Makoto and Akio were walking down the corridor side by side, shoes making a tapping sound against the floor.
Akio kept his gaze on the floor.
He regretted agreeing to talk almost immediately.
Makoto didn't rush him. He didn't ask again. He just walked, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.
"I don't know where to start," Akio finally muttered.
Makoto shrugged. "Then don't."
Akio glanced at him. "What?"
"Start wherever it feels least uncomfortable," Makoto said. "Or don't start at all. Talking isn't mandatory."
That... helped. A little.
Akio exhaled slowly. "I keep thinking there's something wrong with me."
Makoto didn't respond right away. He slowed down, just enough that Akio noticed.
"Define 'wrong'."
Akio swallowed. "I shouldn't feel like this. I have a family. I had friends. I wasn't abused. I wasn't abandoned. And yet..." His voice wavered. "I wanted to die. I still think about it."
They stopped walking.
The hallway was empty and silent except for their soft breathing.
Makoto turned to face him. "You think pain needs permission."
Akio stiffened.
"You keep measuring yours against other people's," Makoto continued.
Akio clenched his fists. "Isn't that how it works?"
"No."
The answer was immediate. Firm.
Akio shook his head weakly. "But compared to you and your sister-"
Makoto's jaw tightened.
"Don't," he said quietly.
Akio froze. "I- I didn't mean-"
"I know," Makoto interrupted. He looked away, green eyes dull. "But don't use my loss to invalidate yourself."
Silence settled between them.
Akio's throat tightened. "I hate myself for feeling this way."
Makoto studied him for a long second. "So do I."
Akio looked up sharply.
Makoto didn't elaborate. He just turned and resumed walking.
They reached the door to their room.
Akio hesitated. "Makoto... why did you really go to the prison?"
Makoto's hand paused on the handle.
"... I wanted to hear the truth from someone who had nothing to gain by lying."
"And?"
Makoto opened the door. "And I learned that some organizations don't leave survivors."
The room was dim. Late afternoon light filtered in through the small window.
Makoto stepped inside and sat on his bed, staring at the floor.
The silence that followed was heavier than before.
Makoto stood. "You should rest."
Akio nodded. "Makoto?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For not lying to me."
Makoto paused. "You'd know if I did."
A faint pause.
"... Get some sleep, Akio."
Akio lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling once more.
But this time, his thoughts were different.
*If pain doesn't need permission... then maybe mine isn't meaningless.*
The next morning Akio awoke later than usual. His body felt heavy in a way training exhaustion couldn't explain. Something felt off.
"Morning."
Akio looked towards the source of the voice. It was Makoto.
"Good morning...", he mumbled back.
"Kaelis called. We should meet him and the others in the briefing room. Seems important," Makoto explained.
"Did anything happen?", Akio asked cautiously.
"Not sure. Guess we'll find out."
Makoto got up from his bed, walking towards the door.
"You coming?"
Akio looked up at him, an uneasy expression on his face. Despite the odd feeling in his stomach, he nodded and followed Makoto out of the room 000.
The corridor was unusually quiet, except for the humming of the facility itself. No one was here, except for them.
Odd.
After the two boys turned several corners, they finally arrived at what Akio assumed was the briefing room Makoto mentioned. Voices could be heard from inside.
Makoto knocked on the metal door, before hearing a faint "Come in" coming from inside the room.
Makoto pushed down the handle, opening the door. Makoto and Akio entered the room, facing everyone.
Katsuko, Kaelis, Kouya, Viola, Meki. They all were here.
Akio noticed, that he didn't recognize some of the people there. This organization does have a lot of members after all, though not all of them were present at the moment.
"Ah perfect timing, we were just about to start," a man Akio had never seen before said. He was about 40 years old if Akio had to guess. He had obviously dyed black hair with grey roots slightly showing. His eyes a piercing red. The man wore a black coat over an elegant dark grey suit. In short, he looked intimidating.
"Ah how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. You may call me Palm. I am the boss of The Hollow Hand. You must be Yakedo and Takahashi, correct?"
Akio tensed up, while Makoto stayed calm and responded for both of them.
"Yes, that's correct."
"I see. Please take a seat. We have something important to discuss," the boss said calmly, folding his hands in front of him.
Both of the teens each sat down in an available chair and waited for the boss to continue.
"Miss Kemuri, would you like to explain what happened recently?"
Katsuko looked up at the boss, cigarette in hand, not intimidated at all, yet she had a tired look on her face.
"Of course. I'll just get straight to the point. Recently I've found a cassette. Oddly enough, it was somehow put on the desk in my room. I have no idea who put it there, but I could sense a lingering ability on it, which means it's from a gifted, most likely."
There was an almost suffocating silence before Katsuko continued.
"Now, to make this whole situation a little more... odd, I watched the recording, because I couldn't help myself. And there on the video you could see an animated man pointing a knife to his own throat," Katsuko's voice wavered a little. She looked at the table, deep in thought.
"... How is that important in any way?", Kaelis asked rather brazenly.
"I'm not finished," Katsuko said apathetically. "The video isn't strange when you look at it for the first time. But the more often you replay it, the more strange details you notice. For example, the clock in the background went forward but then in the next scene it was back to how it was at the beginning. Of course it is simply an animated video and shouldn't mean anything, but... I have a feeling this will be important later."
"I see. What other details did you notice?", the boss asked.
Katsuko hesitated before continuing.
"Well, the man, put the knife back down a few minutes after pointing it to his throat and not doing anything except for staring at the camera. But I noticed a small thing. There was a scar on his neck in the next scene. A healed scar, I think."
"And what do you expect us to do now? Cry about it? It's just an animation, it won't have any relevant meaning", Kouya said dismissively, with Ermina on his shoulder, chirping in agreement.
Katsuko took a drag from her cigarette, narrowing her eyes at Kouya, but responded anyway.
"I know that it is 'just' an animation. But the problem here is that someone put it in my room, even though only I have access to it. So who put it there and how? And then we get to the next question: Why put it in my room? Why specifically mine? If you can answer these questions, I won't argue with you any longer."
Kouya stayed silent, seeming to have realized he had no answers.
"Thought so," Katsuko said with an apathetic expression.
"Hmm... So some intruder wanted you to see this video for some reason. They must know about your ability then. Maybe they wanted to see if you can read abilities on objects as well?", Kaelis suggested, putting a finger to his chin in thought.
"It's a possibility, yes...", Katsuko mumbled, uncharacteristically pensive.
"I'd suggest we wait for the time being. Maybe we'll get some more clues soon either way," Meki spoke up for the first time that day, trying to ease the tension.
"Yes, I would've said the same. As of now we can't really do much, but wait and investigate further. Speculations won't get us far," Palm said calmly.
Akio glanced at Katsuko. She still looked down at the table. She seemed... troubled..? As if she knew more than she admitted. Akio narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Alright. The meeting is over. Please return to your duties," the boss commanded and left the room
The rest soon followed suit.
Makoto was about to leave as well, when he turned around and noticed that Akio was still staring at Katsuko, who finally stood up from her seat.
Akio's feeling from the morning didn't vanish.
In fact, it intensified.
"Are you coming, Akio?"
Akio looked to Makoto and nodded, giving Katsuko a short side glance, before eventually following Makoto out of the briefing room.
"So... Do you have a crush on Katsuko or something?"
Akio choked on his spit.
"What!?"
"Well, you were looking at her a lot during the meeting. But I guess I'll take your response as a 'no'?"
"Obviously it's a 'no'!", Akio whisper-yelled. "If anything, she scares the hell out of me..."
"Oh? Why's that?", Makoto asked casually.
"I don't know. She seemed... odd today. Like she's hiding something."
"How so?"
"I have no idea, it's just... It's just a feeling. I trust her - more or less - but I feel like there's something going on with her...", Akio muttered.
"Hm. I think you're overthinking it. Obviously Katsuko is behaving strangely, after receiving such an odd recording from god-knows-who. I bet you'd feel uneasy too if you were involved in this whole thing," Makoto attempted to reassure Akio.
"Yeah, maybe you're right..."
"Come on, let's go steal Ermina from Kouya, how about that?", Makoto grinned mischievously.
Makoto seemed so... different lately... Not in a bad way though. Akio liked it when people were in a good mood.
Akio gave him a small smile in return.
"Alright. Let's do that."