#chroyes

“Hm... Maybe... No, he doesn’t like that at all...”

One winter day found Tasuku perusing the shelves of a nearby toy store for gift ideas. The orphanage Tasuku had become acquainted with had little money to spare for gifts for the children, and yet so many of the kids had come to Tasuku asking them if they were on Santa’s naughty or nice list. 

Tasuku remembered when he had believed in Santa. His parents had taught him to be good for the sake of being good, but like any child, he couldn’t deny that he had wanted a reward for his exemplary behaviour as well. 

But more than that... How long had it been since he had stopped believing? After his parents had died, probably, when he wished to Santa every night for his parents to come back to him and wondered why they hadn’t appeared under the cheap, plastic tree he had purchased with what little money he had. The sadness and loneliness from realizing that wish could never be granted... 

Tasuku wouldn’t wish that kind of sadness on any child.

“Oh...!”

A wide array of stuffed animals caught his eye on the bottom shelf, and he knelt down to inspect them.

“Hmm... Yeah, this could work... He mentioned he really wanted one of these...”

He shuffled to the left, looking for a particular stuffed animal...until his head collided into someone else’s.

Following their little disagreement and the subsequent close call, Kazuma found himself hanging out at Aichi’s house a lot more. Today was one of those times; Chrono had insisted that Kazuma come over today, and Kazuma begrudgingly gave in.

He lounged on the couch as Chrono cooked up a storm, raising his eyebrows at the recent...changes that had taken place recently.

@chroyes

After getting in touch with Kazuma, the other had come and scooped up Taiyou from Sector oo3 and escorted him down to Aichi’s mansion, confirming that a certain someone he was anxious to see had still been here.

Was he still in the same room down in the basement with Tasuku?

The very second Kazuma opened the doors to the mansion, Taiyou burst through and ran past the others, at least giving a wave to Shion, Misaki, and the others, then barreled downstairs until he was face to face with the closed door.

Recognizing the fact he was a little too excited, he straightened himself up and took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. "Okay.”

“...” But he just couldn’t keep his composure. Taiyou opened the door and rain straight for Chrono, little arms latching around his senior’s waist with the brightest smile.

“Chrono.”

Catching the other teen in the living room, Shion approached with his usual smile.

“--...suku...” “...n’t let g...”

A faint voice sounded in the sea of white that was his subconsciousness.

“...e...ared...” “...omise m... Let’s...”

Who is it...? He couldn’t even hear what the voice sounded like. But as he drew closer to wakefulness, the words became clearer.

“...No matter what happens...” “...Let’s meet again...” “Promise me...”

And then, another voice. His own voice, which left his lips involuntarily.

“I’ll find you.” “I promise.” “So please...” “Don’t forget--.......”

Tasuku awoke with a start in his bed.

It had been almost two weeks since Tasuku woke up in Spirale. His arrival mirrored that of many others: a rude awakening by the giant pit in the middle of the city, and the subsequent ferrying away by an insistent cab driver in a dilapidated taxi that Tasuku feared would break down in the middle of the highway. The first week had been spent searching for a way out, but that availed nothing. Even though Tasuku had distinct memories of trying to venture out of the city limits, he would always wake up in bed with no recollection of how he got there. Having exhausted his options for the time being, Tasuku simply set about to scoping out Spirale’s layout.

A single glance from a high vantage point told Tasuku all he needed to know. The city--perhaps the entire island--had been the zone of a disaster. The landscape was something that Tasuku was all too familiar with... Just looking out at the rubble, the skeletons of buildings that once reached into the sky, the upturned trees and cracks in the cement made Tasuku feel sick to his stomach and brought back the memories that he had locked away in the deepest recesses of his mind. He descended to the ground shortly after, with Jack at his side, and elected not to fly again unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Mnghm...”

It was a nice Saturday morning. The warm sunlight leaked through the curtains, casting small beams on the blanket that Tasuku was curled up under. His pillows were so soft and inviting, and the bed was so warm, and against his better judgement, Tasuku just wanted to sleep the rest of the day away. In his sleepy stupor, he didn’t notice that he was the sole occupant on the bed, nor was he yet aware of the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen and into the room...

“......”

So the dozy Tasuku continued to drift in and out of sleep on this perfectly normal Saturday morning.

“......”

An intense aura permeated through the store festively decorated with red and pink. The source was a heavily contemplative Tasuku, who stood before a colourful display and stared fiercely at the boxes of chocolate on sale.

“Hm... That box has less dark chocolate in it... But it also has the chocolates with strawberry filling... He loves strawberry...”

“Which would he like more...”

“You know, when I was at home, I never thought things like ‘it’d be nice to be able to relax a little’...” 

Tasuku and Chrono were spending a quiet evening together on New Year’s Eve as the streets were filled with raucous celebration. Gracious enough to receive a holiday for the last few days of 2017, the two were indulging in one another’s company, as well as the food that Chrono had just cooked for them.

“But ever since meeting you, I feel like I’ve begun thinking that a lot more. Maybe it’s because you’re always here waiting for me.”