I can only walk this path alone now, without the fond memories.
Who: Arinori and anyone else who cares to join in.
Where: The playground...But lots of places, actually, so just indicate where you are.
When: Sunday, from daytime to late afternoon.
Ratings: Rated 20+ for excessive emo- Er.
Warnings: Arinori himself counts as a warning. Also, please excuse the long wall of text.
Summary: Today is a special day for Arinori, but not in the way you think it is.
9:00 am. The clock rang as usual, disturbing Arinori's dreamless slumber. It escaped his fist today in retaliation for its sound, getting off with a soft pat on its switch instead. Though he felt like hiding underneath the blanket and falling asleep again, he dragged himself to the bathroom and washed his face. The face that stared back at him suggested that he'd be better off sleeping the whole day; he glared back, indicating strongly that it was out of the question.
9:10 am. The hot water gushed out of the shower, waking him up slightly more than the cold water had, if only because he was fully immersed in it. He dried himself, picking out the same clothes that he wore on every Sunday.
9:30 am. By then, he was out. He let his feet lead him, knowing very well that they would walk him to the ice-cream shop that he visited every Sunday. There, he would have the sundae he ate every time he visited that place, so much that the store owner would begin preparing one for him as soon as she caught sight of him.
Today, she would be surprised: He ordered not one, but two sundaes with extra fudge on it. She complied regardless and watched as the boy tucked into the first one and moved the second to the other side, almost as if he was waiting for someone. That person never arrived, and he ate the other.
11:00 am. He walked by an empty field, laid bare many years ago. Though the land itself was a good location, all who had owned it never felt at ease with it after learning about its history. In a way, that land reminded him of himself: One of much promise, fallen due to its circumstances and left alone ever since.
1:00 pm. He stopped by a restaurant, ordering pasta to go with his coffee, along with another serving of ice-cream. Those who cared to look would have seen him struggling with the food, occasionally holding up a hand to his head. The questions they would have asked were killed by the faint smile on his face, and they pretended to eat again.
2.15 pm. The gravestones were surrounded by the red and orange leaves of autumn, befitting of the season when the leaves that gave life died with no one to mourn their passing. There were some other people there too, but each party was too absorbed with itself to pay any attention to the other beyond the sensory preception offered by their eyes and ears.
He would be left standing there, long after the other party left. A cough shattered the silence previously dominated by the wind, followed by more that left him on the ground, gasping for air. When he did recover, he looked at the gravestones again before leaving.
4.30 pm. The playground was empty, almost looking desolate without the children it was meant to serve. He smiled wistfully: A playground seemed nearly obsolete in a time where children would be preoccupied with their studies if they weren't playing video games. The swings beckoned to him, swishing playfully in the wind. He took the one most to the left and swung for a while before looking at the other swing. Though it swung on its own, each swing was weak and that too was only because of the wind.
He got up to push the swing, almost involuntarily. Harder and harder, faster and faster, higher and higher...towards the sun! Words he had repeated to another person seemed to return to him, even as he gave the lone swing many more pushes, so much that it started to look as if it could reach the sun.
Arinori smiled, even though he knew that he'd be in tears if he could see a mirror now. He could wake at the same time every day, walk to the same place every Sunday, order the same sundae he had ordered for many years, eat at the same place and go to the same playground, but the loneliness that had captured his heart would never let go, and the person he waited for at every place would never come for him.
"Happy birthday." The words that should have reverberated with joy rang hollow, as hollow as the boy who said it.
(OOC: Also, more or less taking an IC hiatus until Wednesday unless something jolts him out of his state. Highly unlikely, but maybe for the Kensei event?)
Where: The playground...But lots of places, actually, so just indicate where you are.
When: Sunday, from daytime to late afternoon.
Ratings: Rated 20+ for excessive emo- Er.
Warnings: Arinori himself counts as a warning. Also, please excuse the long wall of text.
Summary: Today is a special day for Arinori, but not in the way you think it is.
9:00 am. The clock rang as usual, disturbing Arinori's dreamless slumber. It escaped his fist today in retaliation for its sound, getting off with a soft pat on its switch instead. Though he felt like hiding underneath the blanket and falling asleep again, he dragged himself to the bathroom and washed his face. The face that stared back at him suggested that he'd be better off sleeping the whole day; he glared back, indicating strongly that it was out of the question.
9:10 am. The hot water gushed out of the shower, waking him up slightly more than the cold water had, if only because he was fully immersed in it. He dried himself, picking out the same clothes that he wore on every Sunday.
9:30 am. By then, he was out. He let his feet lead him, knowing very well that they would walk him to the ice-cream shop that he visited every Sunday. There, he would have the sundae he ate every time he visited that place, so much that the store owner would begin preparing one for him as soon as she caught sight of him.
Today, she would be surprised: He ordered not one, but two sundaes with extra fudge on it. She complied regardless and watched as the boy tucked into the first one and moved the second to the other side, almost as if he was waiting for someone. That person never arrived, and he ate the other.
11:00 am. He walked by an empty field, laid bare many years ago. Though the land itself was a good location, all who had owned it never felt at ease with it after learning about its history. In a way, that land reminded him of himself: One of much promise, fallen due to its circumstances and left alone ever since.
1:00 pm. He stopped by a restaurant, ordering pasta to go with his coffee, along with another serving of ice-cream. Those who cared to look would have seen him struggling with the food, occasionally holding up a hand to his head. The questions they would have asked were killed by the faint smile on his face, and they pretended to eat again.
2.15 pm. The gravestones were surrounded by the red and orange leaves of autumn, befitting of the season when the leaves that gave life died with no one to mourn their passing. There were some other people there too, but each party was too absorbed with itself to pay any attention to the other beyond the sensory preception offered by their eyes and ears.
He would be left standing there, long after the other party left. A cough shattered the silence previously dominated by the wind, followed by more that left him on the ground, gasping for air. When he did recover, he looked at the gravestones again before leaving.
4.30 pm. The playground was empty, almost looking desolate without the children it was meant to serve. He smiled wistfully: A playground seemed nearly obsolete in a time where children would be preoccupied with their studies if they weren't playing video games. The swings beckoned to him, swishing playfully in the wind. He took the one most to the left and swung for a while before looking at the other swing. Though it swung on its own, each swing was weak and that too was only because of the wind.
He got up to push the swing, almost involuntarily. Harder and harder, faster and faster, higher and higher...towards the sun! Words he had repeated to another person seemed to return to him, even as he gave the lone swing many more pushes, so much that it started to look as if it could reach the sun.
Arinori smiled, even though he knew that he'd be in tears if he could see a mirror now. He could wake at the same time every day, walk to the same place every Sunday, order the same sundae he had ordered for many years, eat at the same place and go to the same playground, but the loneliness that had captured his heart would never let go, and the person he waited for at every place would never come for him.
"Happy birthday." The words that should have reverberated with joy rang hollow, as hollow as the boy who said it.
(OOC: Also, more or less taking an IC hiatus until Wednesday unless something jolts him out of his state. Highly unlikely, but maybe for the Kensei event?)