What Could Have Been

In his old age, Hifumi travels to the Delirium for one last shot at life.

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Hifumi smiled slightly as he neared the familiar building, glad he had remembered the way from the times he had gone, decades before.

At 89 he was not as decrepit as some people his age, needing a cane but not much else. He had walked the way there from the Silver Star Tea House, even though it was a long way.

When he entered, he smiled even wider.

"Kairi, you look the same."

The young man looked up, pushing his glasses higher on his face. "Fantasies keep you young…but you didn't come here just to talk, right?"

Hifumi shook his head. "I'm going to die soon; I can tell."

"Do you want a room?"

Hifumi was surprised that Kairi had not gone in or out of a fantasy just yet, but nodded all the same. The man stood from behind the counter, and led Hifumi to a door. He unlocked it, and it opened.

"I'm sure you remember the rules?" Kairi asked, stepping away from the door.

Hifumi nodded. "It's all right. I wasn't planning on coming back out." He shot the other man a wry smile, walking towards the open doorway.

"Say hello for me, would you?"

Hifumi turned back for a moment on the threshold, nodding slightly and smiling as he entered and the door shut behind him.

Turning from the now closed door, Hifumi stepped deeper inside the Silver Star, reaching down absently to ruffle Hiruko's hair and drawing a grumble from the boy as he smiled, meeting Azusa's eye for a moment as well as catching, out of the corner of his eye, Naamu. "Mizuki," he called, tears stinging in his eyes. "I'm home."