luneminary | expiation inbox!

[If one were to ask Ryoji if fate exists, his answer would be a resounding yes. There's no other apt explanation to how bonds can form over the most mundane of actions. Every interaction is meaningful because people are meant to have these connections, no matter fleeting they may be.

That's why, as he looks at the blue haired boy he sees faltering at the entrance, Ryoji knows that this too, is because of fate. There's no other explanation to this strange ache in his heart.]

[He decides to tug at the blue haired stranger's arm, greeting him like an old friend.] Sorry to kept you waiting! I'll make it up to you: this is my treat.

[His first thought is that man, he looks terrible. Clearly the look of someone who's been having a bad time. And maybe that means he has some things he still need to work on, but there's no way he would be able to keep standing on his own two feet at this rate. This calls for some company and a good bowl of ramen!

If someone's sad, you should do your best to make them happy, right? At least, that's what Ryoji thinks is the humane thing to do.]

[ That easy camaraderie pulling him along -- it's unmistakably Mochizuki Ryoji. But how? Why? And when? Perhaps it's for the best that Minato's too exhausted to scrutinize those thoughts with a proper fine tooth comb, merely allowing himself to be towed along by an old classmate.

And maybe it's for the best that his stomach's empty too, given the way it sinks as he stumbles along. ]

I wasn't --

[ Wasn't waiting for him, is what Minato wants to say. Why would he, when the last he'd seen Ryoji was supposed to be the final time? But as they wander into the noodle shop, Minato is forced to confront the fact that, actually, he is famished.

There's plenty of space at the bar. He glances at Ryoji, warily, before taking a seat on one of the stools. He'll play along for now, even if he does feel a bit like a cornered mouse. ]

- Waiting for me? That's fine!

[He takes it in stride, the way he knows exactly what this boy is about to say. No use thinking about something he can't explain!]

Care to stick around, anyway? Food is better with company, and you look like you could use a friend.

[There's still that deer in the headlights look, but Ryoji pushes through. It's better than leaving him alone with his thoughts. Before any objections can take place, Ryoji calls for the owner with his usual cheer.]

Master! Two specials, please!

[ Somehow, he always knows exactly what Minato left unsaid. It twists his stomach into a knot and leaves his chest aching.

"Food is better with company," he says, and were Kotone here as well, Minato imagines she'd respond with an enthusiastic nod.

Minato keeps his hands folded in his lap. Thus far, everyone he'd run into outside of Fuuka were already acquainted with him. There's no telling where Ryoji arrived from, let alone, from what timeframe. It couldn't possibly be after that December, or even that January, not when he's here looking like a perfectly ordinary teen.

The nostalgia comes with its own dangers. He's well aware that others can be pulled into Aldrip from different times, but to see it displayed so starkly before him is jarring.

Even after the bowls of ramen are placed in front of them, Minato doesn't lift his chopsticks. Instead, he gazes down at the broth. It's impossible to tell how much and who Ryoji knows, given his amicable demeanor would likely remain unchanged no matter who he spoke with. ]

...

[ He can't eat, and instead, there's a severe expression on Minato's face as he tries to wrap his head around seeing this particular face again. And of course, of course it would be now, a time when he's left coming to terms with how deeply he feels he feels a specific person's absence. ]

[Ignorance sure is bliss, huh? Especially when your troubles are too esoteric even for Ryoji to divine. The realm of mythology and the human psyche manifest are still faraway concepts to him, not when he recalls nothing of the truth. Still, what he can infer is his emotion at the time, and he could easily tell the conflict that brews within his ~~old~~ new friend.]

It’s pretty good, [Ryoji encourages, his elbow lightly prodding at his companion’s side.] and you'd feel better afterwards. Try it!

Edited (formatting for extra pain) 2024-05-14 01:34 (UTC)

[ The physical contact makes it impossible for Minato to ignore Ryoji. He hesitates for a second more before taking his chopsticks in hand. ]

...mm.

[ Well. He's stuck here whether he likes it or not. May as well try to get some food into him. After all, he'd promised Akira he'd do so.

Minato lifts some noodles from the broth, blows carefully a couple of times, before politely slurping them up. Ryoji's right, the noodles are good and... so terribly nostalgic. It has him eating another mouthful of noodles, and then another, and then another, as he desperately blinks to control his watering eyes. ]

[Tears may be a sign of outmost sorrow, but sometimes they ought to be shed. It is for that reason that Ryoji makes no sign to stop him from crying, opting to observe with a wistful smile instead.

Only a profound sadness would cause one to react in such a way. All the more reason to eat and drink, such that one has enough energy to express the emotions bottled within.]

You must have been through a lot, have you?

[It’s a question that he already knows the answer to. He peacefully sips his own broth at the meantime, a quiet but steady reminder that he isn’t alone.]

[ Ryoji, of all people, should know the answer to that question. He should know, given that he'd been the source of some of it.

Minato chews and swallows his current mouthful of noodles, only responding with a silent shake of the head. Each person had their own troubles. His was nothing more, nothing less. They were all dealt their hands in life without having a say in any of it.

After all, hadn't Ryoji suffered too?

Somewhere in between his last helping of noodles and the time spent reflecting on how unfair it was for Ryoji to appear before him without a care in the world, Minato's vision had gone blurry. And though something damp and warm rolls down each of his cheeks, he lifts some more noodles with his chopsticks before leaning in to slurp them up.

Even if he'd had one person suddenly go missing in his life, another has reappeared before him, one whom he'd never thought he'd see again -- he should be happy to see Ryoji again, shouldn't he? He should be happy to see someone who'd come the closest to fundamentally understanding him, one whom he'd fully prepared to never see ever again.

But maybe it's because Ryoji knows precisely how much he'd carried with him, that the other boy's question makes his chest ache. He's elated, he's miserable -- he doesn't know anymore. ]

[He doesn’t understand it, not yet — and perhaps he never will. But his heart aches for his companion regardless, stricken by this unexplainable need to ease his pain. Isn’t it only natural, to want to care for someone, especially when they deserve something kind to happen in their lives? It’s how human connections fosters despite the strife and suffering they have suffered for so many years. Life is easier when your heart isn’t empty.

So he does what he thinks is right, and tries to wipe the tears away from his face.]

I’m glad I got to meet you, too. [Ryoji doesn’t know why it felt like the right words to tell him, but he just think he does — if he was sad like this, he would want someone else to say those same words.]

Oh, I have an idea! [He’s cheerful as he slowly unfurls the yellow fabric off himself, before he drapes half of it over his shoulder. It’s long enough that it can fit the two of them, even if the fringes would end up at their chairs once it’s tied up. It’s a poor excuse for a hug, but that’s the best he could do. If only if it was easy to hug someone beside you on a counter.]

There! Now we can help each other out.

[It doesn’t matter if they end up making a mess or causing a scene. That’s fine — that’s what being human is.]

[ The gentle hand drying his tears twists the metaphorical knife in Minato's gut. But as Ryoji wraps his scarf around both of their shoulders, he can't help the slight upturn in the corners of his mouth. Despite the anguish, meeting this particular face again in this specific way -- it feels a little like fate. ]

...thanks, Ryoji --

[ Minato loses his grip on his chopsticks. The noodles clasped between them drop back in the broth as the utensils clatter against the inside of the bowl. Ryoji hadn't introduced himself just yet, and based on the direction of the conversation, Minato suspects this is the first time he's ever crossed Ryoji's path. ]

...ah, I --

[ His heart skips a beat as he watches for Ryoji's reaction out of his peripheral vision. The little smile that was on his face is gone, replaced momentarily with panic in his eyes.

If he lied and said he'd just taken a lucky guess on what Ryoji's name was, would he believe it? ]

[The sudden drop of the chopsticks might as well be a pin drop against that second of silence.

But what Minato shall see from the other’s expression isn’t surprise, but something more akin to regret. The amount of expressive smiles Ryoji knows is staggering, and what he wears now is much different from the motion of comfort he has provided mere moments ago.

Now he looks polite yet filled with regret, as if he’s the one who has been in the wrong in this entire time.]

Ah, so we have met before?

[Hearing his name from a stranger he never talked to before should have been unsettling. Creepy, even. But his new friend’s voice sounds so much like his that it never even registers as something unordinary. Like Ryoji has been expecting him to know his name all along.]

I figured it somewhere along the way. [Not because of evidence, but mere intuition. It just feels like that conclusion is the one that makes sense.]

I’m sorry I couldn’t remember you.

[It must have been frustrating, Ryoji thinks. His own memories are filled with trivial blanks, but it had been easy to deal with them in Gekkoukan. Nobody really knew he was before, so he could brush his insecurities with his usual smile. But it was only a matter of time until fate finally manages to break down his defenses.]

[ 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!

ryoji senses tingling

minato's no good very bad week tbh

it's about to get even worse

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ur sick for all these tags just know that

yeah? and if i keep being sick then what

ur SICK

i hope you keep cursing me at every tag btw

how many ryomina icons are you sitting on wtf

:)

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