Chapter XXVIII: The Bridge

Shuuhei blinked drearily as he stared at the darkened ceiling over his bed. The numbness started to spread slowly, beginning with a painful jab in his chest and rippling underneath his flesh until it oozed like venom into his innards. They twisted and knotted; the emotions festered and died.

It became unbearable before it started to numb.

Had he been too confident? Did he not think this could happen? How stupid could he be? Did Akiye rush to his home simply to say she chose Abarai?

Shuuhei felt he couldn't keep himself from exploding and demanding more than Akiye was capable of offering. He stormed into his home, not sparing another glance in her direction. If he had looked at her in that instant, his ire would have started boiling and he might have snapped. He would have said things he would undoubtedly regret. Things might have turned out worse.

He sighed heavily and flopped onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow. He groaned as he recalled the state in which Akiye appeared before him. Only dressed in the kosode that fell over her thighs, with bruised lips, and shoeless. She was bleeding and trembling. She looked at him through heavy lashes, a pleading look flashed in her crimson orbs. It disappeared quickly though.

He hated how he didn't know why that bothered him as much as it did. He might have been seeing things. Or, maybe, there was something else…?

Forget it.

He wanted to feel it wasn't worth the trouble, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.


Akiye woke the following morning with stinging eyes and the weight of four blankets on her back. The futons previously scattered around Naoto's room had been folded neatly in the corner and the smell of breakfast wafted through the partially open shoji screens. She picked her heavy body off the comfort of the padded bedding and brushed her stringy locks of hair back to tie them into a bun. She cast a glance at the clock atop Naoto's long desk and headed into the hallway towards her room to dress for another, hopefully, productive workday.

Steam was billowing out of the bathroom. Kaito was probably in there considering there was still an entire hour before he started his duties at Eleventh Division, leaving just enough time for a quick breakfast. Naoto and Tokiwa were probably sharing the kitchen, thinking of ways to coddle her until her patience ran out and she erupted.

Somehow, she wanted that to happen, maybe then, her life could return to the way it was before everything happened. She wasn't good with romance, as made clear with the steady string of events that led to yesterday's conclusion. It proved what many others had said was impossible for her. She shouldn't have let herself be taken by the current.

Maybe, she had wanted to try something different.

Akiye stepped into her bedroom and began to dress into a shihakusho, her mind whizzing with excuses to justify everything—bring light to things she would probably never fully comprehend. She tied her hakama and exited the room, stepping over her sore feet carefully, and reached the table to find Kaito drying his pale blond hair with a towel.

She moved in front of him, shoving his shoulder slightly as she plopped down between his legs. He whined, still groggy after a short bath, and shifted in his seat. She leaned into his chest and closed her eyes, enchanted by the scent of food. Her stomach rumbled loudly.

"Sleep okay?" whispered Kaito, tugging the damp towel from his head.

"Yeah," she answered sleepily. "I'm very hungry."

"Nao is helping Toki make breakfast. They have a lot to talk about."

"'Bout me?"

"About everything. Things have been strange since she stopped coming to the ryokan. Nao might want some explanations."

"We're all entitled to explanations."

"Guess so."

Naoto and Tokiwa's voices were mere incomprehensible murmurs. She might have been able to eavesdrop if she wasn't more attuned to the monstrous grumbling of her stomach. The noisiness of her organ was making things incredibly awkward between her and Kaito when Naoto slid open the shoji screen with his foot, carrying with him a platter carrying plates of freshly cooked tamagoyaki and what smelled like broiled fish.

Akiye straightened out immediately and waited for Naoto to set it down so she could dig in.

"At least wait for Toki to bring the steamed rice and miso soup," said Naoto, setting the platter to his left and carefully placing the side dishes in front of everyone's place. He hesitated when it came to placing the side dishes for both Akiye and Kaito before settling to put them at arm's reach.

Tokiwa entered the room with a container full of steamed rice and four bowls. She sat down in her place beside the table and set the container at her side. "Nao, can you bring the miso soup? I already separated the servings."

Akiye had taken her chopsticks and grabbed a rectangular shaped grilled egg. She stuffed it into her mouth and started chewing in a rush. Tokiwa smiled as she put steamed rice into the bowls and began handing them out. Naoto returned shortly with the miso soup, which Akiye took and nearly downed on the first drink, enjoying the mixture of flavors blending together in her mouth.

Kaito struggled to reach for his side dishes over is sister's slouched form, but managed to get something into his stomach before he left the ryokan for his patrol shift—the one he expected to spend in the dojo sparring with whoever challenged him.

Tokiwa bid farewell after cleaning up. Akiye helped Naoto into a moss green kimono before he left the ryokan to meet with Captain Unohana for his weekly appointment. She cleaned up a bit after everyone, stepping into her room last to grab her zanpakutō and lifted her eyes to the area on her desk where Rosy and Squishy were on display. She had forgotten to feed the rose-haired tarantula the crickets she caught a few nights ago and decided to do so now since she had a few moments to spare. She tossed a few live crickets into Rosy's glass box and reached over to check on her cocooned caterpillar.

Akiye stared deep into its container, noticing what remained of the cocoon hung limply off one of the broken branches, and almost immediately brightened at the thought of finding a butterfly inside. She searched the small container with enthusiasm, remembering the exact moment she received the caterpillar from Shuuhei with a smile, but…the sudden joy drained from her expression.

At the bottom of the cylindrical bottle was a brightly colored butterfly withering away slowly, limply trying to flutter its wing before its movement stopped altogether. Her stare was frozen.

…The sense of loss was overpowering.


Akiye spent hours slacking off in Twelfth Division after she was asked to clean the bathrooms and became the laughing stock of the entire Research and Development Institute. She lolled inside the women's bathroom, shut away in one of the stalls with a screwdriver in one hand, a tiny screen in the other, and a miniscule wrench clamped between her teeth. She would rather spend her hours creating useless inventions than wasting her time doing the grunt work around her division.

For the past half hour, she had wanted to get the screen blinking, but it hadn't even sparked. She was growing frustrated around the time she realized how late it had become and scampered out of the women's bathroom and down the hall to stand in as Akon's temporary assistant. There she would spend the rest of her workday before returning home.

Her volatile behavior brought her plenty of trouble while running various errands for Akon's sake around the division and eventually led to her being sent outside to run every outside errand available, simply to keep her from doing something incredibly stupid if she grew beyond irritated which might lead to a lengthy suspension from her duties. She probably wouldn't have minded the idea if there wasn't a way around it, since she probably did need a break from the labors of the workplace (since she's become the official housekeeper), but if it happened, she would become terribly bored.

Boredom was not the best state of mind for her. In fact, when boredom struck, to prevent other relevant dangers, she made her transformation as Iko and paraded herself in some rich man's arm. It helped that Iko was sociable and an adventurer that enjoyed taking risks. Iko was the twin personality Akiye was too proud to hone at a tender age and ostracized until the idea struck. Money eventually became her drive, but that was ancient history since she was so stupid to let go of her favorite hobby for the sake of a man. She had never felt so stupid in her life.

As she rushed to deliver old files to Captain Ukitake, she found herself thinking about the withering insect sitting atop her desk. The thought plagued her like a certain reminder of everything that happened since she received the funny looking caterpillar from the man she thought she wanted to tease.

Akiye took on the streets slowly, holding the documents underneath her arm, when she felt Hisagi close by and turned in his direction. He had slipped past her, accompanied by a few members of his division, and for a split second, she caught him staring. He looked away immediately and she felt like a complete fool, poisoned by what may have been regret. She didn't want to put a name to the emotions plaguing her until she understood what they meant.

When she reached the corner, she stopped and turned in the direction of the lieutenant. Hibino cut through a bustling crowd to reach him to hand a manila folder to him with an awkward smile. Shuuhei searched the contents and offered her an admirably fake smile before his eyes flicker upward.

Jolted, Akiye disappeared around the corner, heart pounding madly at the thought of being discovered.

Ah. Hibino suited him plenty.

Akiye completed her errands swiftly and thus, concluded her workday.

She thought of sauntering into the Screaming Lotus, but after Lala threw one of her atomic tantrums upon realizing Iko would never return, the urge desisted. She needed to talk to Renji about her decision to avoid relationships like the plague as she had during her golden years and that even if he was a great kisser she wasn't going to negotiate.

Throughout her trip back to the ryokan, she wondered about the areas in which she might be able to find him.

Surprisingly, Akiye found him standing in front of the ryokan with Tokiwa at his side. They looked particularly engrossed in a serious conversation with Chisato. Maybe they were filling him in on the finer details of her decision and were putting him down gently.

Oh, those're great women.

Chisato jutted her chin in her direction and both redheads turned in her direction. She almost cursed her luck when noting the sour look on Renji's face. So, they didn't bother taking a load of her shoulders, after all. She had to take a good breath before making her way to the trio rather awkwardly, pushing her glasses back over the bridge of her nose.

"Hiya peeps. Been 'ere long?"

"Excuse me, I have to smoke outside," stated Chisato, stepping back through the doors of the ryokan and shutting them with a quick clasp.

She was already outside…

Tokiwa caught the hint and patted the lieutenant's shoulder fleetingly. "I have to make dinner. Sorry Abarai-kun!"

That was definitely a lie.

Her sister disappeared faster than Akiye could say any tongue twister. Renji didn't manage to interject in protest. That's how swift an escape she made.

Akiye licked her dry lips. "Sup, Renji."

"I don't really want to talk to you," he greeted dispassionately.

"Granted, I don't wanna talk to ya either," she admitted, rather stupidly. The awkward tremors were starting to set in thanks to the tense situation. "But, I'm doing it anyway. I at least deserve some credit."

"Hisagi dumped you and you have nothing better to do, do you?"

That stung a bit, she realized as she bit her lips in discomfort.

She forced a mocking laugh. "Even though yer assumptions are a tad erroneous, I'm not wasting time ta give ya any rights."

"What do you want?" he started impatiently.

"I am not gonna pursue a relationship with you."

That seemed to irk him further. His eyebrows creased.

"Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?" he said resolutely.

"Well, yer certainly smart, though a bit of a—"

"Not literally, idiot!"

Akiye blinked. "I don't understand."

"You ran after Hisagi when he left the ryokan! That's proof you care more about him! I'm not stupid!"

"I only hoped to settle the matter appropriately. He hadn't given me a chance to explain my decision and in the heat of the moment, adrenaline pumping, I supposed I didn't notice I rushed after him until I was sitting in front of his—"

"I don't care!" he interjected vehemently. "Don't you get it?"

"I think yer the one not gettin' it. My pursuing of Hisagi is irrelevant to the conversation we are having."

"Is that it?" he started irascibly.

"As far as relevancy goes, yes, I suppose it is," she said with a nod. "In terms of irrelevancy, since ya brought it up, I rejected Hisagi. I chose you."

There was a lengthy, skeptical silence.

"…Bullshit."

"I did. You willingly accepted me as I was without underhanded judgments. Hisagi wanted me to become a personable individual of who he could be semi-proud of dating. Forcing me to change is not a good tactic of conquest. It never is. A person should accept their partner's virtues and flaws. I'm convinced that at this moment, yer the perfect candidate to meet the standards necessary for me to start a relationship. The problem isn't you. It's actually me. I'm not mentally or physically prepared to devote myself completely to one individual."

Renji looked as heated as he did a second ago, but managed to relax for the duration of her verbal explanation. The fact that she had chosen him over Hisagi did something to him, but he didn't want to act on the instinct. In the end, she obviously came to reject him too.

"But…?"

"But, asking me to start a relationship is a horrible tactic. I'm not ready. I can't satisfy another human being when I am too in love with my work."

He suddenly sighed. "You chose me, but you don't want a relationship."

"My teachings of relationships are rudimentary. I ain't fit to be a girlfriend and I ain't willing to try being a good girlfriend. I can promise complete and utter ruin. You'd need therapy when I'm through with ya, if yesterday's events didn't scare ya enough."

Renji stared at her speechless. He wore the sort of expression people had when someone had just been asked for directions in a foreign language.

"What?"

"You're serious aren't you?"

"I am very serious," she deadpanned.

He sighed exasperatedly, brushing past her. "Forget it. I don't have time for this."

Akiye whirled around quickly, drawing a mental blank. "So izzit okay if we don't jump into a relationship?"

He halted abruptly, turning to face her, annoyed. "Akiye, do whatever the fuck you want with your life!"

"Oh, okay. See ya Renji!"

She rushed straight into the ryokan, face burning with embarrassment and mentally berating herself for making such a stupid conversation out of something that could have been said with straightforward ease. She wasn't surprised to catch her siblings scrambling away from the door with astonished expressions. This definitely didn't help ease the humiliation.

"Why is it yer always listenin' in on my conversations, eh?" she asked critically, heading towards everyone.

"We don't listen to your conversations," coughed Tokiwa, brushing strands of hair behind her ears.

"We don't," harmonized Naoto, picking up his knitting yarn and needles to continue where he left off in the creation of a colorful scarf. "We don't."

Kaito smirked mockingly. "You're pretty good at breaking shit off, Aki."

"Kaito!"

"Kai!"

Naoto and Tokiwa's voices overlapped as they both shot the blond vicious glares.

Akiye slipped into the adjacent room with the others and took a seat with her family at the table. "At least he's honest."

"We're honest!"

"We'd never tell lies, Aki-tan."

"Honestly, ya'll suck." She covered her burning face with her hands as she heard her siblings erupt into snickers. "Damnit. I never wanna do that again!"

Kaito snorted. "I can't believe she used that cliché!"

Tokiwa nearly died of laughter.

"The problem isn't you. It's actually me," mimicked Naoto in his horrible rendition of her voice.

He had the whole room laughing. Kaito was pounding his fist on the table, Tokiwa discarded her etiquette lessons as she rolled around the ground holding her sides, and Naoto's laugh changed into that high-pitched honking noise he made whenever the joke was extremely funny. Even Akiye cracked a smile at the sight.

Once the hysteria subsided and everyone carried out their futons to the living room for a night of horror stories and a complete recollection of their failed love connections, Akiye laid with her head on Kaito's stomach. Tokiwa made warm cocoa and bought expensive pastries from a luxury bakery. Naoto sat concentrated in finishing the scarf Chisato showed him how to make earlier that morning. The peacefully lazy setting set the perfect mood for what they had in store for the night.

Tokiwa set the box of baked goods in the center of the table. "I used Byakuya's money for these."

Everyone else's eyes flashed in amusement at her informal address of her captain.

"With or without permission?" wondered Kaito aloud.

"Without."

Akiye snorted. "Serves 'im right."

"You shouldn't take advantage of Captain Kuchiki's kindness, Toki," advised Naoto distantly.

"I don't think we should care so long as these cakes are as good as they look," stated Akiye, getting into a seat to reach across the table to grab one of the fanciest cakes she had ever seen in her life.

"Damn straight," said Kaito, following his sister's example.

"They're great," added Tokiwa. "Better than any others."

The expensive cakes were as great as described, possibly eons better and were thoroughly enjoyed as Akiye attempted to coax her family into having an intelligent conversation on the biological standard of living among humanity outside and inside Soul Society. Tokiwa opinionated lightly on a few socioeconomic discussions before she managed to get tongue twisted and pulled out of the conversation for lack of resources. Kaito blatantly refused saying he would rather not discuss things he hardly understood, snorting as he said, "I can barely spell my name right," and dropped to the ground to continue eating what remained of his strawberry flavored cake. Naoto asked her multiple times to explain what that meant and in a joint effort the sisters united in the hopes of drilling the information in his head, but failed once he started repeating the subject up for discussion and every question thrown at him. He whined about not being smart enough for that sort of conversation.

Akiye was left incredibly bored until failed loved stories were being shared.

"…The second boyfriend," started Tokiwa reminiscently. "That's where things turned stupid. He was this merchant's son. His father made kimono for my family and he was his assistant. It started like any wonderful love story, but then…"

Tokiwa expressed her heartbreak down to the last prick in her heart. Naoto looked torn while Kaito looked bored. Akiye didn't know what to feel.

"So, did you always like boys, Naoto?" asked Kaito suddenly.

Naoto blinked. "Ah, uhm, that is certainly tough to answer."

"Of course he always liked boys, idiot," reproached Akiye. "People aren't made gay, they're born gay. It's in their genetic code, stupid. I mean it hasn't been proven with great statistics leaning to genetics having a direct link to homosexual tendencies, but there have been agreeable results."

"I liked a girl when I was young," started Naoto wondrously, ignoring his little sister's argument as a whole. "She was beautiful and kind and fit in my arms like a glove. She was the perfect first love…" His expression turned dark instantly, "...until she turned into a complete bitch and dumped me. She said I kept eyeing her brother weird. Of course I would, if she wasn't his sister, she'd know why too."

"That is really quite shameful, Nao," murmured Tokiwa bashfully.

Akiye and Kaito were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe right.

"Women have never been sexually attracted to me," complained Naoto, folding his arms over his chest with a definite pout. "I was pushed into preying on men."

"More like allow men to prey on you."

"Kaito!"

"It's not like he t—"

"Shut up!" Akiye slapped a hand over his mouth, silencing him immediately. He muffled a pained complaint, but understood the meaning of the harsh glare she shot at him.

"He's right. I've never t—"

It was Tokiwa's turn to shut Naoto up with a loud slap. "Nobody needs to know!"

Naoto rubbed his reddened cheek with glassy eyes. "That hurt."

"Don't act like ya didn't deserve that!" reproached Akiye. "Nobody wants to know what you do with yourself!"

Kaito bolted into a seat, pushing past Akiye to lean on the table. "It's my turn now," he started a tad too excitedly. "I—"

"I never pegged ya as the type to like women, y'know," interrupted Akiye slyly.

"I don't publicize my personal affairs," he defended with ease. "Anyway, there was this whore—"

"Don't call her a whore, Kaito."

"What should I call her then?"

"Prostitute is the proper term," said Akiye thoughtfully. "You can call her that."

Kaito settled and started talking about the most clichéd moment in his life, dubbed as such when he first started to tell the story. He had grown incredibly fond of a prostitute around the time he and Akiye were the only ones left in Rukongai, but everything was ruined when she turned up dead. He said he cried for weeks, but not for the reasons one would consider worthy of tears. Akiye didn't remember seeing him cry. In fact, if she recalled the evening he returned, she would bet her life on the fact that he walked in with a stupid grin on his face and clothes splattered with blood.

When everyone had finished their share of mistakes, they looked at her curiously.

"The only mistakes I ever made are called Hisagi and Abarai. And since I have no privacy in this house, yer all pretty much aware of what happened with that."

None of them denied her accusation, merely nodded in agreement.

"I suppose she is right."

"I coulda sworn there was someone else before that…"

She could mention the names of all her ex-customers because one way or another, whether the appointment had been purely sexual or she served as their stand-in for gatherings, there were plenty of humiliating moments classifiable as failures.

"We should get to sleep," suggested Tokiwa once conversation started to suggest the use of alcohol to stimulate an honest, straightforward exchange of secrets. "There's no use in going out in the middle of the night to buy sake, is there?"

"There are various pros," said Akiye, into the idea considering getting into work the following day with a hangover was better than being conscious to the fact she had been banned from her usual duties. "I can hang out at a bathroom with a better excuse than cleaning, for one."

"You were banned from the workplace for a reason, you shouldn't keep pushing Captain Kurotsuchi to continue punishing you," came Tokiwa, the voice of reason.

To stop the conversation from ruining the night, Akiye threw in the towel and interrupted Kaito's instigation before it had started.

It wasn't long before they were all lying in their futons staring at the dark ceiling in silence until one by one they fell into deep slumber.

. . . . .

Akiye opened her eyes in the middle of the night and rose into a seat, scouring her surroundings to see the abandoned futon to her immediate left.

Kaito.

Naoto and Tokiwa were dead asleep as she rose to her feet and felt the incentive to search the rest of the house for a sign of him, but found it empty. She reached the door and slipped on her sandals before quietly exiting her home. Nobody stirred from slumber at the sound of the door clasping shut.

. . . . .

Kaito scrambled out of bed in cold sweat and rushed out of the house with his zanpakutō in his hand to feel the cold air soothe the tension in his body. He thought about returning indoors immediately, but his mind started to wander and before her knew it, his legs were leading him around the emptier streets of Seireitei. He eventually settled under the shade of a clutter of trees on the cold ground, sure to keep his sword under his leg in case he needed it.

He breathed in the cold air, letting it frost his lungs until it spread a soothing calm. For the past few weeks, he had gotten used to the dreamless sleep, so the nightmare he experienced that evening spook him to the point of causing his insides to twist and shake. Nothing had ever shaken him that badly since he was younger and inexperienced, so the memories always produced the same reactions.

He needed to clear his head. He had to stop thinking about the past after he thought he had buried it six feet under.

Suddenly, Kaito's eyebrows furrowed as a gust of wind brushed past him and he reached for the sword under his leg to find it wasn't there. He jumped to his feet anxiously, searching his empty surroundings, knowing there was someone there watching him.

"Dropped your guard," a distant voice called. "That isn't anything like you. Color me disappointed."

The words echoed in the hollow streets. There was a ringing in his ears and a sharp tug in his stomach.

Shit.

His eyes scanned every inch of scenery when he caught sight of long flaxen hair twisting in the passing breeze beyond the clutter of trees. He rushed forward, lifting his gaze to the wry smile on the older male's face and the sharp, narrow eyes staring him down from his stand on the ledge of the wall. He was dressed in a long dark kimono, half of the bottom was pulled up and tucked under the sash holding it together, with white pants and black boots. A sling was rested across his chest holding in it a long sword. He had Kaito's sword lying securely in his hands.

"H-Hotaka," he said through gritted teeth, unable to keep his voice from faltering. "Hotaka. W-What are you doing here?"

Hotaka crouched down, bending forward slightly to get a better look at Kaito's astonished face, and started swinging the foreign zanpakutō in circles. "You're hurting my feelings Kai," he said slyly. "We had an agreement. I'm just holding up my end of the bargain. I've given you all the time you need."

The mention of their agreement left a sour taste in his mouth.

"It's too late," Kaito mumbled incoherently.

Hotaka wasn't listening. His eyes were wandering. "Where's Aki? I've missed her especially."

"Getting married," replied Kaito reflexively. "She's getting married just like Tokiwa."

The smile disappeared from Hotaka's face and he glared threateningly at him. "What?"

"Yes. Married." He damned himself for saying the first thing out the top of her head, but it was better than saying nothing at all. "Aki is happy now. Please leave her out of this."

"That's not how things work, Kaito," he said sternly. "Aki knows the agreement. She's not allowed to do that without asking for permission."

"Well, if it makes you feel better we tried looking for you around the time she was proposed to, but you're really hard to come by…so you can see where things went against your wish—"

In a split second, Hotaka disappeared from his field of vision. Kaito felt his body hit the ground hard and the feel of sharp steel slice through his cheek. Hotaka had pinned him down with his knee and looked to him viciously.

"Aki is mine," he seethed. "Do something about the pest."

Kaito's eyes were wide in fear and with a slight nod, uttered, "Y-Yes."

Hotaka left him on the ground with his own zanpakutō stabbed to the ground, breathing erratically as a flood of strange emotions paralyzed him.

The rasp of footsteps reached his ears, but they were drowned out by the ringing. He couldn't see beyond the arch of branches over his head or feel beyond the numbness spreading over his limbs.

"Kaito."

Akiye worried face appeared in his field of vision and he reached out to touch her face, unsure she was real or a mere figment of his imagination. He felt the sleek flesh of her face and the wiry brush of her braided hair. She was real and suddenly, she was looking at him accusingly.

"What did you do?"

"Hotaka is back," he replied anxiously.

She hesitated. "That's bullshit."

"He wants what we owe him."

She grabbed his arm and struggled to get him seat as her eyes searched the perimeter for even a sliver of a trace of the man in question, but found nothing. "Let's get home. We can talk about this tomorrow."

Kaito was shaking. That was proof enough.

He was back, no doubt about it.

The fear was crawling over her smooth expression as she pulled him along the road, taking his zanpakutō. She remained deathly silent throughout the entire trip, heart beating in her ears. Their freedom was numbered because Mizushima Hotaka wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted and neither one of them was willing to hand it over on a silver platter.

"What the fuck are we going to do? He's going to fuck everything up!" started Kaito anxiously. "He'll fuck our lives over if he doesn't kill us first. We have enough problems with Captain Aizen and his freak accomplice to shoulder Taka as well!"

"…I'll think of something," assured Akiye, but somehow she wasn't sure she could do anything to stop it from happening. "I can do anything."


beta'd: LULuckyTiger


Thanks to: dreamy-silhouettes and Aries01xD for reviewing the previous chapter.


x L i l i m:

Happy New Year! (In California it's still 10pm, but whatever, I'm feeling festive!)

I had my laughs writing this chapter, particularly Renji and Akiye's part. I feel sorry for Shuuhei and for a moment, Akiye too. Like the chapter title, this is the figurative bridge that connects straight into the next half of the story which is where everything will happen. I mean everything. If I trudge upon some cliches...tell me and I will twist them until they scream uncle! Okay, there will be a cliche...but I need it. That makes me wonder now, have I used a lot of cliches...? I probably have without noticing. I seriously need to start paying better attention.

Now, I'm going to finish this with a very interesting detail about my OCs. I have never modeled any of my OCs with myself in mind, nor have I used other people when it comes to their creation, but I have noticed something quite hilarious when writing Fallen Leaves. When it comes to dialogue, I usually write everything as I see fit before I edit it and start changing dialogue to suit personalities, but lately, I've been noticing Kaito's doesn't change. But that's not it either. I came to the horrid realization that out of all my OCs, I resemble Kaito the most-not in terms of looks, but personality-in a not so psychotic way. He has certain quirks I have and I find it frightening that he ended up being the way he is. It terrifies me, but at the same time brings me plenty of jolly. Also, I don't have a sister complex! Just putting it out there. XD

I am laughing very hard now.

There will be one more chapter before I go missing. Read my profile for details!

Thank you for reading! :)