KINTSUkuroi
[Chapter II] - Reunion

Nicolas felt the soft touch of Ciel's skin on his face as her slender index finger trailed down his cheek in order to wipe out the tears that continued to fall. His reddened eyes dared not meet those of the woman behind him. How could he? They had last seen each other twenty years ago; he felt miserable for showing this side of him to Ciel.

But the Giant —albeit now Human-sized— woman couldn't care less. It was not the first time she saw him in such a broken state, and it was certainly not the first time she had helped him overcome his grief, either. She didn't know what had happened to him, but whatever it was, she was going to be there for him.

"H-How did you replace me...?" Nicolas asked, still refusing to show his face to Ciel.

"I dreamed of you four nights ago. Something in my heart told me you were suffering, so I snuck in to replace you, and surely enough, here I am." the ravenette explained, fully aware of the fact that her actions represented an illegal act.

"F-Four nights ago... —he repeated, and only a second later his eyes widened in realisation— It can't be!" he exclaimed.

Four nights before was February 14, the night when Nicolas was cheated on.

For a brief moment, the male's world became detached from the real one: there was no coldness nor heat, despite the warmth of that summer night; there was no sound, despite the seemingly-endless hustle and bustle of the city night with the blaring of horns, the rumbling of engines and the vivid chatter of the passerby; there was no colour, either, nor was there any black or white. Everything in Nicolas' head was transparent chaos, something akin to an exitless, glass maze that seemed to stretch for as long as his eyes could see. He could see everything, yet he could see nothing at all.

And his whole world was now ruled by a single question: was it a coincidence?

Nicolas had always been one to reason out everything. It was an unconscious self-defence mechanism he had devised after having been betrayed by people who claimed to have wanted to be his friends, whilst in reality their only concern was how to exploit him as much as they could. This self-preservation measure stemmed from a very simple —or perhaps simplistic— premise: if he couldn't trust his heart to make the right decisions, he would trust his head, instead.

But to Nicolas, Ciel was always the one mystery he couldn't quite figure out: from the very moment he met her, the male's head was always challenged with a question regarding her for which he couldn't replace an answer: why would she care for him?; how could she change her size at will?; why would she never give up on him even after he had tried to push her away so many times?; and now there was a new question: how could she know, if she knew, how he was feeling from so far away?

And still, as usual, Ciel was always two steps ahead of him. She could read him like an open book, and this made Nicolas feel vulnerable.

Yet at the same time, he felt safe around her. This was yet another aspect of Ciel he couldn't quite figure out.

"You should know by now that you need not try to hide your feelings from me." the tall woman spoke in a very soothing voice. Her dulcet tones; her jasmine-scented fragrance that not only enhanced her sexiness but also could make anyone who would treat themselves to that irresistible smell forget about what was on their mind and get lost in a world of feeling; the warmth of her skin against Nicolas'; the way her body embraced his... the short male had no choice but to surrender to her as he cried into her bosom, just like he had done twenty years before, except this time Ciel's body provided a more than comfortable pillow for Nicolas to cry his heart out.

"There, there... Just let it all out... Just let go of everything that hurts and I'll hold you like this... So don't worry, because I'm here for you... I won't go anywhere this time... I'll be staying right by your side..." she whispered in a successful attempt to get him to relax.

"W-Why...?" Nicolas asked between sobs. There was so much he wanted to ask... so much he wanted to say, and still, only that word barely managed to escape.

The beautiful ravenette gently lifted his chin so that his eyes met her own. Offering him her warmest smile, she leaned forward and slightly sideways as she kissed his left cheek, leaving Nicolas dumbfounded, holding the spot Ciel had just kissed, still feeling the warmth of her lips in addition to that of his own blush.

"What do you mean 'why', silly? Isn't it obvious? It's because you're my best friend, and as such I want to make you happy." she giggled, that simple sound causing Nicolas' heart to gallop even faster than it already was.

The male's trance lasted for a few seconds before he looked down again.

"I'm broken... I'm beyond repair... I appreciate that you're willing to try, but you shouldn't waste your time with me..." he said in a gloomy voice.

Ciel's smile faded away for a moment, taking in the full weight of his words. The world became silent all around the two of them. Ciel looked at the big, full moon up in the starry night, its light shimmering on the body of the lake underneath the bridge they were sitting on.

Ciel then spoke again.

"Do you know what 'kintsukuroi' is?" she asked.

"U-Ummm... N-No...?" Nicolas asked, not expecting her to bring up such a seemingly-unrelated topic all of a sudden.

"It's the Japanese art of fixing something that is broken using gold. But the art itself is also the manifestation of an ideology: you know how they say that once something is broken, it can never be fully repaired, right? As in, even if one were to put all pieces together again, the crannies would still be visible, and one would easily be able to tell that it was once broken. Well, 'kintsukuroi' as an ideology works on the premise that something that was broken can not only be fixed, but also be made more beautiful —or better— than it originally was." she explained.

"I-I see..." the short male replied.

It would take some time for him to fully grasp the meaning of Ciel's words, and though he had no way to know that at the time, it was those very words that would ultimately save him and allow him to take his first steps into a new —better— path.