Open rp, post Zi-O, please interrupt him at the quarry or three hours later or whatever

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki stands in the quarry, delighted, exhausted, and bewildered. Amane-chan is safe. Zi-O has their powers. That should keep both Jokers sealed, and, well, if it doesn’t, he can deal with it then.

For now? For now, he has a chance to actually build a life for himself again. He doesn’t have to hold himself back from contacting his friends. He scribbles his cellphone number on a scrap of paper and tucks it into Hajime’s hand (imagine, being able to touch Hajime again) and begins to stroll off.

He needs to find a place to stay. He hasn't exactly been here long; hasn't had time. Some human food. Oh, and a shower. A shower would be magnificent.

Right now, he wants to let Hajime and Amane-chan reunite without his interference. He’s not leaving town again. He just doesn’t want to be in the way, and maybe to take a couple hours to stare at a wall and let the shock of it all wash over him.

It could've been so much worse.

Comments

[triggerhappytraitor]

It doesn't take too long after Zi-o and company have left before the very familiar sound of a motorcycle echoes across the exposed rock face. Seconds later, Red Rhombus is kicking up a dusty cloud of gravel as it skids to a halt, Tachibana all but vaulting off of it, yanking his helmet off his head.

He's not entirely sure what he's expecting to find. But when the Searcher had gone off, showing not only Chalice fighting, but Blade as well, in the same area...

He had sped out as fast as he could to where the signal had come from, hoping for the best, but dreading the worst.

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki turns at the sound of the bike. Oh, come on, whatever the hell this is, let Amane-chan and Hajime get back to Jacaranda, let him look after her, leave them alone! He folds his arms, feeling absurdly naked without his Buckle. He hasn't transformed for so long after he sealed his powers anyway. He should be able to cope with this, whatever it is.

His eyebrows go up, and he takes an involuntary step forward.

"Tachibana-san?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

"Kenzaki...!"

He was there. He was actually...!

Tachibana swiftly closes the gap between them, reaching out to grab his kohai by the shoulders. "I came as fast as I could, what--"

[kenzaki]

The hell-!

Kenzaki goes to smack the touch away reflexively, because it's been a hell of a fifteen years, but it's Tachibana. He makes himself relax into it, but his mouth is open and he's staring like a moron at the other man.

"Hajime transformed," he says at last, and it's amazing how easy it is to fall back into the pattern of responding to his senpai, to giving information. To reporting. "Amane-chan was in danger, and Hajime transformed, and I was... I was drawn to it."

[triggerhappytraitor]

"I saw both signals, you were both-- but you're fine??" This is the important question that... might seem obvious but he needed the reassurance. After all the lengths Kenzaki had gone through, keeping apart from all of them, that the one thing the had tried to avoid had happened...!

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki just stares at him for a moment, wondering if that's true. He claps a hand to his head as a wave of exhaustion runs through him, then nods. "Yeah."

...and smiles.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The new Rider was here, with his friends. I'm... I'm human again."

[triggerhappytraitor]

For such a short statement there was... a lot in those words. Tachibana's mouth moves soundlessly a moment before a single word escapes: "...Human...?"

For the first time in what feels like forever... there's hope in his voice. A fragile, delicate hope, but one that he's been trying to coax into existence for a long time.

"...Hajime as well...?"

[kenzaki]

"Hajime as well," Kenzaki says gently, his heart squeezing at the look on Tachibana's face. He doesn't know what it means. He doesn't know how the hell it's going to work for either of them. He still feels strange as hell inside. He hasn't been human for so long. But Hajime hasn't ever been truly human; how does he feel?!

...hell with it.

He wraps his arms around his senpai, giving him a tight hug.

[triggerhappytraitor]

Even if Tachibana weren't in a mild form of shock, the hug would have caught him a bit off guard. But it would have been his next instinct regardless, and he returns it, giving Kenzaki a relieved squeeze.

"It's finally over... isn't it?"

Almost twenty years since the Undead had been released and his world had been all but shattered...

It was finally over.

[kenzaki]

Kenzaki steps back, but not far, still close enough to touch his shoulder.

"Yeah," he says, marvelling at it. "Yeah, I think so. Zi-O took the Joker powers. I think... I think we're done."

[triggerhappytraitor]

There's a deep tension that is slowly starting to leach out of Tachibana's frame. "I'm glad."

Reaching out, he put a hand lightly on Kenzaki's shoulder. "You'll stay, right? Since you don't need to keep your distance any longer."

[kenzaki]

He looks so exhausted.

Kenzaki nods slowly. It's strange as anything being back here. He's fought here before, right?

"I guess I don't, yeah. I'll find somewhere to stay. I've been working, here and there. How about you? I tried calling you all a few years back but I couldn't... couldn't do it."

[triggerhappytraitor]

There was a soft, sympathetic smile on Tachibana's face at that admittance. "I kept the same number, if you can believe it. Just in case you did try. Also kept your salary being paid out, like it should have been before hand. Karasuma and I made sure your name was always on the roster, just in case. Can finally get you that company dorm, like they didn't have room for when you first signed on, huh?" he joked lightly.

[chalicejoker]

Woah, woah, wait, what, WAIT WHAT. That's been a rough summary of Hajime's thoughts ever since his blood turned red, really. Joker's been sealed, Amane is there, Kenzaki is there, and everything seems to have wrapped up and he's still confused as hell on some level, and there's...a phone number being shoved into his hand and then Kenzaki's leaving again.

Kenzaki is not going to get very far at all before that phone rings. Hajime can still see him...and Amane seems to understand.

[kenzaki]

"The same number?"

Kenzaki winces, smiling. He... he thinks he did the right thing, because not ending the world was important, but did he cause hurt? He wanted them to be able to move on without him. Shit.

"That's really good of you. I didn't want to draw against it too much in case it was a mistake!"

[kenzaki]

It won't be that bad, right?

He gave them space. He let them move on. He... he thinks it's not being arrogant, to assume that they genuinely did miss him, and it'd probably be insulting to act as though they didn't. But he also doesn't want to be so arrogant as to think they couldn't cope without him. He's just one person, after all.

(No matter how much he missed them.)

He grabs his phone out of his pocket, and stares at it blankly. He presses the button. "...hello?"

[triggerhappytraitor]

To move on, you needed something to move to, and the inner ability to keep going forward. After the Fight had been put on hold... Tachibana really didn't have either of those things. So much of him had been lost that he had felt like a hollow shell of himself afterwards. If it hadn't been for Karasuma's insistence that he should be the one to rebuild BOARD the way it should have been from the start, it was likely Tachibana would have simply faded out of existence with nothing left to keep him anywhere.

"Hirose had told me about your bank account trouble," he pointed out with a warm smile. "Making sure that that sort of thing didn't happen again was at least one thing I could do."

[kenzaki]

There's a blankness behind Tachibana's eyes that is worrying the shit out of Kenzaki, and he's spent the last fifteen years doing things he'd prefer not to talk about himself.

"That's good of you," he says gently. He can't help but smile back. "I didn't want to make it too obvious where I was, I have to admit."

[triggerhappytraitor]

Depression is a hell of a drug, even without the untreated PTSD that the Battle Fight and it's consequences had left him with.

"With how Hajime can be, I don't blame you." Even if it had hurt. Sometimes more deeply than others. That Kenzaki had felt the need to leave everything behind... it was only the thought of how much it had to hurt Kenzaki to be apart from those he cared for that kept Tachibana from resenting the abrupt departure. Instead, like so much else, he blamed himself. It should have been him, the one with nothing left to lose, that should have made that sacrifice. That was the role of the mentor, after all, wasn't it? To give everything that he could to those he was responsible to see to the future of...

[chalicejoker]

"Turn around." Because yes, Hajime is just going to stand there on the phone and glare at Kenzaki from a distance.

[kenzaki]

They’re a hell of a pair just now. Kenzaki doesn’t have the vocabulary to be able to truly understand , not yet. He’s been too busy living moment to moment for the last fifteen years.

He wants to, though. Especially as he’s broadly aware that he’s at fault in some ways. Tachibana-san deserves better.

“I didn’t think he’d be happy, yeah,” Kenzaki agrees wryly. “Do you think he’ll hit me repeatedly or just once?”

[kenzaki]

He turns, and can’t not smile to see the pissed off scowl aimed his way. “Hajime.”

It still feels like a gift to even be able to say it. “I, uh, I wanted to give you two some time. Please look after Amane-chan first, okay?”

[triggerhappytraitor]

A small snort escaped at the question. "I don't know if he would even know the answer to that," he smiled. "After he's done taking care of Amane... you will go and see him properly, right?"

The memory of seeing Hajime crying, clutching that phone... He hadn't know that Hajime was even capable of that sort of thing, and from the look on Hajime's face, neither had he. They'd both avoided eye contact, after that. And he'd avoided the restaurant for a good year after.

[kenzaki]

It’s good to hear that little bit of humour.

Kenzaki nods. He’s intimidated as anything about it. He can’t just drop back into his life like nothing happened. But he wants to see Hajime so desperately. “I will, yeah...”

Something Tachibana isn’t saying. Something about why he’s so emphatic that Kenzaki needs to see Hajime.

“What is it?” he asks softly.

[triggerhappytraitor]

"Hrm?" Tachibana blinked before realizing he was getting to swept up in flashbacks again. "Nothing, nothing. Just thinking," he assured, reaching out to give Kenzaki a warm pat on the shoulder. "Did you want to get something to eat? My treat."