Not Alone||Keisuke Jin
@spaceisaocean
Jouji didn’t get to travel much these days. His friends’ concern for him and his still failing health prevented that. They feared the strain of traveling would shorten his lifespan that much more should he strain himself on the journey. The most they let him do was walk around the town he retired in: A quiet place on the southern coast.
Shirou said the air was good out there. Jouji didn’t protest.
The old man missed traveling though. The sights he would see. The people he would meet. The experience of it all. Jouji missed it. And he wanted to travel at least once more before his body finally gave into the abuse he’d put it through as Riderman. So, he packed a bag and left a note on the counter should any of the people he knew stopped by to see him.
A good number of hours on board trains, a couple stops at small town inns, and Jouji found himself on another coastal town not too far from Tokyo. He breathed in the familiar scent of the sea. His ‘caretakers’ couldn’t complain too much if he stayed in that town a few days.
His first stop was at a local hotel, where he rented a room for the amount of time he wished to stay. Then, he took a stroll around the town, getting a feel for the locals and sense of community. While the dialect and the faces were different, Jouji felt rather at home. It had the same sort of feel his town had: peaceful and safe. It was relaxing.
While on his walk, Jouji spotted a diner. He could smell the food from outside its doors. His stomach growled at him. The scientist moved to walk on, but his stomach complained even louder. It felt like teeth chewed at him from the inside and only then did Jouji realize how hungry he truly was. The old man should have expected that from not eating since morning. He took a breath and entered the shop.
The scent of the kitchen and entrees assaulted his nose. The pain of hunger bit into him more and he tried not to clutch his torso as he waited to be seated. The host set him down at a table beside one of the other customers, an older man in a lab coat with a young girl--probably his granddaughter. He briefly looked at the menu and chose a few dishes at random for an immediate order. Anything that would fill his stomach would do at that point.
Once the server left to put in his order, Jouji glanced around him, taking in the cozy restaurant. It wasn’t until he really looked at the man beside him that his mind caught up with him. “Keisuke Jin?” he asked, a smile forming on his lips. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, old friend?”
It’d been so long since he really got a look at his old friend. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t glad to see someone other than him aged as well. Though it looked as if Keisuke was faring much better than he in terms of health. The lucky man.
