Fujisawa-san? Crap, what's she doing here? I was already nervous, now shes just made it even worse. As sweat dripped down my face, I slowly turned around and met Fujisawa-san's gaze.
"H-hey Fujisawa-san, what are you doing here?" I uttered, sweat still dripping from my brows.
"What do you mean, it's my house. If you don't have any business here, then please leave, I'm already mad at you for earlier, i dont need you making me even more irritated then i already am!" She shouted, clearly getting annoyed with me being there.
Fujisawa-san went to try budge past me. I could tell she was still hurting from earlier. As she was about to close the gate behind her, practically about to close her heart off to me,
"Akio-san," I shouted, practically straining my voice box from how hard I shouted.
As those words reached Akio-san, she began to choke up. Why was she doing this? tears beginning to stream down her face. During the midst of all this, she managed to let out a few words, her voice sounding crackly and unsure.
"So, your Mom told you everything?"
I stood there for a moment, pondering on what to say next-
Akio's voice started to waver.
"Yes, she did, Akio...Everything," My voice started to rise.
Akio's tears continued to stream like i waterfall, she was stunned. Akio took a deep breath, wiped her trauma-filled tears, and started to walk towards me...Was this the Euphoria of love my father dreamed of creating? As she approached closer, the pounding of my heart got louder; every step she took was another day in our eventual future. Was this it? SLAP!
Before I had time to process what was about to happen-
Just then, Fujisawa's fist of rage graced me with its presence.
Was this what I thought it was?
"You Idiot! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to say those words! How much have these past 4 years changed me? What gives you the right to come here to apologize?"
I was Perplexed.
Akio continued,
"After you went comatose, my world fell apart. I quit acting, so I could see you every day, wishing you'd come back to me. Every day you didn't wake up, my world got grayer..."
Akio's voice began to tremble.
"Till I was surrounded in darkness. You who brought so much colour into my life...gone. I even moved to Akihabara - thinking that would take my mind off things, but no! Everything I did was so boring without you; we were a team y'know... It felt like the other half of my world had been stripped away - Was it such a sin to be happy? Every day of my life was swallowed in a never-ending sea of tears... Until I got wind you had woken up..."
Akio-san's breath hitched, her voice softened.
"I left Akihabara as soon as I could - hope consumed me. When I reached the hospital, you were discharged too. I couldn't keep my excitement hidden - it was as if the world was about to restore its colour...That's when I saw you. I burst through your hospital room, ready to embark on new endeavours with you-
"Who are you?"
"When I heard those words, all the noise around me drowned out."
Akio's voice began to quiver, practically on the verge of breaking down
"I didn't say anything - the tears just started to flow. What happened to my Tatsumi? Why him? All these thoughts flooded my mind. filled with helplessness, I sprinted out the hospital doors, as my world started to revert to that washed-out world I had longed to escape from. I mean, what was there i could I do? I couldn't support you - I was forced into a world of my own - If you didn't see me then there was no point...I gave up. I couldn't get back into acting either; the pain of acting without you was truly a pill I couldn't bear to swallow. That's why I moved back here permanently, to try to get away from it all, yet nothing worked. That's when I showed up at your school. The first time I saw you, the memories of our shared past started to show their fangs at me once again. This time was different- I had to confront these feelings- these feelings that I ran so desperately from, finally caught up to me... "
Akio-San's voice started to regain that hope that had been shut off to the world years prior.
"I decided to face them head-on this time rather than let them control me, as they did years ago. I had to bring you back - no matter what.. I mean, if it wasn't me, who would, right?"
"Tatsu-kun, how do you know that name?"-
"When you uttered those words, the colour in my world began to blossom again. I thought maybe... just maybe the Tatsu-kun that had left so long ago was finally returning to me, but no... your heart was still closed off, but even then I could feel those embers of our past begin to spark again, then the event on the roof happened...
Who were you to call me out like that? After all I had done for you, and worrying about you. I mean, Tatsumi, have some tact! "
I stood there, silence filling the air.
So that's what happened, huh? I've been such a fool. While this girl's been hurting this much, I've been cursing the world.
"Gosh, I'm such an idi-"
"You sure are, you assh-"
"Akio-I"
"Oh, what your sorry, Is that it? "
"Thats not what I-"
"Don't say anything, Tatsumi, you don't deserve to try and console me after all the heartbreak you put me through, you think I'm just going to accept you back! Even now, I bet you're wondering why I didn't say anything sooner. I'm still asking myself the same question. If I revealed myself sooner."
Akio's body began to tremble
"Akio, stop! You've said enough, I get it, ok? You don't have to say anymore. I'm back, ok?"
Akio begins to raise her hand again, clearly about to hurt me again. I tense up and brace for impact- awaiting the fist of a broken heart.
Akio stopped.
She started to fall to the ground in despair. I brace for impact, reaching out my hands to catch her.
The water started flowing again, and she just sat there, crying.
"Akio ar-"
"You still don't get it, do you, Tatsumi? After I poured my heart out to you like this, you still don't get it?"
I said nothing. I just stared blankly at Akio, trying to process what she meant...