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Title: reprieve
Characters: reiko takazuki, satoshi kurata
Summary: reiko and satoshi reflect on their past and are unable to accept their future; satoshi watches his life drift by while reiko tries to repent for her lost childhood.
Warning: war-verse and canon-verse spoilers
Rating: PG-13 ; references to smoking and alcohol
Author's Notes: up until now, this is my most recent work. i'm honestly proud of it - not to mention that it's almost impossible for me to stay focused if i don't write about izuko.
Some idiot decides to bring out the beer and so the entire war base erupts with a sort of cheer and merry making that eventually dies down to a lull. It is rare for the soldiers to get any solace in the fighting and so even a small drop of festivity sends everybody into sparks.
So well into the night, Boriji tows a drunken and completely senseless Izuko off to her room, and Takeshi’s patting Kagami on the back, trying to help her keep her alcohol down. The ranks dwindles down to just Reiko Takazuki and Satoshi Kurata – the former being that she abstains from any sort of drinking, the latter because he doesn't like socializing along with others.
Reiko’s never gotten along with Satoshi so she doesn’t think of striking up a conversation with him. Instead, she looks out the window in the dining hall and out into the dark vastness of the ocean, thinking about how dreary London is and wondering how nice it would be to curl up in bed during a rainy day, preferably with a warm body or two by her side.
Satoshi’s finally realized that his lighters can be put to good use and he’s taken up the bad habit of smoking, so he light up a cigarette and leaves puffs of it floating in the air around him. Reiko shoots him a glare, because no matter how rowdy the woman was, she hated any threat to her well-being.
“Are you serious about this,” Reiko inquires, and thinks that it may be the first thing she’s said to him in a while, “isn’t that a fire hazard?” Satoshi shrugs and swaggers over, pulling up a chair next to Reiko. He had dyed his hair back in the high school days, but whatever silvery grey he had was once again brown, and Reiko realizes that their hair colors aren’t very much different. Nevertheless, she sulks further away from the man, because she hated the smell of smoke and she hated small talk that drifted off into nowhere.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a real conversation with you, Takazuki,” he replies, “and it’s funny, since we’ve known each other since we were tiny,” Satoshi leans back in his chair, and Reiko wonders if he ever realizes that every move he makes can put him into some sort of danger.
“There was never much to say,” Reiko responds, moving her hand in the light so that amethyst glints would catch on her ring, “it’s not like we got along very well. Look at us now – the only thing we’re bonding over is our dislike of alcohol. It’s really not much, Kurata.”
“Then why don’t we bond a little more?” Satoshi leers towards the brunette, but she just grins and flicks the other on the forehead, “Don’t be stupid. We’ve got our hearts someplace else; you and I both know that.” The man retreats to his original post and takes another inhale from his cigarette. Reiko glares at him while taking another swig of her soda, and Satoshi can’t help but notice how vivid amber the woman’s eyes are. She’s certainly grown up, into something stronger and more poised than the reckless teenager he had grown up with. One could never really tell what she was thinking.
“I’ve always considered us two to be the more sane ones out of our childhood circle,” Satoshi remarks, and Reiko laughs through her nose, something sarcastic and disbelieving.
“You’re not wrong,” she replies, “but we’re all insane in our own ways. It’s just that Izu and Boriji are a far cry from anything sane. I couldn’t have it any other way, though. It doesn’t make sense for them not to be there with us, you know?” Satoshi shrugs, thinking back to a time when things were peaceful and the biggest arguments were over who got to skip the dinner party or who broke the expensive vase or whatever little rich kids did back then. Unfortunately, all four of them were better off penniless, and their tattered war uniforms and their sole reliance on a war that shouldn’t even be fought proved all that to be true.
“Was Izuko still an Izumi back then?” Reiko laughs, and once again Satoshi says nothing. She makes eye contact with him, but he can’t help but feel that she’s looking past him, as if there was nothing between her and the window, “I guess so. It’s a pity that she doesn’t play piano anymore – maybe it’s for the best.”
Satoshi grunts noncommittally, and Reiko can feel the small talk slip out from beneath the two quickly. “Let me ask you a question, Kurata,” she starts, and he glares at her through emerald eyes before sighing and replying, “shoot.”
“Why did you join us on our escapade in the first place? You know, the one in middle school, where we all died and died again, where we all-”
“Do you think I did it all for Reina?”
Reiko regards him carefully, clearly unpleased with his outburst. Satoshi’s heard stories that behind her spontaneity, there lies a brilliant mind as sharp as her sword, but he doesn’t believe it until now, when her eyes are searching his soul like they are the answer and not what comes out of his mouth.
“No, not really – I mean, back then we were foolish and I did think that, but now I think back on it and I think you did it for us three – those being Boriji, Izuko, and I.”
Satoshi’s left speechless and he racks his brain for an answer – he’s about to sign her off as wrong because he had liked the fact that he carried his excuses on the guise of an impassioned and head-over-heels in love rebel boy, but her words hit a truth he had never thought about.
“You know things fell apart after Boriji left,” Reiko drawls on, not letting Satoshi respond because his silence is all she needs for an answer, “so I’m assuming you just wanted to stick back with us, to feel the nostalgia of childhood again. I don’t blame you – sometimes, I feel the same way.”
“You think I’m an actually caring person, Takazuki? Aren’t you overshooting a bit? I’ll blow smoke in your face to prove my inconsideration,” Satoshi’s snarky remark doesn’t faze Reiko in the least, and the man is quick to admire the fact that she doesn’t get angry. In fact, she laughs – so much for sane, Satoshi thinks, she’s about as mad as Boriji and Izuko are.
“You’re caring in the way you told Boriji to man up after he hurts himself, when you taught me how to make model ships in bottles, and when you hold your umbrella or lay your jacket on a puddle for Izuko. I know you don’t agree, but I always thought us four were the tightest of friends.” Reiko crosses her fingers to illustrate her point and then lifts her legs on the table, crossing them at the ankle.
“I was taught to be a gentleman,” Satoshi drawls, brushing his hair out of his eyes, “but clearly that’s not the case-”
“But it’s there, somewhere inside of you! Somewhere inside of Izuko, there’s that girl who shows her gratitude and love not through her words and actions, but through what she doesn’t say and do. Somewhere inside of Boriji there’s a boy who doesn’t feel guilty for everything that happens to him, but a boy who relies on his friends and knows that they will stick with him through thick and thin. And you, Satoshi, somewhere deep down you are that big brother figure we all used to look up to.” She knocks a fist into his chest like a salute to prove her point.
“And you, Takazuki? Have you claimed that you have not changed at all?” He cocks an eyebrow when Reiko’s determined face falls. “You’ve always been cheerful and motivated, that’s without a doubt. But, there was once a girl who would know when to keep out of testy situations and had a mind sharp enough to be able to think through things rationally. Why are you purposely blinding yourself?” Satoshi was not one to enjoy the distress of others but he could not help relishing the victory of beating Reiko at her own game.
“I—” Reiko tries to start, but her train of thought seems to shut down on her. “You got me there, Satoshi, but listen – we’ve grown up sheltered and stupid, too cautious of ourselves and of each other. I hated that, Izuko hated that, and so we’re reckless together.” She hasn’t had such a grueling conversation like this one in a while, and Reiko is grinning as she anticipates Satoshi’s next move.
“Izuko’s recklessness will bring nothing good to the table, and you know that. She’s hurting herself and everybody – everybody involved. You’re enjoying yourself while you’re at it, not to mention that it leaves a positive influence on the crowd. How could you put the two of you in the same category?”
“I think you know this more than anybody else, but Izuko and I are inseparable. You can’t ever think of taking us apart – we’ve gone through too much and known nothing but each other. Plus, haven’t you ever heard that opposites attract?”
“Tch, I’ve heard that too many times for my own good. If that’s the case, then certainly we are all too different for us to be all so close.” Satoshi drops his cigarette to the floor before crushing it underneath his foot. He can remember crushing a certain lighter in the same way before going up in flames and subsequently dying.
“Like the shattered pieces of the same mirror,” Reiko elaborates, “we all show different reflections, but we’re just the same damn thing.” She gestures wildly with her hands and for a second, Satoshi thinks she’s gone mad, off into a poetic tirade. Instead, she scrapes her chair back against the floor and stands right in front of Satoshi, teetering and tired from overworking her brain.
“You know what, Kurata? You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You could have taken the liberty to use it more when we were younger,” the woman brings a gloved hand down to ruffle the other’s hair, but Satoshi grabs her arm and moves away.
“It’s like you said earlier – we’re not lovers, so we don’t need to act this close.”
Reiko’s eyes suddenly go dark and Satoshi swears he feels the air around them go cold. It’s as if she suddenly withdraws into herself, a former shell of the bright and incredibly snarky corporal she was just a few moments ago. “You’re a liar, Satoshi,” the brunet swears he can hear Reiko’s voice go a few octaves higher, as if she is reliving her childhood. Is this post-traumatic depression – no, it seems to be exactly the opposite… would that be present-withdrawal sickness or something?
“You’re a liar, you’re a liar,” Satoshi can’t take this mockery anymore and so he stands up as well, knocking the plastic chair to the floor, and shoves Reiko a few feet back so that she lands on the floor with a painful thud. He’s reeling from adrenaline and some part of him can’t accept the fact that he just assaulted a woman but since when was Reiko like any other female anyway?
“Takazuki, what the hell are you talking about? Have you gone insane?” Reiko tries to blink the tears from her eyes – she swears, it doesn’t hurt – but she’s unintentionally crying and she watches the tears roll down her gloved hands. Suddenly, the world doesn’t seem as big as it used to. “I-I,” she stutters, “I think I need to calm down for a while.”
“I think you do too,” Satoshi retorts, “since you seem like you just realized that you don’t live in your sheltered childhood anymore.” Reiko stands up and wobbles over to the man, taking a moment to press her forehead against his. Satoshi decides to stay still, but he stares into her amber eyes all the same, gold on emerald. Reiko’s actions go unexplained, but she’s mouthing something that sounds like a prayer before sitting back down and taking the last beer bottle piled among the empty ones on the edge of the table. Tilting back her head, Satoshi watches as the liquid flows down her throat and forms bubbles on the side of her lips, and he wonders if she’s finally given herself up, finally transitioned to adulthood.
“Do you mind?” Reiko’s voice lacks a certain charm she once had, and he follows her dreary line of sight to his pack of cigarettes. The man takes one out and hands it to her, but he can feel her hands trembling as she takes it. He offers to light it up for her, and the first two times, she’s unable to keep the flame going for long, her hands too shaky, her nerves too weak.
As the sun rises over the horizon, Reiko starts to cough as she feels the smoke fill her lungs and her immortal life begin to crack. Satoshi only stays at her side, rubbing her back as if he was the one who could offer up redemption and erase her sins.
Characters: reiko takazuki, satoshi kurata
Summary: reiko and satoshi reflect on their past and are unable to accept their future; satoshi watches his life drift by while reiko tries to repent for her lost childhood.
Warning: war-verse and canon-verse spoilers
Rating: PG-13 ; references to smoking and alcohol
Author's Notes: up until now, this is my most recent work. i'm honestly proud of it - not to mention that it's almost impossible for me to stay focused if i don't write about izuko.
Some idiot decides to bring out the beer and so the entire war base erupts with a sort of cheer and merry making that eventually dies down to a lull. It is rare for the soldiers to get any solace in the fighting and so even a small drop of festivity sends everybody into sparks.
So well into the night, Boriji tows a drunken and completely senseless Izuko off to her room, and Takeshi’s patting Kagami on the back, trying to help her keep her alcohol down. The ranks dwindles down to just Reiko Takazuki and Satoshi Kurata – the former being that she abstains from any sort of drinking, the latter because he doesn't like socializing along with others.
Reiko’s never gotten along with Satoshi so she doesn’t think of striking up a conversation with him. Instead, she looks out the window in the dining hall and out into the dark vastness of the ocean, thinking about how dreary London is and wondering how nice it would be to curl up in bed during a rainy day, preferably with a warm body or two by her side.
Satoshi’s finally realized that his lighters can be put to good use and he’s taken up the bad habit of smoking, so he light up a cigarette and leaves puffs of it floating in the air around him. Reiko shoots him a glare, because no matter how rowdy the woman was, she hated any threat to her well-being.
“Are you serious about this,” Reiko inquires, and thinks that it may be the first thing she’s said to him in a while, “isn’t that a fire hazard?” Satoshi shrugs and swaggers over, pulling up a chair next to Reiko. He had dyed his hair back in the high school days, but whatever silvery grey he had was once again brown, and Reiko realizes that their hair colors aren’t very much different. Nevertheless, she sulks further away from the man, because she hated the smell of smoke and she hated small talk that drifted off into nowhere.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a real conversation with you, Takazuki,” he replies, “and it’s funny, since we’ve known each other since we were tiny,” Satoshi leans back in his chair, and Reiko wonders if he ever realizes that every move he makes can put him into some sort of danger.
“There was never much to say,” Reiko responds, moving her hand in the light so that amethyst glints would catch on her ring, “it’s not like we got along very well. Look at us now – the only thing we’re bonding over is our dislike of alcohol. It’s really not much, Kurata.”
“Then why don’t we bond a little more?” Satoshi leers towards the brunette, but she just grins and flicks the other on the forehead, “Don’t be stupid. We’ve got our hearts someplace else; you and I both know that.” The man retreats to his original post and takes another inhale from his cigarette. Reiko glares at him while taking another swig of her soda, and Satoshi can’t help but notice how vivid amber the woman’s eyes are. She’s certainly grown up, into something stronger and more poised than the reckless teenager he had grown up with. One could never really tell what she was thinking.
“I’ve always considered us two to be the more sane ones out of our childhood circle,” Satoshi remarks, and Reiko laughs through her nose, something sarcastic and disbelieving.
“You’re not wrong,” she replies, “but we’re all insane in our own ways. It’s just that Izu and Boriji are a far cry from anything sane. I couldn’t have it any other way, though. It doesn’t make sense for them not to be there with us, you know?” Satoshi shrugs, thinking back to a time when things were peaceful and the biggest arguments were over who got to skip the dinner party or who broke the expensive vase or whatever little rich kids did back then. Unfortunately, all four of them were better off penniless, and their tattered war uniforms and their sole reliance on a war that shouldn’t even be fought proved all that to be true.
“Was Izuko still an Izumi back then?” Reiko laughs, and once again Satoshi says nothing. She makes eye contact with him, but he can’t help but feel that she’s looking past him, as if there was nothing between her and the window, “I guess so. It’s a pity that she doesn’t play piano anymore – maybe it’s for the best.”
Satoshi grunts noncommittally, and Reiko can feel the small talk slip out from beneath the two quickly. “Let me ask you a question, Kurata,” she starts, and he glares at her through emerald eyes before sighing and replying, “shoot.”
“Why did you join us on our escapade in the first place? You know, the one in middle school, where we all died and died again, where we all-”
“Do you think I did it all for Reina?”
Reiko regards him carefully, clearly unpleased with his outburst. Satoshi’s heard stories that behind her spontaneity, there lies a brilliant mind as sharp as her sword, but he doesn’t believe it until now, when her eyes are searching his soul like they are the answer and not what comes out of his mouth.
“No, not really – I mean, back then we were foolish and I did think that, but now I think back on it and I think you did it for us three – those being Boriji, Izuko, and I.”
Satoshi’s left speechless and he racks his brain for an answer – he’s about to sign her off as wrong because he had liked the fact that he carried his excuses on the guise of an impassioned and head-over-heels in love rebel boy, but her words hit a truth he had never thought about.
“You know things fell apart after Boriji left,” Reiko drawls on, not letting Satoshi respond because his silence is all she needs for an answer, “so I’m assuming you just wanted to stick back with us, to feel the nostalgia of childhood again. I don’t blame you – sometimes, I feel the same way.”
“You think I’m an actually caring person, Takazuki? Aren’t you overshooting a bit? I’ll blow smoke in your face to prove my inconsideration,” Satoshi’s snarky remark doesn’t faze Reiko in the least, and the man is quick to admire the fact that she doesn’t get angry. In fact, she laughs – so much for sane, Satoshi thinks, she’s about as mad as Boriji and Izuko are.
“You’re caring in the way you told Boriji to man up after he hurts himself, when you taught me how to make model ships in bottles, and when you hold your umbrella or lay your jacket on a puddle for Izuko. I know you don’t agree, but I always thought us four were the tightest of friends.” Reiko crosses her fingers to illustrate her point and then lifts her legs on the table, crossing them at the ankle.
“I was taught to be a gentleman,” Satoshi drawls, brushing his hair out of his eyes, “but clearly that’s not the case-”
“But it’s there, somewhere inside of you! Somewhere inside of Izuko, there’s that girl who shows her gratitude and love not through her words and actions, but through what she doesn’t say and do. Somewhere inside of Boriji there’s a boy who doesn’t feel guilty for everything that happens to him, but a boy who relies on his friends and knows that they will stick with him through thick and thin. And you, Satoshi, somewhere deep down you are that big brother figure we all used to look up to.” She knocks a fist into his chest like a salute to prove her point.
“And you, Takazuki? Have you claimed that you have not changed at all?” He cocks an eyebrow when Reiko’s determined face falls. “You’ve always been cheerful and motivated, that’s without a doubt. But, there was once a girl who would know when to keep out of testy situations and had a mind sharp enough to be able to think through things rationally. Why are you purposely blinding yourself?” Satoshi was not one to enjoy the distress of others but he could not help relishing the victory of beating Reiko at her own game.
“I—” Reiko tries to start, but her train of thought seems to shut down on her. “You got me there, Satoshi, but listen – we’ve grown up sheltered and stupid, too cautious of ourselves and of each other. I hated that, Izuko hated that, and so we’re reckless together.” She hasn’t had such a grueling conversation like this one in a while, and Reiko is grinning as she anticipates Satoshi’s next move.
“Izuko’s recklessness will bring nothing good to the table, and you know that. She’s hurting herself and everybody – everybody involved. You’re enjoying yourself while you’re at it, not to mention that it leaves a positive influence on the crowd. How could you put the two of you in the same category?”
“I think you know this more than anybody else, but Izuko and I are inseparable. You can’t ever think of taking us apart – we’ve gone through too much and known nothing but each other. Plus, haven’t you ever heard that opposites attract?”
“Tch, I’ve heard that too many times for my own good. If that’s the case, then certainly we are all too different for us to be all so close.” Satoshi drops his cigarette to the floor before crushing it underneath his foot. He can remember crushing a certain lighter in the same way before going up in flames and subsequently dying.
“Like the shattered pieces of the same mirror,” Reiko elaborates, “we all show different reflections, but we’re just the same damn thing.” She gestures wildly with her hands and for a second, Satoshi thinks she’s gone mad, off into a poetic tirade. Instead, she scrapes her chair back against the floor and stands right in front of Satoshi, teetering and tired from overworking her brain.
“You know what, Kurata? You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You could have taken the liberty to use it more when we were younger,” the woman brings a gloved hand down to ruffle the other’s hair, but Satoshi grabs her arm and moves away.
“It’s like you said earlier – we’re not lovers, so we don’t need to act this close.”
Reiko’s eyes suddenly go dark and Satoshi swears he feels the air around them go cold. It’s as if she suddenly withdraws into herself, a former shell of the bright and incredibly snarky corporal she was just a few moments ago. “You’re a liar, Satoshi,” the brunet swears he can hear Reiko’s voice go a few octaves higher, as if she is reliving her childhood. Is this post-traumatic depression – no, it seems to be exactly the opposite… would that be present-withdrawal sickness or something?
“You’re a liar, you’re a liar,” Satoshi can’t take this mockery anymore and so he stands up as well, knocking the plastic chair to the floor, and shoves Reiko a few feet back so that she lands on the floor with a painful thud. He’s reeling from adrenaline and some part of him can’t accept the fact that he just assaulted a woman but since when was Reiko like any other female anyway?
“Takazuki, what the hell are you talking about? Have you gone insane?” Reiko tries to blink the tears from her eyes – she swears, it doesn’t hurt – but she’s unintentionally crying and she watches the tears roll down her gloved hands. Suddenly, the world doesn’t seem as big as it used to. “I-I,” she stutters, “I think I need to calm down for a while.”
“I think you do too,” Satoshi retorts, “since you seem like you just realized that you don’t live in your sheltered childhood anymore.” Reiko stands up and wobbles over to the man, taking a moment to press her forehead against his. Satoshi decides to stay still, but he stares into her amber eyes all the same, gold on emerald. Reiko’s actions go unexplained, but she’s mouthing something that sounds like a prayer before sitting back down and taking the last beer bottle piled among the empty ones on the edge of the table. Tilting back her head, Satoshi watches as the liquid flows down her throat and forms bubbles on the side of her lips, and he wonders if she’s finally given herself up, finally transitioned to adulthood.
“Do you mind?” Reiko’s voice lacks a certain charm she once had, and he follows her dreary line of sight to his pack of cigarettes. The man takes one out and hands it to her, but he can feel her hands trembling as she takes it. He offers to light it up for her, and the first two times, she’s unable to keep the flame going for long, her hands too shaky, her nerves too weak.
As the sun rises over the horizon, Reiko starts to cough as she feels the smoke fill her lungs and her immortal life begin to crack. Satoshi only stays at her side, rubbing her back as if he was the one who could offer up redemption and erase her sins.
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: D.O.A. | shingeki no kyojin ost
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