reunion;;

[derepressed]

Yukimura Residence.
Edo, Japan, January 1864.

[The years have stretched on and on, agonizingly slowly. Part of it is because Chizuru lacks the child-like lack of perspective that makes time fly by so quickly in the earliest years; mostly, it's because the Nagumo are so very cruel. Time flies when one is having fun, but among that clan...

This is the first opportunity she's had in years to even consider a visit to Edo, and though she might pay for it later, she doesn't care. There's something she has to do here, and so here she is, dressed in the finery one would expect of the wife of the young master of the Nagumo. Perhaps it's strange, to see such a finely-dressed young lady in front of the humble Yukimura clinic.

She doesn't care. She just doesn't care.

She is stopped, outside the house, because it's both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. The house looks mostly the same, but the subtle differences, are they there because it's not her that's living there? All the touches of a young woman are gone. Chizuru has never lived here, but Kaoru has, and -

The differences are Kaoru's touch. That eases the knot of tension in her gut the slightest bit and gives her the courage to move forward, to call into the house as though she's a patient and this is a perfectly normal visit.]

Excuse me? I was wondering if perhaps I might speak with Yukimura-sensei...

[He won't be here. She's sure he won't, sure she's remembered the timing because her memories are all that's gotten her through the years at the hands of those horrible people, but that's okay. He isn't the one she is here to see.

She's depending on the fact that it will be Kaoru who will answer her call.]

Comments

1/2

[souredsweet]

[even if those words are a little much for a stranger, Kaoru seems pleased to hear them. it makes him feel a little less out in the open, a little less one-sided. he had been briefly afraid that the sentiment wouldn't be returned - that maybe in his loneliness, he had just bonded a little too quickly with a poor girl who only wanted a medical procedure done. but this puts those concerns to rest, and the smile on his face grows a little.]

Thank you. The same goes for you, too, of course. Any time that I'm here, please talk to me as much as you'd like.

[because he would like it, too. having someone to converse with is nice, but having Chizuru to converse with is...

well, just another one of those things that he can't describe. so he will continue being a totally sketchy doctor who helps young girls poison themselves into not having children if it means that she'll be happy, and maybe they'll be able to take a lot more meals together before she has to go again.]

...I'm a little sad that you'll be leaving so soon. [which is definitely a little much for a stranger to be saying, but he's apparently decided to throw caution to the wind, at least partially.] So I'll enjoy the meals that we share. I'll enjoy them a lot.

[a smile, and he "toasts" his peach half in her direction before biting down into it.]