Chapter 43
After that trial, Ichika knew exactly what to do. If she did follow through with her hypothetical plan, she needed to get some things done. First, Honami.
Of course, Honami and her were definitely not on the best of terms. After they got distanced from each other, and some other things happened, Ichika guessed Honami's crime was also probably something that happened at that time.
So if she was actually going to do this, she needed to make amends before it became impossible to do so. After that, study the prison as much as she could, maybe ask Shizuku or Asahina, as they were the ones with the most coverage of the prison.
And lastly, figure out the recurring dream. Reach the figure haunting her mind once and for all.
But first, amends. She stood up in a hurry, tripping over herself as her legs trembled like they always did at that point. Just in case though, she made sure one of her hands was always stuck to the wall in case she fell and needed to balance herself.
She was dizzy, but either way she made her way out of her cell and towards the seventh cell in the hall. Honami was there, using two pens as drumsticks and gently hitting a notebook as well as her right leg with it. While doing this, Honami silently hummed a song that seemed to fit the way she hit everything.
This wasn't the first time Ichika had seen Honami do this, as it was common for her to practice this way back when they were children and she didn't have a drum set, so it made sense she did this inside a place where no drum set would ever fit.
Honami was pretty focused, not even opening her eyes or noticing Ichika standing there. Just going at it, sometimes hitting the air as if hitting non-existent cymballs that weren't there.
Eventually, she laid back, letting go of the pens and gently patting her own leg in slight pain as she winced. That was when she finally noticed Ichika, and her face flushed red in embarrassment. She covered it. "Ichika... How long were you standing there...?!"
"Oh, I... I only just got here, don't worry." Ichika reassured her quickly. "Are you busy right now?"
Honami nodded, standing up from her cell's bed and leaving everything somewhat tidied up. "Yeah, actually. I need to clean the kitchen now..."
"Huh? What happened?"
Honami once more covered her face in a bit of embarrassment, chuckling. "I may or may not have forgotten a pie in the oven."
Ichika gasped. "THAT's the sound we heard last night in the kitchen?!"
Honami sighed in defeat. "Yeah... Akito and I went over to the door when Es called for his trial to begin and, well, I forgot to turn the oven off..."
Ichika stood dumbfounded. Shinonome's trial had happened over 3 weeks ago at that point, and the event they were talking about had happened less than 24 hours before.
"You left the pie in the oven for weeks?! Uh- do you want help with the cleaning?"
Honami seemed unsure. "I'm sure you have something better to do than cleaning, Ichika." She said politely. "Don't you?"
"I don't..."
"Oh"
The two started heading towards the prison's kitchen, or as Akiyama liked to call it, The Battleground. Ichika had her right hand pressed against the wall as she slowly walked. Honami on the other hand was fidgeting, tapping on her left leg with her hand at a steady pace.
They both knew they were bound to have an actual conversation. One that didn't consist of a random thing that happened or them politely chuckling off a topic they had been putting off talking about for years. Despite that, neither of them could bring themselves to start talking.
So they both agreed without words to wait until they got to the kitchen, that way maybe no other prisoner could hear the awkwardness they'd have to push through.
When they reached the kitchen door, Honami let Ichika pass first, closing the door behind her after the blue haired girl and her were in.
The kitchen was a complete and utter disaster. There was debris covering basically everything, dust and ash coming specifically from the oven, the remains of the 3 week-old burned apple pie and 5 used fire extinguishers scattered around the floor.
Definitely, that specific place of the prison had seen better days.
Honami sighed, grabbing a broom that was lying around. Ichika grabbed a cleaning rag and a bag to start picking the extinguishers up.
They remained in silence for a bit. But it wasn't the calm silence that reigned the prison's halls in the early morning or late at night, instead it was a nerve-racking, uncomfortable silence that was fit for the situation they'd walked into together.
Right then and there, Ichika decided to speak.
"I'm sorry, Honami." She uttered out. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone, for not helping you, y'know?"
"What...?" Honami almost dropped the broom. "Ichika... Why are you apologizing?!"
"Huh- what do you mean why am I apologizing? I could've helped you out with your friends."
Honami avoided eye contact with her childhood friend. "There was nothing you could've done, Ichika. It was beyond help." She continued sweeping the floor, sighing.
"No, it wasn't! I could've done more to help, I don't know..." She muttered a bit before continuing. "Talk to you after school, maybe even plan something with Saki or even Shiho if she hadn't disappeared. A situation like that wasn't beyond help as far as I knew."
"As far as you were concerned, Ichika..." Honami corrected her with a serious look on her face. "It was so beyond any kind of help that..."
Honami choked on her words. "...So beyond help that people ended up dying because of it. You could not have done anything."
Honami recalled the day her friend group lost a member. It had been months since Shiho had gone missing at that point, and they knew how much it'd had affected her. Whether she said it or not, it was clear from the way she looked through old pics on her phone or turned around at the mentioned of the missing grey haired girl.
She knew everyone was affected by it too. Well, at least everyone who found her to be remotely close. Shizuku was distraught, she'd seen Ichika coldly looking at the distance in places they used to visit, just the four of them, and she could imagine Saki probably was worried too.
They continued to clean in silence until Honami spoke again. "Ichika... You and Saki followed through with the band thing, right? How'd that go?"
Ichika sighed. "Terribly. It was fun but then... Well, we're both here for decisions we regret aren't we?"
"Yeah... Funny how that's the case for both of us, huh?"
Ichika dropped the fire extinguishers in another bag. "So that friend group is what got you here, right?"
Honami quickly corrected that. "It wasn't them, they did nothing wrong! I snapped and that's on me."
"But you snapped because they mocked not only you but also somebody you cared about! That's on them!"
Honami looked at her childhood friend in disbelief, as it wasn't exactly common for her to say things like that, so,,, direct.
She gently put her hands on her shoulders, surely she could change her mind.
"Ichika, come on... Don't blame them! They didn't kill anyone, I did!" She dropped the broom she was holding tightly, the impact making a huge amount of noise that resounded through the room, startling the guitarist. "The mere fact that I'm here should be just enough to remind both you and I of who's in the wrong!"
"And the fact that Shiho considered you innocent is enough proof that maybe that's not true. It's me who was in the wrong, that's why-"
Ichika stopped herself. She'd almost told Honami about her hypothetical plan.
"That's why I want to make amends. I want to make it up to you for all the time we've missed of being together, with Saki and Shiho."
Honami's eyes widened, she'd been wanting to make up with her friends for so long, so she sure as hell didn't expect it to be this easy.
But despite the truthful statement Ichika had uttered, had noticed the imminent pause, her self-interruption. It was too sudden to pass off as unimportant.
"Let me get this out of the way... I want us to be friends again." She saw Ichika's face light up for a bit. "But... That's not what you wanted to say, was it, Ichi?"
Ichika sort of looked down in desperation.
"Uh- Honami- ...I can't lie to you, can I?" She asked, defeated. "You know me too well... But, anyways, I don't even know if I'll follow through with this and plus, it'll be danger—"
Honami stopped her before she could even finish that sentence. "So you'd rather face it alone? You haven't even told me what this secret thing of yours is, Ichika! I'm sure it can't be that dangerous?"
She sighed. "Fine... Come closer, we need to be quiet."
Honami got closer to Ichika, to the point where the blue haired guitarist was able to whisper in her ear. "Again, I'm not sure if I'll actually do this, but... After the incident with Hanasato and what happened with Yuzuriha... I don't know, I just- want to find a way to get us out of this place."
Honami remained silent, although Ichika could imagine she was probably not fond of the idea.
"I don't know how or what I'd do but... I can't see you and Shiho suffer in this prison anymore."
Finally, she looked at Honami's face. A blank expression quickly changed as she realized Ichika was looking at her.
"Let me help."
"No. No way, we can't do this plan."
She uttered out, the plan proposed specifically by the one person she swore to protect was absurd in her mind.
"You need a distraction, Ichi. You said it yourself, nobody would notice one person's gone if something bigger happened."
"But not this way!" She raised her voice only a bit. "Why would you even suggest that?"
"Because it's payback. After what I've done, walking away scott free wouldn't feel right."
Ichika stood up as quickly as she could, stopping
for a bit to stabilize herself.
"I'm not letting you do it, that's final. If we all walk away, you should have the chance to do so too."