Our Last Days as Children

[Nayt]

"So, um, Eldridge, um . . ." Akizetsumei slowed to a stop.

They were out for a walk that afternoon. It was late fall and Hillcrest stood on the precipice of winter. They had to wear jackets and long pants, and around nightfall, they could see their breath. The summer days were long since over, lost by nearly three months, but it wasn't so bad. Three months displaced from summer meant Akizetsumei of Terra and Eldridge Tsukimono had been dating for five months. She'd been buzzing around her house all week since realizing it, chattering on about how it was almost half a year. Milestones like that were huge to her. Like their first month anniversary--she was non-stop clinging, hugging, and even a bit of kissing that day. They'd gone out for dinner, sat up on Eld's favorite hill, watched the sun go down . . . It was really sweet.

She was told that a lot of girls her age never had a relationship lasting more than a month--that the fact they breached two months was miraculous enough, but Akizets couldn't see how. Eld was pretty much one of the coolest guys she'd ever known. Why would she ever want to break up with him? In fact, she had feelings for him that her mother warned her about--told her to hold in as long as humanly possible if Akizets hoped to make this relationship last. So she tried. She really, really tried. But honestly, if she held it back any longer, she felt like she was going to burst.

Akizets folded her hands together and wet her lips.

The times holding back was good for them, though. They broke the month barrier and started to settle down--started to be more like themselves. It seemed every month, another flaw slipped out, another period of vulnerability began, and another moment of acceptance brought them even closer. Akizetsumei was not always so happy, for instance. In their first month together, she really seemed it--almost like she was constantly high on life, capable of getting momentarily upset at something, but always bouncing back in minutes, sometimes even seconds.

But that wasn't her. She was still riding the waves of euphoria back then and unconsciously toning herself down for Eld's sake. The truth of the matter was that she could get seriously upset. She could get angry with someone and consciously choose to avoid them for as long as humanly possible. In fact, it wasn't but a month ago that she displayed the true depth of that.

---

It was raining on that fall night, a hard downpour fueling a violent thunderstorm. Businesses closed early and no one left their houses. Signs of the rain earlier that day called for a lot of family members to voluntarily take many of the clinic's patients home with them--something a family could very well do; the Tsukimonos could advise against it all they liked, but the patient's family ultimately had the final say, and hours early, the clinic was cleared of all but two patients--both of whom were sleeping by the time evening came. It was a record: the slowest fall day in as long as the Tsukimonos had been running this clinic.

The Tsukimonos even had time to sit down and enjoy a nice dinner together as a family--something that didn't often get to happen in that household.

Well, at least it would've been calm and quiet had someone not started banging on the door near the end of their dinner.

[Zach Kaiser]

Following the hiccup of complete strangeness that occurred in his life early summer, things had once again fallen into more or less routine for Eldridge Tsukimono. He'd made up with his parents, and while he wasn't sure if Etsu had entirely forgiven them she'd at least gotten to the point where she could be civil with them.

His relationship with Akizetsumei had not exactly stayed a secret; his parents and friends knew about it, and he'd received quite a lecture from the latter about dating a girl younger than him. Especially one as fragile as Akizetsumei. That had been...awkward, and probably unnecessary, but he couldn't blame them for being careful.

It was unusual night; it was quiet, and entire family was settling down for dinner for once. It didn't happen too often, but with so few patients at the clinic even his parents were out of things to do, let alone him. It was a boring kind of strange, not a crazy kind of strange. So far.

Then came someone at the door, and they way they railed on it he doubted it was a social call. "I'll get it," Eld said quickly, hurriedly going over to see who it was, his parents looking on in interest.

[Nayt]

If Eld hadn't got up to go after the door, Etsu would have. She was even half-way standing before Eld shot up and started for the door. With a shrug of her shoulders, she plopped back down and looked on with Eld's parents.

Outside, the storm was a lot worse than it sounded from inside. It was practically like someone out there was trying to drown Hillcrest, though only succeeded in reducing it to one massive mud field. It also successfully reduced the one person walking out there to a drowned rat.

"E-- Eldridge?" the girl sniffled.

Akizetsumei's hair was down, in hair face, and soaked to her skin--just like her clothes, what little she'd brought on her: a pair of shorts and a tank top. The blue of her shirt was toned down by streaks of mud across her right side, as well as a few barely bleeding scrapes on her knee and shoulder. She only wore one sandal, and it was about useless; both of her feet were equally dirty, with or without shoes.

This was the worst she'd looked since she touched those fans months ago.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Akizetsumei!" While it certainly wasn't unusual for her drop by, during a severe thunderstorm was odd--and the condition she was in was downright alarming. Urikuse and Rebbecca instantly got up, though was in plain she was more shaken up than hurt.

"What's wrong?" Eld asked, gently taking her arm and pulling her in out of the rain. She'd clearly been in a hurry to get here, as she wouldn't have ventured out in this weather without a good reason.

His parents, meanwhile, were grabbing their coats, having jumped to the most obvious conclusion: if someone were in a hurry to get to the Tsukimono house in a storm, it was probably because they needed a doctor.

[Nayt]

Etsu perked her head up and furrowed her brow. It wasn't unusual for Akizetsumei to come over unannounced, sure, but she never came around in a bad state, not like this. As much as Etsu didn't really communicate with the girl, she didn't want to see harm done to her. But she remained at the dinner table, nonetheless. If she got up and went to Eld's side, she'd have just been crowding Akizets. Rebbecca and Urikuse were en route, and that'd make three people all gathered around the girl in a panic.

Of course, the Rebbecca and Urikuse had every reason to panic--especially with Akizetsumei. They knew a medical history that Eld and Etsu did not.

"I . . ." Akizets sniffed.

She came in from the rain, but limped a bit to get inside. She favored her uninjured leg and consciously chose not to use her scraped arm.

"I ran away," she whimpered, her voice shaky and cracked, as though she'd already been crying for awhile, and though she'd stopped, she was still about ready to at any given moment.

[Zach Kaiser]

That was...not the response any of them were expecting. Eld glanced back at his parents, who'd stopped in the middle of preparing to go into the storm, but they didn't have any more idea than he did. They still looked concerned though; Eld supposed it was because Akizetsumei's condition. They'd want to take care of her injuries, minor though they seemed, and make sure there were no major ones.

But that would come a little later. "Well, you're alright now," Eld assured her, leading her to the kitchen table and letting her sit down. "What were you running from?"

The obvious answer, the classic child running away from home, was not something he could easily picture. Her family loved her, and although they had occasional arguments it was hard to believe they'd do something to drive Akizetsumei away entirely.

[Nayt]

The girl shivered in her newfound chair. She was cold, wet, and dirty--tracking mud all through the Tsukimonos' house, on the wood floor and the carpet, too. She didn't yet realize it, though. It was going to take her a bit, maybe but horrid guilt was guaranteed when she did.

"H-home," she whimpered through a shiver.

Etsu looked on curiously. She didn't know Akizetsumei's family all that well--only she and Toushikyo, actually. Oboreru rarely came along when they were all together, and she'd only met Gestahl and Katalyna all but twice, both times when Etsu herself was visiting the house with Toushikyo. From what she knew, though, they weren't bad people--so, why? Why would Akizets be out like this, out in a hard rainstorm? Etsu probably wasn't the only one to default to thinking about Akizetsumei's family. Though, she was the first to ask:

"Are Gestahr-r-sama or Katar-ryna-sama r-rooking for you?" Etsu asked.

Akizets shook her head quickly--but not to say no. "Idon'tcare."

". . . Souka," Etsu nodded her head and went silent. That was enough for her already. It was almost high time for her to retire to her room.

[Zach Kaiser]

What happened? But even though that was the foremost question on his mind, it was not his foremost concern; Akizetsumei's well-being was. "W-Well, you're welcome to stay here. Umm...you can eat if you want-" he gestured to the table "-or, if you want to get cleaned up you're welcome to use the bathroom."

Rebbecca coughed to get their attention. "Akizetsumei, dear, I know you're upset, but please come into the clinic before too long so we can get you patched up." With that, she left to start preparing for a checkup.

Urikuse meanwhile sat back down at the table, though not to resume eating. "And if you'd like to tell us what happened-"

"F-Father," Eld protested lightly, putting his arms around her.

"-feel free to, but it's okay if you don't," he continued, giving Eld an annoyed look.

[Nayt]

Eld wrapped his arms around her, and Akizets felt a little warmer. She leaned her head against his chest and fought back another sudden urge to start crying.

Akizets looked up to Rebbecca, saying pleadingly shortly thereafter, "I-- I'm fine, honest."

She really didn't want a checkup right now. Really really really didn't want one. She was okay, really! She was just cold and wet and could probably use a change of clothes, that was all! But . . . there was probably no talking her way out of this, and they offered to let her stay here, so . . .

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "D-- daddy yelled at me," she whispered, "Um . . . a lot. And . . . and mom didn't even stop him. A-- and Tou and Reru just . . . th-- they were all . . ."

. . . against me. But she probably didn't have to say that much. The implication was readily there. Were it just her father yelling at her, she'd probably have not run out into the rain like that. Akizets held her arms over Eld's and shivered, she'd have sighed were she warmer.

"It's so unfair . . ."

[Zach Kaiser]

"We will be taking a look at you tonight," Urikuse stated.

"Ummm..." Eld hesitated; this was...not something he normally did. "I-I'm sure Akizetsumei would feel something if she was hurt, right? I can clean up the scrapes and stuff, so...why don't we save the checkup for tomorrow?" He leaned into Akizetsumei protectively, though he couldn't help but cringe a little. While he'd argued with his parents plenty, he'd never done so about anything related to health or medicine. He fully expected to be yelled at.

But though Urikuse gave him a hard look for several moments, he ended up nodding in consent. "Very well. I'll tell your mother on my way out," he said, standing up and getting his coat again.

"W-Where are you going?" Eld asked, surprised by the double whammy of his father relenting and also going out in the storm.

"To tell her family she's safe; otherwise, they'll probably go out looking for her, if they haven't already." There was a chance they figured where she'd go anyway, but he knew what it was like to be a parent. Probably okay just isn't good enough.

[Nayt]

Etsu cleared her throat as she stood up, a means of announcing her departure. She excused herself without further dialogue, returned to her room, and closed the door behind her. It might have been easy to call her moody, but it was really just the opposite. In her eyes, Akizets was being a bit of a brat. It would've been much easier for the girl to just go to her room, after all. But she wasn't going to press the issue or criticize the girl. Eld would've just gotten upset with Etsu if she did, and because she was living with him and all, it was best to try avoiding that. She'd been down that road before. It did not end well.

With the two of them now alone, Akizetsumei squeezed the forearm Eld had around her. He was probably a bit wet and muddy himself from holding onto her, and given a few moments of rest, she'd probably catch onto that and feel horrible. Eld really disliked being dirty, after all, and was probably going to insist that he take a bath in the next four hours, regardless of if he'd bathed earlier today or not. And then he'd waste a bunch of water and a bunch of time and probably feel a little grumpy about it-- and she'd also messed up their carpet, too, and--

The realizations were all beginning to happen simultaneously, but the fact that Eld was still holding her kept them from spilling over and inducing total panic.

"Th-- thanks, Eldridge . . ." she whispered sincerely.

At least someone was in her corner . . .

[Zach Kaiser]

"It's alright," Eld replied softly. "I know what it's like to get in a big fight with your parents." He wondered that Etsu didn't sympathize more with Akizetsumei; in all likelihood she believed that the argument she mentioned was over something trivial.

But he knew Akizetsumei; she wouldn't have run away if it was just a matter of her family teasing her. If she had to get out of the house entirely, they must have been arguing over something very important to her. He couldn't help but wonder what--after all, from what he'd witnessed she could usually count on her mother to take her side (she'd even supported her decision to date him when the rest of the family was wary of it).

"Why don't we get you cleaned up?" Eld offered. "We'll get those scrapes taken care of, and I can get a bath ready for you." While he could probably get by with just a change of clothes and a little scrubbing with a washcloth (though he admittedly wanted to take a full bath again, he couldn't be too wasteful with water) she'd definitely need to soak for a bit. He imagined getting clean would help her feel better, too.

[Nayt]

All Akizets could do was nod and smile a little. There was no outright bouncing back from this. She could try, but as of right now, she still had the argument on her mind--she was dwelling on it, and so long as she couldn't put it out of her mind, she couldn't start really feeling any better.

So she went through all the motions with Eld, stayed as silent as she could (albeit with a good deal of wincing) as he cleaned up her scrapes, waited patiently as he prepared a bath for her, and remained in the bathroom separate from him for a solid hour and a half. By that point, she really didn't feel like crying anymore, but she was still brooding. There was a lot of silence, a lot of knee hugging, and a lot of frowning. It wasn't until she got out of the bath and got a towel around her that she actually started to feel a bit better. Her skin was clean of mud, her hair wasn't stringy and muddy, and she no longer felt like she'd walked through a hurricane. She was warm and comfortable in an exceptionally soft white towel that had probably been made for a person three times her size.

It was the first major relief she'd felt all night.

What followed, however, was a momentary embarrassment, as Akizetsumei of Terra realized that she did not bring any clothes with her. She had only what she was wearing, and all of that was pretty much toast until someone could clean it. That was . . . well, that was kind of everything she needed! Shirt, shorts, bra, underwear . . .

The only rational way of attending to this was to tie the towel around her as tight as she could, sneak out of the bathroom-- and still dripping wet --tip-toe to Eld's room, where she'd knock upon his door, hesitantly poke her head in (whilst clinging to her towel for dear life, just in case fate decided to hate on her for a bit), say as hushed as she possibly could, "Ummmm, E-- Eldridge? Idon'thaveanyclothes."

[Zach Kaiser]

With Akizetsumei in the bathroom, Eld occupied himself with cleaning up the entryway and dining room and making preparations for her spending the night. He had gotten the futon out, though he didn't know if it would be needed--he figured he'd probably end up sleeping on the couch or something, and give her his bed. After all, she might not be comfortable with him even in the same room.

Actually, that was just kidding himself. She'd probably be fine with it--after all, spending the night with him would probably not give her the same thoughts it gave him.

When the knock came upon his door, he was surprised by the question that followed. That...hadn't occurred to him. Assuming (fortunately correctly) that Akizetsumei would not have gone up to his door if she'd not been decent, he opened it. Also fortunately, the towel covered enough of her that he did not feel as awkward as he probably could have.

"Ummm..." He glanced at the door to Etsu's room; the most obvious solution was to ask her to lend out some of her clothing for the night, but when he'd asked earlier if Akizetsumei could stay in her room he'd gotten a less than positive response. He didn't particularly feel like pressing his luck just now. "You can wear some of my old clothes for now."

He motioned for her to follow him inside before going over to his closet. She'd swim in any of the clothes he currently wore, but older stuff should suffice. He pulled out a shirt and a pair of sweatpants. "I-If you want underwear, I'm afraid I've only got boxers." He wasn't exactly sure she'd want to wear those, even if they were clean. He certainly wouldn't have worn women's underwear after all.

[Nayt]

She followed Eld into his room, tiptoeing the whole way. She continued to hold the towel close to her skin and even checked around her every other second, hoping to see that Eld's parents or someone else was not around to see her in nothing but a towel, slinking into her boyfriend's room alone with him. Because they would have gotten the wrong idea, and that would've just lead to horrible things!

Nevertheless, once she was safely in his room, she was able to relax. Perhaps it was an inherent snoopishness, but she leaned around Eld and practically watched over his shoulder (as best she could) as he rummaged through his old clothes, and regarded her choices with acceptance for the most part.

"Oh, um, actually, boxers are just like shorts, right?" she asked rhetorically, "I think just boxers and a shirt would be okay?"

Akizets didn't wear sweatpants all that often, anyways. Shorts were way cooler. After a half second, though, she noticed another issue, one she promptly brought up.

"A-and, ummmmm," Akizets started strong, but quickly fell into a meek whisper as she requested: "M-maybeadifferent, um, colored, um, t-t-shirt, please?"

That . . . that was a white t-shirt. That was not going to work. That was not going to work at all.