[He would never ask her to come with him for long to the citadel. Their mission always took priority, and his loyalty to his master overtook anything else. But the time spent in the warped space of a Japan he would never know, with people who never belonged there, and knowledge of worlds beyond their own even outside of those civilizations beyond the ocean... it's given them a chance to explore that a Touken Danshi would never really consider.
Really, he's not sure the Saniwa will allow for it. So on their safe departures back to their homes, with a way to visit one another, he asks Lumine only for patience at first. Let him finish his mission, return home safely, and he would find his way to her. There is want that stirs in his chest, a mix of desire and excitement and anxious energy that feels too new, too selfish. But he is, at his core, still a Touken Danshi. A tool was still a tool, still bidden to its master.
...
He keeps himself composed as his team finishes their time with his former master, freeing him of the influence of a bitter tsukumogami. He leaves Sadachika behind to a nameless, forgotten future with an oddly aching heart.
But they're home now. He's tended to his own repairs, watched Akashi and Sengo both file in for long stays to be whole again, and successfully dodged Kotegiri's requests for endless dance practice for days on end.
Only then does he bother to pull out the same device they had used back in their shared space together, untouched for weeks upon weeks upon weeks. How it still worked, he would never understand... but at least the demons they once held inside would no longer be a problem.
It's bittersweet, to not see Keigo anymore. But Otegine tries not to dwell in the feeling, instead flipping to a new conversation, his stomach knotting as he types in Lumine's username]
UN: MATSUDAIRA --
lumine? can you read this?
it's otegine. i'm home. i'm safe.
[A pause. His lip slips between his teeth, worrying at it while he types a late addition--]
i've missed you
[--Damn it. No, what's something better to say... IS there anything better to say? Wow this is harder than he thought it would be.]
i hope everything is okay over there. i haven't forgotten what i promised but i know its been long.
im sorry i made you wait. let me know if you're okay?
for lumine
Really, he's not sure the Saniwa will allow for it. So on their safe departures back to their homes, with a way to visit one another, he asks Lumine only for patience at first. Let him finish his mission, return home safely, and he would find his way to her. There is want that stirs in his chest, a mix of desire and excitement and anxious energy that feels too new, too selfish. But he is, at his core, still a Touken Danshi. A tool was still a tool, still bidden to its master.
...
He keeps himself composed as his team finishes their time with his former master, freeing him of the influence of a bitter tsukumogami. He leaves Sadachika behind to a nameless, forgotten future with an oddly aching heart.
But they're home now. He's tended to his own repairs, watched Akashi and Sengo both file in for long stays to be whole again, and successfully dodged Kotegiri's requests for endless dance practice for days on end.
Only then does he bother to pull out the same device they had used back in their shared space together, untouched for weeks upon weeks upon weeks. How it still worked, he would never understand... but at least the demons they once held inside would no longer be a problem.
It's bittersweet, to not see Keigo anymore. But Otegine tries not to dwell in the feeling, instead flipping to a new conversation, his stomach knotting as he types in Lumine's username]
UN: MATSUDAIRA --
lumine? can you read this?
it's otegine. i'm home. i'm safe.
[A pause. His lip slips between his teeth, worrying at it while he types a late addition--]
i've missed you
[--Damn it. No, what's something better to say... IS there anything better to say? Wow this is harder than he thought it would be.]
i hope everything is okay over there. i haven't forgotten what i promised but i know its been long.
im sorry i made you wait. let me know if you're okay?