Meakashi-hen : Hakanai / Eye Opening Chapter : Ephemeral

16TH SEPTEMBER 2024

Right. She'd known them before – everyone except Kagari and Sho, that was. And for some reason, whenever she tried to summon memories of Kogami, it was like there was a thick fog over them. Almost like they weren't even there; yet they had to be, right? Right?!

She remembered it all so clearly – her grandfather had died a month previous, and she'd stepped into the role of company president, as was in his will for her to do so. She'd immediately asked that her cousin, Mika, be her vice-president. However, an incident regarding a reported attack on one of the main facilities had pushed them into hiring private investigators and body guards – hence Ginoza, Masaoka, Risa and Yayoi had been introduced. She'd met Shion later when she spent time with Yayoi, and she was definitely enthralled by the woman's zany behaviour, but also her genuine compassion. Ginoza was Mika's bodyguard, but the two detested each other with a burning passion. However, they maturely decided to put aside their differences and tolerate one another for the time being. Though Akane would never tell Mika, she had been privy to several conversations (most of them involving Risa) which comprised mainly of complaining about Iryo's vice president.

She remembered her attack very clearly too, and it sickened her.

It started out innocently enough – yet another social gathering with her family, discussing the business' successes. It felt a little lonely and she was sure it wasn't just the loss of her grandfather, either. Something else… The dress she was wearing was one of her old favourites – a pale pink dress that swung just above her knees, with lace sleeves to her elbows. It felt a little tight around the middle; she had no idea why, since she was usually very fit, attending the gym almost as frequently as – as who?

"So I happened to hear we've increased considerably in profits since last month, Akane," her great-aunt called over. "If you don't mind me saying, I never believed you'd do so well, dear."

"It's no problem, I'm glad to have impressed you," Akane forced a fake smile on her cheeks; truth was, most of the elder generation annoyed her with their so-called knowhow – none of it had helped her at all when she was just learning the ropes. "We're just about ready to launch our latest project. If it is as good as I'm told it is, then we should increase our profit margins even more."

"Oh, is this the stimulants?" Mika chided in, the sarcasm evident to hear. "The one that's supposed to cure society's big killer, serenity?"

"Yes, it is," Akane responded with equal ice. "I'll have you know that it's a medical breakthrough, Mika. We could save thousands of lives across the globe."

"What Akane says is true, dear," Aoi Tsunemori piped up.

"We're wasting time on that project!" she slammed a fist on the table, rattling the cutlery and crockery. "I keep telling you, we have to focus on Perfect World! It would reduce the crime rates, I tell you now – everyone will be grateful for us!" She turned to Akane. "It's because of you that we're not fulfilling everything that we could be!"

"Mika!" Akane's mother and Mika's aunt hissed across the table. "We've warned you against pursuing that!"

"Think about it! We could completely eradicate crime as it stands, and therefore create a better society!" Mika snapped, before turning her nose up. "Besides, 90% of the serenity cases are from people overusing and abusing drugs. We wouldn't even need a cure for serenity if there was nobody of the disposition to even do the drugs in the first place."

"Mika, that's enough!" Akane's mother wiped her face with her napkin – she was giving herself time to calm down, as she did when someone had angered her. "Those actions are completely unauthorised and downright morally wrong. Now, I don't want to hear any more of that talk from you, understand?"

"But I-"

"Understand?"

"Yes, Auntie," Mika admitted defeat, before sitting up again. "But if they were authorised-"

"By who, the head of the company?" her aunt scoffed.

"I'm sorry, Mika, but I couldn't possibly let that continue. I'm glad for the research you've put into it, but there's no way I could say it was okay. Sorry," Akane chipped in.

The rest of the meal was spent in stony silence as Mika glared at anything and anybody in the room, and everyone else trying to ignore this behaviour. Akane supposed she hadn't matured as much as she previously thought.

At ten o'clock, the congregation officially separated, and Akane dismissed herself as well, wishing her various family members good night, and promising her grandmother that she would visit this weekend for sure. Her grandma tweaked her nose fondly. Akane noted with a little bit of joy that she merely shook Mika's hand.

When she emerged, she was met with Risa, who began to explain her presence. "He got a call from work and had to rush in – ace detective he is and all," her tone was dripping with sarcasm as she gingerly took the younger woman's arm. "So he sent me. I hope I'm adequate, President Tsunemori."

"Risa, come on," Akane sighed melodramatically. "Am I really acting like that?"

"Of course not, dummy," Risa flicked her forehead. "I'm only teasing you."

"Akane." A familiar, disgruntled voice echoed down the foyer. Akane turned her head to affirm her suspicions – Mika was stood there, arms folded, a scowl on her face. Gently, she detached herself from Risa and looked at her friend.

"Risa, could you wait outside by the car? I'll catch up to you. I think my cousin wants to speak to me," she smiled at her friend, who looked perplexed – almost like she could sense the tension in the air like a bomb slowly ticking down to detonation. Akane was trying to look past it and brighten the mood, which she could tell was failing.

"My wish is your command, master," Risa stalked off with a little wave, her tone extremely droll.

Once she was out of earshot, Akane faced her cousin. "What is it, Mika?"

"I will make Perfect World happen. Know that," she sounded so stubborn, refusing to see sense.

"You heard mom, didn't you? The tests you proposed are completely unauthorised, and I refuse to condone them – they're just wrong, why won't you accept that? Besides, it won't help anybody like that."

"How would you know? I don't have any time for you. I'll do it, with or without your authorisation, President Tsunemori," her sarcasm, unlike Risa's, was entirely malicious, dealt with more venom than a snake bite. What a nasty thing she could be.

"Enough, Mika," Akane warned her, patience running thin. "You're the one who will ruin this company if you continue with this! I'll let it slide for now. But please, don't mention it again."

With that, it was her turn to stalk out as she felt the anger boiling in her veins.

The journey home was an hour long, the duration of which she spent chatting aimlessly with Risa about anything and everything, which really helped her unwind. Risa and Akane had been friends for a while, and it felt like they were back at her house on Saturday evenings, just shooting the breeze, accompanied by all kinds of alcohol (normally hand-picked by Risa herself). She waved a cheerful goodbye to the good-natured Risa as she staggered inside and to the kitchen, feeling strangely thirsty. She pulled a bottle of peach juice out the fridge (why the hell were there twenty bottles of it?!) and drank it steadily as she sat down at the table. There was a little note there on old-fashioned paper.

I'm busy today, but I'll make it up tomorrow. And as for your question before, how about Hibiki? [Or Airi. You liked that one, so I like it as well.

Her cheeks tugged up in a smile at the note, despite the fact the present her was confused about it's contents – were Hibiki and Airi friends of theirs, maybe? She placed the note back on the table and headed up to her bedroom before crashing on the bed, preparing to go to sleep. How the night had tired her out completely.

Her respite was shattered by two annoyingly high-pitched beeps, and barely concealing a groan she reached for her cellphone, which was in her bag. There was a single message from an unknown number – seems familiar, her present-self thought – which simply read: She wasn't lying, you know.

She replied back, confused as to how the messenger would know about her private conversations. You mean Mika? Who are you?

Oh, nobody important. Just someone who wants her little secret uncovered. And of course it was your dear cousin I was on about.

Is she doing something?

Yes.

Are you going to tell me?

No. You're going to find out yourself.

And how would I do that?

Banken, tomorrow. You may want to see your cousin - she spends a decent amount of time there. She'll be there between 6am and 9am. Trust me.

As much as she distrusted the mysterious messenger, she distrusted Mika more – her tone, her declaration, her behaviour at dinner all pointed to her need to get the project approved. It was evident she disliked doing unauthorised things, and perhaps she was sneaking around and doing something she'd later regret. Akane had to stop her cousin from ruining her career, relationships, maybe even her life.

The next morning, she wasted absolutely no time marching to Banken – oddly enough, the rest of the night was a complete and utter blur, with her only being able to pull a few words out of conversations and maybe a few shaky seconds of images but that was all.

All she could remember was her marching into Banken, feeling the blood rushing through her veins and the anger swelling in her heart and threatening to explode. A Banken worker stepped in front of her. "Uh… ma'am, you can't walk in here. Health and safety and all that," he stammered nervously as Akane glowered up at him.

"Like hell it's health and safety," she growled. "Where is Mika Shimotsuki?!"

"Her… her office, ma'am," the worker assented.

"Take me to her! Now!" she snapped and followed the worker who seemed somewhat defeated as they headed up to the office. He knocked on the door and it was opened by Mika who did a double take upon seeing her cousin, but settled. "Hello, Mika." The worker quickly sloped off, sensing the incoming cat fight as Akane slammed the door behind her.

"Cousin! How nice it is to see you!" Mika tried to keep the tone light, as she hadn't been caught red-handed. "Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem?! Yes, there is a problem!" She managed to corner Mika into a corner and glared down at her. "You are putting people's lives in danger! Ending them! What the hell are you running here?!"

"I told you I would make it happen," Mika responded icily. "You've read the files, haven't you?"

"This is unethical and you know it!" Akane retorted. "Not only that it will place scrutiny on our company, and if this gets made public, we will shut down. But I'd be willing for that to happen if I could save these people… Have you thought about the lives you're using here?!"

"Oh, believe me, I was careful. Nobody will miss these guys," she turned away, avoiding eye contact. Akane finally stepped back, giving Mika breathing space.

"Mika, you can't do this…" she placed a hand over her face, not able to even stare at the woman.

"They're from the criminal underworld. It's not like they had any rights we need to be concerned about," she moved over to her desk, leaning on it, her hands crossed across her chest.

"No… Mika… you're a sociopath," she removed the hand from her face.

"Actually, I'm not. This is to benefit these people, you understand? It will help them!"

"I don't have to understand this. People's lives aren't expendable!" She was getting worked up; she had to calm down, or nobody would take her seriously.

"There has to be sacrifices if you want to get anywhere. So, Akane, is there nothing I can say to change your mind?"

"No." Akane set her mouth in a firm line. "I'll make sure our shareholders know about it. I won't tell your aunt and uncle, because I believe you should explain your actions to them."

"Why? Why did you go and have to make the wrong choice? Why are you so selfish?!" Mika's voice pitched, sounding near hysterical, and Akane was slightly taken aback by this sudden switch in personality. "Then I'll save you too! I'll stop you making the wrong choices!"

"Well, director?" a voice behind Akane distracted her. She spun around to see Sakuya Togane stood above her, grinning from ear to ear. Looking back to Mika, Akane saw that she simply nodded. With that, she felt his hands grabbing at her.

"What are you doing?!" she struggled, trying to claw at him. "Get away!"

Something was shoved under her nose, and the world turned black.

However, the affair didn't quite end with her unconsciousness.

"Oh my god…" Mika sighed shakily. "What has to be done, has to be done," she looked sadly at Akane's comatose body. "I'll save you, cousin."

"I'll deal with her husband. He shouldn't prove a problem," Togane smiled at her.

"Right. She's Target Juliet. Take her to Kamui."

"Leave Delta to me, Director."

15TH SEPTEMBER 2025

"She's still alive," Mika faked sobbed to her beloved auntie and uncle. "The surgeons got to her in time..." She mock wiped her eyes. "To… Togane thinks it was the husband. Right from the very start, all he's wanted is money!"

Her uncle gritted his teeth, and choked out, "I never should've let him near Akane. Oh, I've done this all to my own daughter. My only daughter."

"Uncle, you're not to blame. We all should've shunned him before he corrupted my dear cousin…" Mika feigned stress, grief and betrayal – she was very skilled at hiding things recently.

"Dear. She's still alive. When she wakes up, we can start again. We need to go to the hospital now. She needs us right now," Akane's mother rubbed her husband's back soothingly, despite being close to tears herself.

"You're right. Mika get all the security and my most expensive PIs. I want all evidence against him. Triple the security, I don't want him anywhere near my daughter ever again," her uncle stared at her, acting as if he was in charge. Hah!

"As you wish, Uncle," Mika nodded before speeding away, barely hiding the smile twitching on her lips.

Over at the hospital, she'd bidden Togane to watch Juliet until she gave him the all-clear, so he was moderately surprised when the person who walked in the room wasn't a Tsunemori at all, but rather, Shinya Kogami; immediately, his guard was up. After all, this man was dangerous, according to everyone else. However, Kogami just ignored him and stared down at Akane, his face in a mask of horror and utter loss. "What… What the hell happened?" he muttered weakly. Togane nearly burst out laughing; for such a tough, near terrifying man, this kind of hopelessness was unprecedented. He would have felt guilty, if this had not been for his mother. As far as Togane was concerned, it was just a blip on the road to pleasing his mother.

"You have to leave. After all, you're the reason she had to be saved."

Kogami tensed. "What the hell does that mean?!"

"You brought her down. Ruined her. This is your fault," he continued, enjoying the pure emotion playing across Kogami's face. "By now Shimotsuki's already laid the blame on you, so it really would be in your best interest to leave."

"I'm staying here and explaining. I'll stop you and Shimotsuki," he growled. "If there's one thing she hated more than betrayal, it was injustice."

He was distracted by the click of a gun, and he turned to Togane, preparing to get shot. When he saw that he wasn't the target, his muscles froze. The barrel was directed at Akane's skull, and Togane calmly began to speak again. "There's footage of you coming in here. If she gets shot, and the evidence is already against you, then you'll be blamed. Now, you don't want her to die, do you?"

"You monster…" Kogami growled. "One of these days, I'll kill you."

"Yes, but today won't be that day," Togane responded.

"This isn't over, you know," Kogami took a final look at Akane – trying to memorize her face, just everything about her. "I'll come back her. You can count on that."

Togane waited until he was by the door before calling over, "Do that, and I'll just kill you all.

MEAKASHI-HEN : END

[AN: So, it's been a while? Ish? I've been super busy, I'm really sorry, and I've had writer's block, which is a bitch to deal with. Anyways, please review, since it pushed me to get this final bit done!]