The Long Way Back Home (D11 MN, Nishi Beach, Expecting)

[Utaku Itsuka]

The festival was almost over. She'd played games, toasts have been said, the drone parade they'd organised had been done, going all the way down to Azuma Beach.

As the day came to a close, it was time to get back home

It was a fun day, all in all... but full of mixed emotions. Much as last year, and the year before. She hadn't even received the official letter two years ago. Even now...

No survivors were found.
Potentially from an outside source

The words still cut like knives, deep into her, whenever she thought of them.

She shook her head, took another sip of the last bubble tea of the day, grasped a trinket she'd got from one of the stalls today, her bare feet dragging on the sand as she walked.

She pressed the small netsuke on her hand – a small, colourful statue of Hotei. Its details pressed back against her palm, almost puncturing it. She pressed harder. The pain gave her a sense of worldly presence, a sense of the here and now. It avoided the flights her mind wanted to set off on.

She looked at the sea, looked at the buildings. Looked at the sand. Kept walking. It wasn't so far from Azuma Beach to her apartment - she'd walked down this path countless times. They had.

But it was late. It had been an intense day. She still carried drones on her backpack.

And Bon Odori was ending. Again.

It was a long way back home

[Boogiepop]

The Bon Festivals were often long affairs that could last all night for celebrants. Some people spent all night reflecting on the dead, while some families wrangled everyone together so that they could light a lantern on the beach. This goes double when it came to volunteers! Even as the last of the fireworks and lanterns were offered, there was still an ephemeral feeling in the air. As Ituka made the long walk back to Azuma beach from the Harbourfront core, she would see a long woman who was smoking a cigarette on the boardwalk of the beach...


Utaku Kirara

It was Kirara. She didn't seem to notice Istuka at first, but instead, her gaze was on the horizon as if she could see the sun on the other side.

[Utaku Itsuka]

The Bon Festivals were often long affairs that could last all night for celebrants. Some people spent all night reflecting on the dead, while some families wrangled everyone together so that they could light a lantern on the beach. This goes double when it came to volunteers! Even as the last of the fireworks and lanterns were offered, there was still an ephemeral feeling in the air. As Ituka made the long walk back to Azuma beach from the Harbourfront core, she would see a long woman who was smoking a cigarette on the boardwalk of the beach...


Utaku Kirara

It was Kirara. She didn't seem to notice Istuka at first, but instead, her gaze was on the horizon as if she could see the sun on the other side.

It was as if they were still in the lantern parade - or as if seeing fireflies for the first time. The first thing her eyes follow is the light. In this case, the light of a cigarette. Her gaze followed as the hand holding it made its way from hips, to breast, to mouth, now illuminating the whole face. She blinked, felt her breathing stop. But her feet kept moving. Home? Towards her? She wasn't sure.

It's odd where one's mind may go to, even in the most important of times. Maybe it's a sort of defence, maybe a strategy of the mind to repress thoughts it doesn't know how to deal with.

She breathed in. Mobara Light? It couldn't be her if it were. She'd never liked those. But maybe... it'd been so long. Maybe she'd switched brands? No, she wouldn't. Would she?

Her feet kept moving. Her mind still wasn't sure, but, to her feet, it was quite clear which direction they would home in.

They stopped ten steps or so behind her. They'd brought her home by themselves many times... but, today, they couldn't do everything on their own.

She kept tracing the movements of the cigarette, looking at the silhouette of the woman before her in the dim light. She took another deep breath.

"Ki..."

Her throat was dry, as if it were herself smoking. It seemed to forget it could produce a voice.

Would she think she'd been smoking? She hoped not... she'd always told her not to. And she hadn't, for a long time now!

"Kiki....?"

The syllables came out a bit cracked, as if they weren't sure if they had the right to be pronounced. That didn't make them sound any less caring. Gentle.

Deep.

Passionate. Yearning.

[Boogiepop]

Utaku Kirara

Kirara would pause and stop herself from taking another drag when Itsuka neared her. She looked surprised at first, as if she was caught doing something that she shouldn't have been doing. Smoking, at least with a cigarette, wasn't exactly a popular activity among the Firefly. Life in space, the cramped arrangement sometimes, and also the ventilation situation, were more than enough reasons not to pick up the habit. However, having settled into a life on a planet, at least during most times of the year, it was something of a guilty pleasure from time to time.

That bit of surprise would soon turn into a look that verged between embarrassment and unapologetic. She would attempt to get rid of the evidence with a quick flick of her cigarette into the waters of the Harbourfront, which was easily something that would earn her a sizeable fine for littering. However, the cigarette would never hit the water and scatter completely in burnt ashes, scattering away as if they were individual fireflies.

"Hey there, beautiful," she smirked. "Kept me waiting there. Well...I could have seen you sooner, but you were so busy with everything around here. You looked great today. Happy, almost."

[Utaku Itsuka]

Utaku Kirara

Kirara would pause and stop herself from taking another drag when Itsuka neared her. She looked surprised at first, as if she was caught doing something that she shouldn't have been doing. Smoking, at least with a cigarette, wasn't exactly a popular activity among the Firefly. Life in space, the cramped arrangement sometimes, and also the ventilation situation, were more than enough reasons not to pick up the habit. However, having settled into a life on a planet, at least during most times of the year, it was something of a guilty pleasure from time to time.

That bit of surprise would soon turn into a look that verged between embarrassment and unapologetic. She would attempt to get rid of the evidence with a quick flick of her cigarette into the waters of the Harbourfront, which was easily something that would earn her a sizeable fine for littering. However, the cigarette would never hit the water and scatter completely in burnt ashes, scattering away as if they were individual fireflies.

"Hey there, beautiful," she smirked. "Kept me waiting there. Well...I could have seen you sooner, but you were so busy with everything around here. You looked great today. Happy, almost."

Not Mobara Light, definitely. Probably her usual Lucky Kogeki. The smell seemed even softer... maybe just an impression?

Itsuka's eyes followed the light of the cigarette with each movement of Kirara's hands, trailed it as the ashes burn away and scatter. A bright, luminous smile covered her face from side to side, her eyes blazed with intense warmth, her every movement seemed to dance fondly, like motes flying around a bonfire.

"... Kiki!", she repeated, the gentle fondness in her voice speaking for itself while she can't quite find words. "I... it was a busy day!", she says, laughing a bit.

"Why didn't... you should have joined me sooner!" She sounds almost aggravated, but in a caring, playful way that makes it clear that her being there is more important than anything. "We could have walked through the stalls! Or danced with the drones for the parade, like we sometimes did! Remember that time in Tenjin Town?" She laughs again. "We could have done that in a proper parade!" The smile grows wider with each sentence, as she reminisces, then looks at Kirara again, fondly. "It's been so long since we did that... too long."

Almost happy. The words hit the back of her mind. She could almost feel it. But she looked at Kirara, and that happiness felt almost like a shadow. LIke a haze.

"When... when did you come back, Kiki? It's been so..."

She can't get herself to finish the sentence. She can't get herself to deal with reason right now.

[Boogiepop]

Utaku Kirara

Kiki let out a small laugh as she slowly walked over to Itsuka to get a bit closer. She crossed her long arms and looked at her wife with a small smile, seemingly quite pleased in her expression. "I didn't want to cramp your style and get in the way of all of the festivities, but I did watch you help with the drone show. That was pretty cute. It would have made things just a touch awkward if I were hanging out while you did your thing."

She found herself looking over to the direction of Wherever, rather happy that Itsuka didn't just spend all night there instead. Those first few years without her were pretty tough, she knew.

"Yeah, you're right, doing all of those things would have been pretty fun," she let out a small sigh, certainly feeling the slight disappointment that she missed out on a few of those activities. Still, it would have been a big awkward all things considered.

Kiki would take another step closer and extend her hand. Despite almost seemingly like someone out of a dream in many ways, more certainly from Itsuka's imagination, she would feel real. At least real to Itsuka, and that all that matters between them.

"I made it here just today, actually," she said softly, and her expression was very much at ease with the whole circumstances of it all, refusing to allow this occasion to be sad in the slightest. "And I'm only here for today."