♙4 [Video/Action]
[The limbs are almost all bare by this time, the last of the sakura falling to the ground with every strong gust of wind that hits the trees. Sitting on one of the lower branches of one of the trees, Ichiru sits, legs dangling down.]
I'm sorry if anyone has tried to get a hold of me recently.
[A handful of petals slowly drop from his fingers and ( Read more... )
I'm sorry if anyone has tried to get a hold of me recently.
[A handful of petals slowly drop from his fingers and ( Read more... )
The silence lingers, however. He only briefly stalls before deciding to make his way over to the tree.
Seven times, is it? By now, even including while in Ukiyo, he's seen them fully blossomed seven times, since that night. Only in the past year did they begin to instill a different sort of feeling in him, compared to the phantom ache on the left side of his throat, and the molten, white-hot hatred like razors in his blood. The fractures that paint his heart are mostly all that's left of those seconds it took to rip life as he knew it at its seams.
Still, now, he hardly knows what these feelings are meant to be taken as, still so newly transitioned from what was once the suffocating and blinding wool mask of animosity. He hardly is sure of what even speaking or thinking that woman's name is supposed to taste like, only that, at some point, albeit long after that moment when she became nothing but shimmering sand and crystals, it wasn't so acrid and foul.
In some bittersweet, ironic kind of way, perhaps that turning point was in listening to Ichiru, in those last few aching moments, as he explained. While it couldn't erase what had been done, perhaps it planted a seed of thought for later.
He leans back against the tree, not looking up just yet. A faint, distant smile quirks at one corner of his mouth. This kind of scene, the remarks, may have angered or annoyed him at one point in the past, but it's something else to recognize a certain warmth, melancholic or otherwise, coming from Ichiru. Even if Zero knows the exact reasons why.]
Would you be surprised if I ask what it was, before then? Your favorite time of year...
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The question from Zero was a little surprising. But only because he'd expected a different reaction than the one he'd got. Head lifting up to watch as the branches of the tree rustled gently in the wind, Ichiru just smiled as he gave his answer.]
The winter. It was always the winter.
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You ventured out more than you probably should have, then.
[Not that he really minded tending to the ill Ichiru, though.
He glanced up as a flurry of petals drifted free from their branches to float about to the ground. ]
Not that that ever really concerned you...
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Zero was also gone a lot more in the other parts of the year.
[Leaving him behind and alone.]
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It felt better when you were well enough to visit.
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But I still had to share you. It was best when you were home.
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[And isn't this all just water under the bridge, now? He just sighs, ready to change the topic. As much as time has passed, that doesn't mean the nostalgia isn't entirely pleasant. He closes his eyes for a moment, only to open as a petal drifts softly down upon the back of his hand, his gaze lingering on it until another sweep of the breeze carries it away.]
... Have you eaten lunch yet?
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It's just easier to remain inside when you don't want to go outside. Plus Shishou rarely made me go in the winter since I was susceptible to the cold. [His words are a little cold as well, refusing to look down at his brother.] I ruined less trips that way.
[There's a large pause as he considers his brothers question. Irritated slightly, he's tempted to say he had and continue with his enjoyment of the flowers. He reaches up and grabs another small handful. Purposely letting them fall one at a time down onto his brother.]
Have you?
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He doesn't seem to mind the petals, watching as they flutter past him, until one lands on his nose. It takes two tries for him to blow it away. A shake of his head, he lifts a hand to ruffle any additional petals from it, head tipped back against the tree to look up to his twin.]
I wouldn't be asking you if I had, would I?
[Let's just try and enjoy this time we have, okay? He grabs his bag from shopping earlier, then takes a step out to properly look up to Ichiru.]
Come on. Anywhere you want, my treat.
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[Still he couldn't help that irritation he felt toward Zero. He realized it was irrational but at this point he didn't care. Maybe he just wanted more of Zero's attention, so he just gave into the urge that came to him. He released his hands from their grasp on the tree limb and let gravity take control.]
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-Actually, no. There's no doubt about whether he should question this or not. This is Ichiru. And so-]
Ich-!
[-the bags are abandoned, and he moves in the split second it takes for him to barely get out his brother's name.
It's an easy catch - luckily, at least; he isn't quite as quick on his feet, here - although Zero wasn't too far away, to begin with. He holds Ichiru close on instinct, one arm supporting him at the bend of his knees, as the other securely cradles his midsection.
It's bitterly nostalgic.]
...What the hell was that for!?
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