Welp, I just finished my 1st story and now my attention is solely on this... for now.
Now, I only exist in the AN/s. Oh, wait, I was already dead so that was the case anyway.
If I recall, didn't you have your entire rib cage torn off?
Thanks for the memories...
RAX : Err... True love?
... She wants to see if he's a good lay?
Um... Social link?
He he, all jokes aside : Technically, Makoto was the one who started it in the hopes of having someone on the inside of SEES but wanted to break everything off when he realized she was far more troublesome than it was worth, especially since he wanted to be anonymous at the time.
And that caused the link to form and... well, do we need to go over how important those are? Plus, well... She's just a good person.
Guest : Congrats, the wait is now over... For now.
clevernameeh : Surprised you haven't guessed what the voice is yet. I may/may not of already hinted at it.
No, you haven't.
Yes, he has.
Well, who do they believe?
Do they believe Death... Or an albino with the Jester and Reverse Death Arcana that literally eats people?
Well-
And castrates them for fun. Oh, and sent Minato to Nyarly land to burn half of his face with a stove.
Uh-
Didn't I also crack all of your ribs... twice?
... I fucking hate you both.
School
Makoto repeatedly tapped his finger on his desk as the world around him continued.
It was like the more he went to it, the more of a waste of time school became. Honestly, who gives a damn how people in the whatever era made their houses? When did history become so old it was irrelevant? Did it ever?
In contrast, Kotone was listening to the lessons and writing notes like a model student. How Makoto managed to get a higher score than her was a mystery to anyone.
The teachers sure seemed to love her, as they seemed to like calling on her to answer the plethora of questions they have to 'test' their students. Personally, Makoto thought they liked to call on her just to make themselves fell good about their ability to teach.
Regardless, the world seemed to go into some sort of 'fast-forward' state as the boy completely zoned out. One moment it was the morning, the next everyone was walking out the door.
"Hey~" Kotone called out as she gently shook the boy. Makoto shook his head and blinked rapidly as his senses snapped back into reality "Um... Were you completely zoned out just now?"
"Err... Yes?" Makoto muttered as he rotated his head to help with the stiffness he felt in his neck "Time to leave already?"
"Wow, you must've been out of it." Kotone was actually pretty amazed, he was zoned out for over 3 hours straight. Was he even human?
Makoto merely shrugged as he stood up, acting as if this was an everyday occurrence "Alright. You're the butterfly, where're we going?"
"Butterfly?" Kotone repeated, was this is idea of flirting or something?
"Social butterfly." He clarified immediately "Since you've made so many friends in such a short amount of time. What'd you think I meant?"
Kotone shook her head, figuring that she'd spare them both some embarrassment "Nothin'. Um..." She paused for a moment "I dunno, usually my friends point to a place to go." Kotone mentally face-palmed as she realized that every time she went out with someone, they decided where to go. Maybe she should be a little less passive during her links?
"Seriously?" He asked flatly, always seeming to possess the same measured tone. He paused for a moment to give Kotone a chance to respond, but when nothing came he spoke up again "Well, I haven't been to the shrine yet."
She instantly brightened up as she grabbed his right hand "Then what're we waiting for?" she asked as she began to drag him away like a mother dragging their child.
Naganaki Shrine
"And here we are!" Kotone announced as she finally let Makoto go and outstretched her arms
"..." Makoto said nothing, he just looked at her blankly. The boy tilted his head slightly and cringed a bit "I've mentioned that you're weird, right?"
"I think the term is 'unique'." Pharos added on, his always being with Makoto meaning that he was here as well
"I've mentioned that you're weird, right?" Kotone shot back as she thought back to their other interactions before scratching her head in confusion "Wait... Have I?"
The boy sighed again as he looked around the area. Everything was just how he remembered it from 10 years ago, funny how there were some things even time couldn't change.
Right next to the shrine was an all too familiar playground that he remembered spending a lot of time in... with her, too.
The two of them used to even hold contest on who could make the best sand castle in the sandbox, he wasn't very good but at least he made something that could be presented.
"I'll beat you one day, big bro!" She never did.
"Hey." Kotone called out as she gently shook Makoto, keeping her voice lower than usual. She didn't know why, but the look on his face told her that something was bothering him.
"I'm fine." He said before looking back at the redhead "Just... Been awhile."
Been awhile..? Kotone thought as she remembered something. He stated before that he was born and raised here before his parents died, must've been hard on him.
Granted, he was flat-out rude at times and didn't seem to care about using his power to help anyone, but he couldn't be all bad could he?
"Um... Makoto-kun." Kotone said awkwardly, trying her hardest to choose her words carefully
"What?" He said slowly, getting the feeling that he wasn't going to like where this was heading
She gulped, she didn't want this to end like last time "First, let me know if I start to cross the line again... 'Kay?"
Makoto narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he slowly nodded.
"Alright, um..." She cleared her throat, the fear of him losing his temper again still on her mind "You said you were born here?"
"Yes." He answered in his typical 1 worded sentence
"So err... Did you miss it? Here, I mean." She asked doing her best to avoid setting him off, yet learn more about him.
Makoto clenched his right fist moderately, but decided to give her a pass given her previous statement "Of course I did."
Even when suppressed, she could still feel the anger in his voice "That made you angry?"
"You tell me." He shot back, still having the feeling of suppressed anger in his voice
That went about as well as she expected. Looks like questions even slightly relating to his parents or childhood were a sore spot for him.
Guess I gotta change my approach... She thought to herself. This wasn't going to be an easy link to work with.
"Ever been to Destinyland before?" If "parents" or "childhood" was too touchy, then maybe being a bit more broad would be fine?
"No." And this did little to change his habit of answering with 1 worded sentences
Kotone sighed, this was just tedious. If she took the safe approach, she wasn't going to get anywhere "Alright, I'll ask : Are you going to keep doing this?"
Makoto shrugged "I dunno, I'm just answering honestly."
Kotone just blinked and stared "... There's something wrong with you." she complained
"Whatever." He dismissed the complaint as he gazed off to another direction.
There in the distance were a multiple grave stones, but only 3 held any meaning to him.
Even after all these years since the funeral, they still looked exactly as he remembered them.
There were 2 typical ones. The final resting places of what was left of his parents' corpses after that day.
And, there was the 3rd one... and that one was far too small to belong here.
"You alright?" Kotone asked, her concern returning as he seemed to space out again
Do I LOOK alright?! Makoto screamed internally as he began to feel his anger return.
Over and over, she just asked more and more questions. She was annoying, never stopped talking, and kept acting like she understood everything.
Why wouldn't she just shut up already?!
No you don't... The voice whispered as Makoto lowered his head and took a deep breath.
Minato exhaled as the anger he felt beginning to boil suddenly quell itself.
"This is the last place I was before I left." Minato admitted as he remembered what happened that day.
There were many people that attended that funeral that day. But, there weren't many that took notice of the short blue-haired boy that stood alone.
It wasn't that they weren't sympathetic, such a thing was shown when a number of them shielded him with their umbrellas when rain began to fall.
The day was very gloomy, even by funeral standards. If one were too look up into the sky, they'd see nothing but the clouds that blocked the Sun.
No one saw what was in any of the caskets, though. No one but that little boy who saw just how each and everyone of them died.
Of course, no one believed him when he told them what happened. He wasn't too surprised by that, even though he was 7 he wasn't an idiot.
They claimed it was something his mind made up to cope or something, but he still knew what he saw was real... No matter how much he wished it wasn't.
Maybe he wanted to believe them? Maybe he just wanted to believe that it was all a nightmare? But it didn't matter now, none of it happened.
Minato shook his head as he tried to push those memories out of his mind "Later, I was adopted by some of my relatives. I don't remember how we were related anymore though."
"Wait, you mean you didn't stay with them?" She asked which made the boy shake his head
"We didn't get along well." Minato answered, his tone had shifted from his usual flat yet cold demeanor to... this. "Then, I was shifted around between more and more people, until I ended up here."
"I'm sorry." She apologized. Even if he was the one who decided to say it, she's the one who lead to him needing to remember this.
"For what? You didn't do anything." Minato replied, not seeing what disturbed her so much "That's then, this is now. And now is all I care about."
"Oh.." And then, there was an awkward silence between the 2 of them.
The bluenette was split between cursing himself for sharing that much and feeling a faint sense of comfort for sharing that with someone other than Pharos for once.
The redhead meanwhile couldn't tell if she should feel grateful for him sharing that with her, or if she should feel terrible for bringing up painful memories.
Minato chuckled to himself as he faced the girl again "Next time we go on an outing, how about we go somewhere more pleasant."
Kotone couldn't help but smile again, he basically just agreed this wasn't a one-time thing "Definitely."
The bluenette looked at his watch "It's getting late, we should probably go home now."
Kotone nodded in agreement as the two began to leave.
But, just before they could part, Kotone grabbed his arm.
"Uh-uh, time to cough up the number." She demanded as she pulled out her phone
"Um... Okay, then." He agreed as he reached for his right pocket... only to find his phone wasn't there.
Goddammit, Pharos... He thought as he pretended to reach for his back pocket, only to have his little plus 1 place the phone in his hand.
Not noticing his phone seemingly appeared out of nothing, Kotone exchanged numbers with the boy before going back to her dorm.
Makoto sighed as he looked at Pharos "Do I want to look at the photos?"
Pharos blinked as he looked innocently back at his friend "Um... Maybe?"
The orphan sighed as he looked at the new photos at his phone. Apparently, he took more pictures of the girls in the changing rooms once again.
He let out a "Huh..." a he looked at the photos "Remind me to never let you on my laptop."
"Aw..."
Note to self : Read more fluff fics or something.
Shouldn't you be a pro at this by now?
No.
Honestly, I'm a little disappointed in you.
Oh, come on!
Way to go, big bro!
Anyhow, we're hitting some of the fluffy bits. Why now? Because *censored*
Y-You mean, that *censored*
Yup...
Anyhow, next chapter should be another one of these so don't expect too much plot to happen. After that, well... I think you can guess.
