{&}
Traipsing These Transitory Trails
_hex
He knows this adventure has to end someday. They'll grow up and forget each other, and then die without remembering those days. And all the same, he can't- Taisuke, Yuta, Nami.
{&}
It's a nagging feeling in the beginning; happens only once in a while. When Yuta catches a fish using his 'isolation,' when Nami reaches a lush bounty of fruit and freezes them, he looks at them and laughs. It's just so silly; three kids, on this 'adventure of a lifetime' across the entirety of Japan in an attempt to... what?
Are they trying to save the world?
Are they trying to save a friend? (His friend, really)
Are they trying to save themselves?
Really, these are questions too deep for him to answer. And then Yuta comes over to him, and asks 'what's the matter' in his own childish way, hitting Taisuke lightly over the head. And then Nami approaches, with fistfuls of fruit, and they are the three of them; themselves. Stranded in a world that cares and yet - cannot.
"Silly Wansuke," Yuta chides, flicking him over the nose. Taisuke growls - instinctively, of course - and then Nami lets out a chuckle, because really, he's a bit too much like a canine at times. "Dogs don't need to think too much; their stomachs will surely hurt afterwards!"
"My stomach does not hurt!" Taisuke responds, poking his stomach. It gurgles, and then growls. He flushes, and then both Yuta and Nami are laughing at him, before handing him captured fish and frozen fruit.
"Well?" Nami demands, a command in the single word.
"Okay, Okay!" Taisuke replies, closing his eyes and concentrating, "I would think that I'm the hungreist one out of us; no need to rush me!"
And then there is silence, save for the rustle of trees and the chirping of birds (the whole world is alive and awake, he is aware for the first time in months). He imagines the warm flicker of fire, curling and clawing for life - almost lazily at first. It reminds him of Hirose, of Megumi, of his parents.
And they're all gone - as gone as they'll ever be, that is.
"Fire," he murmurs, for no particular reason, and then he thick stick of wood he was grasping between his hand ignites. Nami quickly dangles the iced fruits nearby, as Yuta releases the fish, only to spear it and toss it haphazardly into the fire. Taisuke rolls his eyes; before, it was always Megu and Hiro taking care of him, and now, he's the one taking care of these 'children'.
It's going to end, it will end soon.
It's going to end; it will all end soon.
Yuta does not know why Taisuke cannot sleep some nights, only that he can't. They have to hurry up, the three of them, he thinks, because Taisuke's friends are most likely in danger and -
Selfishly, he knows, he does not want this to end.
Because then they'll have-?
{&}