:: Attempt 09.5 | Indigo ::

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:: Attempt 09.5 | Indigo ::

"Tsukimiru you ni omoetanara
kotae nante iranai tte ieta hazu sa
te wo hanashite ochiru yume wa
kimi no yubi ni shimitsuita setsunaku fukai ao.

"kowareta bakari no kakera de te wo kiru
nagameru bakari de kitto ato ni naru.

[If only I could remember so that I can look at the moon
I should have just said I don't need an answer
after letting go of your hand, the dream I fall into
ingrained into your finger, a deep, painful indigo.

the broken pieces only cut my fingers,
just by looking at them, they'll surely leave scars.]"
- "Indigo" by Kishida Kyoudan & the Akeboshi Rockets
[Song suggestion by Loki-Roki . English Translation from https://rainorchestra.wordpress.com]

x + x

"H-hey, where are we going? Why aren't you telling me anything?"

She turns her head to look upon him with a smile; her pale pink lips curled up into a gesture of utter amusement and secrecy. She tugs him along, her tight grip upon his wrist not slackening in the slightest as they ascend the mountain beside the school his father owned.

"Don't be such a worrywart, Shu! You won't have fun otherwise." Aoi teases the younger male as she abruptly spins on her heel, simultaneously letting go of his hand. He nearly stumbles forward, steadied only by her surprisingly strong arms as she places her hands upon his shoulders, her radiant grin never wavering. His face flushes an evident crimson - both in embarrassment at their close proximity and in irritation at her nonchalant comment.

"I'm not worried!" He retorts, slapping her hands away from his tense frame. She merely giggles as her slight figure suddenly fades away together with a slight gust of wind.

"Come and find me!"

"W-wait!" Frantic, he looks from side to side, clenching his fists as he marches forward through the underbrush. It isn't as though he has never been here before; rather, it is impossible that she had gone somewhere else without him noticing. The path leads to a steep decline, after all.

"Where could she be?" He mutters to himself, bracing his unsteady footing as he places a hand upon the rough-hewn bark of an oak. Suddenly, he tenses, breaking into a run.

The cliff!

Internally, he berates himself, skidding to a stop just beyond the treeline. Where else would she be? A gnarled, dead tree reaches downwards into the vast forest below; tiny leaves decorating its branches. Aoi sits silently upon its trunk, listlessly running a finger upon its bark. She looks older - her fifteen-year-old self, to be exact.

He stiffens. Is he dreaming?

"Do you know how long I waited for you, Shu? 'No matter how far away, I will be there for you.' You promised, Shu." Her voice is deathly cold, striking wave after wave of pain into his heart. She stands up, her long crimson hair being blown by the wind. She's crying, he realizes with a jolt through his spine, as her azure eyes brim with tears. She wipes them away with the back of her hand, a sardonic laugh escaping her parted lips, soon carried away by the fierce wind. "What happened to your vow?"

She takes a step back, stretching out her arms as she turns to look at the still frozen strawberry-blonde male. Only a step more, and she will plummet to the abyss below.

"Wait for me!" The scream rips free of his constricted throat, and a sad smile pulls at the edges of her lips.

"I won't. Not anymore." A spark of anger enters her eyes before she falls to her death.

"Please stop lying, Asano."

It's a peculiar sensation - waking up from a nightmare, he means. His lungs seem slowly being deprived of air as time passes, his blurry vision coming into focus. Asano Gakushu sits up straight, an alarmed look in his purple eyes as his gaze falls upon the blank white walls of his bedroom. Slowly, as mechanically as the ticking of the clock upon his desk, he rests his head upon his palm, his fingers knotting into his oddly disheveled strawberry-blonde hair.

Why does she keep on barging into my dreams?

A drawn-out sigh slips past his lips as he lies down upon his bed, closing his eyes. Instead of the usual darkness, images of her face fill his vision. Her smile; the way her eyes crinkle at the corners whenever she laughs; the way her eyes darken in anger, her lips pursed in a straight line. The broken look in her eyes after he bluntly claimed the lie the day before.

He had kissed her, had held her in his arms. And then what? Just when he thought everything is gradually falling into place, she brought up the past - those unforgivable words that he can never take back. He had wounded her deeply, he knows that too well. But what is he supposed to do? Apologize? A derisive laugh shakes his once-relaxed frame.

Ridiculous.

She would rather castrate him in her rage than accept any sort of apology coming from his silver tongue.

I would be deserving of such a crude punishment. He thinks, a wry smile ghosting across his lips as he gets to his feet, running a hand through his hair. There is no benefit to be gained by moping about and dreading her plausible response to their next meeting. He would rather be out and about attempting to find a solution to his problem rather than wait for her to turn the other cheek.

He would rather send himself like a lamb to the slaughter than wait.

Perhaps, she may still be there.

x + x

It appears that Fate isn't on his side this day.

He purses his lips, rocking back onto his heels as he stares up at the looming figure of a certain Fujimoto Sora, Fujimoto Tsubaki's father and Aoi's so-called "guardian". The same calm smile which is undoubtedly part of each Sibylline agent's repertoire adorns the man's placid features, unnerving the younger male even further as he refuses to back down.

"I'm afraid Aoi-sama isn't in at the moment, Asano Gakushu-dono," the Fujimoto utters calmly, his dark eyes alight with an unfathomable emotion. "She has gone shopping together with my daughter nearly an hour ago. I believe she said that she will be back by dusk."

"I will wait for her return, then." Gakushu concedes, narrowing his eyes slightly as he forces another polite smile onto his taut facial features, just so he can cover the unease which gnaws mercilessly at his insides. He attempts to take a step forward in order to get into the threshold, only to be blocked by the taller man.

"Unfortunately, as per my mistress's orders, you aren't allowed to enter this estate, Gakushu-dono." The smile turns grim, and he stares down at the increasingly infuriated strawberry-blonde male. "She has asked of me to tell you to leave if you ever pay a visit, and to use force if absolutely necessary. As it is now, I believe we are heading to the latter course."

"...Fine." He replies through gritted teeth, spinning on his heel. "I will take my leave."

But he doesn't miss the vague image of a face with vibrant, scarlet hair and blue eyes out of the corner of his eye.

-To be continued.

[Word Count: 1,242. Originally written: January 30th, 2016. Edited: November 2nd, 2016.]

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