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[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

[throughthelookingmax]

"You'd better not use all the hot water!"

[espresso_doppio]

~~

Doppio had watched the moon rise from his room after he, Chid, and his father had returned from the pastures. He was exhausted, but he wasn’t able to rest. The room gave him more space than ever had in the van but it felt too cramped somehow. He quietly crept out to get some fresh air. The stairs inside were creaky, and his father would have surely heard him if he had to scale them. That left the matter of Hitomi, though…

She had taken up his old room, and beside his old room was a massive oak tree with branches that hugged the window. Its canopy was as welcoming as he remembered it as a kid as he gently kicked his legs where they hung over the edge.

‘I’m sorry, Hitomi. Thank you for saying yes to this.’

Doppio scooted closer to her window and gently rapped it.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi had been waiting for Doppio all night, ready to reach for the handle at the slightest indication he was standing outside her door. She wasn't expecting him to be outside her window. And more importantly, she wasn't expecting him to be in a tree outside her window.

She opened the window quickly, though it took some effort to push it up as it was stuck; the room had been well-maintained, but Hitomi got the sense from how much she strained to open it that maybe it wasn't aired out very frequently.

"Here," she said, offering her arm to him so he could scramble inside with more support than a tree limb alone. "I don't know what I'd tell anyone if you fell right outside my window."

[espresso_doppio]

“Oh.” He wasn’t that clumsy, was he? “Actually, I was wondering if we could take a walk.”

[aoihitomi]

"A walk?" Hitomi had a habit of repeating things back to people when she was puzzled by what they said. "I haven't really climbed down a tree since I was a little kid, but I should be able to manage it."

[espresso_doppio]

“There isn’t much climbing to do.” Doppio patted the branch he was on to prove his point. It laid nearly horizontal with a canopy of similar branches you could practically step down. He offered his hand in return to help Hitomi out, even if he was sure she didn’t need it. She was much more athletic after all.

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi took his hand in her own. "Thanks." True enough, the trip down wasn't as bad as Hitomi worried it'd be. The trek up would probably be more challenging, though.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" she asked once both of her feet were firmly planted on the ground.

[espresso_doppio]

“I’d say it’s because we didn’t finish our conversation from earlier, but that’s only partly true.” Doppio clasped his hands behind his back in a gesture mimicking Father Serra to keep them from fidgeting. He meandered to the garden, following the arc of the moon. It was bright and very nearly full.

“A lot’s happening and…the truth is that I just always feel better when I talk to you and I couldn’t wait until morning.”

[aoihitomi]

"Oh." Hitomi hadn't expected that answer, but it made her feel good to know that she made others feel better. "Are you still trying to figure out what you want to do?"

[espresso_doppio]

“I haven’t thought at all about it. To be honest…I just really wanted to know if I was a good person or not.”

[aoihitomi]

"Why are your worried about whether or not you're a good person?"

[espresso_doppio]

"Put yourself in my shoes...imagine you lose your memories and you find out you're a killer or something?"

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi could understand how he felt. But...

"I couldn't imagine a killer living with a priest. Or being as kind as you are, Doppio."

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio smiled at that, but it faded soon after. Even if he wasn't a killer or some kind of wretched person, something still weighed on him.

"Hitomi...earlier, were you crying?"

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi knitted her fingers together in front of her and looked down. She tried to put together a smile, to make it look like it didn't bother her.

"Yeah."

[espresso_doppio]

"I had a feeling."

Silence. Doppio paused his meandering trot around the garden, gently kicking around a smooth stone that had gotten dislodged from the path between the beds.

"You've known met so many more people than me. You were separated from your home world...and now you're even separated from your friends you met afterwards." Except for Chid.

[aoihitomi]

"Yeah, but none of them have been like you."

[espresso_doppio]

"What do you mean?"

[aoihitomi]

"You're very different." How could she even begin to explain? "You're kind and eager to help. You don't need to be thanked or complimented, but you like to be. And... there's just something quirky about you." That was the part that would be hardest to explain.

[espresso_doppio]

"Oh."

'Quirky?'

"Is that...a good thing?" 'She didn't say it like it was a BAD thing...'

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi smiled. "Yes. You're unique."

[espresso_doppio]

"You're really kind...more than anyone else." After meeting plenty of people on the road, he was more sure of that than ever. "That's why I'm worried. Being separated from you all...the thought is unbearable for me. And you've had to suffer that over and over again."

[aoihitomi]

Hitomi swallowed. "Do you... do you want to stay here, then?"

[espresso_doppio]

"I don't know." Doppio fell back against the cradle of the oak tree, hugging himself. "There's so much I'm forgetting. I'm sure of it. It's scary. ...You and Reigen were the only people in my world for a long time. The thought of forgetting you...it's too painful for words. But then I think, did the person I was before feel the same way about people who I can't even remember now...?"

[aoihitomi]

"Maybe we should stay here until you remember more." Hitomi wasn't sure if the others agreed, but maybe it would be easier for Doppio to make a decision if he knew more than he knows now.