Pick Up The Pieces

Abomination

Petals from a moulting cherry blossom twisted and floated in the breeze by Kotetsu's balcony and tickled his face as they brushed past. His hand shot out and clasped around a handful of them, to which he breathed in their scent deeply. While the day was blue skies and sun, a steady wind was blowing through the streets making a chill in the air.

While the day was a sad one, he somewhat felt relieved of tension; his muscles were taut but not painstakingly as they had been the previous few days. It was a pleasant moment actually, and he would have been quite content to remain frozen in time to enjoy it to its fullest extent. With a kiss to his closed fist, he threw the blossoms to the wind, watching them serenely as they drifted away into the distance.

'That's everything then.'

Iruka's eyes flew up in surprise at Kotetsu's garb. He was wearing his handsome black suit again from the night he had exchanged rings with Izumo. It wasn't common to see the chūnin dressed in such a tidy way, but he was pleasing to the eye no doubt. The soft brown eyes locked onto a bright crimson kerchief knotted around Kotetsu's neck though. It was eye-catching next to all the black.

'That's a nice touch.' He quipped honestly, pulling Kotetsu's out of his reverie.

'Hmm? Oh, right. It was Iz's favourite colour. It's something that I promised to him months ago...y'know, in case one of us...'

' I get it. It's sweet.'

Iruka's hand touched up the raven-hair's collar and patted it down smoothly with a smile.

'It's nice. You should wear coat-tails more often.'

'Only on special occasions, sorry. You scrub up nice yourself, Iruka.'

'Been a while since I dragged out the tux...I have something for you.'

Fingers swift with expertise clasped a silver chain around Kotetsu's neck; an intricate weave of solid silver wherein Izumo's own wedding band now lay in the midst of his chest. Kotetsu could swear a flicker of blue emanated from the two rings, but it had to be his imagination. Tears sprung to the onyx irises, but this time they were of happiness.

'I thought I had lost this.' He said quietly.

When the two had returned yesterday from the hospital, Kotetsu nearly had a heart attack after searching for the ring and was terribly fragile. Iruka had planned this for a while though, and felt terribly guilty after seeing him in such a harried state.

'I'm sorry. I just wanted to surpr-'

Masculine arms clamped around the smaller chūnin in a bear hug.

'Thank you so much for everything, Iruka. You really are the best friend someone could have.'

'...that means a lot, Kotetsu.'

He patted his back and gave a quick embrace back to the other man. In the short amount of time they've spent together, they had grown considerably close to each other. Iruka was quite fond of him. It's no wonder that Izumo had taken a liking to him as he had. Kotetsu was actually a very sweet guy when you peeled back the layers to the bare minimum. He was naturally caring, and it was easy to gravitate around him. Despite that this was a hard time to go through, tiny elements of him still lingered at the surface; he was always thinking of other people before himself.

'It's time.'

With a nod, the two clicked the door shut behind them and headed to the cemetery.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-x

It's never easy coming to grips with the death of someone in Konoha. Villagers stood in rows, all dressed in deep black as they bowed their heads in remembrance of Izumo. As Kotetsu and Iruka slowly made their way to the front to pay their respects to the headstone, whispers were spun between people. This time it wasn't just paranoia. It was actually happening. News spreads quickly with haste from one to another. It was atrocious how vast gossip could spread between people.