Chapter Text
Hands of dirt and grime firmly gripped the loaf. It was fresh out of the oven when he had grabbed it, but now the steam had dissipated and instead a distant warmth filled his palms.
Tsukasa picked off little bits and pieces of the bread and popped them into his mouth, he ate until only a third was left, placing it into his satchel. He recounted his coins before standing from his ledge and making his way back to the place he had come from.
Now that the ninth hour approached, more and more citizens would come by to purchase their items. The market would become flooded with people, making it much easier for Tsukasa to commit his usual thievery.
An emerald necklace here, a lapis ring there; a pile of forgotten change, a brass bracelet, and lace pair of gloves. The items would soon find themselves dumped on the countertop of a desolate pawn shop.
“235 shillings,” the girl behind the counter said, placing down her loupe with a clink.
He stared at the pile, only 235? He had glanced at and overheard the prices when he had been leisurely strolling through the market, but surely it should have been well over 500 shillings all together.
“Take it or leave it, Mr. Tenma.” A bell sounded at the door, notifying the store that someone had entered. “You are creating a line.”
Might as well just take it, it’s 235 shillings closer to 10,000.
He pushed the items towards her and waited for her to pay him. She hastily handed him the coins before putting the items in a small box and moving on to the customer behind him.
“Thanks, Shiho!” He called before exiting the shop, listening to the bell ring as it opened and closed. His mind lingered on the price, 235 shillings was just too low. However, he knew the Hinomoris well and knew that the girl at the counter didn’t have the same eye for jewels and gems as her sister did. Perhaps that had influenced the cost.
He clutched his satchel tightly as he made his way through the groups of people, careful to always have a hand on the opening of his bag to protect himself from pick-pocketers.
Breaking free from the crowd, Tsukasa breathed in the sea air. A breeze blew through his golden locks that were long due for a cut and caused the baggier parts of his shirt and pants to flutter, allowing the chilly air to flush against his abdomen. He shuddered and continued to walk along the boardwalk, leading him to the docks.
New boats were at port everyday, small boats, large boats. Many were simple fishing boats, but others had more serious purposes. For example, there was the Royal Guard’s naval fleet that all wore the same crest. Almost every boat at the docks had the same name on it, some rich company that was the main reason for causing such an incline in boat prices.
If the job hadn’t been one belonging to the Royal Guard, Tsukasa would have been perfect for the job of marking each boat’s arrival and departure time. He practically did have his own list, though without the names and more important information, but it was kept in his head.
He enjoyed watched the boats and ships sail, how they become further and further away until they had become mere black speckles against the setting sun, or how they got closer and closer. How you didn’t realize just how big a ship was until it towered over you.
His small spot on the docks was quiet and isolated. No one ever came by to talk or harass him. He was left to himself, which made it perfect for Tsukasa to count out his coins for the millionth time.
He dumped the satchel on a wooden crate, careful to make sure that no coins had fallen off. There were hundreds of little coins, ranging in sizes as they ranged in price. He had received a hefty 235, which weighed significantly in his bag. Tsukasa had no idea how he was supposed to get 10,000 shillings to fit in his satchel.
After counting and recounting, Tsukasa had come to the number 1,749 shillings. He was proud of himself for acquiring such a large amount in such a small amount of time. It had taken a few months, but he was making progress. Every time he had started to get closer to his goal, something bad would happen. His money would get stolen in the night or have it thrown out into the sea by a group of rascally boys.
He wouldn’t let it happen this time. He had worked too hard and had let it gone to waste too many times. Tsukasa hadn’t thought he’d known true despair until he was up in the middle of the night, comforting himself with the ghost of his sister’s words just to make sure he kept going. He couldn’t fail her, he’d made her a promise and had stuck with it for so long, he couldn’t give up now.
So Tsukasa had sewn three buttons on his bag, no one would be able to take his things without being caught, undoing three buttons took up too much time. He held it close to his body and never let it leave his sight or grip. Not even when he slept. The bag itself held no value, but it was worn and tired, just as he was, and it would forever remind him of his promise.
He could be reminded of his sister with anything, his bag, a child’s laugh, even the sunset. From how it faded from a pleasant blue to a vibrant array of colors, the yellow and orange being the most prominent, how could he not be convinced she was everywhere?
Saki was too kind to be torturing him like this, but her passing had shattered his heart and mind, how was he supposed to know what was and what wasn’t truly her?
As that familiar orange and pink sky faded into the deep void of sky, unveiling the stars twinkling behind it, Tsukasa found his eyes dozing. He hadn’t realized just how fast the day had passed.
Isn’t it funny how everything reminds you of her?
Notes:
love the concept too much to scrap the idea, but i did the crew dirty in the first fic so i decided to rewrite it
Chapter Text
A cold breeze fluttered around his eyes, stirring him awake. A distant orange was creeping on the horizon and Tsukasa couldn’t look away. As it peered over the edge of the sea, the sun’s first rays made their magnificent entrance, blinding those unprepared. He forced his gaze elsewhere, seeking another subject for his eyes until the search ended as he found himself not alone.
Beside him sat a petite girl, her cheeks were dusted with freckles, hiding constellations beneath their delicate guise, while her pink hair caught in the wind, each strand glistening in the light. Meanwhile her eyes sparkled in the reflection of the morning sun, her gaze unwavering.
Her still form, a beauty that no portrait could properly convey, the kind of beauty that demanded attention and it stole Tsukasa’s for just a moment.
But just for a moment.
“Who are you?” He demanded. “Why are you here?”
The girl perked at the sound of a voice and she eagerly turned in his direction, “Oh you’re awake! Good morning! Isn’t it so nice to watch the sunrise?” Her voice was bubbly and lively, far too cheerful for such an early hour.
“Yes, it is, but that doesn’t answer my question!” Tsukasa insisted, his tone impatient and sharp. “Who are you?”
Her captivated gaze glimmered the contrasting pink of her eyes to the yellow sky. Once again she deflected the question, but she did it so innocently Tsukasa just couldn’t get mad.
Then with a voice quiet yet full of life, the girl spoke, “It feels like I’m dreaming, the colors meshing together like this. It’s like a painting…” She trailed off before looking back at Tsukasa, a wetter and more reflective sparkle in her eyes. “Thank you for looking at this with me.”
He couldn’t force the words to come out of his mouth, lest he ruin the moment. As he watched her stand and dust herself off, Tsukasa tried to even think of something to say. Yet she left without even so much as a wave, leaving Tsukasa to stare blankly at the place she had been and wonder if it was all a dream or not.
Tsukasa found himself having to remind himself of things he hadn’t realized had stopped being involuntary. Blink. Breathe. The world below him was slowly beginning to bustle with the morning market. Blink. Breathe. He couldn’t make out anything, yet he heard every sound. Blink. Breathe.
Had it all been a dream? Tsukasa firmly planted his hands on the stone, the dirt and dust latching on to his fingers. He pushed himself up. Who was she?
His hand fell down to the fastened buttons on his bag. Why did she seem so familiar? Blink. Breathe.
Running a hand through his mussed blond hair, Tsukasa felt every strand cling to his fingers. Her eyes…
Blink. Breathe.
Her smile…
Blink. Breathe.
She- A gust of wind; cold, strong. It carried the smell of fresh food, ready to be bought and eaten. She was gone now. It was time to move on.
Tsukasa pushed his foot forward, nearly dragging it across the stone. Another step. Another. He forced himself back into his regular routine. One that had gone uninterrupted until he’d woken up that morning.
He couldn’t explain it. It suddenly felt as if he was aware of everything all at once. He could hear the wind whistling and the children playing. He could smell the flowers tied into neat bouquets and feel the dirt under his fingernails.
Moving briskly through the small crowds, Tsukasa eyed his next targets. The pocket watch dangling from a man’s hip, a snobbish young lady with enough charms on her to rival the sun, and a pleasant old lady selling vegetables. What he wouldn’t give for even a carrot at this point.
Passing by the stands, Tsukasa took each of the pieces off of their unsuspecting person. No one had noticed, and when they had, Tsukasa had already been too far away to be suspected.
He began leaving the market once he’d counted and figured he’d done enough. He hoped that Shizuku would be the one at the counter, she was much more generous and knew the prices of gems much better.
Breaching the exit of the market, Tsukasa breathed in the fresh sea air. He was finally coming back to his normal self, that girl was strange and made him feel strange. He didn’t want to experience that same thing again.
He tried to recall her appearance, but he couldn’t put her finger on it. She was beginning to fade like a dream and blend into the background like a painting. She felt like a passing moment, despite being anything but.
Tsukasa shook his head, refocusing on his bag full of items that were dying to be sold. This was his routine, and follow it he must.
His foot caught on something he hadn’t noticed until the ground had met him. His bag clattered to the ground, the metal and jewels within echoing clinks. Bystanders stood and stared at the embarrassing display. Tsukasa scrambled to push himself upright, his unclasped bag scattering his stolen jewelry across the stone.
A woman shrieked, men shouted, the world became deafening. He heard the yells and for a second thought someone was going to be arrested, until he remembered it was him that would be arrested. The heavy footfalls of soldiers were becoming louder and Tsukasa glanced at the things he’d worked not-so-hard to steal and the money it’d taken so long to procure. His hands clumsily grasped at the coins until he felt he’d delayed his escape too long and he jumped up, running in whatever direction was without military.
A warm sun heated his skin as he ran, trying to ignore the cramps in his side and the stumbles of his steps. His breath came in short gasps as he tried to think, but nothing came up.
He darted between alleys, wove through crowds. He berated himself with each misstep, how could he have been so clumsy? How could he have been so careless? This was so unlike him!
The guards shouted incoherent commands and Tsukasa knew they were getting closer. He couldn’t give up, he’d gotten so far. Running wasn’t doing him any good, the next best option would be to hide but with how close his pursuers were he couldn’t find the right moment.
He took a hard right. A hand struck out from a wall and before he could comprehend it, it had grabbed him and pulled him into the wall. He braced for impact.
No impact came.
Cold stone pressed against his back, a temperature he hadn’t realized it could even be during such a warm time of the year. Everything became muffled in the tiny passage he’d been pull into. A narrow alley that gave him little leg room to comfortably lean against the wall.
Thundering footsteps ran past. Tsukasa released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He stared out at the sunlit street he’d come from with blank eyes and blank thoughts. Then the memory of that hand he’d barely caught sight of before it snatched him came.
He turned to find an oddly familiar girl standing there with her lips curled into a subtle smile. Faint freckles on her cheeks and sparkling eyes, pink hair that hung just above her shoulders. She wore an elegant outfit like none Tsukasa had ever seen before, it was clearly meant for an outing, but she still looked out of place compared to the others who would wander about the streets.
“Good thing I grabbed you, huh? They almost caught you!” Her voice was pitched and felt like a distant memory. A dream that he couldn’t believe.
Her head tilted like a confused puppy, curious eyes and a soft smile on her face. “Why were you running, anyways?”
Her words barely registered in his brain, too many things had happened today. He didn’t want to explain his whole life story to this girl, but he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He found himself somewhat embarrassed to even talk about the crime he’d committed. “I- I stole some stuff.”
She laughed, cheerfully and like the ringing of bells. “And they caught you? That’s so silly! You should’ve done it when nobody was looking!”
“No one was looking!” He retorted, the words falling out of his mouth. “My stuff just fell out of my bag!”
The girl giggled again, her cheeks a warm and faint pink. Her eyes formed half-moons that contrasted the bright sunniness that was the rest of her. It was almost like he was looking at a girl he used to know. It stirred something inside him and Tsukasa averted his eyes to the ground.
“Th-thank you…for saving me,” he said quietly.
“No problem!” She said with another laugh. Then she turned and looked to the other end of the alley. “We should go out that way, in case the guards come back.” She began walking, a slight bounce in her step. Tsukasa began to follow her, only a small gap between his shoulders and the walls on either side of him.
The girl looked over her shoulder with a bright smile and soft look in her eyes. “It isn’t everyday something exciting like this happens. I’m glad I was able to find you. It’d be a shame if you got arrested.”
Tsukasa was all for not getting arrested, but he found it strange that a random girl from who-knows-where would be disappointed at his detainment. She was short and looked young, perhaps she was just some weird kid who’d strayed from her parents while at the market. “Yeah, it would be,” he decided to say.
Then the girl halted and abruptly turned around. She pursed her lips and squinted, looking him up and down. Then her bright smile broke out again and she stuck out her arm, almost hitting Tsukasa in the stomach. “I’m Emu!”
So weird…Tsukasa shook away the thought, who was he to judge? He took her hand and gave it a light shake, “Tsukasa.” Her grip was firm, and when she shook his hand back it felt like she was going to rip his arm off. Tsukasa yanked his hand back, but the girl–Emu–didn’t seem to mind. She turned back around and skipped down the alley, her figure becoming smaller as she began to distance herself from Tsukasa. He wanted to chase after her, but his earlier encounter with the guards had taken a toll on his body he hadn’t quite recovered from just yet.
Once at the end of the alley, Emu placed her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels as she waited for Tsukasa to catch up. Finally, when he was just a few feet away from her, Emu called out, “You’re too slow!” before running out of the alley.
“Hey!” He shouted, his feet moving much faster so he could see where she went. He ran out of the alley, the sunlight blinding him for a second. He caught a glimpse of a speeding pink bob and ran after it. The wind caught on his hair and coat, the sun was warm on his face. He couldn’t help a laugh at the sheer happiness he felt just from his interaction with the girl. All of his exhaustion had somehow disappeared and the worry of being caught by the guards still looking for him had been forgotten as well.
The ground beneath him changed, no longer the brick and stone of the town and now the hard and warped wood of the docks. Or at least, it should have been the docks.
It looked just like the ones he was used to seeing, but this one was different. It didn’t have any boats.
Emu was sitting at the edge of the dock, swinging her feet childishly. Tsukasa sat down next to her, matching the rhythm of her legs with his own. She stared out to the horizon. “What are we doing over here?” Tsukasa asked.
Her eyes closed as she took in a breath of the air. She slowed her swinging legs to a halt and leaned back on her arms until she was lying on top of the wood, her hair splayed out in rays, her dress following suit.
“Wouldn’t it be great if we could explore the whole world?” Emu exclaimed, her hands reaching out to the blue sky above.
He’d heard this all before. Everything was becoming all too familiar now and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
“I mean- there’s just so much of everything! And we just sit here and watch boats come and go, but we never get on the boats!”
The words had been taken out of a moment in time, cut out of a masterpiece portrait. He felt young again, back when he had first had this conversation.
“We?” Tsukasa asked.
“You watch them too,” then she laughed and sat up, “Why wouldn’t you? It’s about the one real hope for freedom we get.” For a moment, Tsukasa swore he saw tears in her eyes but by the next they were gone. A melancholic look played with her features, it didn’t fit her, but at the same time it was the only thing expression she’d made that he felt empathetic to.
Before he could even try to ask what she meant or why couldn’t she just jump on a boat herself, Emu jumped up. All traces of any sadness had been lost and replaced with that same peppiness that he’d gotten used to. “This was so much fun, Tsukasa!” She squealed.
“I’ll see you later! Bye bye!” She shouted as she skipped away.
He wanted to say something. He should’ve said something. But instead, he waved with a fond smile on his face. Echoes of the past flooded his heart, all the times he should have done or said something, all the times he wished he’d gotten more of. He gazed back out to the horizon. Isolated, alone. But not quite lonely. Not anymore.
Notes:
i love emu sm
kinda unsure about the last half of the chapter, but ig it's done now so...¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter 3: The Pegasus’s Promise
Notes:
Sorry this took so long to come out! I’ve been working on it but never liked it so I finally just decided to crank it out in one sitting, I’m definitely open to feedback on this chapter since it’s so short and not great at all
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
He was six years old, and learning about the concept of life and death.
The sky had seemed so grey the night that Tsukasa’s parents hadn’t returned home. Days had passed, Tsukasa’s uncle came to stay with him, but he was cold and distant, more than he’d ever been before.
It wasn’t until a week had passed and Tsukasa and his uncle went to the hospital together. His father had met him outside, his voice breaking and his eyes red. He had explained that his mother had worked hard to deliver his new sibling, but it had taken too much of a toll on her body and she was not going to make it.
Tsukasa didn’t quite understand what he’d meant until they came to the room that his mother was staying in. She was pale and sickly. The room reeked of death and Tsukasa rushed to his mother’s side. She pushed him away, scared of infecting him with her virus as well. He cried. He cried and screamed, wanting nothing more than to be by his mother during her final moments.
Something cried from beside him and made him pause, something was hidden beneath the small blankets inside a tiny crib. “Tsukasa, this is Saki.”
His little sister. His baby sister. Saki. “Please, wish your mother goodbye, Tsukasa.”
He turned back to his mother. She had tears in her eyes, but they were looking to the crib beside him, not at him. She was dying and she wasn’t looking at her son. She was looking at her daughter.
He felt angry, and for no reason at all, Tsukasa cried and ran away. He ran out of the room and down the hall, his eyes were blurry with tears and he had no idea where he was going. A maze and a half of hallways later, and Tsukasa stopped. He took deep breaths before crouching against the wall and crying into his arms.
.˚₊‧༉︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶༉‧₊˚.
Her name meant Blossom of Hope. Tsukasa didn’t quite understand it until she was in the hospital twice a week for her illness. He wanted her to get better, he needed her to get better. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d do if she didn’t. Saki had become his one joy in life after his father had passed away in an accident, leaving Tsukasa to take care of himself with the occasional visit from his uncle.
He would put on plays for her, tell her stories, and make her laugh until a nurse yelled at them for being too loud.
“Tsukasa,” Saki said one day, a somewhat melancholic tone in her voice that Tsukasa couldn’t quite explain. “I want to travel the world someday.”
He had laughed and assured her that they would get a boat and sail all over the world together. He had dismissed it, simply because he hadn’t noticed the tone in which she said it in.
Then she kept bringing it back up. “I want to see England, I heard they have a giant clock tower!” He told her they would find fairies and use their fairy dust to fly to the top of the tower and watch the minutes tick until midnight.
“I want to go to China, I heard they have a wall that goes on forever!” He told her that he would race her all over it.
“I want to meet kings and queens!” He told her that he would be her knight and serve her until he died honorably in battle.
Then, she got quieter. “I want to see the ocean.”
“I want to see the grass.”
“I want to go outside.”
“I want to get out of this room.”
It was then that Tsukasa had realized just how sad his sister’s life was. While he had a house he could sleep and eat in, a school he could have lessons in, a church he could sing hymns in, his sister had a hospital room that she ate, slept, learned, and sung in. She never moved, he wasn’t even quite sure she even remembered how to walk anymore.
Maybe the Blossom of Hope wasn’t for him, maybe it was for her. She had to be hopeful, she had to cling to it because it was her lifeline. If she gave up, she would wilt and never regrow.
“I’ll get you out of here,” he tried to assure her when she began to lose that hope that she had been able to hold on to for so long. “We’ll sail the seas and visit anyplace you want to in the world.”
She had looked up at him with big and innocent eyes, a smile on her face.
Tsukasa was 16 years old, she was slowly approaching her 13th birthday, but he had seen how slow she moved her arms, how drained her energy was, and how there was barely any shine in her eyes anymore. He knew she wouldn’t reach her teens, but she had already known for a long time. When the day had come that she’d told him goodbye, he’d cried. She shed tears, but slow streams that could never match the pace of his own.
She told him how much she loved him, how much she enjoyed his company. Her favorite stories, plays, and how much she wanted to see the ocean. She hugged him tightly and rubbed his back soothingly.
“Promise me, Tsukasa. You’ll see the world, won’t you?” She said, a final glimmer in her dull pink eyes.
He nodded. “Yes, yes Saki. I’ll sail all over the world, I’ll even discover a new land and name it after you.”
She laughed, “No, I don’t want to be tied to the land. I don’t want to be constant. I want to always be changing, like a boat on the waves, like the phases of the moon, like the position of the sun.”
“Promise me, you’ll get out of here and make our dreams come true?” She said one final time, her words muffled into his shoulder as she tightly held on to him one last time.
“I promise. I promise, Saki,” he said with a cracking voice, his hands holding his baby sister as tight as he could. Scared to let go, knowing she would be gone forever the moment he left.
The doctors had pulled him away, and he let them drag him. Saki waved goodbye with a bittersweet smile. He barely found the strength to wave back.
I promise, Saki. Now all he had to do was make good on his promise, and he’d do anything to make her dreams come true. His joy in life was gone, and all he could do now was make her happy as she watched on from above.
Notes:
I really wanted to expand on Saki’s influence over Tsukasa here, but I probably didn’t do that great 😅
Chapter Text
“Tsukasa!” A bright voice called from above. He looked up to find the source of the voice, it was Emu, peering over the ledge that overlooked the whole marketplace. She was waving her arms at him almost violently, as if she was trying to get invisible bugs off of them, but her expression showed no sign of negative emotion.
She called his name repeatedly, causing Tsukasa to hurry and make his way up to the ledge so the strange looks he was receiving would cease.
“Did you see me?” She asked excitedly, almost bouncing on her heels.
“Yes,” he sighed, “It was hard to not see you. Or hear you for that matter. People were looking at me all funny!”
She giggled and kneeled back down on the ground, looking down on the market below them. He kneeled down on the ledge as well, looking for whatever it may be that was striking her interest. He found nothing, and looked at her, her gaze shimmering with wonder. He couldn’t help but notice the unfamiliarity in her actions towards the townspeople.
“It’s just the Sunday market, what’s so special about it?” He asked. Then he added, his voice full of pride, “If anything’s important, it’s that a fleet of ships are being sent out by the Royal Guard and are leaving in three days! You can see how busy they are with making sure each ship is ready for the journey!”
Emu’s eyes drifted from the busy market to the similarly busy dock. Royal guards were loading things onto the many ships that were docked. Distant commands from the dock could be heard, though somewhat incoherent, even at the ledge they were kneeling on. “What are they leaving for?” She asked curiously.
“I-“ Tsukasa paused and took a breath. He furrowed his brow and thought, but not a single answer came to mind. His eyes blank, he said, “I don’t know. It didn’t say.”
“What didn’t say?”
“The paper, the people. That’s where I get all my information from.”
“You read the paper?” She asked, flabbergasted at the thought, as if it were the strangest thing in the world.
“You don’t!?” His tone was of similar aghastness.
She swung her legs over the side of the stone and began swinging them. “The paper is boring. Only grown ups read that,” Emu said in a huff, her cheeks puffed out. Her face reminded him of a girl he used to know, they were practically the same at times. Her tone, her actions, her words…and it was her face that always left him awestruck.
It’s said that someone is one in a billion, well even if there aren’t a billion people in town, Tsukasa’s sure he’s found two of the same person. One long passed, and another sitting beside him.
“The newspaper is how you find out all the important things happening! Events, wars, job listings, parties, interviews—everything!” He proclaimed with excitement and open arms. “They talk about everything and everyone, all the interesting things go in the paper.”
Then he sighed dreamily and gazed up at the sky. “I’d love to be in the paper someday.”
The girl beside him snorted and said, “For stealing?”
Tsukasa snapped out of his daze and stared at Emu with scrutiny. “No!” He said confidently. “In fact, I plan to become a world renowned sailor who travels all over the globe!”
Emu perked up, “Like a cruise ship?” She asked with a special glimmer of hope in her eyes.
He chuckled and looked out to the sea, his gaze settling on a large ship. White and clearly for relaxed usage. He nodded, “Yeah! Like a cruise ship! And I’ll be its captain! A symbol of respect and honor—“
“—And stealing!” Emu called out, her fist raised in a cheer.
He couldn’t even be mad at her at this point, so Tsukasa just laughed, Emu soon followed along.
Eventually, the sun had met its peak at the top of the sky. Tsukasa had been following Emu through the town and trying to make sure she didn’t get lost as she stumbled about like an infant who’d just learnt to walk.
“Emu! Where are you going?” He asked, noticing how the trees bent over the stone walls and shaded the area. There were fences and gates that stretched on for what seemed like miles.
She skipped along the fence happily, ignoring his questions and calls. Eventually she came to a much more secluded area of the fence and began to glide her hands on the stones in the wall.
“What are you doing? Where are we?” He asked, almost demanding. She, again, ignored him and just smiled to herself while she looked for that special stone in the wall.
The sounds of distant voices and stomping boots brought her to a halt. Tsukasa’s eyes widened and he backed himself up against the wall, he recognized the sound of those boots.
Emu bit the side of her cheek and ran her fingers through the edges of the stones even faster. Tsukasa curled his fingers, bracing himself for his impending capture.
This is it.
He’s going to be caught and sent to jail.
Maybe even be executed.
No, he can’t die! Not yet!
A small hand firmly gripped Tsukasa’s wrist. Tsukasa opened his eyes, unaware that he’d even closed them. He looked down to the hand holding him and traced it back to the girl it belonged to.
“I heard a voice from over there!” A deep voice called from just around the corner.
Emu’s foot had been planted on the small stone that was jutting out. She made sure he knew what she was doing before letting go of him and beginning to climb up the stone wall, perching herself at the top as she waited for Tsukasa to do the same.
He blinked twice at her then back to the stone she’d stepped on. The boots were becoming louder and Tsukasa wasted no time throwing himself up the wall in a desperate climb. He jumped over the side landing on his feet with a sharp pain shooting up through his right foot.
Emu noticed his wince and quickly climbed down the wall, though with about as much care as he’d given that jump. “Tsukasa! Are you alright?”
He sucked in a sharp breath, “Y-yeah yeah, I’m fine. Just landed wrong, y’know?” He then stood up, standing straight and lifting his left foot to take a step, before immediately buckling under the pressure on his foot. Emu ran to grab him by the arm and lifted him again.
“Be careful, Tsukasa! You can’t get hurt or we’ll have to stop having fun!” Emu said playfully, but the undertone of care was laced in her words.
His arm was wrapped around her shoulders as the two of them breached through the line of trees and mulch into the great lawn–courtyard?–of a large and fancy mansion. Tsukasa looked around in awe, briefly forgetting the pain in his leg as he took in the surroundings. Large and flourishing plants surrounded the home and Tsukasa glanced at Emu scrutinizingly, would they seriously be breaking into the house of a rich and noble family? This had to be one of her worst plans yet.
“Where are we?” He asked, somewhat wary of the answer that may come out of her smiling mouth.
She giggled and pressed the index finger of her free hand to her lips in response.
They came to the doors at what seemed to be the entrance to the house. Emu released her hold on Tsukasa momentarily while she pushed open both doors. The inside was even more grand than the outside. Each door and frame was filled and outlined in a rich chocolate-y brown with rose gold accents on everything. Tsukasa’s mouth fell open at the sheer size and wealth of it all. He felt like he was committing a crime by being in such a home while being dressed the way he was.
“Welcome to the House of Ootori!” Emu announced with outstretched arms.
Notes:
I'm baaack! Just in time for finals lol, I had this chapter like partly written then hit writer's block so hard for like a month I completely forgot what I wrote and where it was going so I rewrote it here's what we got!
Happy holidays and good luck on finals to all who need it!
Nootmare101 on Chapter 1 Mon 23 Sep 2024 02:08AM UTC
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Nootmare101 on Chapter 3 Wed 09 Oct 2024 10:21AM UTC
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k3tchupon3ggs on Chapter 3 Wed 09 Oct 2024 08:01PM UTC
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Nootmare101 on Chapter 3 Wed 09 Oct 2024 09:19PM UTC
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k3tchupon3ggs on Chapter 3 Thu 10 Oct 2024 05:19AM UTC
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