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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

[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.

[espresso_doppio]

Doppio's breath hitched and his eyes began to burn. He was going to cry. His face started burning in embarrassment. He hadn't meant to cry in front of her but the tears were coming unbidden.

"I'm sorry." He wiped at his face with his hand, trying to avoid staining the sleeves of Max's shirt. There was something he was sure he was forgetting - something vitally important. He knew from the moment he was back in his own room and whatever it was hadn't returned to him yet.

[aoihitomi]

"Doppio..." Hitomi placed a band on the back of his head and pulled him into a hug.

[espresso_doppio]

This wasn't his first time being hugged by her, but it was the first time being hugged so tightly. Even just a few moments of her embrace calmed the crackling static in his head. He hugged her back, laying his chin on her shoulder. Slowly, his trembling sobs softened into harsh sniffs.

"...It's hard to not remember. It's really hard. But there is something I feel lucky about."

[aoihitomi]

"What's that?"

[espresso_doppio]

"Most people can't easily say what their first memory is. But I can." Doppio pulled back and gave Hitomi a sheepish grin. "It was you. You with your pendant."

[aoihitomi]

"Was it?" It felt like so long ago... but Hitomi supposed it felt so long ago because it was. She had been with them for longer than she had been with even Van and the others.

"If you do decide to stay here... I can always find you with my pendant." Hitomi had her hesitations before, but now her thought were more steady. Maybe it was because Doppio was shaken up. She had to pull herself together.

[espresso_doppio]

"You could." Doppio didn't say it in conciliatory manner - he said it with full confidence.

Doppio wiped at his eyes and let a few long moments pass before he spoke again. Reigen always told him to do a four-count when he was getting too worked up.

"Um...do you want to walk with me a little more? I'm not ready to go to bed yet."