#phantommirrored

Aurelius has been very good, he thinks. He hasn't confronted Sephiroth directly, and he's all but sealed away visible indicators of holy light to corner the mysterious cone-hatted teen in a corner of some hipster store at Mermaid Cove Mall without burning him to ashes.

Still, as he looms over the youth with his full 6'5" frame, he can't help blurting out the first thought that comes to his mind.

"Have you gotten shorter recently?"

"I have no idea what you could possibly be talking about~" She rests against Shadow's side where they're seated, her smug expression saying precisely the opposite of that.

When he gets to the dorm after archery practice, equipment neatly stored away in its case as usual, he sighs audibly. It's later than usual, the first signs of dusk visible through the windows. At least it still gave them a chance to go out and explore the area around the auditorium and parking lot as they'd planned.

"Were you not planning to tell me Cupcake escaped again?" He calls out, said little crab safely tucked away inside a plastic container and happily munching on lettuce from his sandwich. How it got into his gear was the question, but luckily no harm was done. "We're lucky professor Kujou didn't see them."

He'd move to return the contraband pet to its enclosure, but...

"Shadow, what's with all this flour....?" What in Hylia's name did he miss while practicing for the next competition?

It was never strange for Shadow to be away from the shop for long periods at a time. He would always come back before the sun came out again, of course-- and Watanuki had grown used to greeting him as the morning light began to peak over the horizon, always welcoming him back with warmth and something to eat. Though, that morning.. Shadow never came home.

It wasn't long before Watanuki had realized why.

However, if not for the broadcast from the Stars, perhaps he would have never put the pieces together-- after all, Shadow was not answering him over the phone, no matter how many times Watanuki called or sent him a message. He couldn't even be certain if he had been taken to the Inn; Shadow never mentioned if he had accepted his past self from before.. or if he had even seen him to begin with.

However, worst of all.. is that Watanuki never asked. And with each step he took, as the pit in his stomach grew larger, he cursed himself for being so selfish; too caught up in the strife from his past to make sure the child under his care had not also gone through something just as traumatic as he had.

His nails bit into the skin of his palms, the feeling of dread only growing wider as Watanuki forced himself through the front doors of this newfound place; the absolute terror and misery of it all blaring in his ears, threatening to obscure his senses all at once.

"Shadow-kun.."

"Hey, Shadow. I made you some soup from my home."

It smells spicy but good.

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