USHIRONO.

fuyu wasn’t someone who got involved often with random people on the street. if he could go the rest of his life without speaking to anyone ever again, he would! but he can’t help but notice this guy staring into this store window for who knows how long now. it wasn’t like it was a neat store - it was a plain old electronics store but.. ugh. curiosity and all that.

so, he steps in next to the other and peeks into the window. 

" could you at least pretend to watch where you are going ? "

normally , he would be more phased by the fact someone was floating . but he has been here for … a year ? yeah , something like that . so someone just floating was the least surprising thing . what was surprising was feeling them run straight into his back .

fuyu was never someone who would say outloud he was a music enjoyer . maybe it was easier now , without the revenge and tight deadline of zeno trying to be spread . it was easier to justify stopping to look through a music store and find something new .

though , his staring at cds meant he was in some kids way . oops . he will just move a little .

Ack.

[ txt ] i forgot to actually say the name!!! that’s all!! you know i’m bad with this stuff. and it’s like one of the only ones there so its not hard to find. 

Jeez, why couldn’t they have just called to figure this out? It would’ve been way easier that way! But he’ll take a moment to actually send Fuyu the name of the place he had in mind after his confirmation that he’d be there which…that was good.

That was a good thing. They were going to hang out without any prompting from all the crazy bullshit that had been happening in their lives. Without prompting from Tsugino, or Kochi, being here. Which…hadn’t happened in a long time. 

[ txt ] see ya then

…even if he knew he’d probably be a few minutes late even with the decided upon time but…that didn’t matter, right? 

          “ are you really late ? ”

            it’s definitely not by much and it isn’t as if fuyu cared all that much . mostly he just wanted to bug aki more because ... well , it was funny . in a ‘he wants to piss him off’ kind of way . but still funny . 

            not that he was going to laugh or anything . 

            he doesn’t offer a wave or anything , hands stuck in his pockets as the other walks up .

                    he needed to make more of an effort to talk to aki , to fix things . the two had been here for almost a year , they were living together - this was the least he could do he thinks .

                    how to do that ? he had absolutely no idea which lead to him just standing in the doorway of the library for a solid five minutes before doing anything . which was fine , aki was sucked into a book - he had no idea that he was standing here . so .. he just slowly makes his way in .

                    " maeno . hey . "

@zenokiller​ // mistified starter !! 

Was it bad he was almost getting used to all the strange things going on in this city? Or, rather than used to it…

It was more like the strange ongoings were doing a lot to fuel his curiosity. Almost as soon as the mist rolled in, and the eclipse shone a bright red, he had wanted to adventure off into it to see what was going on. Which was apparently a “stupid idea” and “you’re going to get hurt like that, idiot” or something. What a boring approach!

Though that approach did at least get Fuyu to tag along with him. And even if he was being reckless wanting to explore, his gaze flitted around the mist carefully, waiting for something to pop out. Anything. 

Anything…

Anything but the familiar blue braid he just caught a glimpse of, running further into the mist where he couldn’t make out exactly where it had gone. 

“…Fuyu. Did…you didn’t see that too, did you?”

                      weird things happened here . fuyu knew this and he accepted this pretty early on . really there was nothing weirder than just showing up here . 

                      if it were up to him , he would have stayed in and ignored the whole thing . but aki was going out there and the one thing fuyu could never do was ignore maeno aki’s stupid behaviors . 

                      and so he followed him . like always . staying close and guarded as they walked through the mist but he stops dead in his tracks when he sees it - a blue braid . 

                      no . no no no he can’t handle this . 

                      a shaky breath falls from him , reaching out to grab onto aki’s shirt . 

“Geez, you’re taking it too seriously!” 

Though it wasn’t like he minded, even with his complaints. He knew Fuyu cared about him still, though their display of their mutual concern for each other was…with no better way to say it, kinda fucked up lately. Lots of yelling and silent judgement - but it worked for them. Arguing wasn’t ever an unfamiliar concept, just a colder one in the past few years. 

“I just want to actually have books in there again so I’m going to do some cleaning. It’s…weird, to see it empty.”

It had always been full - overflowing, really - thanks to his father. The man loved his books, something that had been passed down to his son. Aki knew the books that had been there, and the way they had been organized like the back of his hand. Some would be hard to find…others, the sentiment wouldn’t be the same thing. Tears, creases, and wear wouldn’t ever compare to fresh crisp pages.

Especially not with one specific book/

“If anything I don’t want to smell your nasty corpse in the spare bedroom because you’re locking yourself in there!” 

            “ it’s not too serious when you’re a serial offender, you know? ”

              he cared. he hated that he cared so much. but what was he going to do? he was already ass as pretending he didn’t care. in fact, he cared so much that it hurt to think about it. not that he would ever tell aki this. it was better to keep it to himself, easier. for both them. 

            “ i take care of myself, asshole. ”

              not well. but who was counting. his arms cross, letting out a sigh. his next offer.. he will probably regret... but. 

Oh, fuck.

That worked.

There was a sort of stunned disbelief on his face as he watched Fuyu’s text pop up on his screen, speaking agreement in going out for food. Together. That was something he never quite managed to master unless they were both hungry enough after work to not care, or they had some dumb work event to go to.

Or, more recently, Kochi brought them together. They didn’t really have work events anymore, after all, being unemployed. Self-employed. 

[ txt ] uh 

…though, he might ruin his chance with this one.

[ txt ] how do i do that

Who knew not really knowing how smartphones worked would be his downfall!? 

              seriously? just how was this guy a genius? 

              thankfully, this was something fuyu actually wanted to do ( though he wouldn’t admit that ) so he will help. kind of. 

              [TXT] You look it up, idiot. Just send me the fucking address.

              god. did this guy even know how to copy and paste? probably not. there is a long moment where he is sure aki can see he is typing on the other side. this could easily be his way out, a way to back out and not have to look at aki or be around him. but...

He had been taking his time, looking around the estate. 

Soaking in all the little things that were the same, and all the things that were different. The little dent in the counter from when he tried to cut open some fruit without using a cutting board. The worn out wood of the shelves in the estate’s library. The books that were missing, and the almost hauntingly absent presence of a little girl, sneaking around the corners.

The fleeting glances of a blue braid turning the corner, that wasn’t really there. 

When Fuyu approaches where he’s looking over things in the living room, he glances over to him and…

Right. Tensions were still high. Even if they had sort of started getting along again, it wasn’t really ever going to be the way it once was. Living with Fuyu was better than living with a stranger…but it’d be a little hard not to bug him every now and again, if they were living together. 

But…maybe it would be. This estate had always been a little too large, and a little too empty feeling. Maybe they’d manage to avoid each other. 

“…right. Well, I’ll probably just stick to the library for the most part, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Though that could be something to worry about, given his track record with locking himself away in that library before. Fuyu knew what that statement could mean better than anyone - but really, he just wanted to try and rebuild the collection of books in there. Tidy things up. Make it feel a little more familiar. 

            “ you’ll stick to the library ... ” 

              he repeats the words quietly to himself before letting out a loud sigh . why did he even care enough to sigh at it ? he knew the answer but he hated the it . he hated that he could easily remember the small boy he had found on the verge of death that one night here and could even more easily imagine the same thing happening to the older him . 

              this place was too familiar - like a weird old ghost haunting him . he used to love this place , to escape here and spend time with the boy next door he adored with all his heart . now it just hurt . now it just reminded him of things he would never have again . 

            “ look . if you’re in there for more than two hours at a time , i’m going to come drag you out of there . i don’t have the time to worry about finding you disregarding yourself again . if you just want to make it feel more like how it used to , i will help with that . but no locking yourself in there . ”

              eh . this was sounding like he cared too much .