She hastily made her way through the streets of Kyoto, maneuvering her way through the crowded sidewalks and trying to make sure she didn't recklessly bump people. With her pounding heart, she gripped her backpack straps and looked straight ahead towards her destination.

Rakuzan High School (Academy).

It was all on a whim coming all the way here and she couldn't turn back after making it this far. She prayed hard that she made the right decision in opening Pandora's box.

And now, with everything she had lost to her uncle, there was nothing more she could lose other than her own life. So hopefully, her discoveries and confrontations would bear some fruit and all her efforts she expended to get here would not be in vain.

But while she was hopeful, there was anxiousness and guilt.

Having to let two unsuspecting souls remember a moment they'd most likely want to forget was probably one of the worst things she could do. But at the same time, she felt they deserved to know the truth.

The truth that was so desperately kept from them for their own safety.

Just this once she wanted to be selfish and allow the two persons to experience what she was experiencing. In the end, she hoped they wouldn't hate her too badly.

After all, they were family.

–A–

"Student Council President, please make your way to Principal's office immediately,"

The announcement rang out during lunch and almost everyone's eyes in Rakuzan's exquisite cafeteria turned to look at the redheaded intimidating basketball captain. Their glances were soon forced away when the said boy looked up from his meal.

"The office? Did something happen Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked while shuffling to the side to allow Akashi's pass.

"Not that I can recall. I'm as clueless as you," Akashi replied. "If I'm not back by the end of lunch, go to class without me."

After giving a brief order to his team, the boy made his way over to the main office at a non-hurried pace. In the meantime, he surmised the possible reasons for the Principal to suddenly call for him.

'Student council duties? No, they wouldn't have called for that over the intercom. Basketball? No, coach would have waited till training time. In that case, it must be a family matter.' Or so he figured.

A brief knock on the door and Akashi opened it to find the Principal and...a girl?

"Ah, right on time," Principal Yoshida wore an expression of uncertainty.

"Is there a problem, Principal?" Akashi asked, at the same time, he eyed the girl fidgeting in the chair.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's a problem but...this young lady here claims to be your cousin," he explained. "I think it's best for the two of you to discuss amongst yourselves."

"As far as I know, I have no other relatives aside from my father," Akashi declared. Though his expression gave away no emotion, one couldn't deny he was suspicious of this girl who came out of nowhere and claimed to be a cousin.

"I'm not a relative from your father's side. Your mother and mine were sisters," the girl finally spoke. She had maroon-colored hair and dark red eyes. Her voice was soft and filled with nervousness but she showed no sign of lying.

But...his mother? When was the last time someone mentioned her? As far as Akashi could tell, there was definitely a story here and a secret.

Akashi pursed his lips and said, "We will discuss further in the Student Council room."

Following the boy out the door, the girl let out a breath she'd been holding.

'At least he didn't turn me away. That's good enough.'

"I don't know what you're hoping to accomplish by finding me but you should know I despise those who lie. Especially to me. So I expect you to explain yourself why a cousin I was not aware of suddenly turned up out of nowhere," Akashi's voice sent chills down the girl's spine.

"Y-Yes,"

The two ignored the curious eyes of the student population and made their way over to the end of the long hallway before entering a room with 'Student Council' plastered as a sign on the door.

Akashi took a seat behind the main desk and crossed his fingers on the desk.

"Now, if you will..."

The girl blinked for a minute before hurriedly bowing and saying, "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Yamada Akari. I'm sixteen years old – the same as you."

"Since you found me, I assume you're already aware of who I am," Akashi spoke lightly.

"Yes, I do. Akashi Seijuro, sixteen, son and heir of the Akashi group head," Akari responded. "I also know who your mother was."

"And who was my mother exactly? Because, as far as I know, she was an only child," the boy's eyes glinted.

Akari swallowed her nerves and gathered every ounce of confidence she had to say the following words.

"That...is not true. Your mother and mine were siblings. I...uh...found a letter addressed to your mother from mine and some documents which led me to believe they were sisters,"

"Are you saying you're placing your bets that we are related on a letter?" Akashi asked.

For someone in his position, there were bound to be people wanting to take advantage of him but his gut told him that this wasn't the case for this girl. And his gut was never wrong.

"I brought it with me. You can read it yourself and decide," Akari reached into her jacket's inner pocket and brought out an envelope before handing it the boy.

Akashi wasted no time in opening it and reading the contents inside.

'Dear sisters...'

"There was another sister?" Akashi raised an eyebrow.

Akari nodded and said, "Keep reading."

His eyes carefully scanned the letter making sure to take in every detail of it.

'...our time is short...our children won't be safe...'

What?

'We've done our best to suppress the illness but I think we all know we won't be able to hold it off for long...'

'...send my regards to your husbands – Akashi and Kagami. I pray they will be able to keep our babies safe before 'they' find out.'

'Love, Himari'

Akashi read the last few lines again before looking up at the fidgeting girl.

"Before I start, I'd like to know how exactly you figured that 'Akashi' referred to my family. There are many others with the surname 'Akashi' out there," he said with a poker face.

Akari rubbed her arm and answered, "I found a picture of him and your mother amongst my mother's old things."

As she had prepared beforehand, Akari reached into her backpack and fished out a small polaroid photo, showing it to the boy.

"That's my mother on the side, and that's the other sister I don't know, and there are your parents," Akari pointed to the faces.

The photo showed four young adults standing together on what looked to be a bridge. The women shared a scarily similar resemblance to one another and the man in the photo was no doubt Akashi's father. The only difference between him and the man he knew now was that the person in the photo looked much brighter and full of happiness.

"I remember seeing a photo of your father once...in a business magazine. And I put two and two together," Akari bit her lip. "As for how I found you...there were numerous articles in sports magazines and the newspapers covering last year's Winter Cup."

But it appeared the boy had not fully heard her as he was staring at the photo with wide eyes.

His mother. His kind and beautiful mother looked so happy. After her death, he dared not look at anything that might remind him of her and reawaken the feeling of pain and loss he so desperately wished to repress.

"Yamada-san, why exactly did you find me?" Akashi finally asked. His eyes looked up from the photo and bore into hers.

Akari froze under his intimidating gaze and hesitantly opened her mouth, "It's a long story really."

"I've got time,"

The girl let out a sigh and said, "Very well."

She sat down on the chair in front of the desk and began talking.

Around a month ago, her father suddenly disappeared. He went completely off the grid. Her mother's death apparently haunted him and that's when he began crazily searching for 'something'. No one, not even Akari, knew what. Normally he'd leave for around a week or two and come back for a couple of days then leave again.

He always made sure to send emails or letters if there was no internet where he went (which was unusual given they lived in one of the most developed countries in the world). But on the last trip he took, no letter arrived, nor did an email.

Eventually, police came knocking at the door and informed Akari that her father's transport had apparently been abandoned in some tiny village and the people inside were nowhere to be found.

After a search was conducted, no results showed up for weeks and eventually, the case was closed.

"And then what happened?"

Akari's face twisted into despair and anger as she continued, "My father's brother – my uncle, seized everything he owned. Since I was too young to take control of anything, it all went to my uncle. He's been eyeing my parent's fortune for years and now, it all belongs to him. He planned to ship me off to some boarding school on the other side of the world."

'Bastard' thought Akari.

"Luckily my dad had stored some hidden cash which I took. Before he could ship me off, I went through my parents' things trying to find any type of clue as to where my father would be. That's when I discovered the photo and letter and eventually, my search led me to believe that my father may have been searching for answers to my mother's illness,"

Akari then remembered something and quickly dug through her bag before taking out a transparent file.

"I found something rather odd relating to our mothers. Here is my mother's death certificate," she handed it to him. "Have a look at the date."

Akashi did as she told and looked at the date. A second passed and his expression became a frown.

"That's..."

Akari nodded, "Our mothers died on the same day. I knew your mother died on the 21st of October because there was publishing in the newspaper the following day."

"And they both died of a terminal illness," Akashi narrowed his eyes. "Usually I would assume it is hereditary but the illness would've passed on to me and as far as I know, I am in perfect health."

"That's what I thought too. Frankly, I don't believe our mothers' deaths were random. And to find the truth, I used up every last bit of resources I had to get here," Akari let out a breath. "Akashi-san, I have literally nothing left to lose. I'm betting my life on finding out what happened to my parents."

It was silent after that.

The only sound that filled the room was the ticking of the clock.

Because for once in his life, Akashi was questioning his entire existence. Everything that the girl had said was undeniably what she perceived to be the truth. In all honesty, had it not been for that photo, he would have had no other reason to listen to her ridiculous story but now, things were getting complicated.

He did always have an inkling that his mother's sudden illness was unusual but he was younger at the time and blamed his father for it. With this new information, however, it seems his thoughts from back then weren't entirely wrong.

"To confirm my theory," Akari broke the silence with a serious voice, "I would like to find my mother's other sister's child. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to start. There's no information on her no matter where I looked."

"About that..." Akashi's thumb brushed over the photo, "I believe I know where the child is."

"Y-You do?" Akari looked up with shocked eyes. "How-"

"For that, I think we'll need to go to Tokyo," he suddenly stood up from his seat.

Akari was confused, "Tokyo? Why there?"

"If my prediction is correct, our last cousin resides there," Akashi smoothly replied.

"T-Then, you believe me?" asked the girl with a hopeful gaze.

Akashi paused and turned to her, "I do...however, to be entirely certain, I'd like a DNA test."

"Oh. Um, sure but how long would that take?" Akari stood up and adjusted her bag.

"I have ways to get the results back in a day. If the results come back positive, we'll leave immediately for Tokyo," he stated.

'And if the results are positive, I'll need to take a long leave from school' he thought.

–A–

Akashi received the DNA results back and as he expected, it was a positive result. The two were indeed cousins.

The school had graciously allowed Akari to stay the night in a spare dorm room thanks to Akashi's request after he learned she had nowhere to go and the next afternoon, the two found themselves at a train station.

"My father will undoubtedly learn of my disappearance from school within a week. In other words, we don't have much time," Akashi told the girl as they boarded the train. "It is highly unlikely he'd approve of what we're doing. After all, there must have been a reason he chose not to divulge any information of my mother's past to me."

"I see. But how are you so sure that our third cousin is in Tokyo?" Akari wore a dark red hoodie with bunny ears attached to the hood. She looked incredibly cute and even smaller than she already was.

Coupled with the fact she just so happens to be Akashi's only connection to his mother, he felt a sense of protectiveness over her.

But he still didn't fully trust her. Right now, they could be considered acquaintances.

"I just do," he simply said. The girl shut her mouth knowing he wasn't going to explain further.

The train departed Kyoto and soon, they were on their way to the capital.