Title: Sandcastle
Prompt: Mazume Day 5 / Change
Fandom: Hirunaka no Ryuusei
Character/Pairing: Mazume
A/N: More angst! But a hopeful ending. :D
Summary: Everything started on a foundation of sand. She shouldn't be surprised by this at all.
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"Let's break up."
Suzume lets go of his hand, not quite comprehending his words. "What?"
"We should break up." His voice is confident. His face is not. Suzume almost reaches out to smooth the wrinkles on his face, to force that frown into a smile.
But his words still echo in her head and she can't move. It's hard enough thinking.
"Wh-why?"
"I…" He looks away now and she can see his strength start to crumble. "This…it isn't working."
"Ah…" Suzume releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding. This should surprise her more.
She knows he's right by how much it doesn't.
"I…I guess you're right." She looks down at her hand, the heat from his already disappearing. He's standing next to her and it would be so easy to grab his hand again.
These words have changed that gap into a wall.
"Yes." He's not crying, not now. She knows he will later—she can see the small creases in his eyes, the way he bites his cheek. His right eye already is a little a glassy.
And herself? She wonders if he can see any of those signs in her. Her heart hurts, a dull ache, and she thinks a year is too short to be experiencing this twice.
"You don't start a relationship out of need," she murmurs. Out of a need to forget, to move on. Everything was started on a foundation of sand.
Even this love she feels for Mamura—she doesn't know which parts are affection and which parts are from loneliness.
"I'll…" Mamura looks awkward, small. She never meant to make him feel like that. She never wanted to see him like that. "I'll go on ahead." He starts to move, a stilted thing, and she finds none of the grace she had come to associate with him.
It's hard to imagine what he'll look like tomorrow. How she'll look.
The ache in heart is sharp now. Alive.
"Mamura," she calls out, without thinking. In front of her, he stops but doesn't turn around.
She wants to see his face.
She doesn't want to.
"Can…" Her mouth is dry, a desert in the making. "Can…after some time…when I've…" Gotten over it. Him. Our memories. "Can we try again?"
This time he does turn around, his eyes wide with shock. It takes a long minute, but he gives a slow nod.
The pain in her chest fades a little.
She thinks it'll be some time before it goes away.