luneminary | expiation inbox!

[ Yes. No. Somewhere in between. It's inaccurate to say they've met when Ryoji's never crossed paths with Minato. ]

...no, it's -- it's okay.

[ Minato shakes his head a bit and manages a smile, though there's a melancholy casting a shadow over it. ]

You can't remember me because you've never met me before.

[ They'd once shared music together through his headphones, each of them taking one side. It's why the scarf wrapped over his shoulders is familiar, warm.

It's something this Ryoji has never experienced before. ]

I knew a version of you. So... it's not your fault. You don't have to be sorry.

[ It's mine. It's my fault for taking your hand, for showing you what it means to be alive while we were one entity.

It's my fault, for showing you how beautiful the world you were destined to condemn could be.

Minato reaches over a bit, gingerly laying a hand on Ryoji's arm. ]

...it's all right. We can start over.

[ ... ]

It's Minato. Minato Arisato.

[The name is the last missing piece of the puzzle. The reason why he feels a connection similar to what he has with Kotone. The reason why sharing his scarf never felt awkward at all. The reason that comes from this melancholy, of a gaping void within his memories.

It’s so unfair. For every fibre of your body to scream this is important, this is precious, and yet you do not know what it is. It makes Ryoji want to pull his hair out.

It’s him. This is the boy Aigis-san was talking about.

Ryoji swallows the bitterness and the frustration and hides it all. He’s the one trying to cheer Minato up. He’s the reason why Minato is so sad. He has no right to wallow in it.

They can start over. Ryoji would like to believe in that.

His other hand reaches over to hold Minato’s. A makeshift handshake.]

I’m Ryoji Mochizuki. [Even if you already knew that.] Nice to meet you too, Minato.

Ryoji Mochizuki.

[ Minato repeats that familiar name. A hand settles over his own, its palm warm against the back of his own. Perhaps their hands are enough to bridge the rift between them, one that spanned entire timelines, universes. ]

...it's nice to meet you too.

[ He wants to add "again" to the end of that sentence. Come what may, it seems the two of them couldn't help but gravitate into each other's orbits. It's why the small smile still hasn't left his face as he glances back into his bowl of broth. There are still a few stray pieces of noodle floating about. They've long gone soggy by now. It doesn't bother him. The best meals are ones shared with a friend.

Nevertheless, they probably should try to finish up soon. It's only polite to the owner of this little ramen shop. ]

...we can talk more later.

[ It's a version of a promise. Ryoji's always been inquisitive. Minato imagines there must be quite a bit the other wants to discuss. ]

[It feels right, to hear Minato say his like that. Something familiar, yet new all the same. Something that’s his, something that isn’t part of that Ryoji in Minato’s world. Perhaps it is fate that connects them, even in another world from different fates.]

You’re right — let’s eat first!

[Ryoji has finished less of his own bowl — he’s been focused on the other’s well-being after all, spending more time in comforting him other slurping his own noodles. But it’s okay, he knows the ramen is good. He lets go of Minato’s hand so he could pick up the spoon.

The scarf is still shared between them both, like a yellow string of fate.

There’s a lot that he still has to understand. The fact that another him exists somewhere else is already hard for him to wrap around. But…one at a time.

You need to live life as it goes, accepting what happens but never giving up in moving forward. At least, that’s what Ryoji believes. There is a lot he wants to talk about — things he wants to learn more about Minato — but there’s nothing wrong in enjoying broth and noodles for the moment.]

expiation inbox!

how many ryomina icons are you sitting on wtf

:)

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