open / catchall | as i watched from a distance...

[crystallomancy]

Who: natsume & thee
What: some open prompts + anything else for march
When: all march baybee
Where: just school
Warnings: open memshares may contain blood and murder. it's a metaphor but it's still not very pretty, but it won't be anything overly gruesome if you're not down with it! let me know.

memshares ✦ general march ✦ fanart

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memshares

[crystallomancy]

— reminiscence ＊ spring cherry blossoms and a night's encounter —

( the forest, inexplicably, goes dark around you as some point, and—

you're standing next to a young man with long, light blue hair gathered up into a ponytail, and a slightly younger natsume. instead of a forest, there's rows and rows of seats instead—a concert hall, with some dozen voices chattering away softly about this or that performance.

the next one contains at least one familiar-looking idol, with them introducing their group as trickstar and launching into some idol-like song. it apparently doesn't matter to the memory, nor to the person it belongs to; it hadn't been important at the time. what is important is what comes next:

the main event. valkyrie steps onto stage, and it all seems to be going well... but natsume is tense, and the music is distorting, and the idols on stage dance as if guided by marionette strings.

something doesn't feel quite right. )

— reminiscence ＊ gathering of the three magicians —

( again, the forest opens into a stage, but this time the skies are mostly clear and dotted with stars, the night air is comfortably cool, and the same slightly young natsume sits with a folder in his hands, knuckles white. off to the side stands the same young man from the other memory, with long blue hair, though he has a partner in a hockey mask with him; and on the other side of the stage, almost out of sight, is fine.

this, too, has an air of unease despite the beautiful weather and the beautiful stage. natsume breathes out shakily, this time fully aware of the memory. )

...I wonder if I can't change things this TIME.

spring cherry blossoms

[taketori]

[ It's all so peculiar. The voices chirped away, as Miyuki stood idly by and watched the performances. He doesn't recall when the other two had appeared nearby, and didn't really understand when said familiar-looking idol had launched into the song.

Still, that much isn't important right now. Even as untrained as Miyuki is, he could tell that something didn't seem to be right as Valkyrie performed. Moreso as the music shifted, and finally... he has to break the silence, murmuring under his breath. ]

Are they going to be alright? [ It's not so much that they're nervous, that much can be ascertained. Still, the movements are unnatural enough to be cause for alarm. ]

general march

[crystallomancy]

( fortunetelling )

( well, just because natsume's in a terrible place mentally doesn't mean he can't fall back into the comfortable habit of offering to read fortunes.

he smiles at anyone who passes the library where he's set up his fortunetelling table, polite and civil. )

Would you like your fortune read toDAY? The first question is FREE, and the others can be paid for with whatever you might have on you—snacks, coins, or informaTION.

( you know, just going back to his roots. )

( magic training )

( his second fall-back: busy himself as much as possible. in the courtyard, he's practicing his magic circles—distinctly healing-aligned in nature, for those who might be versed in elsword magic—as well as his control... by making multiple shining, planet-like orbs around him and seeing how large he can get them before they cave in with a small explosion.

he's getting better. they're pretty large—probably on par with a certain planetary spell noah was practicing some months ago, and their "small explosions" are still loud and painful for anyone caught too close.

which is natsume, usually, but he can heal himself up. if you get caught in it... well, depending on who you are, you're either out of luck or he'll help you, too. it's 50/50 right now for everyone. )

( wildcard )

( if you have anything else... he's just around school, privately plotting revenge and ignoring/avoiding subaru. )

fortunetelling

[miisdealt]

This is my second time having my fortune told here... I wonder if my future has changed at all. I suppose that's the free question I'd be interested in having an answer to.

[She thinks things like this are interesting, as she likes to see what might be actually seen by different fortune tellers.]

[crystallomancy]

Did you ask Ebalon-kun to read it beFORE?

( the only other person he knows who even touches this type of thing, and also the only other person he trusts to do it. but it's a very simple question... he looks at his decks—tarot from home, the special set of playing cards he received from nene that he'll be able to use even when his eyesight fails him—and chooses the former. the arcana will do well here, he thinks.

he spreads the cards out in front of her, gesturing for her to shuffle and pick them as she pleases. any number will do; it'll only help him interpret the answer. maybe a bit of a casual way of reading this time, but he considers it worthwhile to ease himself and his deck into this again. it's been a while since he used it, after all. )

[miisdealt]

I did. It was my first time having my fortune being read, so I was curious about it. I actually enjoy doing new things, so I thought it would at least be a good way to pass the time and ease my boredom.

fortunetelling

[rearranger]

[ Fortunetelling? He's seen a couple individuals offering it, including Komaeda at the student culture festival, but he's never bothered with it. It's no different than shaking up an eight ball and searching it for an answer.

He doesn't take stock in it, but Ranger supposes it might not hurt to try just once. He'll plop down in the chair across from the table. ]

Fortunetelling, huh? Sure, I'll give it a shot? Is there a money-back guarantee that comes along with it~?

[ He knows that there won't be, and it's obvious in the lighthearted way that he asks the question. ]

wildcard nyehehe

[starrypoint]

[some day after natsume's returned, no matter when before graduation, the door to his classroom is being slammed open during lunch and a familiar voice, with a familiar phrasing, is ringing out--]

Na~tsume! Let's go out! ♪

[crystallomancy]

( ahhh, how annoying. )

Not interesTED.

[starrypoint]

Too bad!

[he's going over and grabbing his wrist.]

C'mon, it's one of the only days we've both gone to school, let's skip the rest of the day.

[his good record didn't last after the arisus, after all. definitely not after keigo either. what's it matter.]

[crystallomancy]

( at least natsume doesn't flinch away, but he does carefully pry subaru's hand off his wrist. do NOT hold it this is disciplinary action )

And is it something that's more interesting and worthwhile than anything else I could be doing with my time if I decided to skip all on my OWN?

[starrypoint]

[without hesitation:]

Yes.

[also, this is his hand now.]

[crystallomancy]

( octopus. )

...It better BE.

( :/ he's acquiescing, let's go. )

[starrypoint]

[how this never changes, either. overly touchy, but now he doesn't mind when people touch him in return.

anyway. it isn't better than anything natsume could do on his own, but subaru's still slinking his way downstairs like he owns it the way a tiger owns a jungle, a lion the savannah, and out into the courtyard. the wisteria still stands struck, petals lessened by the blow at the start of the month, and subaru moves past even that towards the dorms.

...

down to star 1, because he knows no one is there right now, and he has set up a bit of poorly made tea and a little better made lunch. you can't go wrong with sandwiches.]

It's not a date, [he says,] so don't say a word. I'd think of somethin' a little nicer than lunch in our room if it was.

[even if natsume doesn't stay here, our room.]

Sit, sit! I wanna know all about you~. No leavin' until then. ☆ I'll make sure you don't by sitting ri~ght by the door.

[crystallomancy]

( .................. )

I'm leavING.

( let him go, he's out-- )

for subaru;

[crystallomancy]

— reminiscence ＊ a twist of fate —
( the school looks like yogen, but it isn't—so in short, it just looks like your regular, run-of-the-mill high school. there's faint chattering of students echoing in the halls, from half-open classrooms and from the courtyard below,

but the school itself seems empty of students, despite its noise.

the classroom closest to subaru has a voice that's very familiar though, a song that might feel familiar sung under the person's breath but that isn't one he knows—an itch at his brain, like a few things have felt like. an itch, an itch.

something missing, but what?

...

and then, the slightly younger version of someone who keeps avoiding him, who won't talk to him directly, who looks coolly and right through him, stepping to the door to speak to whoever it is inside.

his voice is light and clear, cutting through the spring haze: )

Subaru Akehoshi-kun.

( ... )

[starrypoint]

[it's an itch.

it's a familiar scene, in a way, and it makes him wonder if it's like the songs he can't quite remember the source of from the cultural festival, conversations with so many others that feel like a string of paper-cut snowflakes. he had them. but there's holes, and ones that he finds himself struggling to see into...

... all he knows is that they were important, that they drew the person talking to him a little closer, there was a commonality and understanding.

the second voice, the one that makes his head snap up and turn so fast his breath clenches in his throat, natsume's name caught pressed against his lips as he holds them fast.

he doesn't remember the last time they even caught glances, much less talked.

it hurts.

it hurts so, so much, and he doesn't understand the depths of "why".

so of course he moves closer, hand reaching out to grab natsume's shoulder and hovering just away when his eyes glance inside instead.]

[crystallomancy]

( subaru, meet subaru—a subaru who looks up from wiping down desks as part of day duty, surprised. almost on guard, before it relaxes just a bit.

whatever he says is muffled, the feelings of a laugh at the edges of his words—a confused one, a "why are you calling out to me?" one. natsume smiles, thin but patiently. civil. )

It's Sakasaki, not Sakaki. Natsume Sakasaki, though people often get my last name WRONG... But we're the same CLASS, so you ought to at least remember my NAME.

( memory-natsume bows slightly, head tilting to the side. not taking notice of the subaru-who's-stumbled-in at all. )

It's a pleasure to make your acquainTANCE ♪

[starrypoint]

[oh.

... oh, that's strange to see, and he feels the few years difference between them. there's a certain guard to the other subaru, but a flickering hope beneath; the one who stands apart, struggling to say a word, can't say he understands that feeling at all.

after all, he had friends. he made plenty of them. he had a little gang of them, and they got into all sorts of normal troubles.]

Natsume, [he says at the same time the other does (muffled, mouthed to the present subaru), but he doesn't know how to respond after that.

what's going on? what is this? why am i here?

whatever the subaru-who-isn't-him says falls on his own deaf ears, though he can recognize the sort of scene it is. that isn't his name on the board, after all, it's someone else's. a friend? a bully? what is this, who is this, why is this...]

[crystallomancy]

( the memory-natsume pauses at real-subaru's voice calling his name, like maybe it isn't a memory, actually

and then the memory continues to play out the way it should, answering some question posed to him: )

Ahaha—that's because I've already studied most of the material that we're covering around this time of YEAR. A looong time aGO, I attended an idol training school just like this ONE. Our school's curriculum is more basic though—it's geared towards kids who don't know how to do any of this alreaDY. ( memory-natsume sighs, a hand lifting in the air. ) It's excruciatingly painful to have to sit and listen quietly to things you've already been TAUGHT.

( and then he pauses. )

And to things you've already experiENCED, ( he says, a line out of script, and the chattering of the students grows louder like cicadas in summer, rising and rising and rising and






the school looks like yogen, but it isn't—so in short, it just looks like your regular, run-of-the-mill high school. there's faint chattering of students echoing in the halls, from half-open classrooms and from the courtyard below,

but the school itself seems empty of students, despite its noise. a classroom door close to subaru is slightly ajar, but the room seems unoccupied as well. )

[starrypoint]

[the line off script (he doesn't know how he knows it is, maybe it's the tone or the way everything suddenly gets suffocatingly loud and then

cuts out, standing in place, heart beating weirdly fast as his head snaps to the door ajar, listening for the sound of humming, of a song he doesn't quite know, for the itch to return and to be enveloped once more by something that doesn't feel all-together his and not his.

he runs his tongue over his teeth, feeling like something's missing, and pushes the door open to look inside. is it really unoccupied? if it is he might investigate a little, to learn about the boy who'd looked like him two years ago and bore the same name he has for eighteen years of his life.]

[crystallomancy]

( it's empty.

no, on first glance it is. on second look, though, there's natsume right by the door. he looks at subaru, a flicker of recognition and then discontent, and he raises a finger to his lips. there's holly on his fingernails, as if painted, but when subaru blinks it disappears.

natsume does not. he looks across the hall instead, to another ajar door, and dimly, dimly, the sound of a conversation that subaru should know (he was part of it, being laden with chores for the second, the third, the fourth, the ██████ day in a row) just barely over the yammering of students unseen. unimportant.

but if he tries to move towards it, natsume will grab his arm, then flinch away like he's touched fire instead of a person. )

[starrypoint]

-- Do you hate me that much?

[he asks, stopped by the other and hating, a little, how much he relishes in the simple contact. what's it matter? they were friends. they were close. subaru doesn't remember parts of their conversations. he doesn't know why natsume is so hurt, or what was all said on the mountain.

just that he had been ready, had been eager to forget.

and for what.

subaru doesn't know if it helped. if anything changed. but he knows that jizo wouldn't lie, and everything matters.]

What's going on? Why am I here?

[questions natsume isn't obligated to answer.]

[crystallomancy]

You as in the you of NOW, or you as in the person you saw ten seconds aGO?

( the distinction is important.

and he isn't answer the question he should actually answer, because the answer isn't one either of them wants to hear. )

for komaeda;

[crystallomancy]

— reminiscence ＊ the dance school's princess —
( the school looks nothing like yogen. it's a shoddy and small dance academy, apparently for young children.

and speaking of young children.

this little girl (?), probably no more than seven or eight, is putting on a show for some fellow kids, her footwork perfect. she gives a deep bow for the class, smiling wide as they shower her with praise. red hair, gold eyes... but there's no white in her hair, so maybe it isn't a certain red-head komaeda's come to know—

"Nami-chan, can you show us another dance? Since it's your last day here and all? Pretty please?"

'nami-chan' looks as if she's about to refuse, but her feet start moving on their own, and the look of frustration she wears mimics natsume's in the far future perfectly.

and one komaeda will also find beside him, near-scowl. )

They were always so easily imPRESSED. If they actually took our lessons seriousLY, they would've been able to do all of that TOO.