Chapter Twenty-Two; Part Four

My vision went dark, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking through Raito's eyes again, in another memory. He turned his head to look at me, a child no older than six at the time. It was a little odd seeing myself as a child through the eyes of someone else. I noticed I was holding a little trophy, Raito holding one about the same size, and we both had medals around our necks.

I quickly became confused. I didn't remember something like that happening before. It was then that I realized I didn't remember much of anything before the age of eight. I never thought to question why until right then. I had thought it was just natural to not remember that far back in your childhood when you were growing up.

The memory showed we had both gotten first place rewards in the grades we were in. I was getting the same rewards Raito was getting every year. "Wait a minute...I thought I had been average my entire life..? What is this..?" I thought to myself as the memory continued to play by.

The audience clapped and cheered for us, Raito patting my head and I giggled. From there, several memories flashed before my eyes, though through my own eyes. The memories showed 100's on every homework assignment and test, first place awards on projects, people asking me for help on assignments, wanting to be my friend, a few girls watching me from afar with reddened cheeks, out parents showering the both of us with love, and Raito and I playing together every single day. We were practically inseparable from what I was seeing. The fact of the matter was, I had no recollection of a single one of these memories.

Then, a more specific memory played, though once again, it was through my eyes. Raito and I were invited to do some kind of science experiment. We were messing around with chemicals and such. I got cocky and wanted to show off my skills, so I did some things on my own. I was doing pretty well at first, however, I got a few of my chemicals mixed up. I thought it'd be fine, but my mixture started bubbling and sparking. I backed away from it, starting to get scared, and by the time the advisors noticed, it was too late. The mix of chemicals exploded, blowing me back and slamming me into the wall behind me. The other chemicals reacted to the explosion via the chemicals and heat in the air, exploding one after another themselves, fires erupting from others. Due to that, the entire audience began to run out of the auditorium, screaming their heads off.

The advisors tried to run and get Raito out as well, but he slipped from their grasp, running to where I was and screaming my name. "Sanda..! Sanda!"

I slowly stood up and reached out to him, starting to run forward. "Raito..!" I began to cry. Suddenly, I felt a heavy blow to the top of my head, making me stumble. My vision blurred and I was knocked out. I was looking through Raito's eyes again after that. His eyes widened as he watched a part of the ceiling fall from above and hit me in the head, not large enough to crush or kill me, but he could tell it did some serious damage.

He watched as I was knocked out and fell over. "Sanda!" He screamed and tried to run to my side, but more rocks fell from above and from the walls, collapsing around me and blocking him from getting to me. The only thing Raito could do was reach his arm in, but he couldn't even touch me. He cried my name, but no one paid any mind to us. The two of us were completely forgotten.

Suddenly, I was looking through my own eyes again. My vision was red and blurry, I imagine from the blood that was dripping from my head. I could faintly hear the screams of adults and children alike and see spreading fires from the small holes in the rocks, and then I saw Raito, reaching out to me. "So this is what that was..." I thought to myself.

"Stand up..." He whimpered, crying still. "Please get up..." He sniffled. "You have to get up Sanda! Please!" He cried out.

I lifted my arm weakly, reaching out to him. "Rai...to..." I muttered before falling unconscious again. I heard Raito coughing a lot as I did so. He must have inhaled too much smoke and passed out because when the memory continued I was looking through Raito's eyes and staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

He shot up suddenly when he awoke. "Sanda!"

Our parents shot up from their seats and rushed to his side. "Raito! Calm down, it's okay..." My mother tried to calm him.

"Where's Sanda..?!" He looked around.

"He's right here my boy..." My father muttered, standing beside the hospital bed I was in.

My head was wrapped in bandages, as well as my arms and legs. I wasn't surprised that I might've broken something with all that happened. Raito sighed with relief, tears filling his eyes.

"He's okay..." He muttered happily.

"...Not...exactly..." My mother muttered, her voice cracking slightly. My brother looked up and his eyes widened as they both explained what had happened. The police and firefighters and such were called, which is how we were eventually found. The only reason they found me was because of Raito's arm still sticking through the rubble around me. The rock that had hit my head hit me so hard I fell into a coma. They didn't know when I was going to wake up. Raito began crying as he heard the news and both my parents hugged him as gently as they could, not wanting to hurt him anymore than he already was, a doctor watching from afar with a solemn look. Ratio and I really were as close as we could be at that age. It was no wonder he was so heartbroken.

Months passed and I still hadn't woken up. Raito came to visit me with my parents at least once a week. The time I would never forget was when he sat by my bedside, rested his head on the bed, and began crying into his arms. "I miss you..." He said. Those words brought tears to my eyes.

After they left that day, something happened. I wasn't watching from Raito's eyes anymore, but more of a third person point of view. I watch as a light floated to me and touched my head, seemingly coming out of nowhere, entering my head afterwards and I glowed. My eyelids twitched and I slowly opened my eyes. My eyes widened a bit as I thought of something. "Akari..?"

The next day came and my family was there, all crying tears of joy when they saw I was awake. At first, however, I had a blank expression and barely responded to anything. I had ended up failing the grade I was currently in because of my coma, and it was currently the middle of the summer.

Throughout the summer I recovered and gained my personality back, but I didn't remember anything. I wasn't nearly as smart or great as I used to be. Raito confronted my parents one day, wondering why I didn't remember anything. They told him that I had lost most of my memory and they had no idea what to do to bring it back. Raito's eyes were wideI was alive, but they had still lost me. That was when everything began going downhill. Everything that had happened was my own fault; the way I became, what happened to Raito, all because I got a little cocky as a child.

Present...

The memory finally ended and I was looking through my eyes, into the dull eyes of my brother. He had a couple more minutes at most. "This is...my..."

"Don't you...dare..." Raito muttered weakly. "You were a child...and everyone makes mistakes... Don't go blaming yourself the last couple minutes I'm alive..." More tears filled my eyes and I nodded, staying silent. "You became...who you were...all those years ago...without even realizing it..." Raito chuckled. "Just...look at...the things you've...accomplished..."

I recalled how quickly I had mastered my element and all the things I learned on my own with it as well as the things the others taught me. I recalled being on par with Raito whenever we fought, even though I had thought he was much stronger, but with his will to kill me, he didn't hold back when we fought with Atiyama and Akari or when we fought alone when the Dark Elementia had attacked. He only held back at first that day because he wanted to torture me. That cockiness is what caused his downfall, just like mine caused my own all those years ago. The darkness had clouded his memories, and that's why he didn't remember that cockiness could be fatal.

"Sanda...please...don't let what's happened change you again..." He reached up, running his fingers through my hair.

I stared at him, lips quivering as I tried to hold back my tears. "I-I..."

He shook his head. "You don't have to apologize... I'm sorry for being too weak to stop it... But I won't let the same happen to you..." He tapped my forehead. "Just look..." I looked at him, realizing he wasn't wearing his hoodie. I looked at myself, the hoodie being on me now. I realized he must have put it on me while I was living through his memories, and I trembled.

"Now you'll always have a piece of me with you... Just like how I always had a piece of you when I wore this... I'll always be protecting you in a way..." He smiled, his arm slipping to his side as he just looked up. "Please don't ever change... You're an amazing person Sanda...much more than me... Never forget that... Also...I have to tell you something...so come closer..." I nodded and did so hesitantly, still fighting back the tears. He muttered, his voice quieter and quieter, explaining something until there was nothing of his voice left. I looked down at him, seeing no light in his eyes anymore, a weak smile on his face.

"No... Raito you can't go... You can't leave me... Please don't go..!" I grabbed his head, pressing my forehead against his as my tears finally spilled. "Raitooooo!!!" I screamed his name as I cried. Every memory I had with him began to run through my mind. The good, the bad, the elemental, every piece of it. Even if this is what he wanted, I still think there could've been a different ending. He shouldn't have had to die that day. I still blame myself for it to this very day.

After a few minutes of crying over my brother's corpse, I felt someone's arms wrap around my stomach from behind. I turned to see Jinny kneeling beside me, the other five Elementia watching from afar, sad looks on their faces. I imagine they had heard everything. Tears continued to spill from my eyes as I looked from Jinny to my dead brother. "If only...I had been stronger..." I whimpered, looking down.

I felt her hand touch my cheek, tilting my head back up to meet her soft gaze. "Don't say that... You have been and always will be the strongest person I know...Sanda..." She muttered, pressing her forehead against mine, not breaking eye contact.

I simply turned around and wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tightly. I don't know what willed me to do so, but I leaned forward and kissed her, closing my eyes. Surprisingly, she returned it, holding me close as we kissed. I always regretted not asking her first since that day, but she always said she was happy I did. I needed her warmth in that moment, and she was more than happy to give it. The tears spilling from my eyes soon stopped, light breaking through the storm clouds. I hadn't even realized it was raining. I don't know how much time passed before I pulled my lips away from Jinny's.

We looked into each other's eyes, our cheeks red. "I like you..." I muttered.

"No, really..? I couldn't tell..." She smiled softly, only teasing me a little bit.

I averted my eyes, blushing like crazy. She pulled me closer and hugged me again, and I buried my head in her shoulder. Soon enough, everyone else walked over and hugged the both of us. I realized I wasn't going to be alone, that I was never alone in the first place. These six would help me through my brother's death and help me move on. They weren't just my friends at that point anymore, they were my family. I finally knew the pain they were experiencing, and it was then that I had become a true Elementia.

"We should bury him..." Daichi muttered.

"Yeah..." I replied, turning to look back at my brother's corpse. My eyes widened a bit as I saw his body glowing mint green. "Raito..?" A small green ball of plasma rose out of his body and his body stopped glowing. I pulled away from everyone, slowly reaching out to the plasma ball, almost like it was calling to me. When I touched it, it turned into mint green particles, flowing into my body. My eyes widened as my irises gained a constant glow to them.

I looked at everyone else, confused on what was going on. They all looked just as confused before Akari spoke up. "I think...you just absorbed his element..."

My eyes widened even more at her words. "I-I did..?" I looked at my palms. I couldn't exactly confirm it right then and there, but I did feel somewhat different.

"In that case, he was right..." Jinny muttered. I looked at her, tilting my head. "You'll always have a part of him with you now..." She smiled at me.

My eyes widened at her words and something willed me forward again, though that time I think it was her smile. I cupped her cheeks and kissed her again. Her eyes widened at first, but soon she wrapped her arms around my neck and returned my kiss. Everyone else watched with teasing smiles on their faces.

"Hey Agni, gimme a kiss!" Kazane shouted and jumped to Agni.

"What? No!" He avoided her.

"Why not?!" She whined.

"I'm not just gonna kiss you out of nowhere you weirdo!"

"Boooo! But Sanda did it!" We all started laughing after that. I'll never forget how those six turned one of the worst moments in my life into one of the happiest as well.