005. those countryside roads to somewhere

[takasugi]

( weeks spent gathering non-perishables and their personal items into boxes couldn't have prepared them for what was about to happen.

it occurs in a flash, like a plant's tendril reaching out to seed a new life in something.

the sea vanishes, their epic on the high seas punctuated by a change in pressure. like when a whale breeches or dives with something inside it's mouth, it's an almost unimaginably long pause. their watery landscape transforms into an empty void, pieces of a plane that simply don't exist in the mind, and if one were to stay here, it could easily drive them mad. humans were never made to shift between realities and witness such emptiness, after all, and before takasugi can even think to figure out how shouin's soul might be contributing to this, everything tilts. the world about them flips to a new chapter filled with light, darkness, and stars, and if one blinks, it all becomes clear that everything is floating, floating without a sky to touch the pitch-black remnants of the rippling universe below, and—

a blink of the eyes next reveals that everything they've known has come to change.

the arahabaki mk. ii on the water is gone, and only rolling hills remain.

in the distance, a couple women tend to a small, cultivated field off a well-worn path, meticulously monitoring the water that'll birth life into their crop. the town is green and vulnerable under the piercing blue of the bright spring sky, with a quieter vibe compared to the larger towns that boast all the hustle and bustle of city life. a few open tea houses welcome visitors, inviting them to pause on their journey as they seek bigger opportunities in this new era of industrialization, but most importantly, as the members of 3kon might notice: some of the citizens here are sporting animal ears of various types, and no one acts like each other is worser than wear for it. )

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[hanikamu]

[ Idly playing with Niki's long and fluffy hair... If Niki came looking for him, then Takasugi must be handling things back there himself. They should start moving.

Hooking an arm around Niki's own, Rinne takes the lead. ]

Mushrooms?

[ It's just as Rinne feared. Like the short-lived light of a shooting star, Takasugi's mentor came and went. Rinne briefly wonders if he should have let Takasugi watch the memory they saw back in Proto-Arahabaki. Maybe it wouldn't have done him any good. One never stops mourning the dead, but so long as one is alive, there are always things to live for. He's sure Takasugi's mentor also taught him that. ]

I'll respect Shinsaku's decision. If he can say goodbye to his sensei with no regrets, that just means he's growing up.

[ Hopefully. Rinne's just worried Takasugi's too lovestruck to think straight. If it were up to him...

If Hiiro was forced to make such a choice, Rinne would steer him towards the same one. But, should they ever arrive at the same conundrum once more, Rinne wonders how Takasugi would approach it. ]