The Zodiac Spirit Guardians

Haruka's Short Fuse

When Akira finally recovered from touching Itsu that first time, she mentioned that he doesn't kill with his touch, he mutilates his victims. He's a ripper. The victim's pain lingers on his skin for any imbecile who decides to merely brisk his clothing with a simple touch. He then transfers the death of one victim to another, without actually doing it himself. It's sick.

Now, Akira's torment only lasts minutes, but I know to her it feels like days. My brain can't even fathom what Steele is going to do to me when Akira isn't around. I'd have more luck hugging Itsu.

Akira grows quiet, only breath leaves her mouth, no words and no sounds. She sits back on her heels and looks straight ahead. Kappie is the first to act, easing his way to her side. He takes a seat on the grass beside her, never ceasing to be there exactly when Akira needs someone. His legs stretch out in front of him in a relaxed position as if he hadn't just witnessed her screaming bloody murder for several minutes straight. Kappie is an emotional superman, fighting to keep composure even when the world challenges him on it.

"You aren't the only one who holds the blood of others on your hands." His voice is stiff but smooth, comforting the motionless girl on the other side of him. "As many years as you've lived," his head rotates to point toward her, his pupils stare at her hairline, "the number of deaths is not nearly as bad as it could be." He tips his head back, meeting my glare. His lips form a thin line and I remember our short conversation earlier, although, I can't tell how he feels about what I just did to her.

I don't care either way.

"Haruka." Akira speaks in a voice I thought I'd never hear again, with confidence I believed was long gone. It rattles me to the bone. "It's not as if I was waiting for a glorious moment to remember everything..." She raises to her feet and pats down her robe. Her long legs bend and straighten, moving her body toward me. Our eyes meet and I hold back a gasp. Those ash eyes of hers have been lit with a match, burning with a fire I don't recognize, a fire I've just forced onto her. "So in this moment, right now, you will remind me." She claims, gazing up to me with those fiery eyes, "And you will not hold back because of what you just forced me to undergo."

Her eyes pierce into me, no expression gives away her emotions. She's turned into a wild card. To give her what she wants means putting an end to the tragic plan she concocted at the beginning of this battle we've been fighting. Not only that, it means erasing all the work she's put herself through with flushing her memories away and exiling herself, and us, to Earth for years. All of that time would be wasted completely.

But I find myself not caring about those facts. At least, not enough to do more than acknowledge their existence.

The last time I felt compelled by the mere voice Akira used, I had just turned fifteen hundred years old. That was the moment I realized I was a dumbass, and here I am again, living up to that reputation. "You're the-"

"Don't!" Rayce shouts and nearly tackles me to cover my mouth. "If you tell her then They will consider her innocence nullified and They'll come after us!" His frantic voice sends chills down my spine. He brings up a valid point, "Lady Akira, I know you miss your memories..." His eyes leak desperation, even tears begin to build in them, "But..."

My fingers pry Rayce's hands off my body and gently move him away a few feet. His puppy eyes are still watered, daring to spill over. I can't stand looking at him like that, mostly because it makes me uncomfortable. I look around my feet and find one of those weeds that has an ugly flower attached so I rip it out of the ground and hand it to him.

"But They gave us one condition upon your release." Kappie interjects, still sitting on the grass facing away from us. "If we go against it now, we will knowingly be committing treason."