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Ryu's POV
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Akari wipes her tears away with the back of her hand and tilts her head.

"Wel--" (Captain)

"--Some bad people are coming to get us, so we can't have the people here getting hurt, alright?" (Ryu)

I cut off Captain, not wanting him to say something unnecessary.

"Bad people? Why are they trying to get you?" (Akari)

"Because... Not everyone is a nice person, and those people don't like us." (Ryu)

She listens to my words closely, nodding along as I speak.

"You don't want people to get hurt, do you?" (Ryu)

"No..." (Akari)

"Then we can't stay here. We'll have to leave, yeah?" (Ryu)

"... What about Zizi?" (Akari)

I open my mouth to respond, but my words get caught in my throat.

Noticing this, Captain speaks before I can manage.

"He'll have to stay here." (Captain)

"Eh? He can't come with us?" (Akari)

"I'm afraid not." (Captain)

"But... But, I want to... Stay with him too..." (Akari)

The tears that she had previously wiped away began to form again, falling down her face as she starts crying.

"H-hey, Akari, listen to me..." (Ryu)

"Why? Why can't I stay with Zi and Ryu?" (Akari)

"It's too dangerous, Akari. The bad people--" (Ryu)

"But people also called us bad people! Mummy and Daddy were also called bad!" (Akari)

Once again, my voice gets caught in my throat trying to respond to her.

"... Captain, can I... Talk to her for a second?" (Ryu)

"... Go ahead." (Captain)

Hearing his confirmation, I lead Akari out the room to mine a bit further down the corridor, attempting to soothe her as I do.

"Akari, people may have called us bad, but the ones chasing us now really are..." (Ryu)

"But they might be like Mummy and Daddy! They weren't bad people!" (Akari)

"They weren't, but these people--" (Ryu)

"And where are they? Where's Mummy and Daddy? You said you were looking for them!" (Akari)

"I-I was looking for them, I still am--" (Ryu)

"Then where are they? You said you were close!" (Akari)

"I am, I just, I need a little long--" (Ryu)

"How long? I want to see them again!" (Akari)

"I know, I kno--" (Ryu)

"Then why can't you find them?" (Akari)

"Akar--" (Ryu)

"Where are they?!" (Akari)

"Liste--" (Ryu)

"Let me see th--!" (Akari)

"They're dead!" (Ryu)

The surprise from what I said causes Akari to stop sobbing for a moment as she processes it.

"Eh? What?" (Akari)

"They're dead, Akari. They-- I--" (Ryu)

My legs seemed to lose their strength and I dropped to my knees, holding onto Akari's arms loosely.

"You're lying! They aren't-- They're not!" (Akari)

Even more tears seem to be streaming down her face now, mixed with anger.

"It's not true! It's not!" (Akari)

"I couldn't save them... Akari..." (Ryu)

"No, you're lying! They aren't! I-- I hate you!" (Akari)

Hearing those words, it felt as if a knife had pierced my heart, and I barely noticed her run past me out of the room, nor did I notice the small struggle outside the door.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I couldn't... Akari, I'm sorry..." (Ryu)

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Airi's POV
------------------

"I'm going back to the inn, I've bought enough and my feet are killing me right now." (Airi)

"Ehh? Airi, come on, a little longer, we still have some more shops to go." (Astrid)

"I told you, I wasn't planning on buying much, and I wanted to relax, I'm sure Kana is fine going to those shops." (Airi)

"Well, yeah, but... Kana... She, um, she doesn't have any sense of fashion." (Astrid)

I go silent at this, partly out of shock, and mostly out of fear as I can see Kana's expression beside Astrid sour, despite a smile being painted on.

"Oh? I don't have a fashion sense?" (Kana)

"Nope! Not at all! Not even a tiny bit!" (Astrid)

Despite the obvious anger being let out by Kana, Astrid continues to insult her, only serving to anger her more.

"Well, maybe we should go to some of those shops so that you can help me fix my 'broken fashion sense', right?" (Kana)

"...Ah, um, well, you see, maybe, um, that isn't necessary... I mean, now that I look at it again, it's not too bad-- Ow ow ow! Heh... Hehe... Kana? Your hand is, uhh, it's a little tight on mine... It's hurting a little." (Astrid)

"Oh my, I hadn't noticed. Sorry about that Astrid... Now, let's go look at those shops, shall we?" (Kana)

She starts walking away, dragging Astrid along behind her.

"Heh... Uh, Kana? You haven't eased your grip... It still hurts... Kana?" (Astrid)

I hear Astrid complaining as she is dragged down the street, but I turn away and begin walking towards the inn, bags of clothes and other items in my hands.

It wasn't far away, a couple minutes at most, but the pain in my feet made it seem much longer.

When I walk through the door, the innkeeper looks up from his desk and gives me a slight scowl, before looking back down.

It wasn't until I could hear shouting from the corridor that I understood why he wasn't particularly happy with my company.

"--em ag--n!"

As I walked further down, the shouting became clearer, and it was obvious who it was coming from, considering the only one who could scream this loud would be a child.

I was only a few doors away from the shouting when I passed by an open one, and peering inside, I could see Captain leaning back on his chair, one hand covering his eyes.

"Uh... Captain?" (Airi)

I speak quietly, though not so little as a whisper, to try and catch Captain's attention, which works.

He slowly lifts himself into a normal sitting position and slowly shakes his head at me.

"Right..." (Airi)

The shouting didn't seem to have any intent of stopping, so I start to walk past the door, attempting to make it to my own room, before the door bursts open, almost hitting me.

Shortly after, something bumps into me and I instinctively hold it against me, but after hearing a few muffled sobs, I recognize who it is and ease my arms.

"... Akari?" (Airi)

"Mm..." (Akari)

She shakes her head without moving it away from me, as if using my clothes to wipe her tears.

"... Akari, let's move out of the hallway, yeah?" (Airi)

"Mm." (Akari)

She didn't move her head this time, but I took the small noise that came out of her as confirmation, so I awkwardly start shuffling towards my room, unable to move her from my leg because of the bags I'm holding.

It took much longer than it should have to reach my room, and my shoulders feel relief as I put down the bags.

I try to kneel down, but she tightens her hug around my legs, so I quickly give up.

Instead, I place my hand on her head and rub it softly.

"Akari... What's wrong?" (Airi)

"..." (Akari)

"I can't stop you crying if I don't know why you are." (Airi)

I could hear her sobs slowly quieting down as she starts to calm herself.

"You want to talk to me about it?" (Airi)

"... Mm." (Akari)

"Come on then, let's get you sat down, yeah?" (Airi)

I lightly start to push her away from my legs, and she lets go of me, pulling her hands to her face to wipe away her tears.

Guiding her to my bed with one hand, the other reaches around for a piece of cloth that I hand her to wipe her face.

"What's the matter? Why are you crying?" (Airi)

"Ryu, he-- he said they're dead!" (Akari)

"He said who's dead?" (Airi)

"He lied and said they're dead! They can't be dead!" (Akari)

"Akari, who did Ryu say was dead?" (Airi)

"He said Mummy and Daddy are dead! I hate him!" (Akari)

"Ryu... Said that?" (Airi)

"He's a liar! He always said they were alive! They aren't dead!" (Akari)

The tears that she had wiped away before now quickly came back, flooding her face.

Her voice buckled under her emotions, and her words quickly became incoherent.

Unable to say anything, I just say there and held her, lending her my shoulder until she fell asleep maybe 10 minutes after.

When she had fallen asleep, I laid her down on my bed and left the room quietly.

It was then, after closing the door, that I could hear quiet mumbling in the hallway, coming from the room that Akari had come out from.

Peering in, I could see Ryu on his knees, his arms drooped down his sides, hunched over.

"Ryu...?" (Airi)

After not getting a response, I start to move closer, and after I was about halfway to reaching him, I could make out what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Akari... I didn't want them to-- don't die, please..." (Ryu)

They showed no signs of stopping, and as I drew even closer, I could hear the rapid breaths Ryu was taking.

"Ryu? Hey, Ryu?" (Airi)

Seeing him unresponsive to my words, panic started swelling up in me, and I rushed to his side.

"Hey, Ryu? Come on, listen to me, calm down... Deep breaths." (Airi)

At first, there was no change in what he was doing.

"Ryu, come on... Listen to me Ryu... Breath in... And out... As I'm doing. In... And out..." (Airi)

But after repeating it for a few minutes, I noticed his breathing becoming more stable, and his rambling was slowing down.

"That's it, come on Ryu, deep breaths." (Airi)

After about 15 minutes, he seemed to have come to his senses, though still considerably pale.

"Kni... ght?" (Ryu)

"That's right, I'm here. Remember, deep breaths, you're alright..." (Airi)

Another few minutes pass with him controlling his breathing, before he lifted his head and looked around.

"Akari...? Akari? Where are you? Akari!" (Ryu)

He stood up while calling out for her, losing his balance and stumbling into me.

"Woah, calm down Ryu. She's alright. She's asleep in the room next door. She's alright." (Airi)

Hearing this, he fell to the floor, as if all the strength had left his legs.

"... It's my fault... I... I could have saved them... But I-- I couldn't move! And I... Watched as they... " (Ryu)

"... And... What happened with Akari?" (Airi)

"I... Lied. I lied to her, constantly. Every word I wrote, every adventure I said I had been on, every search I said I had done... All lies. I just... I just couldn't tell her..." (Ryu)

His was quivering, but his tears didn't break free.

"I didn't need to search for them... I knew what had happened. But... I didn't want Akari to know, I didn't want her to have to suffer knowing... I wasn't ever going to see her if not for... Captain." (Ryu)

"... Why not?" (Airi)

"It's too dangerous... They were always watching me, but they didn't know where she was, so I thought that if I didn't visit her, she would be safe..." (Ryu)

I look over to him and see his lip tremble slightly, then he closes his eyes tightly.

"No... That's a lie... I was just too damn scared. I couldn't face her... I couldn't go up to her and tell her that I couldn't save them. I couldn't tell her that I had been lying for 3 years." (Ryu)

"Ryu... You can't blame yourself for that... That's only natural to not be able to tell her that..." (Airi)

"Is it? Is it really? It's natural that I hid the death of our parents from her because I was too scared? It's no wonder she hates me..." (Ryu)

"Ryu... She doesn't hate you... As much as she was waiting for your searches on your parents, she was also waiting to hear about you. Your letters meant more to her than just knowing where your parents were. Even if it's hard, which it will be, you need to speak to her, tell her what happened. Apologise to her." (Airi)

"... Yeah... I know..." (Ryu)

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Author Notes
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Haha? Wow, I'm done with another chapter. Been a while, hasn't it? What, nearly a year of no updates? Yeah, it's been a while.

To be honest, every now and again during that year, I would think about this, and I'd think about how much I'd want to finish off Ryu's story. How much I love writing this, how excited I was to plan future events.

I still am. I love making this story. I love writing it. I want to see this story close, no matter how bittersweet it may be. But it honestly may not have happened. I'm only writing this now, having done 1000 words in about an hour, because I got a notification from this app about a comment that was posted on the very first chapter.

I can't remember what exactly this comment said, but it mentioned wanting to see the end of this story, and it just kit something inside of me. Yeah, I want to finish this story. I want Ryu to see his ending. I want all of you to see the world I've made in my head.

That's why I'm here again, writing this. And I can't say for sure I'll finish this story. I can't say for sure if another chapter will even come out. But I hope it will, and it's only something that future me can do.

But enough of that. Thank you very much for reading this chapter, and I hope you'll read the next one, whenever it may be.