"So, this is the idiot who's gonna save you, huh?"
My sister looked up from her work, following my gaze to Jun– to Subject 5's still body. She smiled. "Don't worry," she said cheerfully. "You'll like him."
Was that a reassurance or a memory? No point asking. "Well, if you trust him, I trust him," I said dismissively.
"He'll like you too," she continued, oblivious to my nerves. She resumed fiddling with the bracelets, making certain they were all set correctly.
"Well of course he will. I'm amazing."
Akane laughed. "He also finds you annoyingly stuck up and pointlessly contradictory."
"But in an endearing way."
"Well, that might have been biased by my looking through him," she said thoughtfully. She looked wistful, and didn't say anything else. She stood up after a few minutes, satisfied with the bracelets. She paused to attach each one to its new owner, then beckoned to me to follow her. I did so, and we left our few remaining underlings to transfer the cargo to their rooms. With all of our subjects in place, they would leave, taking their pay and going to places unknown. We were generous in that regard, but we could hardly guarantee a longstanding career once the Nonary Game was over.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked Akane.
She looked at me, surprised. "Of course. I'm… I'm honestly excited for it. After nine years of preparation…"
"You're a twisted little lady, sis," I said, and ruffled her hair.
Akane saw right through me. Was she reading my mind, or was I just that predictable? "Are you ready for this, Aoi?"
"Yeah, yeah. It'll be fun." I didn't look directly at her. After a deep breath, I glanced at her from the side of my eye. "Can you tell me anything more on what to expect?"
"I don't know that I should. Or could. You know as much about the setup as I do."
"Sure, but knowing the puzzles doesn't help much when you gotta deal with a bunch of potential psychopaths."
"We're all potential psychopaths." Akane looked into the distance, seeing something I couldn't. "Anyway, I don't really remember the details. I'm not seeing the futures now, Aoi, I saw them nine years ago. I'm not going to remember every little thing that happens. And I only know what Junpei saw– will see– once we split up, we'll be going blind."
"I guess so," I said, stretching to scratch the back of my neck.
"Just do what comes naturally," she said with a smile. "If it wasn't something you weren't supposed to do, you wouldn't do it."
"Unless it's one of the actions that leads to us all being murdered with an axe," I muttered.
"Or a knife," Akane sighed. "Or just fading away…"
I grabbed her hand tightly. "That's not going to happen."
Akane smiled sadly. "Of course it won't. Well, it will, but only in one future. In the others…"
"Don't start that again," I said, and chucked her fondly over the back of her head.
She giggled, and I grinned. It was good to see her happy. I hadn't seen Akane this happy in… probably about nine years. It was like having the old Akane back. After nine years of getting to know Zero, it was a refreshing change.