#'NORMAL' IT'S STACKED TOP TO BOTTOM WITH ART. DAISUKE LIVES IN A MUSEUM

[dnangelic]

would he ? would he really ?

' ... yeah . '

ugh , geeze !! if it had been anyone else , this would have been exactly where he threw a fit and told them to shut up already ! how many times would sakura make him say it ?! even if his heart was starting to go just a little out of control --- i like you , i like you , i like you , so ... !

' why wouldn't i ?! '

he lets out a laugh , as if the decision had been the simplest and most obvious thing in the world . moving around , going anywhere , it was never traveling itself that had any sort of meaning . what truly mattered were the reasons for each venture , makochi itself having been nothing more than an unfamiliar city and robbing escapade at first , now turned into something else .

' didn't you say that people only ever bothered to come here because they had other people to visit ? ' he flusters just before he starts to verbally stagger ; daisuke's cheeks tinge their usual red-pink . ' so ... it's something like that . you're like that to me now . '

moreover , any idea that sakura could have come over to azumano seemed entirely out of the water .

how come the idea had never even been considered before ? was it because sakura seemed immovably comfortable here , already surrounded by people she knew and that knew her ? the air was warm , and despite the beatings that took place under bridges , behind empty buildings and in the shade of various alleyways day-in , day-out , within the city itself the sound of chimes and each fresh wind racing past them still left the air feeling full of a welcome vitality .

or maybe it was because a phantom thief was already used to coming and going , a bird pecking at sakura's windowsill after a long hour's migration . he's helped himself eagerly to sakura's presence already , and he knows this --- boring , lonesome nights wherein his heart , ( his very tamer , ) dreamed quietly of having someone to speak with and visit had been fulfilled of their want one after another , because there was something so grand and infinitely precious about having one , even just one person to speak with , whether or not they knew everything about him ; whether or not they understood .

' but , if you came over ... ' would sakura have wanted to stay with him ? with daisuke ? with the niwa family as a whole and all their impressive , outlandish quirks ( and artworks ? ) she might not have been able to survive the experience , and then she might not have ever wanted to visit again --- nevermind the stark difference in environment , scenery , and of course the continuous crowd about his other , criminal name .

even so , not wishing to maliciously test her mettle but failing to keep himself from wholly doing so anyways , he blithely agrees .

' --- mm , yeah . sure . you can come over , if you want . have the day and the next or two off ? wanna go right now ? '

“Mm.”

Non-committal sound, mere noise—done more for acknowledgement than any true agreement. She can sense that he really isn’t all that happy to have gotten such simple praise, but hey, that’s not her problem.

Still, as his eyes rise and look away do hers shift and look at him—there’s something clearly on his mind, but she doesn’t even think to press. If it’s something beyond what they’re talking about, or even to do with it, then the choice to tell her about it is all his; if he doesn’t want to, then it’s just something not meant for her to hear. The approach hasn’t failed her so far, and even with the knowledge of secrecy behind him, it doesn’t make her any less trusting of Dai. For someone who has stuck by her despite her own kept secrets, it’s the least she can do.

(Even with the push-and-pull of her gut, even with some of her more in-depth suspicions, Haruka won’t push him—while there’s been times she was tempted, she always backed down. As much as she’s come to hate the sight of him in agony, has learned to recognize, to a degree, that look he gets in his eyes, she has the feeling that, right now, it’d just do more harm than good. The pain is there, but overwhelming detriment of it isn’t, so she’ll hold strong. She won’t force herself anywhere that isn’t her place to walk; not when he’s also done the same for her, not when she just wants to for him. )

For a brief moment, something tender strikes her; despite everything, they’ve endured. She’d once thought that only Furin, only Makochi would be oddball-enough to try and genuinely care for her, to reach out and extend a hand to her so that she could have people to walk beside, but Dai’s done that, too (and, hell, even Dark’s done it; maybe Azumano’s just as weird as Makochi is?), and it just makes her so...happy. Yeah, happy’s a good word for it. She’s happy to know Dai, happy to be able to sit here and be his friend no matter what.

—but, sheesh, who’s she to be gettin’ sentimental? She blinks the thoughts away, shaking her head out to go and stretch her arms above her head.

He ain’t even gone, and here she is missin’ him. Geez.

“You’d... You’d really do somethin’ like that for me? If I just called ya?”

Not that she ever doubted him coming back altogether—he always seems to, but hell if that doesn’t make her get right back to thinking—the amount of times shes called him on the phone has been a grand total of once, after all. She can’t help but feel incredulous.

She gets sheepish.

“But it ain’t like...” I want you to, is her knee-jerk urge to say, but—who knows, maybe that tenderness from a second ago is still gettin’ her, because what comes out is: “...it ain’t like you oughtta burden yourself. Yanno, with doin’ that. I was just askin’ to ask.

“...but if you really do find a way.” Then I’d like it. You comin’ by like that.

She pouts then, though, honest-to-gods pouts, and adds on, “Though, yanno—what about if I ever go over there?”

Not entirely meaning for it to sound like she’s fishing for permission, but not really caring enough to take it back, Haruka raises an eyebrow at him; that’s gotta be an option, right? He’s talked it up enough, and she hasn’t really stepped out of Makochi itself since she got here. He’s always extending himself to get to here, anyway, so isn’t it high-time she tries to put in that same effort...?

(If there’s a reason to not, though, no matter what it is, then she’ll leave it—shes gotta learn how to work this damn phone’a hers, anyway.)