Akane rolled over on her bed. She didn't want to sleep, she wanted so badly to return to Shiro, her brother. Her heart warmed as she thought of her newly acquired new family.
After a few seconds her excitement turned into drowsiness and little by little her mind surrendered to the warm embrace of sleep.
Akane fell asleep within a few seconds and that's how the first day passed after meeting her brother.
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Akane's eyes opened sleepily and she watched as her surroundings slowly became clearer. Her sleep disappeared as she saw the white door open, a small smile flashed on her face as she knew what was coming.
Zen entered the room and was surprised to see Akane already up.
"It seems that you are very happy about your next visit with Shiro"
"Yeah!" At the question the little girl began to jump with excitement.
Akane walked with zen out of her room and in a few seconds they were in the hallway that connected the other places.
"Akane"
Zen's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she looked at him curiously.
"I need you to give this piece of paper to Shiro, but I want you to prevent the camera from noticing anything, I can trust you with this task?"
She spoke Zen as she took out a sheet of paper and placed it in Akane's hands with a serious face. Although he could have easily given the grade like the previous one, he was too risky and therefore he didn't want to get into trouble, yet. But apart from that he also had to do his part of the plan. He looked at little Akane who looked at the note curiously.
Akane nodded quickly.
"Of course"
She smiled from ear to ear making Zen relax and they soon resumed their walk towards area 12E.
"Wait you two"
An icy tone voice called out from behind them, causing the two to stop and turn towards the sound of the voice.
Ayane looked at them with a serious face, concentrating a little more on little Akane.
"You need something?" Zen responded calmly.
Ayane frowned and gave an exasperated sigh.
"They didn't tell you, did they?"
"Tell me what?"
"From now on I will be helping you monitor the regular visits from 01 to 077"
Zen was surprised but tried to calm down and not show any other emotion.
Little Akane looked at Ayane with curiosity, she is pretty, Akane thought looking at Ayane's perfect face.
"And why were you assigned to help me?" Zen responded by trying to find the reason why the higher ups didn't think he was good enough to handle this, or they were suspicious. Which would be too annoying for his plan.
"That's classified information, now let's not waste any more time and go to 077's room" Ayane's voice faded a little more than normal when talking about number 077. Zen could only nod helplessly, whatever it was would have to fulfill orders.
Ayane stood next to the two and together they began to walk towards the hallway that led to Shiro's room. The previously white hallways turned a dull shade of gray and a long hallway opened before their eyes, a lone door ahead.
Akane quickly walked excitedly and stood in front of the door. Zen stood next to her and placed a card on a small scanner that quickly opened it with a small click.
--birr--
The door opened completely and the group of three entered the room. Ayane leaned against the door that had currently closed.
"Brother Shiroo"
Akane's excited voice filled the room making everyone present almost scratch their ears at the girl's loud voice.
Shiro's eyes opened and he looked at the girl who was approaching her bed. Shiro's eyes scanned those present and her gaze fell on Ayane's eyes. 'I guess I couldn't avoid her for long.' Shiro couldn't wander into his thoughts as a little girl hugged him with a tight hug.
"I missed you....brother"
Shiro couldn't separate himself from Akane and simply waited for the girl to detach herself. Shiro soon felt the girl put something on her side and soon noticed the small note. He quickly grabbed it and hid it under her pillow.
"Shiro, we need to talk.."
Ayane's voice interrupted the two's little moment. And soon all eyes fell on Ayane. She cleared her throat and looked Shiro directly in her eyes..
"Alone"
Zen raised an eyebrow and looked at her. From what Ayane had said she was helping him supervise the visits, so why would she want to talk to Shiro? It didn't make sense, suspicious...
"But-"
Shiro's voice interrupted Zen who was about to say part of her thoughts. Zen looked at Shiro who raised a hand in her direction telling her not to say anything.
"Alright"
Akane looked at Shiro curiously and Shiro looked back at her. A small smile bloomed on Shiro's face calming the little girl.
"Akane, could you wait outside for 5 minutes?"
"..Alright."
Akane felt a a little dejected since she had barely arrived here. But she decided better to do what her brother said.
Zen and Akane left the room and just as the sound of the door closing filled the room, Ayane's voice interrupted the silence in the room.
"What are they planning?"
Shiro froze at those words and couldn't help but look at Ayane like a threat. This was very dangerous, dangerous.
"What do you mean with-"
"I noticed it on the cameras"
Ayane pointed her finger at the pillow and then spoke to her.
"And I also noticed the subtle movement of Akane handing you something..... And I don't think they're sweet."
"I don't know what you mean-"
"I know you better than anyone and you know it Shiro, so don't try to lie to me, I know that before you tried something against the organization... So I highly doubt that you are so passive now without making any move... Tell me what you're up to"
Shiro looked at Ayane and couldn't do anything. He knew that what Ayane said was true in some way, she knew him very well.. But he couldn't say the same, he always thought of his companions as more than mere tools that were his enemies. He was so locked in his thoughts of revenge and justice that he never noticed his companions. It all came down to this, could he tell Ayane and with pure luck she would help him? Or he would simply be killed along with Zen and Akane.
Ayane looked at him and after a few seconds she took out a katana and then threw it at Shiro.
"Fight with me"
Shiro's eyes widened in surprise. Shiro looked at the katana on the ground and couldn't help but frown, but before he had time to think about Ayane's proposal, she had already taken out her katana and got into a fighting stance.
Ayane quickly went for an upward blow that almost made Shiro lose an eye, but with a quick movement he threw himself back and then quickly reached for the katana and blocked the attack that Ayane threw at him. Ayane did not show any emotion and after struggling for dominance between his katanas, Shiro's strength was soon noticed making Ayane move away. Shiro was able to get into a combat pose and in one moment they were in combat again.
Ayane attempted a leg sweep but was quickly dodged by Shiro who took advantage of Ayane's moment of surprise and attempted to make a shallow cut on his side. Ayane narrowly dodged it and quickly swung her katana towards Shiro's neck. Ayane's intention was to cut her neck, but Shiro dodged it and kicked one of his legs, causing Ayane to lose her balance and fall backwards.
Shiro took advantage of the moment of shock and lunged to immobilize Ayane but a strong pain covered his mind and he realized that the days of being drained of blood were taking their toll.
Ayane took advantage of that moment of weakness and jumped up. Shiro was barely able to block Ayane's attack and they soon found themselves exchanging attack after attack. Shiro frowned tiredly, little by little beads of sweat fell from his forehead. After a blow to the ribs Shiro fell to the ground and grunted from the force of the blow.
Ayane pinned him to the ground and soon he found himself under her with the katana grazing her neck. Shiro looked into her eyes and didn't move, he couldn't.
"I win.."
Ayane's voice sounded broken and soon you could see why, small drops came out of her eyes and fell on Shiro's face.
Shiro's eyes widened in surprise and he looked at the girl who was crying above him.
"You know... I always admired you, loved you, idolized you, always knew you were incredible, even to this day."
"But I realized that you probably never thought about me, I tried many times, you know? I always tried to get your attention but little by little my enthusiasm faded."
Ayane's voice trailed off for a few seconds and soon resumed with a sad smile.
"I tried to forget about you... I really tried"
"But then I found out that you had betrayed the organization and I was disappointed."
A silence filled the room and Ayane's dark face did not help the situation.
"But.... Then I realized that you were probably doing the right thing, I hate the organization too"
"That's why I want us to overthrow her together."
Before Shiro's eyes widened in surprise, a pressure on her lips startled him. His eyes met the scene of Ayane kissing his lips, Shiro could only hold his breath at the event that was occurring.
Ayane pulled away after a few seconds and looked at Shiro with a shy look.
"It's my reward for winning..."
Ayane stood up and released a confused shiro. Shiro stood up and composed himself, he decided to ignore what her partner did, since now he felt that he had finally connected with her.
Soon, they noticed the door open and saw Zen and Akane enter. Little Akane looked at the two people who were already he entered the room and his gaze lit up when he saw Shiro. He quickly approached them and soon noticed how there were small cuts in the walls.
"What happened?"
Before Zen could ask completely, Ayane interrupted him.
"Disable the cameras... So what's the plan to destroy the organization?"
Zen looked at Ayane in surprise and then her gaze went to Shiro, a nod from Shiro and soon Zen found himself sighing.
"Were we too obvious?"
"Not at all... I'm just too good at noticing things."
Although Zen felt like a fool because his intentions were quickly found he soon found himself smiling, apparently because of the atmosphere Shiro had managed to get Ayane to join them in his plan.
"So what's the plan?"
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[2 weeks later]
The darkness enveloped them and soon the entire group noticed how white lights illuminated a hallway of the same color. A sigh left her mouth and she nodded in Milly's direction. The time had come....
"Kazuyo, please wait for me...."
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