~𝘓𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳~ // 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘻𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘢 𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

- 𝕏𝕏𝕍: Motivational Speech -

"PSST!"

You sat up, your hands resting on the cool ground beneath you. It felt almost wet- like an infinite sea of shallow puddles. You struggled to find air to fill your lungs.

You looked around, but it was futile; it was completely dark.

"HEY! IM TALKING TO YOU!" Someone whisper-yelled.

"H-hello?" You winced at the quiver in your voice. It could be a demon. I can't sound scared. You tried again, voice much more confident than before. "Who are you?"

"Who am I? You're a total bozo, Y/n." The voice chuckled. You felt someone lift you up by the arm and stand you up.

Their touch... "I... is it really you?" You felt around in the dark and fought back tears when you felt the face of your little sister. Her skin was cold to the touch. A simple reminder that this was a dream, and she was dead.

"Tomo...?" Your voice cracked, suddenly dry with grief.

"Good God, your hopeless. Yes. It's me. Your sister. Are you that stupid?" She sighed, lowering your hands from her face. Her touch sent shivers down your spine.

You laughed and pulled her into a hug. She abided by it for a moment before pushing you off. "Listen, I'm not here for good times and 'I love yous' like Mom was. I'm here to tell you to shut the hell up and sit down."

Your knees gave out for a moment because of her harsh words. "Tomo?" You reached out for her again, but she slapped your hand away.

"No." A sudden light flared up, blinding you for a moment. By the time your eyes adjusted, Tomo was looking up at you with her hands on her hips. "You listen here! Do you understand how serious this is?!" She yelled.

      "What's serious?!"

      "Your love-life is complete ass!"

      "Watch your tongue! Aren't you like- twelve?!"

      "Physically, sure, but now I'm fifteen going on sixteen! Besides, Mom told me to let you have it, so thats what I'm going to do!"

      "Whatever! My love-life is so not ass!"

      "When the hell are you going to get with that boy?! Hm? You two have been talking for months, and he's literally confessed to you! AND YOU TOLD HIM TO SHUT IT!"

      You laughed to yourself at the memory. Tomo's dagger eyes wiped the smile off your face, though. "So what? Maybe I'm just not ready." You huffed.

      "Not ready?! NOT READY?! IF YOU WEREN'T READY, I WOULDN'T BE IN YOUR SHITTY MINDSCAPE." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do you know how many of your scattered thoughts I had to dig through to get to your dream? WHY THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING ABOUT GOATS THAT- INSTEAD OF FAINTING- SHIT EVERYWHERE?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

      "IT WOULD BE FUNNY, OKAY?!"

      "FUNNY?! YOU-!" She grit her teeth and flexed her muscles, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, listen. I came here to let your crusty, dusty ass know that it's time for you to make a move, because it is painful to watch you continue to do this. So, for the love of me, Mom, and everyone else-! Just... I dunno take him in a date or something." She shrugged and grabbed your hand.

      "Oh! By the way, I met the most wonderful girl-!" She started; but you cut her off.

      "Nah, nah, nah. You're here for my love-life issues. I'm not here for yours. Wake me up! I don't want to hear your sorry excuse of a motivational speech! I'm ready to go! I forgot how annoying you are, you little pest."

      "Fine. You want to wake up? I'll wake you up."

      She snapped her fingers and it all went dark.

      You heaved and shot out of bed, sweat pooling in every nook and cranny of your body. "Holy shit. Tomo, I swear to fucking God-!" You hissed. "I miss you." You sighed, a little sad she had actually woken you up.

     It was still dark out, and the house was quiet. You sighed and decided to go for a walk in Sanemi's garden.

      You heard gravel behind you crunch, which made you whirl around in a flurry. "Oh, Sanemi. I swear if she somehow woke you up too to 'help' me I'll-!"

      "What are you talking about? I heard you slam your door close and it woke me up." He yawned and pulled his kimono tighter around his body.

      You felt almost relieved, but then that feeling was overridden by guilt. "I'm sorry, it was an accident. I didn't mean to wake you up. I just wanted some air."

      "It's not big deal." He still looked half asleep. You sat down on the bench that overlooked the fountain from earlier. Sanemi sat down next to you and rubbed his eyes.

      "You look exhausted." You laughed. You put your arm around him and squeezed his shoulder affectionately.

      "I didn't sleep on my mission. That demon was a lot stronger that anticipated. Of course, I'm awesome and killed it." You rolled your eyes and let him rest his head atop of yours.

      "You can't do that to yourself. It's probably not good for your brain or something."

      "Mm..." he hummed. "That's fine." He murmured as he rested his hand gently on your knee. You hadn't realized you had been bouncing it up and down until he eased your stress, making you calm down.

      "Sanemi?"

      "Hm?"

      Did you mean what you said? About... you being in love with me?

"Let's go out to dinner."

      "Now?" He was fully awake, but he still don't lift his hand from your leg, though he was now positioned to look at you, so his head was no longer on top of yours.

      "Yes. Now."

      "But, what about-?"

      "Don't care. Let's go. Get dressed." You pulled him from his seat and hauled him inside. You met between both your rooms before you grabbed his wrist and began to lead him to the town just east of his estate.

      "It's a couple hours away... by the time we'll get there-" Sanemi yawned again, "it'll be dawn."

      "That's fine. We can go for breakfast, then."

      Sanemi sighed and let you lead him away.

Now, it's time for a Taisho Era Secret:

Sanemi, in fact, not have a dream ever pertaining to your sister. He was busy dreaming about having a giant rhinoceros beetle as a noble steed to ride away on. Though, if he could remember properly, he was 99.9% sure Y/n appeared towards the end. He saved her and threw them on the back of his steed. They may have kissed once or twice... That's as far as he can recall.

The memory makes his heart skip a beat.

-

      Dear Y/n,

      As I am writing this it is xx/xx/xx. I heard from Kanroji you were improving in the kitchen. Do you think you could visit me one day and help me cook? I'd like to eat a meal with you. I hope one day we can.

      From,
                  Muichiro.