DGA Season 1 Aftermath: Akira

New Aftermath Chapter, this one starring Akira. Enjoy.
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“Huh, I guess you're my roomate, right?”

The athletic looking girl in the blue shorts set her bag down on the desk chair, her hair in a tight ponytail. Akira stares, lying back on the bottom bunk. The girl outstretches her hand in offer of a greeting handshake. “I'm Rei! What's your name?”

Akira doesn't accept the handshake, and instead returns to reading the book resting in her hands. “Akira.”

“Huh, isn't that a boy's name?” Rei asks.

“No.”

“Whatever you say!” Rei smiles. She arches her back, bending over as she zips the bag open and begins to pull out her clothes items.

Akira glances at Rei, examining her as she does this. Between her toned body, smooth legs, and her butt in those running shorts, she's likely to be a hit with the boys in the class. Her perky and energetic attitude is also sure to make her popular. As Rei zips her bag back up, she notices a box of snacks sitting on the bedside table. “Oh, pocky sticks!” she exclaims. “You mind if I have one?”

Akira buries her nose back into her book. “I'd rather you didn't.”

“Oh...” Rei mumbles. “Hey, no offence or anything... but you're kinda... boring.”

“My apologies,” Akira mutters, not looking up from her book.

“Sorry,” Rei scratches the back of her head. “It's just, after we learned what kind of place this is, I expected everyone here to be some crazy eccentric or something.”

Akira was still having trouble processing the nature of the school. As they arrived, they were given an assembly by the principal, some old, stern man. He explained that this school housed a supernatural realm, and every student was chosen because they were born with a special ability to do combat with the monsters of that realm. It was so... bizarre. It sounded like something ripped from the pages of a cheesy adventure manga. Either way, Akira found herself determined to focus on her own survival, and not to waste time making friends with people who may not be around a week from now. Not like she was going to be making many friends, anyway. Most people don't want to make friend with the quiet, scary tall girl. Despite her intention to avoid others though, Akira couldn't bring herself to avoid asking an important question to someone who might listen.

“Doesn't it... scare you?” Akira asks Rei, placing down her book.

“Does what scare me?”

“All of this,” Akira explain. “Everything we've just been told. About the... demons, and how we're supposed to fight them. Aren't you scared?”

Rei scoffs, confidently boxing the air. “Scared? Me? No way! I'm excited that I get to kick some some serious ass!”

Rei smirks as she looks Akira up and down. “Besides, why would you be scared? You look like you could handle yourself in a fight!”

Rei isn't wrong. Akira is big and she is tough. She is also fifteen years old. She isn't equipped mentally for something like this. “But aren't you afraid you might die?”

“Die?” Rei laughs. “No way! I'm a winner, Akira. I'm tough, I'm prepared, I'm ready for anything! I'm not going to die!”

Akira rolls her eyes. Sure, whatever she says.

Rei excitedly claps her hands together as she looks down at Akira. “So, I take it this means I get the top bunk?”

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“You're incredibly brave, Akira. Rei would be dead if it weren't for you!”

The praise from Saki Kobashi, the small preppy girl at the front of class, feels hollow to Akira. Almost as hollow as the hole now torn into her shoulder as a result of her being pierced by a creature's claw after moving the athletic blonde out of harm's way. As Tekina, the school nurse, gets to work on patching up the wound, Akira asks herself why.

Why did she put her own life at risk? Why did she choose to forgo her focus on surviving for the sake of Rei? It's not like they were close. Sure, they shared a room together, but they had only shared a single conversation on the day they moved in. And yet, when she saw Rei seize up and convulse as that thing came towards her, she couldn't stop herself from moving, from saving Rei at the risk of her own safety.

She also couldn't help but be concerned for Rei, who was lying unconscious in the bed next to her. It was strange, one moment Rei was tearing through the demons at an incredible rate. The next, she was shaking and coughing up blood. Akira had no idea what was happening to her, and it seems that the nurse is just as stumped.

“You're Rei's room-mate, correct?” Tekina asks as she tends to Akira's wound.

“Yes, I am.”

“You might want to watch over her a little,” Tekina explains. “Just to make sure she's okay.”

“What's wrong with her?” Akira asks.

“I'm... not sure. I've ran tests, but it seems she has contracted some kind of disease from the Darkworld...”

“Does this happen often?”

Tekina places a finger to her chin. “Actually, it's never happened before! Oh, this is very interesting... uhh, I mean, terrible!”

“So, if you don't know what this disease is...” Akira mutters, “Then that means you also don't know how to cure it.”

“I'm afraid so,” Tekina pouts. “Hopefully, with enough tests I can find a way to combat the symptoms. But as it stands...”

Akira looks over at Rei. Her hair has been let down, and several stray hairs have fallen over her face. Poor girl. She came to the school so full of energy and enthusiasm, and then this happens. Akira makes her way back to the dormroom shortly after being fixed up, but she doesn't sleep a wink that night. Instead, her thoughts turn to her absent roommate, the beautiful young girl who has found her energy taken by misfortune.

The next day, both Akira and Rei attended class as usual. Rei went for a long jog after school, while Akira simply returned to her dormroom, hoping to have a quiet evening to herself, as she hoped most evenings would go.

It wasn't long before Rei came bursting through the door, a scornful look on her face. “Ugh, that jerk!” she yells, punching at the air, as she tends to do.

“What's wrong?” Akira decides to ask, her quiet time already ruined.

“That dumbass Seishiro wouldn't stop hitting on me while I tried to train! I was just about ready to lay my fist into his face, but then... I started coughing... so I ran back here before he noticed anything off about me.”

Akira lets out a low hum in thought. “Perhaps you should try not to get so worked up when you're ill. Maybe slow down a little.”

“Slow down?” Rei yells. “I can't slow down! There's still so much training left to do! You saw what happened yesterday... actually, you felt what happened yesterday! If I don't keep training, I'll die! I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you! Uhh... thanks, by the way.”

Akira shrugs her shoulders. She doesn't want any attention put on what she did.

“Anyway,” Rei continues. “I was just trying to get some training done, but that goofball would not let up! He just kept pestering me and pestering me, and I wanted to smack him, but I didn't want to take time out of training! Ugh, it was so infuriating!”

Rei grabs a pillow from the bed and shoves it to her face, screaming obscenities into the cushion. She pulls it away in order to take a deep breath. “First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to kick his ass!”

“Don't you think that an overreaction?” Akira asks.

“Of course not!” Rei replies. “He has it coming! I don't deserve this kind of crap happening to me! I don't deserve it!”

Furious and belligerent, Rei throws the pillow across the room and collapses on the side of the bed.

“Are... you okay?” A curious Akira asks. “It seems you're angry at more than just Seishiro...”

Rei looks up Akira, her face a mix of anger and sadness. “During lunch... I was called to the nurse's office. She said that... as far as she's aware, there's no way to cure, or even treat what I've got.”

“Rei, that's-”

“I'm not finished,” Rei adds. “She also dropped the bombshell that... this disease is killing me. It's tearing away at my insides and... I won't be alive come graduation.”

“Rei...” Akira mutters, unsure of what to say. “I'm sorry.”

Rei sighs. “Don't be. This is just a minor setback for me, right?”

“I don't think there's anything minor about it-”

“That's because you're a pessimist,” Rei replies. “I'm not going to die. I've got my whole life ahead of me... it would be really freakin' dumb if I died a teenager in a place like this. The school nurse is wrong. If I keep working, if I keep pushing myself... I can beat this lousy thing.”

“Rei, I'm not sure if pushing yourself is a good thing to do when you're ill-”

“What do you know?” Rei fires back. “You know what? I'm still fired up! Screw this, I'm heading back down to the tracks for some more training! And if that idiot Seishiro is there, I'll just sock him in the face!”

Rei makes a run for the door and Akira, out of pure instinct, rises to her feet and steps out in front of  her. “Rei, wait!” she exclaims, placing her hand on the door handle, preventing Rei's exit.

“What?”

Akira pauses. She's not sure exactly what she intends to do, or even what she wants. Akira has no reason to stop Rei, no reason to be concerned about what Rei chooses to do, and yet she found herself doing so anyway. Akira silently stares at a Rei who is becoming increasingly frustrated with each passing second.

“I'll come with you,” Akira finally states.

“You'll what?”

“I'll come with you,” Akira states again. “You don't have to train alone, Rei. I can help you out.”

“Huh... I guess I could use a sparring partner,” Rei mumbles. “Why not? You're welcome to join, pal!”

Pal... Akira had never been called that before. She's never been given a term of endearment from one of her peers before. Rei gives Akira a friendly smile. Her face when she smiles... Rei was truly a thing of beauty, something Akira just couldn't ignore.

Akira opens the door to the dormroom, and Rei goes running out into the hallway. “Race you there!” she exclaims, laughing.

Akira continues to walk as she watches Rei run on ahead. She can't help but find a smile on her face as she does. She didn't understand why she cared about this girl, why she was so adamant to look out for her, and certainly not why she was so damn happy about it. But she was.

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“Hey, big gal! What's got you staring off into the clouds?”

It was the day after the event of the endless night. Akira spent the night trying to contain an angered Rei, who was determined to beat down Sayeka for the actions she had taken during that whole mess. Because of her focus on Rei, Akira didn't have time to really take in all that happened for herself. When Rei requested some time to herself the next day, Akira honoured her wishes, and took it as an opportunity to stand out in the courtyard and reflect on the events for herself. Ryoji had disappeared after the battle with The Crone, sucked into the Darkworld, perhaps never to return.

Ryoji... Akira's feeling on the man were mixed. For the longest time, she found herself resenting him, distrustful of him due to his closeness to Rei, and the clear interest she had taken in him. Still, he had soon shown that he was a good person worthy of her respect, and of Rei's friendship. Akira was unsure if she'd consider Ryoji a friend herself, it wasn't something she had given a lot of thought. She certainly considered him a good person, though.

Akira's thoughts are soon interrupt by an unwelcomingly gruff voice.

Taka. The man who placed Rei into a coma during the battle between the classes. The man who pulled Akira from Rei's side at a time when she needed her most.

Akira did not care for this man.

“Go away,” she mutters, but the armour clad Taka only smirks in response.

“Aw, what's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic! With the kid gone, your hot friend is now yours for the taking!”

Akira glares at Taka. “I've said before. Me and Rei aren't like that.”

Taka chuckles. “I'm just kidding with 'ya. Man, I'm going to miss the kid. He knew how to take a joke.”

“What do you want, Taka?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Taka smirks, approaching Akira from behind and placing his hands on her hips. He presses up close to her, almost thrusting, as he whispers in her ear. “I want you.”

Akira grabs his hands and pulls them away, before giving him a strong shove, taking him a few steps back. “Stop it.”

Taka laughs once more. “Oh, come on. You like me. I see the way you eye me, and I was the only one who was able to pull you away from Rei's bedside for five minutes.”

“And that was a mistake,” Akira replies. “I'll never forgive you for that.”

“Hey, it was your choice to come with me for some... fresh air,” Taka mutters. “I was just hoping we could pick up where we left off!”

“What are you talking about?” Akira asks.

“Don't be coy, we both know you stepped out of that nurse's room with me for one reason only! We both want the same thing!”

“Don't make me sick,” Akira mutters. He's speaking the truth, Akira had found herself caught up in a moment with Taka at the time, but that moment has passed. She made a mistake leaving Rei's side, and she'll never make a mistake like that again.

“Damn, you really are still pissed with me, huh?” Taka sighs. “I thought we were all well and good. All is forgiven, right?”

“You still haven't made amends with Rei,” Akira replies.

“I'll try to make it up to her when I'm sure she won't try to slice me,” Taka fires back. “Besides, does that suddenly undo the amends I've made with you? You're your own damn woman, ya'know? Your own big, tough, rippling, beautiful woman. Just my type.”

Akira scowls at Taka, as he takes a few steps towards her. “Look, you're mad. I get it. Fine. I've repaired this bridge once and I'll do it again! Now... punch me.”

“What?” Akira asks, furrowing her brow.

“You heard me,” Taka replies. “Punch me. Right in the face. You know you want to.”

He's right. She does want to. Without giving it much thought, Akira balls her hand into a fist and delivers a stiff right hook to Taka's jaw. Taka's head shoots back, as he rubs the now reddened side of his face. “Nice. Again.”

Akira complies with the demand, punching him again.

“Ha! Again!”

Akira punches him, this time knocking him off his feet and onto his back. She mounts on top of his chest, her fists still raised.

“Again!”

Akira punches him.

“Again!”

Akira punches him.

“Again!”

Akira punches him.

“Again!”

Akira hesitates.

“What are you doing? Again!”

Akira doesn't move.

“Again!”

Akira kisses him.

She doesn't know why. She didn't want to... right? No, of course she didn't. She hates Taka... but why did she... and why is she continuing to...?

Akira pulls away in confusion, while Taka gives off a belly laugh, a rather wheezy one as Akira's weight continues to rest on his chest. “I knew it! I knew you liked me!”

“Shut up...” Akira mutters, her face still hanging inches from his face. “I don't.”

“The evidence is stacked pretty hard against you,” Taka smirks. “You know... this is the same position you had me in after a I hit your friend.”

“Why would you remind me-”

“I'm just suggesting we chance the position a little,” Taka laughs. “I should have you on your back.”

Before she can react, Taka shifts his weight, rolling her over so that she is on her back, with Taka crouched between her legs. He leans in close, stopping just as his face is inches away from hers. He pauses in that position, a smug smile on his face. Akira realises what he's doing. He's waiting for her to lean her head forward, to kiss him herself, to fully admit that she does want this, that she wants him.

Akira leans her face in, and soon, she's not sure what she's doing. Her arms are wrapped around his back as their tongues jostle around in the other's mouth. Taka tears the front plate from her armour with his hands and begins to grope her breast. In a sudden moment of clarity, Akira pushes the beastly man away.

“What's wrong, big gal?” Taka smirks. “Getting cold feet?”

“Stop talking, and come back to my dorm. I'm not doing this in public.”

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“Akira? Akira, you in there?”

Akira's... affairs with Taka had been continuing for a month at this stage, all in secret. She was adamant that it wasn't a relationship, and Taka had no problem with that assertion. In that time, neither of them had truly warmed to the others personality, but out of some strange attraction, or perhaps out of lonely desperation, they weren't able to keep their hands off of each-other.

She couldn't speak for Taka, who would sooner die than be open about his emotions, but Akira had to admit that while she bore no love for the man, she felt comfort in being with Taka, particularly as Rei grew more and more distant in Akira's mind as the weeks passed.

Rei... Akira wasn't sure what was going on within her head, but she was constantly out on her own, in the town, rarely spending any time in the dorms, sometimes not even returning at night. Akira was concerned, but it did mean that the dorms were often a safe place for one of her and Taka's various rendesvous... until today, that is.

Akira wasn't sure why Rei felt the need to knock and ask if anyone was inside her own dormroom. Perhaps she's spent so much time outside of it she felt that she would be trespassing to enter un-permitted at this point. Akira certainly didn't know why Rei decided to barge in anyway when she didn't receive an answer.

As Rei stepped through into the room, the sight she bore witness to was certainly not one she could have liked. Rei entered just in time to catch Akira sitting at the edge of the bed, re-hooking her bra, while Taka lay back under the covers, his hands resting behind his head with smug satisfaction. There is complete silence, as the two girl stare in wide-eyed shock at each-other, both unsure of how to process the moment.

“Well don't just stand there!” Taka yells. “Join in!”

Rei backs up out of the room, and Akira hears her loud footsteps running through the hallway. Akira sighs and shakes her head as she quickly re-dresses herself, and flags down her friend.

“Rei, wait!” Akira exclaims.

Rei immediately turns back in the hallway, approaching Rei to confront her. “What the hell did I just see?! I've been looking for you for a while now, Akira! We haven't spoken in so long, and now I find out it's because you've been sneaking around with... him?” Rei mutters in a hushed tone.

“I'm sorry you had to see that...” Akira replies.

“With Taka?” Rei asks. “Don't you remember what he did to me?”

“Rei, I'm sorry, but you have to understand,” Akira tries to explain. “I didn't mean for this to happen, it-”

“What? You accidentally started fooling around with the man who put me into a coma?” Rei fires back. “How... how could you? Do you love him or something?”

“No, of course not,” Akira is quick to answer. “Rei, I'm still here for you. Why did you come looking for me? What's wrong?”

Rei sighs, before turning and making her way for the exit. “It doesn't matter. I can tell you're busy... I'll just talk to somebody else.”

Rei's hand touches the door handle as Akira calls out after her. “You don't have anybody else!”

Rei pauses, and turns her head back to face Akira, unsmiling. Akira grimaces at her own words. “Rei... I didn't mean it like that, I...”

Rei shakes her head, as she leaves the dorm without a word.

Akira runs her hand through her hair, frustrated. She makes her way back inside the dormroom, where Taka is still lying on the bed, muching away at some of her candy. “Man, these pocky sticks are great!” he exclaims. “You don't mind that I took some, right?”

“Get out,” Akira mutters.

“Huh?”

“We're done. Get out, and leave me alone.”

Taka sits up in the bed, as he grabs his shirt bundle up on the ground beneath him. “Aw come on, don't be that way! I'm having a lot of fun here, aren't you?”

“No,” A scowling Akira replies. “I'm not.”

Taka sighs as he gathers his things. “Whatever you say, big gal... gonna miss this, though.”

As Taka exits the room, Akira sits down on the edge of her bed and lets out a long breath. She's never seen Rei give her a look like that before. It was devastating. She also realises that was the most she and Rei had even spoken in the last few weeks.

As she stares intently a Rei's old gym bag in the corner of the room, she feels herself being filled with an intense sadness. A great level of remorse. She feels so confused, and all she can do is ask herself... what happened?

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“AKIRA! GET THE HELL OUT HERE!”

Akira was awoken from her slumber by loud, screechy yelling coming from outside the dorms. She recognised the voice immediately, of course, but she didn't want to acknowledge it. Akira sighs as she steps out onto the dorm's front porch, before Rei ended up waking the entire class. She likely already has.

There she is. Heavy bags under her eyes, her hair a tangled and dishevelled mess, and a bottle of liquor in her hand. The great beauty Rei Arisato.

“Rei... are you drunk?” Akira asks. She hasn't seen Rei in almost two weeks by this point. To see her in this state... it's horrible.

Rei points a finger that she can barely keep steady at her. “Akira! I'm challenging you to a fight!”

“A fight?” Akira sighs, a mixture of concern and plain annoyance in her tone.

“That's right! A fight! As revenge for you running around with your boytoy and abandoning me!”

“I abandoned you?” Akira asks. “Rei, weren't you the one who was always complaining about me being too overprotective? That I was smothering you? That you wanted to act on your own, make your own decisions?”

“Yeah, but I was wrong!” Rei fires back. “I... I've made horrible mistakes, and I needed you around to stop me! Some real bad stuff has happened, and I needed you around to support me? But you weren't around, were you? You abandoned me!”

“Rei, I never abandoned you-”

“Yes, you did!” Rei yells. “Now I have no-one! Which means... I have nothing to lose! And since I have nothing to lose, I'm laying down the challenge!”

“Rei, don't be ridiculous...”

“I'm not being ridiculous!” Rei slurs, “Put your fists up! Let's do this!”

Rei charges at Akira, wildly swinging with punches. It's then that Akira realises that Rei absolutely cannot fight in her drunken state. She has no form, no co-ordination, and she's just clumsily staggering, putting all of her effort into makes sure she doesn't fall over.

Akira blocks Rei's first punch, then the next. “Rei, please stop this. I'm not going to fight you.”

“Then you're just going to make it too easy for me!” Rei mumbles belligerently. “You have to fight back or it's not a challenge!”

Akira shakes her head as Rei keeps swinging and missing. “This is pathetic, Rei. I don't want to do this.”

“Yes, you do!” Rei yells. “You want to hit me, don't you? Because you hate me!”

“Hate you?” Akira asks, shocked. “Do you honestly think I hate you?”

“Of course you hate me!” Rei replies. “How could you not? I've been nothing but horrible to you!”

“You weren't that bad-”

“Yes, I was!” Rei screams, as she keeps swinging her fists at Akira. “I never treated you like a friend, because I never liked you!”

“You... what?” Akira pauses.

“I never liked you!” Rei screams. “I was only your friend out of pity!”

One of Rei's limp punches lands on Akira's chest, and Akira finds herself being set off, answering back with a stiff shot of her own to the face, which sends Rei falling back onto the ground. Akira wants to stop there, but she finds herself moving on instinct, pulled along by a repressed anger coming to the surface. She crouches over Rei, pulling her head up by grabbing onto her shirts collar, before levying another punch to Rei, leaving her even more dazed than her drunkenness already had.

“You were acting out of pity?!” Akira asks incredulously. “No Rei, I was! I just wanted to keep to myself, ignore everyone and everything else around me, but you kept trying to get yourself killed from you stupidity, and I had to step in! You're only here because of me! I only stuck with you because you were sick and reckless... at first.”

Akira calms her breathing, stopping herself from punching Rei again. She inspects the shiner her left shot has left on the blonde just under her eye, as Rei stares up at Akira, with speechless attention.

Akira sighs. “What started as pity soon turned to concern. I found myself going from sparring with you, to wanting to keep you safe, to making sure boys didn't hit on you... to making all of your decisions for you. I became the guard dog that everyone knew me as. For weeks... while you were comatose, I never budged from your side. Weeks! For so long, I asked myself... why? Why did I care so much, Rei? Why did I dedicate all of my time to making sure you were okay? Why couldn't I be just a little more self-serving?”

Akira releases her grip on Rei, before rising to her feet. She stands tall over Rei as she speaks. “It took me so long before I realised... or rather, until I was comfortable to admit it. You were the first person to talk to me. You were the first person to ever give me the time of day. You were the first person to call me... pal. You were the first person to ever treat me like... like I was a friend. Like I was someone that mattered to you. Even if it was only a little. I wasn't used to it... so I took it to heart. Nobody else even remotely mattered to me... so you became all that matters. I became obsessed with you, Rei. I devoted myself to you. I lived for you. You were my whole world, Rei... I loved you.”

Rei pulls herself up slightly, her eyes wide and watering. “Akira... y-you... love me.”

“Loved,” Akira re-iterates. “Not anymore. You've proven that you don't deserve it.”

“B-but I-”

“Rei... I don't even feel remorse for hitting you,” Akira states coldly. “In fact, I had to stop myself from hitting you some more. I regret that you had to take this turn... but I realise that everything I felt for you... it was for nothing. An over-reaction. I bear no love for you anymore, and I doubt I ever will again.”

With that, Akira turns her back and makes her way towards the dorms. Rei writhes on the floor, calling out for her to wait, to come back to her, but Akira zones it out.

It's time for Akira to move on. For so long, she's been Rei's guard dog, her shadow... but now comes the time for her to make her own mark. To become her own woman.

And Rei? She's done. As far as Akira is concerned... Rei is dead.

THE END