Aftershock

Declan was still standing in the living room, looking like a giant who’d accidentally stepped on a kitten’s tail. “Dammit,” he muttered. “I really messed that up.”

Akio shook his head and jerked his chin toward the couch. “Sit down before you make a crater in the floor.” His tone wasn’t harsh, just tired. He began picking up the remaining cups and napkins from the table, partly to tidy up, partly to avoid making eye contact. “Give her some space. She just… doesn’t like being told what to do. Especially not about that.”

Declan dropped heavily onto the couch, elbows on knees, face in his hands for a moment. “I know. I knew it was risky to bring up. I just thought maybe hearing it from me, someone who grew up in the circus beside her, might resonate more than from her mum and dad.” He sighed. “Instead, I sounded just like them.”

Akio carried the trash to the kitchen bin. “Maybe, maybe not. I think deep down she knows you care and you’re not trying to clip her wings.” He glanced over at the dejected-looking man and offered a small smile. “She’ll think it over. Amaya’s stubborn, but she’s not unreasonable. It’s just…” He trailed off, brow furrowing. “She needs to feel like the decision is hers. Not something forced into her hands. She needs to come to things in her own time.”

Declan leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Stubborn’s right,” he murmured. “She’s always been like that, even as a kid. You know she ran away from home when she was twelve?”

Akio blinked. “She what?”

“Yup. Her parents told her to stay with an aunt for the semester—to see if she’d like normal school over online school. She wasn’t having it, packed a backpack full of gummy bears and marshmallows, and hopped a train three cities away to crash their show.”

Despite the heavy topic, he chuckled “Scared the hell out of everyone. She got in so much trouble, but she did get to join the tour after that. They couldn’t keep her away.”

Akio wasn’t surprised in the slightest by that. It sounded exactly like something a younger Amaya would do. “That explains a lot,” he murmured, returning from the kitchen and taking a seat in the armchair again.

Declan rubbed his face. “I just hate to think of that spark in her ever getting snuffed out, y’know? She’s got something special. It’d be a damn shame if fear killed it. Or practicality.” He spat the last word like it was distasteful. Clearly, part of him resented the notion just as much as Amaya did.

Akio studied Declan. He clearly cared about Amaya, deeply. Not romantically, not possessively, just… like a bratty little sister. Not everyone would care enough to have the hard talks. It made Akio feel something warm and complicated stir in his chest. Gratitude, mostly. A little guilt too.

He’d spent the entire evening convincing himself that Declan was some interloper, stealing moments he’d never get to share with her. But now? He just looked like a guy who wanted her to be okay.

Yeah…” Akio said after a pause, rubbing his thumb along the seam of his sweatpants. “For what it’s worth, I agree with you in theory,” Akio admitted. “She should have a backup plan. But I also get why she reacted that way. It’s hard for her to see it as anything but lack of confidence in her.”

Declan nodded. “Yeah. I should’ve phrased it differently, maybe. Ugh.” He groaned. “God, I feel like such an ass.” Then he glanced at Akio, offering a rueful smile. “Thanks for stepping in when you did. That could’ve escalated into a real shouting match.”

Akio waved it off. “You’re not.” He smirked faintly. “I’ve just got a decent sense for when she’s about to go nuclear.” Akio leaned an elbow on the armrest and shrugged. “Besides, I couldn’t risk you two destroying the place. I already vacuumed once tonight.”

Declan laughed quietly. “Good call. I wouldn’t want to be put in a headlock by you next.”

That earned a snort from Akio. The idea of him headlocking this human mountain was absurd. “I’d need a stepladder.”

They shared a chuckle, and just like that the atmosphere warmed again. Outside, a light rain had started pattering against the window.

Declan leaned back on the couch.

“You know,” he said, “I was expecting something different when I pictured her life here. She wrote to us about Tokyo, but I still imagined, I dunno… In my head, I pictured loud dorms, bunk beds, glitter explosions. You know, the usual chaos circus nutters get shoved into by housing coordinators. But instead…” He looked around the room. “She’s here in this quiet little space with you. Bet that was an adjustment for both of you, huh?”

Akio huffed a little laugh. “That’s an understatement. When she first showed up, I thought—” he stopped himself short. He had almost said I thought she was the most infuriating person on the planet. Which was true but the words stuck halfway up his throat, because that version of her, loud and chaotic as she was, wasn’t something he wanted to speak about with anything less than affection now.

He cleared his throat. “I thought we’d last maybe a week before one of us ended up in jail, or the emergency room.”

Declan burst out laughing. “She said in one of her emails that her new roommate was a ‘grumpy salaryman with a stick far up his—’” He broke off with a grin. “Well, you get the picture.”

Akio rolled his eyes, though a smile tugged at his lips. “Charming. She’s not entirely wrong; I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the arrangement at first. But… we’ve kind of figured out a routine.” He glanced at the hallway. “She’s… brought a lot of colour into my life, whether I like it or not. That’s for sure.”

Declan nodded. “She does have a way of brightening up a room. Or turning it upside-down.” He paused, then added casually, “She talks about you a lot, you know.”

Akio’s eyebrows shot up. “She does?”

“Oh aye,” Declan said, smirking. “Her emails and calls are full of ‘Akio this, Akio that.’ Usually complaining, ‘Akio made me alphabetize the spice rack like it’s the library of Congress’ or some nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense. You should’ve seen the chaos in there. Cinnamon was fraternizing with cumin.”

Declan burst into laughter. “Sounds like you’ve got your hands full with her.”

Akio rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. “I just like things in order. She… thrives in chaos. We had to meet in the middle a bit.”

Declan’s smile turned a touch more sincere. “Honestly, I’m relieved she’s got you. She needed something stable, someone stable, to ground her. And from what I see, you’re doing a bang-up job.”

Akio felt a surprising rush of pride at that. A flicker of warmth crept up the back of his neck, he rubbed at it, trying to downplay it with a shrug. “I don’t know about that. I mostly just make sure she eats something other than sugar on a stick and doesn’t break her neck rehearsing in the living room.”

“That’s more than she had on the road,” Declan said. He glanced toward the hallway. “Tokyo’s been good for her, I think. Even if she won’t admit it yet. She’s grown.” Then he chuckled, “Not upward, mind you. Poor lass is still as short as ever.”

Akio huffed a laugh. He was pretty sure Amaya was perfectly average height, Declan just made most humans look like keychains.

He fixed Declan with a curious look. “So you’ve known her and her family a long time?”

Declan nodded. “Since she was knee-high to a juggling pin. I joined their troupe when I was about ten, about five years older than her. Her parents are incredible- kind, hilarious, absolute maniacs on the high wire. They took me in like one of their own.”

He leaned back, eyes distant with memory. “I watched Amaya grow up into the little firecracker she is.” He smiled fondly. “I remember helping her practice her first backflip. She over-rotated, knocked me straight on my ass. Thought I’d lost a tooth.”

Akio snorted, imagining a tiny, wild-haired Amaya accidentally kicking an unsuspecting, young Declan in the face. “Sounds about right.”

“We used to call her ‘Ammo’ back then,” Declan reminisced. “Short for ‘ammunition’ because she used to shoot out of the cannon act, and also because she’d just… shoot off with boundless energy. Unstoppable, that girl.”

Akio listened, picturing an even younger, maybe more reckless Amaya. It both amused and terrified him. “Ammo, huh? Yeah. That tracks.”

They shared another laugh. Outside, the rain intensified a little, tapping more insistently at the glass. Declan glanced at the window. “That’s my cue to hit the sack, I think. Long day tomorrow.” He got up and stretched mightily, his hands nearly touching the ceiling.

“You’re still good with the couch?” Akio asked, rising from his seat as well. There weren’t exactly other options, but it felt polite to offer like there were.

Declan gave the couch a hearty pat. “Perfect. Way better than the coffin-sized bunks we get on tour buses. And it doesn’t smell like sock ghosts.”

Akio fetched the spare futon set and a pillow from the closet. Together, they spread the futon on the couch. It was a bit short for Declan’s frame, but he didn’t mind; he just kicked off his socks and propped his feet on the armrest. Akio brought out an extra blanket too.

As Declan was making himself comfortable, he looked up. “Think I should try talking to her again in the morning?”

Akio pondered. “Maybe just apologize once more, but casually. She’ll come around on her own. Just show her you’re not upset with her.”

Declan sighed, nodding. “Yeah. Good call.” He then smiled slyly. “Maybe I’ll get her a giant crepe from that café in Harajuku she mentioned. Bribery works wonders with that one.”

“That wouldn’t hurt your chances, bring her something with whipped cream and strawberries, and you’re basically forgiven in advance.” Akio agreed with a chuckle.

He moved to turn off the overhead light, leaving only the soft amber glow of the corner lamp. The living room fell into a warm hush with the rain whispering at the windows. On the far wall, the silhouette of the ivy plant stretched upward, its leaves curling like tiny hearts in the lamplight.

“Thanks again, Akio,” Declan said, propping up the pillow. “Not just for letting me crash, but for… well, caring about her. I see it. You might play the tough guy, but you care.”

Akio felt heat on his face and hoped the low light hid any betraying flush. “I—I mean, anyone would. She’s a lot to handle. She needs someone looking out for her, so she doesn’t accidentally join a cult or sign up for a pyramid scheme or something.” He shrugged, then added lamely, “You know what she’s like.”

Declan just gave him a knowing grin. “Mmhm, sure, sure. You keep telling yourself that,” he said, tugging the blanket up to his chest. “She’s lucky to have you. And maybe you’re a little lucky to have her too, eh?”

Akio scoffed under his breath. “Tch. Lucky? I should be getting hazard pay.”

Declan chuckled, eyes already closed, voice thick with sleep. “Yeah, yeah. Keep the delusion alive, mate.”

“Good night,” Akio muttered, flipping the lamp down to a soft glow, just enough so Amaya wouldn’t trip if she wandered out later.

Declan’s breathing soon became slow and heavy, the big man clearly exhausted and drifting off almost immediately.

Akio stood there for a moment in the semi-darkness. He didn’t say anything else. But in the silence, even he could admit, maybe he was a little lucky too.

He glanced toward the hallway. The shower had stopped a while ago; the bathroom door was closed, bedroom lights dark. Amaya was probably curled up in her room by now, wrapped in a blanket burrito of pride and leftover storm clouds.

He contemplated checking on her but decided against knocking. She probably needed space. And he wouldn’t know what to say anyway.