Discover Top Posts Tagged with #shabapuppy

Oct 26, 2015

hold on hope part eight: an otherworldly move

Yes it’s true, it’s here. I had half of this saved as a draft and couldn’t stand to proofread it again before finishing, so, y’know. Bear with me. I edited as I typed, I swear.

Anyway, previous chapter is here, the tag is here, and the AO3 fic is here.

Takumi confronted Mari Tuesday Afternoon when he was starting to feel the edge of panic. “Hey, uh, Keitaro’s out on a delivery, right?”

Mari shrugged from her place on the couch, but didn’t look up from her book. “So he said, though I could’ve sworn we didn’t have any orders ready to go out today.”

“You know how he is. Someone this morning probably requested a special rush, and he couldn’t stand to say no.”

“Probably. Did you need him for something? He should be back before too long”

“No!” said Takumi quickly. “It’s, um. Look, understand that I am having this conversation with you in the strictest confidentiality.”

Mari slowly put her book down. “Inui Takumi, are you keeping secrets?”

“It’s not like that! I haven’t been hiding anything, it just sort of happened.”

“What happened?”

“I,” he began stiffly, “have a date tomorrow.”

Mari looked at him expectantly.

“With Haruto,” he elaborated. When Mari still didn’t respond, he said, “Come on, can you at least pretend to be surprised?”

“You can act like we couldn’t have seen this coming, but you haven’t seen the way you look at him.”

“Is it really that bad?” Mari gave him a look, and he cringed. “Okay, well, surprising or not, I need your help with this, and I’d rather not talk to Keitaro about it.”

“You realize Keitaro has been convinced you two were dating since the first time you disappeared off to see the wizard, right?”

“Keitaro thinks lots of things. He thought I was dating Kaidou when we were cleaning up after Smart Brain.”

Mari shook her head. “That’s not true,” she said, then smirked at Takumi’s confusion. “He thought you were having a torrid affair with Mihara, which is, obviously, the real reason why you won’t invite him to anything.”

“This is exactly why I’m not talking to Keitaro about this.” He let out a weary sigh. “Look, are you going to help me or not?”

“Depends,” she said. “What do you need help with?”

“All of it!” He waved his arms in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, or wear, or expect.”

“You seem to be confused as to which one of us watches those awful soap operas.”

“You have to know something,” he said plaintively.

Mari stood, walked to where he stood fidgeting, and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders. “Takumi, I’m going to give you the most cliche advice any human has ever had to receive.”

“I’m listening.”

“Just be yourself. No, don’t pout, I mean it. For reasons the rest of us will never understand, a kind and attractive person has decided he likes you, and I’m not about to let you mess this up by putting on some kind of bizarre show to win him over. You don’t have to do anything. You’ve already won. Enjoy a nice evening out.”

“Humor me, please.”

“Wear clean clothes, which we certainly have no shortage of around here, wash your face and brush your teeth before you leave, don’t worry too much about your hair I swear it’s supposed to do that, and don’t do anything Kaidou would.”

The last bit earned a tiny smile. “That sounds like solid advice.”

“You’ll be fine. What are you two doing, anyway?”

“Watching fireworks at midnight, apparently.”

“That is the most disgustingly romantic thing I have ever heard. If he brings you flowers or little stuffed animals, I don’t want to hear about it.”

“I--he wouldn’t--oh my god, Mari, you are the worst!” Takumi sputtered as Mari laughed her way back to her seat and recovered her book.

They both startled at the door chime. “Since our usual resident sap is out for the moment, that makes it your turn to take care of the front.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Takumi, and he left Mari to read in peace.

Keitaro wasn’t back that night, and when Takumi forced himself to wake early the next morning to get a head start on the day’s work, he was still missing. He tried calling Kaidou to see if the two of them were having another late-night-turned-morning, but the other Orphnoch hadn’t seen him either.

“More bad news,” announced Mari. “I can’t find the Kaixa Gear.”

“Yes, I definitely wanted to know about the single least important thing we own, thanks. Not like we don’t have more pressing matters to worry about right now.”

“I wasn’t looking for it, not at first. But I was going through Keitaro’s things for any sign of where he might have gone, and I just happened to notice it wasn’t where he keeps it.”

“Wait,” said Takumi. “Why, of all of us, does Keitaro have the Kaxia Gear?”

“He was hiding it from you,” Mari said quietly. “So you didn’t come across it by accident. You dwell on things too much already.”

Takumi was lost for a response. I don’t need your help, he wanted to say. I’m fine, I’m always fine, and if I’m not, it’s no less than I deserve. But he knew that was the reply that earned concerned glances, whispered worries when they thought he wasn’t listening. So instead, he dipped his head and mumbled, “Thanks.”

That seemed to satisfy her. “Anyway, I can only assume he took it with him. I don’t know why, but it’s my best guess for why they’re both missing at the same time.”

“Fantastic. Not only is Keitaro gone, but he’s probably carrying with him a valuable and dangerous device that killed everyone who ever used it.”

“Not everyone, technically.”

“I thought we weren’t reminding me of him.”

“I meant Orphnochs can use it just fine,” said Mari sharply. “And I think it would probably just give Keitaro and error message. He’s not even, you know. Like me and the others.”

Takumi bit back another sarcastic remark for the sake of Mari’s lost classmates. Even him. She was just trying to help, which was more than he could say for himself most days. “I’m going to, uh. Contact Haruto to let him know I might have to call off the date. And see if I can round up some people to help find Keitaro.”

“Ask him if he has GPS ring we can use to track the Kaixa phone.”

“Knowing him, he probably does.”

Haruto did not, in fact, have a GPS ring, but he showed up at Kikuchi Cleaners shortly after Takumi called him with every familiar he had, plus a few other diminutive companions Takumi didn’t recognize.

“I really think mine will be more helpful. It’ shad to compete with the versatility of literal magic,” said Haruto. “But I ran into Gentaro on my way, and he insisted on loaning me one of his. He’s, uh. Forceful.”

“Tell me I’m not looking at flying chicken nuggets.”

“You are, unfortunately. They’re not as completely ridiculous as they look, I swear.”

“I met the fruit guy, remember? I kind of expect ridiculous from you lot.”

“I’m not sure you’re calling ‘you lot.’ I am a perfectly respectable wizard.”

“Well, maybe you can perfectly respectably help us with today’s emergency.”

Haruto nodded. “Right, sorry. Did he say anything over the phone?”

Over the... oh. “I, uh. Haven’t actually called him.”

“You’re missing a phone-like device and you called me before you tried calling him?”

“It sort of slipped my mind, okay?” said Takumi, but he was already pulling out the Faiz phone and dialing its sibling. It connected, which he was willing to consider a good sign, because he didn’t want to imagine what circumstances would put the Kaixa phone out of service. For a moment, he almost expected to hear another sickeningly familiar voice on the line, but then the call picked up, and he heard Keitaro quietly panicking on the other side.

“Keitaro, it’s okay, it’s me,” Takumi said quickly.

“Takkun? Oh god, I don’t know where I am or how I got here, but I can’t get back, and I took the Kaixa gear without telling you, I’m sorry--”

“Shh, it’s okay, we’re gonna find you. Can you, I dunno, give us any hints? Describe the area?”

A pause. “I know I passed Tokyo Tower at some point. And it... wasn’t where it should be. But everything where I am now is... it’s just wreckage, everything is broken and abandoned. Like it used to be part of the city years ago, but something terrible happened. Everything’s a maze of broken buildings, and I haven’t seen anyone else here, but I... I don’t think I’m alone.”

Takumi relayed the information back to Haruto and tried very hard to keep his voice steady as he did. Haruto repeated it to someone over his cell, then frowned as he listened to the response.

“He’s not in either of our worlds. Luckily, Gentaro has a friend who knows more about Riders than they do themselves, and she has a pretty good idea where he is, but that still doesn’t explain how Keitaro got to a random world by accident.”

“We can figure that out after we find him. I don’t like the sound of this.”

Haruto nodded. “Let’s both ride. You’ll probably want that lump of scrap metal you call a driver.”

“At least I’m not the one with a hand on his crotch,” Takumi mumbled as he gathered his helmet and gloves.

“Jealous?” said Haruto with a quick smile, but the good humor only lasted a moment. They had a mission.

Haruto’s latest plan for ensuring Takumi could safely follow him looked ridiculous, but it would be worth it if it worked. “Like calls to like,” he had explained. “It’s one of the most basic tenets of magic.”

And so Takumi didn’t complain as he raced down the road with a small plastic unicorn perched in front of his motorcycle. He had a pair of tiny robots shaped like chicken nuggets in his pockets. Ahead of him, Haruto carried the remaining nuggets and his little Golem familiar, while Garuda led the way. Takumi did mention, however, as soon as they stopped at a light, that they were very definitely heading north, and since Keitaro had named exactly one major landmark, shouldn’t they be going in that direction?

“If we were going to your Tokyo Tower, sure, but we aren’t. Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know why the worlds fit together the way they do.” They followed Garuda down a dark alley, and when they emerged into the light again, the sun was on the other side, and they were in a completely different part of the city. The buildings they passed started showing signs of serious structural damage until soon they were surrounded by little more than rubble continuing forward as far as they could see. Haruto and Takumi walked their bikes through the debris.

“Here’s where the little guys come in handy,” said Haruto, and released the Tsunuggets. They zipped through the air, each of them in a separate direction, while the carton/base hovered nearby, humming and chirping. Haruto’s familiars spread out to look as well, but for all his faith in magic, they apparently weren’t as efficient as tiny fast food robots. Nuggegyroika soon started making excited noises and indicating a direction. Takumi grabbed the Faiz briefcase from his bike, and together he and Haruto followed the chicken nuggets.

They didn’t have to go far. Keitaro stood in a small clearing between different unrecognizable bits of wreckage, frantically checking every direction for some unseen enemy while one of the tiny droids rapidly circled overhead. He finally noticed Takumi and Haruto approaching and called out to them.

“Takkun, oh my god, you came.” He looked so relieved he might cry. “Haruto, too! I’m so sorry, that’s twice you’ve saved me now.”

“You know this sort of thing is the closest I have to a job, right?” said Haruto.

“Nevermind all that,” said Takumi. “How did you even get here? What were you doing with the Kaixa Gear? Wh--” He felt a slight tug. He looked down to see Golem at his feet, pulling at the cuff of Takumi’s pants to get his attention. Slowly, solemnly, Golem shook its head, an expression of concern on its tiny face.

Takumi looked back at Keitaro. “Where is the Kaixa Gear, anyway? I thought you had it with you.”

“I--I don’t know what you mean. Why would I have the Kaixa Gear? Listen, you’ve got to get me out of here, quickly, there’s something here and it isn’t friendly,” said Keitaro.

“But you had to have it, I called you on the Kaixa phone before we left.”

“I dropped it! Please, can we go home, I don’t want it to find me.”

“Takkun!” The shout caused Takumi and Haruto to spin around and see--

--another Keitaro? The man approaching them was absolutely identical to the one they were speaking to, but he carried a dusty metal case that matched the one in Takumi’s hand. The doubles regarded each other carefully, fear and understanding dawning. Golem tugged on Takumi’s pants again, then carefully pointed at the Keitaro who had just arrived.

The first Keitaro hissed and lunged at them, but Takumi already had the Faiz case open, fastening the belt around his waist in a practiced motion as he dialed the code. As the armor formed around him, he watched Keitaro’s face melt away into some repugnant thing, like a hulking larva hunched over stunted humanoid legs.

Then with a screech, it shed that form as well, molted into something insectoid and chittering. The creature was all segmented carapace and flicking antenna, and the light of some internal fire seeped out through the gaps in its exoskeleton. Haruto transformed nearby, charging at the thing with sword ready before it could choose a target.

Takumi and Haruto easily traded blows with the monster. It was satisfying in a strange and almost nostalgic way, fighting like this. He could get used to having someone by his side that he trusted. It was different than fighting beside Kaixa or Delta, people he never spoke to unless absolutely necessary (not, admittedly, a noteworthy designation). He felt oddly safe for someone currently engaged in a battle that might kill him and his friends.

And then the monster vanished without warning and reappeared to strike at Haruto’s back, and Takumi felt several attacks land without even seeing the beast. It moved faster than sight, faster than comprehension. Haruto equipped the Wind ring, but he had barely placed it on his finger when the monster knocked him to the ground. He switched to Infinity and manage to get in one good hit, but it was still too fast for him to find his target.

Takumi made a desperate dash for where the Faiz case lay in the dust. The monster turned away from Haruto long enough to slam him down. “The case!” he coughed at Haruto. “I need the case!”

He had expected the Connect ring. That was, as far as he could tell, Haruto’s preferred method for transporting anything to anywhere. What he had not expected was for Haruto’s arm to elongate bonelessly and elastic. It lashed whiplike across the battleground and flung the case in his direction. Takumi grabbed what he needed before the monster could stop him. The armor over his chest lifted and rotated, a calm voice announced start up, and

everything

slowed

down.

Takumi had never fought anything that could match him in Accel Mode. With just the two of them moving so impossibly fast, it was like the entire world stood still. Movement belonged only to them. Clouds of dust hovered over the ground with every step, and Keitaro and Haruto were frozen nearby.

His first hit caught the thing completely off guard. It had relied too much on this one trick, and Takumi landed several more solid hits before it realized it was no longer alone in the dimension of speed. By then, Takumi had the upper hand. He was relentless, refusing to give it a chance to recover, pausing only to ready the Faiz Pointer. The monster stared at him with understanding when it was pinned beneath the crimson arrow, and Takumi left the dimension of speed to watch the thing fall with the rest of the world.

Takumi exhaled slowly and let his armor fade. He heard Haruto do the same, but when he looked back at the other Rider, he saw him watching with... admiration? Pride? Whatever it was, it wasn’t a sentiment Takumi was used to seeing directed at him.

Keitaro, for his part, grinned at both of them. “Amazing, isn’t he? That’s our Takkun. I’d be dead a hundred times over without him.”

“I don’t even know what exactly just happened,” Haruto confessed. “I just know one second we were getting our asses kicked by that thing, and the next, you were posing in front of the explosion.”

“I don’t pose in front of anything.”

“Right, sure, neither of us has ever done anything unnecessary just because it looked cool. The bikes are purely practical.”

“It came with the belt! It’s not even really mine, it’s all Mari’s!”

“And mine came with the dragon, your point?” Haruto’s grin was almost as broad as Keitaro’s.

Takumi regarded them both warily. “You,” he said, “are an awfully mean person when you’re not being so damn helpful.”

Haruto laughed. “If you say so. Crisis averted, friend rescued, I’d call it a good day.”

Takumi frowned at the case in Keitaro’s hands. “What were you doing with that, anyway? That thing would kill you if you tried to use it.”

“I’m not using it!” Keitaro said quickly. “Not like that, anyway. But when I carry it with me, sometimes I can... go places. Like you and Haruto.”

“That shouldn’t be possible. Even I have trouble getting to places like this, but you’re not a Rider, you shouldn’t be able to get here on your own at all.”

“You... may not be entirely correct,” said Haruto. “I don’t know all the details, but I know there are worlds where Riders are... different. I met an alternate version of myself.”

“I am not prepared to contemplate the idea that I could have had a world where Keitaro is Kaxia instead of him,” growled Takumi, grabbing the Faiz case and stomping in the direction of the bikes. “C’mon, let’s get out of here. This place creeps me out.”

They made it back to the home Takumi shared with Mari and Keitaro just as the sun was beginning to sink beneath the horizon. Takumi decided that arriving at sunset may not be as poetic as sunrise, but it was certainly more convenient. He’d take practicality over poetics any day (or evening, as the case may be).

“We should probably hurry, if we’re still on for tonight,” said Haruto once Keitaro was safely delivered home. “I’ve still got to return the chicken nuggets.”

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to go, you know, like this?” Takumi gestured at his clothes, stained with the dust of another world, and raked his fingers through his windblown hair.

“It’ll be fine. Everyone will be wrapped up in coats anyway. And Gentaro would insist on calling you senpai if you showed up in rags with the police on your tail.”

“Is that... is that a thing that has happened to you?”

“What? No, of course not. Technically, Gentaro is my senpai.”

“Didn’t you say he was in high school?”

“Uh. Sometimes. In a manner of speaking.”

“You know what, I’m not even going to ask. Let’s go watch things explode.”

They rode to Haruto’s world on the back of Machine Winger. The sound of the engine was even softer this time, a contented hum. Takumi sat very straight, uncertain how much contact was appropriate or expected or necessary. If his posture was unnatural or uncomfortable, Haruto didn’t comment, and the two of them slipped into the slightly colder world that Haruto shared with so amny other Riders.

The young man who met them to retrieve Nuggegyroika looked like he was still in school, or maybe barely out of it. He greeted the two of them with a serious expression that reminded Takumi of himself at a certain age. Don’t forget, you were only eighteen when the Faiz Gear found you.

There was something not-of-this-world about the way the very last of the sunlight caught his eyes, like a dusting of stars against a darkening sky. It reminded him of the quiet power sleeping inside other Riders, a spark of something more than human. “Are you Fourze, then?” Takumi asked, and he was instantly rewarded with a shower of laughter.

“Obviously you’ve never spoken to Kisaragi if you can mistake me for him for even a moment,” said their contact. “I’ll pretend it’s a compliment, though. I’m Utahoshi, but everyone just calls me Kengo thanks to Kisaragi’s stunning lack of regard for basic courtesy. He’s helping out with the show, so you get me instead.”

“Sorry, there’s something... I thought you were a Rider.”

Kengo regarded Takumi suspiciously. “I’m not Fourze for, well, a lot of reasons, but you’re unusually perceptive.”

Haruto quickly handed over Nuggegyroika. “He’s Faiz,” he said, as if that explained something. “He doesn’t really mingle with other Riders much.”

“Then you’re probably lucky you got me instead of Kisaragi. He’s not a bad guy, but he comes on a little strong.”

“I’ve been warned.”

“Warned is definitely the right word,” said Kengo. “He asked me to give you a proper welcome, but I think we’d all appreciate it if I didn’t.”

“What’s his idea of a proper welcome?”

“There’s usually a lot of yelling involved, sometimes he gets punched in the face, and at some point he declares himself your friend.”

Takumi looked to Haruto for confirmation, but he just shrugged. “I swear I didn’t punch him in the face.”

“Riders are all lunatics,” Takumi muttered.

Kengo laughed brightly, completely shattering his dour expression. He didn’t have the look of someone who laughed this often, and each time it came as a shock. “You’re a good one, Faiz, but I’ll leave you two be. I’d tell you to stay out of trouble if I thought it’d work. Best of luck in the new year!”

“Ah, the same to you,” said Takumi.

“Thank you to everyone for their help,” Haruto called out to Kengo as he left.

“Well, you know what they say,” said Kengo. “Riders should help each other. And so forth.”

“I notice you didn’t mention the part where his little robots almost got us killed,” Takumi remarked as soon as Kengo was out of earshot.

“That’s kind of an exaggeration, isn’t it? We’re all fine, aren’t we? Besides, it was an honest mistake.”

“I just thought you’d take the opportunity to brag about the superiority of magic over technology.”

“So does the Faiz phone even get wifi?”

Takumi glared. Haruto laughed and flung his arm over his shoulders. The unexpected contact made Takumi flinch, but he tried to will himself to relax.

“It’s okay,” said Haruto as if reading his thoughts. “Nothing’s going to happen. We’re two people out to see some fireworks in a crowd of other people who don’t care who we are. If anything catastrophic did happen, there are a half a dozen other Riders nearby.”

“Just surprised me is all.”

“I kind of like you a little. But you are allowed to tell me to lay off, you know.”

“’M fine.” Was he fine? He was pretty sure he was fine. His heart wasn’t racing. Of course not.

Haruto just nodded, though he regarded him with concern.

Midnight was further away than he had thought. Haruto procured snacks from a nearby cart, and Takumi watched him physically exchange money for goods instead of magicking them up from wherever he kept putting things. Takumi sudddenly found himself holding a steaming cup of coffee.

“Haruto...” he began.

“Shush. I don’t expect you to drink it. Just hold it. It’ll keep your fingers warm.”

“I thought that was your job.”

Haruto actually had the good grace to blush, but he took the remark in stride. “My hands are a bit full at the moment.”

“I was promised ulterior motives, not... late night donuts? Really?”

“They’re symbolic,” Haruto insisted. “It’s a circle. As the old year ends, the new year begins, and so it goes forever, or something like that. Besides, I don’t know how often dead men eat, but I’m hungry.”

“You’re terrible.”

“And yet you’re still here.”

“Against my best interests, I assure you.” He shot a tiny smile at Haruto. “How often do you deal with stuff like this, anyway?”

“Like what?” said Haruto cautiously.

“I’m not really sure what to call it. Maybe Orphnochs can’t be Gates or something, maybe there’s not enough room in the food chain, but we don’t really have a Phantom problem in my corner of the world. Or whatever that thing was that looked like Keitaro.”

Haruto frowned as he thought. “Actually, you have a good point. I’ve never seen a Phantom outside of my world unless you-know-who was involved. What about you? Are there Orphnochs in other worlds?”

“I keep telling you, I don’t travel like you do. That business with the land of the dead was the first time I found myself definitely, solidly in another world. Before that, there was just... little pieces leaking through. Strange dreams, battles half-remembered.”

“You’ve never, I dunno, found yourself in a really weird mess of things involving another Rider? Not counting right this moment.”

“I haven’t told you much about Kaixa, have I?” said Takumi drily.

“Takumi.”

“I mean it, though. I think sometimes something happens with Decade, but my memories are always like those awful photos he takes, fragmented and blurry. When you and I met was the only time I’m sure of, and even that’s a little fuzzy. I didn’t even know what a Phantom was, just that the whole despair/hope thing seemed to be your specialty.”

Haruto’s frown intensified. “I honestly don’t know what to say to that. I thought... anyway. This probably deserves looking into, but I don’t really want to focus on that right now.”

“What do you want to focus on?”

“Here. Now. I don’t want to ruin a nice moment by asking how it’s possible.”

“Fair enough.”

A crowd gathered as midnight approached. In time, the coffee was cool enough for even Takumi to drink, and in more time the anticipated hour arrived. The sky erupted with colored fire as the crowd cheered (Takumi noted a small figure streaking across the night yelling something about space, and he almost smiled), and somewhere in the noise and the light, Haruto’s hand found his. It was a quiet gesture, especially by Haruto’s standards, but Takumi had had enough excitement for one day. He was content to pass into the new year in peace.

Wordlessly, Haruto delivered Takumi back to his home. They both stood outside the door with a sense of finality. “I want you to have something,” said Haruto. “But please don’t take this the wrong way.”

“Take what in what way?” said Takumi, eyes narrowing.

Haruto dug in his procket and help up something small and shiny. “This.”

“This is...” Takumi took the ring from his hand, but didn’t put it on. “The first date and you’re already giving me a ring?”

Haruto winced. “Trust me, there are plenty of people out there who got one of my rings for less. It’s sort of an occupational hazard.”

“Well, now I feel really special.”

“You should. I have lots of Engage rings, but only one of everything else. You’ll be the only person besides myself with one of my combat rings.”

Takumi stared at the ring, turning it over in his hands as if he might find some kind of explanation. “Alright, I give up. I have no idea how I’m supposed to interpret something like this.”

“It’s... well, partly it’s honestly just practical. I think if you’re carrying something from my world, something specifically tied to a Rider, it’ll be easier for you to visit. It worked earlier with the Plamonsters, and they’re just rings with a personality. In case you ever want to drop by without arranging for me to come get you. Think of it like a key to a very large house.”

“Only partly?”

“And maybe I just like making excessively romantic gestures,” Haruto admitted.

“I can’t exactly trade accessories you know. The Faiz Gear doesn’t have any optional pieces.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m not asking for anything.”

“Except for me to wear a frankly hideous ring.”

“You don’t have to wear it! Toss it in the Faiz briefcase if you want to. I’d appreciate if you didn’t lose it--magic stones are rare and Shunpei’s still learning--but I’m not asking for any, I don’t know, grand displays of devotion or anything. It’s something that I thought would be useful, and I wanted to give you something of mine that’s important.”

Takumi inspected the ring again. “It’s definitely too big to wear. It’ll get in the way at work. But I can probably put it on a keychain.”

“You know, phone charms are always popular. And the Faiz phone...”

“No.”

“It was a suggestion,” said Haruto with a wicked smile. “But honestly. You’re welcome any time you want to visit. And if by some chance I’m busy, I promise the other Riders in the area aren’t that bad.”

“I’ve met Nitou.”

“The other other Riders.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Thank you, I think,” said Takumi, but his expression was a sincere one. “I should, uh. Get some sleep. Keitaro always wants to visit the shrine early, and you can probably guess how much I love mornings.”

Haruto nodded. “Alright then. I won’t keep you.”

Takumi stared at the ground, at the ring in his hands. There was something that was supposed to go here, a step in the farewell process. Haruto’s gentle smile offered no answer. After an awkward pause, Takumi dipped his head and mumbled a “goodnight,” then ducked into the safe familiarity of the house.

#hold on hope #shabapuppy #I made this

thetrashiestoftrash