A/N - Consider these as taking place before the actions in Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna. Based on the manga, as well as on a few of the art book illustrations. Inspired by Virginia Woolf's 'The Waves'.
Fair warning, these 'memories' consist largely of vignettes and micro-fics which are narrated from the perspective of one of the five protagonists, and the narrator changes from one memory to another.
Pairings: Eyes/Kanone, Ryouko/Kousuke and one-sided Rio/Eyes and Rio/Kousuke hinted at.
Warnings: some swearing, implied sex and many appearances of the word 'blood'. It ends around the time Kanone turns into a Hunter, so no real spoilers.
Right. Enjoy!
Polaroids
1. Beginnings
"I think that the first time all five of us got together, a star died out somewhere in space and shattered its glitter on us, like confetti on the birthday of someone special or the embrace of a warm rain in the middle of July. That was when the supernova came; the ever-so-slight explosion I felt in my chest, brimming with what tasted suspiciously much like happiness, love. Hope.
"Looking back now, I think that what the five of us had at that time was beautiful. Beautiful the way a plane crash lights up the sky at midnight, but beautiful nonetheless."
"The first bomb she ever made blew up nine seconds earlier than it should have done and got us covered head to toe in ash; she hit me once for laughing at her and then began wailing like it was the end of this fuckin' world! Yeah, she's got her pride."
"Maybe it doesn't come as a surprise, but Asazuki's favourite method of answering any question when he was a kid was sticking his tongue out at people. He would still be doing it today, if Ryouko hadn't had a say in it."
"I've never really understood just how Rutherford manages to do it. The others and I, and especially that blundering Kousuke, end up a total mess each time we fight, yet he ends up nearly spotless!... Well, alright, maybe only in comparison to us. After all, he's had his fair share of blood and dirt."
"Ryouko would probably never admit it now, but she broke down crying when I defeated her in combat the first time we fought, on account that no one had ever done that before. She was quite a stubborn girl, didn't even want to hear about training and definitely not from me. 'Course, she didn't even want to hear about killing in the first place; she still doesn't."
"Kanone-kun is not ruthless; he's ruthlessly efficient, that's what people need to understand. He sees the world in colours that don't have a name yet, when all he wants is to escape the colour red, hide it in a drawer that will never be opened, somewhere at the back of his mind where not even his subconsciousness could stumble upon it; and it's useless, and it's futile, and he knows he won't be able to escape his own blood. It runs in the family, after all.
"So he decides he might as well embrace it, tame that part of him to act upon command, and he prepares to fight. To be honest, I don't think we would had found a better mentor anywhere."
and so it begins.