┏━━━━⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆━━━━┓

AKIRA MARGARET FULLER

TATE SEQUOIA WAS LIKE A LITTLE BROTHER TO AKIRA.

Ever since Brady met Tate, Akira's life had been forever changed. Suddenly, her shy brother was coming out of his shell, all while this young boy started coming around the house more often. Akira was in the sixth grade at the time, and when Tate offhandedly mentioned he had a sister that was her age, oh you bet your ass she was about to use that knowledge to her advantage.

She'd initially met Nelly a few days after, all but cornering the girl at recess given that they didn't share the same class, and demanding they be friends. Nelly had a similar plan after hearing of the girl as well, and the two became quick friends.

Though she'd never say it aloud, Akira came into the friendship a little scared because of Nelly's preexisting bond with Kim Connweller. The older girl seemed so much cooler than she was, and they had at least four years of friendship together before Akira even came into the mix.

However, her worries fizzled with time, realizing she had just as much right to be in their little trio as the others. It did help with Brady and Tate being as close as they were, of course, and it only gave Akira extra excuses to hang out with Nelly, who by proxy would seven times out of ten be with the Connweller girl already.

The dynamic worked, but Akira and Nelly had gotten extremely close since the Sequoia's returned. Don't get her wrong, she adored Kim; but with the way she was handling the whole Embry thing? Akira was seriously doubting the girl's cognitive function.

All of this was why it was killing her to be where she was that afternoon, standing before the family she thought of as her own, watching them bury little Tate.

She tried her best to reel her tears back, to be strong for her weeping mess of a little brother, while making sure to hold onto him as though he'd disappear.

The minute she'd watched Nelly dart from the scene was the moment her own resolve crumbled, and she found that it was her hand that was gripping onto Brady's the tightest. She'd never wish something like this upon anyone, but especially her friend who'd already been dealing with so much.

Others took over in Nelly's absence, and soon the funerary service had come to a close. Her parents ventured off to see Mary–Anne, to offer their deepest condolences like everyone else, while the Fuller siblings used one another to ground themselves.

Brady was taking it the hardest, and her own sorrow over the situation faded when she noticed her brother begin to shake. "What's going on, bud?" she asked quietly, pressing the back of her free hand against his forehead. He was burning up, and Akira hissed lowly at the rising temperature.

She looked up at the sun that had been out for the entire afternoon, beating down on them during the ceremony; perhaps it was all getting to his head? She had had her fair share of sunstroke (though it wasn't often, given the area they lived in), so she knew it must have been something of the sort.

"Hey, is he alright?"

The Fuller girl's attention snapped toward the new voice that came up to them both from her right.

Akira had known Leah when she was a freshman and the girl was still a cool senior who'd been dating Sam Uley, of all people. Her family was good friends with the Clearwaters, and her own father had gone fishing with Harry quite often, long before he'd passed.

Her gaze was set on Brady, scanning him in a way as her own brother came jogging up right beside her. "I think he's been out in the sun for too long," Akira supplied, gently rubbing her brother's back as his gaze was directed to the lump the elders had just buried. "He's taking this pretty hard, too, so..."

Leah nodded absentmindedly. "You should get him home, he's probably sick or—"

Akira watched as Leah's sentence trailed off the minute she made eye contact with her, noticing the way her posture seemed even more rigid than before. Her mouth was gaping, and she was staring right into Akira's damn soul.

"Uh— Leah?" she called out, waving a hand in front of the older girl's face.

That seemed to snap her out of it, and although it was barely for a second, Akira saw the way the Clearwater siblings exchanged a bewildered look.

"We can drive you guys home!" Seth offered in that normal, kind hearted voice of his. "Now, if you needed."

Akira went to shake her head. "I can't ask you to do that, it's so out of the way," she dismissed, her grip on Brady's hand becoming more sweltering by the second.

"We insist," Seth affirmed with a shake of his head, gesturing to the group of adults a few feet behind them, "plus, I wouldn't want to bug your parents right now."

And yeah, watching her mother console a very distraught looking Mary–Anne was not something she needed to barge in on. So, she nodded at the pair. "Okay, but only if you're sure!"

"Positive!" Seth answered with a smile, nudging her elbow into Leah's ribcage. "Leah? The keys?"

They all watched as Leah spurred into action, finishing out a set of keys from the pocket of her pants. She marched on forward, in the direction of the car behind the wooded pathway they'd all taken to the grounds, and left the others to follow.

Bizarre.

˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

Leah was extremely quiet in the car, and suddenly it was like Seth made it his personal mission to fill up the silence that enveloped them. And how did he do so, you might ask?

He was quizzing Akira on all things Akira.

"Pink's a great favourite colour to have," he said from the passenger seat, head craned back to talk to the girl who had her arm wrapped around a now shivering Brady. "I'm more of a purple guy myself, but Leah's a total orange fan."

That was another thing he'd been doing; he was responding back on both his and Leah's behalf. Akira didn't expect her to be chatty, she never was whenever she'd seen her in the quaint school halls, so her silence wasn't bothersome.

Really, Seth's chatter was helping distract her from the two biggest issues on her hands; one being her brother's sudden development of a fever, and the other being Nelly's sorrowful disappearance to who the hell knows where— and not to mention Embry following after her like they were in a soap opera!

Akira briefly met Leah's gaze in the rearview mirror. "Orange? The colour that's named after the fruit, orange?"

Leah scoffed, eyes back on the road. "More like the fruit that's named after the colour." 

The Fuller girl's nose shrivelled up. "Agree to disagree," she responded, before tacking on with a mumble, "but I'm right."

Looking down at Brady, she missed the way that the corner of Leah's mouth ticked upward in amusement, before the vehicle had come to a stop in front of the Fuller residence.

Within moments, the two pairs of siblings said their farewells, Seth doing so on Leah's ever so silent behalf, and soon Akira was shuffling her brother toward the front door. Before she entered herself, she gave a final, gracious wave to the duo sat inside the pickup truck before heading after Brady. 

Meanwhile, as the Clearwater siblings pulled away from the small two story home, Seth immediately gave his sister a knowing look.

"You didn't tell me you liked girls."

"That's because I don't— I didn't."

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚⋆

[ wyn's note ]

AHHHHH!!! akira is the loml!!! so much is gonna be kicking off in la push for the remainder of the summer

i'm contemplating between scrapping the pack vs bella's baby debacle storyline (n letting the gang live out their summer break realness) OR keeping it as it is (n letting the gang have their summer break but have it #ruined by the renaissance cullen drama)....

what would y'all prefer ?! lmk cause either way i have plans LOL all my love xx