"The Association was here," said Erina. "Julian ambushed me here, past the gate."

  "But here you are," said Akira. "I'm guessin' they pulled all sorts of weapons on you before you got this deep. You must've given them a hard time."

  "I did."

  "Attagirl, Erina."

  Erina shifted her weight. There were things she wanted to report to her. Questions she wanted to ask her. Hows and whys, everything from how she got here to what the Association's next step was. The halls she walked through to reach this place, the depths of a past whose owner would never lower herself to recount them in full… or had long since lost the ability to do so.

  But the longer Erina thought, the more she realized—the less any of that mattered.

  Right here, right now, only one question truly mattered.

  Erina spoke softly, barely audible over the rain.

  "…Have you come to stop me, Akira?"

  Akira took her time responding. She brought her cigarette to her mouth first, taking a long deep breath. Smoke filled the air in front of her, and then she flicked what remained to the empty streets below.

  "…Y'know," said Akira. "There was a time when I used to go stargazing. All the sky's got is the same stars, no matter where I go. Every time I see them, it makes me remember—how small we really are." She tilted her head back, golden eyes on something far beyond the clouds. "Gets me wondering… Has he been out of my reach this whole time? Watching from a place I could never go all along…?"

  She reached out, one hand stretching to the cloudy sky in vain.

  "But… Ahh. Looks like I can't see the stars tonight."

  Erina felt a pang in her heart as she watched her lower her arm. Akira, who normally dominated a room through sheer force of presence, looked so small and insignificant now.

  "Five thousand?" said Akira. "Ten thousand? A hundred thousand? Hell if I know how long I've lived… it all blends together after a while. I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast yesterday or where I was a hundred years ago. All I know is nobody else lasts forever. Fifty, sure. A hundred, maybe. A thousand, sometimes… but never forever."

  Erina was silent.

  "If he wasn't a part of my world anymore, I'd carry on until he was again," said Akira. "That was the stupid idea I had. I've seen every kind of people. Sometimes they were a little different. Sometimes I barely recognized them at all. Sometimes they didn't even exist. But now? I couldn't tell you what any of them looked like. I've lost their names, their voices… I'll lose today as well, eventually."

  Akira drew a knife from her thigh holster, turning it over in her hands.

  "I've been around longer than you could wrap your head around," she said. "That's all you need to know, anyway. I've tried everything to pass time. I've helped everyone. I've killed everyone. I've solved all their problems. I've burnt it all to the ground. It's all more of the same. But I never found the one I'm looking for."

  "Then why are you still here?" asked Erina. "Why are you still…"

  "Alive?" offered Akira. "Like you haven't seen me die? Once you break the most basic laws of reality… they break you right back. Time, space, life, death—none of it matters anymore." She tossed the knife into the air and caught it, playing with the sharp blade like a toy. "Well, it ain't all terrible. Can't get sick of everything if I keep forgetting it. The feeling like I've done it all before—that never goes away. But give it a few thousand years and maybe I'll have rusted up enough to feel like scraping it off is the first time all over again."

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Something didn't add up.

  "Akira," said Erina. "What… are you?"

  Akira scoffed. When she spoke, it was with a weary, exhausted, half-hearted weight. "Stay in your own lane."

  The light rain fell upon them. Droplets of rain slid down the glass sides of the tall skyscrapers. Akira returned her knife to its sheath.

  "The details don't matter," she said. "All that to say, a past is a terrible thing to go digging up. Don't go mucking around in a grave grown over for years. You don't need to be ruined by that." She looked over her shoulder. "You should go home, Erina."

  "No." Erina stood fast. "I won't leave. I want to understand."

  "Erina… You got gunk in your ears?" Akira closed her eyes and raised her voice. "I said, you should go home."

  "I won't," she insisted. "Why do you care?"

  Those golden eyes snapped to her.

  Erina clammed up, wilting under her fierce gaze. She powered through it and untied her tongue. "…Why do you care so much? If you've been through so much on your own… Why do you act like you care about me?"

  Akira turned her gaze to the streets. Her hand reached into her pocket, drawing out a pack of cigarettes.

  Then she changed her mind, and tossed it aside.

  "Listen here." Akira got to her feet. "Don't get all cocky on me. Stop trying to be a hero just 'cause you got a lucky win or two to your name." Her gaze softened slightly. "It's too much of a burden you're asking for."

  "I don't care about being a hero," said Erina. "All I want is to understand. To learn who I really am."

  "That…" Akira closed her eyes, speaking through gritted teeth. "Is exactly what I mean."

  Erina's only warning was those amber eyes reopening. She jerked back as Akira's boot split the air, her inverted high kick leaving a black-green trail of venom inches away from Erina's face. A shockwave rushed over Erina as she stumbled back, finding her footing—

  Akira was onto her again! Erina's barrier screamed as it flashed into place to block the kick, buying her the precious tenth of a second she needed to escape before the shield shattered to pieces.

  Akira was relentless. Every kick transitioned immediately into another, each blow threatening to blast Erina through the nearest building if it made a clean hit. The air snapped and boomed with every strike.

  Erina's heart squeezed tight as she found herself at the edge of the rooftop. Her accelerator flashed into being and she darted out of the situation, whirling to face Akira as her boot smashed the lip of the building.

  "Stop it!" said Erina. "I don't want to fight you!"

  "Shut up!" Akira ripped her boot from the floor, grit and pebbles spraying through the air. "And ready your weapons, Erina."

  Straightening up at the edge of the roof, Akira grabbed the shoulder of her hoodie and threw it off in one fluid motion.

  Erina gulped. She'd only ever seen the briefest glimpses of it in the thick of battle. There were moments when Akira's hoodie rode up in the middle of an acrobatic flip or twist, and even then, Erina only saw a portion of it. Now, framed by her backless shirt, Akira's tattoo was on full display.

  The ningyo screamed in silent fury, surrounded by frothing currents and raging rapids. It was the monster whose flesh blessed those who cannibalized it with immortality. At the same time, its wrath cursed those who angered it with tragedy and misfortune for as long as they lived. That was the visage Akira chose to carry on her back.

  "You know what I swore to you," said Akira. "Sink back into your peaceful dream, 'cause I'm not letting you go. I'll take you to the brink and drag you back from the depths of the Sanzu River if that's what it takes. The road you're on goes nowhere but the abyss. You wanna keep divin' down this path straight to Hell…" She turned to face Erina head-on, those amber eyes sharpened into a cutting glare. "You better come at me like you're trying to kill me."

  Erina touched two fingers to her butterfly clip and flicked. One set of wings took flight as eight, dispersing around the rooftop. Erina lowered her hand and willed her katana into being, held close to her hip.

  She swallowed down the lump in her throat and exhaled. This was the fight she dreaded more than anything.

  But the idea of surrender didn't so much as cross her mind.

  "Seeking the truth is why we exist," said Erina quietly. "I won't give that up. Not even for you."