Jinsei

If it weren't for the droplets falling onto her cheek, Akagi probably wouldn't even realize she had been lulled into slumber in the comforting lap of her sister. 

Her eyes snapped open to find Amagi with a serene, tear-stained smile, looking back with an emotion so profoundly enigmatic that sent her heart pounding.

Words eluded her as she felt a tender touch on her forehead—Amagi's hand rested there before trailing towards her hair to stroke it.

"I love you so…" Amagi murmured as her hand continued to move back and forth. 

Akagi was nearly breathless from the strange feeling—the relieving, terrifying feeling. Eventually overcome by it, she gave way to tears, falling along with Amagi's.

Whether the outpouring was a spur-of-the-moment thing or an emotion she had unknowingly held back became inconsequential when Amagi, unfazed, continued to stroke her hair. She didn't tell her to stop crying—and with each touch, Akagi found it more and more arduous to do that. 

"It's alright to cry. It means you're alive. We're alive," Amagi choked, yet her smile remained.

"We're alive," Akagi repeated the words, so simple to many but not to them. Not anymore.

"And this is why I'm crying. Because you are by my side. Drawing breath. Crying. Smiling."

Amagi's drawn hand was held in place by Akagi grasping onto it. The look in her eyes told Amagi everything.

"I cannot promise we won't be separated again, but—" she paused and blanched when Akagi's hold—perhaps unwittingly—stiffened. Yet, the pain didn't bother her.

"Someday…you and I will die again. Everyone does. This is the truth of this world. But…before that time comes, we have all the time to be together. As ephemeral as it is, I want to be with you throughout it all."

The hold loosened; Akagi blinked and then closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of Amagi clearing the remaining tears away and her burden along with them. When she opened her eyes again, only her conviction remained for Amagi to see.

"...I will never allow anything to take you away from me, ever again."

As if a show of that determination, Akagi let go of Amagi and rose to her feet.

"This time, I will surely protect you."

Amagi let out a laugh so quiet yet full of unstated delight. 

"Thank you. But this time, it won't be necessary, so come lay your head on my lap again."

Akagi didn't do so, sitting across Amagi instead.

"Ever-tempting, nee-sama. But I cannot continue to be selfish, can I? Lay yourself down beside me...and let us hold each other."

"Oh you," Amagi laughed again and shook her head—yet she readily did that without question. 

As she lay beside Akagi, she was awash with a sense of tranquility, and she figured that for this moment, they could rest like that—amid the flowers, the birds, the wind, and the fleeting life of that new era.