#tesspieceface

?? i’ve never had issues with the tag replacer re: multiple word tags

i got that minami from my cinfest pulls!!! minami pals

“Day 7, huh…” He rubs his sleepy eyes. “I’ll try not to sleep through the GM fight.”

Haha, that was a joke. He’s not gonna be sleeping much.

“I-it’s gonna be… pretty tough on all of you guys. You know what Hawk is aiming for this week…” He pauses. “I-I don’t… I don’t want a full erasure. That’s– obvious. Please… please don’t let that happen, guys. O-or at least… do everything you can, to stop that from happening. I– I believe in you.”

Akio nods as if to reaffirm the statement in his own mind. He has to believe in them. What else can he do?

Before leaving, he notices the collection of bracelets by the donation box. Seems like they’re free for the taking…? He grabs one. Maybe a second one, too, for Cheer, in case he doesn’t get around to visiting today.

“Good luck, guys.”

...

“OMGosh!” she gets out in a rush. “That would be absolutely adorable!”Chiyo is already putting the outfit together in her head and imagining the precious little Hoshiko in it.

...

Akio goes to sit at the memorial first thing after he wakes up. It weighs on his mind. Probably why he only manages a few hours of sleep.

The way they argued, during their final fight… it didn’t seem like them. They’d been getting along nicely, from what Akio could see… Ayumu had come into Riverbend a couple of times to buy pins for his partner. And Dax just seemed like they… cared a lot. Despite their previous fights, it had seemed like they’d grown to help each other…

Had he missed something? Cheer definitely seemed to think so. Maybe that turmoil was always still there…

Akio sighs. “I-I’m sorry you two had to go out like that… y-you’re supposed to trust in your partner, right? If you don’t do that, you’ll just…”

He leaves some flowers (1200 yen) at the base of the memorial and says nothing more.

...

Even though Shino had not given him this “hero badge”, Akio can’t help but be reminded of him whenever he looks at it. Shino was such a big believer in what it stood for. Or at least, that’s what he claimed. Akio still kind of believes him, though.

So then, why…?

“What did you do, Shino?” he wondered aloud. “What could you have possibly done, t-to make Hawk so determined to…”

His grip tightens around the stone. “It… must have been something horrible, right? Nora’s right, Hawk is such a logical guy– he wouldn’t act so impulsively unless… u-unless it was really serious. S-so did you…”

Akio swallows. “Did you… mean what you said? A-about helping the Players? Keeping them motivated, and optimistic… I-I thought you were really passionate about that, but was that all just…?”

Just a lie?

He sighs. “I… I wanna believe you meant it. I really do. So I’m gonna… keep trying. For both our sakes.”

Day 6 is upon them. He knows what that means, for the Players and the Harriers. This isn’t going to be an easy day, for anyone.

Akio leaves 1150 yen for a stuffed dog. Doggo? Pupper? Whatever. That feels about right.

...