Death and rebirth.
That is what these petals represent.
However, they do not follow nature's cycle, like they do on Earth. So what does that mean? Do they represent death, or rebirth? And what had caused Tatsumi to wish for one-thousand of those petals?
The secretary shook his head with such thoughts. He did not know. And the thought of not having an answer troubled the man greatly.
Watari and himself were sitting idly at a restaurant. It had been a tough day at the office. Budget cuts swept all of the departments, and the computers all suffered severe malfunctions from the lightning storms the Ministry had experienced the previous night. With such setbacks, Tatsumi and Watari were rushing back and forth to set things straight. Watari had suggested dinner out to calm their nerves. Tatsumi was reluctant to agree. After all, money was scarce after the cuts and the secretary figured a cup of tea at home would suffice. However, he wearily agreed, not willing to argue.
Over wine, Watari had brought the subject up. He leaned forward, playing with his glass. His eyes were flashing with curiosity. Or intoxication, Tatsumi had thought. Whatever the reason, Watari said, voice quite serious "What do you hope to accomplish here?"
Tatsumi blinked with confusion. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Excuse me?" he asked. "Why did you become a Shinigami?" Watari asked quietly.
Tatsumi looked down, adjusting his glasses. "Why such a question?" he asked.
Watari shrugged, leaning back into his chair. He idly twirled a lock of hair around a finger. Tatsumi noticed that as one of Watari's curious habits. He held the same glint in his eyes, the same habit of playing with his hair when he was fixing a piece of hardware, or on the break of a scientific discovery.
"Well..." Watari started slowly. "You do not seem power hungry...but you have such a high position in our department, you work hard, but it seems empty, like you don't get anything in return" He took another sip of wine, coughed slightly, and rested his chin in his palms. "Are you here for your job, or the people...your friends? Do you care for anyone here?...I know you were partnered with Tsuzuki...what were you thinking after that?"
Tatsumi gripped his wine glass tightly, astonishment clouding his senses for a moment. How blunt...how...insensitive it seemed. Insensitive, not of Watari's question, but of its essence. Old feelings raced through Tatsumi again, emotions he had not felt since his death, his partnership with Tsuzuki, his position in a land balanced between life and death seemed to stare back at him, repeating the scientist's question.
What are you doing here, Seiichirou?
He pushed his glasses up his nose again, staring at the vegetables on his plate. His reason was buried deep, a place beneath his heart, buried underneath budgetary concerns, and paperwork. Buried beneath work, and the ever present shock of life not on earth. Buried beneath the feelings he held with his co-workers, beneath his time as a Shinigami, beneath Tsuzuki's laugh, smiles, and tears.
What would be his answer?
To collect one-thousand cherry blossom petals. Those dancing blossoms surfaced in his mind. What am I doing here?
Death and Rebirth, cherry blossoms represent death and rebirth.
And now, Watari had managed to collect one-thousand of those petals. Stuffed inside a jar, its symbolic meaning stifled underneath Watari's curiosity. His everpresent curiosity.
Tatsumi looked up and told Watari of the collection of those petals, only then would he inform Watari of his answer. Watari smiled faintly, settled back in his chair again, and drowned the remainder of his wine. "Then I will tell you my own answer" Watari had said, a promising gleam in his eyes.
And now, this is where it left Tatsumi Seiichirou. Walking underneath those fabled cherry blossom trees, emotions surfacing from that hidden place. He had hoped Watari had forgot, or perhaps Tatsumi could have waved it off, as if he had said no such thing.
A promise is a promise, Seiichirou.
Why did I become a Shinigami.
Why is my co-worker, my...friend...so curious?
Tatsumi pushed his glasses up his nose, wearily closing his eyes and leaning against the trunk of a cherry blossom tree. Tsuzuki resurfaced in his mind again, purple eyes livid with tears.
'Your own mother, Seiichirou! She is so upset! A good son would help her feel better. She is always crying, why do you not help her?'
'Your partner always seems so sad, Tatsumi-san. Is everything all right with Tsuzuki-san? You are his partner. You do not know what is bothering him, Tatsumi-san?'
Tatsumi shook his head. "I do not know what is wrong" he admitted to the dancing blossoms. "I cannot help. So, why am I here?"
"I do not know what is wrong" Watari thought alive, half to himself, half to his owl. "What do I do?" he asked, looking across to the tops of the pink trees. A man stood across the front gardens, against the trunk of a tree. Watari fiddled with his glasses, looking closely from his lab window. "Tatsumi is there. Among the trees. I think I struck a nerve." Watari pulled back from the window, looking back at 003. "Is he all right?"
003 lifted a wing in a shrug, then pointing it to the door. Watari nodded. "And I approach the secretary again. Dearie me, I think I made him upset"
003 shrugged again. You were planning that from the beginning, weren't you? She thought.
With a nod to his owl, the scientist strode from the lab. 003 took her companion's position at the window to see a white clad figure stride quickly across to meet the other.
Watari forced himself to breathe in and out slowly. Fulfilling the promise of one-thousand petals...was a promise made to feel worrisome, awkward, concerned and curious? Was it worth the stride across the garden, petals getting caught in Watari's blonde hair, the feel of the grass underneath his shoes as he strode quickly across.
Now, such actions were doubled in their essence. The air felt more crisp against his skin. The wind had been kicked up, and seemed threatened to gust and pull at Watari's spirit. The birds seemed aware of the walk, chattering to each other frantically.
Tatsumi had turned, to see the scientist walk swiftly toward him. He swallowed, adjusted his glasses, and pushed himself from the tree trunk. "So curious for an answer" he said quietly. "Really, every Shinigami is here for the same purpose"
Watari stopped two feet away. The wind pulled at his coat and hair, giving him the air of a heroic persona. His eyes glinted with curiosity. Questions seemed ready to spill from his mouth, a joke, or a tease. Those words were caught. Watari was speechless.
Tatsumi sighed, and removed a hand from his glasses. "We are all here for a lack of what any human person needs. A lifetime without it, and now an eternity searching for it. You are intelligent Watari-san. Surely you have noticed"
Watari remained silent, looking at the presence in front of him. A manipulator of shadows, a presence feared and respected in the Ministry. Now this being was filled with a sense of wisdom that Watari had never possessed.
Tatsumi caught a cherry blossom petal in two fingers. He looked at it for a moment, crisp blue eyes sparkling. Finally he looked at the silent scientist in front of him.
"These petals represent death and rebirth. Answer me Watari...why are you here?"
Watari opened his mouth in surprise. Finally, he said quietly "I was alone"
The wind gusted again, tearing off the petals from their branches. They danced around the two figures, in a slow, rythmic waltz.