A/N: Last chapter is up!
So once again, thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, and favoring this story! Hope you guys enjoyed this.
I rushed through this with a cup of tea to go off on and one proofread, so if I made any mistake feel free to leave a review or PM me.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN GINTAMA IT BELONGS TO SORACHI HIDEAKI
Enjoy~
Glass Fragments
Ch. 4: Glass Fragments
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When she wakes up, there is a strange feeling of déjà vu as a face hovers just above hers.
"Took ya long enough," Baka-aniki says with a smile that makes Kagura furrow her brows in confusion. His disgusting mask is still there, but nii-chan and Kamui are showing bits and pieces of genuineness and something warm that makes Kagura remember the smell of rain and mami's hydrangeas.
Kagura takes this moment to look around and realize that they are still in the bathroom. Her arms are numb once she tries to move them and her puffy eyes dart around and register the fact that she is not in her own bed, but in Kamui's lap.
Kagura shifts her position so she can shoot him a tired glare filled with red and puffy eyes, "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
Baka-aniki shrugs, "You looked so peaceful, imouto. It would've be such a shame."
Kagura's breath is smooth, even, as she inhales, exhales, then recalls last night's events and remembers magic and blues and nii-chan.
Inhale. Exhale.
"Nii-chan," she says. Kamui hums in response as his head is tipped upwards and his hands are still weaving magic into her hair.
"I never hated you."
"I know."
Just like that, the pieces are being woven back together. Kagura exhales again, more in relief than need as she feels nii-chan shift, magic still being woven and warmness still being spread. Her eyes then lock onto the glass fragments littering the floor from the mirror mirror on the wall like pieces of white ribbons stained with ink.
Oh well, she thinks. She's never needed mirrors to say in the first place.
And that's when she firmly plants her feet onto the ground and rises up. Baka-aniki's hands leave her hair and the magic disperses into the air and clings to her skin like scarlet butterflies. Kagura silently tips forward, reaching for broken pieces of ink-stained ribbons filled with apprehension and dull memories.
"Watcha doin'?" Kamui raises a brow as he stares at her in mild curiosity; his face is propped up with an arm that is relaxed on his knee, sitting criss-cross and all that jazz.
Kagura shrugs, strangely calm, "Picking up the pieces."
She starts with the left corner; glass fragments decorated with snippets of her blood and rage and insanity being picked up with as much tenderness as possible. Kagura's fingers twitch, then she bobs her head downwards and observes as a red line on her skin knits itself back together in a matter of seconds before picking up another piece and gingerly piling the corner. Much to her childish disbelief, it sways and topples over.
She is too startled to even move her hands up to salvage some of the damage, but what is done is done as the glass shatters into even more tinier pieces, and all Kagura can do is grit her teeth and sigh exasperatedly at her failure. Meanwhile, she is too discouraged in burying her head in between her knees to even notice the hands coming up from being her. As if a timer had went off, Kagura's head snaps up and turns to look at her brother, who is gingerly scooping up ink-stained glitter and setting it into the pile that already toppled and shattered into even more tinier pieces.
It takes her a while to even process what's going on, but when she finally finds words to say something, all that comes out is a meek, "What are you doing?"
Kamui doesn't pause in his ritual, and if he does, then it's only for a split-second before saying, "Picking up the pieces."
Kagura doesn't know what to say after that in between nii-chan's warmth and the large hands in front of her scooping up glittering pieces of ink-stained glass disguised as some ancient treasure. So after several minutes of the shuffling of glitter into tiny piles filled with nii-chan's magic, Kagura finally has the will to move both of her dainty hands and brush the surrounding glass into the piles; starting from the corners, then the middle, and then from behind her, pushing them over as they glisten like waves filled with diamonds.
They work in silence for the next hour, only stopping to readjust their positions once in a while and moving to different corners of the room to find the next piles and piles of glitter and ink-soaked ribbons—and they are determined to find them all.
Well, at least Kagura is.
"We should go visit mami," she says in between handfuls of cuts and scrapes and ink-stained ribbons filled with dull pain, "Her grave's probably still there."
Baka-aniki doesn't say anything, but at her notion he whips his head around and stares at her with the blue that told her bedtime stories and played with her when mami was too sick to even talk. After a few stiff moments, Kamui nods his head and turns back around to his section of glitter and magic, carefully piecing then and piling them up one by one until they become a sick parody of one of those castles in fairytales.
"When should we go?" Kamui asks, his ever-present smile filling in the silence as Kagura looks down at her cut up hands, and then back up at Kamui.
"When we finish picking up all the pieces." She says it as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
Kamui continues to smile, smile, smile, and Kagura still finds that disgusting, but she shuts her mouth and keeps quiet this time.
"That's gonna take a long time, 'y know," he finally says, lowering his head and looking at the waves of spilled diamonds filled with ink.
"Doesn't matter," Kagura says, digging her hands into the piles of glitter and sand and scooping them out at a steady pace, "Gin-chan used to say that when you wanna do something, you gotta do it. Doesn't matter how many years pass or if we're old and wrinkled, because we will eventually land there and we will visit her." There is a force in her voice that gives her more self-confidence than ever before as she pictures a silver-haired samurai standing under the sakura trees and holding a bottle of sake. "We will visit mami," she repeats again.
There is silence for the rest of the few minutes as they do their goddamn best to not break it.
Then, "I'll get Abuto to pay for the tickets." Nii-chan says after a moment of silence.
"I'll start raiding the fridge." She says thoughtfully. Her pace quickens as she scoops at a more frantic speed.
"It's gonna take a long time, imouto." There is more shuffling on his side of the room as the fairytale castle is knocked over and all that's left is a pile of glass.
"There's always time, bastard." She shoots him a look and shuffles over to his side, making no move to rebuild anything or bring back the fairytales and magic that used to be there.
"Then when do you wanna start?" he asks.
She shrugs, "Depends," but there is fire in her eyes and it burns bright at the imaginary smell of rain and grey-dusted graves.
"Now?" he asks.
"Now." She agrees.
They stand up simultaneously; Kamui prancing towards Abuto's room, Kagura making a dash for the kitchen; and as they leave, the pile of ink-stained ribbons does nothing but observe as it sits in the corner and gleams about the shadows of dried blood and lost dreams and poorly stitched-up realities filled with magic.
A/N: As you guys may have noticed, I suck at making endings. I didn't really have an idea as to how to end this story, so I'm sorry if you guys were expecting some action and angst (oh, the angst) but I chose for a peaceful resolution that's still in the process of healing. Hence, Kamui and Kagura's sudden decision to visit their mother's grave. In my opinion I liked this subtle ending, considering all of the angst I've piled in in recent chapter.
Once again, thank you all for reading this story and I hope you guys enjoyed it!
Til next story~