Raizen walked with his collar pulled up and his hair damp enough to cling to his forehead. The streets of Ukai stayed bright even at this hour - not loud bright, not festival bright, but warm. Lanterns under eaves, small lights behind glass, golden reflections on wet stone that made everything look polished.
He kept his hands in his pockets and his thoughts half-elsewhere.
The bench. The little roof. Hikari's fingers hovering, then the way she exhausted herself over a cut so small he almost forgot it existed.
Raizen flexed his palm inside his pocket. The skin felt tight, new. He didn't look at it. If he looked, he'd start thinking too hard again, and he didn't trust himself to stay calm right now.
He just kept walking.
Then his chest pocket pressed lightly against him, and his mind snapped to something else.
The flowers, the two tiny black lotuses.
