logs | (open) none of this shit's certain, none of it's certain

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(open) none of this shit's certain, none of it's certain

WHO: a younger manjiro sano and you, homie

WHERE: mirth & the harbors & the barrens

WHEN: december first till the end of the year.

WHAT: amusement park joy, eating his weight in sugar in a cafe, trying to move of the abandoned houses, and notice board thingies.

WARNINGS: i'll warn in the top-level. considering the canon, suicide, murder, violence, dissociation, mental health issues, death, drugs, yakuza, etc, all possible themes.

that who had once been a nearly-thirty-year-old, a yakuza president with white hair, thinner than he should be for his shorter stature, and large dark circles under his eyes along with a knack for partying... has turned into a blonde fifteen-year-old, leader of the tokyo manji biker gang. the emptiness in his eyes remains, although he laughs, smiles, runs and finds joy even if the same darkness that turned him miserable in the future still lives in his heart. he remembers, and he doesn't. come meet him for the first time, or all over again.

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Bullshit, but alright.

(his eyes roll, and while a part of him wants to think that it doesn't matter, it wasn't him sitting him here right now, it was still him. some part of him that did and said things that he can't properly recall.

that's important.

... and man, it's like she gets him, because his eyes sparkle at the mention of a little umbrella.)

... You have that?! I'd love that!

Hey, humor me a little bit, okay?

[ She may or may not have shoved the extra umbrellas they didn't use ~~cause they got trashed too early in the night~~ in her purse for later. But Hibiki isn't above using past interactions to cheat a little bit.

Leaving the table, she comes back a large glass filled to the brim with strawberry ice cream, whipped cream, a cherry and a tiny beach umbrella sticking out. ]

You're in luck, you got the last one! Here-- [ She sets the drink on the table. ] This one's on me, okay?

...

...

...

You're the best!!!!!

(she probably has never heard those words from him, nor that happiness in his smile, as he takes the treat and the UMBRELLA!!! into his hands, immediately taking a sip. there could be anime sparkles around him with his happiness.)

[ Who are you and what did you do with Sano Manjiro?

His grin is contagious, and even as she waves her hand dismissively, Hibiki can't help but find herself smiling as well. He looks happy--genuinely happy. ]

I mean, I try! [ She's not used to this kind of praise from him! It's really cute seeing him get so excited. ]

Sit tight, okay? I'll be back once I'm done with my shift.

[ And true to her word, she makes her way back to his table about an hour later. What she won't tell him is that she practically threw her apron and sprinted out of the back room once her workday was done, half expecting him to have left by that point. Was he still there? Will she need to track him down? ]

(if there is a moment to have a glimpse of his adult-self, this moment is now. not every sweet has been devoured, some are half-way through, but most importantly is how they're all pushed to the other side of the table, and manjiro listened - well, his body is present, but his mind is rather asleep.

even the little sounds, gentle snores, and never-ending sleep-chatter are the same.)

Sanzu-- you go, ok? Don't... Find troubl--...zzZzzz... Baji'll kill you.

[ When she told him to hang tight, she didn't expect him to fall asleep at his table. Noting the half-eaten desserts shoved to one side and the way he goes on in his sleep, Hibiki can't help but smile quietly. He really is just like a kid--even more so now because, well-- ]

Mikey-san? Heeey? Earth to Mikey-san.

[ At least Baji warned her ahead of time not to wake him up. She would leave him be, but the cafe is closing soon, and the staff probably wouldn't appreciate some teenager keeping them from locking up just because it's his nap time.

Hmm, well he isn't that much taller than her, so maybe... ]

Sorry about this...

[ Sliding beside him in the booth, Hibiki tries to carefully move him toward the edge. Can she get Prince Mikey on her back without waking him up? ]

(there's no response from him aside from more non-sensical orders for toman members, kenchin, baji, takemitchy-- but nothing other than mumbles. it doesn't even wake him up, instead, he basically just nests against her back as she takes him into her care.

it does take him a while to wake up, but all he sees is the blonde--)

Kenchin, since fucking when is your hair down? Did you forget to braid it--

(ah, the beauty of sleepiness confusion.)

[ He's a dojo kid, but he's a lot lighter than she expects. Hibiki just assumes that he's compact, more muscular than wiry. That makes things a little easier, not like the weight would be a problem. Good thing he's so short.

Feeling him stir, she briefly glances back as he murmurs sleepily. Cute. ]

Bzzzzt, wrong! Try again~

[ Clearly he hasn't noticed that he isn't up in the stratosphere. Whoever is carting him around is a lot shorter than a certain tattooed teen. ]

... Emma?! You'd hit me awa-- ah, Hibi-chan... You can put me down now... I'm okay...

(it clicks, and albeit not so explicit and comprehensive, why is it that he got that close to hibiki in the first place. she reminds him of emma, and whatever ways it might as well be, he trusts his gut more than anything.

she's not emma, of course. it's easier to see that when he's younger, and he hasn't had the chance to make a little sister out of her. still, his heart begs to protect, to take care of her, like he would the girl in the land of the living... or so he thinks.)

... I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere to eat? Where were you taking me anyway...

[ Hibiki tenses the moment that he says his sister's name. It shouldn't be a big deal, he's still mostly asleep, but it still manages to hit... not a nerve, but something that leaves a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Is that why Mikey kept her around back then? Because she somehow reminded him of his sister? She doesn't want to think about that.

Driving that thought into the ground beneath their feet, she makes no motion to put him down at any point. ]

...What? But you just ate an hour ago?

[ Where does all of it go, she needs to know his secrets. ]

I get hungry when I nap... And I get sleepy after I eat. You haven't seen that? We don't eat together?

(she's lucky he's particularly sleepy that he doesn't fuss so much. it's nice. he feels like he hasn't been carried in years, and quite honestly, it's something he likes so much. can't imagine a world where he isn't piggybacked it goes around.)

I saw on my phone we did get wasted, though. Is my tolerance any better...zzZz...

(MIKEY WAKE UP)

Mmm, not usually? [ Have they ever really? Hm. ] But hasn't anybody ever told you that you'll get fat if you sleep after you eat? You've gotta take better care of yourself!

[ She is very lucky because he's adorable. The adult version was still childish in his own subtle ways, but it really is a night and day difference. He doesn't hold the weight of the world on his shoulders, of whatever mission drove him to go down the path he did.

One that she's going to keep him from walking down. She needs to protect him from the man he'll one day become. ]

Hey, I don't give out spoilers, you're gonna have to fig...

[ And down he goes again. Well, he'll figure it out one day. Hopefully without the drugs. He really does have nice skin. ]

You're probably still asleep, but I'm gonna tell you anyway, so you can't be all 'Hibi you didn't tell me we were going there!' at me. My place isn't too far from here and it's waaaay too cold to be out. I've got some stuff there you can snack on, just don't eat me out of house and home, okay Prince Mikey?

... That's... (a yawn this way comes,) bullshit. I'm jacked.

(which, also sounds like bullshit, considering the fact that he wears such baggy clothing, but alas. he does catch just a wink of another nap, until she speaks again, and he snuggles a little bit against her back.

he likes her.)

That's fine... Prince is nice. Nobody calls me that... It's boss here, invincible there, president...

(perhaps, as she and her more mature self than a bunch of teenagers might realize, the burden is still there. it's a different once, surely, but there's still a cross to bear, even at this young age.)

You say that now, but when you're my age and doing that, you'll get a gut in no time.

[ Except he clearly has some kind of freakishly fast metabolism. She definitely calls bullshit on being jacked though, because Mikey you are tiny.

Hibiki briefly holds her breath as he cuddles into her back. She's never had the experience of having siblings, and the friends that she did have growing up were either few and far between or very surface level. So even if it's a tiny gesture, it sends ripples through her.

Is this what it would have felt like if she had a normal family? ]

And nobody else is allowed to, just me. You got it?

Wasn't I older than you... I bet I was still jacked.

(a truth that, well, might come a little shorter than he would imagine. he'd been too thin to be healthy, either way.

the words are very endearing, and for someone who enjoys spotlight and having some sort of importance, it makes him smile a little bit against her back before he tightens his grip just a tiny bit, as if he was trying to say he understood.)

[ "Wasn't I older than you" listen here you little shit. ]

Just because you didn't then doesn't mean you won't in the future!

[ Look, time travel and spontaneous age regression is really confusing, but also she is banking on figuring out a way to keep him from going down the road he did. She knows of at least one other person who would have her back on that too.

Moving through a few narrow side streets, Hibiki stops in front of a small tailor's shop, a sewing needle and thread painted on a quaint, wooden sign. The slightly smaller blonde shifts a bit before glancing back at him. ]

Sorry, you're gonna need to walk from here. The stairs up to my place is a little precarious, and I don't want to accidentally drop you.

[ Her place? But it's just a shop. ]

Wait--

(is she like mitsuya? once they're looking into the space, there's such a fond smile on his lips as he takes in the scenario before him. he's known this to be another's home, remembers the measuring and fixing as a part of a ritual of bonding, and he laughs at his own memories of being poked by a pin or another.)

You live here, Hibi?

Live's one way you could look at it. But yeah, my apartment is on the second floor. I only stay there when I have work to do in Stygia, otherwise I'm behind my Door.

[ She's making it out to seem like a much better place than it is. It's drafty and cramped, but she doesn't have or need much outside of a bed, a couple pieces of furniture and a mountain of blankets. Pulling a key out of her satchel, the smaller blonde heads toward the side of the building before unlocking a nondescript door facing the alley. Leading up a set of tall stairs, Hibiki steps into the narrow stairwell. She probably could have carried him up, but she doesn't trust herself. It would be her luck that she didn't step high enough and the pair went tumbling down to their embarrassing second deaths. That's no way to go out.

Once at the top of the stairs, she uses the same key to open another door, leading into a small attic. Thick blankets tacked over the singular window to trap in the warmth, it's clear that everything here is secondhand at least, save for an extremely sturdy wooden bed. A large, oil heater sits near a pair of chairs, a large kettle perched on top. She'll get to that on in a minute; dodging inside, Hibiki rubs her hands together. ]

Come on in, we don't wanna let the cold in. I'll get the heater going in a second, but go ahead and make yourself at home.

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(open) none of this shit's certain, none of it's certain

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oops.

yeah ok sure

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