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tampered2006-06-04 01:08 am
eclipsing-heart.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2006-06-04 01:08 am
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When; Earlier tonight
Rating; PG for.. inferred stuff xD?
Characters; Mikage Aya and Aogiri Yuuhi
Summary; Aya and Yuuhi meet for the first time in this strange city, only to be greeted with the advent of the mysterious killer butterflies! Character development and hardcore subtext ensues >D
Log;
Aya hummed softly to herself in her new room, looking out the window and attempting to drown out the ever-incessant ticking of a giant clock somewhere in her head. She wished Yuuhi would get there sooner, but she couldn't help but wonder how on earth they came to be here. Was it luck? Was it the doings of Kagami and his lackeys? "I really wish there were some better answers around here..." She leaned her head against the cold glass of the window, and stared into the street below. There was something - a lot of somethings, actually - flying around. "What pretty butterflies.."
Yuuhi had officially HAD IT with this world. And to think, he'd only been there a few hours.
First, he couldn't find Aya after having been with her SECONDS beforehand. THEN, when he does manage to get a hold of her, she's got a swarm of guys clamoring for her attention. As if that hasn't been annoying enough up 'till this point IN THEIR OWN WORLD.
And now. Now.
BUTTERFLIES WERE TRYING TO EAT HIM.
"Augh, I said get OFF ME!" He yelled as he squashed yet another one against his arm. Good, he managed to kill it. The things were irritatingly fast, and he hadn't been successful each time he swung.
There, FINALLY, was Building 1. Racing into it and slamming the door shut behind him, he sagged against a wall. "Tch. Wonderful. Now *I* have to go shopping too." He muttered, looking at the many holes in his clothing. Sighing, he pushed off from the wall and headed to room # 5.
"Hey Aya, you in there?" He called, rapping on the door with his knuckles.
She jumped slightly and turned to get the door, "I'm here, Yuuhi! Come on i-- WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Her eyes popped as she looked him over - his clothes torn and holes everywhere. "Here, come sit!" She motioned to a nearby bed and closed the door quickly behind them. "Don't tell me if was those butterflies outside!"
"Yeah, it was! This place is CRAZY, Aya." He said, sitting down on the bed she'd led him to. Looking her over, he let out a silent breath of relief. She hadn't been caught outside with those monsters. "We should get out of here as soon as we can."
"I've noticed..!" she rolled her eyes to the side and smirked.
"I've been talking to some people and.. it seems like everyone's in pretty much the same situation. Most are stuck here and they don't know the way out - how we can get out, I'm not sure, but I'll try and find a way! It was fun at first but.. I'm not so sure I like it here any more.." Aya flopped next to him on the bed where Yuuhi sat and sighed once more with dropped shoulders. "All I wanted was to see Aki again..."
Yuuhi frowned. Then, after a moments hesitation, he put an arm around her shoulders. "I know, Aya. And you will. We'll go get him as soon as we get out of here, okay?" And they WOULD get out of there. They had to. "And hey, maybe he'll end up here himself, and then we can leave together. There are all sorts of people here, after all." Yeah. ALL sorts. Which meant he couldn't let his guard down.
Especially when creepy guys started offering to meet her places.
She didn't mind his sudden friendliness at the moment, and she slightly leaned her head towards his in recognition. It was such a relief to have Yuuhi there, even if he did seem overprotective a lot of the time. Even so, anything to get that stupid ticking noise out of her mind would be great. She smiled a little at his positive attitude. "He just may... I wonder if that same door will lead to this world again." She stared at the floor in contemplative silence, 'I wonder.....'
Just then, a quick, flapping noise came from the window. She raised her head to see at least a handful of those strange but beautiful butterflies trying to get through the glass. “What the…”
It took everything in him not to wrap his arms around her and tell her he'd get her out. He'd get Aki back for her. Hell, he'd even get that bastard Touya to come to his senses, if he had to. Even if it killed him.
Then, his gaze following hers, he saw the butterflies and his sentimental mood dropped away. "Goddamnit, what is WRONG with this place?" He growled, standing up to go draw the curtains. He wouldn't even LOOK at those things if he could help it.
Aya watched him with concerned, hazel eyes and giggled softly at Yuuhi’s aggravation. “Aw, it’s not that bad! Yet…” He could be so pessimistic sometimes.
But to both their dismays, the fluttering at the window became more of a… crunching sound. “…Yuuhi…?? O-open the curtains…?”
Yuuhi froze at the sound of glass being bitten through. Tension lining every muscle, he opened the curtains to find the butterflies almost completely through the glass of the window.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" He cried, at a loss of what to do. He looked around quickly. "Aya, go hide in the bathroom." He said, pointing to an open door.
"Why should I hide..?! I'm not leaving you alone with these things!!" She quickly stood and narrowed her eyes, with fists clenched at her sides. She was tired of being ordered around, even if she knew it was for her own safety. "They can't hurt that badly!"
The glass on the window shattered and the butterflies streamed in, one after one, flapping their unusually patterned wings before finally deciding on their prey. Aya couldn’t help but stare for a moment at their markings, and noticing they looked.. oddly familiar.
"Damnit, Aya!" Yuuhi said, wrapping an arm around her to protect at least PART of her from the things while swinging the other to fend them off. Shit. There were too many of them. "Come on!" He said, taking her hand and running out of the room, shutting the door behind him. 'It should take them a bit longer to eat through THAT...'
Out of breath. Okay, so she was a little embarassed that she refused to go to this room to hide sooner - 'Can't hurt that bad', HAH. Aya, they just ate through glass, pull yourself together. You're in wonderland now.
Still, she was glad she stayed with Yuuhi, just to get him out of that room as well. Where did they come from..??
“Yuuhi, are you hurt?” She reached out a hand in genuine concern and hoped his injuries weren’t too bad.
He almost flinched at her touch. As much as he wanted her to, and as much as he loved the fact that she cared, it still killed him whenever she was affectionate like this.
"I'm fine." He said, smiling. "Butterflies are NOT going to kill me. Even lame ones from this world."
“You sure you’re okay? You’re bleeding, Yuuhi!” She quickly opened some cabinets above the bathroom sinks to see if there were any bandaids that could have magically appeared there, but to no avail.
With another attempt to help her friend, she tore some of her already torn skirt off and ran water from the sink to soak the strips. “Here, let’s clean those cuts with these..” and took his arm anyway. She didn’t care what he was thinking, she just wanted to help.
Yuuhi watched her, face grave as she cleaned his wounds. 'Aya...' He loved it... he loved her caring for him, touching him, but god... He looked away. "You didn't have to go ruining your skirt, you know." He mumbled
“It was already ruined, silly..!” she gave a soft smile, if not a little disappointed in the reality of the fact.
She paused to look him in the eye, realizing his discomfort. “Well, you could help me out a bit! You can clean yourself too!” and tossed a wet strip of fabric at his face playfully with her tongue making a brief appearance. What a silly boy.
Peeling the fabric off his face, he glared at her, but it was a half-hearted look. He was glad she had lightened the mood. "Well, so-rry, I didn't think you'd take me tearing up your skirt too kindly." He said, beginning to mop up one of his bites. "They didn't manage to get to you, did they?" Yuuhi suddenly realized that he might not have been able to offer full protection from the things.
She shrugged and rolled her eyes at him like she always did. “Oh this..? I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it! You were the one protecting me anyway…” Aya moved to the side so he wouldn’t notice the bite marks on her legs too much. She was bitten a little bit near her face, but mostly her hair was just messy.
“They’d better not be poisonous…” she mumbled and washed the cloth strip under the rushing water.
Startled, he looked her over; there were marks on her legs, neck, and face. Not bad, but enough to spark worry in the over-protective young man. Without thinking, he took the cloth from her hands and got to his knees, smoothing the fabric over her leg-wounds. Once those were clean, he got back to his feet and gently wiped at the ones on her face and neck.
"I don't think they're poisonous." He said quietly, moving the cloth tenderly across her skin. Always careful with Aya. Always. "Not if they're the same ones that bit me, anyway."
Well that was certainly unexpected, but somehow was in a weird way…
“Ah! Yuu—Yuuhi!! What are you.. doing..??” she began to protest, but he was being so gentle. A little different from the usual brash and impulsive Yuuhi he usually was.
Aya blushed profusely, cringing every so often at the cleansing of the bites, but was glad it the light was dim so he couldn’t see her reactions very well. Who knows what sort of crazy face she could be making right now!
“I-if you say so… are you feeling alright?” She gulped hard and tried to focus her emotions on something else.
Yuuhi, in the oblivious state he always ended up in when he was busy worrying after her, noticed neither her blush or the change in her tone. "I told you I'm fine. If I wasn't, I'd be trying to get some help. Here," He said, handing her the fabric and going through the medicine cabinet. Ah, there it was. Blessed Neosporin. Or, what LOOKED like it, anyway. "This better be what I think it is." He said, spreading some onto her cuts.
“Ah, be careful..!!” she twitched a little, but she was just being jumpy for silly reasons in her mind. Now a little more calm, Aya forced herself to look up at Yuuhi and smiled a bit. “Thank you again, Yuuhi.”
A small, awkward moment of silence between them.
He smiled back warmly despite his twisting insides. "Don't mention it." Then, he blinked. Something was different. "Hey, Aya... I think those things are gone." Going over to the entrance, the boy pressed his ear to the door. Munching sounds were gone completely. Creaking it open, he peered outside.
Coast was clear.
"Phew!" Yuuhi let out a relieved sigh. He had wondered how long they'd be safe before the little creatures managed to eat through their defenses. "About time." Surveying the damage, he thought they had gotten out of it okay. Some things were a bit eaten up, but the worst of it had been directed at the door. 'Directed at us.' He thought grimly. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Hey... you're right! It did sound unusually quiet in there after a while..." she cautiously walked out, closely following Yuuhi.
She grazed around the room, checking to see exactly what was ruined and what could be salvaged. Not too bad, I guess. Just that door and the window, really..
Curious, she went back to the window, fascinated by the butterflies’ tiny bite marks. “What strange animals..” and as she reached out to touch the broken glass, a bizarre, creaking – almost scraping – noise came. She watched in amazement and confusion as the window “grew” itself back to the way it was.
“Wha…. Whaat…?” This place was getting weirder by the moment.
"Great. Killer butterflies, buildings that may as well be ALIVE...." Yuuhi sighed gustily. "We might need to start making a few friends that have been around a while. No more surprises for me, thanks."
Long, dyed hair flying, she spun around quickly and crossed her arms. "I already did! Though more would be welcome..." Aya eyed the window with uncertainty.
"There's this guy who I met - his name is Zack! He lives just down the hall, actually, so if we need any help, he said he'd be more than willing!"
And there was more: “There’s also this really smart guy named Kyoya, and another nice man who wields a sword named Hatto..! I’m sure there’s more out there, even if it seems like there’s a lot of.. less than shady characters.”
Something BIG twitched irritably inside him. "Yeah, great. Just what we need. Guys with swords and creepy smart asses..." He muttered darkly.
“Augh.. Yuuhi, this is no time to be jealous!” she scrunched her nose up and furrowed her brow in irritation.
“Anyway, you need a place to stay. There’s a couple of empty rooms around here, so take your pick, ne?” Aya began to pick up the shreds of fabric and splintered wood she found on the floor, just to clean up a bit.
"I am NOT jealous!" He said, glaring. "I just wouldn't be too quick to trust anyone around here!" Folding his arms crossily, he looked around the slight disaster area. "Why can't I room with you?" 'What if something attacks again...?'
He is so jealous. Denial! she huffed to herself, but nevermind that…
“R-room with me..?! Yuuhi, this isn’t Suzumi’s house! You don’t need to, I’ll be fine here on my own. After all, Ceres won’t let me get too hurt, ne?”
Even though I promised Touya I wouldn’t let her out again… I just might have to, in this place. A sharp pang of guilt rang in her heart, and she gulped choking it back.
Yuuhi frowned. "Fine. Is the room next door free?" He wasn't about to let her too far out of his sight
"Yeah, it's.. free." She had to admit, she was surprised he had complied so quickly. Another pang of guilt.
Something was up. "Aya... Are you okay?" He was used to her being worried, but what was she thinking now?
"I'm-- I'm fine. Just.." Augh, give it up, girl.
“Actually.. you know, I’m being really stupid. I.. probably need you here.” Aya’s head bent to view the floor and her now dirty shoes, biting her lip nervously. She never did like to admit she needed Yuuhi around, but now…
“I’m sorry, please forgive me. I know you’re just trying to help.” A small hiccup from her throat and blinking back tears. “Please, stay.”
Shock would have taken over completely if his heart hadn't started to pound so hard at her words. She NEVER admitted she needed him, or anyone for that matter... Except maybe Touya.
Her tears snapped him out of whatever state of shock he'd been caught in. Going over to her, he rubbed her back soothingly, trying out an encouraging smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Of course I'll stay. I wouldn't be comfortable not knowing if you were okay or not, anyway. I'd never get any sleep."
Embarrassed but grateful, Aya nodded and raised her face to meet his shyly, glancing to the side. “Mmm, alright..! But…” she took a few steps toward the bed and pointed sharply. “We need to get you another one of these!”
Trying not to think about what would happen if they couldn't find another bed, he tugged at his shirt hem. "Yeah, and maybe some new clothes. These are a little worse for the wear."
Aya glanced down at her own clothes, surprised at how torn her skirt had gotten. She silently hoped her panties weren’t too ripped.. Of all the horrible things that could happen in a case like this..!
She tried not to panic and cleared her throat, “Yeah, you’re right, aheh. Think we should see if any shops are open right now?”
It had to come to this sometime. Shopping.
"Yeah, I guess so." He said in a somewhat defeated manner, running a hand through his hair. "Have you seen any shops around here?"
Her eyes sparkled a little as she remembered seeing a few on the way to their apartment building. “Ahh, I think I saw some past the carousel going the other direction! I’ve been needing some new clothes anyway~” she smiled in glee and took Yuuhi’s arm gently so as not to aggravate his wounds. “C’mon, I’ll help you pick stuff out!”
"Wonderful." Yuuhi said gruffly, happy despite his tone as he let her lead him off towards the various stores this creepy world had. "Lets try to be as cost effective as we can, though, huh?"
“You’re always so stingy, Yuuhi! Let’s just hope things aren’t too expensive here, ne..??” And Aya took him along, arm in arm towards the hustle and bustle of the streets outside, closer to the eerie and constantly winding carousel that was ever ticking.
Rating; PG for.. inferred stuff xD?
Characters; Mikage Aya and Aogiri Yuuhi
Summary; Aya and Yuuhi meet for the first time in this strange city, only to be greeted with the advent of the mysterious killer butterflies! Character development and hardcore subtext ensues >D
Log;
Aya hummed softly to herself in her new room, looking out the window and attempting to drown out the ever-incessant ticking of a giant clock somewhere in her head. She wished Yuuhi would get there sooner, but she couldn't help but wonder how on earth they came to be here. Was it luck? Was it the doings of Kagami and his lackeys? "I really wish there were some better answers around here..." She leaned her head against the cold glass of the window, and stared into the street below. There was something - a lot of somethings, actually - flying around. "What pretty butterflies.."
Yuuhi had officially HAD IT with this world. And to think, he'd only been there a few hours.
First, he couldn't find Aya after having been with her SECONDS beforehand. THEN, when he does manage to get a hold of her, she's got a swarm of guys clamoring for her attention. As if that hasn't been annoying enough up 'till this point IN THEIR OWN WORLD.
And now. Now.
BUTTERFLIES WERE TRYING TO EAT HIM.
"Augh, I said get OFF ME!" He yelled as he squashed yet another one against his arm. Good, he managed to kill it. The things were irritatingly fast, and he hadn't been successful each time he swung.
There, FINALLY, was Building 1. Racing into it and slamming the door shut behind him, he sagged against a wall. "Tch. Wonderful. Now *I* have to go shopping too." He muttered, looking at the many holes in his clothing. Sighing, he pushed off from the wall and headed to room # 5.
"Hey Aya, you in there?" He called, rapping on the door with his knuckles.
She jumped slightly and turned to get the door, "I'm here, Yuuhi! Come on i-- WHAT HAPPENED?!"
Her eyes popped as she looked him over - his clothes torn and holes everywhere. "Here, come sit!" She motioned to a nearby bed and closed the door quickly behind them. "Don't tell me if was those butterflies outside!"
"Yeah, it was! This place is CRAZY, Aya." He said, sitting down on the bed she'd led him to. Looking her over, he let out a silent breath of relief. She hadn't been caught outside with those monsters. "We should get out of here as soon as we can."
"I've noticed..!" she rolled her eyes to the side and smirked.
"I've been talking to some people and.. it seems like everyone's in pretty much the same situation. Most are stuck here and they don't know the way out - how we can get out, I'm not sure, but I'll try and find a way! It was fun at first but.. I'm not so sure I like it here any more.." Aya flopped next to him on the bed where Yuuhi sat and sighed once more with dropped shoulders. "All I wanted was to see Aki again..."
Yuuhi frowned. Then, after a moments hesitation, he put an arm around her shoulders. "I know, Aya. And you will. We'll go get him as soon as we get out of here, okay?" And they WOULD get out of there. They had to. "And hey, maybe he'll end up here himself, and then we can leave together. There are all sorts of people here, after all." Yeah. ALL sorts. Which meant he couldn't let his guard down.
Especially when creepy guys started offering to meet her places.
She didn't mind his sudden friendliness at the moment, and she slightly leaned her head towards his in recognition. It was such a relief to have Yuuhi there, even if he did seem overprotective a lot of the time. Even so, anything to get that stupid ticking noise out of her mind would be great. She smiled a little at his positive attitude. "He just may... I wonder if that same door will lead to this world again." She stared at the floor in contemplative silence, 'I wonder.....'
Just then, a quick, flapping noise came from the window. She raised her head to see at least a handful of those strange but beautiful butterflies trying to get through the glass. “What the…”
It took everything in him not to wrap his arms around her and tell her he'd get her out. He'd get Aki back for her. Hell, he'd even get that bastard Touya to come to his senses, if he had to. Even if it killed him.
Then, his gaze following hers, he saw the butterflies and his sentimental mood dropped away. "Goddamnit, what is WRONG with this place?" He growled, standing up to go draw the curtains. He wouldn't even LOOK at those things if he could help it.
Aya watched him with concerned, hazel eyes and giggled softly at Yuuhi’s aggravation. “Aw, it’s not that bad! Yet…” He could be so pessimistic sometimes.
But to both their dismays, the fluttering at the window became more of a… crunching sound. “…Yuuhi…?? O-open the curtains…?”
Yuuhi froze at the sound of glass being bitten through. Tension lining every muscle, he opened the curtains to find the butterflies almost completely through the glass of the window.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" He cried, at a loss of what to do. He looked around quickly. "Aya, go hide in the bathroom." He said, pointing to an open door.
"Why should I hide..?! I'm not leaving you alone with these things!!" She quickly stood and narrowed her eyes, with fists clenched at her sides. She was tired of being ordered around, even if she knew it was for her own safety. "They can't hurt that badly!"
The glass on the window shattered and the butterflies streamed in, one after one, flapping their unusually patterned wings before finally deciding on their prey. Aya couldn’t help but stare for a moment at their markings, and noticing they looked.. oddly familiar.
"Damnit, Aya!" Yuuhi said, wrapping an arm around her to protect at least PART of her from the things while swinging the other to fend them off. Shit. There were too many of them. "Come on!" He said, taking her hand and running out of the room, shutting the door behind him. 'It should take them a bit longer to eat through THAT...'
Out of breath. Okay, so she was a little embarassed that she refused to go to this room to hide sooner - 'Can't hurt that bad', HAH. Aya, they just ate through glass, pull yourself together. You're in wonderland now.
Still, she was glad she stayed with Yuuhi, just to get him out of that room as well. Where did they come from..??
“Yuuhi, are you hurt?” She reached out a hand in genuine concern and hoped his injuries weren’t too bad.
He almost flinched at her touch. As much as he wanted her to, and as much as he loved the fact that she cared, it still killed him whenever she was affectionate like this.
"I'm fine." He said, smiling. "Butterflies are NOT going to kill me. Even lame ones from this world."
“You sure you’re okay? You’re bleeding, Yuuhi!” She quickly opened some cabinets above the bathroom sinks to see if there were any bandaids that could have magically appeared there, but to no avail.
With another attempt to help her friend, she tore some of her already torn skirt off and ran water from the sink to soak the strips. “Here, let’s clean those cuts with these..” and took his arm anyway. She didn’t care what he was thinking, she just wanted to help.
Yuuhi watched her, face grave as she cleaned his wounds. 'Aya...' He loved it... he loved her caring for him, touching him, but god... He looked away. "You didn't have to go ruining your skirt, you know." He mumbled
“It was already ruined, silly..!” she gave a soft smile, if not a little disappointed in the reality of the fact.
She paused to look him in the eye, realizing his discomfort. “Well, you could help me out a bit! You can clean yourself too!” and tossed a wet strip of fabric at his face playfully with her tongue making a brief appearance. What a silly boy.
Peeling the fabric off his face, he glared at her, but it was a half-hearted look. He was glad she had lightened the mood. "Well, so-rry, I didn't think you'd take me tearing up your skirt too kindly." He said, beginning to mop up one of his bites. "They didn't manage to get to you, did they?" Yuuhi suddenly realized that he might not have been able to offer full protection from the things.
She shrugged and rolled her eyes at him like she always did. “Oh this..? I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it! You were the one protecting me anyway…” Aya moved to the side so he wouldn’t notice the bite marks on her legs too much. She was bitten a little bit near her face, but mostly her hair was just messy.
“They’d better not be poisonous…” she mumbled and washed the cloth strip under the rushing water.
Startled, he looked her over; there were marks on her legs, neck, and face. Not bad, but enough to spark worry in the over-protective young man. Without thinking, he took the cloth from her hands and got to his knees, smoothing the fabric over her leg-wounds. Once those were clean, he got back to his feet and gently wiped at the ones on her face and neck.
"I don't think they're poisonous." He said quietly, moving the cloth tenderly across her skin. Always careful with Aya. Always. "Not if they're the same ones that bit me, anyway."
Well that was certainly unexpected, but somehow was in a weird way…
“Ah! Yuu—Yuuhi!! What are you.. doing..??” she began to protest, but he was being so gentle. A little different from the usual brash and impulsive Yuuhi he usually was.
Aya blushed profusely, cringing every so often at the cleansing of the bites, but was glad it the light was dim so he couldn’t see her reactions very well. Who knows what sort of crazy face she could be making right now!
“I-if you say so… are you feeling alright?” She gulped hard and tried to focus her emotions on something else.
Yuuhi, in the oblivious state he always ended up in when he was busy worrying after her, noticed neither her blush or the change in her tone. "I told you I'm fine. If I wasn't, I'd be trying to get some help. Here," He said, handing her the fabric and going through the medicine cabinet. Ah, there it was. Blessed Neosporin. Or, what LOOKED like it, anyway. "This better be what I think it is." He said, spreading some onto her cuts.
“Ah, be careful..!!” she twitched a little, but she was just being jumpy for silly reasons in her mind. Now a little more calm, Aya forced herself to look up at Yuuhi and smiled a bit. “Thank you again, Yuuhi.”
A small, awkward moment of silence between them.
He smiled back warmly despite his twisting insides. "Don't mention it." Then, he blinked. Something was different. "Hey, Aya... I think those things are gone." Going over to the entrance, the boy pressed his ear to the door. Munching sounds were gone completely. Creaking it open, he peered outside.
Coast was clear.
"Phew!" Yuuhi let out a relieved sigh. He had wondered how long they'd be safe before the little creatures managed to eat through their defenses. "About time." Surveying the damage, he thought they had gotten out of it okay. Some things were a bit eaten up, but the worst of it had been directed at the door. 'Directed at us.' He thought grimly. They needed to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Hey... you're right! It did sound unusually quiet in there after a while..." she cautiously walked out, closely following Yuuhi.
She grazed around the room, checking to see exactly what was ruined and what could be salvaged. Not too bad, I guess. Just that door and the window, really..
Curious, she went back to the window, fascinated by the butterflies’ tiny bite marks. “What strange animals..” and as she reached out to touch the broken glass, a bizarre, creaking – almost scraping – noise came. She watched in amazement and confusion as the window “grew” itself back to the way it was.
“Wha…. Whaat…?” This place was getting weirder by the moment.
"Great. Killer butterflies, buildings that may as well be ALIVE...." Yuuhi sighed gustily. "We might need to start making a few friends that have been around a while. No more surprises for me, thanks."
Long, dyed hair flying, she spun around quickly and crossed her arms. "I already did! Though more would be welcome..." Aya eyed the window with uncertainty.
"There's this guy who I met - his name is Zack! He lives just down the hall, actually, so if we need any help, he said he'd be more than willing!"
And there was more: “There’s also this really smart guy named Kyoya, and another nice man who wields a sword named Hatto..! I’m sure there’s more out there, even if it seems like there’s a lot of.. less than shady characters.”
Something BIG twitched irritably inside him. "Yeah, great. Just what we need. Guys with swords and creepy smart asses..." He muttered darkly.
“Augh.. Yuuhi, this is no time to be jealous!” she scrunched her nose up and furrowed her brow in irritation.
“Anyway, you need a place to stay. There’s a couple of empty rooms around here, so take your pick, ne?” Aya began to pick up the shreds of fabric and splintered wood she found on the floor, just to clean up a bit.
"I am NOT jealous!" He said, glaring. "I just wouldn't be too quick to trust anyone around here!" Folding his arms crossily, he looked around the slight disaster area. "Why can't I room with you?" 'What if something attacks again...?'
He is so jealous. Denial! she huffed to herself, but nevermind that…
“R-room with me..?! Yuuhi, this isn’t Suzumi’s house! You don’t need to, I’ll be fine here on my own. After all, Ceres won’t let me get too hurt, ne?”
Even though I promised Touya I wouldn’t let her out again… I just might have to, in this place. A sharp pang of guilt rang in her heart, and she gulped choking it back.
Yuuhi frowned. "Fine. Is the room next door free?" He wasn't about to let her too far out of his sight
"Yeah, it's.. free." She had to admit, she was surprised he had complied so quickly. Another pang of guilt.
Something was up. "Aya... Are you okay?" He was used to her being worried, but what was she thinking now?
"I'm-- I'm fine. Just.." Augh, give it up, girl.
“Actually.. you know, I’m being really stupid. I.. probably need you here.” Aya’s head bent to view the floor and her now dirty shoes, biting her lip nervously. She never did like to admit she needed Yuuhi around, but now…
“I’m sorry, please forgive me. I know you’re just trying to help.” A small hiccup from her throat and blinking back tears. “Please, stay.”
Shock would have taken over completely if his heart hadn't started to pound so hard at her words. She NEVER admitted she needed him, or anyone for that matter... Except maybe Touya.
Her tears snapped him out of whatever state of shock he'd been caught in. Going over to her, he rubbed her back soothingly, trying out an encouraging smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Of course I'll stay. I wouldn't be comfortable not knowing if you were okay or not, anyway. I'd never get any sleep."
Embarrassed but grateful, Aya nodded and raised her face to meet his shyly, glancing to the side. “Mmm, alright..! But…” she took a few steps toward the bed and pointed sharply. “We need to get you another one of these!”
Trying not to think about what would happen if they couldn't find another bed, he tugged at his shirt hem. "Yeah, and maybe some new clothes. These are a little worse for the wear."
Aya glanced down at her own clothes, surprised at how torn her skirt had gotten. She silently hoped her panties weren’t too ripped.. Of all the horrible things that could happen in a case like this..!
She tried not to panic and cleared her throat, “Yeah, you’re right, aheh. Think we should see if any shops are open right now?”
It had to come to this sometime. Shopping.
"Yeah, I guess so." He said in a somewhat defeated manner, running a hand through his hair. "Have you seen any shops around here?"
Her eyes sparkled a little as she remembered seeing a few on the way to their apartment building. “Ahh, I think I saw some past the carousel going the other direction! I’ve been needing some new clothes anyway~” she smiled in glee and took Yuuhi’s arm gently so as not to aggravate his wounds. “C’mon, I’ll help you pick stuff out!”
"Wonderful." Yuuhi said gruffly, happy despite his tone as he let her lead him off towards the various stores this creepy world had. "Lets try to be as cost effective as we can, though, huh?"
“You’re always so stingy, Yuuhi! Let’s just hope things aren’t too expensive here, ne..??” And Aya took him along, arm in arm towards the hustle and bustle of the streets outside, closer to the eerie and constantly winding carousel that was ever ticking.