A head pat.
[ Unspoken Fluff Starters. Open! ]Â Â
Ibaraki stared in disbelief, the world around her stopping as she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. There was nothing she could do, it was already far too late… She had tried so hard to protect them all, and now..- ! Gone…they were gone…There were very few that survived…It was over.
Pat.
The world came back into focus immediately, her senses all firing up at once as she felt something touch the top of her head. Glancing back, she saw an unknown person simply…patting her head. She didn’t recognize him at all, and while normally she’d be angry at someone touching her unprompted…She desperately needed the emotional support-
“…They’re all gone…I…I did everything I could, b..but… Even the Great Grudge of Rashomon couldn’t save them…I…” She felt yet another pat upon her head, lifting her spirits slightly- giving her the strength she needed to continue. “I failed them, all of them…”Â
The man shook his head and simply pointed, the look in his eye solemn, yet somehow familiar, as if he knew this feeling of loss; there were survivors yet, though injured, they still lived. How he could keep his cool in such a situation, Ibaraki could not tell but..- He was right. She could continue like this…She at least saved some of them-  She wasn’t useless. With a solemn nod at the mysterious stranger, she headed forwards. As she left, she heard him say something that re-ignited the spark in her heart- The spark lit up, exploded, into a roaring flame! The fire to fight befitting of Ibaraki Douji, Fearsome Oni of Mt.Ooe, would continue to burn. To brave the horrors of the world, for those she fought to protect- nothing would stop her now!Â
Later on…Â
“M…My deepest apologies, Shuten…I did all that I could.” She bowed her head before her superior, her heart pounding, resounding with the belief that she HAD done all that she could. She refused to believe anything else. “I know…there were supposed to be more, but- but…If I may, Shuten… It’s not over…”Â
She took a deep breath, and repeated what the stranger had told her then;Â
“It’s not over. I may have dropped most of them on the floor, but-”Â
                 “I still have 12 brownies.”
