(no subject)

[throughthelookingmax]

"Hey, looks like there's a town up ahead."

Reigen obviously saw it --- he was the one driving, so he saw just about everything. But Max wasn't sure that the others in the back had. She looked over the shoulder of her seat as she said it, making sure that her voice wasn't drowned out by the sound of the 80s citypop CD they acquired at the last town they ran into.

Max turned back around and squinted her eyes, trying her best to filter out the rays of blinding light that seemed to reflect off of everything.

"I think it might be near a beach, too," she said. "That looks like a seagull, right?" Max pointed at the figure of a bird flying overhead.

Comments

[princechid]

"Yes, of course." Chid was nothing if not obedient.

[espresso_doppio]

It took Doppio a moment to realize he and Hitomi were alone. He suddenly felt awkward and he wasn't sure why.

"...Can I...be honest about something?"

[aoihitomi]

"Sure."

[espresso_doppio]

"I'm really nervous...I should be happy, shouldn't I?"

[aoihitomi]

"Well, I think it's normal to be nervous about the unknown. There's so many things it can be."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio's shoulders drew up. "I'm nervous about me."

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi figured as much. "If you think it might make you feel better... I could do a reading for you."

[espresso_doppio]

"Well...that's the thing." Doppio tried to smile as if that could lighten the weight of what he was about to say. "This whole time I've been wondering if the person who I was before is anyone worth remembering."

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi got the sense that there was more that Doppio wanted to say, so she just listened.

[espresso_doppio]

"I've been clinging to this person who I'm sure I knew. I told you about them, right? But I don't even remember their name or their voice. So...back when we all first met...when I got nervous, I would try and imagine what their face looked like. I'd imagine what kind of words of encouragement they'd have...it's silly, right?" Doppio laughed a little. "But lately, when I'm worried...I don't picture their face anymore. I see Reigen, and Max, and Chid...and I see your face, Hitomi."

[aoihitomi]

"Our friendship isn't going to change, even if you learn more about yourself." Hitomi was confident of this. "We're all with you, Doppio."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio's forced smile softened. "I know you all have lives to return to, but...if this never changed, I wouldn't mind at all."

Doppio stood, brushing off Max's jeans. "I know that's cowardly of me, but that's how I feel. Whoever I was before...I'm scared of it replacing who I am now."

Everyone had been so kind and patient. It was only now he felt like he was getting to a place where he could reciprocate.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi stood up after him and turned so she was face to face with him. "If you're not sure you're ready, we don't have to go."

[espresso_doppio]

"I..." He wanted to say it was fine, but was it?

Before he could process the question in full, he paused. There was a voice nearby that didn't belong to Reigen or Chid, but it was obscured by the van.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Oh no, we're doing alright. Just cleaning the back out." Reigen laughed, trying to ease the kindly older man's concern. "Are you from the village nearby?"

"I am. I lead the Cresia de Santu Jude parish. If you and your son drive just a bit further, you'll find it."

"Oh, he's not my..."

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi turned at the sound of new voices.

"I wonder who that is..."

[princechid]

"He's my guardian," Chid supplied. "He's taking care of me until we find my aunt."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Is that so? Ah, but forgive my manners. I'm Father Gavino Serra."

"Arataka Reigen," Reigen replied a bit more formally than he would otherwise. Even he had more sense than to flippantly introduce himself as a psychic to a Catholic priest. Or maybe it was just the effect this man had on him. He had this austere presence about him, but it was full of warmth. He put a hand on Chid's head and gave it a friendly ruffle. "This cute little bugger is Chid. It's as he says."

"So, you're travelers...that's uncommon." Father Serra looked the van over, visibly impressed by it's condition. "The wanderers I've come across tend to have nothing but the clothes on their backs."

"We definitely got lucky along the way. We've come a pretty far way with an even farther way to go, but I've got a lot of resourceful companions."

"Do you?" Father Serra paused, and Reigen could tell there was a question lingering on his tongue. "Well...I hate to trouble you, but...I'm looking for someone. Perhaps you've come across him during your travels..."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio couldn't see who it was, but he felt a strange itch in his head at the sound of his voice. He rubbed his eye slowly. His head pulsed, but it wasn't quite painful - it was something else.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi took a few steps towards the others. "Who are you looking for?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Father Serra held clasped his calloused hands in front of himself firmly, but the way his thumbs dug into his skin betrayed his nerves in daring to ask the question. “I’m asking on behalf of my son. He’s young…around your age, in fact.” He smiled briefly at Hitomi as she appeared around the corner of the van. “When the world…changed, he was at sea. One of my old friends was teaching him how to navigate. He’s not come back since.”

“I’m truly sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, we haven’t really been at sea since any of us have been…you know….puttering about.” Reigen rubbed the back of his head. “Can you tell us what he looks like?”

“He’s got a unique look to him,” Father Serra laughed. “Rather striking pink hair, if you can believe it. You may not believe me, but he was born that way.”

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi immediately spun and looked at Doppio, her eyes wide.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen reached the same conclusion at the same time as Hitomi, but his shock was even plainer.

‘No.’

‘Really?’

He should have spoken so as not to leave the kind man hanging, but that stopped mattering when Doppio rounded the corner.

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio’s legs had moved before his brain could think. When their eyes met, His mouth moved but no sounds came out. He suddenly felt like a child again, small and lost.

The raw fragmented memories poured out into his awareness. The smell of incense clinging to his clothes. The slow chiming of bells. The heavy fabric of his cassock. The flickering flames of a hearth.

Doppio saw the man cover his mouth, his eyes screwing up with pure emotion. It was for him. He knew this man. This man knew him.

“Patri meu?”

[aoihitomi]

"Your father?" Hitomi hadn't intended for the words to slip from her mouth, but they spilled before she could even stop them. She turned her eyes away from Doppio and towards the priest in front of them. "You're Doppio's father?"