[That sounds like some kind of saying, from her world. Kagari might have responded with something prickly and unpleasant, some defensive assertion that it didn't matter, because everyone died someday, and sometimes you died because of the pack you were in, like Akane's poor friend Yuki.
But then she puts her arms around him, and the last of his resistance crumbles into so much dust. He stands stiff, at first, shoulders seeming to tremble nearly in time with the thud thud thud thud of his heart. How long has it been since somebody last hugged him? Even at the MWPSB, as much as he cherished his divisionmates and saw them as family, affection wasn't quite so open or intimate--generally shown with kind gestures or simply time spent together. More casual touches like a ruffle of hair, a chin on a head, an elbow poked at the ribs.
Nobody's held him like this in seventeen years. His breath hitches in his throat, and he feels a powerful urge to just run, and never show his face to her ever again. Because clearly she's made a mistake, right? Nobody should choose to to care for him like this. With the other Enforcers, their kinship came from having nobody else but each other, and Akane-chan was so kind and soft that she had love in her heart for every living thing that walked the earth.
He's scared, honestly. He's scared of mattering. But he does, and she's stripped him of every excuse not to, short of outright cruelty. Which is no longer an option, at this point.
It takes an agonizingly long time, but eventually he lifts his arms and rests them on her back. Kagari still thinks this is a mistake. But maybe....maybe he can strive for it to be a mistake worth making.]
SOB SANSA....should we wrap here?
But then she puts her arms around him, and the last of his resistance crumbles into so much dust. He stands stiff, at first, shoulders seeming to tremble nearly in time with the thud thud thud thud of his heart. How long has it been since somebody last hugged him? Even at the MWPSB, as much as he cherished his divisionmates and saw them as family, affection wasn't quite so open or intimate--generally shown with kind gestures or simply time spent together. More casual touches like a ruffle of hair, a chin on a head, an elbow poked at the ribs.
Nobody's held him like this in seventeen years. His breath hitches in his throat, and he feels a powerful urge to just run, and never show his face to her ever again. Because clearly she's made a mistake, right? Nobody should choose to to care for him like this. With the other Enforcers, their kinship came from having nobody else but each other, and Akane-chan was so kind and soft that she had love in her heart for every living thing that walked the earth.
He's scared, honestly. He's scared of mattering. But he does, and she's stripped him of every excuse not to, short of outright cruelty. Which is no longer an option, at this point.
It takes an agonizingly long time, but eventually he lifts his arms and rests them on her back. Kagari still thinks this is a mistake. But maybe....maybe he can strive for it to be a mistake worth making.]