Harbouring Memories (Moriya Akane centric)

The Guilt of Knowing it All (Nagahama Neru POV)

*Knock knock*

"Neru, I know you're in here. Open up."

The voice of Sugai Yuuka, the captain of Keyakizaka, echoed through the empty hallway of a downtown Tokyo apartment building, with silence as a response.

It was a month or so since the demise of the group's vice captain, Moriya Akane. Knowing each of the other members well, Yuuka knew that they would react to this news differently.

However, there was one member who Yuuka thought was acting rather irrational. The former Hiragana Keyaki center, and current front member of Kanji, Nagahama Neru.

"Go away..." a raspy voice replied from the other side of the door, "If it's about her, then I don't care."

"Neru.. she'd really hate to see you like this."

There was the sounds of loud footsteps, before she heard Neru speak once again, soft sobs in between her words.

"Yuuka... there were things I knew that you didn't. It hurt to stay quiet when you all were questioning what was wrong..."

Ever since they were told the news, Neru hadn't been attending any events with the others, sheltering herself inside her apartment.

"Let me come inside, Neru. Please just talk to me."

Yuuka could then hear the turning of locks, before the door opened. Neru's head poked out from behind, her disheveled hair covering her eyes.

"Yuuka..."

Neru opened the door fully, letting Yuuka inside. The lights turned on with a push of a switch, illuminating the one bedroom apartment.

"What did she tell you?" Yuuka asked, taking a seat on the sofa.

"Well..."

Flashback

It was a normal lesson for the members. They were hard at work practicing for an upcoming concert, busily trying to get everything together on time.

Neru noticed that Akane was busy talking to the some of the others regarding MCs and certain songs in the setlist. She then managed to walk to Neru, who was with Yuuka and Rina at the time.

"Yuuka, can you do me a favor?" Akane asked an oblivious Yuuka, "I forgot I had a doctors appointment, so can you finish discussing the MCs with the others?"

Neru looked on worriedly, noticing Akane's extremely pale face.

"Y-Yeah, sure," Yuuka replied, taking the papers away from Akane whilst the latter went to gather her things.

"This doesn't seem right... what's wrong with her?" Neru thought to herself.

Once Akane was out of view, Yuuka immediately turned to Neru.

"Yuuka, if it's okay, can I see where Akane's going?"

The truth was, Neru had been observing Akane's behaviour for a week or so. She found it really strange when she had suddenly excused herself when strenuous dance practice was involved; she also found it strange when Akane took leave when important things needed to take place.

She wanted answers.

"Neru, I don't think prying on Akane's personal life is right."

"Yuuka, I have my suspicions that something bad's going on..."

The captain could only sigh, "If you're really that worried about Akane... go on."

Neru stood up, packed her things and hurriedly went after the vice captain. She found her as she was leaving the building and called out to her.

"Akane!"

Akane saw her and continued walking. Neru, confused, kept walking towards Akane. Once she caught up to her, she called out to her again, but was once again ignored.

That same pattern repeated until they got to the hospital. Finally fed up with being ignored, Neru grabbed hold of Akane's arm, taking the latter by surprise.

"Neru..!"

"Akane, this has gone too far. Please, just tell me what's going on; I won't tell anyone else."

Akane looked at her worriedly, pursing her lips together. Neru kept hold of her arm, not wanting to let go until she got her answer.

"If you really want to know... I'm getting treatment for a few tumors. I didn't want to cause added panic and worry, so I didn't tell anyone."

"Akane..." Neru frowned. "How long has this been going on?"

"A few months now, I guess," Akane replied, sighing, "I'm just burdening everyone..."

Neru shook her head, "You should've told us..."

She hugged Akane, feeling the latter's tears soak into her shirt.

Akane patted her back and slowly broke away, "I've got to go now."

"Okay..."

As she walked into the hospital, Neru felt relieved that her suspicions were cleared. However, she wanted to stay, just to ensure she was still okay. Thus, she sent a text to Yuuka.

"Tell the others I've gone home early. Something came up that's really urgent. Sorry."

End of Flashback

"Neru... She would be happy that you were right beside her when she needed it the most," Yuuka replied, pulling Neru in for a hug, "It must've been hard for you to keep everything from us. But even if that was the case, Akane would've had great company."

"I'm sorry... I should've said something sooner... I'm sorry..." Neru pushed Yuuka away, curling up into a ball as she repeated that exact phrase.

"It's okay..."

"I'm sorry..." Neru cried as Yuuka slowly embraced her and stroked her head to try and calm her.

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A/N These chapters will be fairly short, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless. But the next chapter will be Techi focus. :D