Chapter Text
The weather was murky this morning. Dark grey clouds spreading across the sky were covering the sun since its rise, and the only thing tearing through them was heavy rain.
His room looked messy enough to be mistaken for some cheap brothel room.
"Akito? Akito, I'm so damn tired of this!"
Ena busted into his room, shouting angrily
"Get up already, you're gonna be late. Stop embarrassing yourself."
Shinonome slowly opened his eyes, immediately getting up after realizing that weekend was over. Shit, he thought to himself. He must be there today. I can't believe that he just disappeared without a trace.
"Get ready and leave. I'm not gonna babysit you."
"Ena, get out already"
Akito hissed back at his sister who didn't seem to care. She left the room without saying a word.
He finally got out of his bed, dressed up, and didn't even bother to brush his teeth or eat breakfast or a snack. The school atmosphere has gotten really overwhelming for Akito lately. Classes felt like forever, recess was too short, and Aoyagi was nowhere in sight. Akito's heart was racing. What if he'll never come back? Maybe he left him to rot here all by himself? Toya exactly knew that making friends wasn't the easiest task for his partner, yet he just left. And nobody knew where he went. It was just like he dissolved into thin air.
"No, no... He's not like this. He'd never—"
Akito mumbled to himself. He felt sick in his stomach. He felt dizzy. His palms were sweating. No, no, no... Toya, where are you?
He nervously got the phone out of his jeans pocket and scrolled through messages. Various words flickered on the screen, bringing back the memories of the two of them happily texting each other and making plans together. His gaze dropped lower to face the latest messages.
Me, 9:23 am
ya okay? haven't seen you in school lately
Me, 8:04 pm
touya? m' kinda worried? lol
Me, 3:51 am
please come to Ken's place today. please?
The message has not been sent.
Me, 3:51 am
the hell?
The message has not been sent.
Me, 3:52
you blocked me or what?
The message has not been sent.
Tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.
I need to get out of here, fuck, let me go.
The week went incredibly slowly for Akito. Days blended into each other, everything was dull, unchanging, and gloomy. Hundreds of new messages were sent to Aoyagi throughout the days, but they remained unresponded. It's been a week and a half already, he was so done with everything. Did he do something wrong? Or maybe he said something unpleasant?
A sound of a phone ringing has stopped the race of his thoughts. Azusawa.
"Akito? H-hello, am I bothering you?"
A soft voice spoke through the phone.
"Hey, Kohane. Not really... you need something?"
"Ah- I just wanted to ask if you- Do you know what happened to Aoyagi? He never replies to any texts and An told me that she hasn't seen him in school either..."
Akito clenched his teeth at the sound of his friend's name. He just wanted this nightmare to finally end. He could feel his eyes tearing up again from anger. Damn it, fuck all of this. Akito swore in his thoughts while getting up from bed, nervously opening his bedside drawer.
"There they are" he whispered incoherently, grabbing a pair of old scissors with which he used to cut hit bangs when they've grown too long.
slit!
Red, thick drops of blood fell on his bed, messing the bedsheets.
slit!
Akito slowly covered his arm in fresh bleeding wounds. It hurt like hell.
"Shinonome-kun, are you there...?"
Fuck, the phone.
"Sorry, Azusawa, I'll call you back later" He grumbled and instantly hung up, not letting the girl say another word.
Dull blades of the scissors were cutting his skin, but not like it was paper. It felt awful. The wounds were jagged and deep, blood unstoppably dripping from them. Akito felt at ease at this particular moment. It was like all of his worries suddenly disappeared. Just like Aoyagi Toya.
He let out a shallow chuckle before collapsing on the floor.
"What was that? Are you okay?" He managed to hear his sister's voice from downstairs. Next, the hurried footsteps.
"Hey, Akito. Open the door!"
No response.
"Akito, I'm coming in—" She cut her sentence and went silent for a moment.
"Wha—What the hell? Akito!? Akito, hey!"
Ena screamed in fear as she ran towards her little brother's body.
His arm looked all messy and lifeless, eyes closed from exhaustion, dried-up tears visible on both of his cheeks. What a terrific sight.
"Please, Akito, stand up... I— What happened, this is not like you-" She struggled to communicate with him as she grabbed the first aid kit from the bathroom in the hall.
"Give me your hand..." The girl wrapped his arm in bandages in a hurry, trying to stop the bleeding as much as she could.
It's not like him... Why... Ena thought as she sobbed quietly.
"Ena..." Akito muttered quietly and she immediately looked him in the eyes.
"A-Akito, I won't tell parents, but please tell me what happened, I need to k-know...I need-"
The younger sibling slowly got up and sat on his bed. It looked like a crime scene.
"Get out of my room."
"What? You just cut yourself, I can't leave you like that-"
"Get the fuck out, Ena" He warned her once again, taking a deep breath.
"No, Akito..."
Then, he snapped. Akito got up, grabbed his dark green parka and quickly put on his shoes, leaving his sister behind. He had to find him. If Toya won't come to Akito, then Akito will come to him.
It just stopped raining, the ground was soggy and slippery. The ends of his sweatpants were already wet, covered in mud, but he couldn't care less. All he needed was Toya. He couldn't let him go.