Day 23: Sun Room, Evening Shift

[high_prosecutor]

Miles Edgeworth had quietly snuck off to a corner of the cafeteria during lunch, avoiding making conversations. He knew other people would probably lecture him later or accuse him of avoiding them, but that hadn't been true at all. He'd just wanted some time to work quietly by himself for a while

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[heavensequal]

Despite not being in a particularly social mood, Goku had decided to head towards the Sun Room. This was, in part anyway, because of his last experience in the Game Room. Sure, that sort of isolation was what he wanted right now, but it had been a little too heavy. The room was basically uninhabited, and the whispering people in the corner had confused him. Or maybe not helped at all with his situation, which was surprisingly like his current one. Well, at least in the way that it connected to Sanzo.

.. Why did it seem like, no matter what, Sanzo was his constant source of .. of.. whatever this was? He would have thought, ‘I wish I didn’t feel like this,’ or something equally lame, however that made a few more implications than he liked. Especially right now, when he wasn’t completely sure his keeper was alive. Yeah, and if he managed to think that and Sanzo had really.. .. but, right, he definitely couldn’t. Sanzo couldn’t die; he was too strong for that? And he wouldn’t accept it either; someone like Sanzo would probably come back from the grave to kick the ass (or shoot) whoever did it. Yes, so.. all Goku had to do was in believe in that.

It was harder than it sounded in his head.

With a slight twitch and the slight feeling that the ‘medication’ was wearing off (not that they’d been much of a help in the first place) of whatever little pill he’d been forced to take, Goku found it was better to be left alone. Very much-so alone. In an effort to make this known to everybody else, when he entered the room - if he cared a little more, he would have noticed he was the second person in it - he went directly for a couch nearest a corner. Oh, good ol’ corner, so secretive and.. secret.

Yes, with a “safe” spot secured, Goku plopped down. He’d make good use of the spot that could otherwise fit more than one person, and possibly nap. Yeah, that would be good, he had a feeling that, even with him skipping shifts to continue to rest, sleep was better for him right now. But was it running away from the issue at hand? A good thing to wonder, a better thing to put out of his head. After all, this situation was a lot different than anything else, right? It wasn’t like with ‘Kami,’ where the only thing he had to do was choose to go back.

.. Yeah, well.. Screw this.

When night came, he was definitely going to Sanzo’s room to find out the truth. Nevermind that he could probably sniff out Sanzo now and cease (or increase) his worries, that was what he was determined to do. Not because he was afraid of finding out anything right now either, no way. Goku wasn’t afraid of much of anything.

Still, he moved closer to the couch. It was a little bit of a comfort to know that he couldn’t smell the last person who’d been here.

[opposingheaven]

"Hey kid." Kenren settled down on the couch next to Goku, stretching his arms along the top of it, closing his eyes and dropping his head back for a moment. He did not particularly want to have this cconversation, but he needed to get it done at some point. Who knew when he'd be able to catch Goku again?

The kid didn't look too well, and he would've reached out to ruffle his hair, but in this state, Goku didn't even know him. It wouldn't be appropriate. He wasn't entirely sure when that had started mattering to him.

[heavensequal]

Kenren. Somehow, that was really fitting; perhaps more than Goku could imagine too. Still, even if this was someone he'd wanted to talk to for a while, it was an invasion of the space he'd wanted to keep. That made it unwelcome. .. But this was Kenren, so.. he could tolerate that. Who knew, maybe he'd get lucky and this could provide a better distraction than rest. Yeah, that was a definite possibility.

"Hey," Goku repeated slowly, detaching himself from where he'd been pressed against the cushions. He would have sat up completely, but that would take some maneuvering. Unless he wanted to bop Kenren on the head with his heel, then he could do it pretty easily.

[opposingheaven]

Kenren shifted up on the sofa a little, giving Goku more room if he wanted it. He sighed softly and smiled at him apologetically. "Look, if you don't want me here, I can go," he said quietly. "But we never finished talking yesterday, so if you wanted to ask me anything..."

He let the words trail off, leaving it up to Goku to decide. He wasn't gonna' force anything on the kid, but the fact that Kenren was there had to raise questions.

[heavensequal]

Was he really being that unfriendly? Sure, that was usually what someone did to get some alone time, but the concept just didn't sit that well with him. And it wasn't like he disliked Kenren either, which made it kinda more hurtful to hear that. Fortunately there was a solution to this, which ended with Goku adjusting his current position into a sitting one. Yes, he could do it now when he couldn't before.

Giving a smile, Goku shook his head. "Stay," he'd said that instead of 'you can stay' or 'you should stay,' since both were kind of weird. 'Can' implied that Kenren had to have his permission to be around, 'should' .. 'should' seemed kind of threatening? Demanding, somewhat. Of course, just plain 'stay' wasn't much better than the alternatives.

Questions though, questions.. One stuck out, more than the others. ".. Konzen. Tell me about Konzen."

[opposingheaven]

Kenren returned the smile warmly, reaching out to pat Goku's head briefly without thinking. "Glad to hear it." He'd hate to be sent away from Goku. He felt like enough of a failure as a brother to the kid as it was. "'cause if you'd told me to get lost I'd have had to go and find something to do instead of getting drunk and I can't promise it would be pretty."

Ahhh, Konzen. It figured that he'd be the first thing Goku would ask about. He closed his eyes, remembering events that really weren't that long ago for him, but centuries ago for Goku. "Konzen... well. He is... was," he switched tense with a swallow, remembering a little too late that they were dead now, like he should be. "He was a bureaucrat. The nephew of Kanzeon Bosatsu. And old friend of Tenpou's too, that's how I met him."

A slight smile crossed his face. "Like the rest of us with any sense, he was bored stiff and buried himself in his work so that he could ignore it."

[heavensequal]

At that, Goku grinned. It was nice, to be around someone like Kenren.

.. Why couldn't Gojyo be like him? Not that there was anything wrong with Gojyo, in fact Goku liked the cockroach sometimes, but even in his kindest moments, he didn't quite.. Well, he wasn't quite the same. Gojyo's concern and fondness were shown roughly, almost as if he were afraid to give them out. Kenren's, Kenren's were handed without any sort of hesitation or sense of embarrassment. They were clear, endearing, and - frequent? Should that have made it less meaningful? It didn't, to Goku at any rate. He smiled brighter, and inched a bit closer.

That could have been just to listen to the story, however.

Which, he was. Listening to, that is. He'd caught the switch from 'is' to 'was' too, but didn't want to call Kenren on it just yet. Then again, he might not ever bring it up. The idea that someone from his memory, someone that he could never get to know again, was dead was a bit sad. Not to mention that Kenren probably felt just as bad about the situation as he did. After all, he remembered.

".. Sounds," Goku paused, searching for the right word after hearing out Kenren, "boring." That hadn't been what he wanted to hear either, at the very least he'd wanted a physical description. If Homura were calling Sanzo 'Konzen' then he was probably - but..

No harm in asking. "What did you he look like?"

[opposingheaven]

Kenren returned the grin with one of his own. Pleased that Goku seemed to be relaxing around him a little. He'd been getting worried about it for a while there. He pulled down his sleeve to cover the mark on his wrist a little better though. No sense bandying it about.

He snickered softly at Goku's comment. "Yeah, that was how Tenpou introduced him to me as well. A guy who didn't know the pleasure of looking at flowers, or drinking sake."

He shook his head fondly at the memory.

"As for looks, well, pretty much like your Sanzo, with fewer scowl lines. And longer hair. Blond ponytail right down to his ass."

[heavensequal]

Luckily for Kenren, Goku didn't notice the magically appearing wound, a little too caught up in waiting for his answer. Not that what was given would surprise him very much, except for possibly the anxiousness that came with knowing the face.

Another one he was putting a name to, the others would probably get this treatment too, wouldn't they? It was hard to tell if the reality of them made it harder or easier. To do what? Something, but Goku had never been very good with putting words to feelings. Or thoughts for that matter.

"Yeah," Goku spoke, perhaps a bit sadly, turning his head to the side, "I thought so." He had implied it before, that he recognized their appearances. Had Kenren understood it then though? Maybe he could hint a bit more to it. .. Actually, outright saying what he meant was more of his style, wasn't it? "It was.. you, him, and two more. One of them had long hair and glasses, the other.. the other was a kid, wasn't he? We were the same age." That's what he thought anyway, since he hadn't aged in the mountain, they must have been. If not in reality then physically.

[opposingheaven]

Kenren sighed softly at hearing Goku's sad tone. He felt like he'd kicked a puppy... or monkey in this case. Was this really a good idea? Probably not, but Goku had realised too much already for Kenren to keep his mouth shut and let Goku keep on wondering about it.

"Yeah, there were a couple of others," he began. "The guy with the glasses, that's Tenpou."He snorted softly in laughter. "You called him Ten-chan. Fun guy, albeit a little crazy." And wasn't that what Kenren had liked about him? "A kid, huh?" Kenren nodded slowly. "Long black hair, golden eyes? That would be War Prince Nataku." Poor kid being force to do Heaven's killing for it instead of just being able to live.