Summertime [Open]

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi sat by a the mirrored black water of a small pond. Nearby, a wisteria plant was coming into bloom, dangling its delicate, curved violet flowers toward the earth.

As promised, a tray of chilled watermelon slices was set to the side, near the wooden steps leading down to the garden and free for any passersby to take. For his part, however, Zouichi occupied himself with feeding a small group of googly-eyed baby goldfish, who darted back and forth through the water to gobble up stray flakes of fish food.

It was nice to take a break from exploding ghost wolves lions once in a while.

Comments

[moms-temperment.livejournal.com]

"No way." He looked at the pond, trying to imagine what Zouichi was telling him. "That sounds horrible."

"What?!" Hana shouted, eyes wide in shock. "They what?! Did it on purpose?! Why would you kill everyone on purpose?!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"N5S, in its original form, is fatal," said Zouichi. "But it can also give drones remarkable regenerative abilities and increased strength. They saw an opportunity in that, and took it. The virus they issued to members of the DRF was refined to grant infectees the benefits of the disease without affecting brain function. Of course, that didn't change what they'd done to everyone else on Earth."

"As for why they forced it on everyone... there was disagreement in the ranks. I think a smaller branch of the DRF wanted to use it somehow to convert humanity into a species of immortals. But the Matriarch wanted to use it to recreate the Earth to suit her own vision."

"Anyway, I was created as a countermeasure to the DRF and N5S. I was supposed to track down the remaining Accommodators, bring them back to Headquarters. It didn't turn out quite that simple, though."

[moms-temperment.livejournal.com]

Hana clenched his jaw and balled his fists in anger. "Sounds pretty messed up to me. Why do they get to make choices like that? Why do they get to hurt people like that?"

He blinked. Wait... Zouichi was made by those people? "It didn't?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Why? Because they had the power to back up those decisions, I guess. But they never would have been able to go through with it if there weren't people in the DRF willing to follow those kinds of orders. Maybe some people joined in because they wanted power, or because they thought there was no point in fighting back. Hard to tell."

Zouichi frowned. "It's kind of a long story. I was created by a company called Toua Heavy Industries; it was one of the DRF's corporate rivals and probably the best-equipped to try and counteract the DRF, especially after the world governments went down. In the end, though, it just wasn't enough. Toua's Headquarters was destroyed, and most or all of its personnel along with it. Those that escaped the infection, anyway..."

He looked a little distant then, like he was remembering something that had happened a long time ago. Except it wasn't a long time ago, was it? He hadn't been on the ship that long. "Anyway, that was what my world was like. I told you it wasn't particularly cheerful."

[moms-temperment.livejournal.com]

"It all sounds so complicated..." He sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair. "It's hard to understand some of it."

"Yeh, but I'm still glad you told me." He flashed a grin at Zouichi, the anger he had a moment ago quickly lost.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi smiled a little. "Yeah, and that was only the short version." He hadn't even gotten into the space-age polymer that was actually pollen and... well.

"I'm glad it didn't scare you off or anything." He sighed. "Honestly, most people here sound like they come from worlds that were in much better shape. Do you miss your home a lot?"

[moms-temperment.livejournal.com]

"You'll have to tell me the long version some time."

Hana shrugged and turns back to the fish. "I try not to really think about it much. I miss it but... I don't wanna dwell on it."

Taro has now taken to the air, hovering above the water.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi gave him a little half-laugh. "I'm not sure I understand the long version."

He watched as Taro hovered there for a moment, before continuing, "Well, if it ever does get on your mind, you can always stay over here. I'm sure it's not exactly like your parents' Inn, but it's still a ryokan."

[moms-temperment.livejournal.com]

Taro flapped his wings and gently landed on Hana's head, curling up in a nest of soft, untamable hair. Hana barely seemed to notice.

"Heh, thanks. It's kinda nice to sit and remember sometimes."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Well, Zouichi wasn't always keen on remembering the past, but he could understand the idea behind it, he supposed.

A slight breeze came rustling though the branches of a nearby maple tree and Zouichi reached a hand out to catch a stray, fallen leaf. Maybe one day it would be days like this that he'd be remembering.