soul survive

“Okay.” With a nod, she faces up the ceiling, head rested on the pillow. Yuzu sighs. How long has it been since she’s stayed over like this before? Far too long to remember.

It’s with that in mind that Kazuya shakes his head, then rolls onto his side to better regard her.

“... It isn’t stupid. I sometimes feel that way too.” He answers, and offers her a small smile. “Other times, I feel like maybe it didn’t happen at all--that it was just a nightmare, you know? But then...”

Then...well. He has only to look in a mirror to realize that it wasn’t.

“... Listen. You went through more in that one week than anyone should have to over the course of their entire lives. Everything we saw...it’s not really the kind of thing that you can shake off in a few months.

Inktober 12th Entry - Kazuya - Gin Crossover by clockworkmemory

Amidst his conversation with the other, Richard continued to walk through the Amarcian ruins his mind mapping the path back that he had carefully noted along the way in. The structure and layout was not unlike the Gustwork or Wallbridge ruins, though quite different than those he had seen in Strahta or Fendel. He couldn’t deny that the regional differences intrigued him; a question for Pascal later perhaps. For now his focus was helping the lost traveller. Richard hoped he hadn’t been lost down here for terribly long, they were fortunate that the monsters here seemed relatively sparse and thus far none of the nova variety.

The growling of the other’s stomach put a faint chuckle upon the monarch’s lips. He had not given food any though until that moment, but Richard was quickly reminded that he had failed to have anything to eat prior to leaving the capital. A poor decision on his part, but he had been concerned about the potential danger of the ruins and had left as soon as he able. He was glad to have done so, the thought of having missed the traveller, that they might have been lost down here much longer did not sit especially well with him. 

“If you are hungry I do believe the knights ought to have something to tide you over, at least until the capital. If that is where you are headed,” Richard offered. “I doubt it is much as we aren’t terribly far from Barona, but I don’t doubt they would gladly offer it.” 

... It was a mildly embarrassing and terrible way of throwing people off (especially amicable folk like this man), but if he wanted to cut this interrogation short--

“Haha... You sure want to know a lot, don’t you? Back home, people would think you were hitting on me--especially after offering to show me around like that.”

--then accusations of flirting usually did the job. They were almost always out of left field and a bit of a mean way to punish curiosity, but if that was what it took, he’d absolutely utilize them...!

“Heheh... Anyway, that won’t be necessary. I usually have a pretty good sense of direction.” Such a statement probably didn’t inspire much confidence considering he’d claimed to be lost just a little while before, but hopefully this man wasn’t terribly persistent. “--...and I’m used to finding things on my own. No need to worry about me after we’re out of here.”

A pause. Then--

What had that all been about? Hibiki couldn’t say their talk about there being no past or future made much sense to him and the Anguished One hadn’t given him the opportunity to ask any questions. Like always, he now had more questions than he had had before meeting the man. Excellent.

Scratching the back of his head, Hibiki shot one more glance at the spot the Anguished One had vanished and thought of rejoining his group. Upon turning on his heel, Hibiki momentarily froze when his eyes met someone’s piercing gaze. 

“Oh… It’s you again,” Hibiki said, exhaling the breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “I hadn’t noticed your presence. You should have said something.”

Hibiki knew this person. They had met a few times before. Usually their conversation would be rather short and one-sided. Just like the Anguished One, this person would speak in riddles and then vanish. Hibiki had yet to catch this persons name, but he knew this wasn’t a bad person. He had been trying to help him all this time, after all. 

“Mellow as ever, huh?”

--and why Kazuya was here talking to him in the first place.

The teen couldn’t help the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his lips when Hibiki addressed him--ha, no matter how much time passed, corny pick-ups still seemed to get him--but it vanished almost as quickly as it had come. Kazuya hadn’t appeared before Hibiki for a happy reason, after all...and though he had resolved to cease mere observation of this world, it was probably still best if he didn’t interfere with its residents too much. Quick hints and short pieces of advice--that was the extent of what he permitted himself to give this world. This was their battle...not his.