(no subject)
"I'm leaving after graduation."
The words cut through her like a knife, rendering her weak from shock. "... what?"
"I'm leaving." The phrase is much stronger this time, his tone hardened and purposeful, shoulders squared with determination. He means it, and that hurts her all the more. "You knew I had to--"
"What do you mean leaving?" Her question cuts him off without hesitancy, "What about college?"
His gaze flickers away from her form, and he shrugs, so nonchalant, so uncaring. He's leaning against the fence that lines the edges of the school rooftops; it's lunch hour, the only hour they have to themselves throughout the entire day. Distant voices drift upwards from the school grounds below, but otherwise... they're alone.
Years of knowing him had taught her to read underneath the obviousness of his slack demeanor. He was bothered by this revelation just as much as she was, so why did he sound so certain about it? "I don't have time for it," he answers, "I'll be working and traveling full-time. Most of my learning will be done in person, not in a classroom."
She's silent for a few moments. "Is it what you want?"
"Aoko..." he trains his eyes on her again, his determination unwavering, "It's what I've spent my whole life training for."
"But is it what you want?" Her fists clench so tightly at her sides that her knuckles turn white. Internally, her mind drifts back to visions of a young boy squinting at a paper filled with funny pictures during lunch; Kaito, demonstrating for her how he learned how to scale walls by climbing the oak tree in her front yard; her best friend greeting her at the front door covered in mud stains and rubbing his nose cheerfully as he brags about the latest pit his mother failed to trap him in.
"Yes, Aoko," he responds firmly, "You know why I want to do this-- why I have to do this."
"For some stupid legend you don't even know is true," she responds blandly. She suddenly feels so very dizzy-- he is serious, isn't he?
He doesn't hesitate in snapping at her. "It's real enough for him to have been killed for it!" He practically hisses the words at her, clearly irritated (and not in their usual, playful way either), "That's real enough for me!"
"Real enough for you to leave everyone behind for!" is her own heated response. Her head snaps up, and she glares at him, "With nothing more than an 'I'm leaving after graduation!' Not an 'I'll keep in touch, Aoko. We'll still be friends, Aoko. I'll see you again some day, Aoko!'" Her vision was blurring some, and she hated it. "How am I supposed to take that?!"
"Aoko, you know how dangerous the entire business is!" Kaito retorts. He takes a step forward, hands still in his pockets and towers above her. It isn't menacing, it's almost... as if he's reprimanding her. It only serves to infuriate her more. "I don't know what could happen to me, or even if I'll have time to return to Japan. It's a full time job. It's research, training, traveling--"
"Jumping head first into danger, fully expecting to come out injured," she continued for him. A picture of Kaito, age eleven, holding his bruised arm after failing to avoid one of his mother's 'training traps' swims before her eyes. She closes them, almost as if it would block out the memory completely.
There's a pause before Kaito speaks. "Yeah," he affirms, "Tomb raiding. Just like the movies."
"You won't let me help you." Suddenly, she's nine again, holding his hand and squeezing it lightly as they watch crowds of black-clad adults pay respects to his mother. He's unresponsive, eyes blank as he stares ahead at seemingly nothing-- "You never let me help you."
"It's dangerous. You could get hurt--"
"So could you." There is no hiding the bitterness in her tone. "I'm not useless."
"I didn't say you were!"
"You act like I am!" She bites back her tears as best as she can. She doesn't want him to see her cry over him. "You always have!"
"Aoko--"
She brushes past him before he can continue. "Forget it. Go ahead and leave. I don't care."
"Aoko!"
She doesn't turn around to face him. The next day, they both graduate, the celebrations weighed down by the thick tension from their argument they day before. Neither of them try to talk to the other.
The day after, he takes the first flight he can from Tokyo to Singapore. She doesn't see him off.
And a week later, after debating with herself for hours on whether it was worth it, she knocks on former tomb raider Aya Kuroba's door, seeking out a teacher of her own.
The words cut through her like a knife, rendering her weak from shock. "... what?"
"I'm leaving." The phrase is much stronger this time, his tone hardened and purposeful, shoulders squared with determination. He means it, and that hurts her all the more. "You knew I had to--"
"What do you mean leaving?" Her question cuts him off without hesitancy, "What about college?"
His gaze flickers away from her form, and he shrugs, so nonchalant, so uncaring. He's leaning against the fence that lines the edges of the school rooftops; it's lunch hour, the only hour they have to themselves throughout the entire day. Distant voices drift upwards from the school grounds below, but otherwise... they're alone.
Years of knowing him had taught her to read underneath the obviousness of his slack demeanor. He was bothered by this revelation just as much as she was, so why did he sound so certain about it? "I don't have time for it," he answers, "I'll be working and traveling full-time. Most of my learning will be done in person, not in a classroom."
She's silent for a few moments. "Is it what you want?"
"Aoko..." he trains his eyes on her again, his determination unwavering, "It's what I've spent my whole life training for."
"But is it what you want?" Her fists clench so tightly at her sides that her knuckles turn white. Internally, her mind drifts back to visions of a young boy squinting at a paper filled with funny pictures during lunch; Kaito, demonstrating for her how he learned how to scale walls by climbing the oak tree in her front yard; her best friend greeting her at the front door covered in mud stains and rubbing his nose cheerfully as he brags about the latest pit his mother failed to trap him in.
"Yes, Aoko," he responds firmly, "You know why I want to do this-- why I have to do this."
"For some stupid legend you don't even know is true," she responds blandly. She suddenly feels so very dizzy-- he is serious, isn't he?
He doesn't hesitate in snapping at her. "It's real enough for him to have been killed for it!" He practically hisses the words at her, clearly irritated (and not in their usual, playful way either), "That's real enough for me!"
"Real enough for you to leave everyone behind for!" is her own heated response. Her head snaps up, and she glares at him, "With nothing more than an 'I'm leaving after graduation!' Not an 'I'll keep in touch, Aoko. We'll still be friends, Aoko. I'll see you again some day, Aoko!'" Her vision was blurring some, and she hated it. "How am I supposed to take that?!"
"Aoko, you know how dangerous the entire business is!" Kaito retorts. He takes a step forward, hands still in his pockets and towers above her. It isn't menacing, it's almost... as if he's reprimanding her. It only serves to infuriate her more. "I don't know what could happen to me, or even if I'll have time to return to Japan. It's a full time job. It's research, training, traveling--"
"Jumping head first into danger, fully expecting to come out injured," she continued for him. A picture of Kaito, age eleven, holding his bruised arm after failing to avoid one of his mother's 'training traps' swims before her eyes. She closes them, almost as if it would block out the memory completely.
There's a pause before Kaito speaks. "Yeah," he affirms, "Tomb raiding. Just like the movies."
"You won't let me help you." Suddenly, she's nine again, holding his hand and squeezing it lightly as they watch crowds of black-clad adults pay respects to his mother. He's unresponsive, eyes blank as he stares ahead at seemingly nothing-- "You never let me help you."
"It's dangerous. You could get hurt--"
"So could you." There is no hiding the bitterness in her tone. "I'm not useless."
"I didn't say you were!"
"You act like I am!" She bites back her tears as best as she can. She doesn't want him to see her cry over him. "You always have!"
"Aoko--"
She brushes past him before he can continue. "Forget it. Go ahead and leave. I don't care."
"Aoko!"
She doesn't turn around to face him. The next day, they both graduate, the celebrations weighed down by the thick tension from their argument they day before. Neither of them try to talk to the other.
The day after, he takes the first flight he can from Tokyo to Singapore. She doesn't see him off.
And a week later, after debating with herself for hours on whether it was worth it, she knocks on former tomb raider Aya Kuroba's door, seeking out a teacher of her own.