Chapter 17 - It should've been you.

Mei stood alone in her room, Akari’s bed empty and collecting dust. The small doll she adopted that day slumped over. She sighed, opening the door to the room to find Kagemura standing there.

“You’re standing there like you have something to say. You know you aren’t my father, right?”

“I’m just doing my usual check-in. Akari’s been gone for awhile, so-”

Mei shook her head. ““It’s nothing new. We spent our lives crawling out of hell. But Akari…”

“...Nevermind.”

Kagemura looked down at her, but her face contorted in anger.

““Keep your pity. I don’t have room for it. What happened to us was an accident—a freak occurrence. Our father was so invested in his research, and he loved it, and I could never blame him for it. I don’t know what Akari thinks, but… that’s what this is. An accident. And we have to live with that.”

‘“Pity? That comes with the job. Years ago, before they had me stationed here, I was sent off to fight a war. The Warlord of Ash had seized an opportunity, raining hell onto the Hokkaido region. Just before the war… I had to say goodbye to my daughter. When I left, she was only a little older than you. You just-”

“Don’t finish that sentence. I don’t want your reasons. I want you to act! You bark orders and follow them, playing house while everything burns! I didn’t come this far to be doted on by a man too afraid to act!”

Kagemura closed his eyes and exhaled. “...Right.”

He zapped outside the door, staring down at Ami. The girl looked disheveled, She was a wreck. Dark hollows under her eyes, her hands twitching at her side.

“Caught me… Sorry, sensei.” She responded.

Her eyes lingered on Kagemura, before he turned away.

“...It’s alright.” He zapped away in an instant. Mei stepped out, sighing.

“I hate talkers… Would you want to get a drink with me?”

“Uhm… I already made plans with Seraphine and…”

Mei grabbed her hand, and led her away, Ami mumbling something about being late but she wasn’t listening. The two of them head over to the kitchen area, where they spot Rika chatting to an unfamiliar boy. Mei stepped forward and pulled Ami along.

“Hey, Rika.”

Rika turned around, giving Mei a peace sign.

“‘Sup. Need something?”

“Just.. tired. Coffee’ll do.”

The boy beside her, with hair bright orange, caught in a messy ponytail looked at Rika, beyond confused. A bandana hung loose around his neck.

“...Can a girl that little drink coffee without exploding?”

“Firstly, I’m 11. Second, I can handle it. Black, if you will.”

“If you say so…” He goes off into the other parts of the kitchen.

Ami tilts her head at Rika, “Who is that…?”

“Ryota Ichikawa. He’s one of the mechanics that work in this place. From what I heard, this guy made Kibi.”

Mei’s eyes widened. “Seriously? That thing’s crazy…”

Ryota walks up with two cups in his hand, handing one off to Mei.

“It was difficult for sure… Kagemura told me to get to work after dumping off a black book on me, and… well. It was so detailed, I was able to get things almost perfect!”

“Black book…?” Mei said, before taking a sip of the coffee, almost spitting it out instantly. “Heck’d you put in this?!”

“...Nothing? Maybe you’re a kid after all…”

“I’m not a kid!”

Rika starts smirking, holding up a box of strawberry milk, “That’s too bad, you know… Guess I’ll just have to toss this strawberry milk I’ve been saving…”

Mei’s eyes lit up for a second, sparkling as she stared the milk down with a pure want. She clears her throat looking away. “...If you don’t want it then I guess I can take it.”

Rika hands the milk off, as Mei starts instantly gulping it down.

“Jeez, someone’s happy… But a black book… Akari really kept that old thing, huh?”

Ami looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“See, the Kibi she has now isn’t the first. Me and her designed the original Kibi years back… Kibi’s actually short for Komorebi, it has a bit of a funny story to it.”

Ami perked up. “You designed it? I thought it had to have been Narsue-sensei…”

Ryota paused. “...Why’re you mentioning Narsue?”

“She was here a couple days ago, she put together Hinome…”

“...Narsue died years ago. That was in the war with the Ashen Warlord, I think…”

Ami whipped her head towards Rika. “You were there, weren’t you?!”

“That was Kagemura, what are you talking about?”

Mei turned to Rika, having finished her milk minutes ago. “She never told me the story, c;mon, you gotta do it now!”

She sighs, digging within the deep corners of her mind.

A lone girl illuminated by bright fiery sparks sits within a shop in a residential neighborhood, goggles over her eyes as she slowly lifts them up coated in sweat.

“Dang it, another dud… How do they even do this?!”

She tosses a gray orb into the street, landing next to a girl passing by. She turned over, waving frantically.

“Rikaaa!” She shouted.

Oh, great… The family friend…

“Whaddya want, Akari…” The little girl replied.

“Okay, hear me out! Remember that comic I gave you? We’re gonna make our own Ultimate Weapon!”

Rika covered her mouth to think. “Ultimate Weapon?” She said, puzzled.

“Yup!” Akari pulled out a book, full of scribbles and a crude drawing of a curved blade. “See, this is the scythe part, but it also turns into a GUN! Isn’t that awesome?”

“...Like, a gun?”

“Mhm!” Akari nodded, “Good idea, right? Can you build it?”

Rika opened her mouth to reject the idea, but Akari’s pleading eyes only got closer. She put her hands up. “It does sound pretty cool… Fine, let’s do it! I’ll need a crystal to-!”

“Say no more, I’m on the case!”

Akari rushes off, as Rika runs after her. The girls run off into a forest, sunlight beaming through the trees as they push off dense foliage. “Where’s your shiny rock?” Akari asked.

“It’s not a shiny rock, it’s condensed Aether! When a lot of natural energy builds, it condenses down into a super ball of energy!”

Akari nods along, “Oh, I know about those! Dad’s told me about it! The compression of the Aether comes from the certain areas of high amounts of Aether, eventually there’s no space for it to flow and instead it presses into itself to create a sphere of energy!”

Rika stops in her tracks, dumbfounded. “How do you…”

“I wanna be a Lucent someday! And my dad’s just super smart so, runs in the family I think..”

So the crazy part’s from your mom, huh…

A thick green cloud hazes into view, they close in, surrounded by multiple green orbs.

“Jackpot! My skin’s all tingly…”

Rika holds out her arm, barring Akari’s path. “Hold on, we might blight if we stay too long! We gotta grab em’ and go, but-”

Akari swipes one from the ground, lifting it up and showing it off. “Easy! What a piece of ca-!”

She falls into a hole, her hand being grabbed by Rika’s. “You… dummy…!”

They both fall down into the hole, stuck in purple sticky substance, they struggle, unable to move even an inch.

“Akari…!” Rika shouted, her fear placed on her face. Akari closed her eyes, holding the orb in her hand close.

“We can do this, Rika… Anima responds to your wishes, so all we need to do is wish…!”

Rika closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. Sinking deeper, and deeper.

My wish…? I’ve known that forever…

Freedom.

Akari’s eyes fly open as her last free hand sparks, small flames flickering bursting open and exploding, the force of the explosions her clear of the purple muck.. Rika stretches her hand out, with a deep exhale, as a wire fires out and grabs Akari’s legs, the two of them being shot up and onto the green grass with a thud.

Staring up at the trees, the two of them laugh, light blinding them as adrenaline fills their veins.

Akari opens her eyes, watching the trees shift.

“Komorebi.”

Rika turns her head.

“We’ll call it Komorebi!” Akari continued, smiling at her.

“Perfect!” Rika responded to her smile with one of her own, a pure genuine smile.

The memory fades away, with Rika still smiling to herself.

“Akari’s mother found us minutes later and kicked our butts.. But it was worth it. Kibi is our masterpiece!”

Ami clenches her fist. “Nice story and all, but what is the point?”

“...What?”

Ami steps forward, “I’m NOT crazy! Team Astra was murdered and you’re standing around smiling while Akari is out doing god knows what!”

“What the HELL is your problem?! I’m not her goddamn mom, you’ve been acting weird ever since that freak got into your ear!”

“Don’t you talk like that about my friend, the ONLY person who’ll listen to a word I have to say!”

Rika gets in her face. “You mean the crazy person who was there for ONE mission?! Open your eyes already! People have to move on , accidents happen, what can we do about it?!’

“It wasn’t an accident! You’re just afraid, but you don’t have anything to lose! No friends, no nothing!” Ami shouts,

Rika grabs her by her blouse. “If you wanna go cozy up and die with that goddamn nun, go ahead and drop dead!”

Ami glares at her with disdain. “It should’ve been you instead.”

Rika pushes her, Ami dropping onto the floor.

“This team’s dead. Don’t ever talk to me again.”

Ami stood up, silent.

That’s not Rika… It can’t be. She’s a fake too. Just like Narsue.. She has to be.

Ami’s footsteps retreated slowly and uneven. In the corner, shadowed by the pantry, a mouth gives a soft, patient smile.

Chapter 17 - The End.