[Graded]There is no correlation between Sake and Suicide

[Ace Trainer]

Toyota didn't know what to do. He was faced with turmoil, his father had recently died. Now, Toyota had never been close with "pops", and Toyota had come to terms with that. Toyota's father wasn't happy with Toyota, no matter what he did. Toyota wouldn't have even become a ninja if it wasn't for pops. Everything was to impress him, and it was never enough.

Toyota had picked up drinking at a young age after all, and everything seemed to go down hill from there. But, with a dead pops, you wouldn't expect a Nara to be on the verge of suicide. Well. Not unless the last words your father had said was, "You may be my son. And I may love you. But you've disappointed me your entire life.".

Harsh, huh?

Well, it hit Toyota hard. He wasn't going to kill himself, no, of course not. That'd be an even better way to condemn himself to hell and disappoint the spirit of his father even more.

He sat on the rocks that were on the cliff edge. The powerful waterfall ran next to him as he looked over the edge. No one was in the stream at the bottom of the falls, which was nice. Toyota needed some alone time. The sun was setting behind him, casting a strong shadow over the forests below him from the cliff. He could see his shadow in the distance too. And even though it was huge from the angle. All it did was make Toyota feel smaller.

He sighed heavily, tipping the 4th bottle back as it slipped down his throat. He burped lazily, and sighed again. "Dunno how you want me to impress ya' pops. But I guess I wasn't quick enough to catch on.."

[Twitch]

OOC: I tried to set the appropriate mood with a short description of the weather and transition into autumn, and kind of foreshadowed the whole suicide thing with the end of the path, falling of the first leaf, and the edge of the cliff overlooking a waterfall. I added some alliteration and polysyndeton / asyndeton to add some flare and rhythm to the mood. ;D

It was a cool evening. The Sun swept across the canvas above, painting it with captivating colors of yellow and orange and red and anything and everything in between. There was no wind, there were no clouds; no movement, no distraction. The air was lifeless and brisk, biting at the bare skin of those who walked passed. It was the time of year where life began to cripple under the will of mother Nature, giving way for the depressing season of decay and solitude. Autumn was nearing, and with it came the eerie bitterness of the cold.

Kentaru walked aimlessly through the wooded forest, his hands lodged into his pockets in an effort to keep warm. The steps of his were muffled by the exhausted ground beneath him; it was a used and abused path that had borne the steps of hundreds. Following the road of choice, he decided to see exactly where it led. It didn't take long for the seasoned Nara to reach the last of the dirt trail and, even though he knew it would eventually happen, his eyes met with the bitter end. Sighing, he looked up, his eyes fixing themselves on what seemed to be a falling leaf: the first of the year. He looked onwards, helplessly, as it lifelessly fell to the ground.

A pause.

Shocked, Kentaru blinked his eyes in disbelief, almost as if to verify what it was that he saw before him: Toyota, his childhood friend, was sitting on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a huge waterfall that roared with unmistakable intensity. It took a minute for Kentaru to make a move, but before too long he decided to walk up to and towards his old pal. Not wasting any time, he immediately greeted the lonely Nara: "You're never without your alcohol, huh?" His dry voice carried over. Smiling one of his trademark smiles, he sat down next to Toyota, a hand on his shoulder.

[Ace Trainer]

Toyota saw the single person walking into the clearing behind him and sighed. Usually, at this sort of place, one person meant more. Well, this was proven wrong, not only be Kentaru's lack of company, but the fact that Toyota himself was alone. Not a single counter-example, but two. Those were Nara's for you. It didn't register in his mind that it was Kentaru, no, of course it didn't. If Kentaru had walked on, Toyota would have never come to the realization.

Thankfully, he didn't. Toyota was slightly shocked when the hand rested on his shoulder. He had already wiped the stranger walking below him from his memory and had returned to the thoughtless canvas of his mind. Toyota was lost. Hopeless. His world was crumbling around him. His sky was in shards, the ground was bleeding from the sky stabbing.

The hand on his shoulder only stopped the wounds from bleeding as he looked to see Kentaru. Instantly, as his family always did, there was a comment about his sake. He smiled weakly, trying to mask his pain. Kentaru would see through it, he was sure. But it was enough to try and hide it. "Everything is better with Sake, you should know that Kentaru.", he said. A typical Toyota response.

He reached to his side, grabbing the 5th of 6 bottles and tossed it to Kentaru. "Drink up. The scenery is even more beautiful when you're a bit tipsy.", he forced himself to chuckle as he said this. Using the word tipsy was strange, but entirely true for Toyota. He was never more than tipsy. Never.

[Twitch]

Catching the bottle of sake on its way down, Kentaru let out a heavy sigh. For what reason, though, wouldn't be known. He hadn't had anything to drink in a while but, being with Toyota, he almost felt obliged to accept his gift. Popping it open, he too a long and greedy swallow. His lips smacked; tongue burning while his mouth was left feeling dry. It seemed as if the alcohol was kicking in earlier than expected, loosening up the bit of tension that was present. A moment of silence passed. "Your old man was a good person." The words purposefully passed through Kentaru's lips without consent. "You know that, don't you?"

Kentaru's eyes stayed fixed on the horizon; the stream below narrowing as it reached the edge of the world. The great celestial Sun was slowly creeping out of view, his once flamboyant flames being extinguished by the pressure of the coming night. It always puzzled Kentaru how some things couldn't be helped. The Sun would always die out at the end of the day and there was absolutely nothing anybody could do about it. A slight breeze picked up before falling off the cliff, somehow triggering Kentaru to take another sip of his drink.

[Ace Trainer]

Most likely to Kentaru's surprise, Toyota did not take a swig of the final bottle as Kentaru took a gulp of his. Rather, Toyota leaned back on his arms, sighed deeply, and fell on his back, looking up in the multicolored sky. He found himself unable to speak as he laid in a popular Nara position. Back down, face up, eye closed, time passing.

The lack of clouds and not the hint of wind disappointed Toyota a little, a nice breeze would have probably helped him relaxed. His clutched his teeth as the words, against his will, echoed in his mind. How could a father say something like that to his only son? It was so harsh. So cold.

Kentaru's words finally broke through and he blinked. He nodded thoughtfully, adjusted his arms so that his hands were behind his head. "Yeah...", he said, pausing for a second. "Yeah...he was. I know. Pops was a great guy. One of the smartest men I knew...". These words struck him even harder. Not only was this guy his father, but the harsh words of blood that admitted their disappointment were intelligent words too.

Surely, there was no error in it. Toyota was a disappointment to the Nara clan. He didn't live up to their expectations. He wasn't the smartest bloke around. He was lazy. A drunkard. Stubborn as an ox on things he cared about, and the commonality of him caring about something was rare indeed.

"Its weird having him gone. Pops always brightened up the mood with some sort of remark, may it be funny or smart, he brought smiles to everyone's faces."