No one could go against Hitori's decision this time, and he did not care even if they did.
He watched the walls and the stone path again as he walked down the empty corridors in the middle of the night, the next day.
He could some people in the rooms till he entered the corridor made for Akemi only. Before getting out of the academy, Hitori wanted to talk to Akemi once.
He reached the door and did not bother to knock. Kakashi came forward and unlocked the door, letting Hitori in, and went back to stand on the right side of the door. Atama and Akira joined him while Reon and Eya went to the left side.
Hitori firmly closed the door behind him. A little torch was burning above the bed with a little candle by the side of the bed.
His eyes fell on Akemi sleeping like a baby, curled into a ball, turned to the other side, and probably a hand under her head, Hitori could not see that hand. He lifted his finger and lit a tiny flame as he walked towards her.
The air cooler was turned on, it had cooled the room to around twenty degrees, Hitori thought that was enough cold. He glanced at the air-cooler duct at the other side of the room, in front of the bed, in the wall.
He closed the lid, stopping the cold from entering the room, then went to Akemi's bed. He wanted to wake her up, but he knew she was deep in sleep and would not wake up by whispers of her name.
So he did what he did not want to. He pressed his hand over her cold, thin shoulder and shook her. "Akemi-san," he said, "Akemi-san, it is me—"
Before he could complete it, he felt her body turn. He stopped in the middle of his sentence as Akemi turned around and brought a dagger down to Hitori's chest.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he fell over the chair, down to the ground, then slid back, away from Akemi and her dagger.
He saw her facial expressions loosen when she noticed him. Akemi lowered her eyes as a blush formed around her cheeks. "W-What the hell are you doing here?"
She was panting, and Hitori was panting too. He pushed himself off the floor, and he heard, "Are you alright in there?"
Akemi raised her head, staring into the darkness of the room, hoping no one was with him inside the room. She looked down at Hitori who was struggling to get off the floor.
His heart had leaped into his throat when Akemi suddenly spun with the intent of stabbing his heart. It took him a few moments to calm down before he could stand on his feet.
"Yes, I am alright," Hitori told them. He grabbed the fallen chair, then sat on it. He sighed, then looked at Akemi.
She had leaned back into her bed with the dagger lying on her side. She glanced at him, still embarrassed, then shook her head.
"It is your fault," she said. "Why would you creep into a girl's room in the middle of the night?"
"To keep you updated," he said, "we are going."
Akemi knew what he was talking about, but then it occurred to her: why did he tell her at this time? He could have told her in the morning.
"A-Are you leaving right now?" she said, clutching her fist and hoping he would not nod– but he did.
"Right now. We are wanted, so we need to take the help of the night's darkness to enter the other side."
She stayed quiet for a while and then nodded. "Be safe."
"I am not confident about it, but what do I have to lose? Might as well give this a shot."
Akemi raised her eyes and looked at him. "You might now have anything to lose, but I do, Hitori."
Hitori wanted to scoff, but then thought it would hurt her more than it should. So he bobbed his head and asked, "And what is that?"
"I know you know this, but if you do not win now, you never will. Onogi will be prepared for such attacks– I guess he already is."
"Yes, he already is," Hitori said.
"While it was about bullying Jigoku and… about me, the stakes were never this high. I mean, he would have bullied Jigoku for another year or so, then even he would have gotten bored. But killing… no the stakes were not that night."
"But they are now. And we can not back down."
"You are over 'backing down.' We never went this far, but you have. Now you are on the verge of killing or getting killed."
Hitori stayed silent on that. He thought if there was any way of backing down now, but then imagined slapping himself. 'Why the heck are you thinking about backing down?'
Akemi continued, "I do not have my family, my brother, or a purpose. But I have a funny guy in my life."
Suddenly, his heart started racing just like it had when Akemi had drawn her dagger– but the reason was different, and so was the reaction.
"So know this, I want to be with you. You gave my life a purpose– to laugh till the day I die. And I do not think I can do that without you."
He could not believe he was hearing it. No girl had told him that she needed him. Shiro? She never did. Reon and Eya? Well, not in the way Akemi is saying, they needed him to survive this shit– but Akemi needs him for a whole different reason.
"Now get the fuck out of my room and let me sleep." She smiled in the dark as she turned around and pulled her dagger with her. "When you come back, bring a souvenir for me– a souvenir of Onogi's defeat and your victory."
Hitori smiled, then let out a low chuckle. "Hope you will love your souvenir, Akemi-san." He got off the chair, turned, and left the room.
Everyone was waiting for him. As he came out, no one asked him anyone– they knew it was personal. They just leaned off the wall and followed Hitori.
"Atama-sensei called. He is back."
"He bothered to inform us, then we shall bother to meet him before leaving," Hitori said. "To his office, then."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel