The world was filled with many kind of supernatural and odd beings.
Werewolves. Vampires. Eaters. Dhampirs. Dullahans. Immortals.
"Ladies and gentlemen, death is nothing but a disease and we have found a cure to that disease! The secret of eternal life is in our hands!"
Demons.
In their pursue to obtain a proof, something was lost. It never returned. To gain something, one must be able to sacrifice something else.
It all began with the boredom to the mundane everyday life. A wish for something exciting to happen. A wish for a change. A wish for freedom. A wish to prove their existence. A wish to have a place to belong.
A wish. A desire. A madness.
"I want to destroy everything. This world. Humans. Everything! Just erase everything into a nothingness! Cleanse this world to purity!"
"Why?"
"Cause everything stinks."
An amused chuckle simply resounded.
It was just like a horror movie came alive.
A monstrous nightmare on the best loose.
An initiation of the apocalypse.
"I hear your wish."
"I don't know. I just don't know. Because everyone, my father, my friends, my friends' mothers. Everyone lied to me. I don't even know if I can really trust you either, Akabayashi-san. So, even though I believe that he is a good person, even so, I can't even trust myself, so... Huh? Um... Um... But I have got to. I have got to become stronger."
Awakusu Akane to Akabayashi Mizuki, daily life arc.
- Turn Back Time-
Hear me
Pant. Pant.
A girl was running as fast as her feet could carry her. She ran below the darkening sky with a clear destination in mind.
The memories flashing in her mind became a fuel for her to keep running without a stop.
Grandfather.
"Bring Akane and flee from this place!"
Father.
"This is my last order, keep Akane safe."
Mother.
"A man will never break his promise, right? Promise me that you will protect Akane with your life. I am begging you as her mother."
Amidst the destruction and dead bodies, Awakusu Akane stumbled and fell down on the dirty road with a yelp.
The memories kept flashing in her mind.
Kazamoto-san.
"The Awakusu-kai will live with you."
Aozaki-san.
"I am entrusting Ojou's safety to you."
Akabayashi-san.
"Shiki-no-danna, from one man to another, should something bad happen to me, swear that you will keep her safe no matter what."
Shiki-san.
"Ojou, I want you to listen carefully. After this, you may go through a lot of things and something bad may happen. You must survive, that's your first priority above all else. You must stay alive. Do you understand?"
She didn't understand the meaning behind his words back then. She realized it now. The reason Shiki-san didn't tell her to rely on him. The reason Shiki-san didn't tell her that he would come to her rescue and save her. That's because if something happened to her, it meant that Shiki-san was already dead. He couldn't save her because he was already dead. In other words, before Shiki-san lost his life, he would protect her to the end.
Why her? She never wanted any of it. She was tired of running. She was tired of always being protected. She wanted to fight too.
"I am glad you are safe. You are a kid. Kids should always be protected."
Shizuo-niisan
Akane slowly got up, wiping the tears that gathered in her eyes angrily. She stood alone in the desolate world.
A drop of water fell, splashing her face. Rain.
She took a few deep breaths before she resumed her running with a new vigor.
"Run. Keep running. Don't look back."
Vorona-neesan
Close. So close. Just a little bit more.
"Make sure you get to that place at all costs, Akane-chan."
Izaya-san.
She finally arrived in that place, wet and spent from all the running.
Pile of dead bodies scattered all around. Ruins. Fallen debris. Runes surrounding the place.
She took a few step forwards in determination, standing precisely in the middle of the place.
One chance to change the present. One chance to save them all.
She wished to go back. She wanted to go back to those halcyon days where everyone could laugh happily without a care in the world.
She quietly began the chanting in an ancient language.
Please. Let it work. Just this once. No matter what the price she had to pay later.
Turn back time. Hear me.
There was suddenly a chirp of laughter mingling with amusement in the thin air.
A deep chuckle mixing with interest followed soon.
Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo stood in front of her.
No. Not them. They looked very similar to the real ones, almost exact even, but they were not the same. There was one difference.
Orihara Izaya and Heiwajima Shizuo didn't have pink eyes.
Other than the wrong colour of the eyes, they looked the same like the last two people who were with her before she reached this place.
They smiled at her, granting her hope, fulfilling her heart with relief and salvation.
It was ironic that such a vile and deceitful being managed to do that to her.
They embraced her. Cold. So cold. She shivered.
"What's your name?" One of them asked in a very seductive voice.
"Awakusu Akane." She answered with a tremor in her voice.
"You shouldn't tell your name so easily to a demon, little girl." The other chided her gently in an entrancing tone.
"Tell me your name." She tried to keep the her bravery with her.
"Psyche." The one in the form of Orihara Izaya replied to her with a grin.
"Delic." The one who looked like Heiwajima Shizuo said with a smirk.
Then, as one, they whispered something to her in a language she couldn't understand.
Darkness filled her vision out of a sudden. She couldn't see anything.
She was screaming yet no sound came out.
She couldn't hear anything. She couldn't feel anything. She couldn't move.
A stillness in absolute darkness and silence.
Scared. She was very scared.
A light.
A blaring sound.
A feeling of something soft.
Awakusu Akane woke up with a gasp in her bed, tears falling freely from her eyes, wetting her face. Cold sweats were running down her body. She was trembling badly.
Was she dreaming? Was everything just a nightmare?
She tighten her grasp on her blanket.
No.
The demons were there in her room, floating casually in the air and checking their surrounding curiously.
A restart.
A start over.
"We hear your wish, Awakusu Akane."