Chapter Text
Akira had never seen Amanome looking like he did that day, not before, not since. He was sitting slumped on the bathroom floor, eyes open but empty, shaking, shivering, but somehow not crying.
Akira was doing his best to comfort him, but he was still quite freaked out himself. And he could only blame himself. It was his fault Kakuya had come back. After all, if he hadn't remembered wrong that first time…
It'd been him and Ami in the bathroom, the first time they'd tried to seal Kakuya in. Obviously, neither of them really knew what they were doing. They'd just tried to piece together all of the clues the best they could, and in the end, they'd reached the almost-perfect solution: to use the doll from the Miroku residence to seal her in the Realm of the Dead.
Only, Akira had messed it up at the last second; he'd used the wrong hand.
Maybe Kakuya had sensed that they were close to the real solution, or maybe she'd simply wanted to bide her time, to stretch out their suffering even further. So, instead of attacking Ami and Akira outright, she'd instead withdrawn back into the mirror, tricking them both into thinking they'd succeeded in sealing her away.
Akira hadn't noticed his mistake until it was too late.
As he was walking home one day, he spotted a red umbrella on the road. He tried telling himself that it was a coincidence, that it had blown away from some event somewhere, but of course, it was no use.
He'd made plans with Amanome that day, or rather, Amanome had made plans with him, though he really took his sweet time getting to Akira's apartment.
They were hanging out like usual, when out of nowhere, the light from outside vanished, just like Amanome. Akira spent a while looking for him before the idea finally struck him to look in the bathroom. After all, earlier that night, Amanome had been looking with some curiosity at the mirror in which he and Ami had sealed Kakuya. Or, well, at least thought they'd sealed her in.
When Akira had a second look at it, he realized at once that the ritual had not been successful. Before he knew it, he was being pulled into the Realm of the Dead once again.
As he came out on the other side, he realized he was still in his apartment. In front of him was Amanome. Akira had breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to find his friend looking well and, most important of all, alive, but the relief had been temporary. It became fast obvious to him that Kakuya had possessed Amanome, much like she had possessed Ami earlier that summer.
And then Amanome had… said things, things that Akira had done his best to forget about ever since. Still, they sometimes plagued his memory, no matter how hard he tried. Something about being jealous of him ever since they were kids, something about a boundary disappearing - Akira probably hadn't understood most of it even back then. All he knew was that he had this really terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach like something awful was going to happen unless he did something right at that moment.
So when Amanome, or Kakuya, told him that they were going to eat him, he did the only thing he could think of and slapped Amanome across the face. Hard.
As Amanome fell to the floor, something fell out of his clothes and rattled onto the floor. Akira noticed it immediately: the doll from the Miroku residence. As he threw himself after it, Amanome got up on shaky legs, and Akira noticed triumphantly that Kakuya wasn't possessing him anymore. Perhaps in the confusion, she'd lost control of Amanome.
Instead, Kauya’s harrowing, "adult" form was hovering just above them, threatening to possess, kill or eat them both. There wasn't any time to think. Akira grabbed onto whatever part of Amanome was closest to him and booked it.
When they reached the mirror in the bathroom, he didn't think twice before picking up and practically throwing Amanome through it, before diving in head first himself.
The moments following their narrow escape were too adrenaline-filled to recall in detail. Akira just knew that he had to use his other hand, the left one, to seal Kakuya away this time. And when he'd completed the ritual, the frantic screaming of Kakuya as she was sucked into the mirror told him that he had finally been successful.
They'd won.
These are the memories Akira was going over in his head on his way back home from work. He knew it wasn’t a permanent solution, the doll, but as long as Ami and Amanome were safe, he’d have time to figure this all out. At least, that's what he thought back then. Now, more than four years had passed, and he was still no closer to a solution.
A lot of other things had happened since that time, too. He’d stopped doing the UG matches, just like he’d promised himself, and now he was doing his best to live a normal life.
He even had a regular job. He used to work in a shop for a while, but the customers were all scared of him, so he had to quit. Now he worked as a mechanic at a small, family-run garage instead. He thought this job suited him a lot better. The pay was pretty good, so even though the hours were irregular he was pretty content. It was a lot more fun to be working on cars and bikes than stocking shelves and cleaning the floor anyway. He could still afford his old apartment and even had some money saved up in the bank.
His job was not the only thing that had changed, though. Akira reflected that, just as his life changed after those harrowing experiences, so did everyone else's. He supposed it was mostly for the better.
The Black Rabbit, the bar that his aunt had been running for years without success, basically paying out of pocket to keep it standing, suddenly took off. Akira didn’t know how it happened, but one week the place was as empty as usual, and the next Aunt Natsumi had to hire help to keep up with the customers. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be at the Black Rabbit. In fact, Aunt Natsumi had so much work keeping up the place that she'd had to take a break from her writing. Akira thought she'd be upset by this, and she did look a lot more tired and run down than before, but she'd told him that they should never be afraid to work hard for the things they love.
Of course, between the unexpected business and Akira's new job, this meant he saw her very little. The same went for Ami. She had turned fourteen already, growing like a vine, and was adamant that she was responsible enough to cook her own dinners and go to bed on time, without Akira babysitting her. And she was right, of course, since she’d always been responsible well beyond her years.
Since she’d entered lower secondary school, she'd spent more time each year studying. As this was her last year, even her summer break was full of study dates, cram school, and independent study sessions. She was smarter than Akira ever was at her age, he thought, or at least a lot more driven.
She also had a lot more friends her own age now. He saw them sometimes when they stopped by the Black Rabbit or Aunt Natsumi's home, a gang of identically clad, strawberry-smelling, impeccably coiffed teenage girls. Akira didn’t get it, but then he supposed he wasn’t a girl or a teenager. As long as Ami stayed out of trouble, he was happy.
He tried to stay away from her as much as possible when she was around her friends, though. He didn't get it at first, but Hazuki took him aside one day and told him that he was scaring the girls. It was a pity, but he couldn't help the way he looked, either.
And speaking of Hazuki… After the whole business with Kakuya was wrapped up, Hazuki's career as the paranormal idol had skyrocketed. She'd been popular enough already, Akira thought, but her fame now was on another level. It's as if the nation had been waiting for a singing and dancing spooky girl, and not just the nation; currently, Hazuki was on a small tour of Asia and Australia. This was just one of many, as her work frequently took her abroad.
As for Rosé and Ban, Akira had hardly seen them at all since things wrapped up. Rosé also seemed to be abroad most of the time, refusing to tell anyone what she was doing or even where she was.
Ban only called to borrow money, and even then he was extremely tight-lipped. If Akira didn't know better, he'd assumed Ban was scared of something, but he knew full well that Ban was far too stupid and far too self-destructive to be scared. And Amanome...
After he rescued him, things got kind of weird. Amanome would spend a lot of time with Akira, whole weeks of barely being apart for a second, even going as far as to sleep over at Akira's place, before suddenly withdrawing, being distant or even completely gone for long stretches of time, months… and then repeating that same process all over again.
Just a year ago, though, Amanome's father died very suddenly. This had been a great shock to everyone who knew him - he had seemed entirely healthy - but of course especially to Amanome. And though Amanome had officially joined the organization as soon as he finished school, never bothering to go to college (much to Akira's confusion), this was when Amanome really got serious about managing the Amanome family and taking over after his father.
Yakuza work was busy work, Akira thought, because now he hardly saw Amanome at all. When he did show up, though, he always managed to do so in increasingly bizarre ways.
Akira hadn’t seen him in over two months, not counting the strange phone call he got a few weeks ago at about four in the morning. He didn't answer, obviously, because he was sleeping, and when he called Amanome back the next morning he just said not to worry about it, that it wasn't anything important, and that he was busy and had to hang up.
Akira kind of wished he would show up now, though. Just going to and from work every day, his greatest change of scenery being between his apartment and the garage… It was starting to grate a little bit. Sure, he was happy with his normal life: happy, but also kind of bored. He wouldn't even necessarily complain if he was forced to drink another disgusting vending machine drink. Having Amanome show up, maybe sitting on the staircase or leaning against Akira's door, would alleviate that boredom, at least a little bit. But of course, he wasn’t there.
Lately, Akira had been having dreams. Long, drawn-out affairs that ended with his sheets being twisted into a knot, pillows thrown off the bed - a few times, he'd even woken up on the floor. Akira wasn’t entirely sure if they were nightmares or not. He was certain they were about Amanome somehow, but he wasn’t quite sure how. All he could remember when he woke up was this feeling, like a cold hand was gripping his heart, and a rush like an adrenaline high.
It was funny that a weird feeling like that would make him think of his best friend, but whenever he had one of those dreams, Amanome's face was the first thing on his mind.
This night was no different. Akira woke up with a start, and it took his heart a long while to calm down enough for him to get out of bed and get ready for work. It reminded him of the rush he'd get after a UG match, he thought with a little pang in his chest. Yes, he was happy with his normal life, but he did miss the calm that he now knew to attribute to his bloodmetry during a fight, and the rush of emotions and exhaustion that would roll over him after every inevitable win. He wasn’t sure he missed Amanome inspecting him like a prize horse before going in the ring, but those matches gave him something to do, something to truly work for. Each time when he won, Amanome would be there, not so much congratulating him as jeering at the people who lost money in the fight. And the look on his face, an expression somewhere in between pride and triumph, was burned into Akira's retinas.
These thoughts continued to plague him as he got to work repairing an old bike. Sure, he was getting by all right, but maybe that's all he was doing. Getting by.
At least when Hazuki was still around, she'd call him outside from time to time, and take him ghost-hunting. Obviously, they didn't find anything about nine out of ten times. Hazuki wasn't ever too good at telling the fake stories from the real ones.
But every now and again, they'd come across a real spirit, and when they figured out how to get rid of it, Akira felt like he was doing something good for the world, like he was cleaning it up.
Afterward, they'd usually call Rosé, and she'd say something cryptic about the two of them being on the right track, and that made him feel like he was doing something good for himself too, like he was working hard for something.
These days, all he felt when using his bloodmetry were the countless accidents the cars and bikes he repaired had been in. Cars should be as haunted as houses, Akira thought.
He was almost dozing off at work when his manager brought in an especially exclusive car. It was still in top condition, Akira estimated that it had been running for a few years at most, but it had been almost totaled. Akira's manager, an upper middle-aged man who had only recently started balding, told Akira to wake up while himself stifling a yawn.
"Strip it for parts, will ya? We might be able to use them if someone brings the same model again. There's a list you can match them to later."
Akira groaned, but got off the chair he was sitting on. Surely, it was wishful thinking on the manager's part to think they'd ever get a car like this here again. Still, it was Akira's job to take care of the cars, not to tell the manager how to do his job, so he got to work.
It was a pain, though. Normally, there would be another person there to help Akira with the heavy lifts, but he'd unexpectedly called in sick. In the meantime, Akira had to get to work taking apart the things he could.
While swearing about his working conditions, he accidentally managed to open one of the doors. He was about to close it, when he noticed bloodstains in the front seat. He reached out to touch it before he even thought about it, it having become so second nature to him at this point, the curiosity that awoke in him each time he saw even a speck of blood.
A bunch of rough-looking dudes were sitting cramped together in the expensive car. All of them seemed to be freaking out about something, yelling and screaming, but especially the driver. The car was going really fast - Akira glanced in the rearview mirror, perhaps expecting to see the legendary Princess Mach, but there was just another car there. Were they racing, or perhaps being pursued? The driver kept yelling, and if Akira concentrated, he could just about make out the words he was saying:
"My brain! He's in my brain! I can't get him out!"
The driver turned the wheel. The car drifted for a few seconds, and then-
When Akira returned from his vision, which surely must have ended with the crash that led to this wreck of a car in front of him, it was like a cold hand had gripped his heart. He had to sit down to wait out the rush of adrenaline that followed.
That evening, he stopped by the Black Rabbit. Even if Aunt Natsumi was very busy most days, he still made a habit of popping by every now and then just to see her.
After all, he was still grateful to her for everything she'd done for him. Not only did she take him in when no one else would, but she stood by him while Ami was missing, and he was the prime suspect. That was something he'd never forget.
Aunt Natsumi looked tired, but was happy to see him like always. She grabbed him right as he entered the door, sat him down on a chair, and handed him a cup of coffee.
"I'm so happy you came, Akira. I was actually going to call you, but I might as well ask you face-to-face instead."
Akira took a sip of coffee before answering. It tasted even better than he remembered. Aunt Natsumi must have begun using some other type of beans. "Ask me what?"
"Just a little favor, if you don't mind. Ami is studying at a friend's house, and I promised I'd come and pick her up, but well-" She gestured around them at the bar full of people. "I don't think I'll be able to get away from here so easily. I'm sure she'd say she's able to walk by herself, but…"
Akira understood her worry. "Don't worry. I'll go get her."
A relieved smile spread across Aunt Natsumi's lips. "Thank you, Akira. You're always so helpful."
Their conversation glided over into other topics after that. Aunt Natsumi was drying glasses at the bar, and Akira helped her by stacking them into their proper places. He used to think doing this kind of work was a huge bother, but now he'd be lying if he said he wasn’t kind of enjoying it. It felt like old times.
"So, how is Hazuki these days? She hasn't come by in a long time", Aunt Natsumi asked.
Akira shrugged. "She's doing good I guess. I haven't heard from her in a while, but she's probably in Australia right now for her tour."
"Well, I suppose she was a little too good for you, after all." Aunt Natsumi sighed and put the last of the glasses down on the counter.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, never mind that. I'm glad she's doing well." There was a little pause in the conversation, during which Akira put the final glass away. "And what about… Seiji?"
Akira had noticed that whenever she asked about him these days, she always sounded a little sad. After all, the less Amanome hung out with Akira, the less he saw Aunt Natsumi as well, he supposed. "He's just busy, like always."
Aunt Natsumi spoke under her breath, just loud enough that Akira, who was standing right next to her at this point, could hear her over the loud noise of the crowded bar. "It's a shame."
That was the closest Aunt Natsumi had ever gotten to expressing disapproval of Amanome's choice of career. The feeling of a cold hand gripping his heart hadn’t completely left him yet. Maybe he needed to give Amanome a call soon.
Later, Akira rang the doorbell of Ami's friend's house. Her mother, a middle-aged woman with long hair and an apron, opened the door. She looked like she was about to immediately shut it again. Damnit. He hadn't meant to scare her.
"Is Ami here? I'm supposed to pick her up."
The woman just stared at him.
"I'm her brother," he clarified.
At this, the woman seemed to collect herself somewhat. "Akira, right?"
He nodded.
"Sorry, Ami isn't here. Has she gone missing?"
Alarm bells immediately began ringing in Akira's head. Had she? Again? That couldn’t be… He was so panicked, he didn't notice the door closing in front of him.
Damnit again. Now he probably looked crazy too. But the thought of Ami missing was just too much for him to take. He had to go look for her.
He barely made it two steps from the house when someone tugged his sleeve from behind. He spun around violently, ready for a fight, but the person standing there was a little girl, around Ami's age.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I just… I'm Reina, Ami's friend."
Akira lowered his guard. "So do you know where Ami is?" He asked.
"Um, yeah. She was never actually at my place, because…" Reina flustered violently. "Well, because she went to confess to a boy! There, I said it." She hid her face in her hands, looking really embarrassed.
Akira looked at her like she was stupid. "Aren't you too young for that sort of thing?"
Reina dropped her hands, trying to look a bit more confident. "We're actually teenagers already."
Akira sighed. As little as he'd like to admit it, he and Amanome were probably the same at their age. Worse, actually. Much worse. "So do you know where she went?" He asked Reina.
"The park, just around the corner. She was supposed to come to my house after, but maybe she changed her mind. If you hurry, you should still be able to catch her."
Akira didn’t even bother to say goodbye before sprinting off.
Ami was sitting alone on a park bench. At first, Akira thought she was sleeping, because her head was all bent down, but as he got closer, he saw that she was crying. Her narrow shoulders were shaking with quiet sobs, but she wasn’t making an effort to dry her tears or get off the bench. Wordlessly, Akira sat down next to her.
"Mom sent you, didn't she?" Ami asked, her voice shaky and thick with tears.
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry. I probably made you both worry."
"Yeah."
Ami sighed. "It was stupid of me not to tell you where I was going. If it makes a difference, he turned me down anyway. At least he was nice about it." She wiped her face with her sleeve. "Are you upset with me?"
"You just got your heart broken. Being upset with you isn't going to help anyone."
She looked at him like she was about to hug him, but then thought better of it. "Are you going to… do something to him?"
"Who, the boy?" Akira shrugged. "Sure, if you want me to."
"Oh, no! No, please don't."
"Alright. I won't, then."
Ami breathed a sigh of relief. "And don't tell Seiji either, ok?"
This was a surprise to Akira. He always thought Amanome and Ami got along fairly well. "Why not?"
Ami turned in her seat. "It's just that he's sort of… scaring me, lately."
That made sense, he supposed. Amanome could be a scary guy when he wanted to. "Don't worry. He'd never do anything if you told him not to. After all, I'm sure he thinks of you like a younger sister too."
"Yeah… I guess, if you say so." But Ami didn’t look entirely sure. "I saw him the other day though, on my way back home from school. He was hanging around some really shady types. All my friends got scared, so I didn't say hi. We even crossed the road."
Akira reflected that if he was scary to Ami's friends, Amanome's yakuza pals must have been absolutely terrifying. He also couldn’t help but be a little upset that Ami managed to see Amanome so recently when he could barely get him to take his calls. It obviously didn't happen on purpose, but still.
If only Akira wasn't so goddamn bored.
After walking Ami home, he returned to his empty apartment. Though summer was fast approaching, the nights were still a little chilly. Akira thought to himself that he should appreciate it while he could, before the nights got hot and humid too.
Amanome wasn’t waiting outside his apartment - why would he be? He couldn’t help it that he'd been on Akira's mind an awful lot lately. It wasn’t as if the guy was telepathic.
Akira took a quick shower and made some cup noodles. When Ami was younger and he babysat her in the evenings, he used to cook a lot more for himself, he remembered. That was kind of nice, but it was hard for him to motivate himself to cook when no one but him would be eating it.
When he and Amanome hung out more, at least they'd go out to eat a whole lot. Money was never a problem for Amanome, and he was more than happy to pay for Akira's food as long as he got to pick where they ate. It never bothered Akira much, as he'd never been picky with his food.
Aunt Natsumi would probably tell him to come over for dinner if he asked, but she was still working most nights. He'd hate to be a burden to her. After all, she was the reason he decided to get this normal life in the first place, so that she wouldn't need to worry about him anymore, and so he wouldn't stand in Ami's way. She never judged him for his choices, but he knew how much she worried about Amanome, and apparently, Ami worried too.
Akira wasn’t worried, though. Seiji Amanome was made and bred for that kind of life. He couldn’t think of anything that would suit his best friend better than being the Prince of Threats. In fact, he should probably be worried for everyone but Amanome, because if he really was keeping himself busy enough that he didn't have time for Akira anymore, then he must really be up to no good.
Akira slumped down on his bed after brushing his teeth. He was half expecting to have that dream again, but instead, he just drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
That is until he awoke with a start. He wasn’t sure what woke him up until he felt the cool breeze against his face. The adrenaline began to pump immediately, because he was sure he hadn’t left the window open. As his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness of the room, he noticed a silhouette.
There was someone in the window.
"Did you know you sleep with your mouth open? You really should close it, you know, or you could end up with bad breath."
Akira rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Amanome. Why the fuck are you like this."
"Deepest apologies, best friend. I didn't have time to get you a present, so I wanted to surprise you in some other way."
So no drink, then. He should probably count himself lucky. "I'll surprise you unless you get out of the damn window. It's freezing in here."
"Huh. Well, isn't it refreshing to get told what to do for once?" Amanome jumped down and closed the window behind him.
Akira thought he must really be bossing his people around if they couldn’t even ask him to close a window. "Why are you here?"
"I just need to check on you from time to time, I suppose. Make sure you stay out of trouble."
Even though Amanome had closed the window, Akira still felt cold. He wrapped the covers tighter around him. His heart was beating fast, almost as if he was in fight or flight mode. "I am staying out of trouble, thank you very much."
Amanome sat down next to him on the bed. "You look scruffy, friend. Is life treating you harshly?"
"That's just what I look like when I've been sleeping." Amanome looked scruffier too; he had bags under his eyes, and his skin looked pale and lifeless. "Hey, you don't look too good either. Something the matter?"
Amanome shook his head. "Guess I just never knew how hard the old man was working."
But Akira had met Amanome's father several times, and he never looked this… sick.
"Either way, I'm almost done", Amanome said. "Just hold on a little longer."
Akira had no idea what he was talking about. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Instead of answering Akira's question, Amanome just patted him on the head. "I know you, Akira. You've got to be bored by now."
Akira stayed quiet, because he didn’t want to admit to Amanome that he was right.
His face was apparently like an open book though. "Oh, come on, don't give me that now", Amanome said. "I know you're an adrenaline junkie above everything else."
Akira was definitely getting plenty of adrenaline right now. The closer Amanome got, the harder that cold hand gripped around his heart, and the stronger and faster his own pulse beat in response. The feeling was overwhelming, so overwhelming that he had to lean back a little, to put some space between himself and Amanome.
Amanome laughed. "I'm sorry, buddy. Hold on."
The cold hand relaxed its grip slightly, and Akira found he had been holding his breath. He let it out slowly. What was wrong with him? Was he having another nightmare right now?
"I have to be off now, but don't you worry - I'll have a present ready for you in the morning."
Akira highly suspected this present would be an unparalleled disgusting drink. "Don't get me another one of those disgusting drinks", he said.
Amanome just laughed and ruffled Akira's hair again. "I'll be in touch soon about our plans for the future."
He climbed out through the window, the way he came. Akira was not even going to question how he managed to do that in the first place.
After all, this was probably just another weird dream. He'd wake up soon, and things would be back to normal, he thought as he sank back under the covers.