Didn't Mean to Leave You Hangin'

The day was beautiful. The skies were blue with the occasional cloud offering some shade from the warm sun. Given Kirigakure's population density there were quite a few graves, some for those dying of age while others killed in action. Whatever the cause of death, they all shared the same soil and pine casket. No deaths were treated of a higher importance of others, as every man and woman had some form of significance in their like whether it be for their country, their family, or even just their friends. Calis Kazehana was no different. The funeral was set.

Chairs were lined up before a shrine, most filled with guests from Kirigakure's military. Those Calis had an impact on, and others out of respect. Kazehana clan members, although very few, also arrived. Calis' family, friends, and those who are merely just curious occupied most of the seats. There were still some for those who wished to join. Within the shrine were several shinshoku, practitioners of Shinto who maintained the shrine and in the occasion case, honored the dead before they were put in their grave.

Calis was set in a pine coffin, his body treated and preserved, decorated in a suit and tie for the occasion. He was motionless and at rest. Whatever troubles he suffered in life were all gone. The service has not started just yet. Hana was in charge of his eulogy, but was not scheduled to start until a few more minutes. Until then, people continued to gather in their seats.

"What a wonderful day to be alive!" Ann's mood had improved. Her abilities were slowly but steadily returning to her and the Yuki now managed to keep her snowfalls under control about 80% of the time. She had regained this ability much faster than last time too! Her mood was great as she passed by the entrance to the cemitery.

Unfortunately, it is usually when one lets their guard down that accidents happen! As she passed by the cemitery, Ann saw an wagon stationed at the gates. It was full of things, and there were plenty of men and women carrying stuff over to the cemetery. It was an odd sight: There were several bounce houses being carried, as well as staff carrying catering materials. But what caught Ann's sight was a gigantic bowl of red punch, easily the size of a person. Someone was planning on getting very, very drunk today.

The Yuki approached the bowl to take a better look at it. Maybe she shouldn't have but her curiosity got the better of her. She leaned over it to see if she could pick up the scent of the wine. Unfortunately, at this point one of the staff dropped a glass jar by accident. This scared Ann, her reflexes kicked in and she froze herself once again, falling over the punch.

The staff returned, and were not surprised at all to see an ice sculpture inside the punch bowl. It was just one of many other strange things these people wanted at a funeral for some reason. So they set Ann in the right position, as if she was leaning over whoever took a glass of punch, and carried the bowl in, setting it next to the coffin.

"Huh... alright." Daisuke thought, as he read upon the letter that invited him to the funeral, for a Calis Kazehana... which prompted two questions, who is Calis, and why is there a Kazehana in their village? regardless, it was an invite from Hana and he thought it'd be best to answer the calling, otherwise he'd have to deal with her bullshit again...

He dressed up to what he believed to be a proper outfit for a funeral, a dingy green kimono with stains on it, blue sandals and shorts underneath the kimono which had pockets, the pockets having a pair of ciggies and a lighter.

It wasn't that hard for him to get to the funeral's planned, although as soon as he saw their clothing compared to his, he started to realise that he wasn't actually wearing the clothes he should've been wearing. Regardless, he decided to go along with and pay his respects to Calis. He stopped by the casket, seeing the offering area. He decided to give him a sign of respect that he believes is deserving of a Kaguya, he protruded a bone from his wrist and placed it gently ontop of the offerings that are already there. "Rest in peace, sweet prince." he muttered.

He then proceeded to take his allocated seating, although he got a few stares, he didn't seem to really care about it. He'd at least be respectful and not smoke yet, but he might to bring out one at some point with how he's seemingly be judged by others, it's stressing him out.

He had only recently received word of the funeral taking place. Short notice. So long after the actual death was announced as well. Not only that, but also right in the middle of the final phase of the exams. If they had waited until it was over perhaps Chigetsu would have understood, but the frustration overlayed itself with the bitterness that he had already been feeling to swirl into something particularly unpleasant for him. Chigetsu showed up, even if he wished he didn’t have to. It was a small funeral provided by the state, apparently.

It was incredibly surreal seeing him again. The casket was open, and just catching it in his peripheral vision made Chigetsu flinch. Decorated in a suit and tie and taken care of by the mortician it was almost like seeing him alive again. If anything it was exactly like seeing him alive again, with the same stoic expression that he had seen Calis wearing so many times. It was a thoroughly unpleasant thing to look at, and so Chigetsu would take every opportunity they could to look away. It wasn't Calis anymore, but instead something that used to be Calis. His eyes would be averted, focusing instead down to the ground, and he would search out for a seat. Once Chigetsu found one, in the far back, he would settle down into it and make himself comfortable.

Hana was fortunate to have some time to change into a bit more appropriate clothing instead of going from the office straight to the funeral. It wasn't often Hana dressed up for anything, preferring her military uniform or casual clothes. But once every blue moon she got to preen herself up to be nice and pretty. Hana wore a pair of black dress shoes and a black glitter midi dress. This was accompanied with patching long black gloves in the same fashion. She came equipped with a rather expensive black purse, Hana choosing to buy what simply had a high price tag rather than personal preference. She was still getting used to this bougie thing. Around her neck was an equally expensive onyx necklace. Her long white hair cascaded down her back to her tailbone which went hand-in-hand with her golden eyes and rather pale skin. It was natural for Kaguya females to keep long hair. After all, the longer the hair the more feminine they were. That was the cultural mindset. Although Hana rejected a lot of feminine roles she did still strive to be a woman, and a pretty good one at that.

Hana traveled with three units of her royal guard. In an event such as this she didn't want to steal too many reservations. It didn't take long, between all the black clothing, to find which head belongs to her. The silky pink locks and twinky frame that Hana consistently mistaken of being a female until she learned his dark secret. It was Chigetsu, and there was a seat available. The guards she traveled with picked random seats among the crowd, each of them spaced a certain distance from each other while at certain points in the audience to respond anywhere with maximum efficiency. Hana fast walked to the front row where Chigetsu sat before approaching the empty seat.

When she did sit, Hana's thighs expanded as they were pressed against the folding steel chair. Her outer thighs would be exposed, peaking through the open ends of her midi dress. Given how close the chairs were they'd press against Chigetsu and Kaisaki unintentionally. Hana was safely wedged between the two, one stranger and one a familiar face. "Hi, Chiggy." She said turning towards Chigetsu. "I didn't expect to see you here. How did you know Calis?" Hana said bluntly. She knew him on multiple interactions. Being his sensei was one, despite how short it lasted. Calis was quickly regarded as Chuunin, and while Hana felt his promotion would open greater doors, he showed her that wasn't the case.

The ceremony would start, the Shinto practitioners lighting incense and beginning a ritualistic chant. Hana noticed Daisuke as a familiar face in the audience, but she couldn't be seen around him. At least not when he was looking like that. Although Hana did see the rather impressive ice sculpture in the punch bowl she did not exactly recall the person. She seemed familiar at the very least. Maybe a model of some sorts when coming across magazines whenever she went to the grocery store. But in the meantime Hana enjoyed the ceremony until it was her time to speak on behalf of his eulogy.

While dressed for the occasion, Chigetsu wore something a little uncharacteristic for their tastes. Just a simple black kimono. While he still had that suit from before wearing it now would have just felt weird and inappropriate, especially considering that it wasn’t even a black suit. It was hard to imagine wearing something like that to a funeral ceremony anyway. This wasn’t exactly a situation that he was particularly excited to be in anyway, this whole funeral business, and so it was just that simple outfit and his clashing pink hair today. Nothing special.

The hand on his shoulder would send a chill through his spine. Kaisaki snuck up behind him without Chigetsu noticing in the slightest. It was only as he kneeled down and began to whisper that Chigetsu would realize who it was. It was... Kaisaki was someone who Chigetsu had only recently really met, despite apparently being family. The fumbling with the delivery only emphasized the man’s usual creepy awkwardness, but it now felt appropriate for some reason. His presence was inoffensive. Chigetsu’s eyes would meet wordlessly with the man’s mask as he passed to take the seat one over from Chigetsu’s right. Giving a small nod of acknowledgement, Chigetsu would allow himself to settle back into place.

It wouldn’t be long after the two had taken their seats that another would show up, the Mizukage. Hana, who had taken the chance to dress herself up and preen herself for the moment. She was undeniably beautiful. Her body, her hair, her outfit, her purse, her jewelry. Chigetsu had to look away after a moment, eyes averted to the ground. It made sense that she would be here. Calis was military. A Chunin apparently, somehow. Somehow he had gone off on his own and got promoted after all that talk of preparing for the exams and that jazz, leaving Chigetsu behind in the dust without a single word.

He wondered now what was their last meeting. It was hard to remember, mostly just a blur in his mind.

“Hi, Hana.” Chigetsu would shift a bit as Hana wedged herself between himself and Kaisaki. A tight fit, but nothing uncomfortable. Having someone so close was actually nice in a time like this, especially someone he knew and was comfortable with.

“He was my friend. Calis always pushed me to go on missions with him all the time after we first met. It’s probably the only reason I did so many… It was nice going on them with him, even if he was super serious about it most of the time.” It had been what, six or seven months now since they first met? Eight? More? He hadn’t been keeping track. Chigetsu hadn’t known Calis all too long compared to a lot of the other people in the audience, probably. Family and old friends. Chigetsu had barely known him in comparison.

“It’s hard to believe that he did this. It feels like it was out of nowhere, after all he told me about wanting to improve himself, and how badly he wanted to join the Chunin Exams and get promoted to Chunin.”

The ceremony would be sat through as it happened, not commented on by Chigetsu. It was traditional, and that was fitting considering Calis’ personality. The chanting and the priests. It was foreign, this being the first time Chigetsu had seen an event like this.

Hana had her attention to Chi's sentimental words regarding his experience with Calis. It appears he had more of a connection to the boy than she did. Hana only remembered Calis after a couple missions and making him her student, despite how short term it way. There was also the training exercise she had with him to help him promote. But in the end she didn't have much of a connection. Chi was a soft boy when it came to these things. She could tell by his body language. "Let's see what we have for this..." Clicking open her purse she reached inside with the familiar sound of a bag of candy crunching around. And in the moment she retrieved a bag of gummy worms before handing it to Chi. Even since they started seeing each other Hana made an effort to always keep his favorite snacks around when she could. Having a purse with her had its benefits, despite disliking the aesthetics of them.

When the ceremony started Hana zoned out. It wasn't exactly her scene. Instead she scouted the area to find anything of interest. The caterers were set up, the food smelling delicious, and the bounce house was being set up in the foreground. It almost seemed like a company picnic to her, something she actually didn't mind investing her time into. If she were to be honest, it was the only reason she showed up. But as fast as the ceremony started it was time for her to speak. The man on stage called for Hana Kaguya to give his eulogy. Standing upright she'd leave her purse on her chair letting Chigetsu watch her belongings. In silence she ascended the small stairs to the gazebo and stood before the podium.

"So, here we all are. Calis Kazehana was a supreme gentleman and a kind heart. One could say he 'had it all.' But this goes to show that despite something appearing calm on the outside, inside, it can be suffering. Whatever demons Calis had to face, he did. Alone. With the deaths of anybody influential in our lives we should take the moment to learn what their existence and their ending gave us. To all of those Calis has impacted in a good way — friends, family, and allies — we will all miss him. I will be the first to say in having met him: that, was thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you for the opportunity. May his soul find what he was missing in the afterlife."

As Hana descended from the gazebo she took her seat between Chigetsu and the mysterious man, wedging between them like she once was. Calis' casket would be closed and taken by the men. Carrying the coffin to the nearest grave next to the gazebo they lowered it carefully into the six feet deep pit before burying it with soil. But with the grieving over, it was time to celebrate the living. To make every day of life worth continuing. From the gazebo where the ceremony was held, confetti burst from the support pillars with a pop as upbeat J-Rock played in the background from rather expensive speakers. The caterers opened the silver trays displaying the "all you can eat" spread. There were several festivities and a couple drawings to participate in. "That food looks tasty! What do you want to do first, Chig?"

Kaisaki’s movement and staring over in Chigetsu’s direction made him a tad self-conscious for a moment. Despite his status as Chigetsu’s “uncle”, they honestly didn’t know each other all that well. The lack of facial expressions in the mask made it impossible to tell exactly what the man was thinking as well, and so the stare could only be interpreted as silent judgement. What it was specifically about Chigetsu couldn’t tell, but that was irregardless. The thoughts went away as Kaisaki returned back comfortably into his seat, and Chigetsu would do his best to not delve too deep into trying to predict exactly what Kaisaki was thinking.

His eyes flashed to Hana’s purse as she opened it. The crunching sound was something familiar, although he didn’t expect something like it in a moment like this. The bag that was produced, full of gummy worms, would make his eyes go wide as soon as he saw it. It would be placed in his hands, and he would look down at it for a moment. The fact that she had prepared herself with candy in her purse for him for moments like this was incredibly sweet. The plastic bag would be carefully opened, trying not to make too loud of a sound in the process of doing it. The whole experience made him especially bashful all of the sudden. A bit of heat rushed to his cheeks, although he did his best to suppress that sort of feeling.

“Thank you, Hana…” He said it with a certain meekness, and after he did a gummy would be stuffed into his mouth. It gave him something to distract himself away from his thoughts of the past. In a weird way the two of them were alike with these habits, although Hana’s foodie nature was a lot more refined and socially acceptable than Chigetsu’s sugar and gummy addiction. Even if he was self-conscious about it, the gummies did make him feel a lot better.

Chigetsu sat silently through the ceremony as it started, only occasionally making sounds to take another gummy out of the plastic pouch they had. There was nothing in it that felt real though. A man came up to speak, one who had likely never met Calis, and talked a lot of standard things that he likely had said a thousand times and had memorized the script for. Inauthentic, although that was tradition. There was nothing to think about in response to it. It just was something that happened. Nothing, until it would be Hana’s turn to come up to the stage. Chigetsu’s mind would return as she stood up and ascended up to the gazebo, paying more attention to it than he had the parts before. It was hard to discern exactly how Hana knew Calis in the past, but it came across as genuine, and a pleasant send off.

And just like that it would be over. The men who carried the casket over would begin burying it over with soil. It felt something like reaching the end of a book, but one where the story hadn’t finished. There was catharsis now that the funeral had completed, but the story hadn’t been completed. It was like the author suddenly got frustrated and just decided to stop writing, rather than any sort of natural conclusion. It left the entire situation awkward and unresolved, with just a sudden stop rather than anything satisfying. The metaphor didn’t exactly work though. Calis’s life and death couldn’t really be compared to a poorly written novel, since he was a real person and not just a character in someone’s story, but thinking about the situation in those terms helped Chigetsu clear up his own feelings on the matter. It was the end, even if it wasn’t the end.

The celebration that began afterwards would be a little bit of mood whiplash, but apparently this was how funerals were. Celebrate the living after mourning the death. It was a nice concept, but something he had to get used to. J-Rock was an interesting choice, but one he found himself appreciating. That along with the bounce houses and the confetti made it almost seem more like a children’s birthday party than a funeral. Maybe this was all a sign. There was no use moping about and being sad.

“It does look good. We should eat first, right? Before too many other people do.” Chigetsu knew what Hana was interested in. The food would probably be good, high quality stuff. The all you could eat part of it was only another draw. As fun as some of the other stuff was, it would probably be best to start off with that first. None of the other festivities really drew him in his current mood either, especially not the bounce house. As fun as it might seem, it was way too childish, and Chigetsu would probably die of embarrassment if he went in there even if he sort of wanted to.

He turned, looking over at the silver trays and all of what had been spread out. Everyone was still talking among themselves, so there was a good chance they would both be at the front of the line and have the first pick of everything that was set out.

The two had fun and it was time to go home. "Well, I guess that should do it. I need to head back and catch up on work. I've spent a little too much time here. I hope you feel better. I know you and Calis were close." She said, trailing off. She didn't have strong feelings towards Calis like Chigetsu did, so she couldn't empathize with him. But she knew Calis meant something to Chigetsu. With her final words she'd leave the cemetery with her guards following her. It was back to work for her.

[Exit]

It seemed people were beginning to filter out. One after another. Kaisaki had left without Chigetsu even noticing, disappearing somewhere into the crowd. It wasn’t something that had weighed on his mind. The trail of information passed between his mother and Kaseki meant that he was likely aware of Chigetsu’s friendship with Calis, and that was surely why he was here. While Kaiseki was a mysterious man, it wasn’t likely that he just showed up to random funerals without warning. Or, did he? It was hard to say. Still, it was much more likely that his mother had just told Kaiseki about this, and that was why he had come. Just for the purpose of trying to be comforting for Chigetsu. That he had come at all when he hadn’t needed to was enough. Chigetsu’s unsteady opinion of the man would be lightened. The fact that he seemed to leave early was only natural. Kaiseki was a mysterious man.

The celebration that had come afterwards, along with the food, was almost fun. If it hadn’t been tainted by the preceding event then it likely would have been a great experience. Still, it was something to take his mind away from what had happened. Mourning the dead was over, and now it was time to celebrate the living. It was necessary. Even if it was difficult to so easily let go of those emotions and move on, this was the end. It was cathartic. The party, if it could really be called that, was probably one of the few things that prevented him from just returning to sulking. That, and Hana. If it hadn’t been for her he likely wouldn’t have stayed around for the celebration in the first place. She had done a lot for him here, just by showing up. The fact that she had even gone so far as to prepare a bag of gummies for him in advance had made him especially bashful in the moment, but it showed him that she really cared. It helped in pushing all those thoughts from earlier aside.

Hana would state her need to leave not too long after. Work. She was the Mizukage after all, and was probably flooded with work most of the time. Paperwork and business, and other things Chigetsu likely had no comprehension of. It was beyond his understanding, although he would give a slight nod at her words.

Then, without much warning, Chigetsu would step forward and hug her. Tightly, although only for a few moments.

“Thank you. It really means a lot to me that you came here and said what you did, and that you stayed here with me as long as you did.” He would finally respond after letting go, eyes turning to the ground. “I’ll come and visit you after I’m feeling better, and we can do something fun together then whenever you have the time.”

Taking a step back, he wouldn’t hold her here any longer. As much as he wanted to ask her to stay longer, that would have just been selfish. Chigetsu would watch her as she left, flanked by guards.

He would spend a bit more time here, not ready to leave just yet.

[Exit]