battering | ic contact;

[ Just two adults doing adult things. ]

Yo, alright, alright! Let go, you win!

[ She lets go and seems mad, but she laughs a moment after. Yes, it's her victory! ]

Hey, Yata. You're still my number one friend, okay?

[ He laughs too, this time with her. ]

Mm, you're still my number one friend too. So no more of that 'you're better off with just your other friends' stuff, alright?!

[ She turns around and brings out her tablet to type something. When she's done, she gives him her tablet and starts walking away. ]

Okay.
I'm really happy.
Thank you.
*:+゜・。*ヾ（●´▽｀●）ノ*。・゜+:*

[ What a weird girl...... he goes after her once he's read it; he doesn't want to carry around an extra tablet. ]

You really like making those faces, huh?

[ She wasn't so shy that she had to put it in text, she really just wanted to show him what she could do now...

...why can't she text him normally... ]

Of course. Kano taught me. [ Beat. ] You don't mind, do you? If I talk about my other friends.

[ You know, like Alibaba. ]

Nah, it's okay. I know Kano too.

[ He shoves his hands back into his pockets, breathing in deep before his next words. ]

Hey, I've got a confession to make.

[ She stops walking and looks at him curiously. ]

What is it?

I lied when I said I was goin' out to meet Totsuka-san. [ Oops??? ]

Huh? Then what... why are we out here? [ She's not mad (yet!?) but she doesn't get it. ]

I dunno, I just wanted to get out of there. Don't like sitting still for too long and all. [ And because he'd been really embarrassed. ]

I'll walk you back if you want.

... It's okay. I wanted to get out, too. I don't like staying inside! [ But she's indoors, like, all the time. ]

Heh. Alright then, let's do something cool. [ Thinking for a moment, please hold. ] Wanna make a snowman?

[ That's not really cool. ]

Yeah! I've never made one with someone else before!

[ Okay, she thinks it's cool. ]

We can make it look like King Mikoto!

[ !!!! Wow Kougyoku had the best ideas. ]

I've never actually made one, so you're gonna have to teach me! It's kinda like a sand castle, right? [ But round... ]

[ They're best friends now, duh. ]

Uh huh. [ No, they're not like sand castles at all... ] But they're bigger! We have to make big snowballs and put them one on top of another. Three should do. The base should be... [ She gestures with her hands to show him. ] This big?

Okay! [ He kneels down and starts to gather the surrounding snow, starting a ball and packing it tightly. ]

Hey... do you know what you're gonna do in this place? [ Nothing like pleasant (serious?!) chitchat while playing with snow. ]

[ She starts making her own snowball as well—a smaller one to put on top of the one Yata is making. ]

I fight. [ Without hesitation. ] I fight when they ask me to. But it's not like I knew what to do as soon as I arrived. I thought about it for a while, you know?

[ He nods to acknowledge her words, but otherwise stays quiet. He'd really only been curious since he hadn't explicitly talked to Mikoto about it all yet.

Yata starts rolling the snowball around to make it grow, moving with it and filling in any uneven spots (while looking at Kougyoku's work through his peripheral). ]

Actually, I didn't want to fight at all. It wasn't my battle. Saving my world - that wasn't my responsibility. I don't even know what I can do for myself. But then I thought... maybe this was it.

[ He'll find a small smile there. She doesn't look up from her work until she asks, ]

What about you?

[ She really has thought about it, huh? ]

Haaaa, nothing as cool as that. [ He flashes a smile over before looking back to the snow. ]

I'm not sure. I'll fight because Mikoto-san will be fighting, and I don't wanna just sit around when there's people I want to protect, but I don't really believe in their fight. Not yet, at least...

I suppose we have every reason to doubt them as much as they want our trust. It's just, this situation is what I want to prevent back home. A united world... [ She can only imagine the wars they fought to reach this point. ]

Not all soldiers believe in the cause they fight for, but I think it's still possible for them to find their strength somewhere. [ Though knowing Yata, he'd probably keep rallying behind Mikoto. She'd do the same if it was for her brother, but in this case... ] In someone, or in themselves.

[ She is so focused on the conversation that she's stopped working on her snowball. ]

[ He listens intently, following her words with a nod even if she wasn't looking. ]

We should make a promise to stick together, Kou-chan. [ It's spoken softly, Yata using the monotony behind rolling a snowball to help him stay focused on his thoughts. ] I mean, supporting each other, that kinda thing... in case one of us starts to lose ourselves or wants to give up in the middle of all the fighting, we can count on the other to be that strength and pull us back.

[ He wasn't used to addressing serious topics, and admittedly he was a little nervous about saying that aloud. ] Does that sound dumb?

...No. I'd, I'd like that very much.

[ While thinking about the battles ahead, there was one thing she failed to consider—that she had a friend who fought by her side. Knowing this now, she places a hand over her chest, as if trying to stop herself from feeling this much joy and relief. As she looks at the ground, she raises her little finger toward Yata, waiting for him to take it. ]

But we must pinky swear on it.

[ No hesitation; he laces his pinky with hers as soon as she says it. Was there something specific people said when they pinky swore? Ah well. ]

Heh, it's a promise!

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