Silence.
A deep, endless silence wrapped around me like a grave.
I floated inside it for what felt like centuries, weightless and thoughtless, until a distant voice tugged me upward.
"Amane…"
A faint echo. Then another.
My eyelids twitched. Pain stabbed behind my skull. A heavy breath filled my lungs for the first time in days.
When I forced my eyes open, everything blurred.
White walls. A bright light. The smell of disinfectant.
And someone sitting beside me—head down, fingers locked tightly around my hand.
Pearl.
Akira's sister.
The moment she sensed movement, her head shot up. Her tired eyes widened.
"Amane…? Oh my God—Amane—"
Her voice broke with shock and relief. She cupped my cheek lightly, scared her touch might hurt me.
But my brain wasn't ready for questions or explanations.
It searched for only one thing.
I tried to sit, but my muscles screamed in pain.
"Pearl…" My voice cracked like dry wood. "Where… where is Akira?"
The name alone ignited every memory inside my skull: the battlefield, the gunshots, his scream, the blood, the grenade, the moment his body fell—
My heart started racing violently.
"Where is he?" I whispered, louder. "Pearl, where is AKIRA?!"
Pearl's breath hitched. Her lips trembled. Her eyes filled with tears she could no longer hold back.
"Amane…" she whispered. "Please… don't ask that—"
I grabbed her arm with all the strength I had.
"PEARL, TELL ME!"
Her face crumbled.
"We won the war…" she said slowly, as if the words were knives cutting her tongue.
"But… we lost… Akira."
The world stopped.
Something shattered inside my chest—loud, violent, merciless.
"NO."
My voice exploded from me—half scream, half sob.
"NO, HE'S NOT DEAD—NO!"
I tore the blanket off and tried to get off the bed, but my lungs burned and my legs collapsed. Still, I crawled, desperate.
"He can't be dead—HE CAN'T—"
My voice shook uncontrollably. "He promised me—he PROMISED we'd get married—HE CAN'T DIE LIKE THIS!"
Pearl rushed to hold me, but I pushed her away, my nails digging into my own skin.
"AKIRA IS NOT DEAD!" I screamed.
I reached for the bedside table and threw it against the wall. Medical supplies crashed to the floor.
Nurses rushed in, but Pearl blocked them with her arm, her voice broken:
"Let her… please… she needs this."
I beat my fists against my chest, against the bed, against the floor—punishing myself, punishing the world.
"WHY DID I LIVE?!"
My scream scraped my throat raw.
"WHY DID I WAKE UP?! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN WITH HIM—I SHOULD HAVE DIED WITH HIM—"
My voice dissolved into sobs so violent they shook my entire body.
They kept me in a recovery room.
It changed nothing.
Because inside, I was still lying on the battlefield, holding Akira's bleeding body, screaming his name into a world that didn't listen.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him falling.
Every time I opened them, he wasn't here.
Pearl stayed beside me, silent but breaking more each day. She tried to smile for me, tried to be strong—but every few minutes, I saw her wipe her cheek with the back of her hand.
Sometimes, late at night, I heard her crying outside my room.
We were both drowning in the same ocean.
I tried eating. But the food tasted like sand.
I tried walking. But my legs shook with every step.
I tried breathing. But every breath felt like betrayal.
Every corner of the room reminded me of him:
The chair where he sat teasing me about being stubborn.
The window where he leaned while talking about protecting Japan.
The pillow where he once let me sleep after staying up too late writing letters.
Every memory stabbed deeper than the last.
At times, I found myself whispering into the air:
"Akira… if you're still here… if you're even a shadow… please… answer me…"
But only silence returned.
One evening, Pearl sat beside me, holding something tightly in her hands.
When she opened her palm, I saw a small silver ring.
"Akira… carried this with him," she whispered, her voice trembling. "In his pocket."
My breath caught.
The ring.
The one he promised he'd give me when the war ended.
I pressed it to my heart, trembling violently.
"He wanted to… propose," Pearl continued, trying and failing to steady her voice.
My tears fell onto the ring, sticking to the metal as if refusing to let go.
"Why…" I whispered. "Why did he leave without saying goodbye…"
Pearl rested her forehead against mine, both of us crying silently, clutching each other like pieces of the same broken soul.
Days passed.
But the nights… they were torture.
Every night, I woke up screaming his name—loud enough that nurses rushed in to calm me.
Every night, I reached for someone who wasn't there.
Every night, the empty space beside me burned like a fresh wound.
One night, I stayed awake until dawn.
The silver ring sat in my hands.
The moonlight painted it in a pale glow.
"Akira…" I whispered. "If you're gone… then my heart went with you."
A single tear slid down my cheek.
But then—
Somewhere inside me…
A whisper.
A heartbeat.
A feeling I couldn't explain.
A whisper of my own voice came in my brain .
" Akira died for his nation like a warrior , why not I choose same path , live like Akira , this could made me learn more about him."
One thing was true that I refused to remove Akira from my life .
Story didn't end , just I'm now fallen soul of Akira.