There was nothing but azure blue and wispy white clouds that stretched as far as the eye could see. Akira felt her hair being lifted by a soft breeze. She felt like she was floating, but her feet were on the solid ground of nothingness.
Where am I? Akira thought. She heard bells jingle, as the unfamiliar, mellifluous voice vibrated in the air around her.
"...Dawn."
That name...Her eyes fluttered as the spot in the centre her chest warmed and emitted a soft glow. In the light, she saw Yui's face. Something sharp pricked her finger. Bright red blood beaded at the tip, then overflowed and dripped in slow-motion, perfect pearls of crimson into the rippling surface of the sky-like expanse.
"Chase the Eve, and the Adam you shall find, to save the race in time..."
The last drop of blood fell.
Akira woke with a strange feeling in between her legs. For the first time in a long while, the triplets weren't bouncing around on her sheets first thing in the morning. Sleepily, she lifted the blankets to slide out of bed. What kind of dream was that...?She saw the ghastly crimson stain spreading out on the sheets beneath her. In that moment, she stopped breathing completely.
Her scream of horror echoed through the mansion.
Half of her brothers materialised in her room at once. Akira immediately threw the duvet over herself. "O—out!"
"Oi, Chichinashi, what is it? Are you dead???" Ayato yelled. Hands tugged at the blanket she wrapped around herself. "Why does it smell so strongly of blood in here?"
"Did you injure yourself? Let Onii-chan help..."
The reverberating sound of a slap. "No way in hell, stay away!"
"What is the meaning of this ungodly conduct?" Reiji snapped. Akira squeezed her eyes shut. "Go away, all of you!"
"Why so noisy? You woke up Teddy!"
"Eh, what happened here? Akira, I can smell your blood, let me see~" Someone tried to pull the blanket off of her; she only held it tighter.
"No!" Akira yelled. She had no idea what was happening either. It wasn't a wound, and nothing hurt. She closed her eyes tightly, clenching her jaw.
"Hey, are you okay?" It was Yui. Her voice felt like a soothing balm to her stress amongst all the snappy demands of her siblings.
"What are you doing here? Go wait outside!" Ayato snapped.
Akira dared to poke her head out from the cocoon of blankets. Her eyes burned, both with anger at her invasion of privacy and tears of frustration. "Out! All of you, except for Yui." She shrieked, grabbing her pillow and hurling it at them. Reiji caught the pillow, a graceful reflex before it hit his face. He blinked and pushed his glasses up on his nose.
"Fine."
"Tch, stupid. Way to waste our time."
"You'll pay for this."
"See you, Imouto-chan."
"They're gone." Yui said quietly. Akira exhaled sharply. She hadn't realised she had been holding her breath. "What's wrong, Akira?" Yui knelt down at her bedside and patted her head. Akira sniffled.
"I—I..."
She allowed Yui to guide her hand off of the blanket. Her eyes showed understanding as she gazed at the mess on the sheets, and Akira's flushed face. Yui smiled kindly, and pulled Akira in for a hug.
