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Shidou was dead.
Amane felt particularly off and cold that night. ‘It wasn’t anything important’ she kept telling herself, in hopes to stop her mind from running far. He was breaking the code after all; he deserved it.
Despite knowing that, she felt weird. She never liked Shidou in particular, and hated how he was always condescending and never failed to treat her like a baby. He deserved death and more.
She tried to forget how even in his final moments Shidou tried to receive Amane with open arms, and how he almost seemed glad to be dead by her hands.
Amane brushed those thoughts off her mind as quickly as she could. It wasn’t the time to reflect on Shidou’s death nor her job to do so. She did her duty and that was it.
She walked to her cell, covered in blood, and stopped before entering. Mikoto… no. Another Mikoto was being loud and annoying that night. She would usually just ignore him and go to sleep, but something told her that it wouldn’t be easy that night.
After considering her options, she decided it would be best to go to her disciple’s cell and pray he wouldn’t wake up. She opened the door as slowly as she could.
To her surprise, Fuuta was awake. Not only that, but he was praying on his knees, just like she had taught him. He noticed her and turned around.
“Ah, Amane…” he started saying, but stopped abruptly after seeing her. “Oi! What happened to you?!”
‘The blood,’ she thought to herself. Fuuta had sprinted to where she was standing at that point.
“Who did this?” his clean eye widened in fear. “Was it Kotoko? That bitch…”
“Unimportant” she said, walking slowly and unemotionally towards the bed. She sat on the floor against it. “I purged him.”
Realization fell down on Fuuta’s eyes. She didn’t need to say who she had purged; she had already made several warnings against Shidou. “So… it’s done, huh.” He approached Amane and sat to her side. “What now?”
“This was but a mere trial; the New World is still progressing.” She snored. “I just needed to sleep elsewhere, the other Mikoto was too loud.”
They kept silent for a couple of seconds before Fuuta started talking. “I’m just glad it wasn’t Kotoko.”
“Even if she did something, that should not be a worrying matter. I’m a kid, not a baby; I should be judged accordingly” she said.
Fuuta rolled his eye. “I know, I know. Oi, you don’t need to go on that tangent every time, I get it already.”
Amane hummed to herself. “Why were you awake?”
“... Just a nightmare.” He said simply.
She was curious, so she asked “Did the voices come back? I thought they were gone by now”.
“Nah, just a regular old nightmare. Felt like I needed to pray to not let it happen.”
“What was it about?” Amane asked. Fuuta kept silent and looked at the floor. He clearly didn’t feel like talking about it, so Amane stopped pushing him. She changed the topic. “I wonder how the rest will react.”
Fuuta huffed. “Agh, that can wait ‘till tomorrow. Can’t you talk about less depressing shit?”
Amane looked at him confused. “Like what?”
“I dunno what twelve year olds talk about. Games?” Fuuta said.
“My parents don’t let me play games, they are dangerous for people my age.” Amana responded. “I don’t need to talk about those frivolous things to distract myself.”
Fuuta looked at her and sighed. “You are insufferable. What about…” He thought for a moment. “Ok, what are you planning to do when we leave the prison?”
“Hm… I should go back to school at that point.”
“Eh?! Don’t you think about anything else other than studying?!” Fuuta said shocked. “Isn’t there anything else?”
Amane thought about that a bit. She wasn’t used to thinking about her future, although she wished to experience many things in her lifetime.
What did she really want to do?
“I guess I’d like to adopt a cat.” She said, and Fuuta looked at her amused.
“A cat?” he asked.
“Mhm. Or a rabbit, I think I like them.” She continued; “Maybe learn more card games. I could bring those to school…”
“Weren’t games dangerous for you?” Fuuta asked with irony.
Amane kept a serious expression. “These are hypotheticals. In reality, I would go to school.” She hugged her legs. “I don’t know why I’m thinking about this, it’s a waste of time.”
“Is it?” Fuuta looked at the roof. “I wonder. Maybe we could teach card games as a bonding activity between the followers… or something.”
Amane thought about telling him to stop being so adamant; he was a bad liar and she knew he was trying to get her to play more card games outside of prison. But for a moment, reminiscing on pointless activities like playing games or petting rabbits, she felt a weird sort of comfort.
“Yeah. It would be…” she snored. “It would be nice…”
She slowly fell asleep. Maybe she would allow herself to dream, if only for that night.
—
Fuuta watched how Amane slept for a couple of minutes before going to look for her mattress and bed sheets. She was right; that Mikoto was being very annoying. He laid her down on the make-shift bed, careful as to not wake her up.
He remembered his nightmare; Amane being tasered by a figure very similar to her. He didn’t know where these thoughts came from, but something told him they weren’t unfounded fears. Her knees were bruised and her eyebags somehow bigger than his.
He stood on his knees beside his bed, and continued his prayer from before.
“Dear God. If you hear me, I only ask for one favor.” He started saying, and looked at Amane, as peaceful as he had ever seen her despite her broken body.
“...Please keep Amane safe.” He said, almost whispering, and finished his prayer.
He could only hope God had heard him and that He let Amane sleep well that night.