Chapter 9: Forget me not
Snow in London is something to be appreciated, the sight has always been breath-taking in Airu's mind, there's just something about it makes him always relaxed whenever he not thinking about the killing gruesome part of his job, aside from the scene of that night on the rooftop of the beach vacation.
Airu briefly recalls back his entire, all the while sitting on the bench and gazing the Tower Bridge cover in snow. He has been in this world for sixteen years, sixteen years of constantly training and preparing everything for the future, he could feel it, the ever encroaching main timeline of Detective Conan series. These sixteen years, even though not described in detail in the manga, has been quite a ride for him, from making friend to solving case and assassinating. There were many moments of different emotional moments, but each significant events left an important monuments in Airu's life.
He remembers the moment he first discovered his reincarnation, the night he uncovered the secret of his parent's occupation as professional hitman and the existence of ICA. Not only that but also making friends with some people he didn't expect it would be possible, first being Heiji Hattori and Kazuha Toyama, it hurted him when he was forced to move abroad and temporary live under completely different identity, but the time living here in England was actually better than he thought, his second group of friend who also happened to know his true identity, Saguru Hakuba and Minerva Glass, if describing their time together with the word "enjoyable" it would be understatement, Saguru maybe a conceited person but he also has caring side for his friends, while Minerva is one of the best senpai they could ask for, they always stick together every moments, evident by the time after one of Airu's greatest regret.
The death of Atsushi Miyano and Elena Miyano is perhaps his most controversial action till this day, he didn't tell anyone about, not even his parents, how could he, the two scientists he killed is perhaps one of the person that influence the entire plot down the line, even though they are rarely mentioned in the series, but their work and their legacy are what mattered the most.
Airu sighs, there's no used in crying over spilled milk, what done is done. But there was one thing stand out the most among his bizzare adventure during the sixteen years here however.
Sera Masumi, he would have never thought she would make such an impact in his entire life. The girl he only met in short time but they have already built great bond with each other, in fact it's because of his rendezvous with her on the night of beach vacation is what has kept him moving forward while still remains sane after all the killing nature of his job. He can't quite touch on why the scene was so vividly plays in his head to keep his sanity in check like some kind of sedative whenever he's in stress. Airu can't helps but feeling what will happen next is gonna to be one of his hardest
'Ironic isn't it, I claimed that Shinichi Kudo is a goddamn corpse magnet and that by staying near him I'll run into a lot of murdering case and yet here I am, actively trying to be a corpse magnet by assassinating.'
Airu laughs at his own morbid joke, the world is full of surprise reserved just for him, from the coincident meeting on the beach to the rotten apple case in New York, who know what they have in store for Airu.
Airu's so in deep thought that he's startled by a smirking face right in front of him. Masumi's grinning ear to ear whenever she gets the opportunity to scare Airu like that.
"M-Masumi? Jeez and here I thought I was gonna to be sitting here and freezes into a statue while waiting for you under this kind of weather."
"Quit whining Airu, it's your fault for arriving too early or are you that excited for our Christmas date~?" Masumi playfully smirks, revealing her cute little fang making Airu blushes in process, but thank to year of training in art of espionage helps him in concealing his true emotion, otherwise who knows many time Masumi could have easily teased him, it's practically free ammo for her and Saguru to use against him.
Airu manages to hide his bashful face by coughing into his hand and immediately starts walking toward the Tower Bridge, opting not to indulge Masumi's teasing barrage.
"You are no fun Airu~"
"Stop it woman or you don't get your Christmas gift… wait a second, you are 16 years old already! Why the hell do you need me to buy you a Christmas gift?!"
"Because~… according to Saguru-san word, it's important for gentleman to gift his girl a present in every occasion like this. Minerva-senpai got one already for Saguru-san, so I demand one too!" Masumi says with full grin as she makes the peace gesture. On the other hand, Airu remains ignorant about the his part of her speech, not wanting to walk through the minefield set up by Masumi.
"Damn you, you womanizer freak Saguru Hakuba, I curse you… thanks god I've prepared one just in case… even though it will be the last one in awhile…" Airu mutters under his breath, not wanting to freak out other people around him… and not letting Masumi hear that last part, since his decision has been made even though it's a hard one
"Anyway where are we going first? But I'm sure that driving my motorcycle for sightseeing in this thick snow isn't best choice."
"I don't know, why don't we go something to warm ourselves up?"
"Well coffee it is. I know one place in Piccadily Circus serves quite good with reasonable price."
The walk to Picaddily Circus is an amicable one, there's certainly non-stop banter between Airu and Masumi with the latter did everything to tease the former but also subtly dropped hints every now and then, hoping the boy would soon catch on what Masumi is implying but she's pouting because lack of response to those hints, detective with their non-existence brain cell for anything remotely related to emotion they say.
In truth though, Airu notices these small hints but he often writes it off as the way Masumi used to tease other people. Yet a small part of him inside denies it, he desperately wants to confirm this irritated emotion swelling up inside him whenever he opposes the idea of him having relationship more than friend with Masumi, despite all the evidence points out the other way over these three years.
Coffee talk is usually the go to method for any gathering group of friend, even the quartet often coming to many different coffee stores to only enjoy the feeling of peacefulness but also the variety they have to offer in this busy life they have. Although today is a bit crowded for Airu's liking but he won't complain, after all who wouldn't want a warm drink and a place to sit down to admire the beauty of Piccadily in snow during this season.
They sit down in a comfortable silence as both pay attention the menu and call their drink. For Airu, it is Café au lait to heat up his body in the cold day of Londinium while Masumi is Affogato, mainly for it's ice cream but Airu won't question why the hell she want to eat ice cream during Winter season.
On his glance, Sera Masumi has matured into her counterpart in the manga yet somehow able to retain some of her silliness since the first day he met her on the beach vacation. Her hair is still a bit unkempt but that only to accentuate her tomboy personality as well as her upbeat attitude. Not only that but due to the time going with him and Saguru has also further develop herself as a detective, Airu doesn't know how she's fare better against her original counterpart but he could say that the cheery girl in front of him is much more quick-witted than she let on. Also not to mention that cute little fang, yeah that little fang smile that somehow always makes Airu's heart flutters whenever she does it.
Masumi notices just how Airu Akihiko has changed over the past few years since the day she met him. His sarcastic remark still flowing strong through his blood and it seem like it won't go anywhere soon enough, yet his personality is much more refined compare to the child on that beach. Although every now and then, he accidentally slipped out that sassy side making everyone in their group friends has a good laugh. He has grown into fine young man to, a handsome one at that but also enigmatic at the same time, seemingly always has that passive-aggressive stance.
The two of them are lost in each other gaze for awhile until both of them realize that they are directly staring at one another, prompting them to advert their gaze with the awkward atmosphere hanging around them. It's not until the waitress comes back with their drink that they mutually decide leave everything which has just transpired past five minutes behind.
"I was actually meaning to ask you this… since… well long ago but… why do you change your name Airu?" Masumi softly asks but she trails off near the end, not wanting to pry too much into Airu's personal life, knowing something like changing name could be serious sensitive topic.
Airu almost slips out his real reason but he briefly consider how much of truth should he tell Masumi. It hurt he has to lie to her like this, in fact, except for his parents, Masumi right now can be consider the person he really can truly relax around, well except for his other nasty identity of course and that's why he couldn't tell her.
The best lie is a lie with 99% truth and 1% lie after all.
"Hmm, my parents want me to live an independent life so they let me settle in alone in an apartment. But they also don't want my real identity leak out so changing my name is kind of an insurance." Airu calmly answers but when he meets Masumi's gaze, something tell him she only half buys what he told. 'Cleaver girl…'
"Ohhh, so your parents is rich right? Kind of millionaires or something like that so they don't want their precious treasure attract prying eyes from outside right?~" Masumi speculates her theory, which makes Airu quite surprise, but he welcomes it, at least she won't pry further into something that could potentially harm her, he doesn't want the only person he care the most outside his parents in danger because of his line of work.
Truth to be told, what he told her wasn't complete truth nor lie. He is in under his mother's tutelage about art of espionage, one of it includes living under different identity while carrying out undercover mission,
"Well not really rich… but you can say something like that…" Airu chuckles as he slowly sip his beverage before silence once again reigns over the atmosphere, well not like they hate it. It's actually quite comfortable enough as they watch the snowflakes slowly descend into ground.
"Masumi, I want to ask why did you and your mother move to England by the way? And where're your brothers?" Airu asks but he does it mostly for the sake of conversing but also to fake his innocence about her brother's whereabouts. Of course, how could he forgot his confrontation with Shuichi under 47 identity during his stay in New York.
Now it's Masumi's turn to be in dilemma, could she really lie to Airu about her mother being shrunken? And the fact that this has to do something their long lost father. Since her reunion with Airu, Masumi has been discreetly left out information about her parents, not wanting to involve innocent people into her family's problem, the one she desperately wants to hide from is none other than Airu, it hurt her but she has to do it since she don't want the person she cherish the same as her family get hurt because her carelessness.
"Eh my stupid Shu-nii and Kichi-nii have their own agenda. Shu-nii want to follow Papa's footstep so he decided to become an FBI agent, shame last year we went to New York, I didn't get a chance to meet him. As for Kichi-nii, something about he wanted to obtain the seven titles by matching in shogi, I'm not into it too much since it didn't catch my attention. Mama want to have breath of fresh air and want to return to her homeland every now and then, hehe…" Masumi scratches her head while letting out a sheepish laugh, she didn't tell much about Shuichi's goal of finding their father nor had enough skill to make up lie about her mother's current conundrum.
But fortunately and unfortunately for Masumi, fortunately since she sees that Airu doesn't press further so she and unfortunately since the boy in front of her has already known most of it, Airu doesn't want to press further mainly he knew Mary Sera is in MI6, she'll have no problem in sniffing out his other job considering ICA works closely with the Secret Intelligence Service.
Neither of them wants to put the other person in an awkward situation pertains their personal problem, they practically treat each other like a fragile masterpiece, one that they cherish and protect with everything they have.
Airu notices there's a small cream stain on Masumi's left cheek, he instinctively reaches out his hand to wipe it clean. To the girl however, she's startled by his action but for some reason it seem like her body actually welcome Airu's affactionate gesture.
Airu, after having clean the ice cream stain on Masumi's face, realizing his bold action, bashfully trying to apologize. But he's surprise when Masumi breaks into a small giggle instead of looking piss off, he too forms a small smile on his face.
The conversation shifts to that of a pleasant banter between Masumi and Airu, the two enjoy the warmth of coffee as they talk about their daily normal life while Masumi subtly drops hints every now and then, hoping for Airu to catch the underlying message or accidentally walks into her minefield. But Airu being Airu, he skillfully dodges all of it making Masumi pouts at her fruitless efforts.
Before they know it, Airu and Masumi find themselves outside again, they both wander aimlessly around Piccadily just for sightseeing alone, not until Masumi decides to speed up a bit as she stops right in front of Airu with a pleading eyes and an extending arms
"Carry me!"
"Heh…?" Airu, still in daze about what Masumi asked him, makes a confused face which makes Masumi put her hand on her hip, emphasize that it's a demand than not a request.
"Carry me, dummy! Like one of those piggyback ride!" Masumi raises her voice while trying to act like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.
"I get it but why?"
"Because I want it!" Masumi says with a toothy smile.
"Woman… You are insufferable, you know that?..." Airu sighs as he lower his back but deep inside he's quite happy nonetheless.
"No Airu, I'm Sera Masumi and you know it!" Masumi laughs as she latches onto Airu's back, the girl is having the great time of her life as she's carries by the person she admires.
The pair continues their walking date as they venture down the Regent's park, sparking snowflake descend down from the tree creates an ethereal sight to behold. Instead of talking, they feel it best to remain silence as they takes in the breath-taking scenery of winter in London. It's not until they leaves the park as the duo enter the shopping district that Masumi decides to strike another conversation.
"It's a shame that the snow is thick, otherwise we could've ride your bike around London already, and you don't have to carry me around hehe~"
"You really like riding my baby don't you, fascinated with off-road bike?"
"Not entirely off-road but it's my dream of owning a motorcycle like that, you can go anywhere you want without any restriction or stuck in traffic jam." Masumi says she gazes into the sky, imagining one day she could ride down the sunset like what Airu usually does to her, the sensation was incredible.
"Hehhh… It's Christmas so why don't you make a wish? Maybe Santa will make it true since you have been a good girl for the past these years?" Airu chuckles
"I-I'm not a child anymore Airu! Jeez, you still believe in fairy tale like that?" Masumi's face spots a small tint of pink due to Airu called her "good girl" but she manages to conceal fast enough for Airu not to notice.
"Who know… Who know…"
"Hey what are you hiding? You know something right? What's with that half-ass answer huh?"
"That's hurt woman, Do you have such little faith in me? Masumi?" Airu says with fake tear as he pretends to be hurt by Masumi's inquisition, to which she rolls her eyes.
"Can't have faith in you if you don't have any to begin with."
"Such cruel mistress, you really want to slave-drive to the ground huh?"
"Yep, and you don't have any choice as you are stuck with me!" Masumi says with pride as she points her finger to herself, further emphasizes the underlying message she want to conveys but it seem like Airu has different anwer.
"I… I wish… I wish it would be that way…" Airu's melancholic voice confuses Masumi. Not only that, she also realize the expression on Airu's face, the look of thousand yard stare and million of voiceless words as if he's thinking about something unpleasant.
Masumi wants to ask what's wrong but she's afraid of what will happen if she does so, clearly she has accidentally make him reminiscing about something he doesn't want to remember.
On the other hand, Airu bit his lower lip, he has already made up his mind, why in the hell he's hesitation now, no matter how hard he tries to deny it. It still comeback one way or the other. He shakes his head, not wanting to bring down the mood anymore, they are enjoying Christmas day off and they'll enjoy it till the end.
"Nothing of important, just remember something." Airu shrugs it off nonchalantly, opting not to spoil the pleasant atmosphere they've created for today. For Masumi's part, she's both relieved and concerned at the same time, she's relieved because she didn't touch anything too sensitive but also worried since Airu has always been this enigmatic.
Over the past three years, if Masumi's learned something, it is that Airu seemingly had this kind of invisible barrier between him and everyone else, it took a long time for Masumi to recognize but to other people, that barrier is more apparent. She has no idea why, maybe because he's comfotable with her enough on some level so that he didn't put up the wall as thick as others.
The tomboy girl tighten her hug, an action which surprises Airu, she doesn't want to let the boy, he is one of the few solaces she could find in this beautiful yet cruel world and she wants treasure it, Masumi need this, she's afraid of loosing Airu just like nine years ago, that he'll just disappear like a pleasant fleeting dream to her.
Due to her family's special circumstance, Masumi never truly has many real friend, she's afraid of saying goodbye, that the friends she makes can easily disappear mainly because her family moves around a lot. She had committed into acting this whimsical and created relationship only lower friendship, Masumi thought she could do it, as long as she has her family, everything was gonna to be fine.
How wrong she was, she felt lonely, without true commitment to anyone, it felt hollow. To make it worse, she realized that true so late until Masumi had forged an unbreakable bond with someone, and that person is none other than Airu. It's simply one of the worst blunders she had made yet strangely she didn't regret it.
Human will always suffer, one way or the other, the only that matter is which way do we choose to suffer. He's colorless without her, she lost her moon without him. In silence they both suffer at the consequence of their own action, they're both selfish in their own right, she who chases him fervently and he who distance himself to protect her, will he make the right choice in his next move? No one can answer, no… the right word would be there's no answer to that question to begin with… because there's no right or wrong in this world, there's only those who believe in their idea and those who are against it.
The atmosphere them sunks back into silence, neither want to speak anything about what has just transpired for the last 5 minutes so they choose to let the wind do the talking as snowflakes continuously fall down around them.
Airu abruptly comes to a stop which confuses Masumi until she follows Airu's gaze, the boy's looking at a rather expensive clothing store with the name Kingsman Tailor shop, an luxurious and well-known shop throughout London.
Masumi was never truly a person who pursuits clothing trend, mainly she can fit fine with just any kind of combination, and that includes male clothes. Admittedly, a lot of people mistake Masumi's gender for male a lot of time and it's quite a hassle for first impression, her cheery and upbeat attitude didn't make it any better by the way.
She's taken aback when Airu gently put her down as he grabs her wrist and drags her into the tailor shops. Inside is nothing to scoff at, the shop was designed with main material being expensive wood and trimmed gold plates give off the feeling of vintage, several kind of models with different combination of clothing put on display.
"Woah!" Masumi couldn't suppress her astonishment at the sight of interior of the shop, she knows the Kingsman brand is one of the world most famous fashion brands, but she doesn't know it would be this grandiose.
While Masumi is in lost of what the store has to offer, Airu carefully examine around until his eyes land on the article of cloth he has been looking for, he quickly grabs it and bring to the cashier.
"You have nice eyes for this scarf, simple yet elegant at the same time, I assume it's for your… girlfriend over there."
"I…Uh yeah but she's not my girlfriend… well… not yet at least…" Airu scratches his cheek in embarrassment, trying his best not to give in the blush creeping up on his face.
"Ahh, young love, if I may add, tonight is the perfect time to confess, don't miss it…"
"Thanks a lot and have a good day sir."
"You too boy."
Airu grabs his gift as he approaches Masumi, who's still marveling at the display behind the glass in store as he taps her shoulder.
"Airu? You done?"
"Of course, but not in here…"
Masumi titles her head cutely but complies nonetheless, it's not the like she wants to buy anything since most is rather expensive or she just has no desire at all. They both make it outside when Airu facing into the sky full of snowflakes before turning back to Masumi as he brings out the scarf he has just bought.
"Here… let me do this." Airu says as he gently wraps the scarf around Masumi, who's in complete stunned by his action but her entire body feels like it will melt into the warmth from the scarf he bought as gift for her, the scarf doesn't have any fancy detail, only simple white colour and a blackline right in middle of it. Just as Airu about to retract his hands after done swathing Masumi's scarf when she unconsciously hold his right hand in place then brings it near her cheek. Nuzzling into it as she closes her eye and takes in all the warmth that is Airu.
The action catches him completely off guard but he welcomes it nonetheless.
"It's warm…" Masumi says affectionately while her other hand tugs the scarf around her neck which Airu has just bought for her.
"Yeah… Take all the time you need…"
Even near midnight, the voidless night remains full of snowflakes, creating a magnificent sight. As if everything comes to a halt when Airu and Masumi take in the scenery, after walking throughout the downtown district, mostly Airu carried Masumi by the way, they returns back to where they had met to start the date this morning.
Both Masumi and Airu stand in tranquility as they gaze to the Tower Bridge lighting up in middle of night like Christmas tree, all the while have their hand intertwined together.
Neither speak a single word yet they feels at ease, right at this moment the duo need nothing other than this. Masumi leans her head onto Airu's shoulder as she whispers, not wanting to let this moment to waste as she desperately thirst for answer.
"Hey Airu… Why are you so… distant…?"
"Hmm? What's that suppose to mean?"
"I-I… You know what I meant! Y-You… there's this kind of… gap … separates between you a-and… I-I… You regularly ran off to god knows somewhere…a-and I feel like you will… just disappear one day… like nine years ago… it's hurt Airu… even now I feel like this brief moment will be nothing but an ephemeral dream… one that I wish not to wake up from…"
"I-I…" Swirl of different emotion surges deep within, how could he tell her, empty promise? Soothing word?... He wants nothing more than to hug the fragile girl next to him. Yet at the same time, he couldn't do it because he's not worthy, how could he when he has lied her for three years and to Saguru as well as Minerva for nine year straight.
"It's cruel Airu… why… every time you are not near me, I feel like the distance grows greater… that you'll disappear the moment I let go of your hand…"
Airu widen his eyes, finally he understands why Masumi was so clingy toward him in the past three years. He created an unshakable connection between him and her since that faithful beach trip only for him to just vaporize in the air a year later, considering Masumi's family's special circumstance it was one of the most painful experiences she ever had. Now that Airu's next to her, it's understandable why she always reprimands him of not dozing off or wandering aimlessly all the time. The new revelation further throws his heart into a deep turmoil, he has never been so hopeless like right now.
He's brought out of his trance when Masumi suddenly hugs him with all her force like a child doesn't want to let go of their parents the first day they arrived at school. Her voice near crack as she tries to force out the words coherently.
"P-Please… Airu… P-please promise… me that you… will stay… that you won't go… like that day… again…"
Airu has always considered the prospect of him quitting ICA just to stay with Masumi, that idea became stronger and stronger over the past three year of spending time with his second little family between the four residents. But he couldn't, knowing that as long as those crows around, no one's safe. Right now she's so frail compares to her usual head-strong nature, desperately clinging to the life vessel that is Airu and not wanting to let him go.
Airu gently envelops Masumi into a hug with his hand massaging her back, trying his best to calm her down.
"I … I'm sorry Masumi… I c-can't… I can't make any promise like that… not yet…"
As if on instinct, Masumi returns his look with disbelief, distress and hurt plague in her eyes, trying to fight back the downpouring tears in her emerald eyes. Her voices signaling the near brittle state of her.
"W-What?! Why!? Why can't you do it?! Airu answer me?! Why!"
Airu couldn't do anything but grits his teeth, he doesn't want to shower Masumi with false hope and empty dream. He only wants the best to her, and it hurt him when he does this but at least she's safe.
"Answer me AIRU!−"
Airu tighten his hug despite the constant relentless demand for answer from Masumi. Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, a minutes, five minutes, time seem to be endless until Masumi's fatigue finally catches up to her as her voice trails off.
"Masumi, I don't want give you the illusory promise. But I can assure you one thing… Sera Masumi, no matter where you are, knowing that I will always there to protect you and I will… no I'm going to find my way back to you, no matter what the circumstance is. It's not just a promise but a fact." Airu stares at her into the eyes as he says with full determination in his voice.
"Ai-Airu…"
"Ich liebe dich, mon chéri."
Masumi widen her eyes as Airu closing in, a small yet tender kiss on her forehead completely silence her. Neither of them says anything as Airu keeps the kiss for about nearly a minutes all the while Masumi melt into the warmth radiates from Airu's body.
Airu finally breaks off the kiss, Masumi is too stunned to say as anything when the boy chuckles a bit at her's dazed state. His giggle stops when he realizes something, he puts his hand into the coat's pocket and brings out what seem like a small azure gift carefully wrapped in cobalt ribbon.
"And Merry Christmas, Sera Masumi."
The girl shakily receives the gift, she is about to unwraps it until a hand stops her from doing so.
"I want you to only open it the next morning, don't want to spoil the surprise now, do we?"
Masumi nods while putting the gift into her pocket, now the two don't know what to do until Airu once again initiates the conversation.
"It's late now, want me to escort you back to house?"
Airu extends his hand out and like a butler, offering her the solace through his hand holding while treating her like a princess. Masumi, for one of the first time in her entire life, displays one of, if not, the most beautiful and genuine smile she could show to anyone, more than enough to hypnotize Airu.
"Of course!"
Mary Sera carefully observes her daughter gleefully entering the house, there was definitely something happen to be able make Masumi this happy and Mary is dead set on finding. Especially when this problem pertain to certain Sassy brat, being mother she is, even though sometimes she can be seen a bit distant and cold, she has responsibility to take care of her daughter, even if it intrudes her personal love life.
Masumi is absolutely over the moon by this point, she hums her favorite hymn as she make her way to her room on the upstair. Masumi has been in this dreamy state every since the kiss she received on her forehead by Airu, her daydreaming only to be interrupted by a loud coughing noise comes from the doorway to her living room.
Leaning on the doorframe is none other than her mother Sera Mary, or shrunken Sera Mary as she still hard to take her serious when her mother is shrunk to than of a middle schooler, but make no mistake, her mother's a force to be reckon with when the woman is part of Secret Intelligence Service. The result of her shrunken form is because Mary was forced to digest a drug that should have been killed without any trace of poison, instead she was reverted back to her younger form of teenager and the perpetrator was none other than the crows.
Back to presence, Masumi looks at her mother quizzically.
"Ah mama! I'm home! Sorry, I was kinda lost in thought a bit there." Masumi speaks out as she scratches her head for completely forgetting her mother's existence. As for Mary, she could only sighs at ther daughter's clumsiness but quickly turns back to her original objective for tonight, interrogation.
"Masumi, focus… where have you been?"
"Uh… I was out with my… friend…?"
Mary immediately narrows her eyes, 'Did she say… friend? As in singular? Also why's the hesistation when she mention friend?... Don't tell me that brat!...'. her sense suddenly becomes alarmed, especially at mention of that brat.
When Masumi first introduced, actually the right word reintroduced Tobias Rieper boy to Mary, she initially first just thought the boy just another annoying brat in her daughter's friend circle. Not until the undercover shrunken MI6 Agent decided to do some background check on him did she is completely taken aback when the boy's appearance give off so much nostalgia feeling.
The same brat she met nine years ago on that beach vacation, there's no denying it, even though the resemblance wasn't enough to conclude, she could feel the smugness mocking her. But that's not the the thing she's worry about, no it's his background that she's suspect. The first and foremost question, why did he change his name, was the brat on run from someone? The need for an alias seem redundant to her.
Not until she came across another possibility, the brat needs that alias to conceal his true identity and his work. Looking through Tobias Rieper's résumé, Mary found some discrepancies here and there but overall it look… normal, too normal to be exact, especially after hearing from her daughter that the brat made friends with some high-profile people like the rising self-proclaimed heisei Holmes Saguru Hakuba and the Grass Court Queen Minerva Glass, for someone close with those two, his 'normal' background make more sense as a convenience to blend in.
Digging through the MI6's data bank, Mary made another discovery and she can conclude that coincidence can be freaky. Around the same time Airu moved here and change his identity, contract between ICA and MI6 increased exponentially, their contractor was frequently the same Agent who always sufficiently finished the job, there's not much informations about who's this Agent except for his codename, 47 or otherwise known as Raven's Feather.
Mary sincerely hoped that the brat isn't whom she truly thinks is. Business with ICA can be as nasty as dealing with the crows.
"You mean that Sassy Brat? You still hanging around that foul-mouth boy?"
"Hey that's rude mama! He may has a sharp tongue but he's mean honesty!"
"Of course he is, because you… Wait a second, I don't recall you have that kind of scarf." Mary points at the white black scarf wrapping around Masumi's neck. Masumi playfully tugs the scarf while smiling brightly when she fondly reminisces the moment when Airu wraps this scarf around her.
"Oh this? He gave this to me, well a bit impromptu considering he literally dragged me right into the tailor and bough it for me, it's warm and I love it. It quite expensive though."
Mary knows the design of that scarf, of course she is, even though being an Agent for MI6, she is still a woman so fashion is something worth to be considered. And that scarf is from the world famous Kingsman brand, the kid sure has the fund and a taste to give it as a present to her daughter.
Mary is about to proceed to next part of her interrogation but she's suddenly stopped by a wistful look on her daughter face when she eyes the scarf. Mary studies her daughter's facial expression, something definitely illicit such negative reaction on her face.
"Hey mama… can you tell me… how did you feel… when papa suddenly disappeared…?" Masumi melancholic voices out as she keeps her visage on the scarf. Mary however is perplexed by her daughter change of attitude as well as her inquiry about Tsutomu, whom she wasn't even able to meet when she was born.
"It's hollow, that's all I can give you… Why do you want to know?" Mary curiously asks.
"It just… I have this dreadful feeling that Airu will too be like dad, like… fade away from reality the moment I let go my chain with him… and that premonition keeps growing bigger day by day…"
Honestly speaking, Mary is also unsure of what's the feeling Masumi is experiencing, Airu has always been a giant mess of questions on top of questions so she has no absolute grasp on the brat's situations. In layman's term, Mary is in complete blind to tackle this problem, and it's frustrated for her. Mary has already witnessed her daughter devastated nine years ago when Airu, at that time was her pen pal, vanished without any traces left. And now, after hearing what Masumi said, she fears history will repeat itself.
"Tsk… That brat is not just annoying but also inconsiderate too huh? I have no idea why you are so lovestruck with person like him."
"Well dear mama, because love come from the most unexpected possible way, and I just happened to fall in love with someone who's hard outside but soft inside like him." Masumi says with small smile, no longer she wants to suppress that feeling deep inside her anymore. Seeing her daughter's mood has improved, Mary decides it's best not to inquires further.
"Go wash off that foreboding expression on your face, it's late now." Masumi waves off her mother as she hastily makes bee line for her room.
Half an hour later and now Masumi is lying comfortably on her bed, her mind however though keep thinking back to the boy she love. She also occasionally sneaks glance at the motionless cerulean gift on her desk, the ribbon is further highlighted by the blue hue moon outside of her room's window.
The blue moon cascades down the atmosphere around Masumi, light reflect creates an airy feeling inside the blue hue room.
"Hey Airu… tsuki ga kirei desu ne?"
No matter how good you are, there's always malicious opposition resides deep within you, just like two sides of the same coin, both of them are one but never truly face one another. A night cannot exists without day, we can see black color because surround them are objects reflecting light. We can see the moon in it's fully glory thanks to to the light reflect from the sun, no matter how beautiful the moon is, there's always dark side opposite of it.
Airu sluggishly makes his way through thick snow road to his apartment, his eyes devoid of the color of life when he enters the vacant room.
Such befitting room of emptiness for a hollow person like him.
Of couse he is, after all he has been living a lie for straight nine years, he manipulates all of his friend, even the girl he loves so much to keep up his façade.
The moment the door to his apartment closes, all the strenght left in his legs is sapped out of it, making him slumps right down the cold floor.
'W-Why…' the question keep repeating incessantly inside his head like hard iron hammer strike down the anvil. Each and every time it repeats, the headache grows worse yet his body simply doesn't react.
He has made a promise to himself that he wouldn't give Masumi false hope, yet ironically his body and his heart betrayed the logic behind it.
"Masumi, Masumi, Masumi,…" Airu keeps on saying the name of the girl he loves while holding his head with both of his hands and sobbing, like a chant in an effort to lessen the guilt weighs down his shoulder. His voice is croak and full of crack as he tries to held back the endless tears pour down his cheeks.
Since the day he discovered of his reincarnation, Airu's goal has always been set on a single objective, train to become better prepare for his confrontation with the crows. He had no time to entertain the idea of romantic interest, not until that faithful beach vacation since he met the girl name Sera Masumi. He found the girl is quite fun to play around and that fondness grows over time during their exchange letter period, however that was interrupted when he moved to oversea with his parents.
At first, he didn't mind it much, most likely because of his ignorance of their true relationship was more than pen pal and friendship, evident by the fact that he always recalled their exchange as well as her smile in the night of that rooftop bar during his distress time. Not only that he's unaware of his action had left such strong impression in Sera Masumi, his foolishness of planting the seed of expectation inside her.
Did he regret? No, not by the long shot. He loves her, love her so much that it's heart-wrenching for him to make this decision, if it were his former self, he wouldn't hesitate but now he couldn't, not after those memories they had made during their time here in London.
He groggily looks around his apartment devoid of furniture, only that left is his phone alongside a small turqoise flower inside a vase in middle of the room.
Airu sits there in silence, his sense of time's fully shutdown for god knows how long, the boy feel like giving up, anything to be with her. His body slowly devoured by darkness of guilt as within so without.
His only choice now is to keep moving forward …
…until all of his enemies are perished.
Decision has been made, and Airu will not turn his head back.
"MASUMI!"
Morning at Sera house usually more or less quiet, Masumi maybe an upeat and sociable person but she knows when to get serious, Mary is always spots that cold, calculated and distant expression her face so unless it's business, you mostly receives a nod or hmm from her as a way to communicate. All in all, most of the time their house is quiet.
"MASUMI! Get down here instantly!"
Well, except for this morning that is.
"Yes mama?!"
Masumi bolts downstair when Mary shouts for her name, completely forgo dressing her up appropriately, as a result her hair is unkempt with many strands poking out, she only wears her short and a simple tank top, there're also bags under her eyes, probably from staying up late last night thinking.
"You, explain this right now!" Mary says out loud as she points at the main door of her house, a few meter away from her house is a truck with workers seemingly unload something like a motorbike off, one of the workers approach the duo mother-daughter.
"Ma'am, I'm sure that the sender wrote down precisely this address, we're just following order so can I have your signature?"
"Hold on, I won't sign the paper if I don't know who's the sender, not only that who say I will pay for that motorbike?"
"Oh you don't have to worry about that ma'am, the payment has been due, we have been instructed to only delivers the package the recipient with the name Sera Masumi. Unfortunately, per behest of our client, we aren't allowed to disclose their identity."
With full confusion and a bit of reluctance, Masumi finally decides to sign the papers despite the protest from her mother. Though inside her is actually quite excited because whoever sent this, they knew they has just helped Masumi accomplishes one of her greatest dream ever, owning a personal motorbike.
In front of her is one of the newest model Yamaha XT400 Artesia trimmed in blue and green color, the whole motorbike is in pristine condition, fresh out from factory with no scratch. Were it not been for her mother, Masumi would be drooling right now at the her dream bike.
"There is no key…" Mary, after a throughout inspection, spots a vital missing component, surely the deliver crews couldn't miss such important detail right?
"What?! Mama are you sure? I really want to drive this right now?"
"Hush Masumi, first we don't know who sent this, second the missing key, be extra careful."
"Ah c'mon mama, surely someone has same taste in motorcycle like me couldn't be bad right?... Wait a second…"
Suddenly the cogs inside Masumi's head starts turning, her eyes widen when the sudden realization hit her. She immediately rushes to her room, much to surprise of her mother, and then returns back with the gift Airu gave her last night. Her hand shakily unwraps the ribbon, finally when the cover of the box come off, Masumi can safely say that she's one of the happiest girls in the entire world right now.
"Mama… I know who bought that bike already−" Masumi slowly takes out the key alongside with it's accessory, a small cerulean flower attached to the keychain. "−It's Airu."
["PASSENGERS DUE TO FLIGHT 308 TO JAPAN, BEIKA PLEASE CHECK IN VIA ENTRANCE NUMBER 9."]
The sound of announcer resounds inside Airu's head but he is too occupied to pay any heed it, his entire body, for first time since he entered this world, is on edge of shutting down, never before had he felt this vulnerable.
'At least there's still a silver lining, Masumi probably receives her gift right now.'
"If you don't go now, you'll be late for the flight, you know? Or do you want to wallow in grief, waiting for it to devour what's left of you?"
Airu looks up to see his parents standing right in front of him, Hisashi has a stern gazes on him while his mother trailing behind with a gentle smile as she waves her hand.
"Father, mother,… I-I…"
"Quit your whining, I remember you are better than this."
"A-chan, are you sure you want to do this?" Suzura asks her son the million dollar question with hesitation in her voice, to which makes Airu's stomach drops and his face shows downcast expression.
"I-I… I've always considered the option to drop all of this just for… her… to stay with her, to hold her... but I know that I can't stop now, not until those crows are six feets under. For everyone's safety, as well as for Masumi…"
"A-chan… Why are you so obessed with taking down the crows, yes I know they pose a threat but it's not like an immediate threat right?"
"Because sooner or later, she will soon involve herself into this mess, I guess due to her family's special circumstance. And I couldn't afford to lose her, I'll do anything to protect her." Airu firmly holds onto his decision, he has already made peace with his mind since there's no going back from this.
Airu feels a hand on his shoulder, looking up he sees his father grasp tightly with determination in his eyes.
"I was naïve back then, just a child running after a dream too big for his own good, clueless about everything cruel in this world−" Airu holds his hand together with strong grip. "−I know many wicked in this world couldn't be judged by normal mean of justice, to do so require us to do what normal men can't−"
Airu glances at the ICA logo on his suitcase next to him.
"−But a simple fact is still there, I draw blood, both from those who deserved and those who don't. But now I realizes, the good or the bad isn't the major factor to differentiate us… It's the idea that motivates us."
Airu's face is inscrutable, his expression no longer holds any kind of emotion but a dull one. "To me, I'm the injustices in the eye of the crown and law enforcement. They right… I might as well be the worst kind out there, I no longer hesistated whenever I pull the trigger… unfortunately killing something that gets better the more you do it… I'm way too deep to turn back now… there's only one road left that head straight to the end for me…"
"If you've already gone this far then… push forward Airu, but never loose sight of who you are and… always remember that behind you there're us and the girl you love too." Hisashi says with a small smile encouraging his son, which Airu too musters up a smile on his face.
"Of course I will father… Merces Letifer…"
"Merces Letifer… and son… Laissez les bons temps rouler."
"Thanks you and you too father, I'll keep both of you in contract."
Airu smiles brightly, he's now in much better condition compare to him 10 minutes ago. The announcement once again calls in passengers for flight 308, knowing that is his cue, Airu picks up his suitcase and belongings while gives his parents one last hug before leaving for the check in booth.
"Oh? You are passenger of flight 308 to Japan, Beika?" inquires by the clerk while she takes the passport from Airu.
"Yes."
"Alright your name is"
"Krieger, Krieger Tsukishiro."
Masumi is exhilarating.
Of course she is, how could she not. Her not-yet-official boyfriend's just gifted one of the best present of the year. The feeling of wind breezing through her skin is absolutely refreshing as she test run her newest bike.
And her first destination? Airu's apartment of course! Just one more piece to complete the puzzle now, she just need to hear his voice to confirm last night confession.
"Hehe, you tsundere Airu-baka, you could've told me sooner, you know."
Masumi giggling at her ownself and her boyfriend's shyness, she hums her favorite song as she makes her way up to the floor where his apartment is.
It's still in early in the morning so hallway is devoid of people, most of the early birds are white collar workers who have to catch up metro train to there work or housewife taking out trash and cooking breakfast for their.
Masumi briefly imagine the day she and Airu will live under the same roof, the thought makes her blush furiously at such hasty idea, never before she shows this much side of her to anyone but him.
Masumi knocks on the door, waiting excitingly for him to come out so he could greet a new morning with a hug. Yet… nothing.
"Heh? Airu!" Masumi yell out anxiously as she keeps knocking the door but even after 5 minutes, no response. She immediately fishes out her phone, trying to contact him but to no avail.
Confusion soon turns into fear, that dreadful feeling slowly takes over her entire body as she tries her best to remain composure as she could.
After several more minutes of waiting in nervousness, Masumi couldn't take it anymore and decides to barge in but to her surprise the door isn't locked. Yet walking in, her fear finally reaches it's highest point as the feeling of emptiness washes over her sense.
'Ai-Airu… why… why why…'
There's nothing inside the room, no furniture just a plain white interior with brown floor and strangely a vase with a flower in middle of the room. Her eyes starts to get wet, she desperately searches other room, hoping this just another sick joke, that this is nothing more illusion to her.
"Airu! Please… Airu!" Masumi cries out with her crooked voice, tears streaming down from her emerald eyes, she returns back to the living room where the vase with flower is but her strength is nowhere to be found, her legs grows limp and her head is still in denial state, not wanting that Airu is gone just like 9 years ago.
"Airu… it's not fair… why now…"
Her mood has just been lifted up by Airu when he gave her what she has been dreaming for long only to be drag down under the abyss by the same person she love.
As if that wasn't enough, Masumi never get to hear Airu's answer to their confession yesterday holy night. It hurt her, he did it again, just run off to somewhere without anyone notices, disappear into thin air like he never truly exist as if he's some kind of coping mechanism that Masumi's brain has been engineered this entire time.
Even though the sun ray shines warmly into the vacant room, she feels cold, empty, is this what her mother going through when her father vanished back before she was born? Masumi wonders while tears keep cascading down, now knowing such agonizing pain inside her chest.
Hours after hours, Masumi completely loose sense of time as it go on, after crying out her heart she just sit in one corner, not really paying any attention not even to the phone ringing for who knows many time.
However though, a small sense of detective inside her brain notices something off, the flower in that vase appears to be the same one that one the accessory which was attached to the keychain gave to her by Airu. Masumi quickly deduces that is no mere coincidence.
Upon the closer look, the small flower is 1 cm in diameter or less, flatly faced, coloured blue. It's name is none other than Myosotis, a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae. The name comes from the Ancient Greek "mouse's ear", which the foliage is thought to resemble. But in mordern day, it's more well-known name is…
…Forget-me-nots.
The end.
