the_brightest_sun | 007th Meatbun ☼ Action / Voice

[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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You would give them a hug either way if they arrived here, right?

[ She figures he's that type of person. ]

[There's a sheepish laugher on his end, a bit embarrassed for having been "caught" per say.]

Maybe... But I can still scold them after it!

Or would it be better to scold them and then hug them so they don't think I'm so angry that I don't like them anymore? Or I could hug them, scold them and hug them again.

[ There's even a slightly amused sound from Ange now. ]

I don't think you have to put that much thought into it.. Just do whatever feels best.

But how will I know what feels best if I don't think? Konzen always told me to think before doing things...

[And he still got angry after he did things after thinking, maybe even more than when he did them without thinking.]

Yeah, that's usually the best approach to things. But sometimes thinking is too slow and you should just go with your first instincts.

... I guess it's almost a little complicated like that.

[Humming.]

How do you know when it's best to not think?

This is probably going to sound really vague and ridiculous, I know, but.. I guess you just know it's best to not think when it's time to do just that.

Oh, so it's like instinctive? Like when you know that you're hungry and it's better to eat or that you're tired and it's better to sleep?

Yeah, exactly like that. You'll instinctively know when to think first or when to do stuff without thinking.

007th Meatbun ☼ Action / Voice

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