[Action] 011

[fallenambitions]

[So, Bellemere was sent home. He didn't need anyone to tell him that though. He found out when he discovered a photo that wasn't originally on his desk. There was a message behind it and that basically told him that she had gone.

"You need to keep living or else!"

Alexei continued reading her message...how much she believed that he could still turn things around and find happiness here. Although it was through the Malnosso's influence that brought them together last month, he was able to learn more about her, properly, not what the Malnosso had implanted in his head during the last spring. And if he were to be honest...that week was the happiest he has ever felt in a very long time. Even after, they continued to spend some time together, though without the romantic flare and as friends. It was...the strangest experience. He never exactly had the time to make friends after all, nor cared to have them. It was a welcoming change.

...But now she was gone, reminding him of the instability people often forget about Luceti. Loss was something he was already familiar with. He was sure he had grown numb of that feeling by this point, but Bellemere's leave proved him wrong. He knew what was waiting for her back home as well. He held the photo against his forehead, closed his eyes for a moment and muttered quietly under his breath.

"Thank you, for everything"]


---

[Sometime during the morning, Alexei can be seen around the plaza area. He's just there to visit one shop in particular and that was the flower shop.

Once his business was finished at the store, he'll be making his way over to the mikan orchard and spending the rest of his afternoon there. He had a small bouquet of flowers with him, planning to leave it at the very center of the orchard. There, if he wasn't wandering around looking over the the blossoming trees, he can be found meditating underneath the tree he placed his flowers. Although Bellemere was gone, Alexei would continue to look after this place. He always had before, but now there was more of a purpose behind it.

By the evening, Alexei will have returned to the village and settled inside Good Spirits. Vaguely he recalls that night when he lost a bet with Bellemere as he ordered himself a drink. Heh. Why did he agree to that challenge again...?]

Comments

[fallenambitions]

...So it did. I hadn't realized it until you mentioned that. [He then looks at Nami, puzzled for a moment]

What other one? [His mind was a blank at that. How many pinwheels did he make?]

[mikangirl]

[She laughs a little.]

I still had the one you made back then, too. For the harvest.

[fallenambitions]

[...Oh, oohhh! Wait-BUT WHY]

You actually kept that this whole time? [He expected she had thrown that thing away ages ago]

[mikangirl]

More it got left behind after the experiment. And it's a pinwheel. I don't throw those away.

[Her voice is more abrupt than usual. Because hell if she's going to say anything about the fact that she liked that they actually got on in that experiment.]

[fallenambitions]

It was a pinwheel created under false pretense. And yet you still kept it...

[Why did he feel incredibly awkward right now? This never bothered him before]

[mikangirl]

[...]

Pinwheels are just as important to me as mikan, in their own way. Did I ever tell you why?

[fallenambitions]

...Only that a certain individual in your world would wear it on his hat to make himself seem less frightening. Was there more to it?

[mikangirl]

No, that's it. He meant a lot to me.

[...] A lot to Bellemere-san, too. So you see... [Her hand goes up to her shoulder.] I can't just throw a pinwheel away.

[fallenambitions]

...I understand. Does that mean you'll be needing another one then? [He asks with a faint smile on his face. Was he serious or simply teasing? Or perhaps it was a bit of both]

[mikangirl]

[Teasing or otherwise, Nami grins slightly.] I've been thinking about it. There's a lot of coloured paper in the shops.

[fallenambitions]

Something to do later then. [...] I'll take my leave, since my business here is done.

[mikangirl]

...yeah.

[...]



Thanks. She'd appreciate the thought.