Tokyo, Monday Morning
Things had gotten worse, and quickly, since Romeo and Dojima had the time to chat on Twitter a mere day before. In the end, it had come down to the two of them. The other Hunters had forgotten the missing the moment they had removed their Orbo pendants and the malicious magic of the Nothing had eased into their minds and taken their memories before taking their existence. Now there were two. Romeo and his Yurika -- his lily -- both with guns drawn, attempting to hold the line between the encroaching darkness and the fleeing citizens of Tokyo.
Romeo's attention, it must be said, sometimes flagged from the seemingly impossible task of shooting at ... nothing at all. He thought it a fool's errand. But glancing to Yurika kept him going. He would do this because she was doing this, because her home had become theirs.
Because there were no portals to Verona to be had.
Because, from what he could tell, there might well not be a Verona.
He gestured to Yurika to be silent as he crept around a corner and looked as far toward the horizon as he could, gauging the ongoing creep of the darkness.
"The ocean is no more," he said, decades of pain in his voice.
"No more fishing in Edo," she replied, shutting her eyes for a moment. "Aijin, I am out of the Orbo bullets." They had been the only thing which had appeared to have any effect, and now her Hunter-issued gun was clicking on empty. "I'm down to my Walther."
Romeo checked his ammunition clip. "And I only have a few bullets," he said, sitting down. "My arms are yours as long as I have them, but there may be better ways we could use these moments."
Yurika glanced skyward, at the mass of darkness steadily violating the lights of Tokyo, of her city. "Hai. Give me your gun, aijin. You're better at the words than I am."
If Arthur was still in a Tokyo and alive, he should be warned. Benvolio called. She had tried Father Juliano days ago - repeatedly - and already knew that to be a failure. Sarah-sempai had said Reno's phone was out of service, and she hadn't spoken to Cal in ages. The least she could do was protect Romeo while he did what she could not.
Romeo passed over his gun without a peep of protest, pulling out his phone. Benvolio got his first call, then his father, but he didn't linger over them: Both numbers had been dead that morning and remained so, but there was no time to mourn. Nor was it time to try Reno and Rikku again, though they did get a brief prayer as Romeo thumbed past them in his contacts directory. It was to be Arthur, then.
It only took a moment to say all that there seemed to be to say. When they were done, Romeo went to Yurika and held his arms out beseechingly. "It's done."
She would not cry. She was Dojima Yurika. Hunter. And she would not be weak in front of her Romeo, not now. It was not what either of them needed.
"I just wish that we'd had a chance to let the cat out," she replied, holstering both weapons and managing a ghost of a smile as she went to him. "Alea has nine lives and is lucky, maybe she would have escaped."
"She'll be fine." Romeo thought the cat was too evil to be otherwise -- not that it was a time to share such a thought. He tried to force himself to smile in return, though he'd never been as good at hiding his feelings as she was. "As for us ... we've each other, and we'll have eternity. What more world do we need?"
"If eternity doesn't have sake, I might be vexed," Yurika answered, laying her head on his shoulder. "But I'll manage, if your God will take a non-devout Shinto girl like me. And if he doesn't...I'll just have to sneak in your window at night."
"My God will take you or lose me," Romeo vowed, but he didn't really want to talk. He wanted to hold her and breathe in her hair and keep this sacred moment.
His movements were liquid as he dipped his head to brush his lips over hers. Let the rest of the world be painted black and stolen; this much was his.
I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the tops of the mountains. It was the last line of one of the few prayers for peace that Yurika knew, and it seemed fitting, with Mount Takao nearby and the darkness descending.
But a kiss was a better epitaph for the two of them than poetry or prose, and Yurika reached up to wrap her arms around him and match him, passion-for-passion. Fuck you, end of the world. She had something better to do.
They had not broken their last embrace as the black swept over them, ending all the poetry and prose and everything else that had filled their days.
[OOC: Preplayed with dojima_hime. NFB, NFI, BRB CRYING SO HARD.]
Romeo's attention, it must be said, sometimes flagged from the seemingly impossible task of shooting at ... nothing at all. He thought it a fool's errand. But glancing to Yurika kept him going. He would do this because she was doing this, because her home had become theirs.
Because there were no portals to Verona to be had.
Because, from what he could tell, there might well not be a Verona.
He gestured to Yurika to be silent as he crept around a corner and looked as far toward the horizon as he could, gauging the ongoing creep of the darkness.
"The ocean is no more," he said, decades of pain in his voice.
"No more fishing in Edo," she replied, shutting her eyes for a moment. "Aijin, I am out of the Orbo bullets." They had been the only thing which had appeared to have any effect, and now her Hunter-issued gun was clicking on empty. "I'm down to my Walther."
Romeo checked his ammunition clip. "And I only have a few bullets," he said, sitting down. "My arms are yours as long as I have them, but there may be better ways we could use these moments."
Yurika glanced skyward, at the mass of darkness steadily violating the lights of Tokyo, of her city. "Hai. Give me your gun, aijin. You're better at the words than I am."
If Arthur was still in a Tokyo and alive, he should be warned. Benvolio called. She had tried Father Juliano days ago - repeatedly - and already knew that to be a failure. Sarah-sempai had said Reno's phone was out of service, and she hadn't spoken to Cal in ages. The least she could do was protect Romeo while he did what she could not.
Romeo passed over his gun without a peep of protest, pulling out his phone. Benvolio got his first call, then his father, but he didn't linger over them: Both numbers had been dead that morning and remained so, but there was no time to mourn. Nor was it time to try Reno and Rikku again, though they did get a brief prayer as Romeo thumbed past them in his contacts directory. It was to be Arthur, then.
It only took a moment to say all that there seemed to be to say. When they were done, Romeo went to Yurika and held his arms out beseechingly. "It's done."
She would not cry. She was Dojima Yurika. Hunter. And she would not be weak in front of her Romeo, not now. It was not what either of them needed.
"I just wish that we'd had a chance to let the cat out," she replied, holstering both weapons and managing a ghost of a smile as she went to him. "Alea has nine lives and is lucky, maybe she would have escaped."
"She'll be fine." Romeo thought the cat was too evil to be otherwise -- not that it was a time to share such a thought. He tried to force himself to smile in return, though he'd never been as good at hiding his feelings as she was. "As for us ... we've each other, and we'll have eternity. What more world do we need?"
"If eternity doesn't have sake, I might be vexed," Yurika answered, laying her head on his shoulder. "But I'll manage, if your God will take a non-devout Shinto girl like me. And if he doesn't...I'll just have to sneak in your window at night."
"My God will take you or lose me," Romeo vowed, but he didn't really want to talk. He wanted to hold her and breathe in her hair and keep this sacred moment.
His movements were liquid as he dipped his head to brush his lips over hers. Let the rest of the world be painted black and stolen; this much was his.
I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the tops of the mountains. It was the last line of one of the few prayers for peace that Yurika knew, and it seemed fitting, with Mount Takao nearby and the darkness descending.
But a kiss was a better epitaph for the two of them than poetry or prose, and Yurika reached up to wrap her arms around him and match him, passion-for-passion. Fuck you, end of the world. She had something better to do.
They had not broken their last embrace as the black swept over them, ending all the poetry and prose and everything else that had filled their days.
[OOC: Preplayed with dojima_hime. NFB, NFI, BRB CRYING SO HARD.]