#startgamc

❝          .          .          .      i do . that's not a question .      ❞ akira's eyes rest elsewhere , behind those painfully fake frames that he still decided to hide his intensity behind , even when there was no doubt that akira wasn't strictly the same person that had shown up to shido's ship , who stood for freedom to the absolute end , who still stood up to maruki's manipulation and chose to save him nonetheless . kind hearts and stubborn drive never made for good combinations . did akira want to go through this again ? if it was with everyone , then maybe that was good enough for him to pick up his mask again . and everyone included akechi . a breath had to be taken as he continued , ❝          .          .          .       the rest of them don't hold what happened before with shido against you . we understand what happened , why it happened , and want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else . if you want more reason . . .  tactically , you've still got years of experience on all of us , even morgana . . . . and there's always a chance that if whoever is behind it figures out where you are , figures out what you can do , they'll come for you next .     ❞

Those who knew him better, they understood how good of a place it stems from.

"Much as I'd love to play safe. Now days, whoever we go against just loves to get trickier." Being met with that more subtle note of approval makes his heart sings however. There was always this measure of faith, of belief that Leon had in him, that really did help him fit into the responsible shoes of being a keybearer.

Beyond that? With how much he trusts in him, Sora, it made his confidence have a foundational rock across the years.

"But I've learn from some of the best here. I like to think I've been doing good on the lessons ya passed on. How about I get a proper judge though? What do you think?" That playful lit was enough of a hint that the atmosphere was amiable to him.

I knock on the door.

Huh. She hadn't considered that but, yeah... Pokémon trainers get lots of practice, even if their targets are usually bigger than this.

"Well, then! Give it your best shot!" Mira slides a basket of flowery patterned spheres toward Kotone. "Good luck!"

All that practice clearly paid off! When Kotone knocks out the entire stack in her first shot, Mira cheers enthusiastically.

"Amazing!!! What a great shot!" First one of the festival, too. "You win our grand prize!"

*A genuine smile would appear on his face. It really took a lot of courage for him to say that, after all talking with people was harder than it looked, especially given the fact that he and Carmine had garnered somewhat of a reputation on Kitakami.*

”Thank you so much.”

"Tsk," Cid clicked his tongue in disapproval as he looked over the Radiant Garden computer's interface. It didn't look like Sora had done any permanent damage to it, but some of the keys were jammed now. Cid had moseyed his way on over to fix it up.

Xion slung her arm over the back of the old, wood chair. The furniture creaked beneath her shifting weight as she tilted her face towards the vaulted ceiling of the study. The Mysterious Tower hummed and thrummed with magic, a constant power that put her teeth on edge. Yen Sid was out, which wasn't something Xion was aware the ancient wizard could do, and that left Aqua and Xion to wait. And, so, wait they did.

Some combination of impatience and curious thoughts, percolating in the time since their arrival to now, boiled over in Xion's brain. It wasn't paranoid Xion reasoned if she was right. If the question she was asking cut to the truth of a greater mystery, and sometimes, even an insidious conspiracy. Aqua wasn't really the type to wonder these things that rooted in the dreadful, twisted, and dark, malaise that pervaded Xion's thoughts, but that was okay.

Xion was that type of person and she wasn't afraid to ask.

Technically, this isn't Caph territory -- but the flags are just still in view, and this part of the forest is usually empty. It's too far out of the way for most of Paldea's travelers, and Eri has always encouraged her team to stick together in less dangerous wilds. So when the branches snap behind her, tension lances down her back and her hand tightens on Tauros' pokéball.

-- She's correct; it's not a pokémon and it's no one she recognizes. Even now, a thrill of anxiety lives in the pit of her stomach, but that's why she is who she is. That's why she's strong and why she raises herself to her full height, expression unimpressed and imperious, and hopefully made more intimidating by the way the sunlight falls in dappled shards through the foliage.

❝ Hey -- you're approaching restricted territory. Turn back -- for your own safety if nothing else. ❞