Akira Route - Act 3-1 - Insight

A gentle white noise slithers into my ears, wresting me from what may very well be the best sleep I’ve had in months. The school has a decent level of funding, but I speak from experience when I say that the beds are not what that money goes to.

The fact that I’m waking up on a couch doesn’t speak much for Yamaku’s case.

I sit up and raise my arms in a stretch before rubbing the sleep from my eyes, already waiting for the chance to go back to bed. The only thing keeping me from burying my face back in the pillow is the sight of a wall clock indicating that it’s a few minutes past noon.

The scene before me takes a bit to become familiar; below me lies the most comfortable couch in the world, clad in black leather. To the front sits a glass-top coffee table and a flatscreen television, currently showing the afternoon headlines. Other than a faint hum, there’s no volume coming from the panel, muted for some reason or another.

Thanks to the fact that I managed to stay out so late last night, there was no way to get back to Yamaku. Needless to say, I did what any reasonable man would do; I freeloaded on a classmate’s sister’s couch.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

The very same sister who happens to be resting on the recliner nearby, arms hanging off the sides in lethargy. She made a point of locking her room when she left me last night, so I'm pretty sure she isn't just waking up. Maybe she was trying to catch up with the news without disturbing me.

“Morning, Akira. Feeling better?”

“Headache, sore all over, the usual fare. I’ve been worse off.” she answers.

After how many drinks she went through last night, I think that’s a pretty light sentence. I didn’t go through even half as much as her when I went up to the roof with Kenji, and I was out of commission for an entire day.

For twelve in the afternoon, the room is rather dim. The glass pane spanning the back wall has been covered by a set of white curtains, with only slivers of sunlight bleeding in between the cracks. It’s not a lot, but there's enough light to make out the figure of the woman beside me, her frame laying in the reclining seat like a ragdoll.

It would seem that she’s intent on taking the rest of the day off as well, considering her state of undress. From the tip of her toes to the middle of her thigh is smooth, bare skin, only cutting off to transition into the silky red cloth of a pair of pajama shorts.

Her upper half is dressed with about as much attention to conservation; clad in a button-up shirt with only one button done up. The pallor of her midriff is exposed and only a few minor details around her bustline remain hidden behind the white fabric. It hides ‘enough,’ although one can still note that her current outfit doesn’t do nearly as well a job of hiding her features as her usual pinstripe suit.

“Why is the TV muted?” I ask; moreso to interrupt the silence, and to reduce the possibility of her looking over and catching me with my eyes in the wrong place.

“You looked so adorable while you were sleeping. I just couldn’t bring myself to risk waking you up.” she returns, her sarcastic humor shining through even the foggiest of hangovers.

“You don't need to worry about me; I slept like a log either way.”

“Yeah, that’s something everyone needs more of -- sleep.” she responds.

“What’s stopping you? Got work today?”

“No work today, but I’ve gotta get ready for some other things.”

As if she were just reminded of the fact herself, she sits up and raises her arms in a stretch, a long yawn sauntering out of her mouth as...

PINK.

“A-Akira, your, uh...”

“What’s up?” she asks as she grabs the chair arm and twists around, popping her back. Such an action only exacerbates the problem and tears me between my two instincts. Given free rule, one eye would focus all of its energy on the perky exposed flesh while the other would look as far away as physically possible – like some kind of googly-eyed, refined pervert.

Unable to form the proper words, I point to my chest frantically, not even bothering to worry about the stereotypical slap or thrown object that would be sent my way.

She tilts her head in confusion before glancing down and noticing the ‘problem’, a long-winded chuckle escaping her throat in response.

“Ah, that’s not very ladylike of me, is it?” she comments as she grabs both halves of her shirt and pulls them in, doing up the rest of the buttons with a light blush emerging on her cheeks. “Sorry about that; you stop paying mind to things like this when you've been living alone for a while."

What has been seen cannot be unseen. And now that she says something like that, I can’t help but imagine a lazy Akira on her day off not even bothering to put clothes on.

“Oh, but you seem to be paying a lot of mind to it~.” she teases.

The only word I’m able to squeeze out in response is an embarrassed “sorry,” the amount of heat rushing to my face cutting off the possibility of any witty retort.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s my fault for lying around in my pajamas when company is over to begin with.”

“Well, it is your place; you have the freedom to do whatever you want.” I reply.

“Are you only saying that because you liked what you saw?” she counters, the sides of her mouth curled up into a catlike smirk.

The only answer I’m able to call upon is a flustered sigh as the palm of my hand flies up to my face.

“Oh c’mon, I’m just having fun. You’re supposed to laugh too.”

“Hah.” I huff.

“See, you have the sense of humor, you just refuse to use it. Lighten up every once in a while.”

Well, there’s plenty of things I could have said in response to that, like ‘yeah, that’s exactly why I said it,’ or ‘I’m just saying you shouldn’t change how you behave because I’m here; you could lie around naked if you wanted.’

But things like that are...

There's no way to feel comfortable making jokes like that. Not yet, anyway. ‘Just because you can doesn’t mean you should’ or some other proverb like that.

“I know how to have fun. It’s what I was doing last night, wasn’t it?” I reply.

That’s no understatement either. From the arcade to the jazz club and all the way home, I don’t think there was a single dull moment. It might be because of the person I was with though; she could make watching paint dry interesting.

“It was a good start, but you’ve still got a long way to go.” she comments, scratching her chin in thought.

“How so?”

“Well, you’re gonna have to start getting out of that school more if you want to be the wild rebel you claimed to be last night.” she answers with an amused smile.

“That was a joke; I’d rather not go down that path.” I reply, shoulders dropping in embarrassment as I remember the fact that I even said such a thing.

“Good man.” she replies with an almost relieved smile.

“I don’t want to stay as the boring, dull shut-in I am now, but I’m definitely not going to turn into a wild animal. There’s so many ways that wouldn’t work out.”

“One day, I want to take you to work with me. If you think you’re a dull person, then you’ve never met any of my co-workers.”

“You said that last night too. What’s so bad about your job?” I ask.

“Back on the interrogation act again, eh?” she answers, crossing her arms in mock disobedience.

“Do you want it to be an interrogation?”

“Ooh, all questions and no answers; so mysterious.” she replies, voice laden with the sarcasm I find myself getting used to.

“How about we make a trade then? You tell me about yourself, and then I’ll tell you about myself.”

“I was actually just playing with you, but I happen to like that agreement; information is a valuable commodity these days.” Akira answers.

“Good luck getting money for anything I have to say.” I retort.

“Believe me; it’s the same on this end. I’m director of human resources for a small networking company here in the city. Don’t buy into the ‘director’ title though; think of a glorified babysitter. All I've got is my Associate's in Corporate Law, and I got hired while I was still in school, so there's more than a few reasons it's not a very prestigious job.” she starts.

“Nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, every day for six weeks; nothing but paperwork, phone calls, and lecturing workers.”

“Yeah, Lilly was saying something like that. Sounds to me like they work you to the bone.” I comment.

The statement gets a rise out of her; but it’s more of a bitter laugh than an amused one.

“There are other guys with me; the company isn’t so small that it can all be managed by one person. But since they prefer to call me the head honcho, it’s only natural that I do about thirty times more work than the rest of the team.”

“What exactly do you do as ‘director of human resources’?”

I’ve heard the term at least three or four times now, but I still haven’t the faintest idea as to what she does, other than ‘discipline.’

She recites a list of terms from memory, such as ‘maintenance of employee relations,’ ‘orientation, training, and development,’ ‘performance management and improvement systems,’ ‘recruiting and staffing,’ ‘organizational and staff planning...’

The only reply I’m able to manage is a weak “that’s quite the list of things to worry about.”

“It’s not as tough as it sounds; more boring than anything else. Most of it is busy work, like interviews with the same three types of applicants, phone calls to find out why someone’s skipping out on work, thinking up ways to motivate grunts who won’t get off their asses...”

She stops mid-statement to think a few things over, as if what she’d said could have been worded better.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like my job, and I like the people I work with. But man, I want something new every now and then. I’m too young to be stuck on the same daily grind as men twice my age.” she finishes with a grimace.

“Well, what would you rather be doing?” I ask.

“Ah, that’s it for now. Your turn.” she retorts, laying back in the recliner with her head in her hands.

If there’s anything she’s good at, it’s making someone want something. Cutting me off right there just increases my appetite to learn more about her, damnit.

“Alright, shoot.”

She scratches her chin in thought as all of the possibilities race through her mind.

As far as I’m concerned; she can ask whatever she wants. The question I’m most squeamish about has already been taken care of, so unless she’s somehow forgotten; it’s going to be something a little easier to answer.

“What have you got planned after graduation?”

Or not.

“There’s something the both of us wants to know.”

An amused chuckle springs forth from her mouth in response.

“We were all there at one point or another,” she replies, “it’s a tough choice figuring out what you want to do with the rest of your existence.”

“Well, I mean, I can narrow it down, but there’s no definites so far. It doesn’t help that I never put any thought into it until I got here.”

“First things first; what are you shooting for?”

“Something in the science world. I’m still a little torn between research chemistry and theoretical physics.” I reply.

The latter of the two options is a flat-out lie, because I know I’m not the sort of person who would even be able to stay on their feet in that field. But it’s something to create some conversation, right?

She whistles in surprise at my response, no doubt trying to wrap her head around the mere idea of me being someone who's into that field.

“I’m going to go ahead and tell you that science has never been my strong point. I’m in corporate law; all that theoretical and scientific stuff is Greek to me.”

“Most scientific nomenclature is done in Latin, so you're actually right on the money.” I jab, no doubt with a smarmy grin plastered on my mug.

“See, just like I said; you've got the smart-ass in you, it's just that you refuse to let him out.” Akira responds, one finger in the air as if she were giving a lecture.

“Anyway; everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I’m sure I’d make a solid F on any kind of law exam.”

She shrugs her shoulders and gives an inconsequential nod, as if to shrug off the comment. “So, where are you planning to go with that? Straight to a career so you can work your way up?”

“Well, actually, I was planning to go to college.”

“Ah, college.” she muses.

She drifts off to a world of daydreaming and nostalgia, reminiscing over what must be the turning point of her life before jumping back into reality.

“There’s two things I can say about college. On one hand, it’s a great place to get a head-start on life; you get your first job and you’re already prepared for most of what you’re going to be doing.”

“On the other hand... well, make sure you have a backup plan. Life doesn't wait for some people to finish their education.” she comments with a half-hearted smile. There's much more emphasis on the second part of her advice.

“You sound like you speak from experience.”

My comment is met with a long sigh and a curt “Yep.”

I get the feeling that she has a lot to say on the matter; pent up emotions, regrets, sarcastic jokes and bitter comments, anything. Though, the primary question is; why would Akira say something like that in the first place? What happened to her in college that kept her from finishing her education?

Was her time in school even left unfinished? She mentioned having her a degree in corporate law, so she at least finished something off; but was she intending to go higher? A 4- or even a 6- year degree? Did she intend to major in corporate law, or was she going for something else?

Normally she’d keep on going; ranting about whatever it was that cut her off with sardonic off-handed statements about her situation flying left and right.

But there’s nothing. Just a sigh, a ‘yep,’ and silence.

“Well, college seems like the best option right now. Not like I’ve got any friends to stick to, and I doubt I have any job prospects with the extent of my experience.”

“No friends to stick to?” she asks, glad to get off the previous subject without questions.

I guess she doesn’t remember that part of our conversation last night. I don't mind repeating myself, though.

“Well, there’s Lilly and Hanako. But I don’t really talk to either of them outside of class. The only time I talk to them during the school day is lunch. Sometimes.”

“No one from back home? I know you have a phone, what’s stopping you from calling?”

“There's no one to call. I lost all ties to my old friends and really, my old life, during my hospital stay; the only contacts I have left are Mom and Dad.” I admit.

Akira gives a disappointed groan, “c’mon, party boy, you need more buddies.”

Before I can answer, she spots my phone on the table and adjusts her position in the recliner, perched on the chair arm as she reaches out and snatches it up.

The lack of password protection offers no impediment as she taps through the contents of my cell phone, thumbs flying across the keys as she inputs some kind of command or information into the plastic slab.

“There, now you’ve got someone to talk to.”

She tosses my phone back, landing it square in my lap with an airy ‘pomf.’ Upon searching through my miniscule contacts list, I notice a new entry: [Akira S. XXX-XXX-XXXX].

“Really now? I’m sure you have better or more important things to do than talk with me.”

“Hisao, what are we doing at this very moment? If I had something better or more important, don’t you think I’d be doing it?” she states with a hint of annoyance as she crosses her legs.

“I’m just saying; between the job, boyfriend, and other friends, should you be wasting time with a high schooler?”

“You’re not a waste of time." she responds, ignoring the first half of my argument, "here, you want to know how easy it is to get a hold of me? Send me a text massage.”

I wave my hand back and forth to concede the argument, but she insists. Better to get it out of the way, I suppose.

The message screen appears on my phone and I type Akira’s name into the ‘To:’ box, filling the next prompt with a simple ‘hi.’ The send button is pressed thereafter, which causes Akira’s phone to ring and vibrate after a few seconds.

“See, easy as that.” she comments with crossed arms.

The cellular device on her side of the table continues vibrating a second and third time, however. I check my phone to make sure I didn’t somehow call her, while she grabs hers and opens it, chuckling as she reads the caller ID.

“What’s up, little man?” she greets.

Well, that proves that she gets calls from other people. I may as well go along with her, though. If she wants me to talk to her, then I’ll talk to her; it's not like there’s anyone else to talk to.

“Oh, I’m doing fine. A little under the weather, but I’ll make it. How’s uncle Jiggy been doing?”

Uncle Jiggy? Is she talking to an aunt, or a cousin, or someone else?

“Yeah, that sounds about right. You’re an expert at dealing with him though, right?” she says into the receiver of the black flip phone.

A few more moments on indistinguishable murmur comes from the speaker before Akira responds with “don’t worry, Lilly and I will be stopping by before we head out, maybe we’ll be able to go out and do something. Speaking of which, are you and Shizune coming with us?”

Shizune? Shizune who? Student council president Shizune?

More noise, and then “I know she and Lilly have gripes with each other, but- hey now, don’t say things like that. She’s your aunt as much as she is mine.”

I’m not even going to try and speculate on any of this. There’s so much new and unknown information flowing into my head that I wouldn’t know what to make connections with.

“Well, we’re leaving tomorrow. Try and make up your mind before then.”

It’s awkward listening to other people talk on the phone; like eavesdropping on a conversation where only one person can speak with an audible volume.

“There’s plenty to do in Inverness, you know. We could go sightseeing, or on a boat ride; maybe we could go to the beach, too. I’d need to buy a new swimsuit, though.”

Inverness? I'm no master of geography, but I'm pretty sure that's in Europe. Are they going on vacation or something? At the very least, it gives my imagination something to take and run with. I wonder if she’s the one-piece or the two-piece type...

"Oh c'mon, you can take a break from 'training to outdo Shizune' and get out of that old house for a week. All work and no play makes Hideaki a dull boy.”

Now there’s a Hideaki. Is it a brother I haven’t heard of yet? A cousin? Or... twenty-four is old enough to have a kid, isn't it? It doesn’t help that she’s talking to him like a child!

“Alright, alright, I getcha. It's just gonna be Lilly and I on the trip then. I do have business to take care of while we’re there, though. After all, there is a sick aunt I haven’t seen since I was in elementary school. And there’s always issues with Father that need to be tackled.”

‘Sick aunt’ and ‘issues with father;’ just a few more things on the never-ending list of curiosities.

“You gotta go already? Alright, I’ll see you soon. Take care, little man.”

She slaps the phone shut and tosses it onto the table, heaving a tired sigh as she flops back against the cushioned chair.

“Family?” I ask.

“Yep. That was a cousin of mine.”

“Do you spent a lot of time with your cousins?"

"'Cousin' is more like it. I haven't seen the other one in a long while, so I can't say much for her. I head over there every once in a while though. Uncle Jiggy really helped me out a couple of years back, and I feel guilty if I don't keep up with him.”

"At least you keep up with your extended family. I don't really know what that's like, since I haven't heard from any of my aunts or uncles since my first week in the hospital."

“Well, it helps that most of my primary family lives on a different continent now.”

“Wait, what?”

Akira turns in the chair and lays on her side, facing me. “Oh, I never told you? My parents live in Scotland."

“Scotland? You mean to tell me you're from all the way over there?"

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. The blonde hair, the vibrant eye color, the height...

“My mother is. My father is from here in Japan, which is where Lilly and I were both born. They lived here up until a few years ago, when Father decided he’d establish the family business’ headquarters over in Inverness.” she answers, brow narrowed in a mixture of annoyance and displeasure.

So it wasn’t always just Akira and Lilly; there used to be parents with them as well. She also seems to hail from a history of business-oriented people, so that explains the professional aura that seems to follow her around, even when she’s playing video games in an arcade or hustling a teenager for drinks over a game of billiards.

If so, why doesn’t she have a position at her family’s company? I don’t know a lot of things about the business world, but why would she be working a job she feels like she’s stuck with if there might be a better profession a phone call and maybe a plane flight away?

“So that makes you half-Scottish then? I was not expecting that.”

“You’d be surprised to hear how much I get that.” she replies with an amused chuckle.

“It explains the height and eyes as well, really.”

“Actually, my mother is pretty short. I get the height from my father, as well as the eyes.” she responds with a hint of displeasure, as if regretting that she resembled her dad in any way.

“Speaking of which; what was that you said about a trip? Taking a vacation?”

“Hah, I wish. Like I said, I’m going to visit a sick aunt, although ‘sick’ might just be the understatement of the century according to the phone call I got from my mother.”

“That’s never a good sign. Do you know how’s she doing?”

“Nope, not a clue; that’s why we’re heading over to check on her. I haven’t seen her since I was six and I doubt Lilly was even old enough to crawl at the time; but hey, she’s family.”

“Is that why you were trying to get your cousin to come along?”

“Huh? Hideaki? Nah, the kid needs to get out more often. Staying cooped up in that house with no one but Mr. Hakamichi has got to get old after a while; I'm trying to do him a favor.” she retorts.

“Hakamichi? As in... Shizune Hakamichi?”

Akira shoots a surprised glance in my direction before nodding her head. “Yes, actually. How do you know her?”

“I sit right next to her in class, as well as Misha, if you know her.”

“Aha, you can’t meet Shizune without getting to know Misha. How have they been doing?”

“They seem alright. A little pushy when it comes to student council business, but they’re doing well enough as far as I can tell.”

“That’s good. I haven’t had a chance to talk to either of them since last year. There was a time when I could go up to the school and have tea with both of them as well as Lilly, but, well...” she trails off, letting out a wistful sigh.

It’s at this point that Akira seems to grow tired of the room being so dark. She climbs onto her feet and paces over to the corner, pressing a button on the wall that causes the curtains to slide apart. The sound of a faint hum fills the silence as my eyes are bombarded by the first real amounts of natural light all morning.

My sight is truly overwhelmed, however, as Akira steps out in front of the window, back arched and arms raised to the ceiling in a stretch. The silhouette of her figure contrasts with the sunlight emanating from outside, creating an image which, like many others, will be impressed into my mind until I lay on my death bed.

“What’s the matter? Do I have something on my face?” she asks, tugging on the bottom of her shirt in what looks like an attempt to straighten out all the wrinkles that have accumulated during her slumber.

“Nothing, just admiring the view.” I comment.

One blonde eyebrow rises as she steps over and looks out the window.

“That’s why I got the place. There isn’t anything else like it.”

“What time is it?” I ask as my eyes jump over to the hanging wall clock.

“One fifteen. I should probably get to packing.” Akira comments, “you got anything planned for today?”

I shake my head; “I've got some homework, nothing else really.”

There’s also the fact that I haven’t taken my medication today, which could be a very, very bad thing depending on how you look at it. Maybe I should invest in one of those pocket pillboxes.

“But eh, it’s about time for me to head out either way.”

“You need a lift?” Akira asks, perking up.

A lift? Has she ever mentioned having a car?

Nah, that’s beside the point. Even if she did, I couldn’t allow myself to get pulled along any further -- I try to make a point of not overstaying my welcome.

“Ah, no thank you. I’d feel terrible if I crashed at your place and then let you drive me home. I can make it on the bus; it’s how I got here after all.”

“I’m not asking out of good will, I’m asking because I want someone to show off to. I've had that car for 3 years and the only people I've ever driven around are Lilly and a few friends.” she argues, a mischievous grin emerging on her lips.

“Even so, there’s some other things I need to take care of. It just makes more sense to take the bus.”

“Awww, spoil sport.”

“Maybe some other day.” I call out as I slip back into my shoes and stand up.

“Fair enough. I’ll see you around, Hisao.”

“Well, uh, it’ll be pretty hard to randomly run into each other if you’re halfway across the world.” I reply, chuckling. “I might text or call you, though.”

“Touche.” she responds, a look of amusement gracing her features.

“Later, Akira. Hope your trip goes well.”

“You and me both.” she answers, waving her hand as I make my way to the door.

I turn the brass handle and step out into the miniscule pseudo-lobby, having to wait a solid minute for the elevator to arrive.

So far, it's been a rather successful day. More time with the woman I find myself harboring stronger feelings for with each passing moment, more jokes and bitter comments exchanged, and more information picked up about her background life.

She’s going to be gone for a week, but I don’t think that’s going to affect anything. If I really get so desperate, I can just text her -- I’m sure she’ll be free enough to answer my pointless rambling.