Her eyes slowly slit open, bright lights from above piercing her retinas as she covered her face. She felt a sharp sting radiate from her side as she got up.
Her body stiff— bowels shifting uncomfortably like they were still being rearranged by the lost and found committee.
A single spec of yellow dust modes floated in front of her like a fairy before the jab decided it wanted to scream in anger like it had issues with healing.
A sharp hiss escaped her, hand on her side as she felt her rib poking her lung's surface slightly. Broken, but healing— sure it was agonizingly slow, but still, it was healing.
She carved agitated glances at the walls like they had some kind of answers to her throbbing pain, but all she met— when she rose to her feet— was the single most annoying object in that room...
...smiling at her like she was some kind of pet.
"Glad, you're awake, Akira. You were asleep forever!"
"Rinta."
Her flamboyant sun dipped dress melted into a humble oversized hoodie with a single lettered symbol that she honestly knew nothing about—and didn't want to know honestly.
"Why am I here? Did I blackout again?" Akira questioned, voice reasonably venomous.
Rinta's suspended form stuttered for a moment, a flicker of confusion painting her features, "What do you mean—?" But then for a second—the lights flickered— a soft wind blowing past them.
A wind that... wasn't supposed to exist in an underground room.
Suddenly, the blondie's question died in her throat as she sighed, muttering something incoherent before she suddenly snapped back into the moment again.
"Oh. I see... Nevermind then."
Akira's eyes narrowed.
What was that just now? It was almost like...she corrected herself mid-sentence.
"You didn't answer my question, Rinta." Akira demanded, stepping an inch closer to the edge of the platform she was on.
Rinta chuckled softly as her figure simmered into the air—
—and then reappearing behind Akira.
"You're an interesting case, Akira. First, we met under different circumstances because 'she' wanted to see you..."
Akira's eyes darkened at the edges a little at that 'she'.
"but now," The playful woman continued, "you came here all on your own. It's almost as if...fate brought you here."
"Why am I here, Rinta." Akira cleaved through tense jaws, "I thought you said that I shouldn't try to train so hard with my condition."
At that Rinta paused again.
Her pupils glowed for a brief moment before she replied, "I did, didn't I?"
The illumination form her eyes dimmed out, "Still. I'd much rather enjoy talking to you about the issues we've been facing rather than anything...else."
"You mean that assassins?"
Rinta nodded, "Mhm! Word is...that you just so happened to ward off a pack on your own."
Akira's eyes twitched, "I did that alone in the 5th precinct. How did you know?"
"Probably because Akira's never actually been there."
Bingo.
There it was.
The reaction that Rinta needed to verify her assumption.
The lady giggled as she skipped around, "Gotcha'! You're not the Akira that came with Genju and Dacchi, are you?! You're a different Akira."
Akira quieted.
Shit. She'd been hoping that Rinta wouldn't notice...but then again...she was her teacher afterall.
"What gave it away?"
"Your attitude. The Akira I met first wasn't like this...dark and gloomy you, she was more...lost and confused." Eyes softened a bit, "it was almost sad. Well, almost."
Akira fists tightened, "Well, fuck. Now that you know the differences between us, guess I can't keep playing like that other me, huh?"
"Which one? So far there's two."
"Huh?"
"Kidding!" Rinta exclaimed, "Jeez, for someone who doesn't wanna be caught as an imposter version of yourself, you make it easy to tell the difference!"
Akira let out a breath through her nose, "So what now? I mean, I don't have any permission from you to spar, so that's outta the question..."
"Hmmm, you could start by letting me know which Akira I'm talking to."
Akira sighed, "My name's Akira Kurosawa. And as far as I'm concerned, I have D.I.D..."
Rinta nodded attentively, "Ohh, okay. So I'll call you...Kuro!"
"K-Kuro?"
"Mhm! Makes it less confusing!"
Akira deadpanned, "Okay..."
Rinta didn't interrupt, just rolled over and watched her, head resting on her hands, legs kicking in the air.
Akira took a deep breath:
"So, as far as I can remember, I never really had a hard childhood growing up. My mom and dad weren't there much, but they cared. I was always close with my older brother, Akashi, but...things changed when I enrolled into High School. He...died. And...it crushed me. But then two years ago, I found out a secret about him that... didn't make sense..."
...
"Akashi...was an assassin."
"I was mad. It pissed me off that he'd like to me like that. That anger still boils inside me, but...I know exactly what I'm gonna do with it..."
Her violet pupils darkened, "Find the bastard that ordered the assassination on my brother and beat the shit out of them."
Her eyes slid up to Rinta, "That's why I came into Ayanaki. I'm not gonna stop getting stronger until I find the shitbag that got Akashi killed."
"I see. So, Kuro, you're driven by—"
"—Revenge."
At that, Rinta's eyes narrowed a bit.
Those words.
They were just like what Akira Hashinada said in the Mind Scape.
Except...
Hers were darker.
Rinta stared for a moment before she got up, "I take it that's what made you go under the allias 'Skyfall'?"
Akira's eyes shot up instantly, her pupils thin cuts in her irises as she lunged at Rinta, fingernails just a hair's breadth away from her eye—
"Ah. Ah. Ah. That's no way to treat your teacher, Kuro."
"I swear, Rinta, if you breathe a word of this—"
Rinta grinned, ear to ear, "You'll kill me? Believe me, Kuro... you're not the first to say that...buuut, if you do—"
The air screamed past Kuro's ear as a sharp, bright beam wisped past her cheek, leaving red flowing on the surface of her skin like a secret...
"Then you'd be the first to live up to that claim."
Kuro's eyes dilated.
Her hands shook under Rinta's punishing vise.
She knew in that moment.
In that very moment she locked eyes with that demon...that if Rinta wanted to...
She could choke the life out of her and still wouldn't stop smiling.
"U-Understood. I...I won't do that...just as long as you promise to never breathe a word of this to anyone ever again."
"Kinda hard to, seeing as Ayanaki's primary goal is to protect people from the likes of you, but... I'll make you a deal..."
Kuro's heart churned at that tone in the end.
But...
Judging from how much play were in those eyes, she knew that she didn't have much of a choice.
This thing could kill her five times over before she'd take her next inhale.
"What do you want?"
"From now on. You're gonna report to me now..."
Rinta closed the distance between them, pressing Kuro on her chest as she spoke, voice softer than silk:
"You will report everything you know about the Assassin's Organization...and you will not get caught, Kuro..."
She cupped her cheeks delicately, "Because if you do get caught. If you do fail me..."
"... I'll go after the one thing you love. Your friends. Hinasuke, Yoshida...and yes, Yano, too. I'll kill them all..."
"Do you understand?"
Kuro's heart fell short in her ribs, the lactic making her nauseous, the thumping blasting in her ears:
"I understand. I won't fail. I'll be Akira Hashinada to the rest of the world, but Skyfall to the rest in that hell."
At that, Rinta let her go slowly, "Good. Now...do me a favour..."
Rinta struck the same side again, Kuro's body slumped against her, then onto the floor...
"and allow me to talk to one who clung onto me when she got here."