Summer
In the sweltering heat of summer, Nagamasa decides he hates walking down to the hospital. Why doesn't he just buy a car? Oh, right. He's broke.
But he walks anyways, just to see her.
Although he'll never admit it.
Food
One day, Nagamasa decides to ask Oichi what her favorite food is.
"Favorite food? Ichi likes Dansuke Watermelon."
Nagamasa wanders off, wondering where the hell he can get a cheap Dansuke watermelon, AND deliver it anonymously.
Music
Nagamasa walks into Oichi's room, and sees something quite unexpected.
Oichi's long, slender fingers are clutching at the neck of a shamisen, while her other hand is plucking at the strings, producing a low, mournful sound.
There are tears rolling down her face, and her frame is shaking with silent sobs.
Without a word, Nagamasa slips out of the room as quietly as he came in.
Comb
Oichi has frequent panic attacks.
So when he finds her clawing at the air, screaming at invisible demons to: "Get away! No! Please stop it! Stop it Stop it Stop IT! I don't want to, NO!" her words slowly fade into choked sobs, and tears run down her cheeks. Her chest is heaving, and she crawling on the ground, having fallen out of her wheelchair, which stands to the side like a vague, unimportant prop in a movie. She reaches a hand out towards Nagamasa's direction, flailing blindly-
Who pulls her into his arms, whispering varying comforts into her awaiting ear. He combs his finger through her hair, again and again, till she simply shakes in his arms, like a child after waking up from a long, dreadful nightmare.
He continues his ministrations, and she dozes off, finding comfort in his arms.
This becomes a regular occurrence, but they never speak of it. Oichi is scared of rejection and disgust at her weakness, and Nagamasa has his pride.
Nevertheless, this ritual always continues.
Darker
Nagamasa is scared of the dark.
He doesn't know why, or when it started. However, he does remember his mother holding him beneath the blankets, telling him there was nothing to fear, and that there were no monsters.
He believed her, but he was still terrified.
One day, while Nagamasa is preparing to leave, Oichi asks a rather peculiar question.
"Are you afraid of the dark, Mr. Nagamasa?"
Nagamasa gulps, and gives a hasty reply. "Of course not! Who'd be scared of such a foolish thing?"
Oichi gives a thin smile, and turns her gaze towards the window. The skies have gotten darker, and several stars have begun to shine.
"Most people aren't scared of the dark, but are afraid of what's in it. They probably envision monsters."
Nagamasa frowns. "Are you scared of monsters, Oichi?"
"Ichi is only scared of the human ones. The human ones are the worst. You can never tell if they're really a monster until they harm you, and by that time, you're already ensnared in their trap."
Gate
That night, Nagamasa has a dream.
He is standing behind a gate that shines a mix of colors, red, black, green, blue, white- and is peering out through the bars.
A woman is walking towards him, her mouth is moving, but Nagamasa can't her a thing. She's dressed in a short pink kimono top and wears iron plates over it, like a medieval armor. He can't see her face.
He shouts- "I can't hear you!" But the woman on the other side doesn't seem to register the fact he's spoken and keeps moving towards him, her arms outstretched, mouthing a word-
"Azai."
That night, Nagamasa wakes up in a cold sweat. He's trembling, and he glances out the window. It's still dark out, and the moon is full and round, glowing delicate silver.
The most terrifying thing is that he feels as if he knows her.
That was fun. Many thanks to Rugiku for the words! (Except for food, that was mine.) So I've figured out a system for this story- *applause* whenever there's a full chapter, something really important has happened. The miniature prompt-things are just days in their lives, or events.
COMB WAS SO HARD TO WRITE. SERIOUSLY. I kind of like the way it turned out though. I like sad stuff.
*A Dansuke Watermelon is a Japanese melon that only grows in the northern part of the Japanese district of Hokkadio. It's priced at 6,100 dollars.