(no subject)

[okami_hu]

"Hey, Nick!"

Nicholas slowed down and threw a glance over his shoulder. He smiled at the thin, fragile guy catching up with him, a huge cheery smile plastered on his face. Gus, despite his mental defect, had proved to be a valuable friend; he seemed to possess a sixth sense, and conversations with him often gave the constable the wildest ideas about recent cases, but they all tuned out to be useful ones.

"Hi Gus," Nick said as the kid attached himself to his arm. First time, the officer cringed, but he got used to it already.

"Say…" the kid glanced up curiously. "Do you really have flaming red hair or it's just me?"

Nick ran his fingers trough his graying tresses. "Naah. It's just the delirium."

"Cool," Gus grinned. "I mean, it looks good on you. Maybe one day you'll get a pair of wings as well. So anyway, I was thinking… About how great it is that we have trash collectors."

Nick frowned at the sleek, streamlined yellow vehicle passing them. It was such a common sight in the city, people barely noticed them.

"Gus continued. "I mean, what if there won't be any and everybody just threw his trash to the street?"

Nick cringed as he involuntarily imagined it; Guy's voice, or the manners of his speech had a powerful effect on the listener. All the city's filth covering the streets… that looked ugly.

"So it's great that we have them," the kid stared after the trash collector with a fond smile. "They sweep up the trash and spray the road with water, leaving them clean and the air fresh. They make a better world for us, make the city a better place. And sometimes, they leave flowers."

Nick glanced up at the 'fake sakura' tree they walked under. Thanks to the genetic treatment, this tree bloomed in all spring and summer with huge, beautiful flowers. Curiously, the Japanese seemed to hate them. It was a common practice in the city for the cleaner staff to decorate buildings with fake sakura.

The hospital they entered had a vase on the reception desk, too, with a few branches, the light fragrance of the flowers lingering in the air. No pollen – no allergies.

Gus released his friend and looked up at him seriously. "Real sakura is the symbol of mortality and fleetingness."

"Really…?" Nick felt a little embarrassed, he didn't know why.

"Yup. And bye for now, I'll be late from my check-up." The kid smiled and walked off.

Nick's eyes followed him for a while, then he turned, to see Erika's honey blonde hair and that slender, young brunette next to her, who just launched herself at the pale and weak, but alive Jamie Sanders just getting rolled out in a wheelchair.