SEEK EPHEMERAL

What maniacal artist, cursed the canvas, dipped his brush in fate and painted my face beside thinking I could guide you?   [rohan kishibe, citta alveare] Icon by orangejuicy

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto batted away his touch, her expression still dark as she looked at him. She could not do so for more than a moment, it seemed, as she turned back towards the door. Eto placed a hand on the door frame, the rest of her small frame coming to lean on it as she spoke.

“What’s the point of an illusion coming to tell me things I’m already aware of?”

She already knew that she was a surplus of a foolish, doomed relationship; she already knew that she had not been loved. Those were facts she had accepted years ago, so what was the point of bringing them to light now?

As many things as this city offered her, as intriguing it could be, she simply could not understand the meaning of things such as this.

“… Brilliant?” She repeated, tilting her head back to look at him.

“You think breaking your promise to me was brilliant?” 

Do not use your stand on me, she had asked of him so many months ago, she had made him promise it to her; how foolish of her, to think that he would actually keep it.

Kishibe Rohan yawned. Not only was he his usual lack of emotion driven self, but he seemed entirely outside of the moment. Not only was he outside, but in his seat in the audience he wasn’t finding the moment particularly enertaining either. 

“Most betrayals are brilliant, as well as elegant. I thought you were a writer who specialized in tragedy.”

Rohan leaned forward and poked her on the forehead. “I don’t like being touched by your gross and slimy kagune, but if it was a life threatening situation, I woldn’t complain.”

He definitely would. 

“So then, why don’t you tell me what you’re angry with isn’t actually me? It’s yourself, because you needed to be saved from your own mother. You hate your own feeling of helplessness, don’t you?”

[kisshibae]

pockyfortune:

Reimi gave him a dry smile; his manga references were something she had gotten used to, but, it didn’t make them any less odd.

“Oh… how sad…” 

Just as Rohan leaned into her hand, Reimi in turn leaned towards the mangaka. She looked at the doorway where the Pokemon had just been, wondering if it was happy to have found a family of its own now.

“Oh, don’t say that.”

“He doesn’t mind your cat– even if you named it after Koichi-kun.” She still had not figured out why Rohan had done that, but, figured it was just another one of Rohan’s bouts of eccentricity.

“Besides, I don’t even know what sort I would catch.” Reimi leaned her head on Rohan’s shoulder, floating there so casually. 

“I already told you, you could catch a ghost type. It’s not that hard really.” 

Rohan said, fluffing up slightly against her like a particulary proud cat might at the idea of being touched. His body was long and wiry as ever, and it felt awkward to have somebody else so near him when he was trying to work.

However, he did not push her away either. Instead he reached for his phone in his back pocket and shoved it in her face instead. 

“Look. See. There’s like 5,000 of them just pick one.”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto’s eyes narrowed– she knew he was up to something, it was simply a matter of what. Would he use his stand? Or his incredibly ridiculous level of flexibility?

As she considered such possibilities, Rohan moved.

“Ah!”

When Koichi the cat was through at her, Eto made a startled noise as she moved to catch the feline, a noise that was similar to the yowl that Koichi herself let loose from being thrown.

Eto struggled for a moment, wanting to make sure that Koichi reached the ground safely though the cat was quite unhappy about the whole affair and made the act difficult. As soon as she was free, Koichi the cat fled, and Eto shouted.

“Rohan!”

By the time she called out for him, Rohan had already reached the door in his sprint. His skinny and pointy after image was all that was left of him in the direction Eto was looking. 

He slammed the door to their office and then jumped to slide down the stair railing.

As Rohan rushed towards the other door, he made sure to shout out. 

“Enjoyyourqualitytimewithyourcatseeyoulaterloser, bye!”

Before clearing the doorway. 

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto took a step back, turning her head away from Rohan in the process. She did not want to look at him. Since when had she needed another’s help? Since when…?

For a long moment, Eto said nothing. It as not until after he sat upon her bed and spoke once more, that she finally looked back at him.

“You gave an illusion the opportunity to change me, or worse.” She corrected him, her tone sharp.

Could a ghost have taken her away from this city? With everything she had seen and experienced since arriving here, she supposed it was possible.

“… What if she had written in me, or erased something?” She glared at him, her expression darkening as she continued to speak. “What if she had taken me away like she wanted to?”

“She didn’t want to. She wasn’t even real, she was just some delusion conjured up by your head.”

Rohan crossed his legs as he laid out the facts plainly as he saw them. He leaned forward just then and raised a finger, placing it in the middle of her forehead. His eyebrows raised he seemed quite confident in what he was about to say. 

“You would never change anything about yourself, you are too stubbornly prideful to do so. Therefore, nothing that emerged from you would ahve done so as well.”

Rohan smirked.

“There was no danger to begin with, but the illusion of it would be enough to shock you into waking up. Isn’t that quite a brilliant move by me, then?”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto did not respond when he came in, having easily hid herself among the mess of clothes, books, and papers strewn throughout her bedroom. Even when he called for her opinion, she did not reveal herself. It was only a moment after he spoke once more, his following words inciting her rage, that Eto began to crawl out from underneath her bed, her hair sprawled out over her form and onto the floor.

“Shut up.”

Her fists balled up, shaking, and as he held the sketch books up in the air, Eto batted them out of his hands. She would have ripped them to shreds, had her fists not directed themselves towards Rohan. She pushed him, only enough to shove him back an inch.

“You… You didn’t do anything to help me.”

“You didn’t even help yourself. Why are you blaming me for this exactly?”

Rohan said as he reached to readjust his headband. When she pushed him back, it had become slightly uneven. He bent down once more to pick up the sketchbooks.

“You didn’t answer my question, or was that your way of saying that they both looked wrong. I should redraw them, then.”

Rohan sat on her bed and crossed his leg to use it as a surface to draw upon. Halfway through his drawing he finally looked up.

“Besides, I was the one who made your mother go away.”

[kisshibae]

*pockyfortune:

Reimi immediately pulled a napkin out of her dress pocket, and floated upwards in order to press it against Rohan’s nose. Thankfully, she was a nice person, unlike a certain, green-haired novelist who would have laughed at the sight of the mangaka falling flat on his face.

She followed his eye, and saw a small creature waddle by the door, one that had brown fur and seemed to be carrying… a bone?

“Oh, cute, but why does it have a skull on its head? That’s kinda’ morbid.” Said the ghost.

Had she considered catching one? Well, perhaps…

“There are types? You make it sound like they’re from a video game or something…”

“What if they are from a video game? They might as well be, just like you and I might as well be characters from a manga.”

Rohan said as he sat up again, gently leaning his face against Reimi’s hand. He was glad that his nosebleed was from natural causes, otherwise if the two of them were in some kind of harem manga Reimi might think him a pervert. 

“They carry the skull of their mother’s on their head after their mothers die. It’s really interesting.”

Rohan did not seem to detect the tragedy inherent in his words, or if he did he did not show it. He sighed and looked elsewhere. 

“You should hurry up and find one, if Arthur finds out you’re looking for another pet he might get jealous.”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Suddenly, Eto stood.

“Put her down.”

She spoke slowly and carefully, enunciating each word in a particularly threatening manner. The air in the office turned quite serious, though, Koichi the cat seemed unaware of it as she blinked slowly at both of her owners.

Eto did not want to choose. So, she would not back down at his ultimatum, instead, she would use force. She was stronger and faster than him, and if Rohan wanted to take this course of action, she was fully prepared to follow him down it.

They could be so childish.

Rohan had read the log of her life. He already knew what her weakness was. When she started to posture in front of him like an animal attempting ot make itself look bigger to escape a predator, he did not blink an eye. 

Even the strongest people were weak. That is what shonen manga had taught him. 

"Fine then.”

Rohan said, and that should have been an indiciation that everything was about to go wrong. He leaned back in his chair for just a moment, before suddenly throwing the cat forward, straight at Eto’s face. 

[kisshibae]

pockyfortune:

“Oh, c’mon, don’t be shy.”

Reimi cooed, a feline-like grin evident on her face; behind her, Rohan’s Smeargle mimicked such an expression, clearly eager to join in on the fun as well. Yet, as Rohan tried to make an exit, the Pokemon comically blocked his path with ease.

“Rohannie!” 

Rather than laugh or poke fun at the artist, Reimi was quick to hover over to him, sitting on her knees as she sat over her boyfriend.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Rohan said, even though he was not fine. There was blood streaming from his nose, but the rest of his face and expression were flat as if he did not notice. He was ignoring it. He rolled back onto his feet and looked at her. It seemed Reimi had forgotten about wanting to cover him in paint for the moment. He was fortunate that she was actually be a considerate and kind person, what a convenient weakness to take advantage of. 

Rohan looked over to the pokemon. One of the few that Eto let run around her house at all times. “Have you ever thought of catching one of those?”

Rohan said, swiftly changing the subject. 

“There are ghost type pokemon you know. You would look cute next to them.”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto looked up, annoyance on her face as clear as day.

“How dare you say that to her.”

“Koichi knows that I love her, don’t imply anything other wise.”

In Rohan’s arms, Koichi wriggled about, though it only made the large, overweight cat swing in her other owner’s grip. She looked a bit silly.

Eto sighed.

“Put her down,” she snapped.

Rohan tightened his grip around the cat. 

"I refuse.”

He had no interest in holding cats, but Eto telling him to let go only made him want to hold on tighter. He stared forward unchanged at her for a moment, before sighing as well.

“Do you want to go to the party, or not? Choose. That’s the only way you’ll get your cat back.”

Now this had become a high stakes hostage situation. 

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto had paused on the stairs, having to sit down for a moment, only to be stepped on another moment later. When she felt his touch, however, Eto snapped back to attention; she swatted the mangaka away, her expression darkening immediately.

“Don’t touch me.”

She turned around sharply, a shaking hand grasping the stairwell as she continued to make her way upstairs. Eto said nothing else, not even when she reached the top of the stairs, and began to shuffle to her own bedroom.

Don’t touch me– don’t even look at me.

Rohan did not hesitate at all, even with the murderous glare that was shot his way. He was used to such things, if they bothered him, he would have been scared off a long time ago. The moment the door to her bedroom slammed shut, Rohan opened it once more. 

“Eto, when you’re done being dramatic can you consult with me here? Which of these drawings looked closer to your mother’s face?”

He said as he held two sketch books up in the air. He got no response at all. Rohan clicked his teeth together. 

“You’re not being very polite to the man who just saved you from your own worst fear back there, you know.”

[kisshibae]

pockyfortune:

Reimi’s expression flattened. She hoped she could wash paint out of this shirt, but knew better than to press her luck.

Hands dirty with paint, Reimi wiped at her face, then reached out towards Rohan– specifically his clothes.

“Oh, Rohannie, it’s not fair if I’m the only person who’s being turned into art.”

“Why don’t you come closer, so I can paint your face, too.”

Behind her, Rohan’s Smeargle began to come closer too, apparently following the ghost’s lead. 

“Hey wait a moment. Unlike you who wears the same outfit, again, again and again, these clothes are designer.”

Rohan took a step backwards.

“They can’t afford to get paint on them they’re incredibly expensive, and need to be dry cleaned only.”

Rohan’s eyes spasmed, and looked out of the corner of his eyes to find a clear pathway to the door.

“Let’s just talk about this for a moment.”

He suddenly made a break for it. So much for talking about it. However, his smeargle was standing in the exact wrong place causing Rohan to trip over it and face plant straight into the ground. 

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto watched in dumbfounded silence as Rohan was… Rohan.

“You are… the worst.”

She groaned, letting her head fall onto the desk with an audible thud.

Eto opened her mouth, as if to rudely ask Rohan why he was the way he was– yet, she promptly closed her lips. There was no way she would ever receive an answer as to why Kishibe Rohan was like this. It was one of the greatest questions of the universe, or more aptly, universes.

Sometimes, Eto did not even want to know. Perhaps the answer would be too much for any mortal to handle.

“You complained that you weren’t allowed to go to the cat party, and now you’re complaining, because I took an action that would allow you to go to the cat party.”

Rohan then suddenly picked up Koichi again.

“I guess we’re going to have to go to the cat party alone, Koichi because mommy doesn’t love you enough.”

He hated cats, but he did like annoying Eto. It was a perfectly valid and equal tradeoff in his mind. He let the cat hang there in his arms for a moment as he was obviously holding it the wrong away. 

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto suppressed a cough, now that she felt her body come together again. She remembered the feeling, and it as even worse than the first, and previous, time. It took her a moment to stand, and when she did, she could not look at the other author.

She could only look down at her own wrist, where the violet marks of someone’s fingers were already beginning to fade from the paleness of her own skin.

After everything that had transpired, all Eto could do was look at her wrist and think of one thought: “I’m tired.”

She was so tired.

Eto did not hear Rohan’s words as she moved passed him, her feet heavy as she made her way to the staircase.

If she had even said something herself, it did not reach her ears. No, each step to her bedroom was too taxing, almost too much. So long as she could sleep, perhaps she could fool herself into thinking that today had been nothing more than an awful dream.

Rohan did not even notice she was gone. He went back to drawing Ukina. It took him several more drafts until he had a version he was satisfied with. Even then he looked at the face as if it was wrong. 

He needed a better model for the face. Perhaps he could copy off of Eto’s. He went looking for her upstairs, only to step on her on the staircase. It seemed she was slowly making her way up the stairs, but much slower than she realized.

“That’s a terrible place to sleep. Your back is going to snap again old woman.”

[kisshibae]

pockyfortune:

@kisshibae

“Oh, he’s cute!”

Reimi cooed over the pokemon that was lounging in her boyfriend’s office– Rohan had said it was specifically called a Smeargle, though, Reimi didn’t think that was an appropriate name for something so cute.

“Can I pet hi–?” Reimi had held out her hand, yet, before she could finish or even pet the pokemon, Rohan’s Smeargle suddenly whapped Reimi in the face with its tail, splattering her with its paint.

Reimi paused completely, then blew a raspberry as she tried to wipe at her face with her hands.

“… Ew.”

“Don’t touch him.” 

Rohan said in a low voice as he was too busy concentrating on his painting to really pay attention. When he noticed that Reimi predicatbly did not listen, he simply smirked at her new colorful look.

“Why Reimi, what beautiful colors you have. Can I try to paint as well?” He picked up his brush and splashed it in her direction, putting even more paint on her, and causing the splash of colors to get even worse. 

Rohan snickered. 

“You’ve become a work of art yourself.”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto paused.

“You–what–hey!”

Eto was finally able to say something as she watched Rohan fling Koichi away.

“Don’t throw her!”

Despite the author’s annoyance, Koichi the cat was completely unfazed. Rather than linger on its fall, it quickly returned to where Eto stood and Rohan sat, rubbing up against both sets of authors’ legs. It seemed she wanted to play. Cats were so quick to shift in mood, weren’t they?

“You…” Eto grumbled, turning her attention back to Rohan. “It is not settled– it’s not even close to being settled.”

Eto hated when Rohan was right.

“It’s a cat, you can bowl a cat if you want they’ll still always land on their feet.”

He ignored the cat rubbing against him. He did not like cats, or playing. He liekd drawing which is what he was trying to do before Eto decided to beset him with this nonsense. She should have known the time of the legendary Rohan Kishibe was valuable and not something easily wasted.

Rohan needed the quickest way to settle this situation. He reached out for a phone and then picked it up.

“Hello, about the party you invited me too. It turns out I can come, but I want to bring my friend along as well. She’s not really so unpleasant, she just has low self esteem and gets nervous around others, and it leaves an improper impression. Oh, we can both come then? I’m so glad.”

Rohan tossed the phone away. 

“There. Settled. It’s the most settled thing in existence. It will no longer move. It’s set.”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Try as she might, Eto could not wrench her wrist free from the ghost’s grip. It was not until she heard that familiar name, felt herself fall apart, that she saw the mark left on her wrist.

Heaven’s Door– that damned ability. The very same one that Rohan had used on her the day they first met in this city; how long ago was that now? It certainly had to be close to two years. All those months, spent in this city, spent growing closer to others, and then Kishibe Rohan of all people.

What was it for?

Eto could not see, she had closed her eyes on instinct, and now they would not open. Yet, she felt that Ukina was reading her life right now, asking that very question. If Eto was a failure, then what would be all her struggling for? What was the point?

Rohan’s words were faint, and she could hardly hear them in this state; yet, she could hear the sigh of her own mother, or rather the ghostly figure thereof. She couldn’t make out the specific words, but knew the manifestation of her mother was speaking.

“I cannot rewrite what has already been done,” the woman said. “Besides, even if I tried to change something written in that mess of paper, I have a feeling you wouldn’t let me. After all, you haven’t done it yourself, have you?”

Eto could only hear a muffled version of those words, as well as the foot steps of someone leaving the kitchen; she felt someone stepping on some part of her for a moment, but then felt nothing else. Somehow, though, Eto found herself able to speak, even if she was not fully aware of the words that passed through her tattered lips.

“You’re the worst, Kishibe Rohan.”

Rohan snapped his fingers, and the Eto which had fallen apart to paper came together again. He did nothing to stop the fake Ukina, nor did he particularly look at Eto to see if she was okay. Rather he went back to his own drawing pad. 

That was where his utmost priority always seemed to lie. Now that he had seen her in the flesh, he could do a better job of drawing her then he had before. As he went about sketching the woman, Rohan realized Eto had told him something earlier.

“Hmm, what is that?”

He snapped his fingers again, snap, snap, snap, snap, as he was once again experiencing block on how to draw that woman’s face in particular. 

“Yes mommy never loved you, or whatever other tragic issue of your life is bothering you now. I get it. Are you quite finished yet though? Can you hand me a shading pencil if you are?”

[kisshibae]

bubonem:

Eto clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“That was different– they should know how to organize things correctly, it’s in their job description.”

Finally, Eto let Koichi the cat free, to which the feline responded by jumping on the desk. She walked carefully, before laying on Rohan’s drawing with an audible thud. Cats sure did enjoy paper, how nice it was for Koichi that there was plenty for her to roll around in.

“That’s not– wait.” Eto inhaled sharply. “How did you know about that? I didn’t mention it…”

“Oh, it’s because earlier they called this residence to invite me. However, they asked me specifically not to mention it to you, or bring you along, so I told you I had no interest in going.”

Rohan looked at the fat cat that was now sitting happily on his drawing. He had been forced to divulge that much information because he was unable to draw. However, he had no interest in continuing this conversation and all the interest in the world at drawing. 

He grabbed the cat by the scruff of the back of it’s neck, and tossed it off of his desk throwing it some few feet away. Of course it was a cat and it landed easily on it’s feet without much incident. 

“Anyway, that should settle the matter shouldn’t it? The only thing that continues to be bothered is your own ego.”