That smile is the only thing that keeps him from being completely on edge. She's not crying, but she could, easily, and he just can't stop bracing for the rain to drop down on him even here.
But she does smile, so relieved, so joyous, over something so simple as a picture. He can't imagine how it will be when she's home. Will it rain then? Or will the sweet outweigh the bitter and bring him blinding blue skies? Will he be able to stand watching it all through Ichigo's eyes? Could he stand to miss a moment?
He shakes himself of those thoughts, just in time for her to ask that question. "Maybe Game is the wrong word. It was more like we were being toyed with."
One hand rises up to run through his hair, brushing back long tresses. He moves to the counter and leans against it, looking down through the floor as he recalls. "I woke up like this in some kind of coffeshop. Ichigo walked in looking like he was lost. Everyone could see me, but I'll admit, I was-" Caught in the memory of his last moments, of they year as Ichigo, of seeing him again just like that. "-Distracted. Ichigo and I started fighting, like we always do. Only everyone around kept trying to stop us. I said some things and then... time just... went back. Like rewinding a tape. And when we tried to leave, it did the same thing. No one seemed to notice but Ichigo and I. They kept calling me Shirou and called us brothers. They insisted that I worked there and Ichigo worked at some other shop."
And then he makes a face, one that's unhappy but also warped like he still doesn't believe what he says then. "I've been stuck making humans their stupid coffee orders for days." He shakes his head. "But, doing that was the only way to keep it from going back. It was like someone had rewritten the world for us. We had apartments filled with junk, Ichigo was in a band, people acted like they knew us." His expression darkens. "One of them tried talking about you. Ichigo decked him even before I could. That sent us back again too." To be honest, in retrospect, it was worth it.
He shrugs that off. "I didn't let us go forward again until Ichigo started listening to me. We went about trying to get our power back and the plan was that once he had that, we'd both be able to get back, he'd have the power he'd missed so bad, and I wouldn't be stuck living as him in nonexistence again. We didn't get much a chance to figure the place out before I ended up here with you. All we knew was that something wanted us to play along with their plans."
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But she does smile, so relieved, so joyous, over something so simple as a picture. He can't imagine how it will be when she's home. Will it rain then? Or will the sweet outweigh the bitter and bring him blinding blue skies? Will he be able to stand watching it all through Ichigo's eyes? Could he stand to miss a moment?
He shakes himself of those thoughts, just in time for her to ask that question. "Maybe Game is the wrong word. It was more like we were being toyed with."
One hand rises up to run through his hair, brushing back long tresses. He moves to the counter and leans against it, looking down through the floor as he recalls. "I woke up like this in some kind of coffeshop. Ichigo walked in looking like he was lost. Everyone could see me, but I'll admit, I was-" Caught in the memory of his last moments, of they year as Ichigo, of seeing him again just like that. "-Distracted. Ichigo and I started fighting, like we always do. Only everyone around kept trying to stop us. I said some things and then... time just... went back. Like rewinding a tape. And when we tried to leave, it did the same thing. No one seemed to notice but Ichigo and I. They kept calling me Shirou and called us brothers. They insisted that I worked there and Ichigo worked at some other shop."
And then he makes a face, one that's unhappy but also warped like he still doesn't believe what he says then. "I've been stuck making humans their stupid coffee orders for days." He shakes his head. "But, doing that was the only way to keep it from going back. It was like someone had rewritten the world for us. We had apartments filled with junk, Ichigo was in a band, people acted like they knew us." His expression darkens. "One of them tried talking about you. Ichigo decked him even before I could. That sent us back again too." To be honest, in retrospect, it was worth it.
He shrugs that off. "I didn't let us go forward again until Ichigo started listening to me. We went about trying to get our power back and the plan was that once he had that, we'd both be able to get back, he'd have the power he'd missed so bad, and I wouldn't be stuck living as him in nonexistence again. We didn't get much a chance to figure the place out before I ended up here with you. All we knew was that something wanted us to play along with their plans."