Our Last Days as Children

[Zach Kaiser]

"Good. I'm glad." It looks like he was worrying for nothing; he often forgot about Akizetsumei's job because he was usually fairly busy when she wasn't around, either helping his parents or studying. He was glad she enjoyed it, though. It also had gotten her father off her back, which made everyone's life easier.

He leaned up and gave Akizetsumei a quick peck on the lips. "You know I can't help but worry about you," he said with a smile.

[Nayt]

"Awwww," she smiled brightly, "Eldri~dge . . ."

Akizetsumei placed an even longer kiss on Eld's lips just then. He was sweet, worrying about her like that. She didn't think he had much reason to worry, but she also didn't think her father had much reason to worry about her, either--or Toushikyo, for that matter.

"Well you don't gotta worry too much!" she chimed, "I can take care of myself, you know? I've made the trip to Galaens and back by myself five times. And then a whole bunch others with help but you know what I think I can start making it myself all the time now."

All this said with her lips still close to Eld's, and intoned with a whisper, which might have seemed intimate until she fell into a tangent--but after a year dating her, Eld probably wouldn't even be surprised or caught off guard or disappointed. Akizets just had a habit of saying what was on her mind, always, usually using the same brand of faux mental punctuation and everything.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld smiled; anyone else might have thought it odd the way Akizetsumei tended to speak her thoughts no matter the circumstances, but he was used to it and he wouldn't change it even if he could.

"That's true. You could probably go whenever you wanted now." He gave a mock sigh. "My little Akizetsumei is growing up. Soon you won't have any need for me, and will leave me behind, surely as the wind sweeps across the plain..."

Had he had the room, he probably would have put the back of his hand to his forehead in distress and maybe even faked swooning. As it was he had to settle for flopping his arms on the bed dramatically.

[Nayt]

"Wh-what?" Akizets replied, audibly abashed.

Oh, no! Akizetsumei had accidentally convinced Eldridge that she was going to leave him behind or something! Akizets now felt the austere need to tell him that he was wrong and that she'd never do that, ever, and if she could bring him along for every trip ever, she would.

"No way! Then I'd be lonely!" she exclaimed, hoping at least to get the point across that she could go anywhere, maybe, but ultimately she just wanted to be with him. "I'd want you to come with me . . ."

To top it all off, she pouted a little as she looked into his eyes. There was no more telling signs of sincerity from the girl than that (not that looking for sincerity from her was ever a problem, pretty much all she said and did was genuine and sincere).

[Zach Kaiser]

"No my love, you mustn't!" Eld took her by the shoulders dramatically, though his attempts convince her he was serious were going to be marred by the smile he couldn't quite hide. "You are a brilliant star destined to shine in the night sky!"

"I am but a common man, I would merely hold you back." The expression on his face wasn't quite conveying the sorrow he tried to inflect his voice with. It didn't help that he was now sounding like someone from at least fifty years ago.

"Fly, my love! Spread your wings, and give me nary another thought. The limitless sky awaits you." By this point she had to catch on to his act; normal people didn't speak like that. Even most eccentric people didn't speak like that. Only in old dramas did anyone even consider speaking like that.

[Nayt]

When Eld was first beginning into this charade, Akizetsumei was fairly ignorant to it. But after that? She'd have to have been exceptionally dumb not to pick up on Eld's insincerity. Though, were she exceptionally dumb, she'd have found the compliments very sweet--strange, but sweet--and probably told him not to worry about it. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.

Akizets could have also berated him for being incredibly silly. Instead, she opted to go with it, and return the silliness in kind. Perhaps even be sillier than him. Who knows!

"Well, maybe," she said as she pulled away from him a bit.

She pushed herself up until she was sitting on his hips. With her hands on her hips, she nodded sagely, as if to show stern agreement with Eld.

"A great adventurer has to leave the hearth sometime! It's the only way I'll become the coolest explorer ever," she tried to be as frank as possible. Akizets then looked Eld in the face and set her hands upon his belly to keep herself stable, "But if you practice and train and stuff like that . . . well! I could maybe use a hand or something, you know! Like, ummm, someone to carry all my maps and stuff."

[Zach Kaiser]

"My lady, you are too kind!" Eld placed one hand on his chest and gave a facsimile of a bow...or at least as good a one as he could give with Akizetsumei sitting on him. "My feeble self will train every day in body, mind, and spirit so that I might walk the many paths of the world by your side!"

He then propped himself up on his elbows and looked into her eyes. His dream was to be a doctor; that was most likely never going to change. But it wouldn't be a bad thing, he decided, if he spent time following Akizetsumei as she journeyed to wherever she wished to go.

The silliness dropped out of both his voice and expression. "I would follow you to the ends of the earth," he whispered softly.

[Nayt]

Akizetsumei softened, too. Eld dropped the act, and so did she. Still sitting on him, she set her hands upon his sides to hold herself up, so she could, if the opportunity presented itself, lean down and kiss him. Which would no doubt be happening in the next few seconds.

"I love you, Eldridge," she said again, a tone of appreciation in her voice.

--And indeed, she leaned down to kiss him again, set her hands upon his chest to keep herself from falling forward, and pressed her lips upon his. A long kiss was fine by her, and she'd certainly kiss him until it seemed a good idea to pull away and say a little more.

"Seriously," she whispered upon pulling away, "You're the best, ever."

[Zach Kaiser]

"Nope," Eld said with a shake of his head. "The position of best person ever is reserved solely for you."

And with that he leaned in to kiss her again. Even after all this time, Akizetsumei's kisses held just as much sincerity as they ever did. He could kiss her all day. And practically had a few times now.

It was a little longer before he broke away this time. "I don't mind being in second, though."

[Nayt]

Any will to contest Eld on that point was lost when he returned her kiss. She took in a deep breath through her nostrils and shut her eyes. There were a lot of things in her life that were easy to forget, but the niceness of Eld's lips were not amongst them. She let herself remain there until Eld pulled away to speak again.

Under any other circumstances, Akizetsumei would have still contested the point--told Eld that they could at least be equals or something. But that required him to not be super sweet and not have the most inviting kisses ever (in her humble opinion, of course). And so, rather than speak, she replied by kissing him again, this time not necessarily planning on withdrawing from his lips for awhile.

Akizets wormed her hands under Eld's shirt, seeking a familiar, and somewhat called for, warmth in the feel of his skin. She didn't necessarily remove his shirt, just ran her hands up his chest--which, in turn, pushed his shirt up. All she wanted to do, though, was run her hands up until she could touch his collarbone.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld wrapped his arms around Akizetsumei as she kissed him again, a kiss both intended to be much longer than the ones that preceded it. It wasn't long into it that she began to run her arms up his chest, incidentally lifting his shirt in the process. Not that he minded; on the contrary her touch never failed to make him feel warm and tingly, even if it something innocuous. The psychology book stated that the mind could have a great effect on the body; he often wondered if being in love actually made him more sensitive.

Not that it was on his mind particularly now; not much was other than the sweetness of Akizetsmei's lips. But while she might not have intended it, she was starting to get him to think about what else there hands and bodies could be doing while kissing. He began to fidget with the hem of her shirt.

Finally, he reluctantly broke the kiss, which was for the best as they'd both probably need to catch their breath. Still fidgeting, Eld began to ask her something. "Hey, do you-"

He was interrupted by a knock on the (still half open) door. "Feeling warm, dear?" Rebbecca Tsukimono asked, poking her head in and smiling in a way that did not quite hide a twinge of evilness.

"H-Huh? Oh, er no-I mean yeah, is there something you need?" he responded, trying to quickly change the subject.

"Just thought I'd let you know since we're having a slow day your father is going to cook. Dinner will be ready soon," she almost sang as she left to return to business.

Eld groaned and flopped back down on his bed. "How does she always know?" he complained aloud.

[Nayt]

Having been down this road enough times, Akizetsumei could have guessed what was about to happen next, and had she been thinking about it, she'd have been perfectly all right with it. Of course, she wasn't thinking about it, and she was, nonetheless, perfectly all right with what was happening here in the now. She didn't start actually thinking about it until he broke their kiss, whereupon she realized he was fiddling with the hem of her shirt, and she reached one of her hands down, fully intending to help him out a little. Well, a lot. This was probably going to end with them being mostly incapable of removing her shirt, and having to take a long moment to mess around, before eventually just getting impatient and either Eld or Akizetsumei just pulling it off. Really, it'd happened before. More than once, even.

This time, though, it ended with them being walked in on. Akizetsumei froze up. For the entire duration of Mrs. Tsukimono's brief stay in Eld's room, she was completely silent. Didn't breath. Hardly realized her heart was still beating. Honestly, it could've stopped entirely and she probably wouldn't have noticed. When Rebbecca left, Akizets collapsed onto Eld, issuing a similar groan, partly for the same reason as Eld, and partly due to the work she was going to have to do to make sure this didn't get back to her parents. And also save her dignity a little. At least she was wearing clothes, though.

"O-oh maaaan," she whispered meekly, "N-now I-- I gotta tell her w-we were . . . we weren't doin' nothin'. Ohhh maaan."

Well that was lame! And super embarrassing, too!

[Zach Kaiser]

"Don't bother. It just makes you look more guilty." Eld spoke from experience on this, as she'd probably heard by now. Back when he and Sarah were a...something, their relationship had been found out by his parents. Of course then it had been a far more incriminating situation, but the facts still stood.

"I mean...we were just kissing anyway. I don't think anything will come of it. Probably." While he knew his parents worried at first about their relationship, he liked to think they had a level of trust in them now.

The trade off was that they were going to bring this up for the next few months whenever they wanted him to do something beyond his usual chores.

[Nayt]

"Ohhhhh, but . . . but . . ." Akizetsumei trailed off, pouting.

What if they tell my parents?

She was about ready to ask that, but then thought better of it. Rebbecca probably wouldn't tell Akizetsumei's parents. And if she did, Eld was right: they weren't doing anything. They were just kissing. There was nothing wrong with kissing! Well, just in case, she rolled off of Eld, just to be sure. Thinking about it some more, that was part of why it was super lame that they were caught. They were having fun and everything. Akizetsumei was just as disappointed as Eld, in fact! But, no matter. This wasn't going to ruin her day. Because, honestly . . . no one could ever say Akizetsumei's experiences today were bad. In fact, altogether, it'd been pretty good.

In spite of everything, she was still able to lay flat on her back, look over at Eld, and smile.

"Guess we should get dinner, huh?"

---

Winter was always Toushikyo of Terra's favorite time of the year. This year, it was also the time that new recruits for the militia left their homes for a good while. It cycled every year, it seemed. Some years it was in spring, others in summer. The worst ones were in fall. At least, worst for most people. Toushikyo wouldn't mind minded. He would have been going away to be cold, and come back even colder. It would've been more comfortable for him. Perhaps even made him perform better in training.

"Ohhhh, I don't see him aaanywhere!" Akizetsumei protested as she tried to stand on the tips of her toes. Or her snow boots, rather.

Hillcrest was three feet deep in snow, and everyone outside was wearing at least two layers of clothing. Akizets stood with her family and friends. Her mother and father managed to get the time off from work for this. Maya, Sarah, Emily, and Eldridge, too, was with them. Etsu . . . wasn't. She'd left recently. Went back home. Noah, too, was able to make it. He looked beaten and battered to hell, but he was as lively as ever. Akizets had already mommied him over the injuries, though, so her friends and family were spared the display.

Beyond the growing crowd, there stood a collective of several dozen young men, all clothed in bulky winter-made dark maroon uniforms. None of them stood in rank or file, and all seemed to talk amongst themselves. Many of them were even out in the rest of the crowd, with friends and family. Eld, Akizets, and the others, on the other hand, were here to see one very particular person off.

[Zach Kaiser]

It was both a joyous and apprehensive occasion. From what Eld understood this trip was something of a rite of passage for new recruits into the militia, which meant that after this Toushikyo would either be a full member or at least well on his way to being one.

But he also guessed the trip wasn't going to be easy considering the reputation of the Hillcrest militia. It was probably intended as a trial to weed out those who weren't cut out for the job, and while he was certain his friend was perfectly capable of handling himself, he was worried about how his "condition" would affect him away from home. Though for all he knew it might be easier, being with people he wasn't as attached to. There'd be less of a difference on those days.

Unfortunately, he'd also yet to arrive--or perhaps he was already here and just doing a good job of blending in with the other recruits. Eld glanced at the friends and family waiting patiently for them. Noah was also present, looking pretty beat up. It looked like he'd taken a bit worse than picking a fight with some punks this time.

Maya was also present, of course. How would she him off? Or perhaps she'd already said anything she had in mind in private. He normally didn't like to be nosy with other people's relationships, but if Toushikyo was like Akizetsumei it could mean more than just resolving a crush.

Having gotten Akizetsumei on his mind, Eld considered that while she was normally pretty honest and open, she was probably much more worried about her brother than she let on. They had a strange relationship (at least to Eld, who was an only child) that seemed practically antagonistic at first, but he knew they cared a lot for each other.

"Here," he said, grabbing Akizetsumei by the waist and lifting her up so she could get a better view. If nothing else it would probably act as a beacon for Toushikyo to find if he was looking for them.