o42 [written -> forward dated to the day after the event ends]

[ahappylie]

[Filter to Sokka | 90% ]

Sokka-kun, I am afraid your training will be put on hold temporarily. I will contact you when I am able to resume. It should only be a few days.

[end]

My beloved snow
Is slowly melting away
To a spring garden
-Hogyoku

Ayumu-san. I do not wish to be disturbed.

[With that, Okita locks him in his room and barricades the door because he knows you, Ayumu. The morning after the event ended, he went into Hijikata's room to check if the man was home and found the place completely empty. Having two of his friends leave one after another does bad things to Okita's psyche.]

Comments

[action]

[ahappylie.livejournal.com]

[Usually the food remains untouched because he doesn't want to risk opening the door, but every so often the tray will return mostly empty. It's primarily out of guilt because he remembers that she too could disappear again and unlike the others, he would have no chance to see her again. Even so, he can't bring himself to face the others when he's not sure he can put on the happy face again.

Notably, however, the additional treats remain untouched and only that which is necessary to be eaten and cannot be preserved has been consumed.]

[action]

[ayu_nee]

[Every untouched dish only makes her worry more, but... he's eating something, at least. Ayumu will simply keep leaving the trays outside his door, returning after a while to take them away whether touched or not, being careful to make it quite audible when she comes and goes. And even if he isn't eating them, the sweets still appear on the tray, something different each time.]

[action]

[ahappylie.livejournal.com]

[The next time she comes by, she'll find Saizou sitting outside the door. The pig is sniffing at the untouched tray, but won't eat it because hey, even pigs know better.

However, as she gets closer the door will open slightly and Okita appears momentarily as he waits for the pig to come back inside.]

[action]

[ayu_nee]

[Of course she's going to be immediately trying to see what she can of him, though Ayumu is polite enough that she won't make it obvious that she's doing so. Everyone is reacting in their own way, she realizes; she had to leave for a few days and he chose to sequester himself in his room, but either way they do what they must.

She pauses a few steps away, attention ostensibly on the pig as she speaks, but then her gaze shifts upwards, expression laden with questions she won't ask.]

Did you need to go outside for a bit, Saizou?

[action]

[ahappylie.livejournal.com]

[Caught between a rock and a hard place, Saizou looks up, then looks back at the food. And since this is not his fight, he starts nosing at the dishes, trying to get them uncovered or open so he can eat them.]

....if you would. It's not good for him to stay locked up in here.

[And the door will start to close again.]

[action]

[ayu_nee]

Fresh air is important for everyone.

[Ayumu crosses the last few steps and crouches to pick up the tray, absently shooing Saizou away with one hand.]

Fresh air, exercise, and proper eating habits are all good things. Though neglecting them won't bring anyone back.

[action]

[ahappylie.livejournal.com]

[He pauses for a moment, then lowers his face a bit in a half-nod.]

Take care of Nagakura-san.

[And then he closes the door again.]

[action]

[ayu_nee]

[The comment is enough to make her hesitate briefly in turn, giving the door a thoughtful frown; however, Ayumu covers it quickly and turns away with the tray in hand, addressing the pig as she heads back down the hallway again.]

As if I'd stop taking care of either of them, really.

Oh, no, I haven't forgotten you, though you wouldn't leave perfectly good food uneaten, would you, Saizou?

[She sniffs lightly and takes the tray back to the kitchen, already planning what she'll try next in her attempts to get Okita to eat something. Fussing over him is far simpler than allowing herself to think about her own reactions, after all, and how she feels about it even though she shouldn't.]