houmei
She memorizes the line that makes his shoulders and wishes she could lean against it. Perhaps then, it would not be a betrayal when she presses her forehead in the space between his shoulder blades. "Ichi is at fault...Nagamasa-sama."
"Ichi..."
"I'm sorry, Ichi is sorry...Nagamasa-sama-"
Nagamasa grips her hand and pins it against his chest. The armor is cold but underneath she feels flame- a burning warmth that spreads under her touch and makes her remember nothing.
"You simply cannot apologize for everything, Ichi." Nagamasa quietly scowls. But he keeps her hand in his, and Oichi curls her fingers around it as best as she can.
"Hey, Mitsunari-sama." The dice he rolls in his palm clink together like river stones in low tide.
"It's kind of late now, but I wanted to thank you. I really wanted to! Heh, I guess it's more than kind of late, right?"
He watches Mitsunari's retreating back, which is too far away now for him to have heard anything. He molds the shape of his dice into his hand, so deep he can feel the indent of four on his skin. Cho.
Sakon breathes in and speeds off. "Hey, Mitsunari-sama!"
On nights like this, he remembers himself as a child stepping into sweltering heat and sitting on the porch. It was nighttime, and the moon was out. It's light made it difficult for him to see- but he could see them- all those dancing fireflies. Many hours later, a page finally found him.
"Why are you out here?" The page had asked. "You should be in bed."
"I wanted to see why they glowed." He replied. "The fireflies."
On nights like this, that memory returns to him. He isn't sure why, since he's certain that night didn't have fire warming his face, making it hot. Smoke wasn't pricking the corner of his eyes, filling his lungs and making him heavy. He hadn't wish to destroy on that night. Only to discover, to watch.
Hisahide watches the flames dance and thinks: in a way, it is the same.
"There's probably more than a dozen of them." Todd says softly with conviction. He's slightly drunk.
Clancey looks uncomfortable, mostly because Todd isn't laughing like he should be. "Yes, but I wasn't thinking to that extent. Violet and her team blowing up buildings en masse."
Todd Allison slowly stands, still able to keep balance. "She has them all helping her, I know it. Ugh- help me, will you?"
The two men stagger out of the library, Todd still muttering on and Clancey filled with foreboding thoughts.
"Do you honestly believe she has that many people following her? Doing what she says?"
Todd Allison glares at him, then looks up. "More than a dozen. I'm not going to repeat myself."
Clancey thinks about it, and sits in silent dread for the rest of the night.
He absorbs noise and keeps his expression default. He considers himself commonly quiet, and lets his louder, expressive peers do most of the talking for him. This is one of those times.
"Maki-chan," Toudou's abrupt halt of his one-sided conversation brings him back into the world. He hears him hesitate. "Say. I talk too much, don't I?"
Makishima weighs the question on his tongue and grins. "Is this a trick question?"
"No, I'm confiding in you! Maki-chan, I'm serious." From the other line Toudou sucks in a breath. "If I talk too much, tell me right now!"
"Huh..." Well, that's odd. Now it's too quiet. Makishima can't hear the cicadas singing outside, or the constant droll of the fan in his room. He thinks he can hear the T.V. from downstairs. It should be a grateful silence, somehow relieving. And yet.
"...Maki-chan? Do I-"
"Does it really matter?" He mutters. "Anyways. What were you saying?"
And just like that, Toudou continues on and becomes noise, and Makishima absorbs it all over again.
A broken, moldy rafter protruding from the ceiling probably isn't the best thing to swing about on, but Elijah is doing it regardless. "Do you think I can climb to the top of the barn on this, Dylan? I bet you I can!"
"I didn't even say you couldn't," Dylan strikes a match and flinches. "Ouch. Shit, I skinned myself on that one."
"You did what?" Elijah is halfway up the rafter, hands smudged with grease and moss, the knees of his trousers stained beyond hope. "I'll have a good laugh up on the roof, just give me a minute."
Dylan, having just realized exactly how high up Elijah is, shrieks. "You idiot! Your mum is gonna have both our heads when she finds out you ruined your damn pants-"
The rafter creaks, long and low, and Elijah freezes. "Oh, yeah. Okay. Help me down?"
"Idiot!"
"Meredith..." Elijah makes his voice sad, sad and thick and all kinds of pathetic. "I have an awful headache."
The sound of tape being peeled off it's roll rips through the room. Meredith looks down. "I'll make you tea. When we get home." He tears away length of tape with his teeth.
"But I have a headache now." Elijah rubs his temples and sighs loudly- hopefully loud enough that it'll drown out the sound of shoes scuffing the floor and that annoying, blasted whimpering-
"Could you PLEASE be a little more quiet?!" He barks at one wide-eyed, trembling man currently bound on the floor. The poor thing freezes, then nods slowly. "Thank you."
Elijah smears a hand over his face, and watches Meredith snort and apply more tape over the man's mouth. It'll be a long night.
"Man, I bet someone's gotten lost here before. Makishima-san's house is kind of huge."
"As in, never seen again?" Imaizumi's tone of voice suggests he's losing confidence in their spur of the moment 'quest to find the third years.
Onoda peers into another hallway but follows close behind. "Wouldn't Makishima-san know about that, though? A random stranger in his house?"
"I dunno- I know I wouldn't!" Naruko laughs, pausing at one door and turning the knob. "Man, if I had a house this big-"
It opens, and reveals a large parlor-like room complete with corner mini bar, a billiards table, and...well, their senpais. Playing pool.
"Haha, told you, Maki. You shoulda texted them or something." Tadokoro chides from the corner while he applies chalk to the tip of his pool stick. Kinjou hums in agreement.
"Right..." Makishima eyes the frozen first years, squinting from where he's poised leaning over the table. "Hey, if you guys are gonna stand there all day, you ought to close the door."
"O-Okay!!" All three yelp in unison and slam the door shut.
"...that...was really, really cool!"
"I feel like I just walked in on a mafia movie scene..."
Imaizumi turns heel and walks away. "You are both. So. Embarrassing."
"I really think Rosings is better suited for the job- God knows he's been in the department longer than I have."
"I don't think I'm familiar with a Mr. Rosings." Elijah Gabriel smiles at him like a child.
He bursts. "Well! You really ought to- that is, you ought to ask him about being your superior! Let him take you under his wing for the time being, he'll really appreciate-"
"But what if," The taller man, the darker man- the man he wishes wasn't standing in front of him- politely intervenes. "I don't know how to do that either?"
"You..." He hesitates. "Don't know how to talk to him?"
Elijah takes a step forward and laughs quietly. "I don't know how ask. It's rather silly, isn't it?" Vague blue eyes immediately sharpen, far too sharp for his liking. "You should be my supervisor."
He feels the wall against his back and all his will crumble between his fingers. "I...of course. Alright."
Makishima looms over his handlebars. He and Tadokoro observe the frustrations of being a first-year that just biked ten kilometers on a scorching summer day with a teammate that just insulted their choice of hair color.
"Hey, are those two ever going to shape up?" Makishima grouses as though he's already answered his own question, but Tadokoro nods beside him. He's smiling wide. "Sure they will."
Days later, Makishima watches Tadokoro finish off three bentos on his own and asks, "Are you ever gonna regret turning into a rambunctious bear?"
Tadokoro grins and laughs. "Haha! Probably not!"
Nearly a week after that, Makishima sighs and leans back against the bulk of Tadokoro's back. Tadokoro is peeling a wrapper off a power bar. "Wouldn't it be funny to think I could be the great mentor that Onoda probably thinks I am?"
Against him he feels Tadokoro shift a bit, and offhandedly says: "What, you weren't already?"
Makishima says nothing. His shoulders ache to slump but he keeps his back rigid against Tadokoro's and simply exists beside him. "Hey," Tadokoro calls after a while. "I'm blocking your sun, huh?"
"No." Makishima chuckles, and simply soaks him in. "Not really."
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