mementosola | a thousand cherry blossoms dissolve into the night

[What, thin out numbers by doing things like taking on multiple harvesters in a row without pause, and seemingly without concern that even as powerful as he's become in two years, they still pose a massive threat if they attack in groups?]

[Because if that's your concern, you're late to the party. He's soaked in the glow, gold tarnished, cracks in the facemask.]

I'm still here!

For how long--

[She almost growls in frustration, but of all people she knows she doesn't need to for Retsu to hear she's upset.

The fact that bombs just appeared in the mouths of harvesters and exploded probably also helps.]

For as long as I need to be.

[Don't mind him, he's just going to seriously hack down a wave with a swing of that sword. Okay, more with the giant shockwave off of it.]

What are you doing here?

What do you think?

[She reaches up and circles her brush, drawing a brilliant ball of burning into the sky that explodes in a bunch of faces. At least there aren't so many left--]

Look out!

[Except the one trying to ambush him, which might be why a golden barrier just appeared around him.]

[You mean the thing that just exploded, right? The barrier, the Harvester, everything around them. Short of Emi, nothing could really match him for sheer destructive power anymore, when he needed it. Though, damn, it must have been trying to dissolve him or something. He definitely felt that one.]

You shouldn't be here. It's more dangerous with both of us.

Shouldn't be here? Shouldn't be here?

[The air starts to crackle, and then the ground cracks and erupt, greenery exploding all over the wreckage left behind, greenery that gleams and shimmers and burns the Harvesters that might try to get through it, a forest forming around them in the motions of her hand and sheer magical force.

But she inherited the gift of the goddamn sun. She was more than willing to get creative, especially when she's angry.]

The Harvesters are here. You're here. And I will never be the one who turns away, Retsu!

[Slamming his sword into the ground. There is an explosion of those damn chains - Retsu might honestly be able to reach out to every single spot in the ward if he tried. It turns out, revenge is a mighty powerful force in a world where monsters turn lives upside down regularly.]

Hisoka, this really isn't the time!

[HAVE A HEALING FLOWER TO YOUR FACE.

The last of the harvesters rears up, gigantic, hideous, and angry...Only for Hisoka to turn, glowing so brightly with the Sun's power she's painful to look out, and and lunges, before everything goes white in a blinding flare of light that pierces and envelopes everything.

She just vaporized a motherfucker, as it turns out, and grew a giant sacred tree out of it's corpse. She doesn't say so much as a word, because it turns out basically kicking your own finishing move into ascendant form, complete with costume change, is exhausting, and even the light radiating from her wings is dimming.

Oops.]

[He's immediately over to her, even if he's still half blinded by that last attack. It's interesting to note that Retsu hasn't been using his ascendant form - either he feels he doesn't need it, or it's too much of a strain in some way. Just his base transformation, even in situations like this.]

[But powers aside, he's immediately rushing to catch her, his mask splitting down the middle, sliding to the side and folding up some as he narrows the gap in seconds to make sure she's allright.]

Damnit! I told you it's more dangerous if more than one of us is here, and, besides...

[He's a little too concerned checking her over to finish that sentence.]

[Whereas Hisoka's base form has all but been destroyed...the nature of her ascendancy meant while she could, in theory, do so again, she cannot go back.]

Besides...what?

[Even short of breath, even still so dizzy she can't quite see him, Hisoka smiles, nothing short of the grace she's always had.

'I promised myself two years ago, that even if I wasn't powerful enough to fight alongside you forever, I'd still save you.']

It's... it's your birthday, isn't it? You should be at home, or, or out with your friends, or doing literally anything else but this, today. You should have just let me protect you, this once.

C'mon. She'll be around to come reset everything we've destroyed soon. Let's just get you somewhere safe.

[With that, the facemask folds back in and resets over his face, and he picks her up. He's honestly glad that she's a little dazed right now, since it gives him time for his own body to try to repair itself. Even now -- scratch that, especially now more than ever -- he doesn't like worrying her.]

How am I supposed to be with my friends if they're getting blown up by Harvesters?

[She doesn't fight the hold, just leans her head against his shoulder, breathing in deep.]

And I wanted you to be there, Retsu...especially today.

I'm not very good at dinner parties or high-society galas, Hisoka. Your family's practically as old as Japan, I figured it'd be some big event in formal dress and I'd just, catch you tomorrow.

[Right. On top of a building that's in tact. He'll set her down on one of the benches meant for employees and then just sit down on the end of it, next to her head.]

I figured, if I could keep anything from happening today, then that'd be good enough.

I don't care about their high class parties and the emptyheaded sycophants who'll show up now that I'm twenty, reminding me I'm a grown woman now with responsibilities to the Fujiwara.

[She reaches up to grab his shirt, sighing.]

I wanted to see you, specifically. Spending time with you is always enough.

[How much blunter does she have to get here, bro.]

[...Well maybe he's a little glad for that mask now. He'll kind of gently pull her into sitting up against him, then. He doesn't know how bad she's hurt from that blast and he doesn't want to make it worse.]

I-I should have realized. I'm sorry, Hisoka. I just... I wanted to protect you.

I know, but...[She reaches up, gently pulling the mask away from his face. She's more tired than anything else,the sort of tired that resonates in your bones and makes everything feel like swimming in jell-o.]

...You can't protect me if you're gone. Kaoru and Emi didn't realize that. I...couldn't stand it if you left too.

[Well, that just cancelled his transformation, so now he's back to normal and she can see how much he's blushing in response to everything that she's said.]

What? I'm not going to abandon you. Not now, after two years, and not ever. I promise, okay? So don't say anything like that again.

[He reaches over with the arm he has around her already, to tuck a lock of that long, white hair behind her ear.]

...If anything, I figured university or family business would take you far from here, maybe some city that doesn't have attacks like this. You shouldn't have to do this for the rest of your life.

...You're really dumb. I can't ignore it. And I can't let the three of you keep doing this until you break under the sources of your power. I know I'm not as powerful, Retsu, but that doesn't mean I can just stand idly by...

[She leans a little into his hand, and sighs.] ...I couldn't bear the thought of leaving too.

...I've always been dumb. Getting an 87 on a History exam didn't fix that, so I guess that nothing is going to.

[He gently strokes her cheek, when she leans into him.]

If you're not going to let me just protect you, then... can you just stay with me?

[Given that she knows how little he has left in the world, even over two years out from that fateful day, that's a powerful question for him to ask her.]

Funny...I thought I already was.

[It's as simple as that. The idea of leaving this town where he'd stayed, specifically, was enough to keep her from dispersing with the others. She breathes out, letting her transformation fade with a gust of cherry blossoms and the warmth of the sun, a the time-stop fades out.

...The forest appears to have stayed, however. Oops.]

...Although I suppose there's something I've never said properly, not to anyone.

Oh yeah? What's that?

[He can fight down his nervousness enough for once to keep calm for this moment. She was somehow harder to face when she wasn't transformed for him, maybe owing to how mundane life was for them both when he wasn't being a hero.

It didn't hurt that was already holding her. It's a little late to get really nervous when you've got someone leaning against you.]

I...

[It's scary, and it probably doesn't help he can pick up her own nervousness, even if by now she should definitely have the power to keep him from reading her. She's never stopped him before, she isn't now, even if she's settled for looking around his adam's apple.]

I don't really know when it happened. But it's been a long time since you stole my heart, Retsu. I couldn't possibly leave now, even if I'd wanted to.

I couldn't tell you when it happened. My thoughts and yours were just similar one day. But I couldn't say that - I didn't want to ruin what we had, and given how dangerous it was back then... I'm just sorry it took this long.

[Even if she's primarily staring at his adam's apple, she probably can see enough of his face to notice that he's grinning at the end, before he hugs her into his chest.]

[She likes hugs! She's good at hugs, which is why she's sneaking her arms around his waist.

YOU WILL BE HUGGED WITH THE GLORY OF THE SUN!]

Just don't keep me waiting any longer.

[He'll finally reach up with that arm he'd left dangling at his side to gently stroke her hair. He must have hurt it in the fight, given how slow it moves.]

I promise I won't.

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