"What are you doing here?"
"None of your business."
"It is my business because you keep following me. What's your problem all of a sudden?" She asked. The man responded with his eyes rolling and a sigh of exasperation.
"Can't a man walk in peace without being accused of stalking?" She look at him with suspicion evident in her eyes, the rain starting to pour even heavier over them.
"That "base" of yours is in the opposite direction. You got something to say?" He simply looked on with boredom and fiddled with the swords on his hip. At least this part of her hasn't changed. Our relationship has always been as such.
"Don't get too cocky, who said I was following you? Why would I do that? I just wanna take a different route, pass the river." He lied. I don't know why I'm curious to know where you are either. She looked at him with half-lidded eyes, not sure if he was telling the truth or not. Nevertheless, she simply turned back to the road, the hold on her umbrella straightening and took a step forward to Odd-Jobs.
"Do as you please. Got nothing to do with me." They both started walking in the now more violent rain. As she turned the corner, she saw from the corner of her eye that he also turned the corner with her. Starting to feel annoyed, she then turned around again to find him looking into the sky, not even seeming to register her presence, but she knew him better than that.
"You're clearly following me, arrogance or not I want to ask, why?" She asked, her voice showing more annoyance. He turned his head towards her more calmly and looked at her with a deadpan expression. The rain wouldn't let up. Wind started to knock them to the side, so without a word, he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the alleyway. She looked on in surprise but didn't protest, as the wind tried to carry her off into the sky.
"I said I wasn't following you. I do what I want without your concern." He dodged the question. She narrowed her eyes, confused at his sudden behavior. He was the same as usual, his deadpan look fixed onto his face. Their umbrellas clashed due to their close proximity so she took a step back.
He wasn't one to do something like this. Even with the stupid tax robbers, that Mayora, and that Gorilla, he was a lone wolf. When they would compete, bicker, and fight, he wouldn't showed this kind of behavior. I know he isn't being a creep, he never had any interests in such things. Is he bored?
"It has to do with me when you're following me. You need something?" He simply shook his head and shielded himself from the spurting rain, though her eyes never left his. She just gave in and sighed. Well, he clearly won't talk. Guess we'll just have to wait in the rain together like this. She leaned against the wall, legs crossing and umbrella never leaving her hand. Her head tilted up to stare at the darkened sky.
He finally looked at her, his face showing a more serious expression. He took a step closer to her, she noticed, but didn't care enough to turn to him.
Ever since that night he found himself not able to observe from a distance anymore. After five years she grew up to be quite the attractive woman, though he never cared about any of that when it came to her, he knowing she returned this sentiment. But in those five years, that man disappeared from her "brother" and her's lives. Their frequent competitions in any small activity, bickering and duels disappeared. He noticed her changing into more of a recluse, and those bags under her eyes that started to plague her ever since the boss went missing. Her spirit had started to slowly drain out of her, leaving an empty shell.
Even so, he had not been as actively concerned for her until that fateful night, when he decided to visit Odd-Jobs a few weeks after the boss' funeral. He already paid his respects at the funeral, but couldn't help but notice the expressions on the two Odd-Jobs members. Both had empty, forlorn faces, neither shedding tears or showing any sign of mourning. Naturally, many around them asked if they were alright, but the two either didn't respond or gave a small headshake. Before he got to speak with either of them, they disappeared sometime without a trace during the funeral.
He found himself visiting Odd-Jobs now and then, whether it was to pay respects to the boss or hopefully find the two elusive members. This day he entered the building with a soft thump as the door tapped the wooden wall gently, expecting a dusty, silent room where he could contemplate for a bit. What he didn't expect was her, clad in nothing but the boss' yukata, burying her head in her knees, long vermillion locks sprawled out, sobbing muffled cries while her whole being shook.
She sat up and looked at him with shock, and he saw it. There she was, eyes widened, moistened and puffy with her pink lips slightly agape looking at him as if he just got shot. The moonlight was seeping through and was hitting her body, making her tears seem all the more surreal. She looked like some sort of mythical goddess of a legend, comparable to the Moon Princess Kaguya. Without another word, she roughly wiped her eyes with the yukata sleeve and he saw her teeth clenching tightly, although her tears weren't stopping. She quickly ran to the window of all places, as he was still standing in the doorway, harshly slammed it open, and jumped out.
Before he could stop himself, he ran after her, also jumping out the window. Rain was sprinkling down on them, though he could care less, only focusing on the woman sprinting for her life meters ahead of him. She wasn't wearing any shoes, only lifting up the oversized yukata while her pale feet slowly got tainted by the muddy ground. He was surely getting the same treatment himself, although he had his sandals on.
If he wasn't shocked by this turn of events, then her ignoring the fact that he was chasing her through the rain should've surprised him. She ran all the way to the park, where he had lost her when she made quick turns. Still, for whatever reason unbeknownst to even himself, he searched for her in the rain, his whole body being soaked with water, making his long ponytail damp as well.
"China!" He yelled, listening for her cries, looking for a sign of bright orange in the dreary climate. "Hey! I know you're out here!" He saw her slow down slightly while making those sharp turns, so he's assuming she wanted to lose him so she could stop to cry alone. Finally, with his entire being being soaked to the core, he found her sitting under a tree, back to the same position he found her in her home. "Found you." He sat next to her, and was relieved but worried at the same time to find that she didn't move away from him like he thought she usually would if he ever did that. She was trying to hold in her racking sobs, but failing miserably.
He didn't understand the situation he was in. One minute he was just visiting a dead comrade's home, the next he was chasing after a China doll in the rain. Always a surprise when it's her, isn't it? What does one do when their long time rival is crying in front of them, not even wanting to acknowledge his presence? Well, I suppose I'm used to that by now. Moments passed until he finally spoke up.
"You know-"
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Well that was a bit rude. Guess I shouldn't have expectations for pig-"
"SHUT UP! If you aren't going to leave then I am!" She yelled, trying to get up quickly. He just as rapidly grabbed her wrist, preventing her from leaving him.
"It was just a joke. No need to get so antsy 'bout it." She roughly shoved his hand away from her, trying to keep her head from facing his prodding eyes.
"Why did you chase me?! Was it for this- making fun of me?" She questioned angrily, eyebrows knitted together tightly, still trying to grasp the situation she was in just like him.
"My legs moved on their own. Like they sensed you were challenging them." He scoffed. "Like hell you could outrun me." To this, she subconsciously looked up in exasperation and overwhelming shock.
"What they hell are you- you know what? I'll just go." She replied bitterly, turning to make her way to god knows where. Maybe continue to cry, alone. At this thought he again gripped her wrist, to which the currently emotional train wreck of a girl furiously grabbed him and flung him to the ground. He, sensing this might happen kept his concentration on the grip he had on her. Their eyes locked, one trying to pull out a hand hidden in a dark, cluttered abyss, while the other expressed no wish to be found, trying to pull back the limb reaching out.
"Why were you crying?" He asked, showing no sign of laughter. She roughly tugged on her trapped appendage, but to no avail against his unbreakable grip. The direct and unwavering look in his eyes trapped her in place, locking her in one spot.
"Drop it." She warned, her tone indicating an underlying threat if he didn't. He didn't even flinch. She glared with cold, dead, yet spine chillingly hostile eyes, but he didn't back down.
"It's because of the boss, isn't it?" She summoned all her strength into her ensnared arm and threw him away from her. He landed on his back, immediately getting up and walking towards her. She, disoriented from the spiral of events taking place, proceeded to clumsily back away, almost slipping several times due to the mud on her feet.
"Shut up." She shakily whispered more to herself than to him. Stop talking. Stop it. No one needs me like this. That's not what matters right now. Don't let these hopeless feelings out. DON'T.
Why?
Because these tears of mine are useless. They won't protect Edo, they burden everyone.
Don't you think they would be happy to carry it? They all know. The same pain you're feeling. Who they've all lost.
What will that do? If they're all feeling this pain, stuck in this empty place we protect for him, why would I let them carry these heavy burdens along with their own?
They see it you know. I see it. It hurts us all the more, watching you fall apart like this.
The void will never be fulfilled as long as Gin-chan is gone. There is no point in letting out these cries to anyone. He isn't here to stop them .
"What is the point in crying all alone to yourself? This isn't what the boss wants. He wants you to cry when you want to cry, not hold it in until you're alone so you can hide it from everyone!" He shouted with determination, not expecting to say all of this to her. She slowly looked up at him, glossy orange locks framing her face, eyes looking right at him for what seemed like the first time in years, showing one emotion: disparity.
"He isn't here anymore." She mumbled softly, as if she would shatter if she accepted the fact. "And until he comes back, I will continue on this path alone. Protecting Edo until he returns." She smiled, although her eyes betrayed her expression. Instead of an endlessly expanding bright blue sky they were a infinitely deepening ocean pit. He didn't, if not couldn't bring himself to respond.
How could he when everything he said would just sink into those bottomless eyes of hers?
"See you later sadist." A nostalgic feeling kicked in when she said that oh-so-familiar nickname of his. "Don't… mention this to anyone. If you do, I'll kill you." She said half heartedly with a small smile, reminding him of better times. And with that, she walked back to Odd-Jobs, leaving only him and his thoughts drowning in the rain.
That had been the only time she had broken her mask in front of him throughout these lonely years. Who knew she could hold such a good poker face? Although she can't hide from me, in the end. He smirked to himself. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but didn't question his strange behavior.
"Hey, how's glasses?" He questioned. She stiffened, showing some surprise and discomfort at the question.
"I don't know. Probably getting beat up somewhere." She said bitterly, although he could tell the sentence had a tint of disappointment sprinkled in. Her mood, if possible, seemed to have dampened at the mention of him. Which was not his intention. She looked to the sky again, noticing the wind calming down and turned to him. "Well, I'll be going now. I don't know why you followed me but stop it. It's annoying."
"Well what're you gonna do about it?" He retaliated childishly. Her expression remained unchanged.
"Fling you into the river." She stated with a neutral tone. He scoffed at her monotone threat.
"I'd like to see you try." She didn't respond, and instead walked out of the alleyway, and to Odd-Jobs. He just watched her figure slowly disappearing, indeed not trying to follow her anymore, for he himself could not understand his own actions. She's left me in the same state of disarray as that night. Che. Damn confusing woman.
And with confusion still ingrained in his head, he turned the opposite direction to walk to his actual destination, away from her.