Framing

I had changed. My appearance — my physical features themselves — hadn't changed, but something was off. It was a similar feeling to seeing myself through a camera filter, or a soft distortion that hid my imperfections. A frame that flatters, lighting that enhances — that was how it felt to look at myself, even in the dimly lit bathroom mirror at school.

The walls were grayish, as was the floor, and there I was — a solid, unquestionable point of light and color in that environment. It wasn't natural. It was subtle, but supernatural. Was this another side-effect of becoming the photographed? I speculated. All possibilities led me to one person: Akashi. If anyone was to know the answer, that would certainly be him.

I let the school day pass as quickly as possible. The Sun moved, painfully slow as usual, from one side of the horizon to the other. I wrote a text message addressed to Rio, but I didn't have the courage to send it. Instead, I just admired our photo together as time went by.

As I sat next to the large window in my classroom, I found myself in search of Braz Cubas' white garments, concerned. The sound of his cane hitting the floor tormented me, and the scene of my first death played back in my mind several times. I recall a new transfer student being introduced in class, but I didn't mind who it could’ve been. Who switches schools in their last year of high school, anyway?

I wrapped up the day and headed back home, accompanied by Yukina, walking fast and looking around, searching for Cubas, afraid that he would approach me again, looking for the photograph.

“Akito… You’re oddly quiet now”, my sister commented.

“I’m looking out for Cubas”, I responded.

“Seek and ye shall find…”, she said, but also started looking around.

We soon arrived at our shared destination, the Itabashi residence. As I was completely uninterested in whatever my sister had to do with her day, we parted ways at the entrance and I headed straight to my room.

Then, after some time, I finally sent that text message to Rio, as the Sun stopped shining through my bedroom window and sunk itself behind the horizon.

“Hey! Are you well? Drop me a line so I know you haven't been kidnapped, or stuff like that", the message said.

Of course, she didn’t reply right away. Instead, I was relegated to the simple act of waiting and hoping.

“Boo”, I heard a deep voice calling through the window. As expected, I was startled, but I held back the scream in my throat. When I turned around, it was Akashi, floating around there. “Miss me yet?”, he asked, ironically.

“Very funny, sir”, I replied, equally ironic.

“Do you have plans for tonight, my protégé?”, he asked.

“I don't plan on having them”, I replied curtly.

“I couldn't find Braz Cubas last night. If we're really going to catch him soon, we need to find out where he's staying”, he explained.

“What do you call a little white dot in the middle of the city?”, I couldn't help but joke.

“Yes, yes, but that little white dot is surprisingly well hidden", he complained, gesturing with his hands while clearly maintaining a pose, still at my windowsill, that would be impossible for a human being to maintain.

“Are you... floating?”, I asked.

“Yes, I am. Naturally”, he explained.

“Fascinating...”, I was jealous for a moment.

“Anyway, I want to check the temple where he had been sealed first. I haven't heard any news from the caretaker... So I expect the worst”, Akashi revealed.

“Okay... How does that concern me?”, I asked.

“You're coming with me. If Cubas is there, we'll put an end to this business today", he made it clear.

“Understood. Don't you think you owe me a little more information, though?".

"Let's see... The caretakers of the temple are the Kuroda family. They're a cursed bloodline, dating back even further than my birth as a vampire. It's their duty to look out for Apparitions, particularly for Cubas", he explained.

"Huh. So there really is an organized resistance against hostile Apparitions...", I commented

“Come with me. You'll like their son, Toshiki. He's a powerful spellcaster, and I let him borrow my tricks once in a while”, he held out his hand.

"That seems fun. I'll go", I nodded. 

I grabbed my trusty slingshot before leaving, not that it would be much help against an Apparition. Then, I took Akashi's hand. Suddenly, I felt the world flip upside down. He was falling with me. Falling toward the ground? No. Falling toward the sky, toward the infinite emptiness of outer space. We were flying. He was flying, and I was going along, clumsily clutching onto him.

“This is...”, I whispered.

“Awesome, isn't it? Ha-ha-ha-ha", he laughed, pulling me by the arm as he moved in the three dimensions.

He was able to fly, even without wings. What's more, he was able to carry me while doing so. There seemed to be no weight or height limits. I assumed it consumed a lot of energy, but it was incredibly fun.

"I do have wings, if you want to go faster!", he exclaimed.

"... I'm fine with the current speed", I admitted, scared of the possibility of flying even faster. 

The final rays of sunlight on the horizon didn't seem to bother Akashi at all. I tasted freedom, a type of freedom I had never experienced before. In addition to being free from most government laws — I thought to myself — he was also free from some of the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology.

“Vampires... They're pretty cool”, I whispered, as quiet as I could.

“You were lucky to find a cool one", he immediately replied.

“You’ve got super-hearing, too?”, I quipped.

We laughed out loud together in the sky, and the night seemed to gain some color. I felt like we spent hours soaring, admiring the city from above. The immensity of the sea of buildings, almost as big as the real sea's, was unprecedented for me. Such a view was reserved for airplanes, helicopters, and the employees who worked in the city's tallest buildings.

I truly believed, in that moment, that everyone should experience flight at least once in their lives. To see the world from above, so small, and contemplate one's own insignificance when facing it all.

I began to feel dizzy, such was the speed at which Akashi traveled through the air. My dizziness brought me back to the cruel, harsh reality of our common goal.

“Akashi... What can I do against Cubas? He's as fast as you are, and maybe even as strong”, I asked, uncertain.

"Relax, my protégé. You seem like the type of guy who learns best through practice", Akashi laughed at me.

“Come on...", I complained. “I still have a lot of questions for you”, I said.

“You can leave them for after we kill Braz Cubas, my protégé. I guarantee we'll last that long, and you'll be in no hurry”, he replied, evasively.

“That's something people say before they die, in movies and books”, I commented.

“Luckily for you, life isn't a movie or a book", he replied ironically, still riding with me into the night.

We landed on top of a large apartment building, nobody else in sight. Akahi carefully released me a few inches above the ground before landing himself.

“Let's pause for a moment. We need to talk”, he said, a sinister air covering his words.

From his jacket's breast pocket, Akashi pulled a pack of cigarettes and an ornate lighter with black and gold details. It was exceptionally beautiful, a kind of beauty you can only witness in antiques.

“You're worried about fighting him, eh?”, he asked, arranging the two items in his hands.

Then, Akashi lit the first cigarette that stuck out of the pack and inhaled the smoke, deeply and calmly.

With the first puff of smoke, his figure then disappeared from my sights.

I reacted purely on instinct, raising one arm to the left of my head. Akashi's right leg hit my arm with such force that I thought it would tear it off. I felt a sense of déjà vu. It was exactly like when Cubas had decapitated me.

“Oh?”, he let out in surprise. “See? You've learned something already”, Akashi smiled maliciously, still suspended in the air, floating, and his clothes fluttering in the wind as the cigarette smoke formed various patterns.

However, there was no time for admiration.

The next attack struck fiercely, his other leg hitting my head from the opposite side. My skull flew off my torso, taking part of my spine with it. Fortunately, I had already regenerated before I even hit the ground.

Rather, I didn't exactly hit the ground. I had to grab on it with all my strength. Otherwise, I was destined to fall off the building and turn into a pancake in the middle of the road down there.

My fingers sank into the concrete. I didn't know I had that kind of strength. I managed to stop the momentum that was nearly throwing me off of the roof, right at the very edge of the building. I was hanging over a deadly fall, held only by my own hand sunk in the concrete. By aligning my feet with the side of the building and kicking the wall, I propelled myself away from the edge and back onto stable ground.

Akashi ran towards me, the floor shaking beneath his feet. I wondered if the apartment's residents might overhear our unsolicited training session.

“If we're going to kill Cubas...”, he yelled as he dashed.

“...!”, I cut my inhalation short as I realized he was approaching dangerously fast.

“You'll need to learn how to kill, Akito!”, he yelled, and I dodged. “Then come on! Hit me!”, he shouted, coming at me again. “Paint the moon red with my blood!”, he exclaimed.

An attempted blow with his right hand to my head, which I managed to dodge by a hair. Soon followed another strike, his left leg to my torso. That one hit me. I flew away.

Akashi was too fast for my human eyes, and I was unable to react. As long as the camera only granted me immortality, I was unable to defeat a vampire as powerful as him. I arched my back forward, gasping for breath. It was impossible to keep up with him.

Suddenly, I saw his foot a few inches from my face. I arched backward. The wind seemed to scrape against my skin.

The arching motion was followed by a backward somersault. I didn't think I was even capable of doing that, but I felt fear take control of every muscle fiber in my body.

Akashi was nothing more than a blur moving from one place to another in my vision at frightening speeds.

“Come on! You can't just dodge forever!”, he yelled, and I located him by his voice.

Again, he attacked me with a downward kick. Somehow, I recognized the move from earlier, and thought I might have a chance at countering it.

I grabbed his leg with both hands and pushed it upward, hoping to make him fall backwards onto the floor.

Of course, I failed. He just floated, and I found myself clinging to his leg, suspended in the air, as he was ready to hurl me away before I could let go.

He spun in the air and flung me, sending me flying yet again. My back hit a concrete wall. Something broke. I wasn't sure if it was my skull or the wall itself that had broken. My vision went blurry, and I lost focus. Akashi dashed at me again, and struck me in the stomach with his bare hand, shaped as if it were the tip of a spear.

A grotesque mixture of blood and a water-like fluid gushed out from my body. My arms were spread out, still partially stuck to the wall.

My thoughts and senses came back with the sharp pain, and I thought fast. I moved my arms almost as if I was clapping my hands.

My hands tried to come together, meeting Akashi's head halfway. Each one hit one of his ears, and he seemed to lose focus for just a moment. Drops of blood leaked from his meatus. 

As I tightly gripped Akash's head, I pushed myself up and away from the wall with my feet. Before I knew it, I was flying over him, still holding his head, front-flipping as I tried to hurl him, over myself, onto the ground.

This wasn't fighting. It was absurd.

I felt Akashi's feet leave the ground, and I slammed him into the concrete with all the strength I could muster in my arms and back. Somehow, it felt like I had just done a forward flip and slam dunk into a basketball hoop.

Again, it occurred to me: I wasn't human. None of this was.

I let Akashi get up, as I took the opportunity to breathe for the first time in a while.

“Not bad”, he got up. “That girl really liked you, huh...”, he said.

“What do you mean?”, I didn't understand.

“The photographer is as important as the subject”, he said.

A terrible feeling ran through me, from head to toe.

“Basil Halberd, the Inventor, was a believer in love and in the subjective nature of art. At least, that’s what the first photographed told me", he explained. “The photographer’s vision of the subject is what determines how much power can be manifested".

“Unbelievable...”, I took a moment to reflect on the meaning of it all. “Is that why I'm… Different? From before?”, I asked.

“I couldn't say. I didn't know you before this, after all. But that's more or less my idea, yes... That girl really liked you. Or found you mysterious. Until I know exactly what it was, I won't know the limits of your power”, he complained, taking another drag on his cigarette.

"You see... Us, Apparitions... It's not like we can't use magic as a tool. There isn't anything preventing us from learning. It's just... Restricted", he tried to explain. 

"... Can you do it?", I asked. 

"Oh yes, of course I can", he answered. “But..”, he continued, finally taking the cigarette off of his mouth. “You're already quite powerful, which means... I don't need to hold back anymore”, he concluded, holding the cigarette between his lips again.

Before I could answer, Akashi turned into a shadow. A darkness that contrasted with the moonlight, and seemed to swallow all forms of light. The shadow then took the shape of a swarm of bats. There were so many that their sheer numbers blinded me.

Suddenly, a cut appeared on my leg. Soon after, another one on my arm. And then, one on my stomach. Blood spurted out, and I almost choked on the crimson liquid. I was brought to my knees, gasping for air.

I desperately tried swinging my arms to attempt a hit on Akashi , but his skills were far beyond my reach. Both my arms were cut off in an instant. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest, trying to compensate for the immense bleeding.

There was no way for me to react.

However, I remembered: I was still immortal.

The pain didn't matter.

The missing parts didn't matter.

My body was a weapon to be used.

I rose from the kneeling position, still armless. I calmed my heart.

I felt Akashi's magic had a shape. The darkness, the shadows... They were merely a distraction. 

Akashi continued to cut at me, but my instinctive reactions were enough to prevent him from tearing off another one of my limbs.

I tried to predict where the next cut would come from.

I let my arms regenerate at the right moment.

I concentrated my strength in my legs and dashed forward.

I felt my hands grab something, again through sheer instinct. Perhaps through prediction, or mere luck. It was a gross feeling, and terribly painful. My hand got broken and rebuilt itself hundreds of times as it cut through Akashi’s tough body.

In contrast, his raw speed had been enough to pierce me from front to back. He was so fast in his attack that he only stopped a few meters away, our backs facing each other.

Blood spurted everywhere. The shadows slowly faded back and turned to moonlight. 

He turned to me, showing that he had seized my heart and ripped it from my body. He brought it to his mouth and licked it, enjoying the blood that covered it.

Suddenly, Akashi's eyes widened.

How could he have licked my heart without first removing the cigarette from his own mouth?

He looked at my hands as my heart turned to vapor, still held by him.

I felt my insides rebuilding themselves. 

In one hand, I held Akashi's heart, pale and still beating.

I brought my other hand to my mouth. With it, the cigarette I stole from him. I took a long drag...

And I exhaled slowly, letting the smoke out.

“Heh", he laughed.

“Heh", I replied.

At that moment, my chest was already done regenerating, as was Akashi's, and our hearts were disintegrating in each other's hands. Having been temporarily deprived of our own hearts, we were both gasping for breath. Meanwhile, the moon still shone down on us with its usual indifference.

I tossed the cigarette over the edge of the building, and it slowly fell down the many floors until it disappeared from view.

“You little thief", he commented. “Are you even old enough for that?”, he asked.

“It's past midnight. My birthday is today, the third day of April", I explained.

“I'm pretty sure that would still net me a fine in this country...”, Akashi concluded.

“That's what happens when both of your parents smoke at work...”, I argued.

“Your little sister would be disappointed”, he retorted.

“Oh, did you meet her already?”, I asked.

“While I was looking for you at your house, yes, I saw her. But don't worry, she didn't see me", he replied.

“I see”, I concluded, indifferent. “It wouldn't matter much, though. She already knows”, I revealed to the vampire that his own existence was no longer such a big mystery.

“Geez... You've already involved her in our affairs? You really are ruthless…”, he grumbled.

“I felt like she needed some fantasy in her life”, I said.

“Come on...”, he reacted, indignant that I had given him such a flimsy reason.

“So, what did you think, big vampire? For someone who doesn’t know how to fight...”, I began to boast.

"You're getting used to magic already. I'm a good teacher, aren't I? Heh", he boasted.

"Uh-huh. And when are you teaching me how to use magic myself, Mr. Teacher?", I satirized him. 

"All in due time, my protégé. All in due time...", he replied. “In the meantime... Congratulations. You're ready to fight beside me”, he concluded.

“Yes, sir”, I said ironically.

“The camera... It did well to choose you, Akito”, he commented, for no apparent reason.

“Choose... me?”, I was confused.

“Don't take it too seriously. I'm just talking to myself", he replied, mysterious as usual.

Then, Akashi slowly came up to me, offering me a handshake, which I acknowledged. I felt my feet lift off the ground again, and we returned to our flight into the night. I was concerned over the slight destruction we had just left on the building, but... In the face of immortality, I believed such minor damage would be unimportant to an unsuspecting building's manager. On the long run, at least.

The vast, dark cloth covering the sky seemed small in the face of the greatness I felt after the training session. The world seemed bigger. I felt bigger. The immensity of freedom had filled me with an ecstasy that is difficult to describe. I lost myself in the feeling as I admired the sea of tiny human beings living down below.

Each light in each building was a person, alive. With a date of birth, a life, and a predestined death. I had distanced myself from that world. I was no longer human, and the feeling was incredible. I felt on top of the world. Akashi had, in fact, commented that we were at the top of the Apparition food chain. I, for one, could only assume that Apparitions were, in turn, already above the puny humans. There was an inherent validation in all of this. A feeling of being special, of being different and better. A sense of superiority, some self-esteem.

I feared, however, that it was precisely this kind of feeling that led to the emergence of figures like Braz Cubas. I feared that the emptiness in my soul would be filled by ego.

I grabbed myself by the collar and imagined punching myself in the face. It's still possible that, in the end, I would still simply destroy the photograph and return to a normal life after defeating Braz Cubas. Therefore, it was not the time to start venturing beyond an imaginary point from which I might not ever return.

I felt Akashi might have noticed my inner conflicts, as he decided to hold me differently. I then felt, in a way, protected, even though our pseudo-fight to the pseudo-death was just over.

Shortly thereafter, we were both at the temple where Braz Cubas had been sealed away, a hundred and some years ago.