Of Love and Death.

The Present Chapter 19: Sunset Pt.1

Mentions of bad things that have happened in the past. A little bit of fear and fear for other people. Mentions of death and toxic relationships. But it really is a happy chapter. 

Shu had to admit, he felt kind of like a kid being reprimanded. In front of him, across the table, his dad was staring at him and Valt, dumbfounded. His green suit had come undone for what felt like the first time ever. With his light blue monocle falling flat off of his face. Shu watched it as it fell to the table. It clacked lightly against the hardwood, the only sound in a still room.

Shifting in his seat a little bit, Shu forced himself not to glance at Valt. He didn't want to...freak Jiji out anymore. He knew that that look would just reinforce everything the chef had recently learned. And his father was already a little bit utterly confused. "So, basically, that's why I had an obsession with firepalces as a kid?" Shu tried.

That just made Jiji bury his head in his hands. So saying that had not been helpful. Thankfully, at least Mrs. Chiharu seemed to be taking this well. It sort of felt like she'd already known. Shu could tell by the way that her and Valt's eyes were darting around that they were having a mental conversation. About what he wasn't quite sure about. If he had to guess, Valt was probably being grilled on the specifics of the Forces.

Because, yes, that was what Shu and Valt had just told their parents all about. Not Valt's dad, who was currently flying a plane to Bangladesh. Which was why the mind reader had just sent his dad an email asking to video chat tomorrow. Toka and Nika were also to find out later. And Ren. Shu had nearly forgotten he needed to have this conversation with another one of his family members.

Cautiously, the fiery sun reached out a hand and grabbed Jiji's wrist. "Dad? Are you okay?" he asked gently. In response all he got was a gentle shaking of a graying head of hair. But, one moment later, his father did look up. His watery blue eyes - foreshadowing for Shu's own lack of color - were slightly wet.

With a slightly broken voice, unlike anything Shu had heard from his father before, he spoke. "Are you okay? You-you, I'm sorry, I...are you okay?" Jiji frantically asked. Panic came off of him in waves. The chef turned the tables on Shu, and grabbing his pale wrists. "I...are you okay?" he inquired one more time, practically begging for an answer.

So Shu answered. "Yes," he said, as earnestly as he could. "I'm emotionally exhausted, but I am okay. We won against Cold Dad, we won." And when I went for a walk last evening, I started to make a plan, Shu added silently, just for himself. Not even for Valt to hear. He'd had to be careful about what he was thinking last night and this morning. It was like the good old days, planning surprises for each other. And he did have a surprise.

Something in Jiji's eyes didn't look convinced, and didn't sound it either. "But if you had lost she would have ki-killed you," he whispered. Shu knew it was because he couldn't speak any louder, for fear that the words would make that reality happen.

"But we won," the blader said. He didn't know how else to speak, how else to celebrate. "And we aren't ever going to lose again. I'm not going to die because of Cold. I'm not going to let that happen to me, and I'm not going to let that happen to Valt," he meant it.

Still though, Jiji looked nervous. "Dad, I'm fine," Shu emphasized. He knew the words were meaningless. And he knew that he could do nothing right now to assuage his father's fears. Time would do that. Time as he showed that he was capable, that he was safe. That he was really, really happy. And that everything would be okay. "We're not going to die, not for a long while. And, trust me, if Cold was going to come back anytime soon, she would be knocking on the door right now-"

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Everyone froze. Shu could hear the hearts of everyone in the room. Going faster and faster than they should. "Valt," he whispered in the quietest voice that he could. "Is it-?" Shu couldn't finish the sentence. But he could shift his hands, gripping Valt's pale knuckles in his tense fist.