บท 5: The end and the beginning

"Asahi, when I retire, I want to come back and live here together with you and Ayami-san."

"Together?" Asahi chuckled as he repeated, "How can that be?"

The smile on Akira's face faltered as he heard this and he turned to look at Asahi in confusion.

"You would be married to her in a few months and I... Well, I'd remain by your side as your childhood best friend. Once you retire, you'll come here with her and I'll go settle down with my own family."

"..."

"I wouldn't want to be a third wheel for the rest of my life," Asahi chuckled as he added and for some reason, there was a sense of sadness in his defeated voice.

"Asahi... Why are you saying it like that...?" Akira questioned in a soft volume as he looked at the man in disbelief.

He had never planned a future without Asahi...

He thought their friendship was going to last a lifetime... He thought they would always be together no matter what happened...

"I'm only telling the truth," Asahi shrugged his shoulder as he turned to face Akira and for some reason, the man looked to be serious about it, "Everything would eventually have to change..."

Akira felt his heart clench as he heard this.

This was certainly the first time Asahi was saying something like this.

"You remember Lele?" Asahi asked with a small chuckle, "We adopted her together and you got attached, thinking she'll stay with us forever, but in the end, she was still just a dog who had a shorter lifespan than a human."

"But you stayed!" Akira frowned as he cried out, "Even when she died, you were there...! I couldn't stop her from leaving but you're not like her. She had no choice but to leave us, but you, on the other hand, are choosing such a future!"

Asahi shook his head in disbelief as he heard this and chuckled dryly, "Akira, you're as oblivious as always. You refuse to see what is in front of you and you refuse to understand what everyone else can see."

"..."

"Sure, I might not be comparable to her since she was a Dog and I am a human, however, it doesn't change the fact that I can't stay with you forever. And you're right, this is a choice that I'm making..."

"Why?!" Akira angrily snapped as he heard the man.

"Because I don't want to torture myself," Asahi shrugged his shoulders as he spoke, "I don't want to hurt myself by being beside you any longer."

Akira felt something moist trail down his cheeks and when he reached his right hand up to touch his cheek, he found that he was unknowingly crying.

"I'm sorry but you have to know this," Asahi continued with a sigh as he looked down at the ground, not even daring to meet Akira's eyes, "We won't be always like this and once you finally get married to Ayami-san, we'll meet less and less. We would slowly start to drift apart and by that time around, you'll start learning to let go of me."

"I don't want to!" Akira cried out as he refused to agree to any of this, "I don't want to lose you!"

Asahi chuckled dryly as he heard this and responded, "You won't be losing me. I'll still be your friend. We just won't be as close as we are now."

"Because I'm getting married?!" It wasn't clear whether it was the alcohol or not, but for some reason, Akira was highly emotional at this moment and was being swept away by those emotions, "Then I won't marry! I won't marry Ayami-san if it means I have to lose you!"

Asahi's eyes widened as he heard this and he gulped.

"If I can keep you beside me by doing that, I'll do it! I'll break off the engagement! I'll do anything you want!"

Asahi breathed out in disbelief as he commented, "Ayami-san would be heartbroken if she hears you. She did all of this for you and you're willing to cut ties with her over a friend you don't want to be apart from...?"

Akira was crying but he still nodded his head as he muttered, "You're not just any friend..."

Asahi Sato was more than that. He was like a soulmate... Like a brother and also like a father...

They had always been together. Even when they had nothing, they were together and now that they had everything, they were still next to each other.

Asahi was the one person Akira could trust and rely upon without worrying about anything. He was the one person that Akira knew would never leave or betray him.

"You said you didn't want to feel guilty," Asahi sighed as he spoke, "You said you didn't want to see her disappointed and now you're saying you want to break this engagement off? How is it so easy for you to say things like that...?!"

Akira nodded his head as he looked down and dare not let the man see the tears that refused to stop pouring out from his eyes, "I don't want to disappoint her and I don't want to feel guilty over that either but you... You're much more important than her!"

"..."

"If it's you... then I'd rather feel guilty over her than feel guilty over losing you," Akira added, and Asahi could tell that the man was not lying and that was exactly what pissed him off.

"Akira... Do you even know what you're saying right now...?" Asahi questioned in disbelief as he looked at the man.

Akira nodded his head once more as he spoke up, "I know what I'm saying."

Asahi didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard the man.

"You know nothing," Asahi stepped closer to Akira and there was a sense of anger in his voice that could be clearly sensed by Akira.

Akira looked up to meet the man's eyes and for the first time in his life, the icy look in Asahi's eyes managed to scare him.

"Akira Kanbe..." Asahi used the man's full name as he spoke and this made Akira unconsciously step back as he felt a little intimidated by this precious friend of his who was acting really weird today.

"You're the worst," Asahi clicked his tongue as he continued and Akira's mind seemed to have blanked out as he heard this.

Asahi gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he took another step forward.

Akira once again faltered a step back as he saw the man getting closer to him and he felt the railing of the balcony dig against his back, making him realize that there was nowhere to go anymore.

"Asahi, why are being like this...? Aren't we friends?" Akira asked in disbelief as he gulped and at the very next moment, Asahi sharply opened his eyes only to glare at the man with feelings that Akira deciphered to be hate and disgust.

"I never considered you as a friend," Asahi gritted out without any sense of hesitation, and Akira was left shocked.

"I hate you," Asahi added as he raised his hands and pushed Akira back with force.

Everything happened fast and before he knew it, Akira's eyes widened as he realized that he was falling...

"Eh?"

Confusion... It was the only thing Akira felt as he looked up at the man who had pushed him and his hands unconsciously tried to reach up to him, however, Asahi never tried to grab that hand.

That night, on his birthday, Akira was pushed to his death by his dearest friend Asahi Sato.

And as he fell to his death, the last thing he saw was his killer being hugged from behind by a woman that he couldn't help but recognize.

It was her...

It was his fiance... Ayami Watanabe...

Asahi and Ayami were together...?

And just like that, Akira died.

At the place where he was born,

At the place where he was raised,

At the place that became a haven to him...

This was the place where he took his first breath and his last as well...

This place was Sakurajima... The place that gave birth to all his precious memories and the place that became his last memory.

Akira had thought his friendship with Asahi would last a lifetime but he hadn't expected his life to be cut so short by that precious friend.

Even his last breath was wasted on a question that haunted his mind in his final moments...

Why...?

Why did it have to end like this?

Why was it those two who had killed him...?

Akira felt pain as he hit the bottom but this physical pain was not even comparable to the pain he felt in his heart.

He choked on his own blood and his choked breathing eventually came to a stop as his pupils dilated and his eyelids soon fell over, covering his eyes as he fell asleep.

A deep slumber that he was never going to wake up from.