Third person POV
After a week, Akuma and Ryu have not seen a single haunting image of their familiar acquaintance. Rather than relieved, they were nervous and it stuck to the back of their minds, wondering if it's meaning. Still, it was lacking to know that both of them received similar messages. Their feelings were at a confused hiatus after all.
'What do I do...? I feel suspicious that nothing has happened!' Akuma bit her nail, eyebrows furrowing with eyes that glared at the floor.
"Good evening Akuma—" Zen waved with a smile as a gust of wind swept across his face over the bridge of his nose.
Akuma gave a high kick up towards Zen, her eyes killer like a wild wolf. Her kick was a blur and smooth as it retreated back in place after a full rotation.
Zen's carefree smile immediately dropped to a terrified and shock expression. His knees dropped and he bolted back up in questioning with a slight blue face. He threw his hands up in anger.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! YOU NEARLY KICKED ME!"
"Oh... Sorry." Akuma nonchalantly said.
"REALLY?!" Zen's right eye twitched annoyingly, taking a deep breath in to calm himself down.
"... Yes really...?" Akuma raised a brow, unimpressed and indifferent.
"*Sigh*... Don't tell me that things still haven't been going well. Have you two talked recently?" Zen crosses his arms, a concern expression plastered despite his annoyance just seconds ago.
"... Not really. We seem to be avoiding each other a bit. And I'm playing half that part too...." Akuma turned her head away, rubbing her arm.
"Love is sure tough." A voice broke the two's private conversation from the side.
"Obi?!" Zen exclaimed.
"OBI!" Akuma angrily whacked the said male off the still of the rail, making him fall down onto the grass with a little tumble to get himself back on his feet.
"Rude much?" Obi chuckled a bit.
"You were the one that interrupted. Unwelcome at that fact." Zen straightforwardly said, his face neutral.
"That kinda hurt haha..."
"Let it sink in." Akuma blinked and Obi shook off her statement with his hand before it actually did settle in.
"Anyways... I have been observing and overheard just now that you and little Ryu are having trouble? Well, I have some valuable information as a mature grownup."
"More like an annoying and idiotic one." Akuma scoffed, fist-bumping Zen casually.
"Again, I'm hurt, but listen!"
"Just hurry and talk." Zen sighed.
"It seems like you and Ryu have been avoiding each other because of what happened without a doubt."
"Well isn't that obvious!" Akuma shouted a bit, an irk mark showing to threaten Obi with a nearby pen.
"And it seems like you have something that you won't tell anyone! The same goes for Ryu! A secret that you two are hiding from each other!" Obi grinned.
Akuma's eyes slowly widened and her lips agape.
"You're wrong." Akuma shot down Obi with a straight face.
"What? Really!" Obi blinked a few times, surprised.
"What kind of secret even? I mean, I don't think Ryu's feelings are false if he committed to the rescue..." Akuma turned her head away and sighed, closing her eyes.
'Unless he felt as if it was his duty as to pity me or for hopes of saving her....' Akuma frowned, sighing once more.
"That sigh tells me that there is a lot of doubt and a lack of communication." Obi grinned, flicking a piece of grass on his sleeve.
"Oh shut it." Akuma blurted out, crossing her arms as she glared at the sharp-minded cat.
Still, Akuma knew deep down inside of her that Obi was right. She just wanted to deny that fact as she thinks it is all her fault in the tense relationship. Akuma was afraid that she made Ryu jump into a blind love.
".... Whatever. Thanks for the talk Zen. Later."
"What about me? Don't I get a thank you?" Obi chuckled.
"Thanks, jerk." Akuma scoffed, leaving the room.
"Haha... Ow..." Obi tearfully clenched his chest.
—————
"Communication... Doubts..." Akuma sighed, clearly irritated.
"I wonder... What expression would he have if I was the one to not have interrupted everything." Akuma softly whispered into the breeze that circled around her, her eyes squinting in the sorrowful thought of her existence.
'I just trouble everyone. Just like then... I only had Neil at the time and now he is gone......'
"My, my~! What a selfish girl! Hehe~!"
With a short gasp, Akuma unleashed her sword from its sheath and pointed the blade to the sickly woman's voice.
'What...?! A hallucination?!'
"G... Get out of my head...!" Akuma scoffed, her blood turning cold.
"You desperately want love! Yet you are unable to tame or have it as your own!"
"That's not true...! I'm here now because I am loved now!" Akuma gritted her teeth, her eyes searching the dark glowing silhouette.
"Is it love...or is it pity?" The ghostly and familiar figure let out a burst of horrendously sweet laughter, brushing her fingertips against Akuma's cheek.
"No... You're dead... This is all just in my head..." Akuma gasped, stepping back from the cold touch.
"Let's see how far you can get before everything you imagined to have all this time to disappear~!"
"SILENCE!" Akuma angrily swung her sword to cut down the misty figure in half, her breaths ragged in anxiety. The air grew colder and thinner yet it wasn't as dark as it was before. Feeling her knees would give out, Akuma slumped down the wall a few steps back and covered her face in fear and shame.
'I am loved... Pity is for the weak...!' Akuma scoffed, her hand clutching the blade of the sword.
"Ah...." Akuma looked up, noticing her slipped hand onto the sharp blade.
"Urk....!" Akuma gagged at the sight of the deep crimson red liquid, remembering her wrongdoings with details of her horribly wicked self.
'I am no longer her... I am no longer that monster! I have changed!' Akuma gritted her teeth and cursed herself, standing up quickly. Her hair was a mess and covered scattered spots of her face.
Looking down upon her scarred hands, she scoffed disgustedly and flared at her reflection in the silver blade she wields for the sake of her new self. Her clear eyes that thought to have mirrored the world differently were completely dark and hateful in the light of the metal.
Yet in that reflection, she could see past the monster showered in blood as a weeping child, lost without guidance and love.
"How pathetic." Akuma's low voice, filled with venom, consumed her worries.
9/16/19
YOU ARE READING
Test of the Heart (Sequel)
FanfictionAfter the chaotic madness and the lost of someone precious, Ryu and Akuma could happily live in peace. Their love could never be happier. However, that is what they wished to have happened. With a new chapter of the book, Ryu's genuine love is being...
