It had been over a year since the incident, but it still haunted him. Every moment spent on the school grounds or Hecaball field was a grim reminder. He wished he could just move on, leave the past behind, but no matter how much he told himself he had, it was clear there was still something holding him back. The semi-finals loss was evidence enough. It just didn’t feel right without her. Sanura was... okay. She was a decent enough player, and a nice enough person- maybe a tad annoying, but nothing outrageous. There was no reason to dislike her, aside from the fact she was a replacement. Looking at her play, it just felt weird. Whitney should’ve been the one out there.

Whitney. That wasn’t even her real name, was it? Did she know that? If he saw her again, was he supposed to call her ‘Flannery’? Night had told himself to leave it alone, as he’d also been told by friends and family, but being told something didn’t make the feelings go away. He needed closure. Maybe it was time to actually pay her a visit....

----

He had considered bringing flowers, since that was a typical ‘get well soon’ gift, but there were several reasons he felt that would be inappropriate. For one thing, it could be easily misconstrued as some kind of romantic gesture (especially given their past), and for another, it was probably best to keep plants away from her. He really didn’t know what sort of state she was in at this point, just praying to Creation that she was recovering well. Still, he didn’t want to show up with nothing, so he decided to bring over a little plushie instead. He had no idea if she’d like it. He had no idea what she liked anymore. He didn’t even know if she’d remember him.... But this had been weighing on him for way too long; it was time to face reality and see her in person.

Out of all of her friends, Gael was probably the least interested in this whole blind date nonsense. She knew what she was about, and romance wasn’t it. Still, it was too late to back out now. She was already here, and it’d be rude to just stand the poor guy up.

“I do hope you don’t plan to take off without us.”

“I’m only here for her, don’t get your stick ends crossed.”

Several miles away from the warehouses, one of the trucks is making it’s way out of Delta Town. The truck hits a bit of a detour much to the driver’s annoyance. They decide to take a side street and are stopped by the sudden appearance of a large man blocking the road.

“..truck..” Slamming his fist into the truck and literally pulling out scraps of the engine. He’d tilt his head and toss the metal fragments as if they were daggers, watching them fly through the windshield and impale both driver and passenger.

Alright... it was back to the church for Night, much to his chagrin. Still, he figured if anyone could help him understand what was going on, it’d be Brother Solomon. He didn’t much care for the acolytes, but as long as Solomon was there, he wouldn’t need to worry about them.

Just in case there would be any church-goers or -workers about, he kept his hood up over his ears. Today, he wasn’t here to cause any trouble. He’d go in, ask to see the priest, ignore the rest of the clergy, and go about his day; he’d attempt to be as polite as possible.

“Hm? Hey, Sage. Isn’t that guy on your Hecaball team?”

“What? Who are you-?”

“Oh, shit. Don’t make eye-contact.”

“Yo, Hound dude!”

“Sun! What are you doing?!”