Part 10
Stars speckled the night sky when Yuki finally dried her tears.
She sat up when she heard footsteps up the stairs, and turned to face whoever was coming up. Haru's red head peeked up and they met eyes.
"Oh. Hi," he said.
She smiled. It sent sharp pain in her chest.
"Hi."
Haru broke their shared gaze to nestle his to the side, among the softly-lit buildings of Dundorma. He finished climbing the stairs and stopped there, unwilling to step forward.
"Seems our secret spot isn't so secret anymore," Yuki mused. "Did you come up here to be alone? I'm leaving, anyway."
"Uh... no. Don't, it's fine. It's just, uh..."
He reached back to scratch his neck, avoiding her gaze still. Yuki arched her scarred eyebrow.
"Well, Hana wasn't there to eat with us. And when Leiko asked people at the Commons if they'd seen you, they said they hadn't. So Leiko got worried, but Akio convinced her that you were probably fine and that you should probably be left alone, but I... still wanted to check for myself."
Yuki's smile grew warmer, softer, and she felt as if her ribs were digging into her heart.
"You're very sweet. But Akio's right, that man is much more perceptive and empathetic than he lets on – I just... need a bit of time on my own."
She paused, pursing her lips into a smile she never let fade.
"Things are a bit complicated. I, uh... I don't know. I need some time to think."
Haru's shoulders fell slightly, and he stared intently at the city's skyline. Yuki gathered herself and got up. Before passing him to exit, she stopped in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder, warm and comforting.
"Thanks for checking up on me anyway. It's good to know that people care."
He turned to look at her, unwilling to be rude, and his cheeks reddened slightly at her smile. He nodded, answering it in kind.
Softly, she brought him to herself as she finished passing her arm around him. She lay her chin in the bend of his shoulder, and he took a handful of seconds to wrap his arms around her and reciprocate the embrace. They stayed like this for a short while, until Yuki slowly broke the hug and took a step back. She smiled as goodbye, and then passed Haru and descended out of the tower and onto Dundorma's calm streets.
The sun crawled back through the night, and finally settled in bathing Dundorma in pink. A knock sounded on the door, and Leiko untangled herself from the sheets and Akio. She put some clothes on as she hobbled to the door and opened it to reveal Yuki.
"Good morning," she said.
"'Morning," Leiko yawned. "Something wrong?"
Yuki shook her head.
"No," she smiled. "I'm just going out on a hunt and was wondering if you'd like to join me."
"You bet your ass I'd like to join you. Gimme a minute to get armoured up and I'm there."
Yuki nodded, and Leiko closed the door and strutted to her armour, in a corner of the room. Akio groaned and the sheets rustled. As she set to donning her set, she heard him mumble, from the bed:
"What's going on?"
"I'm going on a hunt with Yuki."
She glanced back to see him sit up on his elbows and watch her with one eye closed.
"Isn't it a bit early?"
She tied, with one hand, her half of their red scarf around her left arm.
"Never too early to have fun."
He smirked.
"Right."
He watched her buckle straps and waited patiently. She walked over to him and sat on the bed. She pushed her hair out of his way so he could take care of the one she always had trouble with.
"She seemed fine?" Akio inquired as he worked.
Leiko nodded.
"Yeah. But who knows, birds of a feather flock together."
He gave an affirmative hum.
"I'm not worried. You'll keep an eye on her."
She turned her head to look at him and smiled.
"I try."
He leaned in for a quick kiss, then practically threw her back towards the door.
"Now, go! Have fun."
"Sleep tight."
"I will."
She heard him bury himself in the sheets and closed the door softly behind herself. To her right, Yuki had her back to the wall and her weapon laid against her legs. At the sight, Leiko had a thought.
"Oh, shit."
She turned and went back through the door.
"No Hammer," she explained.
She heard Akio chuckle as she left, and turned to stick her tongue out at him before crossing the doorway for the final time in the next five minutes, at least.
"Alright. All set."
Yuki picked up her Charge Blade and hung it on her back in one fell swoop.
"Let's go then."
Their paces aligned with the clanging of armour, and soon they stepped out into Dundorma at dawn. As they made their way through the waking streets, Leiko thought to ask:
"So, what are we hunting?"
"A Brute Tigrex that's been found roaming around close to here. I figure it's killing two birds with one stone, since I'm gonna be testing out the modifications on my blade."
Leiko nodded.
"Sure."
She tapped the handle of her Hammer.
"I'm just happy to be taking this baby out again."
Yuki's smile grew slightly.
"'Figured. I'd have been extremely surprised if you'd turned me down."
"Ha! Seems I can be read like an open book."
"I think I'm just super perceptive."
"Fair."
They sent smirks at each other and resumed the walk in pleasant silence. Out of Dundorma's gates and into the desert, Leiko let Yuki lead the track expertly. The air heated up slowly under the rising sun: now was, arguably, the best time in the day to go on a hunt since it was light, but not unbearably hot.
A roar sounded in the distance and Leiko shook off a wave of unease. She took to watching Yuki to distract herself from unpleasant thoughts and memories. On her back, the flamboyant Charge Blade contrasted greatly with her armour, quite sober. Leiko recognized materials from a Deviljho, and thought to herself that the choice was strangely fitting.
Not that Yuki was as ferocious and cruel as the monster she'd used to make her set, but they both stood out in their relentlessness and their stubbornness in standing their ground long after it stopped being reasonable.
Leiko snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a growl, close, and Yuki stopped. They took their weapons out and separated with a roll to dodge the Brute Tigrex's leap. They established more distance between themselves and it as it poised to roar, but even in the scuffle they both noticed something peculiar: the Tigrex had had its eye replaced by a shot from a Bowgun they knew well.
Ah.
Leiko didn't comment, but she watched Yuki's features harden.
She quickly spotted an outcropping of rock and ran to scramble up it while Yuki led the beast to her.
"Come on, you fucking piece of shit."
Leiko's eyebrows raised at the taunt, half a threat. She finished climbing and quickly found her bearings, just in time to see – and take – the window for her jump.
She landed on the Tigrex's back as she always did - hard and with a clunk, a mess of armour and scales. Hammer in one hand, using the other to steady herself, she aligned her momentum to the beast's so as to not be thrown off. To the side, she could see Yuki abandoning all pretense of defence and trading her shield for the blade of an axe and pure aggression. In a sidestep, she stood besides the Tigrex's head and her blade clinked against the shot in its eye.
The beast poised to roar again, and Leiko made the split second decision to keep bashing at it's skull with her Hammer - the Tigrex recoiled in pain, interrupted. It growled, gurgling on some blood, and immediately leaped forward and to the left in an effort to shake her off. The world became a blur as the Tigrex thrashed about, sending sand flying left and right, and Leiko looked for her opportunity to get off - it came when the beast threw itself on its back to try to crush her, but instead she simply slid off and rolled back to her feet.
Rolling over, on the other hand, was a mistake this Brute Tigrex would not make twice. Yuki charged and leaped, blade at the ready, and sent it crashing into the beast's softer underbelly - blood and guts spilled even before she sent a burst of energy to finish it off. It seemed her tinkering had paid off - viscera exploded everywhere and the sound of the blast hardly covered the sickening crushing of bones and innards alike.
Once the shock faded, there was left of the Brute Tigrex's rib cage only a mess of gore - Leiko wiped some of it off of her face.
"Wow."
Yuki watched her own work in silence, with a neutral expression distinctly unlike her. Leiko set her Hammer down.
"You wanna, uh. You wanna talk about it?"