Work Text:
Harumasa placed the papers down on Yanagi’s desk. Notes from his doctor were plastered onto the paper: “Please excuse Mr. Asaba Harumasa from work today,” at the top. Typical, really. Harumasa clocked out early a lot, even skipping days entirely. The excuse was always his illness, but it wasn’t like it wasn’t a genuine reason, it just wasn’t unknown that he used it as a way to get out of work.
Yanagi adjusted her glasses, and picked up the papers. “You know you’ll have to make up for this at some point,” she warned him. “You’ll just have double the work tomorrow.”
“I’m aware. I’m a responsible young man, I can handle some work.” Harumasa replied, his tone teasing. Yanagi simply looked back over the papers, and sighed, placing the papers back onto the desk in annoyance. “Okay. But we have a meeting tomorrow, so make sure you be there.” Harumasa just made a small, mock salute, and turned on his heel to exit out of Yanagi’s office.
Truth be told, today wasn’t just him wanting to get out of work;not this time at least. He’d woken up in a cold sweat, a dream both vivid and unexplainable stuck in his mind. Not that he would tell anyone of course, that’s just not his game. Besides, they would begin to worry for no reason, it’s just a flare in his condition, nothing serious. Although, if Yanagi had thought it was serious, she might have excused him from the meeting. Nah, that’d be lame and he knew he’d get an earful if he came back the next day perfectly fine. Maybe if he moved around some or visited the managers he’d feel better. After all, what better than to see his favorite proxies?
He hopped on the train in Lumina Square and began heading to Sixth Street. He heard they had gotten back from a trip in the outer ring to help out their friends, so it’s unlikely that they have the store open, so if he went there right now, he could spend all day with them. Then again, they’re hard workers, it’d be no surprise if they already were.
The train stopped after a while, and the doors opened. There weren’t many people on the train, so it wasn’t a pain to exit out of the vehicle. He went up the stairs, exiting the station. Already, the smell of noodles, trash and a unique smell that Sixth Street held, washed over him. While it wasn’t the most pleasant of smells, it was one he was familiar with. He passed by the gadget store, then Coff Cafe and then God Finger. The coffee smelled sweet and he could hear video games blasting even if he was outside the stores, giving the area a nice comfortable feel to it.
As Harumasa began heading to the video store, he saw quite the familiar face standing at the news stand. White hair and tail, and ears that twitched at every sound. Not to mention the Pubsec outfit of course. He felt a surge of excitement at the sight, although it might’ve been a bit much for his head, as he felt it throb; it was a harsh pain, the same one he’d woken up with this morning. He held his head, every surrounding sound and smell being too strong to recognize all of a sudden.
“Asaba?” He looked up from his hand, snapping out of the weird headache and saw Seth. “Are you okay? You look sick.” His voice was laced with concern and confusion.
“Seth~! Of course I’m fine! I just wanted to get your attention.” That was a lie, but Harumasa couldn’t help it. If it were the proxies causing the headache then he’d tell them, but this is Seth. They’re friends, but not THAT close.
“Well, you scared me. What are you doing in Sixth Street? Don’t you have work?” Seth asked, suspicious.
“I could ask the same for you.” Harumasa replied, “I’m on a day off, so I came to see the managers.”
“Belle and Wise?” Seth questioned, “I didn’t know they were back.” Seth pondered about it for a moment, but he cut himself off. “I’m on official business right now. Apparently someone has been stealing from Howl’s stand, so I’m investigating it.”
“Awee, look at you, Mister Detective!" Harumasa teased, chuckling. At Seth’s small glare, he apologized. “Sorry, sorry. Well, good luck with that, I’ll see you another time~!”
Before Seth could respond to his tease, Harumasa was already walking towards the video store.
Harumasa opened the door, apparently not needing an invitation to come inside. He looked around, the store was pretty quiet and the lights were off, meaning they were closed—but this is also where they live, so there was no way they wouldn’t be here. He walked around a bit, seeing Eighteen at the counter still. “Belle and Wise home?” He asked. Eighteen perked up when he spoke, “Ehna nha!”
“Hello to you too.” Harumasa chuckled at the bangboo's enthusiasm.
“Ehna ehna hna ehn.” Eighteen told him. Which to translate, meant: “Wise and Belle are watching a movie.”
“Thank you. Hope they won’t mind putting their movie on hold for a friend.” He said, patting Eighteen’s head and walking to the metal door. He pushed it open and spotted Belle and Wise on the couch, watching a movie like Eighteen said. Belle’s head was on Wise’s shoulder, asleep by the looks of it. Like he sensed that someone came in, Wise looked over her head to see Harumasa.
“Couldn’t knock?” He asked, joking obviously.
“Eighteen would’ve just let me in.” Harumasa said. Wise just nodded, knowing Harumasa wasn’t wrong. “She asleep?” Harumasa suddenly asked, coming over to sit on the armrest of the couch.
“Yeah. An hour in and she was out cold.” Wise chuckled warmly.
“Must’ve been a long trip then. At least she looks cute asleep~!” Harumasa said, already knowing the reaction he’d earn.
Wise glared at him a bit and spoke. “Don’t start, Asaba.”
Harumasa chuckled. He wasn’t used to the first name basis, but he pushed that thought down. “Don’t worry, I won’t make any moves on her. Not right now at least.” Before Wise could retort, he spoke again. “Chillax, I’m joking. Anyway, how was the trip?”
“Exhausting.” Wise practically groaned, letting go of Harumasa's teasing for the moment. “Although I won against Ceaser in a drinking challenge.” he continued, “And then Lighter and Lucy attempted to take Belle on a motorcycle ride. A bunch of other stuff happened—elt more like having a sleepover than helping Ceaser set up a whole restaurant.”
“Sounds like you guys had the time of your lives. More fun than hanging out with Section Six?” Harumasa asked.
“Fun in ways that only lasted one night.” Wise said. “So, what are you doing here?”
“Woke up with the worst headache ever. So I took a sick leave to see if hanging out with you two could chase it away.” Harumasa explained. He couldn’t help but feel comfortable around these two, more than anyone else at least. Even if he wanted to lie about the headache, it’d be impossible around them.
“Well I’m flattered, and I’m sure Belle would be too. Shouldn’t you rest though?” Wise asked, concerned etched on his face. Harumasa grimaced internally at the sight of his face, not really liking the concern Wise showed over him.
“No, I’m fine, it’s nothing too serious. As far as I know at least.” It wasn’t technically a lie, but even if it was serious, Wise didn’t have to know it.
“Well, why don’t you go rest anyway? We don’t really have anywhere comfortable for you to rest here.” Wise sounded apologetic. It was obvious he wanted to help, but he and his sister were exhausted as it is. Harumasa didn’t want to inconvenience them with anything he could take care of himself.
Harumasa nodded anyway, despite himself. “Alright then. You two rest well.”
Harumasa stood up off the armrest and left the room. On the way outside, he gave Eighteen another pat on the head, then left the store. He could still feel his head throbbing, but he didn’t want to go home. Maybe he could find Seth again, it was likely he was still doing stuff with that Magazine Theft case thing. He walked over to Howl’s stand and looked around.
“That didn’t take long.” He heard a voice, and saw Seth walking towards him from The Godfinger. Considering the clipboard in his hand, he must’ve been asking Asha questions. “Oh, sorry. I don’t mean to judge or anything, not like visits have to take hours.” he added afterwards, glancing down at the ground.
“They were tired, no reason to keep ‘em up.” Harumasa said. “I was actually about to come looking for you anyway.”
“What? Me??” Seth pointed to himself in confusion.
“Well, yeah! I want to hang out with a friend and you were around, so why not?” Harumasa assured, giving his best effort to smile, even with the harsh headache making it a little tough.
“I guess? I’m almost done with my current job. So, how about, when I’m done, I’ll meet you at the Pubsec station?” Seth said, a little hesitant about the idea of hanging out like that.
“Awesome! I’ll see you there then. Sayonara!” Harumasa waved at Seth as he began walking away. Seth hesitantly waved back, small, but there.
—1 hour later—
Harumasa sat on the front steps of the station, the dog sat nearby but not yielding to any affection he offered. He’d been waiting for a few minutes, but not all that long, maybe ten-fifteen minutes. He heard the two doors open, and turned a little too quickly, secretly wishing it was who he thought it was. He hoped he didn’t look desperate to hang out. To no surprise, and to his internal joy, Seth walked out.
“Took you long enough~!” Harumasa teased.
“Sorry, Asaba.” Seth apologized. “We had some difficulties documenting the information into our files. Ms. Qingyi is gonna end up getting the crook, and they just told me I could take a break.”
“You don’t look so happy, though?” Harumasa said, hoping he was wrong. Nothing was worse than wanting to hang out with someone, but they didn’t want to hang out with you. He shivered at the thought.
“I had… just kind of hoped I’d be able to get the crook, too.” Seth mumbled a little bit, but spoke louder with his next sentence. “But, as long as the crook is caught, then I really don’t mind.” Seth explained. He was telling the truth of course, but Harumasa knew that it might bother him for at least the next thirty minutes. “Anyway, you wanted to hang out? Did you have anywhere in mind?”
“Yup! I brought the money to buy two tickets to a movie at the cinema.” Harumas exclaimed.
“Oh, really? I haven’t gone to a movie in a little while. I’ve rented tapes, but it’s been a while since I’ve been at the cinema itself.” Seth said, a little startled.
“I know right? Same goes for me, so we can do it together~!” Harumasa said, clearly excited about going to see a movie, especially with Seth. Not that they were close.
Seth walked up to stand beside him, and they began to walk to the cinema in silence. It wasn’t far, cross the street and you’d pretty much be there. Lumina Square was both big and small when truly thinking about it. When they got over there, Harumasa opened the door for Seth and they walked inside. Harumasa set the money on the counter and asked the lady for two tickets to “Small Body, Big Crisis!” a movie about a man turning into a bangboo. He’d heard it was funny, and a perfect movie to watch with a friend.
The lady checked their tickets and told them the way to the screening room, and they walked in. It was dark as he expected, there were people there but not exactly crowded. They found two seats and sat down. The seats had that familiar feeling of leather, reminding him of times he’d gone with the proxies—which was only once.
It was a movie, so all they did was sit there in silence. It was kind of awkward, considering this was their first time hanging out. Harumasa wanted to talk to him maybe to get rid of that awkwardness, but it was known that people aren't really allowed to talk during a movie. And even as the movie progressed, neither of them had a very… pleased expression on their face. Neither laughed at what was meant to be a comedy movie, nor did they smile. Harumasa could only wonder what Seth was thinking. “Why did this weirdo invite me out?” or, “This is so boring…” maybe, “How stupid.” Harumasa shook his head, ridding the thoughts from his mind. Seth was too kind of a person to say or even think those things. Despite the other being a cat, he was more like a golden retriever.
—1 hour later—
They stepped outside the theatre, the door slowly closing shut by its own weight. They stood beside each other, awkward and quiet. Seth slowly turned to Harumasa, trying to say something, but a little too nervous after that experience. “Uhm, well, that was fun.” Seth said, his nervousness showing through the tone of his voice.
They were quiet again. Harumasa couldn't think to respond. He couldn’t just say “Yeah” in response, that was way too small of a statement, and would make everything even more awkward. But then he heard Seth speak again; a question, simple. “So, why exactly did you invite me out in the first place?” How was Harumasa supposed to respond to that? He wanted to get to know Seth more, not just knowing him through Seth’s brother. But— he did have more specific reasons for today, he just wasn’t going to bother Seth with it. It was a little embarrassing.
“I just wanted to hang out.” Harumasa said instead, "We are technically friends, but I still feel like we could get closer anyway.”
Seth looked at him funny.
—The next evening—
“Please excuse Mr. Asaba from work today.”
“Again?” Yanagi said, exasperation flooding her tone. “You didn’t make it to the meeting today, and you now have work from yesterday and today to make up.” Yanagi scolded. Harumasa could barely focus on her words, holding his head. He can’t remember the last time he felt so bad, either way, it’s never been this bad. Yanagi sighed, just as she had yesterday. “I can tell you’re not trying to skip out this time, but if something really is terribly wrong, then you should see a doctor.” Harumasa almost flinched at the idea. He’d rather just go rest, since he completely skipped out on sleep last night.
“It’s not that bad, I promise. Probably just a cold or something.” Harumasa said. He probably shouldn’t have said cold, considering it was summer, but he didn’t want Yanagi thinking he was dying or something. So he just chuckled. Yanagi narrowed her eyes, and Harumasa could tell she didn’t believe him— but even if she did or didn’t, she didn’t say anything. She instead just huffed and said, “Alright, I’ll see if I can find someone to fill in for your work these two days. And make sure you at least get rest if you’re so insistent on not going to the doctor.” Yanagi set the papers in a drawer of her desk as she spoke.
Harumasa left the office building, walking through Lumina Square. It was already getting a little dark. All that he’d done all day was wait in a doctor's office for medicine and treatment before work. And at some point, he just asked for excuse papers and then left. So, he definitely didn’t want to be at a hospital right now.
Even then, he was in so much pain, his body aching. He hadn’t noticed when his vision blurred, didn’t pay attention to where he was going or who he walked by. He held his arms with a strength that felt unnecessary but helped the pain in some twisted way. He wasn’t even sure why he felt like this, if it had anything to do with his illness or not. He wanted to actually think about it, rule out the suspects of his sudden, agonizing pain. But he was exhausted. Tired. He couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, and he felt his legs slowly trying to give away.
“Asaba?” Was that his name? Was someone calling to him? His friends, or his master? “Asaba!” He finally took an attempt to look up, seeing the outline of white hair, animal ears and blue clothing. He felt like he recognized that, felt like he knew whoever was calling his family name.
Before he could hear anything else, he passed out.
—30 minutes later—
Harumasa’s eyes slowly opened. His sight was still blurry, but not as much as they were before. He could barely register that he was laying down on something soft. He didn’t want to move, especially with the aching pain. But, if he was anywhere dangerous, then he’d need to get away. He opened his eyes best he could, rubbing the blur away and sitting up slowly. “Hey! You shouldn’t be getting up yet!” A voice called to him. He heard footsteps, and saw that same figure from before approaching him. He rubbed his eyes again, finally getting rid of the intensity of the blur. “Seth?”
“Yeah, it’s me.” Seth assured. Harumasa thought for a moment, speaking again. “What happened?” He asked.
“I found you walking around the Police Station in Lumina Square on my way back there. You looked completely out of it, so I took you to the Public Security Dorms.” Seth explained. Now that Harumasa’s location was properly mentioned, he couldn’t help but notice his surroundings. It really was a Public Security Dorm, Seth’s to be specific. He’d been in the dormitory once while on work with Yanagi, but it’s been a while.
“Are you sick, Asaba? If so, then you need to lie down. And even if you’re not sick, you still should lay down.” Seth said, pushing Harumasa back down to the bed. “You don’t have to take care of me, I’m fine.” Harumasa assured. But as he tried to sit back up, Seth pushed him down and spoke. “Yeah, but it’s my job to take care of people. Besides, you said we’re technically friends, so friends take care of each other.”
Harumasa couldn’t argue with that. Sure, Seth wasn’t a doctor or anything, but he was still a Public Security officer. He was paid to protect people. And Harumasa also couldn’t deny that he called Seth a friend. Especially since he wanted to be friends with him. Seth spoke up again suddenly, breaking Harumasa’s thoughtful silence. “So, why were you in such a… state?”
It took a moment for Harumasa to actually respond, “I’m not actually sure. I’ve felt really bad these past two days.” Why was Harumasa telling the truth? He’d known Section Six and the proxies for a while now, but he would never tell them when he wasn’t okay. He didn’t ever want to make his friends worry, yet here he was actually telling Seth his problems. “Have you told a doctor?” Seth asked. The sound of a doctor made Harumasa sick. “I was at the doctors all day—for hours in a waiting room chair. Still nothing.” Harumasa responded, sighing at the nightmare of a memory.
Seth spoke again, his voice a little softer, less questioning and confused. More caring and kind. “Why don’t you just rest then? I doubt you’ve had much water or food these past two days, so I’ll go ask Zhu Yuan to help me prepare something for you.” Seth stood up straight, and Harumasa felt a sudden sense of guilt. “You really don’t have to. Rest is fine.” But Seth looked far too determined, too kind and truthful for his own good. “Nonsense! You need this. I won’t be long, I promise.” Seth didn’t wait for a response or argument, opening the door of the room and leaving.
—15 minutes later—
Seth came back in, a decent sized bento in his hands. He walked over to the bed Harumasa had been laying in, and as Harumasa slowly shifted to sit at the edge, Seth sat beside him. “Here, Zhu Yuan made most of it.” Seth placed the bento in Harumasa’s lap, putting a spoon in his hand. When Harumasa opened it, he saw messy rice balls, grapes and sliced strawberries, a small portion of curry rice and beef to go with it. It smelled delicious, and he could tell Seth had made the rice balls, still though, they looked great. “I promise I’m not a bad cook, it’s just been a while since I’ve made onigiri.” Seth chuckled a little awkwardly.
It felt weird having someone take care of him, Harumasa wasn’t sure if he enjoyed it or if he should feel bad for being so weak. He took a spoonful of the curry and ate it; it tasted just as good as it smelled. Either Zhu Yuan had amazing cooking skills, or he was starving—probably both, honestly. He took another spoonful into his mouth, then another. He hadn’t even noticed Seth smiling at him so warmly.
Seth opened a water bottle that had been sitting on the nightstand, and held it out to Harumasa. When Harumasa took a few sips from it, Seth spoke. “Think you can talk more now? Or think properly at least?” He asked, and he spoke up quickly again, trying to assure Harumasa. “You can still eat of course, I just want to figure out what's going on with you.”
“I…” Harumasa started, unsure of what to say, how to explain. “Well, I guess I kind of know what’s wrong with me.” He said. Seth froze a bit, having thought that Harumasa had been completely unsure. “I got pretty badly injured by an ethereal on a mission a few days ago, but the injury practically disappeared the next day. I think that ethereal had done something to me, something that interacted with my condition.” He explained, a bit solemn.
Seth pondered those words for a few seconds, before taking Harumasa’s free hand into his own. “Then it sounds like you need to stay away from the hollow for a while.” He smiled softly, a comforting and soothing sight. “I’m not really educated on things like the Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome, and while I know stuff about ethereals, I don’t really understand what’s going on with you.” Seth mumbled, but he perked up a bit “But! I want to help! I can tell you’ve placed a lot of trust in me today, and I don’t want to waste that.” Seth spoke brightly and kindly. Harumasa could swear all his problems faded away for a moment, and it felt like bliss.
Seth ended up declaring that they’d find a library and research everything for the night. They sat at some empty table in a corner, reading book after book they could find about Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome. They didn’t really talk to each other, didn’t say much, and focused solely on finding anything. It was a little bit awkward, especially for Harumasa. Why was Seth even helping?? Yeah, Seth said he wanted to, it was his job, and that Harumasa was his friend, but it just felt wrong for some reason. Like Harumasa was dragging Seth into something that had nothing to do with him. Harumasa couldn’t focus on reading due to these thoughts.
Through the silence, Harumasa found himself taking a glance at Seth. The cat thiren had this determined and focused look on his face, something he always had when working. Harumasa couldn’t help but admire it. Really, Seth was nothing like his older brother.
As they looked through the most sources they could find, Harumasa felt himself doze off after a while, the actions of the day taking a toll on him. A library probably wasn’t the best place to fall asleep, but he wasn’t really sure if he cared at the moment.
-???-
Harumasa’s eyes fluttered open. How long had he been out? He looked to his left and noticed that Seth wasn’t there sitting on the edge of the bed anymore. There were stacks of books on the table, some even on the floor. It looked like Seth had been at work for hours on end, probably meaning Harumasa had been sleeping for just as long. He looked through his surroundings, still not seeing Seth. When he couldn’t spot him, he perked his head up to the librarian, who was reading something, so likely noticed nothing.
Harumasa stood up from the uncomfortable, plastic chair. He was starting to worry that maybe Seth had simply left him, wanting nothing to do with him anymore. He picked up one of the books Seth had been looking through. The title was “Dandelion Hollow,” something Harumasa had never heard of before. He flipped to the first page to see what it was about. “Deep in a hollow, there are dandelions that grow almost effortlessly. People call this a myth, but I believe it’s true. These dandelions are different though. They’re said to make medicine, medicine that can even cure Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome.”
Harumasa paused. How stupid, to think an illness like that could actually be healed, by a myth no less. “They’re very hard to find from what I know. They’re said to be deep in the middle of Hollow Zero, a whole, beautiful field.” Hollow Zero was that huge Hollow, gigantic and the most dangerous of any of them. From what he knew, even the proxy had trouble with the deeper parts. He can’t imagine someone believing this lie, let alone going into that hollow to find those dandelions.
Except maybe Seth.
That boy was strong, smart, and caring, but he was still a rookie, a novice. And with how determined he’d been to help Harumasa, there’s no doubt he’d try and find those dandelions, real or not. He couldn’t imagine Seth getting hurt in there, especially with the fact that it’d be all Harumasa’s fault. He couldn’t just leave Seth to go there alone, or even at all. He needed to go get him, desperately, make sure he was okay and bring him back to the PUBSEC station.
Harumasa practically bolted out of his chair, accidentally causing some books to fall with rapid thuds. He dashed to the door, opening it and finding a quick route to Hollow Zero. He didn’t pay attention to how he got there, just followed where his feet and worry dragged him. He was lucky he still had his HAND uniform on, hardly going without it.
—
The edges of the hollow weren’t ever really dangerous. With his bow, he took care of pretty much every ethereal. They weren’t hard to take care of, a little too easy. As he got further though, the ethereals seemed the same level, weak and easy. Except, Harumasa felt himself getting weak, like he couldn’t move as fast. He swore he was just lucky, not getting hit as he fought.
After a while, he ran into three smaller ethereals. He aimed his arrow at them, but felt himself hesitate for a reason he couldn’t understand. The ethereals didn’t attack him. They motion their arms, pointing ahead. He’d never heard of an ethereal who was a lot more… sentient. Something about these three was different. They kept motioning, and he realized they wanted him to follow them. He internally screamed at himself to shoot them. He must’ve just been hallucinating from the pain.
Still, he moved forward, lowering his bow. They walked slowly, agonizingly slow. He could feel that sudden weakness envelop him. Despite following the ethereals, every time he blinked, they almost seemed to fade. Each time, he rubbed his eyes, opening them wide to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He could only watch the ground, making sure he saw not even a glimpse of the ethereals. Still though, with each step he could see their feet. Feet, human feet, with black shoes and a yellow heel. He should’ve looked up, figured out who was really leading him, but he couldn’t bring himself to.
Staring at the ground as he walked, he noticed the rock turning soft, like dirt. Then, he noticed patches of dirt slowly fading in, and from then on he saw grass. A bright green poking from the ground, what looked like morning dew making it glisten in the light.
He saw what looked like flowers, yellow. They were familiar, like a dandelion before it blooms—he saw buds, and noticed seeds flowing in his vision.
Finally, he looked up, unable to hold back his fear and confusion. The ethereals were gone, nowhere in sight. There wasn’t even a glimpse of where they could be. But he wasn’t so worried about that right now.
The field had what looked like clouds spread across it, like the flowers had some kind of magic to them, like a glow, the sun made them bright and fluffy like a dream. And when the wind blew it made some loose fluff take air, though this did not make the field bare but watching the fluff fly across the field seemed like a part of some fairytale. It was nothing like he’d imagined—when that book had described a Dandelion Hollow, all he could think about was rubble with dandelions subtly sprouting. But this felt like a dream, dandelions everywhere he stepped, in every angle of his vision.
While he was confused, scared even… He couldn't help but feel at peace. He walked further in, looked behind him to see that the rest of the hollow had practically disappeared. He’d forgotten about his reason for entering the hollow, forgotten his pain. Pain? His pain was gone, like it’d never been there in the first place. He breathed in, then out, and dropped his bow and quiver to the ground.
He took a few more steps, deeper and deeper, before taking a halt in his tracks and sitting on his knees. He moved to sit down properly, before finding himself laid down, arms and legs sprawled out freely. His eyelids were heavy, like they suddenly weighed pounds. He didn’t fight it, his breathing more peaceful than he’d ever been, and let his eyes shut. It was like heaven. Not a sound, fluffy clouds of Dandelions, no more pain… peace, happiness, like never before.
Peace.
.
..
…
A bell sounded, loud through New Eridu. It was the type of bell that was only used on special occasions. There were rows of people: PUBSEC officers, HAND officers, and even the proxies with Eous at their side. The building was full of people in black clothing, it was eerie, and only served the bring the mood down further.
Belle and Wise sat still on one of the long benches in the front row, unable to tear their eyes from the ground. Eous patted their shoulders, a comforting action, though it had little to no effect. Belle noticed a fluffy white tail approaching her and her brother, and finally looked up to see Seth.
“Hey. How are you two handling this?” Seth asked, his tone soft and wary. Despite his professionalism and care, his voice betrayed his sorrow. He waited for an answer, but none came. Instead, Belle let her head hang again, and Wise grabbed Eous to hold him close.
Seth saw how Eous tried to comfort them, how they were full of nothing but a deep anguish.
He turned on his heel to find a seat. He saw Zhu Yuan and Qingyi standing by the door, something like security guards. He noticed that they were talking, but couldn’t hear them. In the front row across from Belle and Wise was Miyabi and Soukaku. Soukaku was crying— no, she was sobbing. It was loud, and he swore there was a puddle in her hands. Miyabi was rubbing her eyes frantically, either wiping her tears or trying to not cry so much. She wanted to be strong, for Soukaku and him.
And finally, before Seth sat down, he saw Yanagi talking to a man, nodding about something he was saying before sitting back down with Miyabi and Soukaku. So he sat down in a row behind Belle and Wise, and right then Qinyi and Zhu Yuan sat beside him. Zhu Yuan put her hand on his shoulder and spoke, “Hey, don’t worry. It’s not your fault.” She said, "Asaba is in a better place now.”