' the breeze's cool up here. ' it was so very like hamuko for her to still smile moments before her death-- their death. minato's head was in her lap as she slowly stroked through the dark blue strands of hair, eyes fixated on his own. ' makes it easy to lull someone to sleep, doesn't it? i feel a bit tired already... '
『 i’ll wait here for you, in my time of dying 』 || @evokered
❛ yeah, ❜ unfortunately, minato can’t control the way his voice trails off when he tries his best to stay awake for a few more moments. it’s unbearable to look back at all the times he took life for granted in the way that he neither cared if he continued on or didn’t. faced with death’s call, awaiting the pair of them to enter into eternal slumber, he wants nothing more than another day, hour, or minute with his friends, laughing about one of junpei’s stupid jokes just one last time. there’s nothing quite like looking back on what could have been, but he doesn’t regret it for a single moment. minato knew that this was for the best— perhaps it even goes to show those who don’t appreciate life in the moment have it stolen away before their very eyes. however, the same isn’t true about hamuko. his only wish, if time could ever be bribed or given something measurable as compensation, is that he should bear this fate alone. there’s nothing he wants more than for her to stay with their friends and live out her life as the fool who saved the world and not its sacrificial lamb. it isn’t fair, he thinks, that they both comprise the great seal. the life of the world for the life of two; perhaps not the greatest price to pay in the grande scheme, but it’s the most horrid, WRETCHED price to pay as her fingers brush through his hair, soothing and nostalgic.
& in the end, wherever she is going, so too shall he go. as together they have been in life, they would be in death. it’s a strange string of final thoughts, he knows, but minato couldn’t possibly consider the idea of being alone now. the idea is terrifying and frightening; much more so thank any ordeal they’d faced before, and it stands to reason that they would part together, weakened hands creased over his lap as he hadn’t the strength anymore to move them. she’d always been the stronger of the two of them, and yet here she is. it goes to show that strength had nothing to do at all with the fragility of time and fate’s teamwork. there’s nothing quite like being dealt cards while knowing there isn’t a chance of coming out victorious. still, the game was fun while it lasted, and that’s all he could ever ask for. ❛ me too. ❜
he wishes he’d said goodbye, then. he wishes he could have said anything at all, but the urge to close his eyes is strong, and his will waned further as cold air swept along and stole with it the last remaining semblance of consciousness he could muster.
luckily enough, they could speak together for as long as they wanted now.
