Ouryuu

    Makoto certainly knew about the dangers to follow with a nighttime sleigh ride. Rumors spread around quite quickly, those being that the foxes tended to act more rebelliously when the sun was down. She’d admit that she was curious what it entailed. Contrary to Makoto’s appearance and general demeanor, she wasn’t opposed to a thrill ride once in a while. Moreover, she wanted to know what exactly would occur with her own two eyes.

    “Yes. I’ve heard the rumors. Thank you for the concern.” She let out a soft smile at the boy as he spoke. She was strong enough to protect herself, but she wasn’t going to refute his statement. He seemed to speak with genuine intentions in mind. As he gestured to sit next to him, she nodded her head and sat herself down.

    “Let’s see what happens, shall we?” Once they were situated, the foxes began to pull them into the darkness. Surrounding the sled and foxes were dark trees– The only light appearing was from the reflection of the snow. “It.. is very dark..” Makoto didn’t want to admit her own fears, though. She could do this.. At least, she was keeping herself composed the most she could while being engulfed in darkness.

There wasn’t anything Zeno was really scared of. Even with his new vulnerable body, he wasn’t really much concerned about where the foxes would lead them. Though, he did have to admit, that if he was way younger, he probably would have some weird feeling in his stomach by now too. 

That was also why he kept an eye on the girl next to him. Seems like she wasn’t feeling very comfortable. Maybe he could try to lighten up the mood! “You know, they do say foxes are rather playful little buddies. Zeno’s sure they wouldn’t lead us anywhere too dangerous! Cheer up, little miss!” 

Unfortunately, just after he tried to convince her that nothing bad will happen, they seemed to take some bumpy road into even deeper darkness. That surprised even the Ouryuu, surprisingly. But he was more worried about the one who took this ride with him. 

    Maki hadn’t known him long or very well, but she could tell that he was trying to do something when he switched his speech pattern. It was true that hearing Zeno use his name so much in her body didn’t feel right, but she wasn’t going to be cold enough in the moment to stop him. If she could, she’d rather find a solution sooner rather than later. Perhaps they would go back to normal once the day had concluded.

    “I’m fine, I guess.” At least, she was as okay as she could be. His body felt healthy, but she didn’t think that was worth articulating. She didn’t know him well enough to make a good enough assumption about what he might have went through in his past or how he might be feeling to be in a stranger’s body. It wasn’t like she enjoyed it, either.

    “At least I’m not in his body again.” This was the second time Maki had switched– The first being with Kokichi, someone who she wasn’t overly fond of. Unlike Kokichi, at least Zeno seemed to show some compassion towards the assassin. Still.. Could he see her memories, too? Well, she’d ask that once she knew the status of the boy. “Is this your first time doing.. This? Switching, I mean. It’s weird.”

It seems like this wasn’t her first time to end up in a different body then, huh... Was this some kind of curse that went around the city now? It was very unusual, but if she asked him if it was his first time, it meant he didn’t have to stay like this, correct? 

“Yes, It’s my first time. Are you telling me, you have already some experience with this weird spell? Is there something we have to do, to switch back?”

Zeno was aware that Maki just mumbled that one sentence to herself, but he felt like it was something important. Which was why he decided to pry in. “Not again in his body? Who are you talking about, miss? Was someone bothering you?”  Did she swap bodies with a bad person before? Maybe it wasn’t any of his business, but he was a little concerned for her.

    Rise found that you could learn a lot about people simply by observing them. The good, the bad..The mischievous! Still, she was passing by as she overheard Zeno seemingly upset. She stood in front of the boy as he spoke, nodding her head in correspondence to his words. “Have you never heard of a mistletoe before? I’ll tell you the deets if you give me one of those cookies!” She let out a laugh at her own words, sliding herself down to sit near Zeno. For some people, they did feel jealousy at that sight. She wasn’t sure if it was the same with him, though.

    “They say that if two people stand under the mistletoe, you’re supposed to kiss! It’s like.. A symbol of romance!” She paused, turning her attention to stare at the couple for a brief moment. “Oh, me? I’m saving my kisses for only super special people.~ Why? Were you hoping I’d take you underneath, too?” A giggle. “Just kidding! Anyways, there’s no need to be sad about it. Getting a kiss under a mistletoe doesn’t define your relationship. If you care about someone, you’d kiss them anywhere.”

    She turned her attention back to Zeno as she added, “Is there a special someone in your life?”

“Ohh, so they just kiss because of some plant?” Zeno did think that this was a kinda weird tradition, but hey, whatever the youngsters were into. He wouldn’t judge them too harshly as long as it wasn’t anyhting more than that. 

Rise’s teasing comment, made Zeno laugh. How bold this young girl was. With an embarrassed laugh, he started to scratch the back of his head. “Well, Zeno would lie if he’d say the guy who happens to be under a mistletoe with you, wouldn’t be very lucky! You’re pretty cute after all!” Not that he wanted to be that one guy, but there was no need to mention that. Complementing Rise was something she deserved, so he wasn’t really lying about that part either, he just didn't say that he wasn’t interested in that kind of stuff. At least not anymore...

“Mhm, you’re definitely right, little miss. If you love someone, there’s no need for any symbol to tell you when to kiss, you just do it.” How wise she was for her young age. And even though he felt his heart ache a little, after hearing her last question, his smile still didn’t fade from his face. 

“Yeah, of course. It’s no problem!” Rantaro was going to have to remember to adjust the bike again later, but watching Zeno climb on all too happily raised his spirits a great deal. He could at least remember how happy he was when he first got a bike when he was a kid and all the subsequent accomplishments that came with learning a new skill. Though, when he started learning, there were definitely some training wheels attached to his first bike and that’s how he slowly learned. The whole balance thing was tricky and while Zeno boasted that he could ride a horse standing up, it wasn’t like you could control all aspects of a bike when you were riding it. 

For now, he could still keep up if Zeno pedaled slowly and he really wanted to make sure that the other wouldn’t just fall right over when starting. Sure he said that it would be fine even if he fell and that phrasing in and of itself had Rantaro curious, but that wasn’t anything he wanted to test if he didn’t have to. Of course, when he felt like Zeno either was building up enough speed or if he had a better handle on it, he would let go. He could only run so fast.

“Yeah, you can go ahead and start pedaling a little. I’ll just help you start up just a bit, but I promise I’ll let go when you build up some speed.” 

“Yaay! Thanks, mister~” Was his only answer to Rantaro’s kind offer. Zeno was just excited to try something new. It wasn’t anything he got to do everyday with the amount of his life experience after all. Needless to say, he wasn’t worried at all about the dangers. Fear about his physical well being, was something that Zeno almost lost completely over all those years. Even though it would be more healthy to have some, since he lost his immortality since coming here. 

But this old dragon just wanted a fun good ride for now, so he started pedaling with a lot of strength into it rather fast. This resulted in Rantaro having to let go, once he reached a certain speed. Though, as soon as he was on his own, he only noticed now, how different this all was from riding a horse... A horse would always stand up on it’s own legs, while this thing was way harder to balance. He was riding it a little shaky, but still okay. At least until he dashed into a pebble ground... 

That was too much for Zenos shaky attempt of riding a bike, and he did end up falling off from it very fast. 

And even though it did hurt a little, the pain was never there to stay long anyway. And according to his prior experienced wounds, scratch wounds like these were nothing! “Hahaha!” An amused laugh left the blonde boy, while waving towards the owner of the baik he just fell off from. 

“don’t just touch the damn thing ! what if it rears back and attacks you ? ”  he yanked at the young boy’s collar, forcing him behind as kurowli took his position with a step forward. in that single motion, he had come to notice the sudden flare of light in the beast’s round eyes, compelling him into a defensive stance. if this were, indeed, an angry metallic horse, then they best be wary. 

“ — like a monster straight out of the void. it still seems upset …”

the soft thud of a door closing pulled his attention and witnessed a passerby sitting within the hollow body; possibly trapped in the skeleton of metal. so focused upon the ‘ face ’ of this baik, creature or monster, that he had failed to notice the helpless victim being lead to their doom. the crowd had broken into a merry cheering, contrary to what was a dire situation. but there was no time for reaction as the engine roared to life — this time, those large eyes bright and aglow with a piercing white. 

“ what is this ? ” a hand shoots outward, in an attempt to shield the boy, “get back, it looks ready to lunge forward ! “

“Don’t worry, mister! Zeno looks weak, but he’s actually super though. A weird animal like that can’t hurt him!” He said that in a playful humming tone, but before he continued speaking, his features turned a little more serious: “So please, stay behind me. There’s no need to protect someone like me. Let me be your shield, at least until we know what’s up with that thing.”

With that said, he again, stepped in front of the other man. It was understandable that the stranger didn’t really believe that he could protect him, but the Ouryuu was already used to people underestimating him, due to his young looks. If only the other knew, that he was most likely way older. Perhaps he could tell him that, after they were out of this ‘dangerous’ situation.

A confused Zeno was left, when someone went inside the weird baik thing. Wait, maybe it really was a bike, just way bigger and one you could actually enter? Weird, though, the other man was right. It surely would move soon, when it’s eyes started glowing like that. When noticing that, he walked back with pulling his new ‘friend’ with him. “Uh-huh, we better be careful now. I think the mister inside that baik wants to move it now...” Not that he really would get how he’d make a heavy thing like that move in the first place. There was no way you could move that with pedaling on the inside... was there?!

And even after the mechanic horse started moving, he didn’t get any smarter out of the whole ordeal. But man, this sure was way faster than the baik that he knew of. 

“Is this maybe some kind of weapon? I think it would be very easy to hurt others with something heavy like that...” Honestly, the thought of that worried him. Whoever the person in control of this thing was, they better wouldn’t have any ill intent. But as usual, he didn’t let his doubts show, and just put his hands behind his head with a relaxed smile. 

“Sure must be good to enjoy your youth like that...” Zeno was eating some cookies while sitting on a bench for a while now. And for some reason, couples were especially touchy today. What was up with that? His uncommon not-so cheerful comment, was heard by someone familiar. Wasn’t this the girl he helped out back when the city was in ruins? It was good to see she was alive and well!

“Oh, hey little Miss! Sorry, Zeno didn’t mean to ruin the mood, he just wondered why everyone who walks pass there, is kissing each other on the same spot...” Zeno wasn’t really interested in all that couple stuff. Not because he had anything against romance, it was just that the person that he loved, wasn’t alive anymore... His wife was someone so dear to him, that even after all these years, he hasn’t forgotten the impact she had on him. Seeing couples like that, did remind him of her, even though it was sometimes hard to remember her face, since it was such a long time ago... It somewhat hurt, but he would try not to let others see, that trying desperately to remember what she exactly looked like, hurt him. 

Since ever Hak and Zeno ended up here together, it was only natural that they would spend a lot of time together. And so they did also on this cold but pretty evening. They were walking through the Archimedes ward, when suddenly some loud chorus was very audible. So many people gathered on a stage, singing happy sounding songs. It was a very fitting atmosphere to all those pretty lights the streets were decorated with as well! It just all helped to get into a really good mood!

“Haha, it’s very lively here, isn’t it?” If the Ouryuu would have known these songs, he probably would be already singing along as well. “Too bad the others aren’t here... Else we could all dance together to this! Maybe even get on stage!” Though, when giving more attention to the lyrics of those catchy tunes, Zeno began to ask himself a question, he probably should have asked before even coming here.

“Hello, Miss!” Zeno waved towards Shino, while approaching her. What a fancy coincidence to meet her here! “Are you also here to try todays soups? Zeno thinks it’s very kind of the people here to share their food with the whole city!” He did sound mature while saying that, but that impression of him was ruined as soon as some drool came out of his mouth. 

But he couldn’t help it, it smelled so good, and was there anything better than soup in cold weather like this? After they both got their own bowl of soup, they did sit down together on a nearby table. There were a lot of things to talk about, but with what to start? Ah, he got an idea!