?'
After a moment of feeling the disgust spreading through his entire body and washing his flesh, his mind became clearer.
Instead of the setbacks, the prey — like a deer that is cornered — will become ferocious for its life, or perhaps so. This analogy is quite pitiful.
He let out a sigh and opened his eyes after a short moment of contemplation. The cold wind rubbed over his face, constantly reminding him of the current situation, it seems.
"No matter what it is, our time is short; we should keep going."
He propped his body up and stood, patted away the dust from his rear, and composed himself, exhaling his breath once again, turning his head back.
"All right."
Ayato replied, clenching the empty can in his hands; he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stood up the same way. He didn't have to think very much — just follow his twin and do his job.
And since they knew there was no way back from this, they pushed forward instead, until maybe they found a circle back to the beginning.
….
One hour later, near Osaka's Museum of History, Shiromi-dori.
"Shit, shit, shit! Akane!!!"
"Shut your mouth, and get to work instead, find a hiding place fast!"
"I know, I know! What the hell do you think I'm doing now!"
"Then just shut the hell up and keep running!"
Gasping for every breath, he could feel his lungs burning along with his body, roasted in an oven as sweat trickled down, escaping from his body.
The sound of guns and various explosions rang in his ears; aside from this were wailing and various more heart-wrenching sounds that would tear your guts if you stopped to think about it.
As the scene around him is now truly like a doomsday — a fight between aliens and humans — but he can't be bothered now, not now.
His head is dizzy, but he had long adjusted his pace and legs to prepare for a sustained run like this since 10 minutes ago; it is kind of unbelievable, isn't it?
The processor of his mind is also beginning to slow down — not in a sense of cooling down, but meaning his energy is nearing its end, and if he cannot get out of this situation…
'It doesn't have to end in death…'
He turned his head back, and the black raven hair was sticking to his temple, but the wetness shook off as his body moved at an unbelievable speed.
The scene behind him came to his peripheral vision.
Through the narrow alley, a pack of rats as big as a person is now following him and Ayato in their run.
His eyes narrowed as he gasped, nose wrinkling at the smell; by his sight, those creatures are so dense, like a flood in myth — a mass of grey, smelly and full of rotten pus.
Orange eyes, their bodies rotten, a large part of their grey and ashen fur missing, replaced by patches of messy flesh and blood; clearly these are not their first targets at all.
'First it was dogs, then locusts, and now rats.'
Taking back his gaze, he shivered as the last thing he saw was that swarm of rats bulldozing through every obstacle, even climbing sideways along the walls of the buildings.
'For Serpent's sake.'
They have been chased by various monsters since they entered Osaka; as he expected, the police or even grassroots officers did not last very long among this, as he notices various broken perimeters.
Lifting his eyelids, in front of him is an incoming pile of wrecked cars, probably 250 meters away, and…
His eyes twitched slightly, although it was not the first time he had seen it.
Corpses, with many body parts missing, leaving a mess of blood in the area, lumped together or strewn across the street, along with an unbearable smell.
Not the first time he has seen it; he adapted faster than this, as he didn't even have an urge to puke anymore, and it left no impression aside from annoyance and disgust.
The two of them notice it, and time their reflexes.
As both of them approach, hearing the cries of the nearing rodents behind them, they begin to speed up considerably.
In the last second as they arrived, they put force on their muscles and flew into the air above the car, throwing their weight as they fell horizontal.
Sliding off the roof of the car smoothly and rolling off the ground, they dashed right to continue their run, feeling the breeze; he knew the way out of the straight alley was near.
'Soon.'
As if he saw the light, he could feel Ayato screaming in front of him, running like a madman, arms swinging crazily; his eyes widened slightly as he was surprised that he could keep up.
But the matter of this 40-minute sustained run is already unusual, as their energy seems endless — but how could he think about this right now!
"Right! Bridge! Castle!"
His mouth agape as he clenched his jaw and teeth shut; that's right, the castle!
Eyes flashed as Ayato glanced at him, saliva mixed with sweat trickling down from the edge of his mouth.
Perfect timing and coordination.
Both of them slide to stop themselves, aligning their bodies to turn right at the exit. They have only one focus: run!
One last explosive dash, they run through the sparser part of the centre of Osaka, the castle itself, which unknowingly is very deserted.
But again, there's no time to think of this; his brain completely shut down, following only Ayato's instructions.
"LEFT!"
"STRAIGHT!"
"RIGHT! GATE!"
His ears are deafened by each surge of exertion, the senses of his body shutting down one by one, the surroundings blurring before his eyes, leaving only the back of Ayato.
Until finally, he snapped up. For a second, his legs were still running, passing the entrance; they were now climbing the steps towards the castle, then his legs halted.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
Body hunched down as the strain finally bit back at him, hands propped on his knees, legs shaking like they couldn't calm down at all, every breath a pain.
CoughCoughCough
"Hahhhhh…. Hahhhhh…."
Hands covered his mouth in time, and as he pulled them back shakily, it was blood mixed with saliva or mucus.
It's messed up.
"Hahhhha…. Hahhhhh… you…."
Lifting his head with effort as he can't stay here, Ayato is leaning against the wall of the passage entrance, his body also shaky and wet, trembling as he forms words with difficulty.
But Akane raised his hands before he was about to say a word, leaving him agape.
"Let's… go… let's go inside first, before we talk…."
Swallowing his saliva, he pulled up his legs despite the strain and pain, hooked Ayato's shoulder off the wall, and both of them supported each other into the interior of the castle.
….
Present time, one hour later, Osaka Throne Room.
"We already know what we need; the situation is already chaotic enough."
"So… we have to leave fast…."
The muscles in his legs are very much aching, but an hour of rest after they lost consciousness has already restored their conditions enough.
Propping up his body with hands on his knees, he finally stood up, with a heavy breath that still tickled his lungs.
"All right, the same as before."
Ayato shrugged his shoulders and walked past him to scout the way once again with his abilities, and he turned to follow.
'Then again, why is there no monster that dares to approach this area?'
Lifting the dark strands of hair from his left eye and slicking them back, he looks deeply towards the unrecorded and hidden 'Mist Gate' above the throne,
Pondering over an answer, his dry and pale lips pressed thin.
Slowly, ideas fermented in his mind, as the corner of his mouth curved slightly.