Turn a Blind Eye

By the time Azu returned, the boy had managed to convince his mother that he wouldn’t need anything more from the Ayur. Apologizing for having made her worry for so long. His face more vibrant than ever since the day of the attack, the mother chose to trust her son, bowing to Azu and Akari for the time they spent on their small family.

They then bid their farewells, with the mother handing Akari and Azu a basket of bread as a gift. The unexpected heft of the basket nearly caused it to slip from Akari grasp. Managing to grasp it just in time as she drew on a quick smirk to mask her flustered reaction. Thanking the family one last time, Akari and Azu then made their exit, heading off to their next patient.

About a day later, they departed another nearby community, with Akari asking if they’d visited the last patient scheduled in the village. Akari knew Azu would leave once his work there was done, and she had yet to make up her mind on whether she would continue alongside him or go off on her own. But as she contemplated her next course of action, her decision would be put on hold following Azu claiming there to be one last patient he needed to tend to. Warning that, “This one will be a bit of a trip.”

Akari sulked at the idea of more nonstop walking, when she then realized that the beaded bracelet she never let leave her person had gone missing. Clutching her wrist as she funneled back through her memories, she realized that the only possible place it could be was back at the home from the day before. Likely having slipped from her wrist when she caught the falling basket. Thankfully the house wasn’t too far, and she figured if she ran she could make it there and back within about ten minutes.

“Gomen!” She chanted with her hands held together, “I left something behind,” before darting off in the opposite direction.

“Hey!” Azu attempted to call to her, but Akari was already gaining distance and clearly had no intentions of turning back.

Running down the road, the wind riffling her skin felt relieving. Reminding her of the autumn breeze one day after school. She was running full speed towards Toyo, latching onto her from behind with enough force to nearly knock them both to the ground. Toyo, as wayward as usual, became reasonably annoyed, but Akari was certain that her anger would fade.

Akari had just gotten the beaded bracelet as a gift from Kuro, and catching a glimpse of Toyo on her way home, she couldn’t help but want to show it off to her.

“He bought it for you?” Toyo's voice struggled as Akari’s tightening grip began to squeeze the air out of her lungs. “What for?”

Toyo’s pressing reaction had begun to bug Akari, with her noting to Toyo of how she always had a deflecting attitude. But as their glares met one another, Akari noticed an air of anxiety in Toyo’s face that she found unusual.

“Maybe she wanted me to buy it for her instead.”

Kuro’s sudden appearance felt almost scripted, with Akari resorting to her usual combative response to hide how startled she was. “Toyo could care less about these things, dummy.” she scolded.

“It doesn’t matter so long as it’s a gift from me,” Kuro retorted as arrogantly as possible.

Toyo ripped herself free from Akari’s clasp, tired of being the butt of their argument. “Mou kaeru!” she roared before walking off. Kuro burst out into laughter, crying, “She’s pissed!” while Akari slapped her hand across his shoulder, “it’s your fault.”

Akari, realizing her phone had gone missing, immediately turned to Toyo’s direction. Only to be met with a smug sneer as Toyo waved Akari’s phone back and forth in her hand.

“Thief!”

Akari dashed off after her and the two raced off down the road. “Your ancestors are gonna curse you!” she roared. “Nono of that shit is real,” Toyo bit back, the two of them in no rush to call it quits.

As Akari finally slowed to a stop, the memory faded and so did the feeling of gratification within her. Now standing in front of the house, all she was left with was shock and disbelief.

She peered through the doorway, where the mother knelt on the floor, drenched in blood. Cradled in her trembling hands was the lifeless body of the young boy. As she cradled his corpse, she repeatedly murmured, “My boy is ill; he needs an Ayur. He needs to forget. My boy is ill; he needs an Ayur. He needs to forget.”

None of it made sense. It was like watching a nightmare manifest itself before her eyes. How a person could be so heartless. So vile. So devoid of a spirit. She was convinced she was staring at nothing more than the devil itself. As the act of a mere human could never be so grotesque.

“Just stop...” Akari decried, backing away from the uncouth sight. “Please… just stop it.”

Walking off in a haste, she brushed past Azu as he begged to know what had her so troubled. But stopping to answer him would make it all real, and she needed to believe that it wasn’t. So, she kept on walking and never looked back.

Letting the past linger would only cause more pain.