Light Shines Brightest, When The World Is At Its Darkest

She waved at him, signalling him to come down. Akihiro was confused but he nodded and walked out of the house. He rushed down the stairs and met her in front of his apartment.

“What happened? It’s so late. It’s already past midnight!” Akihiro said.

“Nothing really happened. When I went back home, my dad told me to stay away from you. He wouldn’t answer me when I asked him why. So I thought I’d just ask you instead tomorrow but I don’t think I can sleep without knowing why…” Ayane replied.

“So you just walked out of your house? Without informing anyone?”

“I’m sneaking out of my house to meet you, dummy! Let’s go to the terrace. Look! The clouds are scattering. We might be able to see the stars together.” Ayane exclaimed.

She seemed so happy and enthusiastic. Akihiro couldn’t deny her. The sparkle in her eyes was bright as always.

She grabbed his hand as they climbed up the staircase to the terrace.

“Look! I was right. You can see the moon now.” Ayane said as she pointed to the sky. The moon, which had been hiding behind the clouds, was now shining brightly in the night sky.

“Yea…” Akihiro said as they sat next to each other.

“What’s wrong? Something happened right?” Ayane asked, sensing the melancholic tone in his voice.

“No...nothing happened.”

Ayane didn’t want to force it out of him. She tried changing the topic. “Let’s hold hands.”

As she held his hand, she felt the wound on his palm. She grabbed his hand and looked at it closely. It wasn’t bleeding; it had clotted already.

Ayane couldn’t keep it in anymore. Seeing Akihiro wounded in such a fashion, she had to know the truth. “Aki-kun, what is this? How did you get this? Tell me everything.”

“Ah...it’s nothi-” Akihiro couldn’t complete his sentence. Ayane’s eyes were filled with determination. There wasn’t any way he could hide it anymore without triggering her.

“Fine...I’ll tell you everything.” Akihiro began narrating the whole story, from the CIA’s experimentation to the recent battle with Richard Brown.

As he completed, he looked into her eyes. She was still in shock, trying to process everything that he had just said.

She grabbed him and hugged him tightly, placing her ear on his chest.

“I knew it. This doesn’t sound normal. Is this the sound of the pump in your heart?” Ayane asked.

“I guess so…”

“The day we were attacked by the ‘Renji-kai’, the day you saved me, the sports festival, I knew something was different about you but I would have never thought that it would be like this…”

“I didn’t know it either all this while.” Akihiro said.

“I still can’t believe it...My dad used to work in the CIA?” Ayane asked.

“Yeah…”

“Aki-kun, give me some time. Let me try understanding what you’ve told me.” Ayane said as she balled up and covered her face.

Akihiro just continued to look at the night sky. The clouds had now disappeared and the stars were shimmering amidst the chromatic blue swirls of the beautiful sky.

A few minutes passed by in silence. Looking at the starry night sky, reignited old memories. Remembering the times he had spent with her, the feelings he felt, the sparkle in her eyes, it made him tear up again.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the terrace, looking at the horizon. The sun wouldn’t be rising any time soon.

The cruel choice that he had to make, the unfairness of this world, it all rained down his cheeks. His tears glistened in the moonlight as they fell off his face.

“If I take one more step here, it will all be over…” Akihiro muttered as he gazed at the moon. Pure sadness emanated from his tone.

“Aki-kun…” Ayane muttered as she stood up.

Akihiro turned around, trying his best to smile as tears rolled down his cheeks. “That sounds like something Natsume would say, right?”

Ayane couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Aki-kun!”

She ran and hugged him tightly as she let it all out. He slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around her. A warm hug, as the two of them, shed their tears under the moonlit sky.

His T-shirt was drenched in her tears. Both of them clung tightly onto each other, wishing to never let go. They knew that this could be their very last embrace. It could all come to an end any time soon. The cool gusts of wind blew past their bodies, lifting her hair and swaying them in the breeze.

Ayane tried opening her mouth, but she was crying so much, she could feel her throat close. She still continued to try to speak. She needed to convey it to him.

“Aki-kun, run away from here. I’m sure Natsume said the same thing. We can take care of ourselves. Don’t worry about us.” Ayane said.

“You are so cruel, Ayane…”

She raised her head and looked him in the eye.

“You know I can’t just run away. You know I can’t ignore you and escape from here. You are so cruel, Ayane...” Akihiro struggled to finish his sentence.

He could feel a huge lump in his throat, causing him to stutter. The tears slithered down from the edge of his eye.

She gripped onto him harder as she dug her face in his chest. Akihiro could feel her shoulders shake as she wept.

“Everything is going to be alrig-... It’s gonna be okay, Aki-kun…” She muttered. She couldn’t tell him that things would be alright when she knew that they wouldn’t. “I’m there for you, Aki-kun. I’ll always be there for you.”

They held each other in their arms till their weeping ceased. As the final tears dropped from their eyes, they slowly let go of each other.

They went back and sat down, watching the starry night sky as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Aki-kun. Think rationally. If you were to be here, you would die for sure. Me, Natsume, all of us might get killed too because we know too much about your existence. If you run away from this city, you will be free. You will be able to live your life happily.” Ayane said.

“I wouldn’t be happy…”

“Still, you will be alive. The future is uncertain. I’m sure you will find happiness.” Ayane said.

“Please don’t say things like that. How much ever you try persuading me, I cannot leave you alone like that.” Akihiro said.

“But it’s the best option you have. We are all gonna get killed anyway! At least you can run away and live for the rest of us.” Ayane said as she started getting emotional again.

“That burden is too big for me to carry,” Akihiro muttered.

“Aki-kun, do you have something else in your mind?” Ayane asked.

Suddenly the silence of the night was torn apart by loud footsteps. People seemed to be running up the staircase. Akihiro and Ayane stood up immediately, watching the staircase with caution.

Akihiro stood in front of her, covering her with his body. He was prepared to fight.

‘The CIA has already come to capture me?’

The both of them watched carefully as two figures popped up from the staircase and stood on the terrace. They lit their flashlights and pointed it towards them.

“There he is!” one of them shouted.

“Natsume…” Akihiro muttered, recognising the familiar voice.

Natsume and Mr Kawasaki were panting, trying to catch their breath.

“Papa?” Ayane ran up to her father. “What happened?”

“You really scared me. For a moment I thought you were dead!” Mr Kawasaki shouted.

“I’m sorry…”

“We don’t have time for that. Most of my files have gone missing. The CIA must have searched through our house again.” Mr Kawasaki explained.

“Your father called me, asking me if you were with me. My house had also been searched through by the time I returned home. I think they were searching for you, Aki-kun.” Natsume said as he looked at Akihiro whose cheeks were still wet from the tears.

Mr Kawasaki grabbed Ayane’s hand. “Come fast, we are going to leave the city. Your mother has already taken the train away from this city. I’ve parked the car in front of the building. Everything we need is in the car. Hurry!”

“But…” she tried to break out of her father’s tight grip on her hand.

“Ayane! The CIA isn’t very forgiving. They will kill your families, friends; exterminate anyone who comes in their way. If they can’t find Akihiro, then they will search for us and kill all of us. Even if they find Akihiro, they will kill us all. All we can do is run, Ayane!” Mr Kawasaki shouted as he pulled her arm.

“Wait!” Natsume shouted. “Think carefully. There is no way you can hide from the CIA. You cannot run. They will easily find and kill you both. Only Aki-kun can run because he can take them on, face to face. Unlike us, he can actually defend himself. If Aki-kun manages to escape, we all die. If Aki-kun is captured, we will still be killed. We know too much about his existence. Either way, we will die. Running is pointless.” Natsume explained.

“What are you trying to suggest?” Mr Kawasaki asked.

“We run away from this city, taking Aki-kun along with us.” Natsume said. “That is the only way we can increase our odds of survival.”

“Take Aki-kun with us…” Mr Kawasaki muttered. He looked at Akihiro. “What are you going to do?”

Akihiro remained silent for a few minutes, lost in thought. Then he looked at Mr Kawasaki and replied, “I’ll come with you all.”

“Don’t you realise that this is a selfish request? Just to increase our own odds of survival…” Natsume muttered.

“Humans are all selfish by nature, right? I can’t just run away and leave you all. So I’m doing this for my sake. I’ll come with you all.” Akihiro replied with a determined look on his face. His tears had already dried up by then.

Natsume smiled. “You might have changed a lot, but I still know you very well, Aki-kun.”

He took out a key from his pocket. “Remember this? This is the key to Rumi’s beach villa. I never got a chance to return it to her. I had a gut feeling that we would require it, so I grabbed it while coming here.”

“Fine, I’ll drive you all to that beach villa. It would be safe for us to stay there for a few days. Then we can take a boat and escape the country. Fast Akihiro, go grab your things and come to the car fast!” Mr Kawasaki instructed as he dragged Ayane down the stairs. Natsume followed them, running down the stairs.

Akihiro ran back to his house and entered his room. He grabbed his bag which was filled with the required necessities. He was about to leave the room when he remembered that he had left the letter on the table.

He looked behind and realised that the CIA had already looked through his room.

The letter was gone.