this is okay.

[pinnedbangs]

Who: The Okumura Twins + Roxas + Tobias + HEY YOU, YEAH YOU!
Where: Anywhere in Goldenrod City
When: July 11th - July 15th
Summary: Rin and Yukio take a detour to visit some friends and make memories
Rating: G
Log:


A. July 11th - late afternoon

[It was a long way back to Goldenrod, but eventually they made it before it got too dark. First stop? Honeyed Soul. Rin had a few ideas he wanted to try and start creating before he met up with Roxas. Maybe, if he was lucky, there would be a few coworkers still awake and ready to take on a potential new menu item?

Or Yukio could just sit pretty and taste test everything. If he felt his stomach was up to it.]


B. July 12th - sometime in the morning

[Rin's out and about and ready to meet up with someone in PERSON. It was exciting - and it had a way of making friendships feel a little more real. Just like when he met Al in person for the first time. That had been really cool. Rin taps out a quick message to Roxas, something like:

where r u?
ur not sleeping r u?

...Hopefully Roxas isn't away in dreamland...]


C. Anything goes!

Comments

[pinnedbangs]

[A noncommittal grunt is his only answer. He doesn't want to pry into Chihiro's world. There's a reason she didn't want to go back. Whatever it was, it wasn't a world she was looking forward to.

It's quiet between them for a short time.]

Hey. Wanna know what's the best thing about this world?

[codeforhope]

[He looks over again, nodding slightly. He's almost surprised that Rin didn't ask further...but he's glad he didn't, too.]

O...okay. What is it?

[pinnedbangs]

[He looks at her with the fondest smile.]

...Meeting good people like you.

[codeforhope]

...!

[...it's like Rin flipped a switch, just how quickly Chihiro's demeanor suddenly changes, and before he realizes what's happening there are tears welling up in his eyes and everything's going blurry and-

He has to look away, not wanting him to see.]

[pinnedbangs]

[ . . . Shiruku, what should he do? Rin looks between pokemon and trainer, hoping one of them will have an answer. No? ...None? Uhm.]

...Fujisaki?

[codeforhope]

[He lifts a hand to his face, pressing one of his sleeves to his eyes to keep the tears from spilling over. He's smiling though, even if it's a little weak. All the while, Shiruku just looks on apologetically, her antennae drooping.]

Oh...t-thank you...you're a good person too, O-Okumura-san. I-...I'm sorry...

[pinnedbangs]

Uh... [OH MY GOSH, HE MADE HER CRY.]

That's not - I ... [He's been upgraded from "nice" to "good", but at what cost? What does he do?]

You're welcome? You don't have to apologize for that.

[codeforhope]

N-no, it's...

[He shakes his head a little, moving his hand to his other eye as he speaks, his voice long since having gone a bit soft.]

I'm just...v-very glad to have a friend like you.

[pinnedbangs]

[Rin's immediate reaction isn't to cry. It's to suddenly turn redder than a fire truck. It's not Chihiro's every action that's he's focused on. That Chihiro would consider him a friend - a good one, at that - had been something he hoped for. He had to admit, he wasn't really expecting anything back.]

...That makes us even.

[codeforhope]

[Shiruku stiffens a little, and Rin might feel one of her claws moving to rest gently on his shoulder while she brings the other around Chihiro, drawing him a bit closer to her side. He doesn't protest, stepping back a bit and closer to Rin, as well. It seems like she's done this before.]

[pinnedbangs]

[Rin follows Shiruku's lead. Once he sees that the distance between himself and Chihiro has decreased, he relaxes. A little. Not enough to be immediately obvious, but enough to remember that he should breathe through his nose and not through his mouth.]

[codeforhope]

[The Leavanny lets out a soft noise as she lifts her claw to pet the top of Chihiro's hair while her other remains on Rin's shoulder, somehow still managing to keep her own bags looped over her arms. Now now, everything's going to be fine.

It does well to calm Chihiro down as he wipes his eyes one last time, looking sheepishly over at Rin. Now, they're both standing shoulder to shoulder on the edge of the sidewalk.]

Mm...we should keep going.

[pinnedbangs]

[Rin can only manage half a nod. The distance between them had vanished too quickly for him to keep up. He'll need a moment to remember how to use words again.]

Yeah... We'll just get wet standing here.

[codeforhope]

[Even though he was the one who suggested it, Chihiro doesn't actually start moving until Shiruku nudges him forward a little, letting go of Rin at the same time. The rain seems to be finally letting up a bit at least, not pouring like it once was after having reduced to more of a light drizzle.]

[pinnedbangs]

[Even though he's not held in the same spot, Rin doesn't move too far from Chihiro's side. The urban landscape of Goldenrod seems to go on forever. He wouldn't mind if it really did.

It was too bad about the rain. Soon even that light drizzle would fade away. They wouldn't need the umbrella anymore.]

[codeforhope]

[For a long time, Chihiro says nothing else as they walk together in the quiet remains of the rainstorm. His house would be coming up soon, no doubt; the department store was only a few blocks away, but they were still walking slowly.]

...you know, a lot of my classmates have gone home, recently.

[He says quietly after some time, keeping his gaze centered ahead.]

I miss them. But...having so many friends here helps.

[pinnedbangs]

[Huh? That was odd... He wondered if there was more to Chihiro's words. She missed them, but she didn't call them friends. Maybe it was a word-choice thing. Chihiro wouldn't have missed them if they weren't close.

But he can agree with that last statement. The people he's met here - the pokemon he's been able to bond with - they can't replace the ones from home, but they ease the burden.]

I'm glad that you got to see them, even if they did end up going back. But I'm -- I'm more glad to be the friend you have here. [He glances at Chihiro from the corner of his eye before averting his gaze. Was she looking? No. Okay. He glanced over every so often as he speaks. This wouldn't be a good time to trip and fall into a puddle.]

I don't know if I helped, but even if it was only a little bit, well... that makes me happy. ...I think that's what friends are for.

[If he talking too much? He doesn't really know. It's hard to tell a lot of the time. But these were words that made the most sense to him. Maybe they would make sense to Chihiro too. Maybe then she wouldn't look so glum.] Even if I haven't seen my friends since I got here, I know that they would be happy that I made new friends here.

[codeforhope]

[Chihiro looks over every now and then too, and eventually Rin's words start to bring back his smile from before.]

I think so too.

[He shares another brief glance with Shiruku, whose still keeping a close eye on the both of them so they don't trip and fall into a puddle.

The words do make sense. A lot of sense. It happens to be something he's been thinking about quite a lot, recently.]

I'm...very glad I got the chance to come here and meet you. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[...he just really hopes that Rin doesn't leave, too, but even wishing that feels selfish...so he'll keep it to himself.]

[pinnedbangs]

[A goofy smile lights up his face. Chihiro had a way with words - or maybe he was just easy to please. Even so, it meant the world to hear something like that from a friend.]

Same here.

[codeforhope]

[Just as Rin says that, the front porch of the house finally looms into view. Chihiro doesn't walk up to the porch right away, though, instead stopping on the sidewalk in front of it so he can face Rin again.]

Thank you again for walking home with me. I appreciate it.

[pinnedbangs]

[Already...? Rin can't help but feel as if it was a short walk. It was probably the nicest walk in the rain he's ever had. But he still nods regardless.]

Anytime! Well, anytime I'm in Goldenrod. [But he doesn't want to leave it at that... It takes him a moment to decide on the action and another to go through with it.

He pats Chihiro's head, mussing up her hair a bit.] See you around, Fujisaki.

[codeforhope]

[He laughs softly, dipping his head a little when Rin put his hand on it.]

Okay. ...but...don't be a stranger. I like hearing from my friends, so...you can call anytime, if you would like.

See you.

[And with that he lifts his hand in a small wave, stepping out from under the umbrella so he can step up onto the porch with Shiruku before either of them can get wet.]

[pinnedbangs]

[Rin waves back. He doesn't walk away until Chihiro and Shiruku have safely entered their home.

Once she's out of sight, he'll breathe a sigh of relief. THAT WENT SO MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTED. HE GOT TO TEXTING BUDDY LEVEL. HE'S TOO HOT (HOT DAMN).

He may or may not be skipping all the way home, already planning on what sort of sweets would appeal to Chihiro. Something mild, maybe. Angel food cake? Powdered donuts? Chocolate cake? He has way too many options...]