wow. that's all i can say and yet it seems so...so inappropriate. this was amazingly described and i just couldn't stop reading. the emotions were so strong...and the way you seamlessly added in houjun's bitter past to his current state, i would have cried if i was a crier. just beautiful.

*honks nose on Nuriko's shirt*

Nuriko: O_o. TA!

*sniffle* Beautiful no da! *cry*

Nuriko: *eye twitches as he holds the snot-stained edge of his shirt* ew...You're using this one for cosplay!

*sniffle* nope. I've got the other costume you started out with.

Nuriko: *eye twitches more*

One thing about ur fic is that it has an atmosphere...the scene descriptions are perfect and the blending of Chichiri's memories comes almost effortlessly. It had a sort of 'end of the world' tone but the ending set that right. Is this a one-shot? You could develop this story into something bigger...this would make a terrific prologue. I hope u write more!