Akio

I was sure that Taiki had been able to tell that something was up when he'd come back from work, he'd been able to see something in our faces as he'd seen us preparing dinner (Akagi had tried to tell me not to, but I'd insisted on helping since I still felt a little bad about having turned up here on such short notice). But apart from asking a couple of times if we were alright he didn't press much further which was a relief. Once we'd washed up though (again, I insisted on helping), I was all too glad to get upstairs and away. As Akagi had thrown a bag together while Taiki had still been at work, and I of course hadn't even fully unpacked from when I'd come here, we were basically good to go. We knew when and how we were leaving, having made sure the timings worked with when Taiki would be gone.

The two of us got ready for bed in silence, since there wasn't really anything else that needed to be done. I didn't think I'd actually go to sleep yet, but nonetheless I was already tired, all tensed up from the dread and anticipation of the journey we were embarking on. It was for that reason I almost jumped out of my skin when I sat on the futon and realised that my phone was going off. Seeing Dad's name on the screen didn't do much to improve that.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hi, Akio. Is everything alright there?"

"It's fine."

"Having fun staying with your friend? What's his name?"

"Sawayama? Oh, um, yeah, it's all good. Caught up on summer homework and just chilling, you know? Sachi's been having fun with her new friend, hasn't she?"

This wasn't the most subtle of subject changes, but Dad didn't seem to notice. Instead, he chuckled.

"Yes, she is. I suppose you know what they've been up to?"

"Yeah, I got sent some pictures of them at the theme park? Did you get the pictures?"

"Yes, he showed me them himself..."

"Ah, yeah, that makes sense. But, are you okay, Dad? You sound distracted."

Almost as soon as I said that, I realised that it was somewhat stupid. Of course he was distracted.

"Ah, never mind."

"No, it's okay, Akio," Dad said quickly. "So, you're alright then?"

"Yeah, yeah, you know, just hanging out and stuff, like I said."

Ah, please don't ask me anymore than that, I pleaded silently. I didn't know how else I could possibly avoid exposing the fact that I was no longer staying at Sawayama's but Akagi's.

"That's good. Well now, I won't keep you. Call me or-"

"Kurosawa-san, if there's anything I need? I know, Dad. I will. Um…we're still going through some homework so I better go."

"Yes, yes. Bye now, Akio."

I said my goodbyes and quickly hung up. I sighed and stretched out against the futon before lying down. It occurred to me that I hadn't even got my story straight-just moments ago I'd said that I finished my summer homework, hadn't I? There really must be a lot going on with this investigation, huh…?

"Are you alright?"

I turned slightly so I could look up to see Akagi, still cross-legged on the bed, having taken out his earphones now. His head was turned to what I assumed was the direction my voice came for him, though since I was lying down he wasn't quite looking in the right direction. Regardless of that, it was confusing trying to have a conversation where he was basically upside-down to me so I sat up as I answered:

"Yeah, I suppose. I feel bad lying to my dad, you know, but obviously I can't tell him."

"No, I understand."

There was a pause and then Akagi said:

"I feel bad about Uncle Taiki, too. And my mum…."

"Your mother?"

Akagi bit his lip but didn't respond. I could only imagine what it must have been like, growing up with Friede as a mother. I had only seen that one moment, but that did not look like a lapse or an error to me-that was a pattern. It was hard to imagine Mum being friends with someone like that, but then again she wouldn't have been like that before, right? What had happened to them had changed them. But it didn't excuse it.

I knew it didn't excuse it.

After a moment, Akagi shook his head.

"Do you think we will actually find something?" he asked. "Even after twenty years, even though it is abandoned?"

"Well…"

I shrugged and then thought about it. Really, really thought about it.

"I don't know. But it's worth a try, right?"

"I believe so," Akagi nodded seriously. "Besides, it's a bizarre case, no? So perhaps, as bizarre as it may be that there's still something left to find, there will be?"

"Mhm…."

I sighed.

"Let's just hope it doesn't take too long. Then I don't have to lie to Dad and you don't have to lie to your uncle, either."

Akagi nodded, then opened his mouth as if to say something. But a few moments passed without him saying anything.

"Um…are you okay?"

"I…." Akagi blinked a few times and sighed before nodding. "Yeah. Are you comfortable down there?"

I wondered briefly if I should press it, but there was something shuttered about his expression now. Maybe he was thinking about Friede again, but I hoped not. I also wondered what she'd think if and when she discovered what we were doing. That she'd be worried the way my parents would be if they found out, but perhaps also proud if we actually managed to find something that helped.

"Yeah, I am."

"Do you want to play something, maybe? I know we should sleep, but it's still a bit early and I still feel very awake."

"Sure, why not?"

…

Akemi

It was to my advantage that my parents would be going out again tonight, the night it was happening, but I couldn't escape their scrutiny. Dad was the one to check on me this time, quietly appraising me sitting at the desk, scrolling through the New Hope's Peak website on my laptop just to make it look like I was doing something.

"You know, Akemi, I think it is best if you wait right until you're about to go to bed before taking off your make-up."

"I…sorry?"

"Your make-up, Akemi. What would happen if we had unexpected guests and they had to see you like this? It just wouldn't do-you need to be ready to be seen, which is why you should keep it on until the last minute, or make sure to reapply it after a shower. That, or you should find a way of getting rid of those bags under your eyes. It makes it look like you're not managing, and we can't have people thinking that."

But that's exactly what's happening…

"Akemi, do you understand me?"

I blinked, and realised that my gaze had drifted to one of the photographs on the desk, of me and my Mum and Dad, my first day of elementary school. My long hair, part of it caught up in bunches tied in mismatched ribbons, the rest left down, a grin practically splitting my face as my parents knelt either side of me for the photograph that another first grader's mother took for us. My first-day outfit was cute and pretty, but it wasn't something out of a fashion magazine. I had been an attractive child, but not model-like. Yet this photograph was so much better than any of the others I'd been in after that day. I was surprised that Mum or Dad had never got me to throw these out, these reminders of when I was a normal child. They seemed to want to act as if I'd always been their perfect doll.

I didn't want to be their perfect doll. But I couldn't go back to being that child, either. No, that time was gone. That girl didn't exist.

"Akemi?"

"Yes, sorry," I put on my perfect-doll smile, the strain of it painful this time. "I understand, I'll put some on soon."

"Yes, see that you do. And make sure you respond when spoken to. Pausing here and there may make you seem more authentic but take too long and you'll seem unintelligent."

"Yes, I understand."

"Well, don't stay up on our account. We'll be out late, as you know. See you later."

He left, and I pretended that I had immediately returned to the work I was doing. I continued scrolling idly until I heard the door go, until I heard their car pull away. When the sound faded away I started to count to sixty. When I reached sixty, I immediately started counting again, this time backwards. After that, I had to assume they were well on their way and that they would not be coming back. I allowed myself to move away from the desk and go to my wardrobe. I changed as quickly as I could, hanging up the clothes that I had been wearing on the same hangers that the clothes I was changing into had been on, putting them back in more or less the same places. Then, I turned and went to the mirror, intending to scoop my hair into a ponytail, but then I paused, tilted my head and considered my reflection.

I know this is only a trip, but…

It took me a while to find it, but eventually I found my collection of hairdressing equipment and brought it over to the dressing table. I put sheets down around my chair and then put the smock on before sitting down and selecting a pair of scissors.

I did not look at the locks of hair as they fell to the floor.

I did not look at them piling up and up, like silky feathers.

I did not glance at the photographs on my desk again.

I did not make eye-contact with the girl in the mirror.

I just concentrated on what I was doing, on the motion of my hands and my scissors, making sure that I was doing everything correctly. When I had finished cutting I cleaned up around me before then combing and styling my hair. It was only once I had done that that I dared to look at myself in the mirror. Dared to study the hair that now only barely brushed my shoulders, straight right until the ends where it curled, my new full fringe. I'd had a fringe like that when I was small, but apart from that I looked nothing like that girl. That girl had still had long hair and had enjoyed being pretty and princess-like, before her life changed and she'd had to be a perfect princess, not a happy one.

That wasn't me anymore. Neither of those girls, the happy one and the perfect princess, neither of those were going to be me anymore. This trip was going to be the start of it, but once I came back…well, whoever Akemi Koizumi was meant to be now, I'd find that out later.

I checked the time, and then I made sure that my room was tidy and that there would be nothing obviously out of place at first when my parents came to see what I was doing. I briefly considered making a shape under the covers of my bed, but it had been a long time since either of them had come to check that I was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the night. Not that it really mattered. By the time they decided to see what I was up to, I would be long gone. There were still a few hours until we all had to meet at the place Otsuka had directed us to, but I was not going to wait any longer.

So I grabbed my bag and left my room, carefully closing the door behind me. I didn't want to be seen by any neighbours or passers-by, so rather than go through the front I went through the back. The door was one that locked from the outside as well as the inside anyway, so there would be no alarms raised by the door being open. There was a part of me that wanted there to be an alarm, though. I wanted them to worry about me, to wonder if I was safe. I wanted them to care. But I also wanted to help. I wanted this trip to mean something, and I wanted it to last as long as possible.

In any case, I was sure seemingly vanishing into thin air would be just as alarming. I'd hope.

I had plotted it out, the best way to traverse through my back garden, over the fence and around the block without being seen. I could see the images in my mind, like an online 360 view come to life, and I simply pulled those images up in my mind, compared them with what lay ahead and just followed them. I kept my hood up over my new hair, stuck close to the shadows and away from the line of sight of windows and lamps as far as I could until I got to the abandoned housing estate. There, I allowed myself to walk normally, though I did not pause, knowing that homeless people and others who had fallen or jumped (or even more likely, had been pushed) through the gaps in society made their homes here. I wanted to find a way to help them someday, in a way that didn't involve a thousand cameras and an exclusive interview at the end, but that wasn't something that would happen today. So I hugged my bag close to me, kept my head high and my hood pulled over my face and kept walking as fast as I could.

I only started to breathe again as I approached the field at the other end, and crossed that to the woods beyond. From here, it would not be too far from the side roads that Otsuka and Ritsuka were supposed to meet us by. I started on my way through the woods, but eventually needed to catch my breath, and so I stopped by a great, magnificent oak tree and leaned against it. As I took a swig of water from my bottle, I peered up through the leaves at the cloudless sky.

I could only see a few stars this way, but they shone so brightly through the gaps. I had been in astronomy research centres, observatories and planetariums before. Both in the old life I was going to leave behind, and the even older life when I was still an ordinary, space-obsessed little girl. I had been able to see stars up close, through the most advanced of telescopes and yet.

And yet…

Standing here, still slightly out-of-breath, the night-time coldness cooling my cheeks. Standing here, with the sensation of rough bark beneath my hand and leaves and twigs crunching beneath my feet. Standing here, the only human soul for miles, the only noise that of the nocturnal wildlife that called this place home. The feeling all those things added up to, there was only one name for it:

Freedom.

…

Otsuka

I could instantly tell that the figure approaching us was Akemi, even with the hood up. I'd studied her gait and mannerisms in the short time I'd known her (as an actual person, as opposed to the TV persona) after all. The eyes that stared through the pulled up hoodie were unmistakable too, as were the smile and the melodious voice that greeted us.

"Is it alright if I get in there now?" she asked after the greetings were exchanged.

I was about to object when Ritsuka shrugged.

"Sure, knock yourself out."

She opened the door for her and Akemi clambered in, sitting down on the seat next to the driver's, though on the edge of it as if she was only stopping there for a moment. She yawned slightly, and then pushed down her hood. And even though I very obviously knew that it was Akemi, for a good long moment I found myself seriously doubting that. The shorter hair almost made her look like a different person.

"You didn't need to change your appearance, we're not fugitives." Ritsuka pointed out immediately.

Akemi blushed-not a pretty, practiced modest blush but a properly embarrassed one that made her duck her head for a moment. She peered at us from her new fringe.

"I….just…"

"Eh, she is a highly recognisable face," I pointed out to Ritsuka. "Even without the make-up like that she'd probably be recognisable and that could cause some complications for us so, hey, whatever works."

"Bit extreme though, isn't it?" Ritsuka remarked.

I expected Akemi to laugh it off, downplay it, something like that. Let the disagreement roll off her back the way she usually did. Instead, however, she just stared at the two of us, blinking a couple of times but otherwise looking a little…well, I wasn't sure what it was, to be honest.

"Yo, earth to Koizumi. You're not ill or anything, are you?"

"Ah, I…"

Akemi blinked again and then gave something that resembled but didn't quite match her usual type of smile.

"I'm fine, really."

"Okay, good."

Akemi smiled again and then leaned back in the seat. Ritsuka sighed and went to lean against the side of the mini-van, looking through her phone. I decided to do the same until I heard two more people arriving and looked up to see Akio and Akagi arriving.

"Morning, Jihara-san, Nishimiya-san!" Akio greeted us, smiling.

"Morning." Ritsuka said briefly before looking back down at her phone.

"Morning," I said. "Koizumi's here as well, inside."

"Oh, right."

When they climbed in, I immediately heard Akio exclaim:

"Oh, I like your hair, Koizumi-sempai!"

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah, I think it suits you!"

"Oh, thank you!"

"I obviously don't know what it looks like, but I'm sure that your hair does look nice." I heard Akagi add.

"Ah, thank you, Benbow-kun."

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Akio asked. "We bought some things on the way, ah, here…"

There was some rustling, and a few moments later Akio came back out with four brown bags, one of which he held out to me.

"Here-it's just a convenience store breakfast bento."

"I've already had breakfast," I said, raising an eyebrow. "But thanks."

In all fairness, it did look pretty good and I decided to eat it anyway. Akio smiled at me and then went to give one to Ritsuka before looking around.

"I wonder when Okita-kun and Amasaki-san will get here." He said.

"Who knows?" I shrugged. "But hopefully they won't take too long. You guys were early, sure, but if we can get going sooner that'll be better."

"You're really eager to go, huh?" Akio asked.

"Well, duh," I rolled my eyes. "This is our biggest chance to find something, especially considering how it's been overlooked all this time!"

"Yeah, I suppose so."

He was making that face again, the one where he was clearly worrying about things. I felt like I should say something-I didn't want his hesitance to hold back our investigation, after all, but just at that moment I heard the sounds of very familiar bickering and looked down the road to see that sure enough, Mitsuhide and Rieka were arriving, the former carrying what a

"God, you're so spoiled!"

"And you're just lazy! Look, they're right there anyway!"

"Yes, exactly, so you don't have far to go before you get to put the bags down and you can manicure your poor, poor hands-though good luck doing that on a moving minivan!"

Gee, yell a little louder, why don't you?

"Yell a little louder, why don't you?"

I looked over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Ritsuka, who was holding her breakfast bento and staring at Mitsuhide and Rieka looking rather unimpressed. Or rather, more unimpressed than usual. She noticed me staring and raised an eyebrow in return, clearly having no idea that she'd echoed my thoughts exactly.

"Ugh, it's this idiot's fault for complaining about carrying his own bags-I wouldn't have made him carry mine if it wasn't for that!" Rieka ranted, gesturing wildly.

"Good morning!" Akio chimed in cheerily. "Do you want breakfast?"

"Oooh, yes please!"

Rieka immediately brightened and I snorted. She glared at me momentarily before taking a bento from Akio and thanking him before sitting at the side of the road to eat it. Mitsuhide stared at her before Akio then offered to help him put the bags in the van.

"Ah yes, thank you, I would be most grateful for that. And you've provided breakfast? You really are a gentleman."

"Ah, it's just convenience store stuff."

"Well…it is the thought that counts."

I sniggered at that, but Mitsuhide appeared not to notice as Akio took some of the bags and they went into the minivan. I heard him exclaim in surprise at Akemi's hair and then complement it, which naturally drew Rieka over and soon they were both exclaiming over Akemi's hair. Finishing my breakfast and throwing the packaging away in a nearby bin, I climbed into the van's driver seat and half-listened to the lively discussion. And lively it was, with Rieka being particularly enamoured and offering Akemi an endless stream of ideas and potential hair accessories. But eventually it died down, and Ritsuka climbed in, closing the door and going right to the back. Which meant that finally, we were able to get down to business.

"Alright, we're all ready? " I asked.

"Well duh, we're here." Rieka snarked.

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah, yeah, we've got supplies, we've made sure that our parents and other adults won't be alarmed too early and all that. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Mitsuhide said airily.

"Yes, I've done all that." Akemi said.

For some reason, there was something about the way she said that which made me pause. It wasn't any different to her usual placid, accommodating tone and yet there was a something that I couldn't pin down, that combined with her drastic appearance change made me wonder. I supposed it didn't matter that much, though, and I could always figure it out on the way. So I shrugged it off, and made sure that we all agreed on today's driving shifts and where we were stopping for the night and the other little details and once we had (eventually) managed to sort all that out, we were off.