Found by sin - Bokuaka

Chapter 3

A few weeks passed and Akaashi continued pretending to be human, acting normally. He didn't stop going to Bokuto's masses and actually spent a lot of time at church, just thinking and praying. But as soon as he realised he was expecting Father Bokuto to find an answer, he scolded himself. He couldn't afford to be optimistic, not after all the desillutions he'd experienced.

Akaashi decided to visit Bokuto's house to ask him if he'd found something, anything. He went inside in his invisible form, finding Bokuto sitting in the dining room, reading a book. The table was full of books and notes. Akaashi stood there for a while, watching Bokuto's focused expression while reading.

For a moment, Akaashi thought of just waiting a little longer to ask the priest for any information. But that thought was just him trying to avoid facing bad news. He had to ask him eventually, so he might as well do it now.

Akaashi knocked on the door, and Bokuto stood up to open it, but he’d just taken a few steps when Akaashi showed himself in the living room. Bokuto was surprised for a second, but then remembered Akaashi's state.

“Good afternoon, Father”, said Akaashi. “Sorry if I surprised you, but since you know what I am, I thought I’d just appear here…”.

“No, no, it's ok. Good afternoon”, Bokuto said, still a little surprised. “Sorry, I kind of forgot you could do that”, said while pointing to the front door, a little embarrassed of himself.

“It's fine”, said Akaashi, looking down.

Both stood there in silence for a few seconds, starting to feel nervous.

“Are you doing well?” Akaashi asked, trying to break the ice.

“Yes, very well, thank you. How have you been?”.

Akaashi made a sad smile.

“Fine, I guess… At least as fine as I can be”, said awkwardly. Bokuto felt stupid to ask him that. Of course he wasn't well.

Bokuto didn't know how to tell him the result of his research. He didn't want to tell him. But delaying that wouldn't be good for anyone. He sighed, and Akaashi's body tensed up, looking at Bokuto expectantly.

“Mister Akaashi… I’m really sorry to tell you this, but I couldn't find any way out of your current state. What I’ve found are just theories that affirm that a soul in purgatory must be regretful, think thoroughly about their sins and pray constantly to achieve forgiveness, but if you’ve already tried that, and even confessed and made many penances… I don't know if there's anything else you could do…”, said Bokuto, looking down. He didn't dare to say those things while looking at him.

Akaashi felt frustration and anxiety building up inside him. Of course there was nothing else to do. What was he expecting?

After a moment, Bokuto continued.

“I couldn't find anything similar to your situation either. There are no registers of a soul being able to communicate with humans or wonder among them. And if there is, they're always related to the devil…. I tried to look for a time limit for purgatory too, but nothing was precise. Some books stated that purgatory lasted only a couple of days, or even weeks… That was the amount of time most described, but…”, he paused, unsure to continue.

Akaashi could tell it was something bad from Bokuto's concerned face.

“But…?”, he asked, willing to face reality as soon as possible.

Bokuto looked at Akaashi. He couldn't help but frown in sadness.

“But there was one text that affirmed a case of a person that was in purgatory for eight years”.