a cool summer breeze sways through sen’s figure as he stepped into the night to escape from the rowdy dinner taking place behind him. although most of the night troops had returned to headquarters earlier that day, the sumimura compound was still crowded for dinner. the sound of laughter and dishes clinking together rang clearly through his ears as he wandered towards the small pond at the center of the courtyard. squatting, sen picks up a smooth stone and turned it over many times in his palm, considering the size and shape, before making the decision to skip it across the pond’s surface. it skipped three times.
sen grins with satisfaction at himself in the pond’s reflection, but the sight of himself deflates his ego. if only skipping rocks counted for something. with a scowl, he drops another hefty rock into his reflection to disperse the image. he is almost sorry to disturb the peaceful koi fish residing underwater.
the restlessness that had moved him out of the dining room returned. straightening, sen huffed out a short sigh as he curled and uncurled his fists. there were exactly two days left at karasumori; roughly 45 hours, but who was counting? the prospect of moving on from the past year made his heart feel heavy in his chest but sen couldn’t assess the reason why.
his intense concentration is immediately broken at the sound of the door sliding open and shut and the familiar presence entering the courtyard. although he was no longer bound to the land as its guardian, the authority in his presence did not go away. feeling eyes on his back, sen remained silent in an effort to appear causal.
“ -- yoshimori,” he finally called over his shoulder, “your dessert is going to harden if you don't go take it out of the oven.” // @ketai