II. Love
There were many different levels of affection that Seishiro had been exposed to in his life. The fleeting goodbye, the passive hellos, the well meaning conversations in between… Most of them had to deal with some form of bartering, trading something, a piece of him, for what looked like endearment.
For what appeared to be love.
He had to do things that would have been unfathomable to others, in order to receive his mother's affection, her time of day.
It made sense to him. It was ingrained into his system, his life.
Because love was not given freely, his mother would say.
You had to earn it.
There was nothing about love that was unconditional, nothing that could be salvaged from a bond that could be broken again and again until there was nothing left.
The pieces could not be replaced, could not be glued together.
You had to seek it, to be driven to the ends of the earth, the ends of the universe and its many counterparts to fill the hidden and starving part of your soul.
His soul had taken so much – it could not be given what he wanted.
…At least…
Not from just anyone.
Looking up at the sky, the dimmest light was peeking from the remnants of the night, reflecting from Seishiro's glass lenses.
A cold, bitter smile appeared on his face – a smile voice of the naïveté that he had been denied.
"What would I know about love?" He sad aloud, the hope that someone would reply escaping him, not even crossing his mind.
As far as he was concerned, in his life, there was none.
