The setting is at a place near a mountain in Osaka Prefecture, around 8:00 pm.
Akagi's POV
The sky is now pitch black and the only light you can see are the bright half lit moon and the tiny flickering lights the stars give. It may not be enough but it's still reassuring that when darkness comes, those lights will still be there to guide you wherever you go.
" Akane. " a voice from behind me snapped me back to reality. It's my bestfriend, Ichika. She smile and handed me a can of warm coffee. It's great that someone made vending machines especially for warm beverages and put it everywhere. Vending machines usually just store cold drinks, now we can have a sip of warm coffee wherever we go.
" Thank you, Ichika. Where are the others? " I asked her while opening my can.
" They're setting up the tent, it's illegal to set up tents here but they insist that it'll be fine as long as it won't be found out. " she said in a worried tone. If someone with authority found out that we camp here and even set a tent, I'm sure it'll be hard for Ichika because she's the class president.
" Now, I'm worried... "
" About what? " She looked at me and asked.
" Because I don't want our class president to be in trouble. "
She gets close and cuddles me. " Don't make me fall in love with you! " she said jokingly. " Also, aren't you gonna be in trouble too? " she added.
" Ah. " I just remembered that I'm the vice president. " I guess you're right. Then let's both take responsibility if something bad happens! "
She once again smile at me and with her soft voice she said " Thank you for always being there for me. " and it made my face heat up a little.
" Hey, you two! Stop clinging onto each other and gather some woods. Since you didn't help setting up the tent, you should atleast help with the campfire. " Riu said with his usual intimidating facial expression. It's not that he's mad or something, his face is just like that.
" Eh? Why, are you jealous? " Ichika said teasing Riu.
" Why would I be jealous? " Riu responded.
Yes, he don't have to be jealous, he is.. Ichika's boyfriend, me and Ichika are just bestfriend, plus the fact that we're both girls, it will make no sense if he get jealous.
" Right, then should Akane get the wood herself so we'll have time together? " Ichika asked Riu. " What are you saying, go with Akane, it'll be dangerous if she'll go by herself. " Riu said.
" But I want to be with you, Riu " she said as she clings on Riu's arm.
" No, Ichika. You should go with Akane-- "
" It's okay, I can go on my own. " I said. " You can stay with Riu."
" Are you going to be fine? " asked Riu.
" Yes, it just woods, I'm sure I can find some nearby. Don't worry. "
I said those but, I've been walking for about 30 minutes and I only managed to get 7 wood sticks. It's getting really dark so it's difficult to see on the ground.
" Hmm, maybe these will be enough. I'll just have the boys to get more if not. " I said to myself and turned back but I suddenly heard something rustling.
I stepped back and looked around. The rustling seem to come from the thick bushes on my side. Gathering all the courage I have, I slowly walks towards the bushes to see what it is but then I quickly jumped back when a grunting wild boar appeared. I managed to get back at time before it's long pointy tusks hit me earlier but now... I can't move a muscle. My legs gone limp causing me to fall down.
" H-Help... " The boar squeals and move one of it's front foot against the ground in a scraping manner before dashing towards me.
" HELP ME, ICHIKA!!! "
. . . .
It feels cold... I opened my eyes only to find a never-ending darkness around me.
" Where am I? " I asked without knowing if someone would actually answer me. But then, there is.
" You're in the void right now, Akagi Akane." said a beautiful lady wearing godly clothes and a smile on her face. " Here, there is no life and death, just nothingness. "
" The void...?! Wait! I'm not supposed to be here! "
" Then tell me, do you remember what happened? " the lady asked.
" What do you mean what happened-- "
Flashback of the incident from the forest filled my mind and my head started to feel heavy. " A boar..attacked me and then... ".
" You died. " the lady said. " Souls such as yourself usually go straight to the judgment room for the trial about whether they should go up or down. So do you know why you're here in the void? "
" No... "
" Then do you want to know why you died? " she asked again.
" I died because a boar attacked me. "
" Wrong. You died because of your bestfriend, Ichika is it? "
" What.. What are you talking about?! Ichika did nothing wrong! " shouting out of nowhere, I tried to calm myself down. " It was my choice to go by myself. "
" But that's not it, actually. Since you're already dead, I guess I can tell you that Ichika betrayed you. " she said bluntly. " I'm sure you're aware that Ichika have a crush on Riu for a very long time, but it's not destiny that they ended up together. "
" March 2, around 5 pm, Riu was on his way to confess to you. "
" But that day, I was told by Ichika that I should go ahead and wait for her at the station. "
" Indeed, because she don't want you to get in the way. She basically, threatened Riu so that he won't be able to be with you. Do you know what she told him? She said... "
" I'll kill Akane if you ever confess to her. "
" You're lying! Ichika won't say that! " I know Ichika, she's my bestfriend, she won't do something like that!
The lady appeared behind me and asked " Then, do you want to take a peek inside Ichika's room? "
Ichika's room. I've been in her house numerous times, but Ichika never let me go to her room, not even once. Her room was always locked.
With these thoughts I nod at the lady and she smiled, she placed her hand on top of my head and a horrifying image appeared before my eyes.
" This is--!! " shocked on what I see in front of me, my head starts to feel heavy again and it's getting hard to breathe.
Ichika's room is filled with stolen pictures of Riu, some pictures have blood on it. I turned my head to the side and saw a small picture frame on top of her desk, it's a picture of me, Ichika and Riu, or it's supposed to be. The part where my face supposed to be in, was burned.
" But it's not Ichika's fault that I died! "
" How stubborn. Do you still want to see more? " her face turned from calm to dead serious.
" There's more...? "
" Do you know that, Ichika was there when you died? But your bestfriend didn't do anything, she just stood there, watching you get devoured by the boar. "
" That's because she's afraid! She can't do anything but to stand there-- ?! " The lady suddenly touched my forehead. It looks like she's letting me see one of her memories, from there I see myself, the boar and behind one of the trees, there is Ichika... smiling like crazy while I'm getting eaten by the boar.
- To be continued . . .