“no…it’s okay.” even if he had been busy, kusanagi and yusaku didn’t seem to be bothered by him stepping outside to take a call. and in all honesty, he did find himself missing kiku. she was the closest thing he had to a friend before he met yusaku. even if he put distance between them, kiku was always there for him. she always talked to him, worried about him, helped him. he hadn’t forgotten such things. he appreciated her and cared about her, even if he had a hard time showing it.
“yeah…yeah i have some time.” he wished he had an easier time talking to people. he tended to freeze up, withdrawing into himself. back home, he put up a tough front, but here in den city, he was stumbling over himself. if only he could be like soulburner. if only he had that same confidence. “it’s…been awhile. how have you been? how are grandma and grandpa?”
the first thing kiku noticed about takeru’s voice was how soft it sounded. she had seen his softer side when they were alone, but mostly he had a rough exterior that he wouldn’t let anyone break down. she wasn’t sure if hearing him sound like this was a good thing or a bad thing. sure, it was better for him to let his walls down, but she couldn’t help worrying that he had become more depressed.
“ ah ... good. the last thing i’d want is to interrupt you when you were busy saving the world, you know? ” kiku joked. the spark in his eyes she saw that day made her really think he was doing something like that. he never told her the reason he was leaving, other than that he needed to do it. and she trusted him, believed in him, because how could she not when he looked at her like that?
“ your grandparents are doing just fine. they miss you dearly. your grandmother talks about you a lot. she tells me how much she loves you, and how hard it was to part from you ... but she’s so glad that you’ve grown up so much. ” she couldn’t help the fond smile on her face as she thought of takeru’s grandparents. maybe it was because they lived in a relatively close proximity, but kiku saw them as family, too. “ i visit them every day, so don’t worry about them, alright? ”
“ ... me? ” he asked about her? it was the polite thing to do, but takeru had never been the type to ask many questions himself or go by what was considered polite ... “ i’m fine. nothing’s really changed here, but that’s to be expected. no news is good news, right? ”
“ takeru, i ... ” i miss you. she couldn’t say that. it would be selfish. she didn’t want him to come back, not before he fulfilled his goal. she cleared her throat, swallowed. made sure her tone would be happy, because that was what takeru needed from her. “ ... i want to know how you’ve been. how’s den city? i’ve never been there, so you have to tell me all about it! ”
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