Withering moon lit rose

Chapter 28

"Yes, the man decided to conduct another one of his mad experiments. But as we finally managed to catch up with the man in one of the front cars, a little girl was wandering on her own. He used her as a shield. I hope you recall what happened after?" Of course Ryuunosuke recalled what happened. For some reason the little girl reminded him of Kyoka.

Last time he'd seen her on a train he'd attached a bomb to her, he was the one who had sentenced her to death at that time.

Kaji had done the same, he'd left a lemon bomb in the girl's hand while he made his escape. The poor thing didn't even know it was a bomb until he'd ripped the thing out of her hand, and launched it out the window. The impact of the blast had knocked the train off its tracks.

"I remember. I had protected the girl with my life." He'd had her clutched in his arms, Rashomon defending the pair of them. When he deemed it a 100% safe he'd released Rashomon. She clung to his shirt, eyes tightly screwed shut. She was scared, beyond anything a child should have been. When they had wandered along the line they eventually found the girl's mother, she'd had a small head injury but was otherwise fine. She'd called out to her daughter who in response leapt out of his arms towards the woman, she looked familiar but Akutagawa couldn't put his finger on it.

Blonde hair which fell to her shoulders, deep brown eyes full of concern for her daughter.

They tightly held each other, neither one wanting to let go. Eventually the little girl wanted out of her mother's arms. But in a surprising turn of events she ran towards Ryuunosuke. She gestured for him to bend down to his height, he did as she requested. But quickly regretted it when the girl launched herself at him, pushing them both to the ground. But he'd enjoyed the hug she'd given him. Despite all the lives he'd taken this little girl was willing to stand here and hug him as if he was a sinless hero.

"Thank you mister!" She had given him a toothy grin as she bowed and thanked him before leaving with her mother. The woman looked sceptical of the man but never rejected the idea of her daughter being near him.

"Good. I'm glad you remember. Because there is someone who wants to meet you again." Kunikida rose from his seat and made his way over to Lucy who was currently on shift. However, the person who replaced Kunikida's seat was the little girl from two years ago. Although she looked to be a bit more mature now she looked to be about seven now. The woman sat beside her wasn't the same woman from before. It was none other than Gin.

"Gin... I-" She raised her hand in protest. "You know when my wife, well she was my fiancé at the time, had told me she'd seen you rescuing our daughter from a train accident I couldn't believe it." She laughed faintly as she hugged her daughter who was much too preoccupied with staring at Ryuunosuke, she looked to be concentrating very hard attempting to remember the man.

"But, I then saw you. A month later, you'd gone to the port with little Kyoka. You looked a lot healthier, a bit more weight on your frame." Ryuunosuke self-consciously held his stomach at his sister's words. She stifled a small laugh.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better, and thank you." Ryuunosuke was in shock, after all this time this wasn't the reunion he'd expected with his sister.

"For what? I thought you hated me? I left you. Alone." Gin shook her head at her brother's words.

"I wasn't alone. I had Ichiyo, that and her sister who thankfully accepted me. They moved into our joint apartment. Don't worry I stored your possessions away safely before they even set foot in the apartment." Ryuunosuke gave a small smile and nod in thanks.

"Not long after, Ichiyo had been sent on a mission. However, someone had intervened in her plans and killed the target before she got a chance. But this little darling hadn't seen what had transpired. In an act of sympathy she brought her home." Ryuunosuke looked at the little girl, she knew nothing of her true family. Yet she appeared so happy and curious. Her eyes widened and her smile grew twice as large, she appeared to have an epiphany.

"You're the man who saved me from the train!" She leant over the table pointing at the man.

"Mirai! That's rude! Don't point at your uncle like that." She lowered her daughter's hand gently while admonishing her.

"It's fine, nothing to worry about." Ryuunosuke waved his hand, dismissing Gin's concern. "But clever naming on your part." Gin looked towards her brother, a slight happy look in her eyes.

"Well she is the future of mine and Ichigo's lives. That and I hope to think a part of Mirai is with her." Ryuunosuke nodded in agreement, Mirai had been the one Ryuunosuke had fallen for when they were younger. Despite his feminine name he had never felt ashamed of it, the joy he always expressed with others was something Ryuunosuke had begun to associate with the name after a period of time.

"Also I'm sorry I couldn't be at your wedding." Gin just smiled at her brother, "Don't worry about it, when Nakahara gave a speech at the wedding you were most definitely mentioned." Ryuunosuke raised an eyebrow at his sister. She began to rummage in her bag until she pulled out her phone. She eventually presented a video to her brother.

It initially showed Chuuya sitting at a table with Dazai beside him, Chuuya in a wine coloured suit, Dazai in a brown one. He finally rose from the table and made his way to the front, coughing slightly to clear his voice as he began his speech.

"I would like to congratulate the happy couple on their successful wedding. This makes it the third wedding in a row that hasn't been crashed." A round of laughs was heard by the members of the crowd.

"Now, I've known Gin ever since she joined the Mafia from a young age. Always tricking people of what her true gender is, however she does look stunning in her suit." A round of applause was heard as the camera panned to Gin showing her blushing slightly. Ryuunosuke thought she looked stunning in her wedding attire.

"But I know that today wouldn't be possible for Gin if it wasn't for her brother. Sadly he couldn't be here today due to personal reasons. I'm sure you're all aware of our infamous mad dog, Ryuunosuke Akutagawa." A few mumbles were heard but ended just as quickly as they had started.

"But I know that if he was here he'd want to say this. Gin if it wasn't for your compassion, your determination and your loyalty to your family and friends. I guarantee you I wouldn't be here today." Cheers were heard from Chuuya's words, he was right, that was exactly what he would have said that day.

"Now I hope you both will bring each other happiness, as well as your daughter Mirai." Everyone rose to their feet in cheers. Just as the recording was about to end Ryuunosuke heard Dazai's voice.

"Three cheers for the Akutagawa's!" Three cheers followed suit just as the recording ended on the couple, Ichigo had pulled Gin in for a last second kiss as the recording ended.

"How sweet." Ryuunosuke mumbled.