Tokyo-to High: Year of the Dragon
Once again a little slow on the progression of the chapter but it doesn't mean I'm giving up. I'm finishing this story even if it kills me!
So let's see some new news. Hmm I recently got an old SNES with 4 great old games; Contra III – The Alien Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4 – Turtles in Time, Samurai Showdown, and Mortal Kombat. There were also two more sports games but Sports isn't really my thing. But the controller we got with it is screwed abnormally so. So if anyone has an extra controller they'd be willing to send me I'd love you forever!
Chapters are still on the way! Don't worry a lot of exciting things are happening! Hoopla!
Akito Yagami Nova Yagami © me, Tsunami is © my lovely Tsu-chan, all other characters are © either Capcom, SNK, Sammy, or any other company I have borrowed existing characters.
Chapter 20 – Epiphany
Sun rose as it did every morning. Akito opened his eyes and looked up out through the window, sunlight streamed into the room. Was he back already? He hadn't even remembered leaving the hospital.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes of sleep and looked over at the clock, it was nearly noon. He pulled his sapphire hair back and put it into a pony tail as was routine every morning he had arrived at his Uncle's house. He looked down and saw that he was still dressed from what he wore last night and shrugged to himself as he crawled out of bed.
Tsunami was nowhere to be seen which didn't surprise him seeing as how it was lunch time and she was probably looking for some sort of snack but he didn't really bother to look for her. His mind still dwelled on Pupa lying in the hospital bed fighting just to stay alive, then to Nova the person who had put her there.
He heaved a sigh as he opened the door and walked out of his room. He heard laughter coming from Hibiki's room and as he passed he saw that Tsunami and his sister sat on the bed playing with Ruffles as he hopped around on the bed hooting and chirping for attention.
He was glad that they were getting along; especially since when he first arrived Hibiki resented Tsunami terribly. Sadly even this fact wasn't enough to bring him out of his depressed stupor. He wandered past the laughter and continued into the living room where the television was on but no one was watching it. It was customary for Iori to do this, maybe it was because he wanted to hear a voice to keep him company or to let other's know he was up an about. Ironically he was the one that always complained about it being on all the time, but no one dared to point that out to him.
He continued into the kitchen where Leona and Iori sat sipping coffee and discussing the something that they abruptly stopped once they noticed Akito enter the room.
"Don't stop on my account..." Akito muttered apathetically as he opened the fridge and rummaged around looking for food.
"Akito... We need to talk to you..." Leona said in a hushed voice.
Akito closed the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk and set it on the table and went to get a bowl for cereal.
"Well talk I'm not stopping you..." He said in a rather agitated tone without meaning too.
Leona looked to Iori who nodded as he began to speak. "We're concerned about you... You've been under a lot of stress..."
He wanted to laugh so hard at this statement. Stress, that's an understatement if he'd ever heard one. Iori continued.
"First, you in the hospital... then your friend... and Leona told me you had a fight at outside the book store. You know your still injured you shouldn't be going around picking fights."
Akito turned to them and looked at them glaring angrily. "Picking fights!" His voice rose to yell as he spoke. "In case you hadn't noticed I wasn't the one who wanted to fight! I wasn't even given the opportunity to back away from anything!"
Leona rose to her feet and quickly went to his side trying her best to comfort him. "Akito please don't raise your voice we only have your best interests in mind."
"My best interests in mind you say? I deal with things the best I can! In case you haven't noticed I've got enough things to worry about with out you two trying to but into my life."
Iori rose to his feet and rose his voice in turn. "That's no way to speak to us! We're your elders!"
"Just because your older doesn't mean you know better." Akito retorted in a smug grimace. "Yes who's the one who sits around the house all day depressed because no one visits him?"
This statement hit Iori like a hard fist to the face. He closed his eyes and opened them slowly struggling to keep his voice down. "We just want what is best for you..."
Leona sighed softly and slowly moved to hug Akito cradling him rather motherly. Akito abruptly pushed her away and continued to glare at both of them. "Stop trying to be my parents! I have enough to deal with without you two trying to meddle."
Leona took a step back and looked down at the ground saying nothing. Akito felt his chest heaving from shortness of breath as his nostrils flared in anger.
"You don't know what I have to deal with! All these people expecting so much from me; People appearing out of nowhere and giving me warnings and prophecies about something I'm suppose to prevent but I haven't the foggiest how to do that!"
Iori raised an eyebrow in interest for the first time instead of anger and looked over at Leona who was eyeing him herself.
"What prophecy... What people..." Iori started a very deep hint of concern on his voice.
Akito instantly knew he had said something stupid. "Just... a girl... No one else sees her..."
Leona flashed a look of caution to Iori who nodded and spoke again in a comforting fatherly voice. "Look, Akito... you're obviously under a lot of stress... I'm going to call the school... and get you some more time off... so you can clear your mind."
"Clear my mind? What are you talking about? I need to go to school... I... need to prevent whatever is going to happen..." He looked both of them over and took a step back. "You think I'm going crazy don't you..."
Leona bit her lip and looked over at Iori who was at a loss for words. "We don't think your crazy... we just think... for people like us... when we get too stressed our Orochi blood has a weird way of manifesting itself... you just need to relax..." Leona said after a few moments of silence.
"You do think I'm crazy... I can see it in your eyes..." Akito said taking another step back. "I spent two weeks in the hospital... I don't need to relax I need to prevent whatever is going to happen!" His voice rose once again to a yell.
"Nothing is going to happen Akito, your working yourself up over nothing. When I was younger I was completely certain that the world was going to end if I didn't avenge our clan's vendetta against the Kusanagi." Iori said trying to smile to make Akito relax.
"This isn't the same! People I care about are going to get hurt... Maybe even die I don't even know!" Akito shouted in a near hysterical state before falling to his knees clawing at his legs. "I'm the only one who can stop it and I don't even know what the fuck to do..."
Leona immediately went to his side and knelt beside him and stroked his head. Akito could feel his eyes growing warm and something soft and moist trickled down his cheek. A tear, He hadn't cried since Tsunami had hurt him. That seemed like an eternity ago.
He couldn't bear to raise his face and look at them. He knew if he did it would be admitting he was crying and he hated crying. It made him feel so weak, so helpless, he hated that feeling.
"I'm fine... Just my ribs..." He managed trying to keep his voice from trembling and letting his bangs fall in front of his face so that way they couldn't tell he was crying. "I'm just gonna... go to my room... and rest..."
He rose slowly wiggling free from Leona's grasp as he left in silence. He could feel their eyes on the back of his head as he left. He knew they wanted more then anything for him to open up but he wasn't good at that. He would rather close himself off. It was easier.
He slide the shito closed on his room and laid on the bed wiping his eyes. He wanted to get rid of this feeling right away. The sooner he thought about something else the sooner his eyes would stop.
After a few moments he opened his eyes and looked out the window. He peered down and saw Nova strolling across the yard. Even Nova wasn't himself as of late. It seems that the tiff he had with Ash took a lot out of him. Not physically but emotionally, mentally.
Akito sat up completely and eyed Nova now. He suddenly realized something. Last night at the hospital, Nova didn't try to get into a fight with him, didn't try to fight his patience. He had arrived there without saying so much as a stuck up remark. In fact if Akito could recall properly, it looked like he was concerned about her.
It suddenly hit him like an epiphany. Nova had come to the hospital that night to apologize! Akito knew that was way out of the scope of Nova's nature. Nova would sooner gut a small child then say he was sorry for something he had done. Was Nova changing? Was he going soft?
"It probably has something to do with Dream..." Akito said to himself out loud. That's a name he hadn't heard in ages. When Akito attempted to purge himself or Orochi taint when he was younger he had given life to two beings Dream and Nova.
Nova was Akito's anger and rage, he side that Akito always tried to hide from everyone and tried to keep under lock and key. Dream on the other hand was suppose to be his calm side, his meek and considerate side.
"Of course it's so simple now..." Akito said once again taking his eyes away from Nova. "That's why I've been feeling all this anger and rage flushing back to me..." It suddenly became as clear as day.
When Nova arrived at Tokyo-to with Akito he had mentioned how he was able to absorb Dream's fighting potentional inside of him. How he was able to destroy him, to take his power as his own.
But it wasn't that simple. They came from the same person. For one to over power the other would cause imbalance. Dream didn't die; He let himself be absorbed into Nova. It all made perfect sense all of sudden. Nova was changing; He was taking on characteristics of Dream and as a result sending the characteristics of Nova back into the source, Akito.
Was that why Nova had been sulking after his fight with Ash instead of training rigorously to over power him as what was expected of the old Nova he knew.
Akito managed a laugh as he suddenly grasped the jest of what was happening to him. Why he felt violent anger for no reason, why he felt unnatural depression sweep over him from time to time.
Had this been what Miu meant when she told him that he had to told him that he was suppose to join with Nova once again. Everything was slowly starting to make sense. Now he just needed to think of a plausible way to defeat Ash Crimson and he would be just chipper.