[Sora Minami]

Sora knew she’d made a mistake the instant before it happened. There was a shift in the atmosphere, a change from playfulness and exuberance to deadly serious, and it showed the moment Raimaa’s finger-blades touched her throat. Every instinct in her body screamed at her to do something, to jump away from the weapons and draw Samidare, but she pushed them down, taking a long, slow breath before stepping back from the Futago, all thoughts of teasing and coyish banter gone. God damn it. I’m doing it again.

"I’m sorry, that was… stupid of me." She muttered, slumping into a seat as she shook her head, not quite willing to look at the taller woman. It was a pattern with the Kiri Jounin, a cycle of meeting people, forming a bond, and then tearing it in half with her own poor/stupid choices. Even when she made a good choice things tended to go badly for her when it came to romance. Sayu’s face came to mind, but she dismissed it with a shake of her head, looking back up at Raimaa with a mixture of guilt and resignation.

"You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Mmm" Raimaa would reply, agreeing that it was indeed stupid. Though she was hardly one to talk when it came to rash decisions, her whole life existed simply because of a rash decision. So after a moment to wrestle with the Demon that controlled the arm, Raimaa would turn to Sora.

"Do you think you can handle not ghosting for the half-hour it takes to get to Yuki?" Raimaa would ask. It wasn't particularly cold, just a little blunt. Though the question was explicitly a question, rather than some insult.

[Sora Minami]

There was only so much a person could take, be it physically or emotionally, before they shut down. For many it rested somewhere around a broken bone, a loss in the family, or some other equally difficult circumstance that overwhelms and oppresses, though only for a time. For Sora, that threshold had always been higher- she could fight longer, take more, and push through more pain than anyone she knew. It was the one thing that had kept her going when her Sensei had died, the one thing that anchored her during her time as a Hunter-nin, the one thing that, even now, kept her steady when everything seemed to be falling apart around her.

"I can handle it." She said, voice flat and empty as she looked at the floor, not even bothering to glance Raimaa’s way. Where would she even go anyway? She was in a foreign nation, with no support and no real cold weather gear beyond her jacket. She’d freeze death long before she got anywhere in a place like this. "Go."

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"And now you are lying to me" Raimaa would reply, shaking her head and walking over to lean against the wall next to her.

"I already told you, Don't damage yourself forcing your emotions down like that. Despite how we might sometimes be treated and even act, we are only human. And as any swordsman knows, if you don't care for your sword, it will break on you. So if you can't, just say you can't. I am not going to blame you for being a broken doll. That'd be far too hypocritical of me, especially considering I already knew that"

[Sora Minami]

Sora didn’t look at Raimaa as the woman walked over to her, didn’t react when she spoke, didn’t even seem to hear the words. No, she simply stared at the ground, waiting. Waiting for the moment when the blade would fall and they would part ways, never to speak again. That was what followed her fuck ups, without fail, and the Futago would be no different. She was sure of it. But as the moment of silence stretched into uncomfortable territory, the Kiri-Jounin was forced to look up, if only to see if her newfound companion was still there- and when she saw that she was, she spoke, finally responding to her words.

"I’m not lying. I have nowhere to go, Raimaa.” She said, voice flat and tinged with a hint of anger as she looked away from the woman, face flush with annoyance. "And I’m not suppressing my emotions. I just… I want to be alone right now." Alone and away from anyone she might hurt, intentionally or otherwise.

raimaa futago

[raimaa futago]

"Desperation has a way of broadening the options we are down to take" Raimaa would reply, not going anywhere.

"But did your mother never teach you 'I want never gets'? Being such a demanding little brat only gets yo handcuffed and spanked. And other stuff if you apologise well enough, but only if you apologise well enough"

Raimaa's voice, was the same warm coy tone it had been at the start. More comfortable with her kaleidoscope, she could slide along it without much issue these days.

[Sora Minami]

Sora let loose a long, slow sigh, slumping in her seat as she glanced at the, once again flirty and coy, Futago, her face a bleak mask of tiredness and emotional exhaustion. If this was a slice of what living with the woman was like, she had no idea how Mei handled the bouncing ball of endless energy that was Raimaa- let alone well enough to have her pull heel whenever she wanted. Maybe I should be trying to get with her instead. Although, given the reputation of the woman in question, it was just as likely she’d get her head torn off and frozen as a trophy.

"Do whatever you want Raimaa." She said after a long moment, closing her eyes to the world as the train rattled on, taking them deeper into Yuki no Kuni- to Yukigakure, yes, but also, hopefully, to something less tiring and more fun than merely meeting with some old lady. "Wake me when we get there."

fin

raimaa futago