@ruinouspath in response to [x]
The sky is an empty, sunless red as it bears down on the two of them. It dyes the ground an unearthly russet, with large splashes of crimson where the sky catches on the shards of glass from broken buildings. It's as if Shinjuku itself is bleeding. What a disaster.
He'd never realized how much he would miss this place. How badly he ached to walk the streets of Kabukicho, to watch the cherry blossoms in Gyoen National Garden, to bring his friends to Omoide Yokocho after a Game reached its conclusion. All of that was gone now, wiped from the world by the firestorm Shiba had created. He didn't think he'd missed it much during his time in Shibuya, he'd only thought of how much Shibuya failed to measure up.
But, perhaps that was just homesickness, distorted by that Angel who had so loved pulling Shiba's strings.
And the one who had set it into motion, who had desired such devastation the most was right beside him. Shiba's shoulders tense as the Composer sighs his displeasure, as if his Reaper's curiosity is a mere annoyance. Shiba keeps his expression from changing, though.
That is, he keeps it from changing until he hears the Composer's answer.
"What—" But the Composer continues to speak, and when he turns to look at him, Shiba is shocked to see that he's managed to spark the Composer's curiosity, the sudden emphasis the Composer puts on his question.
Shiba feels very trapped all of a sudden, a butterfly on a board with a pin hanging over his abdomen like the Sword of Damocles. The anger leaks out of him, replaced by an overwhelming smallness.
Shiba rests his hands on his knees, squeezing slightly just to feel literally anything else in this moment.
"Curious are we?" God, he wants a smoke right now. But he doesn't want to light up in front the Composer of all people. "I suppose it might not make a lot of sense."
"I believe that I made a mistake when I snuffed this city out on your behalf. Seeing Shibuya... opened my eyes to how unique Shinjuku was. I can never take back what I was part of, but I can at least pick up the pieces. And, even more, Shinjuku was—is..."
Where Shiba died. Where he'd been reborn. Where he'd met the people who became his greatest friends. Where he'd turned his back on everyone for power.
"Shinjuku is an irrevocable part of me, my beloved home. And I want to see it sing again."
