_(┐「ε:)_❤ (original) (raw)

AN: Continuation of the au because the brainworms still plague me send help
The shears cut through silk like butter. As the severed ribbons fluttered limply down to either side, Gaku surveyed the ruined section of the hedge and his father’s words rang in his ears once more.
“Your era of sabotage is over. I’ve tolerated your fits of pique before but I’ve decided this latest effort of yours is the last straw. You cannot escape the Rose Banquet. Tomorrow, you will pick someone by the end of the night or I will pick for you.”
He knew his father’s pick, and now he’d made up his own mind. Tossing his hat behind him, Gaku rolled up his sleeves and started on his own work. The larger boughs resisted, forcing him to saw at their bark for long minutes while he twisted the branch with all the vicious anger that had built up over the months. It felt good to be ruining something for a greater purpose, creating something out of the destruction. He pushed his way deeper into the hedge, carving a path and leaving a hollowed out tunnel in his wake, the detritus of his decision littering the ground behind him. The smaller twigs cracked under his fingers, he ripped a few from their delicate new growth and snapped the largest thorns off with a strange satisfaction. The hedge was thick, but his rage was hot and heavy and he wielded it with all the force of a chainsaw to hack his way to the other side.
Finally, he saw the slopes of the skatepark growing clearer and clearer, and by the time he’d cleared the last resisting branch, he could’ve kissed the concrete for joy. He was through! And there was no amount of ribboned silk that could cover the hole he’d created.
Gaku whooped, pocketing the shears with aching fingers and let himself revel in the smell of freedom. It had notes of sweat and blood and freshly cut greenery, and he’d trade it for nothing else.
He wouldn’t have to wait anymore, he could cross over and find those golden eyes himself. He could find out what they were shouting and cheering about, what they laughed at in between and if he could even join in.
For the moment, he’d imitate them as best he could on his own. Sitting down on the edge of the bowl, he took in the new landscape, opened the gift that his knight had bequeathed him, and took the biggest bite he possibly could.
Freedom tasted good.