孫悟空

★ █ SHE PAUSES TO THINK ABOUT IT before answering. This really is the question of all questions, and what irritates her most is that she never really got to taste the moon while she was actually there! An opportunity forever lost. And here she’s been observing the moon and stars via telescope for ages, too. Nothing interesting like this ever came up in any books she’s read either.

<<Well… Now that you mention it, I’m kinda wonderin’. I mean, it looks like it should, don’t it?>> Now she’s warily observing the moon in its heavens.

<<…But how’re we ever gonna check somethin’ like that?>>

“Right?! See, I knew I wasn’t makin’ it up.” It’s awful, really, that somebody is enabling his stupidity, but that’s just how it be sometimes. He squints at it alongside her, casually noting all the soft lines of the craters and how they looked like swiss cheese. Hmmm...

“Ugh, I dunno. Doesn’t stuff fall off the moon all the time, like rocks?” Wait, isn’t that asteroids? Or something else....? Actually, his knowledge of space is pretty limited. It’s not something he really needed to get taught, after all, so he’s got what you’d call the bare minimum.

         From prior experience, she knew it was prudent to keep first aid kits on hand. This almost made her a traveling doctor, wandering the city in her free hours trying to find people to help. In this city as well as the last, she’d found herself rather successful in finding those in need, and it would seem this streak would continue.

     “Oh my!” She exclaimed as soon as her eyes fell upon the one whose voice she’d heard. Immediately, she closed the distance between them, a gentle yet firm hand falling on his back.

     “You’re bleeding quite heavily, please try not to move very much.” Already, she was pulling out one of her medicine packs. I can help you if you sit and give me access to the wound, alright? I’m a doctor, so please trust me.” Litchi used a tone reserved for her work environment: official and terse, but reassuring. “Could you please explain to me what happened?”

Golden eyes blink wildly at the abrupt contact, suddenly hyperaware of the woman standing over him. He hadn’t really been expecting that reaction, but then again, he never really has to rely on anybody else other than a certain Hanyou to patch him up...it’s kind of embarrassing, actually.

“H-Huh? That’s OK, uh — “ Oh, she’s already going ahead. Somewhat flustered, Goku scratches the back of his neck with his free hand, shuffling his feet in response to her questions. Regardless of how he feels, this is probably better than sloppily doing it himself...

youre like 12

you don’t EAT THEM

...Or something. Really, the scary stuff was cool, but that’s not really what he cares about. After dumping a gallon of fake blood on himself, there’s only one thing he’d be here pestering somebody else for.

His hair sticks to his forehead, matted by sweat as he swipes a hand across his face to take some of the red splatters with it. Geez...how long has he been doing this? His pile is getting pretty big, but they just keep coming...and those creepy flying things are definitely starting to notice. He was supposed to go find a certain someone, but he ended up getting stuck, and one thing lead to another. Maybe it’s about time that he left—

“Woah--!” Is that a person? Yeah, that’s a person, a living one, one he definitely almost hit with his most recent shambling victim. Foot still hovering in the air, he winces slightly as it’s bones crack in numerous places as it slams into the wall, finally falling to the ground with little mobility left in it’s jagged limbs. Man, that...could have been bad. Even more bad than usual. Now is really not the time to be injuring bystanders.

“So, the sun looks like an orange sometimes, right?” There’s a moment of pause as he squints into the sky, sitting still for a moment before continuing his very, very important thought.

It’s very fleeting, of course — this wouldn’t be the sort of thing either of them would want to take part in. He’d probably get dismissed or shot at, and he’s not in the mood to dodge bullets. Even if they can understand, that’s just how they are; a bunch of bastards. Just an angry jerk of a priest and a dumbass pervert.

But...he can’t not go. Something draws him to the lines of people who march towards the beach, hands full of paper and wood that glow like fireflies in the absence of the sun. While light, it feels heavy in his hands, as if weighted down with the solemn sensation that settles in his gut and leaves him feeling somewhat...empty.

Goku would complain of hunger, if he didn’t know better that food wouldn’t be able to fill this particular void.

They had travelled for a long time. Two years seemed to stretch longer than that, when you compared the happenings on the road to the simpler times in the temple. Small footprints in the snow became blood in the dust, scrapes and bruises became gaping wounds that bled for days on end. He had lost count of the days he’d been able to taste iron and salt in his mouth, not including the few where his memories whited out into ignorance that is anything but blissful.

The walk gives him a lot to think about. He hasn’t really lost loved ones like some of these people, and the one who isn’t here doesn’t really need a note...he’s sure the older man would make a joke about sending off his funeral boat so soon, or something like that. The notes that settle in his pocket like stones have numerous names written on them, all familiar, but none particularly beloved like a family member. They range from a friendly bond to a meeting in passing, ones that all inevitably ended with another hollow mark on his heart.

Nah, he thinks. That doesn’t really matter. They deserve something like this, regardless, and he knows at least most of them wouldn’t want him to linger painfully on their parting. Monks can pray and all that stuff, but all he can do is this; trek across the sand along with the dozens of others and watch his own footprints get swept away in the tide.

The youkai nearly fumbles trying to pull all the paper out, some of the slips crumpled and others still in relatively good shape. He flattens them out as best he can, gently shifting them around in calloused palms as he gently places them, one after the other, inside the wooden compartment where they await.

I hope it’s nice and warm where you are. Keep your kids company, OK? 

I hope you got to see your son again. I’m sure he missed you. 

You two are happy being together again, right? Play nice together from now on.

Thanks for standing up for me all those times. It’d be nice if we could meet again sometime. I think...you deserve some rest, though.

After all the named slips, there’s just two more...ones which lack names. Their fronts are completely blank, and they mirror Goku’s expression as he stares at them for a moment. By now, a lot of people have already released their own boats, moving off to exit the beach or to stare at the stars above with glittering eyes. 

He’s quiet as he slowly places them on top of all the rest, the light reflecting off naked white paper as he closes his eyes. The inside of one, in contrast to the outside, is full of scratched out barely-legible scrawl that crawls over the surface like a stretching web. 

I’m it’s hard to i know i’m being stupid I don’t know what

It’s still hard for me to understand. But I think I get what you meant by pride.

You’re way stronger than I ever was.

I’m sorry.

I wish you could have seen the snow.

The water laps at his feet, soaking his pant leg as he wades in a bit deeper. The soft breeze over the water rocks the boat as he gently places it on top of the waves, but soon enough, it bobs along to catch up to the rest already drifting over the horizon. The moon is reflected in golden eyes as he watches for a while, unmoving, occupied with watching the excursion until they’re simply dots in the distance. 

He’s not too sure if this will even reach them, like everyone says.