18th Rise of the Phoenix ஜ Action/Voice [Backdated to the 15th]

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[To be honest, Ikki hasn't slept at all. He has stayed awake in his room, glaring at the clock as it slowly ticked away the minutes until midnight hit and with it came the official start of the new day. Another August 15th, another birthday he never expected to "enjoy", the third spent in this place which only reminds him that he's on his way to his third year in Luceti as a whole. He spends the night sulking to himself before leaving early in a poor, and probably useless, attempt to avoid Smoker and the rum cake he knows that is going to show up sooner or later for as long as possible.

He never wants to celebrate his birthday, this year isn't an exception. Selphie isn't here anymore, which is good because it means there's one less person who will know that it's his birthday, but deep inside it just bothers him that she's not here. Hyoga isn't here either, still kidnapped... Assuming that they didn't send him away while they had him, but the Cygnus cloth is still in his room after he recovered it from where Hyoga had camped so he will keep some hope and assume that he's still there somewhere.

At least he has Kotomi, except that even after confessing to her, he still doubts he deserves her or that he can do any good to her. Actually he doesn't have doubts about that, he knows he doesn't deserve her and that he can't do any good to her, but he also knows that she's in his heart too deeply for him to be able to take her out of there and not bleed completely. He may be the immortal bird, but his heart holds enough wounds as it is, he doesn't really want to kill his heart completely even if reason sometimes tells him that it would be the best option. At any rate, House #26 will have Ikki knocking at the door early in the morning, not too early for it to be a crazy time to show up but still early enough so that no one, specially Kotomi, won't have plans already.

Because of that Ikki will spend most of the day with his precious treasure, hanging around, having lunch at the Seventh Heaven... Though knowing them, they will probably end sitting somewhere with her reading to him. And by sitting somewhere it means him sitting and making her sit on his lap so he can lean his head against her shoulder and read as she does while holding her waist in a loose hug, discretion be damned... It's advised to not stare though, as the phoenix doesn't deal well with that.

Later, once Kotomi is delivered safely back to her house, just in time for dinner, Ikki will crash at the Good Spirits for a few rounds against his liver. Just so it doesn't forget the habit, you know. A few hours later, a drunk Ikki will be fumbling with his journal. Maybe next year he will remember to lock it away before he gets drunk but for now... Have a drunk message before you go to sleep Luceti, please don't mind the slur in his words.]

I bet you were thinking about how great she is and how I don't deserve her or some shit like that. Well!! I know that already. I know that I don't deserve someone as sweet and innocent as Kotomi, I know I don't deserve to be alive. But you know what? I'm screwed up, because no matter what you throw at me I just won't die, I will keep fucking returning from hell as if it was any Tuesday. And I love her. And she loves me! I don't know why or how she can do that, but she loves me. So until she stops loving me or I can finally die... What was I saying? Hey, where did the whisky go? Tch, it keeps vanishing, stupid glass. Stupid drink.

Anyway! [Pause as he tries to remember what he was saying. No really, it has left his mind.] I don't care how bad I am, or how little I deserve to live or to be with Kotomi. It just happens, I always deal with all the shit life has in for me, I take it even if I don't want it, so I'll take this too, because I want it. I love Kotomi and until she gets tired of me, you lot better stop looking at her like that, because she's my girlfriend. And you!! Shitty Malnosso, I bet you had a blast taking my sister and my friend, well, have all the fun you want, but if you touch one hair of Kotomi's precious head there won't be enough magic, divine power or whatever to save you from the hell I'll send you all to.

[ooc: You can crash into Ikki and Kotomi while they are together, just leave a note in the subject so we can both tag back.]

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[ And at least the one opening the door is Kotomi, at first a little blankly and curiously.. but once she sees who it is at the door she instead starts smiling - of course she would when it's Ikki of all people. ]

... Ikki-kun, good morning.

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[He smiles when it's Kotomi the one opening... Not that it's very noticeable though, but she should be able to notice it and that's enough for him.]

Good morning, Kotomi-chan. I've come to pick you up, I thought we could spend the day together.

[And only when he's here and in front of her, he starts thinking that she may have plans after all or something.]

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[ As if she would pick anything else over being with him, so.. really, all that happens is that her smile becomes a little brighter. ]

Can we, can we? [ if it wasn't for her blank tone she'd sound like an excited kid.. ] I'd love to spend the day with Ikki-kun..

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[He nods, apparently unaltered by her answer though inwardly he's washed over with relief. And despite her blank tone she sounds like an excited kid to him, mind you.]

Yeah, today I'm all yours.

[He's hers every day but he's not going to say that.]

Have you had breakfast yet?

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A little.. [ a slight pause, and then she tilts her head sideways a little. ]

That's not a bad thing, is it? If Ikki-kun wants, I could take a book with me and we could go read somewhere..

[ well, kotomi reading and him listening, but still. ]

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No, it's not bad. And we can have lunch together later at the Seventh Heaven.

[He actually hoped she would have had breakfast already anyway.]

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It sounds like fun. [ It has Kotomi's approval, at least, but it's not like that says much since she wouldn't mind doing anything, even the most simple things like this.. ]

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[He thought she would say that.]

Then, I'll wait here, whenever you're ready we can go... You are sure you don't have anything else to do, right? I wouldn't mind accompanying you if that was the case.

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.. Ah, we can just go now. I'm fine. [ she's already dressed and all, and it's not like there's anything she needs.. except, oh wait, the book. For a moment she makes a 'please wait' kind of hand gesture before pattering back into the house only to return with a book held in her arms. ]

There. Now I'm fully ready for a day with Ikki-kun.. just us together.

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If you say so...

[He supposes she warned her friends already about not coming for lunch, if not... Well, they will be worried but that's not Ikki's problem. He will begin to lead the way a bit, only for a while before setting to walk besides her.]

Is there anything in particular you want or have to do or somewhere you want to go?

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Anywhere would be fine as long as it's with Ikki-kun.

[ She smiles at him, and.. oh, she seems to realise something. She moves her book to hold it under one arm, and then slowly she offers her hand towards him - she wants to hold hands, okay, she's heard about doing that.. ]

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[Ikki blinks at the gesture and looks at her hand as if it was an alien thing for a second, what does she want? She's doing the same thing Shun used to do when he was little and wanted to hold hands as they walke-]

Ah, I know what you want. It's this... Right?

[Here, he will take hold of that hand, firmly but not too tightly to hurt her. Even if it's a bit embarrassing he can't deny it to her and it's not different from when they were kids and he took hold of her hand as well. Since she has no preference, for starters he will start to walk towards the forest, maybe they can sit there for a while and read before going back to the village to have lunch.]

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[ Yup, you got it right, Ikki. And when they start holding hands she starts looking really content, with a happy and somewhat dreamy smile on her face as she makes sure to not let go of that hand. She might actually even be blushing a little out of that happiness as she walks along with him to the forest. ]

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[And while she's all blushing and happy, Ikki's having the eternal internal struggle of whether to just go with the situation or not. He just isn't used to things like this, it has been ages since he hold someone's hand, excluding experiments, much less the hand of the girl he loves and doesn't deserve. Because even now he knows he doesn't deserve her and that she deserves much better, but he just doesn't care, he has decided to be selfish and just take her with him. It's not as if she's complaining anyway, right? So why should he care? If anyone tries to separate her from him he will just smash them.

Ikki guides her to the forest, eventually reaching a nice looking clearing where they can sit and relax for a while.]

Want to rest here and read for a while?

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[ There's a tiny nod at it - apparently she's devoid of all his worries, she's just way too busy enjoying the moment. She doesn't even wait for him to sit first, she's already picking a nice spot in the shade so the summer sun won't burn on them too much. ]

.. Right here is fine, isn't it..?

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[He nods a bit and scratches his neck lightly, looking at her sitting there, as if hesitating on whether he should sit with her or not. Actually he's not wondering that, he just looks at her, taking in her face and expression. It still feels so weird, to have someone like her, to have her, wanting to be with him, loving him. It feels weird and he can't help to wonder how long will it last before it breaks like everything else.

He pushes the thoughts again and he just... Let's his body do whatever it wants, his body and his heart that is, since they tend to be in cahoots with each other while his brain fights alone the reasoning battle. No matter how much he thinks he doesn't deserve her, or that this will end one day, his body and his heart don't allow him to push her away or leave her side. He sits down but doesn't remain sitting, instead he lays down, stretching his body as he places his head on her lap. Kotomi's lap makes a perfect pillow, okay. And from here he can see her face easily even as she reads.]

Yeah, it's fine... What book did you bring?

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[ She doesn't say anything about him doing that, she doesn't stop him at all. She just allows him to lie his head down there, as if it's natural - in fact, she even smiles contently at it. Her hand moves to pat his head just a little bit before returning to pick up her book. ]

Um.. today I brought a book with fairytales, actually.

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Fairytales? Which ones?

[He can't help a smile when she pats his head a little, enjoying the feeling of her hand in his hair.]

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There's a lot of them in here. I didn't look yet to see which ones.. [ She's opening the book now, scanning through the pages a little, but at the same time she's probably enjoying just the sheer peace of the two of them being here together like this. ]

.. Does Ikki-kun have a fairytale he likes a lot?

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[He remains in silence as she opens the book and scans the pages, enjoying the moment just like she does. Her question meets another silence before he answers in a heavy voice.]

... I don't remember. Except for the ones we have read together I don't remember any fairytales.

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Ikki-kun.. doesn't remember them? [ she tilts her head sideways a little, removing the book just enough to be able to see his face. ] Why not? Did Ikki-kun not like them?

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[He shakes his head a bit.]

I don't know if I liked them or not. I was very young when my mother died, if she ever read me any fairytales I just don't remember them. After her death I just never had time to read them neither I had anyone to tell me.

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.. That's.. sad.

[ She frowns slightly, even if she's not really upset, it's just as if she's trying to illustrate her words with it. ]

Everyone should be able to happily listen to fairytales.. .. Does that mean I have to make up for it by reading them to Ikki-kun now?

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[He looks at her and smiles a little, a hand is raised to caress her face, pushing very, very lightly at her features as if to shoo away the small frown. Then it settles for caressing her cheek slowly.]

I don't care about fairytales anymore, you can read them or read something else. I'm more happy with you reading out-loud by my side than I would have ever been as a child with all the fairytales in the world.

And you don't have to make up for anything, none of that was your fault after all.

[Only because they are all alone, that's the only reason why he's dereing this much.]

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[ It's okay, she likes it when he deres. So the frown slowly turns back into a smile when she can feel his warm hand on the side of her face. ]

I want Ikki-kun to be happy though.. happy no matter what. But.. if Ikki-kun says he's happy like this, then I'm glad. I'm really, really happy like this too, just being like this is.. nice.