battering | ic contact;

[ but she left her hairpin at homera to wear yata's gift instead—

also running in some random direction! yata might hear the faint screaming of a girl in the distance. it's getting closer, closer... then he'll hear sobbing. ]

Yataaaaa!

[ ah, yes, he'd know that screaming and crying anywhere.

rushing in that direction until he finally spots the princess, which only makes him run faster, and once he catches up he's trying to multitask both looking her over and looking out for a wolf. ]

Kou-chan, are you hurt?! Where is it?!

[ Kougyoku hides behind Yata once she's near enough, and four wolves emerge from the forest. Kougyoku, what did you do...

The leader of the pack lunges at them. ]

[ Four... yeah, no sweat. ]

Stay back, Kougyoku! Hide!

[ Because he wasn't kidding when he told her to just punch the wolf. Red engulfs his arms from hands to elbows, fists tightening as he goes directly for the animal that was moving for them.

... Punching a wolf wasn't as easy as he'd thought, though. That scratch on his arm where he was nicked by using it as a quick shield to move in for a hit was gonna sting, but hopefully by having punched the alpha in the neck they'd all run away? And not try to gang up on him? ]

[ Kougyoku can't hide, Yata—the wolves were quick to flank them. Surely enough, however, after seeing their leader get hurt, the rest of the wolves back off. Wolf attacks were rare to begin with due to their shy nature, so you have to wonder what Kougyoku did to tick them off!

...She was probably so scared that she made a run for it, giving chase. Yep. That's definitely what happened. ]

I thought they were going to eat me...

[ Kougyoku falls to her knees and sits on the ground, out of breath from the chase. That was close! ]

Yeah, that's it! And don't come back or I'll kill you bastards!

[ Yata, stop yelling at the wolves as they leave. It's not their fault they were provoked.

He takes a couple of deep breaths, staying on his feet for a few moments in case they decided to come back with reinforcements (was that even a thing?), before he finally plops down next to Kougyoku. ]

... Told you they liked bunnies.

I'm sorry. [ For making him worry. She hangs her head, feeling stupid that she didn't have her metal vessel with her. ]

Thank you.

[ For saving her. ]

I don't know what I would have done back there.

It's okay... That's what friends are for, yeah?

[ He leans over to bump against her shoulder with his. ]

But next time you're gonna scare me like that, at least tell me where you're going.

Mm... [ pouts ] I was on my way to see a friend, Oz. I heard he lived in a castle, but I've never been there before. I don't even know where it is.

[ So she stalked him. ]

Call him first and ask for directions, you dummy. [ He shakes his head, laughing softly at the fact that her first thought had been to just. Magically find it. ]

Can you walk?

[ That's too forward! Her cheeks flush when she realizes how foolish she was. Oh well, it's a good thing he doesn't know the whole story. ]

Yeah! [ She attempts to get up on her own, then offers her hand for him to take. Wait, she sees something— ] You're hurt...

Ah, it's nothing! Battle scars are cool and super manly.

[ It's said rather proudly despite the dull pain; really, no use making a fuss when the alternative could've been worse.

He stands on his own but grins over at her before he starts to walk back (slowly, so that Kougyoku doesn't have to strain herself or something after she just outran four wolves). ]

But...

[ He got hurt because of her. Kougyoku's lip quivers as she frowns at Yata. She couldn't just put the matter aside like that! What kind of friend would that make her? She places herself in front of Yata an her hand tentatively hovers over the wound on his arm. ]

Does it hurt? If Ka Koubun was here, he could... Oh, it's all my fault!

[ It stops him from walking, so at least that's something. Yata looks down at her hand. ]

It's really fine, Kou-chan. Hurts a little, but I'm not about to die or anything from somethin' like this!

[ Please don't cry, he's terrible with that-- ] If it'll get you to stop looking so sad, I'll let you watch when we get back and I wrap it up so you can see it's okay.

[ ): ... well, she's not crying now, so that's a plus. ]

Oh, all right.

[ She takes one final look at Yata's arm before returning to his side. ]

I am so sorry, Misaki. I shouldn't have followed him all the way there.

[ "it's fine", "it's okay"-- he feels like he's been repeating that a lot, so he holds off. ]

He's a friend you really wanted to see, huh?

He is a friend I used to know. You see, they said I was here once, in Exsilium. It seems I knew some people from before but I can't remember any of it.

I feel as if I betrayed them somehow, forgetting who they were... I would like to make up for it.

... seriously?

[ he hadn't really thought about that kind of thing before. he knew they were here for a reason and he supposed people came and went, but... he brushes it off with a smile, nudging Kougyoku's side with his uninjured arm. ]

You're nice as hell. [ that one could slide, right?! ] Even though you left and forgot, it's pretty cool they still remember you. It's a sign of good friends!

[ Nice as hell... that's a good thing? It probably is. Although she looks at her feet, she wears a small smile. ]

I suppose you're right. It saddens me to think of the alternative—we could have forgotten each other or never met at all. Or... If we had met under different circumstances, we would not even get along.

[ They're veering into serious matters now. She knows Yata's no good with those, so... ]

You know, that's why I gave Tatara a lot of film for his camera! We must have our picture taken sometime.

[ He's thankful for that shift, truly. ]

We can just use the tablets for that whenever we want, can't we? I mean, Totsuka-san's really good at that stuff... but for times he's not around! Like right now, we could take one and caption it kicked wolf butt.

That's a little... [ awful in many ways. Do you want to take a picture of an injured wolf in the background? Also, wouldn't people ask why they were being attacked by wolves in the first place!? ]

...But there will be a time when we will have to part as soon as all of this is over. We won't have our tablets by then... And I don't want to forget anymore.

[ ah, he's quiet for a few seconds. that was something he'd been avoiding thinking about too. yata needed to work on that-- this wasn't some kind of field trip. ]

... can't you just go back with us? [ it's soft and he almost hopes she hadn't heard, because he knows she can't. ]

I want to.

[ She heard, if only because she was waiting for it. ]

But I have my duties back home. It is the same with you, isn't it? Serving your king, protecting the people important to you... But that doesn't mean we will stop being friends. Am I wrong?

No, you're right... I just don't wanna forget you.

[ He sighs, his mood deflating a little bit but he doesn't try to press further. That wouldn't be very fair. ]

We'll get Totsuka-san to take lots of pictures, enough to fill a thousand albums!

[ About to comment on how he's being cute again when— ]

A thousand!? Is that even possible?

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