Okay, this is kind of weird for me. Ahem, so last year, I was watching this ancient anime for the very first time (It was with the bad subs. Ha ha!) and right after watching a certain episode, I get this idea. Honestly, I didn't really find it particularly strong enough for it's own story, but a little while ago, I figured someone might get a kick out of it.

As for the title of this, it was literally the first thing I could think of

So, yeah.

Numb. He was feeling numb. As Akira carried Miki away from the lake and headed back to the hospital, he stared straight ahead.

Drango.

Drango.

Drango.

All he could think about was his friend, Drango. He didn't want to kill him, but he couldn't let those kids stay trapped in ice.

He definitely couldn't let Miki stay trapped in that ice.

Still, he didn't want to kill him.

He was so sure that maybe he could have convinced him somehow. That it didn't have to end this way. But what's done is done and that won't change, no matter much he'd like to.

Now, he was not looking forward to explaining to Miki what happened to Tomoda. When back she wondered what happened to Himura, he'd managed to convince that he genuinely had no idea. Whether or not she actually believed him was probably another story.

All while Akira mulled over his thoughts, Miki finally began to stir.

When Miki opened her eyes, she was more than a little confused. Last she remembered, she was at the hospital so what was she doing in Akira's arms?

"Akira, let go of me!" she yelled as she struggled.

He put her down and with that, they made their way back.

Miki, not really one to let things go, was pretty determined to give him a piece of her mind. Though on the back of her mind, she did notice that Akira was acting pretty weird, weirder than usual actually. The guy didn't really react when she tried to hit him.

Now that was weird.

The pair hadn't been walking for long when her parents drove up to them. Naturally, they were very concerned over what happened to them, but figuring that they were safe, they all went back home. They explained that the now-unfrozen kids were going to be just fine, but were to be left at the hospital overnight, just to be safe.

Now that Miki was in the car, she'd managed to calm down a little, so when she took a look at Akira, she noticed that blank look on his face as he just stared straight ahead. Normally, he had an attitude while in the car.

He looked numb, she noted.

Concern growing, she began asking questions. Obviously, something had to have happened, something big if this is how he reacting.

This wasn't just him being overly dramatic because this is not how he acts when he's being overly dramatic.

Akira wouldn't answer and kept staring straight ahead.

But before Miki could get mad, they finally made it home.

As soon as Akira entered the house, he headed straight for his room, wanting to just forget about this night.

Soon after shut his bedroom door, he took off his shirt and found himself staring at his reflection in his mirror. All he could think about was what happened. He suddenly started very breathing heavily. He felt like he going to suffocate. He had to keep it together, he just had to.

His door didn't have a lock.

He had to. He had to. He had to.

HE COULDN'T!

He snapped his eyes shut as he felt an extremely harsh scream tear at his throat.

From downstairs, Miki and her family heard easily the horrifying sound they had the misfortune of ever hearing. It almost made want run out of the house out of pure fear. But Miki realized that it was coming from Akira's room and recognized it as his screams. It made her spring into action, calling out his name as she ran up the stairs.

Akira opened his eyes, feeling a little off. When his eyes caught his mirror's reflection, he nearly gasped in odd fascination.

His red eyes.

His messier and darker hair.

His wings were out.

His tanned skin was starting to look a little blue.

Red markings were showing up and he's pretty sure he grew a little taller.

He looked like a mix of his true demon form and his human guise.

Truly, a bizarre sight. Some features were never meant to be mixed. It was easily one of the most unnerving things that he had ever seen and he'd seen some pretty messed up things. He kept looking over his reflection in odd fascination when he heard his door knob turning.

'Shit,' he thought to himself, 'I can't let them see me like this! It'll be a dead giveaway!' He then rushed for the door. It might have been faster to just go for the window, but he wasn't any chances at being spotted.

Miki had just barely opened the door when Akira just comes slamming his body against that door to shut it. And somehow, he didn't break it.

She then tried jiggling the door knob and banging on the door, shouting, "Akira, open the door! Let me in!"

"No!" He wasn't about to budge, not like this.

"Let me in!"

"No, leave me alone!"

"I said let me in!

"And I told you no!"

And it just kept going until Miki asked, "Seriously, what's with you today?! You're acting really weird!"

It was then when his head snapped up and he yelled, "Tomoda is dead, alright!" He was real lucky he didn't let his real name slip out in the heat of the moment. The last thing he needed now was to explain to Miki just who Drango was.

Miki wasn't expecting that. "W-what?"

"Yeah... a monster got him. I saw it happen." He wasn't sure why he was even telling her this at all. Normally, he'd just keep it to himself but...

Well, it wasn't like he could tell her much.

Akira, with his back against the door, found himself sliding down and bringing his hands to his forehead.

From the other side, Miki sat down against the door. After a few silent moments, she looked back, quietly asking him, "Akira, you're not blaming yourself for this, are you?" When he didn't answer, she told him, "You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Well, what do you expect me to do then?!"

"There was nothing you could do," she told him. She was sure that despite all the fights he's been in, there was no way he could have taken on one of those monsters. As far as she knew, Akira's just a regular guy, even if he acts kind of weird at times.

'Maybe I could tried harder at convincing with him,' he reasoned with himself before shaking his head, 'No, I couldn't. I actually know what Drango's like.'

"Honestly though, I'm a little surprised that you actually care about Tomoda," Miki said with a small laugh despite herself, "Guess even Akira Fudo has a heart in there after all."

"...Guess so."

After a few moments of silence, she asked him, "Are you okay?"

"No."

Frowning, she then asked, "Would you like a hug?"

Cracking a tiny smile, he flicked one of his wings, only for that smile to disappear as quickly as it came. He then told her, "No, maybe some other time."

"Oh."

And so, the pair stayed, sitting behind each other with only a bedroom door between them. At times, quietly talking and others, staying silent. But it did end up providing some small comfort in the end.

Okay, this was kind of garbage. I still getting used to writing about anime because for some reason I keep being weird about it. And I partially wrote this on my phone in the middle of the night. But I managed to fix it a little. Ha ha!