Five
The day went by agonisingly slow and by the time three pm rolled around Akko was ready to leave the empty home. She was feeling better than she was that morning so she left the house merely dressed in her brother’s clothes and a pair of her black Doc Martens.
Two hours later she arrived at the tattoo parlour and was ushered upstairs by her friends when she tried to help clean and lock up. Rolling her eyes, Akko went up the stairs and made herself comfortable on the couch.
A few minutes later the others came up the stairs. Anri and Kyo sat together on the pile of blankets on the floor and Seiken sat on one of the two bean-bag chairs across the room with Yuuko next to him. Izana took a seat on the couch- which in reality was more like a love seat- and taking her opportunity, Akko turned her body so that her head lay in Izana’s lap.
Used to it, Izana simply rolled his eyes and ignored the jealous glares sent his way from Anri and Kyo. It was no surprise that the two liked Akko, they saw her as their older sister. Izana leaned his head against his fist and ran his other hand through Akko’s hair. He could tell she still had a fever, but he didn’t mention it.
“Say, A-cchi, who’s hoodie is that?” Anri asked, bringing everyone’s attention to the hoodie that was obviously not one of theirs or Akko’s.
“Hm, oh it’s my brother’s. He’ll go batshit crazy when he realises it’s his, but I don’t really care.” Akko shrugged. They all nodded. Izana grabbed the remote and turned on the tv.
As Izana ran his fingers through Akko’s hair, she noticed that he pointedly avoided eye contact with her. Zana from the past did the same thing… She thought to herself. Could he be a reincarnation like me?
Akko stopped her thoughts before she was caught staring at him.
“So Akko-chan, how are you feeling?” Yuuko spoke up, bringing everyone’s attention back to the dual-haired teen.
“Better. I don’t feel like throwing up every few minutes, so that’s a plus.” She replied. She earned a couple giggles, which put a small smile on her face.
“What about Yuuie? Have you shown the letter to your kaa-san?” Anri asked the question weighing on everyone’s mind. Akko shook her head.
“Not yet, she’ll probably go through my bag later.” She shrugged. The rest of the evening went by with no interruption as the group watched movies and played games.
Around 6:30 Akko had to leave before her parents got home at 9. Her friends were sad to see her go, but they understood. Izana offered to walk her to the station, which she took gladly.
The ride to the station was calming. Izana made sure to be careful when driving his bike, making sure to stay just barely above the speed limit. Reaching a familiar intersection, Akko remembered something from her past.
Riding behind Ken, Akko couldn’t help but laugh when she looked over at her brother, seeing him falling asleep while sitting behind Keisuke.
“Nii-san, you’re going to fall off.” She laughed. Looking over at the older teen, Mitsuya and Ken laughed as well as Pah-chin and Pen-yan pulled up behind them. Keisuke panicked.
“Mikey, wake up!” He shouted, attempting to keep the blonde from falling.
The light turned red and the others took off, leaving Keisuke to deal with Mikey himself.
Akko was pulled from her memory as Izana pulled up to the train station. She climbed off of the bike.
“Thanks Zana.” Akko said, giving him a grin as he nodded.
“No problem, be careful Ko.” Izana replied before driving off. Akko froze. No one called her Ko, she hated the nickname.
So how did Izana know that nickname?
The next day Akko felt better so she decided to go to school. Her thoughts about Izana were still lingering on her mind, but she tried her best not to focus too much on it, hoping that it was mere coincidence.
It was hard to focus in class with all of her thoughts, but being one of the only Sano’s to go to junior high and not drop out, she managed straight A’s by simply remembering what she learned in her past life.
Math was still difficult- there was no doubt about that- but she pretty much aced everything. Instead of doing homework at home, she’d do it before the class began, meaning she’d have time after school to partake in her favourite after school activity- beating her brother at arcade games.
They didn’t go to the arcade often, but when they did, they usually went alone. This time was no different.
Currently Akko was beating Katsuki in Dead Or Alive, getting more points than him, which pissed him off. She didn’t care, she was having fun.
“Damn it!” Katsuki shouted as the scoreboard appeared, showing Akko at the top of the board.
“Loser.” Akko teased him with a shit-eating grin.
“I’ll get you back for this.” He growled, but it didn’t scare his twin, she was too used to it to care.
“So how’s training coming?” Akko asked as the two left the arcade, having had enough of the loud place.
“Better than yours, I haven’t seen you train since you got that letter.” Katsuki huffed. Akko paused for a moment.
“You went through my fucking bag?” Akko glared at her brother. Katsuki glared back.
“Of course not! That old hag did last night and was squealing about it!” He denied. She didn’t argue, that was something their mother would do. Well- minus the squealing part.
That night Akko couldn’t stop her thoughts from the night before from creeping back to the front of her mind. Deciding she finally had enough, she grabbed her phone and sent a quick message to Izana.
Akcocopuffs-
Zana, you awake?
She waited for the reply as she saw the speech bubble appear.
Zana-niisan-
Yeah, what’s up?
She took in a breath. It’s now or never.
Akcocopuffs-
I’m gonna get straight to the point.
You called me Ko-chan last night, yet you know I hate that nickname.
How did you know that I didn’t mind it when you said it?
She released the breath. She waited, anxious as to what Izana had to say.
Zana-niisan-
…
Fine, I’ll be honest.
But not here, in person.
Tomorrow at 12, I’ll pick you up.
He then went offline. Akko closed her phone, letting it lay on her chest as she felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders.
She wasn’t the only one.