Chapter 35 – Dynasmon and Crusadermon
Depressed, Wanyamon looked out of the window. Drop by drop had gathered at the glass and made its way down. It had been raining for hours and the in-training digimon was just sitting at the window looking out sadly. In the room itself, it smelled of fried noodles. Today Sera cooked fried noodles with chicken meat, vegetables and shrimp. Eventually, Akira's older sister came to him and stroked his fur.
"You think about Akira again, don't you?" Sera asked him.
Wanyamon took a quick look at her before looking out again.
"I'm also worried about her," she said: "Shin notices that... I'm powerless... and constantly depressed."
The in-training digimon remained silent. At one point, he sighed.
"Damn..." he quipped: "Where are you... Akira... If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive... I'll never forgive you, Crusadermon."
Sera shoved her hands under Wanyamon's body, lifted him up and finally cuddled him. The in-training digimon was shocked at first, but did nothing about it. After a few seconds, he closed his eyes and sighed.
"I... miss Akira," Wanyamon admitted: "I miss her."
He started crying. When was the last time he cried? He didn't know. Maybe he had never cried in his life? He couldn't say it. Deep sorrow and despair flowed through him. Uncertainty and uncertainty were in place. What did Crusadermon and the other Royal Knights have in front of Akira?
Both did not notice how suddenly a charred smell came out of the kitchen. Only Shin's loud curse at least lifted Sera out of her rigidity.
"Damn, Sera! The noodles!" her friend shouted.
"What?! Oh! Crap..." she rushed into the kitchen and met Shin, who had already taken the frying pan with the now black noodles from the stove.
"Please watch out for your cooking!" he cursed aloud: "You would have ignited the whole apartment if I hadn't noticed it in time!"
"Sorry," she said, looking to the ground: "I... I'm just worried about..."
Shin placed the pan on a cork coaster and approached it. Then he hugged her.
"I know..." he replied reassuringly: "You feel bad... But you really can't leave the pan out of your sight when you're cooking, Sera."
"I'm sorry. Wanyamon... He suffers greatly that Akira was kidnapped. I just wanted to encourage him." she said.
"Sera..." he gently stroked her hair: "I know..."
He held up a tear with his finger and looked at it with indistinct eyes. He wiped away the tear, which was then replaced by another. Akira's sister gritted her teeth before screaming at his chest. Tear of tear rolled down her cheeks as her hands dug into Shin's sweatshirt. Her boyfriend put his hands around her torso and gently stroked over her back. Eventually, Shin pushed her into the living room and placed her on the sofa before Sera fell asleep with exhaustion. Wanyamon hopped besides Sera's friend and looked at him.
"I'm sorry..." he said, depressed: "I curse myself that I couldn't protect Akira."
"Wanyamon, stop." Shin's voice sounded rather depressed: "It's not your fault that Akira-"
"IT IS MY FAULT!" he screamed angrily, prompting Sera to wake up: "If I had been more careful, it would never have happened! If I had been able to kill Crusadermon, then-"
"Wanyamon!" he interrupted him: "When I learned that Kato had developed the Gizmon I accuse myself. If I had had closer contact with him, it would never have happened."
"This Kato is Azuma, Kato's younger brother! Crusadermon, however, is Crusadermon! She's a Digimon I knew!"
"I didn't mean that."
"Shut up!"
"Wanyamon..." Sera said depressed, and straightened up: "There is no point arguing. Please... Stop it... It doesn't help... Akira will not come back."
Both Wanyamon and Shin looked to the side before the former hopped away into Akira's room. Mr. Kawa looked after him before sighing heavily. He closed his eyes and rubbed his right hand over them.
When it was evening, Wanyamon walked out of Akira's room again. Sera and Shin watched TV with serious facial expressions. The in-training digimon jumped on the table and also looked into the TV. The newsreader talked about the last invasion of the Digimon. He also spoke about the perceived dangers posed by the Digimon.
"People still think we're so unpredictable," Wanyamon sighed subsequently: "That's ridiculous."
"The power of the media," Shin said: "We humans only hear what the media offer us. Most don't question it. In this example... Most don't question whether Digimon are really evil and unpredictable... Maybe it would help if there were more DigiDestined..."
"Hm... That would be a good approach..." Sera thoughtfully said: "However, I don't think the Homeostasis will soon select new DigiDestined."
"That's right," Mr. Kawa agreed.
"The Homeostasis is lazy." the in-training digimon replied: "It would never act."
"What do you mean?" Akira's sister asked him.
"Had the Homeostasis acted, it would have commanded to kill Alphamon kill, defeat King Drasil and save Akira," Wanyamon explained with a suppressed growl: "It would have ordered Gallantmon and Sleipmon to do these things... And? What happened?!"
He did not wait for her answer. With a growl, he jumped off the table and hopped to the apartment door.
"Where are you going?" was Shin's question.
"A Royal Knight has entered this world," the in-training digimon raved.
"I'll bring you to him?" he offered: "You'd be there faster and you wouldn't have to get unnecessary attention."
What Mr. Kawa had told him was actually right. He would digivolve to Dynasmon in the middle of the city and fly off. He had lied to the two. He was just looking for an excuse to be alone. He was not accused of self-reproach. He was plagued by self-reproach for allowing Crusadermon to kidnap Akira. Wanyamon left the apartment through the balcony and digivolve to Dynasmon after he jumped off the railing. With an angry outcry, the ultimate-level Digimon flew high into the air. As he flew over the clouds, he stopped and looked with his red eyes across the carpet of white fluff. If he had had the ability, he would have lay down on a cloud and just closed his eyes.
But he couldn't do that, and so he closed the lids and sighed heavily. A gentle breeze caught him and made sure he was carried away, as he had not expected it. He stabilized himself again and created a distortion. He could no longer bear to be in the human world. When Dynasmon was in the digital world, he flew through the clouds. He had no goal.
Eventually, he landed on a cliff. The sea slammed against the wall, smashing into a thousand white pearls. He didn't know a Knightmon was watching him. When the Knight-Digimon left again, the ultimate-level Digimon sighed heavily and sank into memories.
Akira did not know how many days she had passed in captivity of the Royal Knights. She had stopped counting. Why had she only begun to do so? She didn't know anymore. It was perhaps just a pastime. She was incredibly boring since Alphamon didn't visit her. For whatever reason. She got tired of thinking and thinking. She started to worry.
With a heavy sigh, she got up in her bubble and took a few steps. Then she sat down again. Why didn't this Crusadermon finally come? She almost died of boredom. Again, she didn't want to die.
Deeply immersed in her thoughts, she remembered something. When she was six years old, she met a digimon. Now that she found enough time, she remembered it. She got lost in a forest and didn't know the way back. She ran away because she had learned that the parents who had raised her were not her biological ones. As she crouched alone in the forest and weeping on the ground, she encountered a large digimon. It was Gallantmon. She was terrified at the sight of him. Guilmon's ultimate-level asked her what had happened and knelt down to her. Although Gallantmon did not understand what she was telling, he was very understanding and reassured her. In return, she was supposed to promise him that she had not told anyone that she had met him. At the time, she didn't understand why she promised it.
Now, twelve years later and trapped in a bubble, she finally got it. He was a digimon and terrifying to normal people. But she wasn't afraid at the time. On the contrary, she had been really fascinated by him. However, she forgot his existence a little later.
Akira put her head on her angled legs and sighed heavily. She really couldn't bear this boredom any more. Suddenly, her ears heard footsteps. They did not belong to Alphamon, he had heavier steps. She raised her head and recognized a digimon she had never seen before. This, however, had strong similarities with a male human. The Digimon grinned at her and flew up to her.
"So you're Dynasmon's partner, Akira right?" the man asked.
"Yeah..." she replied hesitantly, "And who are you?"
"Gankoomon," he replied simply: "I work for King Drasil."
Akira turned her head to the side and gritted her teeth. The young woman cursed herself. For very briefly she had hoped that this Digimon would save her.
"What do you want?" she raved after a long pause in silence.
"Just talk."
Again she was silent, but Gankoomon could not turn. What did he want from her? Information? She had been trapped here for some time.
"I want to ask you something first," the man began.
"And what? I've been in the bubble here for some time." she said.
"How's Hackmon doing?"
"Hackmon?" she repeated, "I have no idea."
"You know exactly what I mean." Gankoomon raved: "I want to know how he's doing alongside this Meiko."
"I would say fine."
"I'm happy about that," he smiled.
Akira did not believe her ears. Was this Digimon really happy that an enemy Digimon was doing well?
"You know. Hackmon was once my student. Long before the Royal Knights broke apart," the man declared: "Although he was created by the Homeostasis and co-founded the Royal Knights."
"How did he became your student?"
"We Royal Knights are not immortal. We can die through a hard fight. Jesmon died during one of these fights and was reborn. When I met him by chance, I began to train him until he became a Royal Knight again. That's just the way it is. We die, we are reborn, we remember that we were Royal Knights."
"Do you even want to serve King Drasil?" she suddenly asked.
"Do you want an honest answer? No, I don't want to serve anyone, but I'm forced by Alphamon."
"Why don't you defend yourself? I would do it!"
"It's easier said than done," Gankoomon sighed heavily.
"How do you mean that?"
"My student Hackmon can't digivolve to his ultimate-level yet. Alphamon threatened me that if I did not follow King Drasil's orders, he would kill him."
"And?! He would do it anyway! Even if you follow King Drasil faithfully, Alphamon would kill Hackmon!"
"You... have not lost hope yet. But I have it."
"I lost my hope, Gankoomon! No matter what happens, Crusadermon will kill me at some point! Unlike you Digimon, we humans cannot be reborn! And you just say I still have hope?! Hope in this hopeless situation?! Don't make me laugh!" she began to cry bitterly.
The man sighed. There was a possibility. Without thinking further, he reached into the bubble and wanted to grab her. Gankoomon wanted to bring her back into the human world. Suddenly he heard a voice.
"What are you doing with my prisoner, Gankoomon?!" hissed Crusadermon.
"Nothing." he replied.
Without wasting another word, he lowered his arm again and rushed away. He didn't want trouble. The pink knight followed him with her gaze before turning to Akira. By now, she had calmed down again. She looked at the Digimon with murky eyes.
"You know exactly why I'm here now, don't you?" asked Crusadermon.
She could only nod while swallowing heavily.
"Good. One of the Knightmons saw Dynasmon in the digital world," she explained, wrapping one of her ribbons tightly around Akira's body.
She just let it happen. She was pulled out of the bubble, which burst a little later. Then Crusadermon created a distortion behind her and disappeared with the young woman in it. After a very short time they were already high up in the air. The pink knight suddenly stopped and asked:
"Any last words before I gag you?"
She was surprised that Crusadermon wanted something like this. She had found her very cruel, even though she had only seen her twice.
"Watch out for Dynasmon," Akira said.
In fact, she would have wanted to make a stupid remark. But she stopped herself from doing so. Instead, she asked the pink knight for something. Crusadermon placed her captives in front of her body.
"Why? I don't understand you humans. Why are you so attached to Dynasmon?" was her astonished question.
The pink knight had expected something completely different.
"He... has changed me. In a positive sense. Before, I had no friends. Although he can sometimes be quite exhausting... he had changed me. That is what I ask you to do. Take good care of him."
"Let me guess. You don't want to die, don't you?"
"Yes. But I know you want to kill me anyway."
"That will happen. Either I will pierce you with one of my ribbons or you will die from Dynasmon's attack. The latter would actually be better."
"Don't you think he'll get so angry with you that he-"
"You don't know him!" she angrily interrupted her: "What do you actually know about him?!"
She began wrapping her ribbon around Akira's mouth.
"Mph!" the young woman said in protest.
"I'm fed up with your outrageous statements." the pink knight hissed.
She continued to fly. Akira didn't know for how long. Eventually Crusadermon began to land. It was on a cliff. The young woman looked around briefly until she saw Dynasmon.
"Hmph!" she tried to shout at him, but there was only a muted sound.
Without warning, the pink knight raced towards him and rammed her shield into his back. Wanyamon's ultimate-level let out a scream as he was thrown to the ground. The pink knight jumped several meters away from him as he rose and turned around. Dynasmon growled furiously when he saw Akira, who was held captive by Crusadermon.
"Let her go immediately!" he raved, rushing towards the pink knight.
She placed the young woman in front of her and stopped his movements. Akira looked at him with frightened eyes. This expression would probably burn into Dynasmon forever. Crusadermon laughed a little before forcing Wanyamon's ultimate-level to the ground again with her shield. He didn't think he was going to hurt the young woman when he grabbed the pink knight's leg and pulled on it. But at the same moment he became aware of his mistake and he let go of her leg so Crusadermon could catch himself. When she landed gracefully on the ground with a backward somersault, she said:
"I have an offer, Dynasmon."
The said Digimon straightened up and growled:
"Which one?"
"Join King Drasil and nothing will happen to your partner Akira. Otherwise..." she placed the pointed end of the ribbon in front of Akira's head: "She will die. You know that humans cannot be reborn."
Dynasmon suppressed a curse. What should he do? He could not betray Gallantmon, Sleipmon and the Homeostasis for Akira. Again, however, he did not want that Akira was hurt.
"I won't wait forever, Dynasmon," said the pink knight.
Wanyamon's ultimate-level briefly closed his eyes to better consider his options. If he accepted Crusadermon's proposal, he would save Akira's life but lose his pride.
"You didn't want it any other way," she pressed the end against the young woman's forehead.
"Wait!" shouted Dynasmon: "I've made up my mind."
"So, have you?" she hissed: "Well? What is your answer?"
"I..." he sighed heavily: "I will join King Drasil."
"Then lie down on the ground and swear that you will not betray King Drasil again."
"As long as Akira is going to be alright..."
"She will." she assured him: "I promise."
"Okay." his lids closed again, and he lay down on the floor.
Without hesitation, Crusadermon rammed the sharp end of her ribbon into Dynasmon's right wing. He let out a cry of pain, but he didn't dare to rise up.
"You know, Dynasmon... You forgot one thing." she laughed briefly, as the said Digimon looked up to her: "I never keep my promises."
With these words, she threw Akira over the cliff. She had widened her eyes as she fell into the depths.
"AKIRA!" shouted Wanyamon's ultimate-level and jumped up.
The ribbon tore through Dynasmon's wings, leaving a long cut wound. He suppressed the rising pain as he rushed after his partner and jumped off the cliff. Crusadermon hadn't suspected this action, which meant she couldn't react in time.
Meanwhile, Wanyamon's ultimate-level desperately tried to catch Akira with his outstretched arm. Eventually, he was able to catch her in his palm. Now he tried to flap both wings so that they would not fall into the water. But the right wing did not want to obey him. Added to this was the pain caused by the cut wound. Suddenly, a bird fly through the cloud cover and stretched out its feet for him. The bird was able to grab Dynasmon by his shoulder plates before flapping hard with his wings. Just in time, the bird rose into the air and tried to land at the edge of the cliff. However, the pink knight wanted to strike him with her shield.
Suddenly, she saw two drones flying towards her. With a jump backwards, she dodged, only to be caught by a flood of blue flames. Crusadermon threw a glance over her shoulder to see the second attacker. In front of her appeared a fourth Digimon, which tried to hit her with a punch. The pink knight dodged to the side and jumped a few meters to safety.
"Who are you?!" she hissed.
"The rescue team!" one person shouted.
Akira looked at the man and was pleasantly surprised.
"Davis..." she quipped.
Her throat was completely dry and she was visibly in shock. She let her gaze wander further and she recognized Yolei, Cody and Ken.
"What..." she didn't get any further.
"Don't worry." the boy assured her: "We will win!"
"Exactly!" shouted Spinomon.
"She is outnumbered." Ornithmon said.
"Considering that I can't fly..." Dynasmon added, kneeling down to put his partner on the ground.
"It doesn't matter." BanchoStingmon said.
"He is right." Ken continued.
"That's why our chances of winning are good," Yolei smiled.
"Okay. Are you ready?!" Magnamon slammed his left fist into the right palm of his hand.
"Yes!" shouted all the Digimon except Dynasmon.
"Wait!" ordered Wanyamon's ultimate-level: "I want to do it alone."
"Are you sure, Dynasmon?" the insect man asked.
"She's a Royal Knight." Davis' partner said.
"And I'm one too." Dynasmon growled.
"We are not stopping you," said the bird: "but be careful."
"Yes," the dinosaur nodded.
"Just make sure you protect your partners," Akira's partner raved before running to Crusadermon.
However, he stopped a few meters away from her.
"So you're betraying us for the second time." the pink knight hissed.
"You didn't keep your part of the deal... That's why I'm not going to follow mine." he growled.
"However. You can't fly with this wing. So I'm clearly at an advantage."
"I don't need to fly to kill you! I'll never forgive you, Crusadermon!"
"So we will fight until one of us is dead."
"Yes."
Both breathed deeply. Waited for the opponent's blow. After a few seconds, Crusadermon disappeared from Dynasmon's field of vision and appeared behind him. She was ready to put him down with her shield. However, Wanyamon's ultimate-level turned around and intercepted the shield with his arm guard. The pink knight pulled her ribbon over Dynasmon's thighs and pulled out again to hit him by the neck.
"We have to step in!" shouted BanchoStingmon.
"No!" Magnamon replied sharply: "It's his fight. He holds back in the hope that Crusadermon will come to senses. But she won't. If he realizes this, he will fight without hesitation."
"But what if it doesn't happen, Magnamon?" asked Davis.
"Then we're still there," his partner replied.
Wanyamon's mega-level included the band that was supposed to hit his neck with the claw and pulled on it almost at the same moment. He let go of the tape and held the claw. But he couldn't. So the opponent took the chance and rammed her shield into his stomach. Dynasmon was thrown on his back and was left lying for a few seconds. The pink knight wanted to ram her ribbon back into his neck, but Wanyamon's ultimate-level rolled to the left side and almost at the same moment kicked her in the stomach with his foot.
Energy was gathering in his palms and before he even got to his feet he fired two energy lasers at Crusadermon. The lasers collided with the body of the opponent, who was thrown into the air and stabilize herself there. The pink knight stayed briefly in the air to plan her next step. When she made a decision, she disappeared from the perspective of the others. Dynasmon already knew what might come and he bent back instinctively. The ribbon narrowly missed him. Suddenly Crusadermon disappeared again and appeared on his back.
Wanyamon's ultimate-level turned around and knocked the tape to the ground with his claw. Once again the pink knight disappeared and tried it elsewhere and again Dynasmon repelled the attack. This sequence of attacks went faster and faster.
/Crusadermon... Why don't you stop? I don't want to fight you./ he thought when he fended off further attempts at attack: "When do you finally see it? Humans aren't bad!"
"When do you give up? Following a human is your downfall, Dynasmon!" she jumped into the air and landed several meters away on the ground.
Both breathed heavily in and out.
"I don't follow Akira! She's my friend! Just as you are, Crusadermon!" Dynasmon exclaimed.
"Then you are a bigger fool than any Royal Knight who follows the Homeostasis!" she said, rushing towards him again.
"You're a fool, Crusadermon! King Drasil is wrong! If you follow him, it will be your downfall!" he argued, blocking her shield with his arm guard.
"King Drasil is always right! You once believed that." she hissed.
"Once it was wrong, it had wiped out almost all of us. It had ignored the problem with Alphamon and Omnimon for too long! And we got into an argument that a Digimon used so that it could kill us all but four members. After that, the digital world sank into chaos. The Dark Masters appeared and the last survivors of our followers tried to defeat them. Three ultimate-level Digimon you see here were so badly wounded that they sealed themselves in DigiMentals. Then five people appeared and four of their partner became the Sovereigns and sealed the Dark Masters away. However, the Homeostasis saw that they were returning, which was the case. Thus eight new DigiDestined were chosen, who then finally defeated the Dark Masters... All this happened because of King Drasil! If it had stopped the argument at that time, which it thought was not so bad, it would never have come this far. The Dark Masters could have been defeated, and Apocalymon would not be resurrected."
"Lies. All lies! The Homeostasis shamelessly lies to you!" shouted Crusadermon.
Dynasmon looked at her in horror. Then he took a deep breath. He couldn't do more. His former best friend denied all his statements.
/Sometimes death is the only solution./ he recalled.
This was what Omnimon once said as a wild Digimon, who could not be reassured, attacked them. That was the only solution for Crusadermon. He couldn't convince her. He knew that now. But he couldn't kill her either. Or? Again, he briefly took a look at Akira. Crusadermon had tried to kill the young woman. With another deep breath, he closed his eyes to gather.
/So be it. I... I'm going to kill you, Crusadermon!/ with this decision he raised his left claw and attacked Crusadermon with it.
She jumped back, so the claw missed her. With determined eyes, he rushed after her and pushed her further back to the edge of the cliff. When the pink knight wanted to meet him with the ribbon, he backtracked. Both looked at each other. They were silent.
/That will be.../ he thought.
/That's.../ determinedly she placed her band in front of her body.
/The final STRIKE! / both raced towards each other.
Akira's eyes widened, because she somehow knew that Dynasmon would not survive the attack.
"DYNASMON!" she screamed out of her body, before her strength left her and her legs gave away.
Davis, who has since managed to come to support her, was terrified and gently placed her on her lower legs. He looked at her before returning his gaze to the two Royal Knights.
Both opponents were preparing for the final blow. But just before they could perform it, Dynasmon tilted his body slightly to the side, so that the ribbon only swiped his side slightly as his claw drilled into Crusadermon's body.
Wanyamon's ultimate-level gritted with his teeth. Meanwhile, the pink knight looked at the claw piercing her body and embraced it with her narrow hands.
"I never wanted to do that." Dynasmon raved: "You forced me to do it. I never wanted to fight you."
"You... I..."
"I never told you, Crusadermon... If you ever attack a friend of mine, I will never forgive you for that," he continued, "You did it and nearly killed Akira."
"I hate you," she raved: "I don't understand... how could you like… someone like her... above me..."
"I don't know either." he admitted, closing his eyes.
"I will be reborn... and I will... then... kill... you and.. tear you… away… from... Akira..."
"No. If you die, I'll absorb your data so you don't do that."
"You..."
"The Royal Knights... they will never be the same again... But it is okay."
"Good..." she turned to Akira: "You... Watch over him... Not that I want it... Dynasmon needs someone like you"
Crusadermon's arms fell to the side before she dissolved into data.
Dynasmon lowered his arm again and looked behind the data particles. Akira walked to him with shaky legs.
"Dynasmon..." she sounded anxious because the pink knight had said that she wanted to kill Dynasmon.
"Don't worry," said Wanyamon's ultimate-level: "She lied."
"How?"
"She never wants to separate me from you. Otherwise she wouldn't have told you to take care of me."
"I see..."
Dynasmon turned back to Wanyamon and hopped into her arms. The other partners, apart from Magnamon, also digivolve back to their in-training level. Now Akira couldn't hold back her tears. Firmly pressed on herself, she wept in the fur of her partner. All the fear erupted in that moment and she just cried bitterly.
"We should perhaps return to the human world" Magnamon suggested.
"Good idea." Davis agreed, while his partner created a distortion.
Yolei walked to the young woman and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"We're going back now, Akira." she said softly.
The person in question looked up briefly before nodding. Then she and the others went into the human world through the distortion. Magnamon walked at last looking over the area again.
Arriving in the human world, all accompanied Akira and Wanyamon to the apartment of Sera and Shin. When Cody pressed the doorbell, nothing happened at first. But then the door was opened and Sera took her younger sister in her arms.
"Akira... Akira... Akira..." the older sister repeated her name again and again: "I was so worried about you."
"Sera..." she quipped, before hugging her firmly: "I'm back. I'm at home."
Again, Akira began to cry as Shin stepped out of the apartment. Davis and his friends briefly said goodbye to the two adults before disappearing. Meanwhile, Sera somehow brought her sister into the apartment. However, the young woman could not break away from her. It was only when she felt her bed under her that she broke free and let herself fall on the sleeping place. Wanyamon and Shin waited outside the door. Akira fell asleep within seconds before Sera pulled the blanket over her. With a gentle smile, she gave her younger sister a gentle kiss on the temples.
"Sleep well, Akira. And rest... When you're awake, I'll cook you your favourite food," she smiled as she left the room.
"How is she?" Mr. Kawa asked her.
"She fell asleep," Akira's sister said.
"No wonder. It was a very stressful day for her." the in-training digimon said.
"I can imagine. But we should let her sleep for a while." Shin said.
"That was my idea as well" Sera said.
"I'll stay with her." Wanyamon said, hopping into his partner's room.
As he stood in front of her bed, he jumped on it and cuddled up to Akira. He closed his eyes and suppressed the tears that arose. On the one hand, he was glad that his partner was now safe, on the other hand he had to kill a frined so that she could survive. But he knew he had done the right thing. Crusadermon was not convinced... With a sigh, the in-training digimon cuddled up to his partner. As if she had seen him, she put an arm around him and pulled him closer to him. Wanyamon smiled and fell asleep next to Akira.