Memento Mori

Worth || Minato & Subaru

“It doesn’t really sound like you get it, but… Well, I guess it’s just that I can kinda understand what you mean.” Kneading his fingers into the base of his neck to relieve some of the pent up tension, Subaru breathed a heavy sigh as he spoke from the painful experiences his own curse had engraved onto his soul. The kind of petrifying fear that rooted one’s feet to the ground… “I mean, there’s only so much you can do in the face of certain death. Okay, as long as you get that, so just be more careful in the future, okay? Awareness of your surroundings is crucial to prevent that kind of SURPRISE ATTACK!”

With nowhere better to vent his unspent frustration, he finally ended his self-important tirade with that kind of inane statement and offered a wink to the student. Still, he seemed way too morose for someone who had just been swiped from the jaws of death. In his own experiences, a brush with death left him invigorated with a rush of adrenaline. But this kid expressed no such response.

“Are you sure you’re okay, though? The truck didn’t bump you in passing or anything, did it?”

“Ah.” Minato met the boy’s sudden shouting with indifference at best. His energy levels were evidently much higher than Minato’s own, even if the tracksuit clad boy looked as if he’d be winded after walking just two blocks. To Minato, this situation was already in the past. He was comfortable simply moving past it and calling it a day, but the stranger who had saved him still seemed to have some concerns about his condition. He blue haired university student took just a moment to look down at himself for any bumps or bruises that had appeared on his body when he had been dangerously close to the truck. He hoped nothing had happened if only for the sake of still looking nice for customers in the uniform for his night job.

soulphrxse​:

Dead Mom || Minato & Futaba

Her eyes widened at his admission. Her mother had told him? It seemed so strange but then again, this was a city full of people with weird powers. And she was pretty sure this guy would have had no way of knowing details like that. It wasn’t like it was public knowledge–Sojiro never even spoke of it here. His power was to talk to the dead… Shizume really was a strange city, wasn’t it?

She didn’t speak for a moment, mulling over the information he’d given. With the blank expression he wore, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Still, despite that, she didn’t get the sense that he was lying. He spoke straight-forwardly, meeting her gaze…She could only assume he was telling the truth, that he’d really spoken to her mother. 

Futaba faltered for a moment, her brows furrowing. “But..if that’s true…then why did those guys frame it as…with the note and everything..” Was it just to steal her mother’s research? Taking advantage of a complete accident…? Anxiety spiked within her at the thought, her fingers coming up to clutch at the fabric of her shirt as her breathing quickened, her chest tightening. 

She’d spent so long blaming herself because of that note, and now it felt like the rug had been yanked out from under her. A secret truth she’d had no idea about.. “S-sorry, give me a minute,” she managed to say, forcing herself to try and remember how to breathe properly.

Minato didn’t know anything about the situation other than what he had been told, and he wasn’t interested in learning either. If he did, that was one thing, but he wouldn’t push or try to delve into details that had nothing to do with him. There was nothing he could do to make the information easier to process, or make her understand it more. He had done his job. He had done his job, but...he would’ve felt bad leaving her on that, when she was clearly distraught.

“It’s fine. Take your time and think over it properly. As long as you can remember what kind of person she was...that’s all she wanted. So it’s fine if it isn’t immediate, Futaba-san.” It was only after the words left his lips that he realized that he was trying to offer comfort in his own way. He quickly realized that it was likely strange to her that he was using her first name, but he didn’t know of any other way to address her. He had simply repeated after her mother. “...Sorry. She said your name earlier so I just repeated it. That was probably weird to hear from a stranger.”

V wasn’t much of a heavy sleeper in the first place. Growing up, he had to be aware of his surroundings, since he had no one to look out for him. No parents, no siblings, nothing. So when he awoke to the terrible sound of uncontrollable coughing, he wasn’t upset or anything of the sort. Maybe Minato was ill in a similar manner that V was. Either way, it wasn’t his place to ask, nor did he particularly care to.

“Ugh, you got a noisy guest, V,” Griffon grumbled, manifesting himself within the room as he spoke. “At least you got enough energy for me to come out again. Think the kid is alright?”

Just as Griffon asked, the coughing began to die down and V heard small whimpers that ceased just a few moments after. He’d nearly forgotten about Minato’s animal companion.

“He has his dog with him. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Griffon shook his feathers out a bit before he lifted himself into the air. “I’m gonna go check on him anyway.”

With that, Griffon swooped down the stairs and flew to one of the chairs near the couch, perching on the back of it. 

“Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Havin’ a bit of trouble down here?”

There was a bird in the bookstore.

No, that wasn’t right. This bird wasn’t normal in the slightest. Not only was it’s size something Minato found odd based on the fact that they were in a bookshop (how would it have gotten in...?), but it was a strange blue color, it’s beak looked like nothing he had seen before, and it was speaking. He was in a dream, wasn’t it? “...Goodnight.” Not giving the creature any of his attention, Minato simply blinked at him with a blank expression before promptly lying back down and tugging his blanket over him once more. 

Within just a few seconds he found himself asleep once more, but that sleep didn’t last for very long. Koromaru once again began whimpering as a way to get his attention, lightly pawing at the young man’s torso. His grayish-blue eyes opened slowly, first landing on the dog and then on the bird. The bird that was still here. So it wasn’t a dream...but it was still strange. Minato sat up and yawned. The thing, the bird had called him something...what was it? Sleeping Beauty? “...What did you say before? Sleeping...beauty...?” He repeated the words slowly, as if he was unsure of himself. From the fairytale then...was this his way of teasing? Though he didn’t think it was strange that he was sleeping. It was the middle of the night, after all. 

Exhaustion || Minato & Narihisago

Narihisago watched as the student tried to stand, and he raised his eyebrows a little in surprise when he had successfully rose to his feet. That surprise vanished as soon as the young man tried to walk, legs clearly straining to support his weight and his gait wasn’t incredibly straight, either…

“I see that you haven’t proved your point at all,” Narihisago answered, crossing his arms. “They’re just a block or so away, right?” He would’ve hated if this young man ended up being robbed or something just a few blocks from his dorm just because he was too stubborn to accept help. Of course, Narihisago himself was too stubborn to just walk away.

“I’ll just walk with you until the dorms are in sight.” Narihisago took a few steps to collect the groceries he had abandoned in his haste to check on the formerly collapsed young man and walked back to where the young man was. Narihisago knew where the dorms were, but he didn’t want to go too fast so soon. “Lead the way.”

So he was still unstable. That much should’ve been clear to him, but he had been so intent on going on alone that he hadn’t noticed. His head too, seemed to be pounded. He had overdone it. “...Nngh.” Bringing a hand to his head, he froze in place as he tried to subdue the ache. Of course, it wasn’t so simple. He’d be fine when he was back at the dorms, probably...

“Sorry for the trouble,” he finally replied, slipping his hands into his pockets out of habit before beginning what would likely be a slow walk back to the dorm. He had meant to keep quiet during their short walk, but he couldn’t do so. They were beginning to pipe up once more. They sometimes fed him information, regardless of if he wanted it or not. Many of them moved freely through the world...it was no wonder that they dead often knew about things they didn’t witness themselves in life. Sometimes, they knew based on their experiences in life, but sometimes...? Sometimes, they talked amongst themselves.

Mandated Visit | Maruki and Minato

The curt response that Minato gave told Maruki a lot about his personality right off the bat. Additionally, given his hospital record, Maruki figured this was going to be a bit more difficult than usual. He did have his strain ability, but it was very capricious and only seemed to activate in extreme cases. Would this be one of those times? He sincerely hoped not. He would just have to break through the walls Minato had, but just from his one word answer, those walls seemed reinforced with the strongest steel in existence.

“I know you probably don’t want to be here right now, Arisato-kun. Given the circumstances, you will most likely be required to see me or a different counselor a few more times as required by your physician.” He leaned back in his chair a little bit, placing his hands in his lap.

“Since this is your first visit, let’s get to know each other a little bit. You’re free to ask me any questions you come up with during our questions, of course. Let’s start out easy: what do you usually do in your free time, Arisato-kun?”

Minato couldn’t have said he was surprised that he would likely have to continue seeing Doctor Maruki, but he couldn’t say it made him happy. It didn’t make him particularly sad either. Just...continuously going to see Maruki would be a pain. It was nothing against the man personally, but he had other things to do during their meetings. He had some day jobs he occasionally stopped by to help out in, he still had his schoolwork, and he would never turn down an opportunity to get extra shut eye. Even so, it seemed that this was the inevitable result of his past actions. “...I see.”

When Maruki asked about his hobbies, his expression shifted from boredom to thoughtfulness. He supposed his everyday life wasn’t all that interesting. Most of his likes and hobbies related to survival. Eating wasn’t much of a hobby, was it?

“...Sleep,” he answered truthfully. Even the word ‘sleep’ itself seemed to cause his eyelids to twitch. He had worked late last night too...it was no wonder that he was still tired. No matter how much he slept, he was never even to shake off his own weariness. Sleeping was his answer to everything, and it was a fairly solid solution to dealing with things that troubled him. Outside of that, he spent most of his time listening to music or helping out others. He wasn’t the type to refuse a request, unless he had a specific reason to say no. Even he could find himself enjoying games or karaoke, but he didn’t often have the time or energy to try and enjoy those things without a push from the people around him.

Borger || Akira & Minato

In retrospect, perhaps the question Akira had asked of the boy had been frivolous. Certainly, the answer that was returned to him was indisputable, and honestly he wasn’t even sure what kind of answer he’d been expecting. Regardless, the fact that someone so small in stature, so slim that even Akira easily outweighed him, could scarf down that much food in so short a time…

Wasn’t there just something weird about that?

Reeling still from first his overwhelming defeat at the hands of the challenge, and now from the preposterousness of this situation, Akira found himself at a loss for words. His mouth opened to try and rephrase the question in a way that the challenge winner would understand his confusion, but quickly had to close it again as he failed to formulate his thoughts into a cohesive sentence.

Instead, while bearing the mien of confusion upon his features, he took to examining first the blue-haired male, then the now-emptied tray, and back again, rubbing the back of his neck.

Then, finally: “So, you really don’t think there’s anything strange about eating that much food? I was certain the burger alone would be twice the size of the stomach of someone your size…”

“Someone of my size...?” Minato raised an eyebrow at the boy, unsure of what he was getting at. He was aware of the fact that he was a bit smaller than many of the boys in his class, but was that relevant to his appetite? It was only after he slid out of his booth and stood up, now seeing how he measured up beside someone who was both taller and likely physically stronger than he was. It suddenly became apparent to him that he was quite small compared to who was speaking to him. “...I see what you mean now...” Seemingly unbothered, the young man only softly shook his head, still convinced that the amount of food he ate was normal. At the very least, it was normal for him. It wasn’t his problem if others couldn’t keep up.

It was around this point that Minato would usually flee the conversation, making some final comment to once again solidify his position and then going on with his day. However, for some reason, he felt as if he needed to stay behind with this young man who not only had failed the challenge, but had made himself sick doing so. After a moment of silence as he thought, he focused his previously hazy eyes on the taller male. “...Is it frustrating? That you lost...” 

Minato didn’t see him as any sort of competition; he made it clear with his disinterested expression, eyes looking similar to those of a dead fish. As he waited for a response, there was a quiet yet noticeable bark from just outside of the entranceway. “Ah. He’s waiting...are you coming?” Minato looked to the door, glancing between it and the stranger before shoving his hands into his pockets and heading outside.

🐈|| Kerplunk

Neko would have been relieved that he didn’t push the clothing issue with her if she wasn’t currently preoccupied with his offer of food. Neko wiggled her fingers as she waited for him to plop the crackers down into her hands, accepting the sleeve as though it were the holy grail. The packaging troubled her though, as generally she had issues opening things like that up without making a huge mess.

 “Blueberry-kuuun..” she whined, blinking up at him with a pleading gaze. “Open it, open iiittt..!!” She held out the sleeve, motioning for him to take it back and open it, knowing she’d tear it open in her excitement and the crackers would go flying everywhere. Shiro had tried to teach her patience when it came to that, but had sighed and simply opted to open certain things for her instead. 

As she waited for movement, the male questioned her without meeting her eyes. His expression was inquisitive yet tired. “What’s wrong? Are you not feeling good?” She stopped pushing the crackers at him and peered up at him, worry warping her expression into one of concern. “Does Blueberry-kun want to nap? Ok! Neko will nap too! But then afterwards we can play hide and go seek! Or eat!” 

For now, she pressed the crackers back into his hands. She wanted to eat them but it could wait. Besides, she could eat them once they were inside. She stepped behind the male and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, a puff of smoke poofed into existence and a tiny pink kitten lay flopped over his shoulder. Neko hung off of him lazily, her whiskers tickling his cheek.

“Ok~! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Her tail swished back and forth behind her as her feline eyes stared straight ahead towards the rooftop door.

 Minato took the crackers back and slipped them back into his pocket, deciding they’d have to eat once they were safely inside. This girl had the kind of free spirit a cat would, but she reminded him of a small child. He didn’t think he was particularly good with children, but he’d try. Despite seeming like a child, she was more perceptive than he had expected. “Sorry. Tired...but it doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it.” He tried to reassure her quietly, knowing there wasn’t a thing to be done. He’d usually just find a good place to take a quick nap, but that was impossible for now. He didn’t know where he was or how to get home...he couldn’t comfortably take a nap like this. He would’ve felt bad leaving this girl alone as well, though he was convinced that if he lied down to take a nap, she’d do the same.

He raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the girl who was suddenly behind him and clinging onto him, but her weight seemed to vanish. It wasn’t the weight of a teenage girl, but rather a small animal. “Ne...ko?” As he looked to his shoulder, he realized that she had taken the form of a small cat. So that was why she was Neko...Neko was a cat. She had meant it quite literally, hadn’t she? “...Understood. Let’s go.” With a small nod to her, he headed towards the rooftop door and turned the handle, finding that it opened up with ease. He slowly descended down the stairs that would bring him onto a regular floor, cautious both so the kitten wouldn’t fall, and so he could lookout for any danger. Upon stepping into the hall, he found it to look like nothing more than apartment units. 

“...Hold on. I want to figure out where we are...” Minato took a step towards one of the doors and knocked with a quiet ‘Excuse me’. The door creaked, slowly swinging open to reveal an seemingly vacant apartment. “...There’s no one,” he mumbled as he stepped inside, finding an apartment with a small kitchen, living area, and bedroom. He first went to the small table in the kitchen, taking out the crackers and opening them on the table. “Here, Neko-san. I’m going to look around a little...” Leaving the crackers as they were for the girl to get to when she was ready, he began by exiting the kitchen and looking around the living space. He figured she’d transform back into her human form and get the snack, but he wouldn’t have minded if she wanted to lounge on his shoulder for a little while longer. Neko, the cat, wasn’t particularly heavy.

There was an old couch, a seemingly broken television, and a small coffee table with a one-handed sword leaning against it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he lifted it with his right hand, testing the weight. Why was something like this here? “...Is it that kind of place?” He mumbled to himself. The sword felt comfortable enough in his hand. It wouldn’t hurt to bring it along...though he wondered if he’d be able to swing it properly. 

Dine-In Despair // Touko & Minato

A simple ‘Okay’ was all the male uttered before he put his headphones on and then closed his eyes. Any normal, rational person would ordinarily have been grateful at such hospitality, but Touko did not hide her thoughts which formed a complicated expression of disgust and fear. “S-So what? Am I that ugly that you have to shut your eyes?! A-And you don’t even want to hear me either?!” It wasn’t so much fear she was feeling as it was despair. She despaired over her unkempt appearance for which she attempted never to do anything about. As for her voice it was something she was born with so there wasn’t much she could do about that. 

It was a small mercy that the blue-haired male’s music or whatever he was listening to was turned up because he never responded. They were all rhetorical questions regardless and Touko feared hearing the responses which to her would only end in agreement in the others part. “Tch.. J-Just because you’re a little bit good looking you think you can look down on me? I bet.. you’re hiding a lazy eye under those bangs! Not so hot now are you!?” 

She made all these countless complaints as she slid into the seat and in the midst of all that jumped a few inches in her spot and yelped as an employee walked up sporting the largest bowl of ramen she had ever seen in person. Touko was shocked, her gray eyes wide as she witnessed the employee set the bowl down in front of the one sitting across from her and then laid out the terms of what even an idiot would recognize as an eating contest. 

“W-What the heck? There’s no way you can finish all that..” Touko had simply deduced that given the once over she’d previously given the male. He was very slender. Just where would he put all that food? 

Touko ate her words as quickly as her fellow table sharer had begun eating his food. What was going on, she wondered. Was the whole world in slow motion except for him!? She brought her hands to her mouth and chewed on her nail as she beheld the sight of the male devouring the food before him. It was odd how, in spite of how ravenously he inhaled his food, how good he looked doing it. Not a single drop of the broth dribbled down his chin or onto the table. Not a single bite was wasted. 

“Even if you eat all that.. I bet you’ll be on the toilet for hours..” 

It was probably for the best that Minato hadn’t heard Touko’s incoherent ramblings; he wouldn’t have known how to respond anyway, and he certainly wasn’t the type who did it with tact. he would have only irritated her more with his minimal responses and indifferent attitude. It didn’t help that he was tired as always, and on the verge of falling asleep. His closed eyes shot open as the server approached with his massive portion of ramen. The smell was strong and familiar enough to bring him back to reality. He finally took off his headphones, letting them hang loosely around his neck as he reached for his chopsticks.

This was the first time in-awhile he could hear those around him, and so he finally heard one of many things she had said to him (or rather, at him) while they shared the table. His blue-gray eyes glanced at her briefly as the waiter started the timer. “Maybe,” he responded, turning back to his meal and getting a start.

Minato wasn’t one to waste his food, not because he was scared of the consequences, or because he was taught not to, but simply because he appreciated a good meal and all the work that went into it. Well, that...and he was often hungry. He couldn’t possibly deny that his appetite was almost comically large for someone of his short stature and slim build. It was rare to see anything on his plate untouched. It took only ten minutes or so for him to finish the ungodly amount of noodles, and it was only then that he took a small break from inhaling the food. To complete it, he’d need to drink all the soup as well. Touko’s words once again reached his ears, although they didn’t bother him in the slightest. “Maybe,” he responded again, quietly coming to the conclusion that these short responses were the very reason his classmates found him to be cold and uncaring when he had been in high school. 

“...but I don’t think it’s a bad thing.” Although he offered no smiles, he found himself satisfied with his comment and resumed his quest.

As he did so, Touko’s normal sized meal finally arrived and was placed in front of her by an employee that was clearly in a rush. The bowl was placed carefully in front of her, but the employee rushed over without even a ‘Sorry for the wait’.

soulphrxse​:

Dead Mom || Minato & Futaba

She felt herself freeze as someone slid into the stool beside her, hoping she could get away without getting pulled into an awkward conversation. Better yet, maybe she wouldn’t get noticed at all and could flee back home before anything else happened. Though, as she was plotting her escape, the stranger spoke up. Ordinarily, she might not have paid attention to it, but his words were odd. Her…mother…? 

Her eyes widened and she whipped around to stare at him, her glasses nearly slinging off her face in the process. Now crooked, though too stunned to bring herself to fix them, she tried to formulate some sort of response to his words. She didn’t jump…? She’d always loved her..? That wasn’t…If that was true, then why did she have that guilt hanging over her, like someone was breathing down her neck, like her subconscious was screaming at her that it was her fault. 

“How…do you know about my mom?” she asked, her voice cracking in her surprise. If that was true, what the hell did it mean? She’d been led to believe it was her fault for so long…if that wasn’t the truth then was it an accident? But then why had those men come to read that note to her, pointing their fingers at her? 

It was strange, it didn’t add up. Like there was something further buried in her subconscious, like a truth that had never been grasped before. But then again, that also raised the question just how the hell this guy knew anything about that..?

He had already said more than he was used to contributing in one conversation, but it seemed he had no escape for now. She wouldn’t believe him if he just walked off now, and her mother wouldn’t be pleased with him either. It would be troublesome to be spoken to again by that woman, and it’d be even worse for him to show his face in LeBlanc again after saying such an odd thing to a stranger. He had no explain himself...but why would this girl...Futaba, even believe him? It was clear that his statement caught her off guard, but that was to be expected. “Ah. Sorry.”  His apology was soft and short, not bothering with any other formalities. 

“...She told me,” he offered plainly, finally looking in her direction, although he doubted it helped. His expression gave no hints about if he was lying or not, as he remained poker faced. He didn’t offer so much as a smile as some kind of encouragement, but he supposed at the very least, he had to mention his ability. In a city with Shizume, something like that wouldn’t be that shocking. “...It’s because I can speak with the dead. So she was able to tell me.”

Worth || Minato & Subaru

Shock rippled through Subaru at the other’s callous words of disregard towards his own safety. Well, of course, Subaru was still young, but yet not so naïve as to be unaware of the fact that people with such a lowly view of their own lives existed. It was more like… having experienced first-hand the horror of having his life forcefully robbed from him; countless times being forced to lie in pools of his own blood, unable to even cry out for help in time as his life was drained from his body… The sheer horror, the raw panic, the overwhelming dread that had crept in to replace the scorching pain of those events as Death finally swooped cold over him kept him up deep into the lonely nights. But more than that…

It was the faces. The faces of people who had seen him die, who had tried to help him but been too late. Even strangers, people he hadn’t known… had not only tried to help him, but expressed such feelings of remorse and despair at his cruel fates. Luckily, he was cursed to come back, a fact which he nonetheless resented with every ounce of his being. So he could see the horrible aftermath, as well as do his best to patch things up afterwards, but the same could not be said for most people. Rather, if someone like this boy died, wouldn’t the people he left behind just have to wallow in that misery?

Put simply, his worldview was completely at odds with this boy’s, and he couldn’t help but feel swirling, boiling rage burgeoning within him at the clear display of apathy.

Struggling to find the words he needed, Subaru’s face twisted and morphed to mirror the complex vortex of emotions swirling through his head. Finally–

“I saved your damn life, and that’s what you have to say to me? How about some damn gratitude?” Fuming, his feelings spilled out in these heated words as his face settled into a mask of anger. “Actually, forget about that, I don’t want your lame-ass fake gratitude! Do you even realize how ‘bad’ it would have been? This isn’t some shallow flesh wound that’ll heal overnight we’re talking about here…” His voice petered off. Though his mouth moved to continue the thought, it became impossible to squeeze his voice past the lump forming in his throat.

Why? Why was he being yelled at by this guy? He had thanked him already, and yet here they were. Minato understood perfectly well what would happen if the truck had collided with him, and he even understood to some extent what was bound to happen to him afterwards. He had first witnessed death as a young child, and ever since that day, he hadn’t feared his own death. At first it was just that death didn’t scare him, but by the time he had reached middle school, he had been subconsciously searching for it. 

By the time he hit high school, he found himself hospitalized more often than he felt comfortable admitting. At the point he was at now...it simply didn’t matter to him. What he had became aware of throughout his life was although his the idea of his own death didn’t bother him, he couldn’t stand watching the light leave someone else’s eyes. Even though he knew what their fate would be.