DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MIRAI NIKKI NOR ITS CHARACTERS.
"It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together… and I knew it." – Tom Hanks
"Are you sure about this, Yuno?" Akise side glanced at Yuno who was seated beside him, eyeing the data that were about the next diary holder and their next target.
Yuno nodded, determination burning in her eyes," It's now or never."
Akise sighed inwardly," Just so you know, we're not dealing with just any ordinary diary holder. This time it's the mayor of Sakurami City."
Yuno turned to him and smiled warmly," In a world of future diaries and diary holder since when did something turn ordinary?"
Nishijima was driving a black car with the mayor of Sakurami city at the backseat and the tires continued to whine and the engine clattered rhythmically as he continued to drive. When reaching down a slope, they caught sight of a road barrier.
Nishijima pulled the brakes and came to a stop, "An accident?"
Then the next thing they knew they were thrown a smoke bomb. The smoke curled through the air and billowed in thick clouds of sickly scents.
Realization then dawned upon them; it was an ambush. As soon as they realized it Nishijima hit the gas pedal.
From the rear view mirror Nishijima could see a blue car emerge from the smokes. He caught sight of the driver and the passenger-
"Akise-kun?"
"Don't worry, Akise. At this rate we'll capture the Eleventh," Yuno smiled, tilting her head slightly.
Akise continued to drive rapidly, smashing the road barrier into dozens of pieces.
They continued tailing the Eleventh's car, speeding rapidly in pursuit. They drove through the interstate, still trailing after the Eleventh,
"Get closer, Akise!" Yuno stuck half of her body out of the car window and raised her gun, aiming for the tires.
"Gasai-san!"
"I'll hit the tire and stop it!" Yuno opens fire but the car swerved slightly and avoided the bullet.
"It dodged?" Yuno stared, dumbstruck.
Yuno raised her gun and aimed for the Eleventh's head. The bullet sparked over the back of the car but the mayor successfully dodged it.
"Damn it," A growl practically slipped through Akise's lips and he slammed on the pedal.
He jambs the wheel to the right, weaving the car towards Eleventh's car. Eleventh's car crashed into the guard rail, coming to a stop by the bridge with a blast of smokes.
"Are you alright, Yuno?"
Yuno looked over at Akise and nodded.
They got out of the damaged car and made their way to Eleventh's car.
"We win," Yuno said, pointing the gun at the mayor.
Eleventh just chuckled," Don't be so sure. As predicted, a friend is on the way."
They heard the telltale roar of a motorcycle in a distance, getting closer by the second.
A green motorcycle came to a stop in front of them, revealing its driver- Uryuu Minene. She hopped off her ride and grinned," Nobody move!" She revealed a bomb in her hand.
Yuno's face suddenly went slack and she stood almost frozen. She unknowingly clenched her fists and she felt her heart race inside her chest.
The sudden change in her demeanour didn't go unnoticed by Akise.
"Gasai-san..."
Minene threw a box at Akise's direction and Akise caught it," We found a third corpse in Yuno Gasai's residence and since we couldn't find a match for the corpse we found this. Come on take a look inside, Akise."
Akise hesitantly opened the small box. Yuno who was standing next to him, her face contorted into a frightened expression.
"An umbilical cord..?" Akise gave Minene a questioning look.
"Correction, Yuno Gasai's umbilical cord. She left it at an orphanage she once stayed at. The DNA from that and from the third corpse matched perfectly.
"So you're saying this Gasai-san is an impostor and the real one is dead? Is that it?" Akise eyed the umbilical cord in his hand.
"Yes, so please step away from her."
"No! They're lying! Akise!" Yuno grabbed Akise with both her hands and stared with into his eyes with glazed eyes," No! They're all lies!" Yuno wrapped her arms around Akise's torso, losing hope. She sobbed into his chest.
Akise was silent for awhile but then he slowly wrapped his arms securely around Yuno's small figure and turned around as a gunshot echoed through the place, taking the bullet on his shoulder instead.
"Akise..?" Yuno's voice cracked halfway.
Then all of a sudden there was a flash of blinding light lifting and spreading. And before they knew it they were standing inside the cathedral with Deus standing in front of them.
Suddenly Deus's gigantic hand grabbed Akise. He was practically crushing him and it made Akise cough up blood.
"Akise!" Yuno cursed herself for being this helpless.
"What do you think you're doing, Akise Aru? You're supposed to observe the game not intervene, never intervene. Right, observer? " Deus stared at Akise with his ominous eyes ," Normally, I'm the one who's supposed to record the events but in this battle when the owners' futures frequently change, things are different. You're role is to record the causalities of this world that means you are an existence created by me. And now because of your intervention some parts of the game had changed."
"He made me?"
The atmosphere around Akise suddenly changed and he felt himself slowly tearing apart pieces by pieces.
"You are an advanced computation of data. I will now disassemble you and deliver you to the heavens... to the Akashic Record."
"The Akashic Record?" Akise choked out.
"The heavenly record of all established events."
Akise continued tearing apart pieces by pieces. He felt life drain out of him by the minute.
"NO!" A high pitched scream got their attention.
All heads turned to the pink haired girl who was glaring daggers at Deus," AKISE WILL PROVE HIS EXISTENCE TO YOU AND YOU WILL RECOGNIZE HIS AUTONOMOUS EXISTENCE!"
Then all of a sudden Akise stopped being disassembled and all pieces of him went back to normal. He landed on the platform Yuno was on. Yuno instantly ran over to him and checked if he was alright.
"Very well... You have to find atleast one motive you had that you acted once out of your own free will. The next time we meet you have to tell me that one motive and I will recognize your autonomous existence however if you fail you will be disassembled."
And the next thing they knew they were already inside Akise's house. Akise coughed out blood.
"Akise..." Yuno noticed the wound he got on his shoulder and quickly lead him to a nearby couch. She disappeared upstairs to fetch some bandages.
"Akise, are you okay?" Yuno asked about in worry after she caught Akise in deep thoughts. Ever since knowing he was just an 'instrument' in the game he hadn't been himself. It's as if something's always bothering him.
And as usual he'd just nod and give her a smile that doesn't quite reach the eye.
It felt as if the tables had turned. Usually she'd be the one in his situation and Akise would keep getting worried about her but now somehow the tables had turned and she didn't know how to deal with this, unlike Akise who always knew what to do.
And as usual Akise would excuse himself to go be by himself, leaving Yuno alone, worrying about him.
'Akise... '
It was another quiet and awkward dinner between them. It had been ever since the encounter with Deus.
The silence was the most terrifying part. Like a poisonous cloud that at any moment could choke the life from her, seeping into her every pore, like a poison slowly paralyzing them from either speech or movement.
After almost half an hour Akise stood up from his seat and thanked her for the food. However before Akise could step out of the room Yuno decided to speak up.
" Even if you are an instrument to Deus. To me, you're still Akise, the Akise who always cheers me up when I'm down, the Akise who was always there for me, the Akise who'd always smile warmly at me even when the world turned its back on me, the Akise who'd encourage and support me in his own way when I feel like my whole is falling apart, and most of all the Akise who gave me another reason to live, to look forward to another day, gave me hope. Akise is still Akise no matter what Deus says and nothing has changed. Don't let Deus make you think that everything has changed since he just revealed your true identity. You are who you are and that's what matters to me. I don't care if you're just an observer."
There was a sudden pause before Akise left the room.
The next morning Yuno woke up to find the house empty and Akise nowhere to be found. Yuno frantically bolted outside the house, looking for where Akise could be. Her heart pounded louder than the beat of her feet racing over the hard concrete.
'Akise Aru, where could you be?'
She didn't know why but somehow her feet had taken her to somewhere familiar- the observatory dock. The observatory dock where she first met Akise. She remembered how much she hated him that day. She remembered how she took a knife to his throat when she discovered he was playing with Yuuki's life. She remembered working together with him for the first time, just to save Yuuki's life.
She slowly walked inside the observatory dock. Nothing has changed since she last came here.
Her gaze landed on a certain someone. Even with his back turned to her. She immediately recognized the person.
"Akise-"
"Do you remember the first time we met in here?" Akise gestured at the observatory dock.
Yuno just nodded.
"What if that meeting was just part of Deus's plan? What if meeting you was just according to Deus's will and not mine? What if..." Akise trailed off," What if falling in love with you is just another part of Deus's plan? I wanna fall in love with you because I truly love you and not because Deus wants me to."
"Akise..." Yuno pulled him into an embrace.
"Doesn't that sound unfair? I wanna fall in love and feel like a normal person not just some advance computation of data," Akise's grip on her tightened.
Yuno just smiled genuinely and brought her mouth close to Akise's ear," What if I told you I fell in love with you too?"
Akise smiled and suddenly gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Can we go home now? I'm still mad at you for leaving just like that," Yuno faked an angry face ad poked Akise on the chest.
" I gave you that kiss so can you forgive me now?" Akise smiled.
Yuno shrugged casually," Atleast you're finally out of your emo state so I forgive you."
Yuno turned to leave and Akise followed.
"Hey Yuno."
"Mhhmm?"
"I love you."
The corner of Yuno's lips turned upward," I love you too, you idiot."
AN: YES, I AM STILL ALIVE. SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR QUITE SO LONG. PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW. I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT. AND THANKS FOR READING, MINNA-SAN!
