Aome (青目; Vol.2)

Chapter 9

(???, ???. A woman wakes up in the middle of nowhere, she has no idea where or why she's there. For some reason, she gets up and starts walking straight, as if something or someone's calling to her. She doesn't realize how long she's been walking for, but she eventually stops in front of a girl playing with a stuffed animal who looks like her... except both the toy and the girl's clothes are worn and torn from overuse [or is it?]. The woman crouches down and tries to get the girl's attention by waving her hand.)

Woman (?): (*waves hand*) Umm... hello?

Girl (?): (*looks up*) Hmm? Who are you?

Woman: Ah... my name's Emiya... where are your parents?

(The girl looks shocked when the girl introduces herself, puts her toy down, and gets her face close to Emiya's face.)

Girl (?): Huh...? Why do you have the same name as me? Wait a minute... you look just like me! Wow, I never thought I'd look so pretty as an adult!

(Emiya becomes surprised when she realizes she's talking to her child self who probably doesn't know that her father passed away. She decides to give her child self a big hug.)

Young Emiya: H-huh? What are you doing, Ms. Doppelganger?! Umm... my parents said to not accept stranger's hugs... but you don't seem like the bad ones that my parents told me about...

Emiya: (*Sighs*) It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you. You see, I'm from the future. And... I want to tell you that everyone loves you and the songs that you made... (She trails off as if she doesn't want to say the negative parts of becoming famous to her child self.)

Young Emiya: Really?! Then... that means Dad doesn't have to worry about me getting bullied by people anymore? And... Do I have friends now?

(Emiya gets out of her hugging position and puts her hands on young Emiya's face.)

Emiya: Yes... Dad doesn't have to worry about you being alone anymore. Plus... you become friends with the best person in the entire world. She's the most amazing person you'll ever meet.

(The little girl puts her fisted hands into the air, and Emiya hugs her again before waking up.)

(12 pm, January 24th, 2020. A hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Emiya has been unconscious for three days since her attempt. During the days she was recovering from blood loss, Aoi decided to stay at Emiya's apartment and took care of her for three days. During those three days, Aoi went through a full clean-up process since Emiya can't clean up her house due to her overly busy schedule. While she took the trash out, she was able to meet with Emiya's closest friend and neighbor, Iselin Haagen, who was an independent musician who produced Vocaloid songs as well as created songs using her voice. Since then, she's successful enough to afford to live in an expensive apartment as well as get her citizenship because of Emiya's colleague and another close friend named Mako, who she seemed to be interested in based on her body language. When she arrived at the hospital, she sat beside Emiya's bedside until she woke up at noon.)

Emiya: (*mumbles*) Uhh... Where am I now...? (She rubs her eyes and sees that an IV and a bandage is on her right arm. She takes her arms away and looks to her right to see Aoi sitting beside her.) ...Aoi-chan?

(Aoi cries when she sees Emiya wake up after three days since she was worried that she might not wake up again. They both hugged each other. For some reason, Aoi pulled away from Emiya and gave her a soft kiss on her lips since Aoi knows that Emiya's now ex-boyfriend never loved her for who she is, and Emiya accepted the kiss. They pulled away from each other and got themselves together.)

Aoi: ...How are you feeling right now?

Emiya: A little better, since you're here... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you like that.

Aoi: (*shakes head vigorously*) No, I should've stayed with you... I knew that someone was following you, and... (*tears up*) I didn't realize that it was him who was following you... Seriously, what the hell is wrong with him?! (Emiya stayed silent and put her head down, Aoi held her hand without the IV mark and rubbed it softly.) If I remember correctly, you didn't like him when you first started working at the record company. When I heard that you were dating him, I was surprised since... he's not your type. What made you want to be with him?

(Emiya takes a deep breath and tells Aoi what happened on her birthday, and the blatant manipulation that the CEO used because of her reputation. She tried her best to stay calm and composed, but the years of emotional and physical abuse were traumatic enough to start a panic attack. So, Aoi decided to change the topic and talked about the good times that they had when they were in a relationship [both long distance and when they were together], how they would go downtown and walk on the streets of Tokyo, or when they would spend the night talking about how things would be better for both of them when people realize that being with the same gender doesn't make you a bad person, or someone who isn't right in the head [even though both of them have had thoughts about the opposite gender, that never hindered with their relationship in the first place]. Time passed by, and there was a knock on the door)

???: May I come in?

Aoi: Ah, yes, please.

(The door opens and the nurse enters the room.)

Nurse: I have to ask your friend here to leave. The police are here to investigate you, Fujie-san.

(Both Aoi and Emiya's eyes widen as their faces morph into confused expressions.)

Aoi: Is it okay if the officers can talk to me as well since I'm involved in this?

Nurse: Of course, once the officers finish with Fujie-san, I'll let them know that you'd like to speak with them as well.

(Aoi bowed to the nurse and left the room. Once the nurse checked Emiya's vitals and cleaned her up so the officers could talk to her properly, they entered the room and asked her a series of questions. Most of the questions were about what happened when the crime happened, why the crime happened, and how she was able to defend herself before the preparator caught her. After the questioning was done, Emiya told the officers to wait.)

Emiya: How did you know about all of this? May I know who filed the case for me?

(One of the young officers who seemed to be in his early 20s stepped up.)

Young Officer: Ah, your neighbor called the emergency line and then called us to report this case since she heard, and I quote, "Loud screams that were concerning since my neighbor is a quiet person". I believe her name is Isu- ummm... Isurin Haagen?

(Emiya gave a little smile at the officer's attempt to pronounce her neighbor's name. She corrected the officer and he bowed as a sign of gratitude and appreciation, and then took a pen and paper and signed her name to the officer as a gift. The officer gave her multiple bows before his senior gave him the look that made him go out of the room. Emiya's pulse became normal after the stressful interrogation was done and went back to sleep.)