Where Rainbows End

Thrice Did Lightning Strike

In the dark,

he bites at my nipple

miscalculates,

and bites at my heart

-poem

~X~

Future?

It was nearing night time. Haru notices this and pulls on Gokudera's coat.

"Should we take a breather now? I don't think it's good that we travel at night. We still don't know what's out there," she nudges out the window and at the small patches of green littering the field. The sky was a powdery blue hazed in grey.

"Here?" Gokudera looks at the filthy interior of what used to be a kitchen in front of them. The long musty table's edible contents already rotted away a long time ago. Not even ants and spiders lingered for long. He snaps his fingers and small flames began appearing at the corners.

"Is there a room we can sleep in?" Haru inquires as they exit the room. Gokudera absent-mindedly snaps his fingers and soon the whole building was enveloped in light.

"There's a bunker where the Tenth used to sleep," he says and swiftly leads the way up the rust-eaten ladder. To the right was a small room which had a big musty yet comfortable looking bed. Gokudera shuffles through the shelves and takes out a dirty looking frame.

"This was the Tenth's dad," he says quietly as he lets scarlet flames gnaw through the dust. Haru looks at the picture. There were three people who looked to be in their better days. He pointed at the middle, where a man with hair like golden fire was roaring with laughter. They seemed to be in a beach. By his right, a girl with hair and eyes the color of Gokudera's was also grinning as she attempts pressing a beach ball to the man's chest. By his left was a guy with long ashen blonde hair and closed eyes attempting to push the others out off the picture.

"I-is this your mom?" Haru points at the woman. Gokudera nods almost languidly.

"They founded my clan. Mom already left it when she bore me," he says. "I never got to meet any of them. The other man- Basil supposedly wrote a journal about how this clan was established in the first place. It's here somewhere," he steals a glance at the shelves. "He died before my mother got pregnant with me." He returns the frame back and scrimmages across a stack of books. "He also wrote a novel. You know, about us. Giotto-san, the Tenth's dad, always read it to us every night."

He takes a black leather-bound book and a small blue notebook from the shelf.

"Do you want me to read it to you?" he says as he opens the notebook.

Haru nods. A quick thought then flashes across her mind as she eyes the two tomes. "Uhm, Gokudera-kun?"

"What?" he says as he plops himself at the edge of the bed. A flame spurts by his right, close to the book.

"Why did you burn Kyoko-chan's journal?" she says, looking at him hesitatingly. "Y-you loved her, didn't you?"

"I almost forgot you read the damn thing," he sighs, half smiling as he rubs the bed. Flames also begin to disintegrate the dust in every inch. "It was better that way." He looked at the journal with a childish wonder she never saw him have. "I guess there are some memories that are better to left behind to let new ones in, right?" he looks at her and motions her beside him.

Haru smiles warmly as she pecks him on the cheek.

~X~

-Present.