That night, Akimitsu took residence in the corner of his room to seek slumber, the notion of sleeping in his own bed unthinkable at this point, for his coat that housed the letters of the fallen was still there, and the bed was reserved for them. He made a small attempt at fixing the chaos that had been inflicted upon the living space, but it still remained in tatters with his belongings strewn everywhere and everything in a state of disarray, no matter how much he tried to motivate himself to fix it. The young gentleman dug through the mess until he found his pajamas, and proceeded to change before slumping into the corner.
The next morning he awoke early, a habit he had picked up in this nightmare of a place. It was very unlike him, for he was used to getting home late because of gigs and staying in bed until well into the afternoon. But now he went to bed fairly early and awoke in the wee hours of the morning, which could only be, he assumed, because he had trained himself to wake up in time to see the sunrise so often after Ai’s passing. He blinked, and looked around him, seemingly lost, before remembering that he had caused this mess, he was to blame. Giving a small sigh and using the wall to support himself, Akimitsu stood, his bones aching and his foot protesting the sudden movement after not being elevated for so long. Soon, he would be able to sleep in his own bed, curled up with some book and enjoying his usual hot chocolate. He had to stay positive, if not only for himself, but for Karin as well.
He had a lot to prove.
Akimitsu showered and dressed, and sat down upon the bed to wrap his foot up, placing the gauze pads over the underdeveloped, tender parts of his deformity. It was with a practiced motion he situated himself, finishing the wraps and tugging an argyle sock over it. He moved to put on his shoes, when his coat caught his eye, still strewn across the bed having been thrown there by an unknown force. He paused in his movements, and sat back, his hands palms propping himself up on the bed.
"…Mm." He tilted his head, eyes half-lidded and thoughtful, obviously mulling something over. With a small breath escaping him, Akimtsu reached out and finally took the coat in his hands after days of ignoring its existence. For a moment, he had feared that it would still be damp from housing the presence of a young woman, shielding her corpse away from the people she had abandoned. It was with a relief that he found it to be dry, and for a moment, he considered putting it on again. He brought the garment closer to him, but then—
Akimitsu cast it away, throwing it where it had been placed on his bed sheets in a crumpled mess, and with shaking hands, leaned forward and placed his face in his palms. He retched, clasping a hand over his mouth, and shut his eyes tight, trying to stop the tears.
It smelled like chlorine.
The moment he could collect himself long enough to move, Akimitsu slipped on his shoes and got up, crossing over to the dresser and jamming his remaining clip into his hair— Karin still had the green. He glanced down at his wrist that still housed the pink ribbon, before running a hand through his hair, still trying to get control of himself.
Thank goodness for the distraction; right then, there was a knocking on his door. Grabbing the cane that was resting against the wall, Akimitsu moved over to the door and exited it quickly, trying to shut it as soon as possible so Karin wouldn’t be able to see the contents of the destroyed room inside.
"Good morning, Kari-chan! Let’s get moving."
With that, he was already making his way beside her, heading towards the unexplored areas of the lodge. He was desperately searching for something to occupy him, anything to make him forget the sickly smell of chlorine, the girl under the water that couldn’t hear him, no matter how much he had cried, the hand placed gently against the back of his head, comforting him, lying to him, murdering him—
"If I may, Kari-chan, I have a suggestion. That guard’s tower, over there— it’s very tall, right? Perhaps if we climb it, we can see into the space around us and perhaps receive some sort of inkling as to where we are. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see someone who can hep us. It’s worth a shot, right?"
His speech was quickened by panic, the hurried tone doing poorly to cover up how unnerved he was. Akimitsu cleared his throat and straightened his bow tie, avoiding her gaze. It was going to be a long day, that much was for sure.
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