007th Meatbun ☼ Action / Voice

[the_brightest_sun]

[It has been already a month, hasn't it? Goku isn't really sure, he remembers that a month is supposed to have around thirty days and though he hasn't been counting he has the impression that such a length of time has passed. At first he hadn't minded it too much, even if he had asked Hakkai to promise to leave a note next time he left before the kid woke up Goku was aware that there were times in which it wasn't possible. And seeing that there was nothing left that belonged to Hakkai in the apartment the kid had assumed it had been one of those times rather than Hakkai merely leaving on his own.

So he had waited. He had kept going to play around the village and helping Ukyo at the okonomiyaki restaurant. He ate at the restaurants before returning to the apartment to wait for Hakkai. And he kept waiting. Eventually the days turned into weeks and he got tired of waiting. He wanted his friend back already, it was lonely without him, the apartment was big and cold and the drawings hanging on the walls didn't make him smile proudly anymore, happy that the older man appreciated his work, instead they made him want to cry and hurt inside. It wasn't the first time that being alone hurt, but the pain this time felt worse. Why wasn't Hakkai coming back? Had he done something bad? Had he got the other man angry? Had he been a burden? An annoyance?

Sitting and crying wouldn't help, so he had grabbed a bag, left a note at Ukyo's restaurant and gone to search for Hakkai. Everyone said they were trapped inside that barrier, they only went outside during those draft-things, so, of course, wherever Hakkai was it had to be somewhere inside, he just had to search for the man. He knew Hakkai's scent so he could track him, he was sure of it. Wherever Hakkai was hiding or trapped, he would find him and bring him back home with him, even if Hakkai was angry with him, it wasn't a reason to hide from everyone else too.

More weeks passed and Goku is finally back at the village. Alone. Hakkai was nowhere to be found. He isn't in Luceti. How had he left? Why? Had he gone back to search for Kenren and Konzen and bring them to Luceti? The two men were taking a really long time to get there after all... But why hadn't he left a note. Why leave without a word? And what if he hadn't found them? What if the army had got them instead and hurt them as Nataku got hurt? Goku has no idea, he can't understand and he is tired, exhausted and hungry.]

[There's a kid walking slowly around the streets, he wobbles and trips at times, but he keeps moving. His appearance is a real mess, he's dirty, full of mud and looking very much as if he had been out and without an umbrella during yesterday's rainfall. He isn't paying much attention to where he's going, or what or who he bumps into, mumbling a soft sorry before he continues his way.

It feels strange inside. It has stopped hurting as the days went by with him unable to find Hakkai, but he doesn't feel well either. It feels as when he's hungry, but he isn't sure how to fill that gap. Sure, he is also hungry now, if the growling stomach is any indication -no, people of Luceti, that's not a lion trotting around the village and roaring, it's just a hungry monkey-, but he knows it's not only that. He feels hungry in the chest too, where it hurt before.

He probably end at Seventh Heaven, he should go with Ukyo but he's worried about seeing her now looking like this. She probably won't like it, maybe she's angry that he left to begin with. So he just sits there, dirty and hungry, waiting for someone to ask him what he wants to eat before he starts munching the table.

Eventually he will open the journal and ask a question he didn't want to ask.]

How long does it take for someone who leaves Luceti to return here? Anyone knows?

Comments

[Action]

[shadedsunlight]

[Ginia's working her shift at Seventh Heaven and shuttling plates back to the kitchen, missing Goku's entrance, but when she comes back out, she instantly notices the dirty boy sitting alone at a table. Her lips purse in thought at his appearance - what's with all these children out by themselves? - before she turns back into the kitchen and gathers up two towels and a bowl of warm water and carries it back out on a tray.

She picks up a menu on the way over to his table and smiles warmly at him as everything is silently set down in front of him, letting him clean himself up and browse the menu as he wishes. Though if he has any requests she'll take those right away too.]

[Action]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[The kid blinks surprised at the bowl and the towels, he's sorry that he's dirtying the place but he didn't have anything to clean with. Goku smiles a bit to Ginia, it's a honest smile though not one of his brightest.]

Thank you, oneesan. I'm sorry.

[He will proceed to clean himself a bit careful to not make too much of a mess.]

[Action]

[shadedsunlight]

[It may mean more cleaning later, but Ginia honestly doesn't care. A customer is a customer and she had a soft spot for kids. His smile is met with her own warm smile as she pulls out a notepad in her apron pocket and writes up a message.]

Don't worry, it's okay. Let me know when you're ready to order or if you need anything else. :)

[ written ]

[repudiate]

[ Really, Ange hasn't felt too social lately with Battler's disappearance from Luceti hitting her hard.. But when she idly browses the journal and comes across the question, it manages to hit her with that same fact all over again. She can't bring herself to actually use voice in return though. ]

Are there even any guarantees that someone who leaves from here will come back?

[ written ]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Oh, God, letters, it's okay Goku you learned to read a lot. You can do this, you can read small books with not too many pictures now after all. The handwritting that Ange gets back is messy and hesitant, clearly the handwritting of a child, one younger than what this kid seems.]

Why not? If they want to come, they will come.

[ written ]

[repudiate]

[ She's.. well, a little surprised at the handwriting, but manages to decipher it all the same. The more childlike handwriting would explain the sort of questions though. ]

Hasn't anyone told you yet that people can leave this place permanently as well?

[ voice ]

[notaboy-gtfo.livejournal.com]

I don't think they've figured that one out yet, kid. [ She's been keeping count since Longshot left, and something tells her that her odds are about as crummy as they ever used to be. ]

[ voice ]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

Why not? They know when people start coming, right? Isn't there a way to know?

[ voice ]

[notaboy-gtfo.livejournal.com]

It's not exactly the same thing. Yeah, someone figured out when New Feathers are supposed to come in, but how are we supposed to know who they are before they get here?

[voice]

[all7seas]

Took me two years to get back here, son.

[Jack is feeling...unexpectedly helpful on this one. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is anyone's guess.]

[voice]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

Two years?!

[That's... Awfully a lot of time. But still, it's the first time rate he has got so far so it's definitively better than "who knows".]

That's a lot of time... Was everyone you knew here still here when you returned?

[voice]

[all7seas]

They WERE, actually---apparently only six days passed in the wake of my leaving, you see.

Odd thing, time.

[Voice]

[knightofratatosk]

[The tone of that boy's voice... it's painfully familiar to Emil.]

Sometimes... sometimes they don't come back.

[Voice]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[...]

Maybe it's just taking them really long to come back.

[Voice]

[knightofratatosk]

How long ago did they leave?

Voice

[consultmybooks]

I don't know.

I just know that, to the person sent home, it feels instantaneous.

Voice

[justonename.livejournal.com]

What do you mean instantaneous?

[He has never heard about the bit of time being frozen back home, probably because he never cared since he never wanted to return.]

[Voice]

[heavenslament.livejournal.com]

...where are you?

[Voice]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

Terra-neesan, I'm at Seventh Heaven. I was hungry.

[Voice/Locked 100% from Ganondorf]

[ombra_lira]

[Don't pay any mind to how tired he sounds, Goku.] There is no way to tell for certain. Some people return, others do not. It is left entirely up to chance.

[Voice/Locked 100% from Ganondorf]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Again with that some don't return. Goku doesn't want to hear that, even if it's true...]

Maybe the ones who haven't returned are just taking a lot of time to come back.

[So far it seems he's indeed not paying attention to how tired he sounds. So far.]

voice

[cutefiancee.livejournal.com]

Goku? Where are you at, sugar?

[Ukyo's been worried, you know.]

voice

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Eating at the competition's restaurant.]

At Seventh Heaven... I'm sorry.

[Voice]

[amber-arcangel.livejournal.com]

It depends...sometimes it can just take days, or it can be a really long time.

[She can't say never. That would make her depressed.]

[Voice]

[justonename.livejournal.com]

[Goku hums, still it's a better answer than "never" or "maybe they just won't return". He has got some numbers by now as well, so he's clinging to that, as silly as it may be.]

I think it will be a long time... But I'll wait for them, we promised.