:memory 03:
It was odd - the first thing she found herself wanting to do, after watching that spot of bright red disappearing into the distance, was to sit in the sunshine. Kurayami paused long enough to gently roll her eyes at herself, and give a little sigh, just for the sake of it.
Then she dragged her chair into the slanting light from the window, shutters thrown wide, and just sat with her chin tilted back and felt the sun on her face.
After a while, the fresh air started to chill the room, and she shifted a little in her chair, then stood and went to fetch her jacket where it hung from the bedstead. The weight of it hung strangely in her hands, but she didn't give it much thought until she slid her arm into the first sleeve and her fingertips bumped something cold and metallic.
It flashed through the air with a bright spark of light and bounced with a clear chiming sound once, twice, on the floor before rolling to a stop. Kurayami stared down at it, then hesitantly picked it up.
A memory crystal. She swallowed, hard. She felt warm inside for the first time in...well. Why now?
Her gaze fell on the portrait still sitting in the corner. The woman's calm eyes smiled at her, and she felt suddenly bold. Would she ever be better prepared? She sighed, shoving her hair back out of her face, and sat on the bed to save herself a possible tumble to the floor. "All right," she said, cupping the crystal in her hands. "What have you got for me?"
Carefully, she slipped the tip of her thumb between the metal bands, and -
¤
- bright sunlight was all around her, slanting through large windows and turning the room gold, and there was something heavy and smooth in her hand. She was only half paying attention to it, but - the part of her that was conscious of the past-ness of all this focused on it, and - it was a coffee pot, pouring a steaming stream of dark liquid into a simple, pretty cup.
The liquid topped off, and she moved on to the next cup, set on a slightly battered but clean table among dishes of what was unmistakably breakfast: boiled and sliced eggs, golden toast, green salads. Glancing up from it, she saw...
Smiling faces, all around the table. To her right, a bespectacled girl with pale gold hair in a ponytail, talking animatedly, although she couldn't hear a word of it. Just down the table from her, three very small children were sharing a bench pulled up to the table, eagerly wolfing their meals, but just as silent.
(There was no sound at all, she realized suddenly, and felt a distinct sense of disappointment. She wanted to hear this, the cheerful voices, the clink of cutlery and scrape of chairs.)
Across the table, an older girl with soft brown hair and a good-natured face, wearing a sensible sweater. Next to her, two children of indeterminate sex, one with unruly dark hair and one with neatly trimmed blond hair, both laughing and elbowing each other. And at the end of the full circle, to her left...a young girl with wide curious eyes, and a paper-and-wire band holding up her halo.
They all had halos.
And wings. So many pairs of little wings, all around the table, all so alive, fluttering and flicking in the sunlight as hands gestured and mouths talked and chewed and swallowed and laughed.
No matter how lost and stunned she was inside her own head, Kurayami's remembered body was walking around the table on its own, now, saying something she couldn't hear or remember as she took a seat at the empty end of the table. The head of the table? She gestured, propped her chin in her hand. The girl with the glasses whispered something behind her hand to the inquisitive-eyed girl, smiling.
She rolled her eyes at them good-naturedly and looked away, though the now-her protested that decision fruitlessly. Something about that girl...but she was talking to the older girl in the sweater, now, and tapping a cigarette comfortably out into her palm, placing it between her lips.
When she reached for something on the table, she started with surprise and looked up to find the girl holding up a lighter and waving it at her like an affectionately scolding finger. She doesn't like me smoking? She felt her face crinkle into a smile, her mouth saying something that had to be teasing in return...and all around the table, suddenly, these people - these children, these girls - were laughing, smiling, silently joining in on the joke between mouthfuls of food.
Friends. It stunned her like a blow to the head - like she'd been braced for a brick and instead felt the softness of a pillow. Kurayami stopped trying to understand what was happening and just looked around as best she could, memorizing the faces, the shabby comfort of the room, the flowers on the table, the way the morning sun streamed through the windows...
...abruptly, she realized that the entire table had paused, every face turned towards her. Curious. A little hesitant. A little expectant. She froze, and in that moment her eyes met the soft, wide brown eyes of the girl with the wire wrapped around her halo.
She opened her mouth, and -
¤
- the memory ended.
She sat there for a long time, with her eyes closed, as if she'd just woken up from a dream she didn't want to let go. Remembering it all. Remembering it, for the first time.
It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized what she was wearing. Kurayami held up one arm, staring at the yellow plush that covered it...and something bubbled up out of her stomach, something warm and bright. A laugh. It was just too bizarre.
Well, she thought, when the urge to snicker helplessly had faded somewhat. She'd have to call in from work, but this was going to be a good chance to think some things through.
¤ ¤ ¤
[Memory backdated to February 15th, and taken from Haibane Renmei, episode 2. Kurayami was wearing this from February 15th until the 18th.]
Then she dragged her chair into the slanting light from the window, shutters thrown wide, and just sat with her chin tilted back and felt the sun on her face.
After a while, the fresh air started to chill the room, and she shifted a little in her chair, then stood and went to fetch her jacket where it hung from the bedstead. The weight of it hung strangely in her hands, but she didn't give it much thought until she slid her arm into the first sleeve and her fingertips bumped something cold and metallic.
It flashed through the air with a bright spark of light and bounced with a clear chiming sound once, twice, on the floor before rolling to a stop. Kurayami stared down at it, then hesitantly picked it up.
A memory crystal. She swallowed, hard. She felt warm inside for the first time in...well. Why now?
Her gaze fell on the portrait still sitting in the corner. The woman's calm eyes smiled at her, and she felt suddenly bold. Would she ever be better prepared? She sighed, shoving her hair back out of her face, and sat on the bed to save herself a possible tumble to the floor. "All right," she said, cupping the crystal in her hands. "What have you got for me?"
Carefully, she slipped the tip of her thumb between the metal bands, and -
¤
- bright sunlight was all around her, slanting through large windows and turning the room gold, and there was something heavy and smooth in her hand. She was only half paying attention to it, but - the part of her that was conscious of the past-ness of all this focused on it, and - it was a coffee pot, pouring a steaming stream of dark liquid into a simple, pretty cup.
The liquid topped off, and she moved on to the next cup, set on a slightly battered but clean table among dishes of what was unmistakably breakfast: boiled and sliced eggs, golden toast, green salads. Glancing up from it, she saw...
Smiling faces, all around the table. To her right, a bespectacled girl with pale gold hair in a ponytail, talking animatedly, although she couldn't hear a word of it. Just down the table from her, three very small children were sharing a bench pulled up to the table, eagerly wolfing their meals, but just as silent.
(There was no sound at all, she realized suddenly, and felt a distinct sense of disappointment. She wanted to hear this, the cheerful voices, the clink of cutlery and scrape of chairs.)
Across the table, an older girl with soft brown hair and a good-natured face, wearing a sensible sweater. Next to her, two children of indeterminate sex, one with unruly dark hair and one with neatly trimmed blond hair, both laughing and elbowing each other. And at the end of the full circle, to her left...a young girl with wide curious eyes, and a paper-and-wire band holding up her halo.
They all had halos.
And wings. So many pairs of little wings, all around the table, all so alive, fluttering and flicking in the sunlight as hands gestured and mouths talked and chewed and swallowed and laughed.
No matter how lost and stunned she was inside her own head, Kurayami's remembered body was walking around the table on its own, now, saying something she couldn't hear or remember as she took a seat at the empty end of the table. The head of the table? She gestured, propped her chin in her hand. The girl with the glasses whispered something behind her hand to the inquisitive-eyed girl, smiling.
She rolled her eyes at them good-naturedly and looked away, though the now-her protested that decision fruitlessly. Something about that girl...but she was talking to the older girl in the sweater, now, and tapping a cigarette comfortably out into her palm, placing it between her lips.
When she reached for something on the table, she started with surprise and looked up to find the girl holding up a lighter and waving it at her like an affectionately scolding finger. She doesn't like me smoking? She felt her face crinkle into a smile, her mouth saying something that had to be teasing in return...and all around the table, suddenly, these people - these children, these girls - were laughing, smiling, silently joining in on the joke between mouthfuls of food.
Friends. It stunned her like a blow to the head - like she'd been braced for a brick and instead felt the softness of a pillow. Kurayami stopped trying to understand what was happening and just looked around as best she could, memorizing the faces, the shabby comfort of the room, the flowers on the table, the way the morning sun streamed through the windows...
...abruptly, she realized that the entire table had paused, every face turned towards her. Curious. A little hesitant. A little expectant. She froze, and in that moment her eyes met the soft, wide brown eyes of the girl with the wire wrapped around her halo.
She opened her mouth, and -
¤
- the memory ended.
She sat there for a long time, with her eyes closed, as if she'd just woken up from a dream she didn't want to let go. Remembering it all. Remembering it, for the first time.
It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she realized what she was wearing. Kurayami held up one arm, staring at the yellow plush that covered it...and something bubbled up out of her stomach, something warm and bright. A laugh. It was just too bizarre.
Well, she thought, when the urge to snicker helplessly had faded somewhat. She'd have to call in from work, but this was going to be a good chance to think some things through.
¤ ¤ ¤
[Memory backdated to February 15th, and taken from Haibane Renmei, episode 2. Kurayami was wearing this from February 15th until the 18th.]
