|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 7, 2011 23:46:50 GMT -5
Character(s): Ayame Natsuri & Ren Yukio
Time: 2:40 pm
Location: Beach
The air smelled faintly of salt as the breeze came off the surface of the wide ocean before them. Holding her hair away from her face, she took Ren's hand and pulled him towards the water's edge. "Come on!" she called, running through the sand, which was a lot harder than she thought it would be.
"Wow..." she whispered, staring at the sea. It looked like it went on forever, just the ocean against the horizon for eternity. "I always knew we'd get here, but I never really expected it to be like this." she said shyly. That was the truth. Sure she imagined that Ren would be there, but she didn't think he'd be holding her hand and kissing her. For a brief moment, she worried it was too good to be true, but quickly brushed the through away.
No, it wasn't anything like the movies where something went wrong. It was real life, and sometimes things just work out. Don't they?
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 0:03:00 GMT -5
"Haven't you been to a beach before?" Ren said as he gently sat down on the sand. "It's been forever ever since I've been to one." He laid down and covered his eyes with his arms so the sun wouldn't get into them. "I think the last time I went..." He suddenly smiled - "Was with Thomas." He sat up a bit and dusted the sand off of his shirt,
"So what did you want to 'catch' up on?"
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 0:12:29 GMT -5
"No, actually. I always meant to, but you know, duty calls, as father always said." she said, nodding. "Aw, Thomas." She'd almost forgotten about him. "How's he been? I haven't seen him in years either."
"So what did you want to 'catch' up on?" he asked.
"Nothing specific," she answered, brushing off sand that he'd missed. "We just haven't had a 'real' conversation yet. What's life been like since we stopped talking? How are your parents?"
She leaned back and curled up on her side next to him, reaching her hand over and twisting a strand of his hair between her thin fingers. It was still soft, just like a child's.
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 0:20:47 GMT -5
"He's alright. Haven't talked to him in a while, though." He laughed a bit, "He's an old hag now." He looked up to see the sun, and the birds that were flying around. The beach was surprisingly empty, and knowing that they were the only ones on the beach made him feel happy. "How are your parents?" Ayame asked. Ren stopped breathing immediately as soon as she asked that question - not sure of what to say.
He glared at her, "...What did you say?" Ren always thought that Ayame always knew - but then he remembered, the day that his parents left him Ayame had her own family problems. But that didn't stop him from getting angry - anybody who brought up his parents made him more frustrated than they should've.
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 0:27:37 GMT -5
"...What did you say?" The smile fell off of his face instantly. That cold glare was back, but she couldn't understand why. Did she ask the wrong question...? Probably. Obviously. Ren hadn't looked this pissed off since she slapped him.
"I...asked how your parents were." she replied in a confused tone. "Is... something wrong?" She instantly let go of his hair and sat up.
There was no diffusing this bomb this time. Pain, anger, and sadness was smeared over his face like paint. What had happened in their ten years apart, and how could it change his mood so quickly with just one question?
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 0:31:39 GMT -5
The glare on Ren's face never left. He stayed silent and he sat up. "How the fuck should I know?" He shrugged. They left him when he was merely 10 years old, and he hasn't seen them since. The parents he loved dearly - more than anything, left him for reasons he doesn't even know himself.
"Don't you dare go prying in my family history like that anymore, got that?" Even though they were officially together now, nothing could change how Ren truly felt in this situation. He was angry, humiliated - what else could he do? He's been avoiding this question for long enough, but he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 0:43:26 GMT -5
"Don't you dare go prying in my family history like that anymore, got that?" It was all back. All the anger and the hostility, and those miles between them stretched out again. He was still far away.
Unsure of how to handle the situation, she just laid back down beside him, putting her head on his chest. "I'm sorry." she said softly. "I won't ask about them again, but...are you alright?" Well of course he wasn't alright. His mood just changed in a matter of a few seconds.
Ren's parents always seemed a little off, but now she was sure that something had happened. Something that made Ren the angry person he was now, and something he can't get past. Whatever they did, it put miles between their son and the world around him. They set him up for disaster, and from the looks of it, didn't take any action to help him. He looked angry, but broken, like he'd fallen from someplace high up. Ayame bit her lip, worried that he'd never get the pieces back together.
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 1:03:08 GMT -5
Ren felt sad that he actually made his girlfriend apologize for something she didn't know about. "..Whatever. Just drop it, alright?" Not wanting to escalate things, he just sighed and endured the awkwardness that was lingering between them. With hesitation, Ren put his arms around her - feeling bad of what just happened. "...I apologize. It's just a sensitive subject I guess." Ren mumbled quietly as he look down to see her face.
"...How about you?" He put his hands through her hair, "You know, I was surprised to see you here in Aozora. I thought you'd be someplace else."
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 1:17:05 GMT -5
Deciding to end the conversation there, she curled her fingers around his hand. She still felt bad about ruining the peace they finally had, but it returned, slowly. Still, even with his arms around her, he wasn't all there.
"...How about you?"
"You know, I was surprised to see you here in Aozora. I thought you'd be someplace else."
As his fingers combed through her long hair, she sighed. "I thought I would be too." she said longingly. "I really didn't want to go to Aozora at all, but I'm glad I did. You never really found out why I had to leave home, did you? Well, my father was a gang leader. He stole from a lot of people and was involved with a lot of different gangs. Well, to get revenge, his enemies attacked, and ended up murdering my mother and Ryouya, and since then, Ichiro, Kinji, my father and I have been trying to find them. We haven't yet, but that's what I plan to return to as soon as I graduate here."
A sick feeling came over her. If she left again to find them, there was that risk of being killed herself once again. She'd never seen Ren or Yousuke again. But if she stayed with them, she'd never be able to reclaim her family's pride.
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 2:53:30 GMT -5
Ren's eyes widened - "Ryouya? Dead?" he questioned in a shocked tone. He's never met Ayame's mother once, so he couldn't feel anything but guilt for her. His parents were both dead to him in a way - so he could relate. But Ryouya? He was like a brother to Ren. Even though they didn't spend much time together since he was busy with his own things, he still considered him as one of his really good friends. "...Although this is probably many years late," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for your loss, Ayame."
It seemed like both of them went through a lot these past years, a lot of things they couldn't be there for each other for. "Then why Aozora? Why not a simpler school?" He asked, really curious. Ren had an actual purpose to be at Aozora, but he wasn't sure why she was here for acting, out of all things.
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 3:10:27 GMT -5
"...Although this is probably many years late," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for your loss, Ayame."
Before, when people would mention the youngest Natsuri son, they would regard his death as a foolish accident. They'd say that he wasn't strong enough to fend for himself, even their own father. But to hear something comforting, coming from Ren of all people, she didn't shed a single tear.
"I didn't lose anything," she mumbled. "Ryouya's fine wherever he is, so there's no point in apologizing now. But I'm sure he's glad to hear it from you."
"Then why Aozora? Why not a simpler school?"
She smiled sadly. "Grandparents," she sighed. "with high expectations. They think that I'm here to become famous, but that's really not it at all. I came here because I couldn't disappoint them anymore. I refused to become another reason for them to lose sleep. I don't want to act at all, but it's my only option. I can't sing or dance; they don't teach you that in that world. You learn to fight and you learn to cover for yourself, which requires a level of acting skill. In a nutshell, I'm just here because my morals tell me to. Come graduation day, I'm long gone." Satisfied with her explanation, she rolled onto her back to look at the sky.
It's crazy how they'd always been under this same sky, but it seemed like they weren't even on the same earth. "And what about you? What do you gain from graduating from here?"
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 8, 2011 3:17:23 GMT -5
"Long gone, hm?" Ren put on a weak smile, "So you're going to leave me again?" he was trying his best not to get into an angry mood, so he just quickly moved on - trying not to think about it..
"I need to find people." Ren didn't know how to put this vaguely at all, but that was the best he could come up with. Not being comfortable telling the true reason why he was here made him feel even more guilty, but he couldn't change that. "To make Thomas proud, I guess?" He laughed sheepishly. "He's always the one looking out and taking care of me, so I guess when I'm a famous actor I can do that for him."
Although that reason was true, he just thought of it now. When he first entered Aozora, not once has he thought about Thomas or the rest of his 'family' back home. Coming to Aozora was his own selfish decision.
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 8, 2011 17:20:58 GMT -5
"So you're going to leave me again?"
Her eyes widened, and she looked up at Ren. "You know I didn't leave because I wanted to..." She laid back down. "Hey, when we graduate, what do you think we should do? By that time, we'll both legally be adults. We can do whatever we want."
"To make Thomas proud, I guess?"
"He's always the one looking out and taking care of me, so I guess when I'm a famous actor I can do that for him."
Smiling at Ren's sincerity, she tightened her grip on his hand. "When you're famous, don't leave me for some beautiful actress, okay?" she joked. Maybe Ren was a jerk sometimes, and he didn't see the world the same way as everyone else, and his temper was short, but he was loyal. She had no worries of him leaving her, but she was scared to death of leaving him.
|
|
|
|
Post by ariana on Jul 9, 2011 9:49:07 GMT -5
"What do you think YOU should do?" Ren stared at her, "You're the one that's planning on leaving me." He said coldly, but honestly. It was true. Ren wasn't going to go anywhere, maybe go to Los Angeles or something like that to pursue that acting career - but he wouldn't go if Ayame wasn't going to go with him.
"When you're famous, don't leave me for some beautiful actress, okay?" Ren cringed - "Don't give me that, alright?" he snapped. "Out of all people worried of who's going to leave who - it should be me." He looked away.
Sometimes he felt like he was the only one in love - like he would always be the only one that would die for the other.
|
|
|
|
Post by hannah on Jul 9, 2011 18:01:02 GMT -5
"Out of all people worried of who's going to leave who - it should be me." He looked away.
Holding up the fake smile, she cocked her head to the side sympathetically and put a hand on his cheek, turning his head to look him in the eyes. "It's not forever," she said softly. "but I can't go back on a promise I made to my whole family. But for all I know, Ichiro and Kinji may have already taken them out."
She was feeding false hope to herself again, and even worse, to Ren. It was obviously just some pretty wording, but she figured that if she could keep up the act long enough, it might just happen. "If that's the case, we can stay together. Wherever you want to go, I'll go with you. Just think, we'll be adults, our parents can't tell us what to do or where to go anymore." Tears were coming to her eyes at the realization that they wouldn't be separated again.
"Ren, no matter what happens, or where we go, I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life. Not the way I love You-nii, or the way I loved Ryouya. It's totally different. So for now, let's just forget about the future, and just focus on right now." She looked hard at him. "Just now." she repeated quieter, leaning in to kiss him again.
She suddenly felt sad. Like every kiss would be the last, and so she promised she'd kiss him like every time would be the last time.
|
|
