There was this one mcfucking bird when we still lived back on the other side of town, that would just keep smacking into my bedroom window. It’d do this for like an hour, then leave for like a week, rinse, repeat.

So I was watching a Pokemon speedrun a bit ago, and I randomly remembered something I wrote when I was a kid.

I had these little Pokemon-centric stories with a bunch of ‘Mons all belonging to a self-insert (long before I knew what the fuck those are), and they’d get into all sorts of zany antics.

There were like, this Mewtwo and Darkrai that absolutely hated each other and a prankster Lucario. Might have Mewtwo and Lucario mixed up there. And then an Espeon that felt like the only sane one there. I think there was a Cresselia that the Darkrai had a crush on.

This shit’s like... Ten years old now. So, fuck if I remember.

YOOOO I’M BACK~

Did I have one fuck of a dream tho...

I may as well tell the Shrek story, because oh god. Well, technically it was Shrek...

So the karaoke host lady announced what song each person was doing before they went up. This one duo, a Corrin cosplayer and some other dude, had decided to do In The End. At first I was like “Oh god is it the one I’m thinking?”

Cue Linkin Park playing and me just having flashbacks to my middle school edgelord days. Then when the vocals are supposed to kick in: “SomeBODY ONCE TOLD ME-” etc etc. With the instrumental for In The End still playing.

My head was on the table for a good 30 seconds. Talk about getting memed on. It was a fucking masterpiece. XD

The whole Hell’s Kitchen thing though, that I was babbling about earlier... It’s interesting how I got into the manga. The tale is really dear to me honestly, if you all don’t mind me telling it.

I rambled a lot so it’s under the cut here.

Against his insistence, Hikari goes with him to every appointment. She talks to every doctor and every nurse. She holds his hand in the waiting rooms, although it’s more for her own reassurance than his. It’s too hard for her to imagine a future without him, her lifeline. She has always been too dependent on him.

He is always big on strength. He never let anyone see him cry for Ruby, nor himself. But she knows better. She knows that the reassured smiles he gives his children, nephews, nieces, parents, friends, and even her are just for show. She knows him so well, so she shows enough emotion for them both when they’re alone. She rests her head against his shoulder and lets the tears build up. She breathes heavily as he holds her, assuring her that everything will be fine and he’ll be okay.

Sometimes she thinks he might cry during the few times she leaves his side, but she never has any proof. She would never ask him anyway.

The day he is rushed to the hospital is the one day she isn’t with him, but she gets the call. She is his emergency contact after all. Hikari makes all of the calls, and his children are on their way as soon as they can be. Emery is the first to arrive, and she smiles and strokes his hair as they outside of Cheren’s room. Auralie and Damon show up soon, and she lets them have their moment with their last remaining parent. When they have to go, she kisses all of their foreheads and promises to make sure Cheren is taken care of.

And he is. She barks at every nurse and doctor she encounters, making sure he gets the best care. His primary doctor is honest with them both about Cheren’s condition and how much time he has left, so she makes sure he is as comfortable as possible in his last days. She stays alert and loyal during every talk with every physician and even the meetings with the lawyers to make sure his affairs are in order.

The kids come to visit on what is coincidentally his last day, but no one knows. She arrives with a coffee in hand as they leave, and she once again promises to call them if anything arises.

“You didn’t get me anything?” he asks as she enters, raising an eyebrow. It used to be hard to look at him, so frail and pale. He looks so sick, and it pangs in her chest, but he still speaks with the same dignity as ever. That’ll never change.

“You just ate before the kids got here.”

They smile at one another, and she settles back down in her chair. Almost automatically, she reaches for his hand and their fingers lace together. It is still for her comfort rather than his.

“You should sleep,” she says quietly, discarding her empty cup.

“Perhaps.”

Hikari shoots him her best “mother” smile and he chuckles, closing his eyes and holding his hand back out for her. She takes it, closing her own eyes and rubbing circles against the back of his hand.

“Goodnight, Hikari.”

When she thinks back to it, she realizes that she must have known then. There must have been some part of her that told her that this would be the last time she would hear his voice weave together new words. It would be the last time she would see his eyes open. It would be the last time his skin would feel warm against hers.

But when it happens, she doesn’t seem to know. She says goodnight back to him and drifts off to sleep.