Tsuki ✔️COMPLETE

Chapter 15: Hiiro Hisai

Patitsar, Akali

It was by no means a bad night's sleep, though Rubi learned that if Gaku slept on his back he snored. He was bare-chested and his hair messy, having thrashed around for a good hour before finally falling asleep. After about ten minutes of particularly loud rumbling, she considered waking him up to get him to roll over.

Propping herself up on her elbow, she watched him for a few moments, immediately feeling guilty at the thought of disturbing him. He looked so peaceful now, arms messily sprawled out and one knee bent up. He had thrown the violet blankets off at some point. The night was warmer here.

Rubi reached over to his bent knee and gently squeezed it, hoping it was enough to make him roll over but not wake up. He mumbled a little in his sleep. She did it again. This time he shifted over to his side, to get away from the pressure on his knee and curled up, quiet again. Now Rubi was looking right at those horrific scars on his back. They caused a painful feeling in her throat, a kind of sympathetic pain.

The scars were old. He must have been young when all that horrific torture happened. She pulled the blanket over him again. Rubi wondered what time it was. There was no bird song yet. No dawn light. She must have dozed for a while but after a point she began to feel achy and sore. She decided to get up, leaving Gaku tucked in and snoring softly.

Sneaking out into the hall and closing the door as quietly as possible, she was surprised to see the top of Mimi's purple-dyed hair disappearing down the stairs. She followed her down, catching her attention as the steps creaked under her.

"Good morning, Mimi." Rubi said as her friend turned to see her. "Can we have a chat about yesterday?"

"Good morning, Captain." she replied. "Of course. What do you need to talk about?"

They sat at a table for two together in the deserted restaurant. Mimi rarely looked any different in the morning than she did at any other time. The purple in her hair was looking a little more silvery lilac than purple now, the fading an effect of the sea spray and sunshine they were constantly exposed to while they were sailing.

Sometimes they would both take a few hours to top up the dye in her locks, something that was an easier and much nicer task with company. Rubi actually looked forward to it. Crushing up the flowers, rehydrating them into a deep purple paste, and then combing it through her hair to dry in the sun before rinsing. Mimi would then return the favour by massaging Rubi's hair and scalp with a wide tooth lacquer comb she brought from home and coconut oil to keep her hair strong and healthy. It was a nice little ritual they had going on, though hard to do at sea.

"Yesterday, you said you couldn't figure out if something was a memory or not. Your memory for facts is the best I've ever known. I can't help but feel that the strange things happening to you might be connected. A long time ago we were talking about where you came from, back before we first met. You said you'd walked from the east somewhere but you couldn't remember. We're in the near east now, and it strikes me as strange that your memory has failed again."

"It is strange." Mimi agreed. "I don't feel different, but I know something is wrong with me. I just can't put my finger on it."

"What's the earliest thing you remember?" Rubi asked, hoping it might help.

"I was walking downhill for a long time. When I got to a settlement after walking for many days, I could not understand anyone. I know now they were speaking Mainlander and Breytpleytsii. I found a place with a pile of discarded books, some for children. I used the books and listened to the people around me to learn until I could ask where I was. I was in far east Breytpleytsik."