Periwinkle - Life in shades of blue (part 1)

Anger issues

And they'll say, "I told you so
Come on, when you know, you know"
All the lonely shadow dances from the cradle to the grave
It's a solo song and it's only for the brave

Only the brave by Louis Tomlinson

TW// hinted homophobia

My mood has been insanely good lately.

With the start of the new school year in April, me and Suguru have been sent out together more often. It's so fun to work with him, especially when it's clear they sent us to clean up someone else's mess. We're exceptionally good at that. Working with him, I began to notice how he's constantly honing his techniques, to the point where you could label it as an obsession. He's always been fixated on perfecting his martial arts skills, now he's way better than me at that sort of things, but it seems it's not yet enough and he wants to learn new ways to use his cursed spirits as well. I can't help but admire his persistence, even if I'm sure it won't do him any damage to slow down a bit. But I guess he's just built like that, obsessive to the core with anything, starting from his hair.

I've grown fond of some of his cursed spirits as well, he lets them out sometimes when we take a walk after a mission or whenever he wants to check in on them. I also named some, even if it's hard to keep track of every single one, they keep growing in numbers. It doesn't seem difficult to him, though it could still be interpreted as an ulterior example of his obsessive nature. He has a whole ass file in his bedroom filled with details about each new curse he takes in, complete with statistics and graphs. He must have gotten the inspiration from Pokémon, he loves playing that stupid game no matter if I keep telling him Digimon is way better.

I breathe in the damp air of late May, knowing rainy season has already begun even if you could never tell it by just looking at the clear sunny sky. Just a couple of minutes in the open air result in a thin film of sweat and humidity clinging to any exposed part of your body, clothes and hair included. It's sticking down my lungs as I breathe out.

I look to my side, where a trail of smoke is following me silently, and I grimace. I really don't understand how Shoko can enjoy smoking in general, let alone in this weather.

"You were saying?" She asks without trying to look at me, and I lighten up again as my mind goes back to what I was telling her.

Obviously, Suguru. "So, we were on this mission in Sendai, right? The one where he caught that octopus curse..." I scratch my chin, trying to remember, and snap my fingers when the name pops out in my head. "Ah, yes! Steve, it's when he caught Steve."

I see the corner of her mouth twisting up, but can't put my finger on the emotion behind it. "Right."

"And I was using infinity on him, you know, cause we were in the middle of the ocean and he'd get wet..." I remember the first time I understood I could use that technique on other people, I was with him that time as well. He almost got hit by a particularly fast curse, and I acted out of instinct to protect him. Since then, every stupid excuse is enough to wrap him around the thin barrier along with me. "I thought he didn't even notice, cause I do it all the time... but then, after we came back to the shore," I turn, my eyebrows raised and a stupid smile on my face, "he told me thank you, I see you." I almost squeal like a middle school girl, fisting my hand in my pocket and feeling the grin on my face grow bigger.

Shoko sends me a glare without moving her head, still facing forwards "...and?"

"And?!" I gape, hands coming out of my pockets to gesture my disbelief. "Thank you, I see you!" I repeat, as if saying it again would make it any clearer. "No one ever thanks me! People always assume it's my job to look out for them, just because I'm strong. Which is true, but I mean, I'm not heartless..."