"Yeah."
Igor looked up…
'I may not be your mother, but I will take care of you as if you were my very own child.'
…and met Touji with a very bright smile.
"She really is."
.
..
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|DxD|- Chapter 60- The Truth Is In The Eyes
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..
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19/Jan/1997- January 26, 1997, Sunday, Kuoh Town, Japan
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The same joy. The same laughter. The same snow. The wistful powder, cold to the touch, carried the warmth of many, both young and old.
Igor once again found himself drawn to Kuoh Park. There was something about watching families together and children chasing each other around with little worry. Ignorance truly was bliss.
There was a certain feeling he felt when he watched people go about their lives. He'd live longer than them, far longer than they ever hoped. Their children, grandchildren, and descendants would all come and go in his lifetime, if he ever lived that long.
It was both relieving yet strengthened that strange feeling he couldn't explain. Was it loss? Confusion?
"Apu! Take my destroyer ball!"
*Puff*
A snowball smashed against his raised palm and fell apart onto his lap.
"Good throw, Aken—"
"Sneak attack!"
Igor tilted his head and a snowball whizzed past him from behind. He smiled back at the six-year-old boy heaving in exertion.
"Don't shout next time, Issei."
"Not fair, big bro. Turn off your ninja."
At the centre of it all on his bench, Igor sat between two gunslingers. Akeno had crouched down and was in the midst of making another snowball with extreme focus.
[Hmph. Hmph. Apu definitely won't dodge this one.]
Irina slowly approached Igor from the side, secretly hiding a snowball behind her.
"Big bro?"
She placed her free hand on his lap.
"I have an ouchie right…here!"
She swung her hidden snowball right at his face, exploding in a shower of white powder. From his hairline to his chin, he was covered in snow. Irina quickly ran away, leaping in joy.
"I did it! I did it! I got brother Apu!"
Akeno snapped back.
"Stop it, Irina! Only I get to call him Apu!"
"Tihi~. Can I call him Apu too?"
"No way!"
As Akeno chased after a giggling Irina with her snowball, Issei trudged towards Igor, indignation etched on his face. He leaned on the bench rest and whined.
"No fair, big bro. You let Irina win."
Igor glanced over his shoulder and teasingly asked.
"Weren't you the one who told me to turn off my ninja?"
"You—aha! I finally proved it!"
Issei jumped in excitement and scrambled over the bench to sit next to Igor.
"I knew you were superhero, big bro! You have superpowers, right?"
"A bit."
"Really? Can you fly?"
"A little bit."
"Cool! Can you show me?"
Igor reached and placed his hand over Issei's beanie.
"Not today, Issei. Maybe once you're ten."
"But that's sooo faaaar…"
"Plenty of time to show me you're a reliable man, Issei. Tell you what…"
Igor pulled the boy closer and whispered conspiringly.
"If you always stay together with Irina and my little sister, I'll teach you a few tricks. How does that sound?"
"Really?"
"Really."
"Pinky swear?"
For a moment, Igor paused. Then he reached out with his pinky.
"It's a promise then, Issei."
"YES!"
Issei took off running.
"MOM! DAD! Big bro Igor's gonna teach me to be a superhero ninja!"
Issei ran off to where a young couple sat together with Mina. They both perked up when Issei excitedly spoke to them.
Touji, on the other hand, approached with two plastic cups of chocolate milk and sat next to Igor. The bench creaked as it always did under the man's weight. Beneath that loose long coat, Touji was very built.
"Here."
"Thank you, sir."
Igor accepted the cup and took a sip. For a blissful moment, the two men watched the children play together with other children. From snowball fights to making snow angels, their innocence represented what they always strove to fight for…to protect. One smile was enough to lighten the burden of the load they carried, the weight of the grim knowledge of the wider world, and the dangers within.
"You know, Igor…"
Touji began with a deep breath.
"I've sat with you on this very bench for the past three days."
He leaned back and stared wistfully into the skies. His mind wandered with thoughts, further pronouncing his stress lines.
"When I first met you, I expected an energetic youth. Yet after observing you, you seem more like an old man than a boy your age."
His head rolled onto his shoulder as he glanced at the blonde with a subtle smile.
"Got a story for that?"
Igor chuckled a bit at the question. Ten years of his life had been one fight after the other. He still saw no end in sight.
"Do my injuries count as a reason?"
"Not with the eyes you have."
Touji's eyes narrowed.
"Those are not the eyes of a fifteen-year-old."
"..."
A moment passed in palpable silence. Touji's words hung like a waning thread being stretched apart.
"What can I say, sir?"
Igor looked down and sighed.
"A lot of things happened."
"Indeed."
Touji raised his cup and drank the last of his drink before chucking the cup in the bin. He wiped his mouth, pulled out a small tin bottle from his pocket, and popped the lid with a *thoom*.
"Do you drink?"
"?"
Igor glanced at the bottle. The smell of alcohol wafted in the air.
"Drink?"
He chuckled a bit.
"Aunty would kill me if I drank."
"She's right. If you can help it, don't drink."
In that same motion, Touji plugged his lips with the bottle and took a giant gulp. Igor watched his Adam's apple bob up and down. His expression shifted from mild surprise to amusement.
"Hehehehe…"
The irony alone pulled a chuckle from him. Touji soon finished downing his bottle and lowered it with a deep satisfied sigh.
"That hits the spot."
"Sir. All you're accomplishing is gaining my curiosity for the sin liquid."
"Sin liquid? I like that one."
Touji put the bottle in his jacket pocket.
"Still, if you haven't started drinking by now, I'm sure you'll never begin so long as Shuri's deterrent effect still exists."
"You're not wrong there, sir. She can be very…persuasive."
"Heh. Women. Am I right?"
Igor chuckled amidst Touji's bemused smile.
"You're not wrong."
Another round of silence passed between the two men. Their eyes drifted towards their families, an unspoken agreement between them. They did not know each other long, but for them who've seen beyond the veil, only a common interest allowed them to sit peacefully next to each other.
And that interest, was their loved ones.
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AN: I'm kinda liking the interactions between these two. Two veterans who've lived through the worst circumstances and have their hands stained with blood. I'm not glorifying it, but I find it beautiful. Two generations with the same eyes. Makes me wonder about Touji's story. But that's for another day. I'm more curious in what will happen once Igor returns from the chamber. Coming back as a 30 year old is bound to raise a lot of eyebrows, especially to those who can sense lifespan, like Diehauser for instance. Of course, that crafty devil already knows.
Chapter 60
END