Control (Aphorism Fanfic) COMPLETED

Chapter 7

After having that talk with Sanjuurou and opening up to him about Mikio, Misaki felt herself letting her guard down in front of him more. Since then, she frequently dropped by his room, either studying quietly, or idly chatting while he went about doing his work.

One day, when Rokudou left to study with Aira in the library, Misaki was in Sanjuurou's room with him, looking through some of his old photographs.

"Mino looked a bit like a girl when he was younger..."

"Right?!" Sanjuurou exclaimed. "I knew I wasn't the only one! Noa laughed at me, saying that I must be blind to mistake Mino as a girl – "

Their small talk was abruptly interrupted by Rokudou, who came bursting into the room asking for their help.

As they made their way to the library, Rokudou explained the situation: the Saeki twins, Hokuto and Nanto, were given a book of lives after finishing a deal with Yama. With it, they could revive a dead person. The twins had lost their younger sister through an incident in the past, and had been only come to Naraka for that book - just so they could get back their young sister Kahou.

When we got to the library, Sanjuurou got straight to business, sitting on a chair and flipping through pages of the book.

"It's true that Yama mentioned a book of lives before..." he said as he flipped through the pages. "But since it's fishy, the higher ups ignored it."

Rokudou thoughtfully tapped his chin and commented on how Uruma said it might be a fake, to which Sanjuurou opposed.

"The paper isn't old, but all blank... The binding... The colour... Page size..."

Producing a slim notebook and pen from his pocket, he noted some things down. His three friends stared at him.

"What? You think I look like some desperate wannabe who's trying to get all the credit?"

Misaki rolled her eyes. "Not trying to get all the credit, but rather, trying to copy Uruma's... style. It's stupid. I'd rather you use your own actions to prove –"

"I'm not copying anyone," Sanjuurou interrupted, testing the weight of the book. "This is how I should do my job. I came without a fuss, right? And Misaki, you didn't have to come."

"Aira and Rokudou are my..." she paused, the word 'friends' at the tip of her tongue. She swallowed. "They're my acquaintances."

"Whatever you say. I just can't let you guys get tangled up with Yama by yourselves, you know?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Spy Hinata Sanjuurou is the only one who has business with Yama, sure."

Sanjuurou started laughing. Then he smirked, gloating about how Uruma was all talk no show, withdrawing from the 'battle' so quickly.

Rokudou and Aira looked at him helplessly, at a loss of what to say.

"So... how do we get it working?"

Sanjuurou started listing down various methods, such as writing on it, dumping water on it, throwing it in fire, tearing it, grinding it into pieces...

"You're going to end up killing the book before reviving a single soul," Misaki said, a deadpan expression on her face.

"We can maybe... use our kanjis?" Rokudou asked.

Sanjuurou snapped his fingers. "Exactly what I had in mind! I just kept quiet about it!"

Hokuto nodded. "While you guys went around getting Hinata and Kana –"