Title: Feathers of an Eagle
Summary: She was the most courageous girl Mayuzumi ever knew, but even the brave need a bit of saving once in a while.
"D'you think that, maybe, I can fly?" Izuki breathes, spreading her arms like wings that ought to save her from falling from the rooftop. Mayuzumi watches quietly, because everything Izuki says is verbatim of what she said before. He's grown accustomed to the sight of her standing over the ledge and leaning over to the empty air that separates the city and the sky, her chopped black hair fluttering in the wind.
Mayuzumi, as usual, gives her a straight answer. "That's realistically impossible without the use of mechanisms." He doesn't tell her any more than that and decides not to bore her with technicalities.
"But," Izuki presses, voice as thick as the atmosphere. She has never been one to shy away from heights. Ever since they became confidantes, or friends, for that matter (Mayuzumi doesn't recount the days; he can't even remember how and why they, of all people, could tolerate each other like this.) "Maybe people can fly, too."
"Mostly when they're dead, " Mayuzumi snaps, disinterested in the conversation. Leave it up to Izuki to ponder on the most bizarre things when she could have spent her time accomplishing responsibilities.
"Mostly when they're dead," Izuki echoes. She laughs, hopping down from the ledge without worry crossing her expression. "Ghosts don't fly, idiot. They hover and pass through walls and stay invisible, bound by a natural force that keeps them rooted here, but they never fly."
"I was talking about angels," Mayuzumi offers her a wry and half-hearted grin.
"I never knew you believed in heaven."
"You never asked."
Izuki chuckles softly again, much to Mayuzumi's chagrin. He wonders how he can stand this girl. At least they're both against the world. Sighing, Izuki wrenches the door to the fire exit open, inviting Mayuzumi to come down. "We'll be late for class."
Mayuzumi raises his eyebrow in skepticism. For someone who is too entangled in a world of her own, Izuki does care about time after all. He follows her into the staircase, staring blankly at her ebony hair and pale skin. He does believe in heaven, although the fact hasn't been blatantly exposed.
In the confines of his own mind, Mayuzumi mulls it over.
Maybe Izuki is looking for heaven, too.
Izuki's flaw lies in her being too concerned with other people's lives that she fails to provide attention to her own. That, and minding other people's business annoys the hell out of Mayuzumi. They understand each other in an unfathomable level, but Izuki's knack for 'helping' others is too much for him to handle.
Maybe it's just Mayuzumi's luck that Izuki plays matchmaker for him, seeking potential partners in their high school. Nobody from their wretched institution could possibly capture Mayuzumi's interest. His lack of appreciation for females and humans in general has earned him his reputation of being a solid, literal rock. He graciously accepts the label if that means people would stay away from him.
After all, no one would dare to come close, not when he disappears even in a group of three. Nobody bothers to look for someone who slinks into the shadows. He's grateful for his ability, but also terribly burdened because of Izuki's existence. He just wants to hide. She keeps pulling him out of his shell.
Mayuzumi always voices out that he doesn't want that, and Izuki pesters him that he doesn't know what he wants.
This week's girl is four inches shorter than him with vibrant blue eyes and an equally bright smile. For mere seconds, Mayuzumi looks at the stranger, scouring for at least one unique trait from her head to toe that might make him change his mind. Unfortunately, this is not the day he gets to be in a romantic relationship, so he shrugs her off and apologizes. That is, if lowering his eyes is a form of apology.
"You set me up," Mayuzumi mutters, eyes narrowing in irk. "I told you never to do that again."
"I thought that she'd be your type," Izuki smiles, partly in hope that her efforts will be rewarded someday.
"You thought," Mayuzumi says. But you don't know what I want. You never did.
"Well," Izuki starts, "It was worth a try." Her feet caress the sand as she pushes the swing by herself, struggling to lift herself from the ground. Recognizing that he couldn't do anything sensible, Mayuzumi positions himself behind her and firmly clasps his hands around the ropes to guide the motion in a precise manner.
Izuki softly hums. "I guess I never really know which way you swing."
"Izuki," Mayuzumi warns. Her puns are still the lamest, that much is true. He couldn't help but wish to slap himself at the ridiculousness.
In response, Izuki laughs, wiggling her feet in the air. "But I do know that my hilarity sets you off."
"Good to hear," Mayuzumi says.
"Mayuzumi," Izuki says, staring into the distance. Namely, the flowers that sway with every thrust of the wind and darken under the looming sunset. "Don't you ever feel tired of being stoic?"
"I don't see how conserving my emotions would exhaust me," Mayuzumi replies, still without any hint of feeling.
"It's not a matter of conserving," Izuki gestures air quotes with her fingers, "but of suppressing. We're friends but we oddly feel like strangers. Come to think of it, we never really delved into each other's lives."
"Are we?" Mayuzumi clears his throat, ceasing from pushing the swing for her. "Friends, I mean."
"You never once denied it," Izuki's face splits into half with her cheeky grin, eyes crinkling at Mayuzumi's statement.
"You're right," Mayuzumi huffs, offering a discreet smile. It's the least he could give her after years of putting up with his lack of expression and enthusiasm.
Izuki laughs with that quiet and bottled up laughter of hers, looking up at the colors in the sky. "I'm glad you agree."
"You're my only friend, after all."
Izuki is a strong girl. She doesn't need heroes or any protagonist straight from the light novels that Mayuzumi busies himself with. When she comes to the rooftop lugging her bag behind, Mayuzumi is aware that she has received disturbing notes in her locker again. Izuki empties the backpack into the ground and slightly winces at the pieces of paper that cascade like dead leaves. "There's eleven today. Maybe I'm just too weird for my own good."
"If you know who they are, tell me," Mayuzumi murmurs, silently clenching his fists. Sure, they're outcasts. They don't belong to society, so they're pretending that it's them against the world. That's the only place they can fit in: each other.
Hastily, Izuki waves her hands in dismissal. She chuckles, unable to hide her nervousness. "You'd know better than to find them."
"It's been more than a year," Mayuzumi hisses, although his anger is still not evident in his expression. "You were saying something about suppressing your emotions. How about you take your own advice for once?"
Izuki, once again, leaps to the ledge and wobbles on both feet, struggling to maintain balance without fear of plunging down the pavement. "I just don't feel anything, Mayuzumi. I've always been brave, remember? Not even they could lower my spirits."
Mayuzumi lowers his gaze. "It won't be long until that facade crumbles."
"What facade?" Izuki grins at him, offering her hand out. Mayuzumi takes it and steps over the ledge to breathe in the view of the city from above. Such a cruel, discriminating world, but away from people it seems fascinating. Most of all, it is beautiful.
As Izuki stretches her arms to resemble wings, Mayuzumi does the same, wary that a wrong move might end up in him falling. The wind sifts through his sleeves and he's never felt so liberated before, looking at the skyline and people walking through the streets like dots. He closes his eyes in the calm. Izuki applauds him with her laughter.
"We're invincible this way," Izuki says. "Just as long as nobody's around, we'll be okay."
Mayuzumi's eyes flutter open, and they rest on Izuki's peaceful figure. He sets his arms down by his sides and reaches a hand for Izuki's cheek. Izuki turns to him in question and doesn't get to say what she is supposed to when Mayuzumi leans towards her, pressing his lips against hers.
In instinct, she places a hand over Mayuzumi's own and holds him closer. Although she's afraid that they might fall, Izuki is also terrified that letting him go will result to him never coming back to her.
Mayuzumi heaves when he breaks away, and he rests his forehead on Izuki's. "Don't set me up with strangers again, Izuki. I'll never forgive you if you try to distance yourself from me."
Izuki giggles, saying nothing in return. Mayuzumi smiles and kisses her again.
He looks up and swears that he can see an angel about to take flight without her wings.
Mayuzumi chokes on his breaths. If he goes up the stairs, Izuki will be long gone. If he stares at her from below, there's nothing he could do.
"Izuki!"
Izuki looks at him, and he can't tell if her eyes are blurry from crying. She's tearing apart the pieces of paper that seem to have come from the bastards who oppress her. It doesn't help that she's on the rooftop of a decrepit and desolate building, hidden from the attention of the superiors of their high school. Mayuzumi can no longer think in desperation and blinding fury. There will be hell to pay for those students who always leave notes in her locker. "Don't jump, please!"
At this, Izuki smiles, fishing out a feather of an eagle from her pocket. "I found this, too. Do you know what this means, Mayuzumi?" she says, almost as if she's shouting for the rest of the world to hear.
"Be brave," she tells him, noting his fearful expression. Mayuzumi has harbored emotions, yes, but he has never revealed them. Now, he's doing the exact opposite.
"Don't jump, Izuki," Mayuzumi pleads. His voice has grown hoarse, and just a little more, he'll certainly break. "I don't want to lose you."
"Silly," Izuki replies, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "I'm going to fly."
Mayuzumi's heartbeats very nearly shatter his ribcage as he screams her name. She closes her eyes and shuts herself from the world, stretching her arms and breathing in. It's the last taste and aroma of this city she's going to have for a while.
Without hesitation, she falls.
Mayuzumi can't remember everything, but the passersby hush him and tell him to stop shouting the name of someone who won't wake up anymore.
The feather rests on the palm of his hand, and Mayuzumi looks down instead of up, although the sky is perfectly clear and the clouds line up as if they are gates to a place that will never have pain or grief in it.
"Be brave,", he murmurs to himself, kneeling before a tombstone that's been wet by rain and tears. Not that there's much difference between the two.
Mayuzumi stands up, still shaking from the fact that he's all alone now. There's no more 'us against the world'.
Despite that, he struggles to gaze at the sky and finds himself smiling and crying at the same time.
"Hey, Izuki," he starts.
"Maybe you can fly, after all."
End