Chapter Text
Akane Aoi is going to die.
He’s only fifteen years old when he gets told the news. He doesn’t know how to feel.
“Akaaaane..”
“What is it, Mirai?” Akane glances down at the smaller clock keeper as he cleans one of his boundary’s many clocks. It’s his job at that point- to be worked to the point of exhaustion. It’s what he’s best at, too. He’s always helping people out, even if he never wants to. “I’m busy right now. I can’t braid your hair, so you’ll have to ask Kako to do it. I’ll cut you some apple slices after or something when I’m done, just give me a few minutes to finish this up.”
“Mirai needs to talk to you, it’s important!”
“This is also important. The old man is going to kick my ass if I stop- hey!” he feels the girl pull at his leg. She grips onto the fabric of his pants tightly. Despite looking like a five year old, she’s strong.. for some reason. “Let go, you’re going to make me lose my balance! I told you I’d-”
“It’s not about Mirai’s hair! Mirai said it was important!” Mirai tugs on it even more. Akane can practically feel the ladder wobbling. How Mirai got up so quickly without him noticing is beyond him. “So listen!”
“Okay, okay! Jeez, I’m coming down! Let go of me first!” he lets out a sigh of relief when she does. She hops off the ladders before he climbs down. “What is this all about? You’re never this demanding. What, did you mess with some of the students again? Did Number Three threaten you for breaking and entering? You know what I said about that Mitsuba kid, he-”
“No, it’s something else!” Mirai reaches her arms up and does a grabbing-like motion with her hands. Akane picks her up with a swift motion, carrying her as if she were a baby. “Take Mirai and Akane to Kako!”
“To the old man?” the redhead raises an eyebrow. He feels Mirai clutch onto his clothing. “Why? Did you do something wrong? What does he need to undo this time?”
“It’s not that!” Mirai huffs, but it’s not with her usual energy. She almost sounds sad; it’s a bit alarming considering Akane’s never seen her this way. She’s always happy and excited.. for her to be upset is strange. It would take a lot to get her like that. “Mirai and Kako both need to talk to Akane.”
“About what?”
“..Mirai doesn’t want to be the one to say. Mirai wants Kako to start.”
“Hm,”
Akane is clueless, and so he doesn’t say anything else until he gets to the third clock keeper. All he can really do is mentally brace himself for some sort of scolding.
“Mirai said you two needed to talk to me?” He gently puts Mirai down in front of him. He has to look up to be face to face with Kako. It hurts his neck, and while he complains- he does it anyway. He doesn’t want to seem too rude. “Is this something involving the rumors? The president? I might be able to fix the rumors if I ask Ao-chan, but the president is beyond repair-”
“Nonsense, boy.” Kako silences him easily. That makes two people who have been cutting Akane’s sentences off today, but this is a little more understandable given the fact that he’s always been a little intimidated. He thought it’d die down when he got to high school at the very least, but now he’s a first year and it’s remained the same. “It’s much more important than either of those.”
“I’d say Ao-chan is pretty important.” Akane raises an eyebrow. He almost feels inclined to say that, though he doesn’t think that’s too true anymore. Aoi hasn’t been one of his main priorities in a while. “Minamoto-kaichou.. not so much, but he’s a threat to us, isn’t he? Being an exorcist and all.. What else could-”
“You are going to die.”
“..what?”
He sees Mirai look down at the floor in misery. He can almost see a bit of pity behind Kako’s strange mask- in his cold, empty eyes.
“Mirai was looking through Number Five’s books for fun..” she fidgets with her hands. She’s still a child, even if she’s a supernatural- she’s going to have childlike habits. She does stuff she’s not supposed to. She finds out things she doesn’t want to know. Poor kid. “And Mirai came across Akane’s. Akane.. is going to die later.”
Akane takes a nervous step back.
“This isn’t funny.” he hisses, crossing his arms in discomfort. He can feel his heart pounding in his chest- the thoughts he kept buried in the back of his mind beginning to break out. “Okay, now- what did you guys really want to tell me? I have community cleaning with the president after school this Friday, so I won’t be free to do more of your-”
“Akane,” Mirai reaches up for his hand. He can see a glimpse of her eyes. “Mirai doesn’t want you to die.”
He quits his rambling.
“Unfortunately, this is no joke.” Kako’s steps sound like those of an old clock ticking. Heavy and terrifying if listened to long enough. “When Mirai rushed to tell me about your future, I did not believe it myself. But I have read your book. Those books do not lie. You will die before this year ends.”
Akane can almost feel the world crashing down on him; but denial will always come first. Denial is the first step towards the acceptance stage, a stage Akane probably won’t reach.
“That can’t be true.” he scoffs. “Those books have to have some errors. That spider probably didn’t write them out right, I’m- I’m perfectly healthy.” but the way Mirai holds onto his hand so tightly almost makes him change his mind.
“He does not write those books himself.”
“Well then whoever did made a mistake. This is ridiculous.”
“The books write themselves.”
“Uhm.” the redhead pauses, “Then-”
“Listen carefully.” Kako walks towards him to put a hand on his shoulder. It’s almost reassuring- though his situation takes away from that. “There is no need for tears. You’re going to make Mirai cry as well.”
Akane swiftly wipes his eyes with his free hand. He doesn’t know how Kako realized his tears when he didn’t.
“We want you to live your human life to the fullest.” he sniffles a little at the words. He’s never even thought about hearing this until now. He expected to live up to twenty-five at the very least, maybe dying a peaceful and quiet death in the safety of his own bed after eating a nice warm dinner with his future partner. Now he realizes he isn’t going to have that future. He isn’t going to have one at all. This isn’t what he wants- he doesn’t want to die. “Your life still has value, Akane. Do not let go of what you have because you are aware that it’s all going to end. You still have goals to complete, do you not? Do everything you wish for before you pass on. You will not ever get to do it after.”
“Gramps is bad at comfort.”
Akane holds in a giggle at Mirai’s comment. At least he has her to make this situation a little less gloomy.
“Just give it your all. We are lessening your work around here from here on. You will now have more free time to do what you please.”
“..alright.” Akane clears his throat before letting go of Mirai’s hand. He ruffles the girl’s hair and lets out a shaky sigh, “I’m.. gonna go home. I need time to process this.”
“Stay safe out there, boy.” Kako adjusts his posture. “You have until December 31st. You have quite the amount of time left.”
“December 31st..” Akane mumbles. It’s January 1st when he’s told. He has the entire year to live, and after that- it’s over for him. “Okay.”
“Mirai wants Akane to stay safe, too.” he can feel Mirai hug his legs from behind. She isn’t tall enough to hug him any higher. He has to hold in his tears.
“Thank you, Mirai.” After the many years he’s been a clock keeper, he’s grown attached to her- it’s like he has someone to take care of. She’s like a little sister to him. He knows it’s going to be difficult to lose her- or rather have her lose him. “I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
“See you..” Mirai lets go with a frown. Kako doesn’t say anything.
Akane walks home by himself in the rain.
It’s hitting him harshly. It’s fogging up his glasses. He’s soaked. He feels terrible.
“Ahaha~ why the long face, Aoi?”
Great, okay. Now he has two reasons to feel terrible.
“Let’s.. not do this today,” he mutters. He hates the rain, but praises it just this once- it makes it difficult to tell he was crying beforehand. “I’m just walking home, you should walk to yours. I don’t feel like doing this right now, president.”
Teru blinks at how straight-forward he sounds. “Who hurt you today, hm? Was it the girls from your second period? Are they laughing at your hair color again?”
“That doesn’t have to do with anything, no.” Akane pauses, “I don’t even know how you know about that, actually.”
“Just heard it around~ it isn’t hard to spread something in our school. For such a smart student, I thought you’d know that by now.” the exorcist moves closer to him on the sidewalk. Their forearms are pressing together, and Teru’s umbrella covers the supernatural’s head- protecting it from the rain. “So, tell me, Aoi, what has you so down? Is someone else making fun of you, perhaps? Another rejection from Akane-san?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, I can practically read it off your miserable face. You don’t need to be so shy.”
“Just drop it.”
Teru does the opposite. He tries pushing at least another ten times- forcing himself into Akane’s personal business as always. The more he does, the more he reminds Akane of his short lifespan. He can’t take it. He can feel his thoughts creeping up on him, his eyes are beginning to go blurry again- his chest is tightening, he can’t even think properly-
“Can you just- stop?” he blurts out at some point, his voice cracking halfway in his sentence. Now he has no reason to be thankful for the rain; he’s just made his crying obvious in some other way. “I just.. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Teru is quiet for a few seconds before responding. “I see. Well,” his hand brushes against Akane’s. “I’m always here if you would like to talk about it. I suppose I was just a bit concerned.”
Akane leans his body against Teru’s, close enough to absorb his body heat. He can hear Teru’s still heartbeat against the sound of rain. He can feel the comforting warmth of his body. Akane is tired. He doesn’t even know what’s going on. He just has to pray he doesn’t say the wrong thing, and so he keeps his responses short. “Thank you,” he whispers as he feels Teru’s arm wrap around his shoulder. It evens out his balance; that’s probably the only reason he does it. Nothing more than that. It’s a friend thing.
“I’ll walk you home. The rain has gotten you all sluggish, hasn’t it?” He's thankful Teru changes the topic. If he continued to push, Akane probably would have broken into two hundred pieces. He also doesn’t understand why he does it, though. Well, Teru can be kind sometimes. It’s more like whenever he feels like it. He’s walked Akane home before. A handful of times, actually. “I remember you talked about how much it bothered you.”
“Mhm..”
“Rest as soon as possible, you don’t sound too good. Your parents aren’t home, correct? I remember you talking about them not being around too much, as well. It should be quiet enough to nap for a bit.”
“But it’s the first day of the year. Why would I nap today?”
“Because you clearly need it, Aoi.” Teru hums softly. “As I said, I’m concerned. You don’t have to do what I say, I’m only suggesting it. I advise you sleep even if it’s just for a few hours.”
“I hate naps.”
“I’m aware.”
Teru knows a lot about Akane. Akane can almost feel himself smile despite his rain-covered face.
It’s going to be hard to lose him, too.
They aren’t close-close, but they’re still pretty close. Close enough to be comfortable around each other to be their true selves. Close enough to ramble about things without realizing. Close enough to tease and laugh when it’s just them alone.
“We’re here.”
Akane must’ve zoned out, as he didn't realize when they got there. Now Teru’s holding onto his hand- a look of genuine worry on his face.
“Are you sure there isn’t anything you want to get off your chest before you head inside?”
There’s two things Akane wants to tell him.
“..no,”
But nothing comes out.
He has twelve months to do it. Twelve months to confess his feelings, twelve months to admit how little time he has left- he’ll be fine.
“Alright then.” Teru lets go of his hand, allowing him to walk up the steps to his porch. “See you at school tomorrow, Aoi. Sleep well. You know where to find me when you have trouble sleeping late at night.”
“Thank you again,” Akane mumbles, watching Teru give a small, genuine smile with a nod following afterward. “See you tomorrow, president.”
Teru walks off afterward.
Akane has a lot to think about. Now that he’s alone in silence, his thoughts are screaming- they’re the only thing he can hear in that damn empty house.
First of all, he’s going to die. That's already been flooding his mind, and he’s been informed just less than an hour ago. He’s only in high school- he’s barely gotten to live any of his life. He’s still a kid. It isn’t fair.
Second of all, Kako was right when he said Akane still had goals and wishes he wanted to fulfill. He wants to get better at literature, he wants to learn how to swim, he wants to get back into piano lessons- but he isn’t sure if he’ll be able to do virtually any of them. They all take time; time he doesn’t have.
And third of all, he has a lot of pent-up feelings to think about. He’s held them in for so long, he doesn’t know how to handle them. From wanting to tell Lemon that his haircut is stupid, to wanting to apologize profusely to Aoi for not keeping his promise, to wanting to spill out his entire heart to Teru- everything is so confusing.
But really, it’s fine. If he thinks about it a different way, maybe it won’t be so bad.
It’s like an hourglass that represents his life has been flipped to begin its awaited countdown.
It’ll last 12 months; that’s how long he has until everything ends. 12 months is long enough, right?
Hopefully he knows what to do before the sand runs out.
The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that comparing his lifespan to an hourglass doesn’t make it any better. Not even in the slightest. It actually makes things a lot worse. He stares at his ceiling with teary eyes while laying on his bed. He’s so tired.
This is going to be a long (or rather extremely short) year.