Division-A

Episode Two. (May 9th, 2123. Division-A, South District.)

Akino sat on the edge of his now disheveled bed. His eyes that were sunk deep into his head in fear watched as his hand shook violently, finding himself unable to write in his journal. His pen, only grazing the surface of the page ever so slightly, occasionally made incomprehensible scribbles. He took an unsteady breath and dropped his pen on the floor, closing his journal soon after. He glanced over to the clock beside him.

6:00a.m.

'People's pills should start wearing off right about now. Which means-'

Akino jumped up and ran to the nearest mirror, otherwise known as his reflection in the kitchen's television. He stared at himself, taking note of his crusted over blue and purple locks of hair, his tired yellow eyes, his pale face that was caked over with dust and ash.

He sighed. Standing back upright, he made his way to the bathroom. Stripping off his torn pajamas, he stepped into the white tiled shower. The boy stood there, standing still like a statue as he looked at the wall. He ran his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes, sighing again.

"What the hell..."

After squatting in the shower, soaking wet, contemplating his entire life that lead him to that night, he turned the water off and stepped out. Akino continued his morning routine as Sakagami awoke and stumbled into the kitchen tiredly.

She let her gaze travel up to her son who's head was dug into the deepest crevices of the fridge. "You're head is going to freeze off if you stay in there too long," she slurred, continuing to waddle to the table.

Akino slowly retracted his head from the refrigerator. Closing the door with one hand, he glided a plate of leftovers onto the table with another. Sakagami sat down, Akino doing the same. She watched as he pulled the plate over to him.

"Akino," she proclaimed.

His shoulders arched up and his eyes widened. He looked up at the girl sitting across from him, startled. "S-Sakagami!" He immediately jumped up, pushing the chair into the counter behind him, and ran to the fridge once more. "I-I'm sorry I didn't grab you an-"

"You didn't even know I was here, did you?" She sighed, resting her chin in the crevices of her palm.

"Th-that isn't it at all, I was just kinda tired, and-!"

Akino grew quiet and looked at the refrigerator racks mindlessly. After the silence, he spoke softly, "is there anything special you want?"

"I-I'll just split with you." Sakagami lifted her head as she struggled to see over her son's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

He turned his head then smiled at her. "I'm fine, Sakagami. Just swallowed a faulty pill last night, that's all. Speaking of, I'm almost out."

He fibbed.

'What are you doing? Is lying to Sakagami really going to benefit you? No, I can't tell her. If I can barely wrap my head around it, what would she do? She could remove me from school entirely! Maybe it was just a one time thing... and if I keep my mouth shut, nothing will happen.'

The blonde pulled the plate towards her. "We're getting refills Thursday, can you wait till then or do I need to call you in?"

Akino paused a moment to think. He looked down at her and nodded. "Yeah, that should be fine."

Sakagami poked her plate of Tamagoyaki as her eyes trailed over the omelet-like dish. "Isn't as good as it was a few days ago," she mumbled to herself. She glanced at Akino but focused her attention on the clock behind him. "Hey, you might want to get going. School starts soon."