002. where are we hurrying to

[takasugi]

( to be lacking in new merchandise as an idol is dire, apparently, but without a decent photographer to call their own anymore, things have been rough. a couple handmade badges and flyers won't do it forever. the fans need something more personal, or so takasugi is very easily led to believe, and so who better to take up the task of learning the equipment than their tech savvy president? finding another augmented that can even come close to the way a certain someone had effortless portrayed their personalities like stories to canvas sounds daunting, at least, so he takes to the work with little complaint at first.

the studio is small, the garish light setup tilting as takasugi angles a black umbrella at the side for a softer hue.

the backdrop is a dark shade, and as he stands in front of rinne with hands raised together in a rectangular shape, his notched brow creases. )

You know, for as much as you two pushed for me to be the sexy one of the group, you would've filled the role easily.

( he steps forward, closing the gap with the ease of a man who always steps with the grace needed to draw at a moments hesitation.

at rinne's front, there's a beat. a single moment of pause before he starts undoing a tie, starts tugging open a collar so gently as to do nothing more suggestive than reveal the skin of the younger man's collarbone. he runs the edge of a claw lightly against bone, making sure the creases of fabric are pushed to the side just so. )

So maybe you could stand to be a little more.provocative in these. Everything about you reads as seductive to me, at least ... your very first fan.

Comments

[hanikamu]

O-oh. I like it, too.

[Does Takasugi ever get embarrassed by what he says? Rinne almost wishes he could be half as honest. A lax upbringing is all it takes, he supposes, to revel in the small joys life has to offer. Rinne turns around to say something and change the topic, but Takasugi is there, beaming with ice cream on his lip, and Rinne's shock is a small sound he makes when he's caught. Does Takasugi want a kiss back? Here, out in the open? Maybe the son of a rich man could get away with that, but a monarch wouldn't cause such scandal.]

... I think there's a bug on your ice cream.

[takasugi]

( hello? it never stops being adorable when rinne backs off from his insistent approach.

but instead of a flash of the usual disappointment, takasugi's face just crinkles fond. he lets it go for now, not at all intent on ruining their little afternoon out. as he reclines back, earrings dancing silver in the afternoon sun, takasugi's gaze drops down to casually observe the top of his scoop. whatever his true aim was here, he doesn't push. )

Do you remember how we first met, Amagi-kun? How you taunted me so effortlessly over Satsuma and Choshu, not even knowing if I was the real thing or not. When you told me where you were from, it felt like another land entirely, even though we're from the same country. Now I'm changed from that start between us irrefutably. I have new things to look forward to, and the two of you to look after.

( down the little path to the shore, then. takasugi ensures he goes first, the soles of his boots digging into dirt. there's hardly enough room for them to walk side by side, but maybe that's a good thing. it lets him focus ahead while he talks, his hand reaching back, still holding on tight. the sweet treat in his hand, not entirely forgotten, starts to drip down his knuckles. )

Every day is one I wake up to willingly despite the hardship here. And I know I mentioned to you that my aim was to spark something unusual and entertaining in this world's mankind, but even I can't fight the powers at be with no resources. More importantly, I want to see the two of you thrive without all the pain. I don't want you to think of it as me abandoning this place, and more...

( another squeeze of rinne's hand. another step. instead of the fresh scent of damp earth and crushed leaves in the great hollow, it's the murky waters below. )

I want to keep enjoying these beautiful days with you more than anything. You're having fun, right? I hope so.

( the salty ocean spray dances off the dark water, creeping up the sand as they meet the end of the path that leads down. )

That's why I'm thinking of thinking of making our legend known in another world, by burning what's left of Shouin-sensei's soul in Proto-Arahabaki for fuel.

1/2

[hanikamu]

[Rinne stops in his tracks. Leaving a world that never cared for them is nothing, and perhaps even correct. He can accept that. But when he looks up at what Takasugi meant to show him in this cave, he drops the treat in his hand entirely. He stumbles past Takasugi's shoulder and toward the sight in awe. Takasugi once promised to bring him across the ocean, but he never thought one man would go this far for him.]

Takasugi-san...

[The ship looks over them both in all its majesty. Proto-Arahabaki must be inside. And inside Takasugi's creation is...

The man who wanted to cross that same ocean.]

2/2

[hanikamu]

[He turns around, the upset is plain on his face.]

... Is there no other way?

What do you mean he's in there?

[takasugi]

Heroes like him and myself are permanently etched in the lines of history. When we saw that projection of him while doing... while investigating what I managed to conjure up in this world with my feelings again, I realized later, that's portion of sensei's soul must have gotten stuck inside there forcefully somehow. It sounds like the exact sort of thing he'd do to show me up.

( his tone is as casual as ever.

maybe even stiffly so, takasugi keeping his ice cream cone in place even as it drips down his hand. he doesn't look. )

All we are is pure energy to be used, originally. So this is fine. If anything, it's the smartest thing I could think of, and...

( he's already paced for hours, thinking about it. he pushes a smile. )

It's fine. No one else could do something this interesting, right? Maybe the magical energy of his soul will even guide us while we're navigating through real-world spaces across time.

[hanikamu]

[Rinne frowns.]

I don't know anything about your world's magic, and it sounds like you thought this through, so I'll take your word for it.

But you wanted to see him again, didn't you?

[takasugi]

( it's a question that sounds like a cloth tearing. a stark, hard rip through air that mists with the sea.

the amazing part about meeting someone who thinks similarly is that takasugi knew this wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Of course, rinne would have questions. he’s witnessed the worst of takasugi’s behavior and hasn’t turned his back to abandon him, for as easy as it would be to do. it means everything and more, to be given the possibility of being loved back like this.

but for as much as takasugi steeled himself for an argument, it doesn't stop his shoulders from seizing up. )

More than anything, ... I'd love to. To see my sometimes thick-headed teacher in the flesh and hear him criticize my methods wholeheartedly. To have another day in that classroom I had to sneak away just to attend. I never wanted to leave him in those final moments.

( he chokes down a helpless sound in the back of his throat, forcing his voice to even out again. presses his tongue against a knuckle to lick up a bright stripe of pink, dripping down his hand like the blood he wishes would fill him even now. it forces back an oncoming sadness, the taste of strawberry. it helps him meet rinne's gaze. )

But I can do my best to cut the part of me that bleeds and replace it with you. You're what falls out my mouth every time I mouth nothing specific just to hear my own voice—a spark of something interesting to come, that I vowed to give my life to and more.

[hanikamu]

[Rinne drops his cone on the floor. His fingers, still sticky with cream, reach for Takasugi's own. With that hand out of the away, Rinne finally closes the distance between them to pull Takasugi in for a tight hug. ]

Shinsaku, [he whispers into the crook of his neck, wetting it with his tears,] You don't have to try so hard for me.

[Who told him to give that up, anyway? Sacrificing a life that might as well be his own—even monarchs like Rinne don't want to do that. He sobs into Takasugi's shoulder, overwhelmed by how this man chooses to exercise his freedom every time.]

We can use something else, right? You thought of something.

[takasugi]

Something else...

( the sudden panic pounds in his chest for rinne's sobbing. )

The Katalyth... would surely kill us and infect where we're going. My own life is a no-go.

( but he's always had a better answer. as he digs hands into rinne's back, thinking of how in truth, he just wanted to show him the way the waves hit the rocks down here. he wanted to press the familiar scent of the sea into rinne's hand and share the bare memories he had left of hagi with him, but now it's all so...

takasugi nuzzles his face against all that red hair. he tries not to shudder, and surprisingly, his own tears won't come. )

Saying goodbye once was hard enough, Amagi-kun. I know you know that well enough. But running away from my dream, ... to live with you, and see our ideals come to life, would be even more unbearable.

[hanikamu]

[ Rinne's breath hitched, eyes wide open at the revelation that struck him like lightning.

Oh, that's right.

There was a reason they called Takasugi Shinsaku a hero.

There was a reason the light in his eyes danced like cherry blossoms in the wind and twinkled like the stars in the endless sky, drawing Rinne to him the way the love of even one fan would, cheering him on, guiding him like a shining beacon in the night.

When Rinne lost his way in the dark, all he could do was kill the hope that made him whole.

The one who wanted another answer wasn't Takasugi at all. ]

Yeah. [ His voice trembled, barely fighting the emotion that shook it. ] I know.

That man had a dream, too. You had more freedom than him, but he would have wanted to give that dream to you.

[ Even if it took his very own life.

Rinne didn't need a book to know that much. ]

🎀

[takasugi]

( rinne's heartfelt assumption of takasugi's mentor cuts through, stomping against his heart like the dance moves the older man had witnessed at that bar, with the lights flickering wild to trace shapes into the shadow of the audience below. his chest swells against rinne as he tries to breathe against his hold and all that emotion, the memories of yoshida shouin like strings attached to his limbs that he's trying to cut with scissors that are anything but sharp.

snip, at everything he had promised with trembling fingers while writing letters. snip, at the way he had vowed back then to make shouin's legacy eternal.

but here is a younger man from the future acknowledging that yoshida shouin had dreams too.

that those aspirations didn't come to nothing just like his, and as takasugi's shaky claws raise from rinne's back to make certain that yes, yes, the tangled hair in a darker shade of red is still attached to a strong neck and isn't going anywhere, that isn't about to roll off and away from him, takasugi can come back to earth again and relax. )

Exactly.

( he replies, the facade just barely in tact. he can't cut himself free properly, but he can force the dull instrument into the knot in his heart and stall the harsh beating.

a hero isn't without his sacrifices, and a student knows to repay their promises, but he'll do anything in this case. so he tiptoes to press their foreheads together lightly. )

With our help, Shouin-sensei will get to see the rest of the world and more. That's exactly it, Amagi-kun. The dreams of a dead man can't lie rotting here. So we'll bring him along with us. To reach our destination, I'll exhaust this undying spirit, ... and use it as our guiding light.