It was one thing to watch a friend get pulverized into near-defeat.
It was another to have said friend be brought into your room – and to realize just how bad they had it.
When she got a knock on the door to her room, Aoi didn't get much time to open it before she saw Leona barely make it in without stumbling over her feet in her pale and woozy state. Out of the corner she could barely see a pink blur scamper away, but that was the least of problems that were quite literally thrown into her arms...
"Oh god..." Aoi had to hold the soldier close, the embrace being met back in return as she shielded the repulsion she felt seeing someone she was getting to know throughout this week come to her a red-splattered mess.
"Stay with me, Leona," she then assured, doing the best she could with this sudden need to aid.
"Urph...!" Leona wasn't fairing better now than she was walking through the halls earlier.
In fact, she was starting to look worse as the blood dried and her 'wounds of war' stayed exposed for longer.
The smell of iron in the red leakage left Aoi increasingly uncomfortable as she tried to stumble herself backwards towards one of the beds.
"Ugh, man... you really should've just gone to the infirmary if it's that bad..."
"I was t-trying..." Leona vocally staggered as her legs struggled to stand in the embrace.
"Then what the hell happened?"
"Urgh..." Leona's arms constricted in the cling to continued consciousness, making it a little tougher for Aoi to carry her through.
As the 30-second clutch felt like 3 minutes, Aoi managed to carefully escort the blue-haired / red-wounded Ikari Warrior to the cushiony comfort at one of the room's sides. Didn't matter if the sheets or pillows wound up with at least a stripe of red before long – it was more than likely to be Iroha's problem later whenever she came around.
Even in the moments before she was faced with finding Leona comfort, Aoi had some thoughts to rumble through in her mind in terms of where she lied in the perking order of the tourney's ladies. Not just when it came to the folk on the 'wrong side of things' like Lien and the Hakkesshu representation – but whether or not it was going to be worth the skull fracture to make it as close to the finals as possible.
Wasn't it just meant to be a gentlewomanly sort of tournament? You'd think Elisabeth would have a tighter rope on the dirty work outside of the occasional 'punishment' when someone breaks a 'rare rule'...
Imagining the situations she could possibly face with most of those who remain – the absolute escalation of what she watched; the loss of innocence and the risk of bloodlust in most.
Attempted murder, successful 'assault', and what lies in between – none of what Aoi was coming into this for.
The rebellious Kusanagi relative let out a long and sharp exhale as she sat beside Leona where she laid.
"Well... fuck."
She struggled to find further words.
So did Leona, for the most part.
"Agreed."
Though in fairness, she was combating a possible case of multiple concussions with what Lien put her through in 'the barbed-wire wringer' that could be called HELL.
Silence fell into the room, settling within it for so long that it started to become uncomfortable – reaching that point quicker than usual as Aoi struggled to bring focus on the bloodstained soldier without feeling some discomfort seeing the
On top of what was inevitably to come for her, the Kusanagi black-sheep found herself leaving her seat on the bed...
"...I gotta go."
Leona slumped sideways, away from the wall, and reached an arm out...
"Wait..."
Aoi hesitantly inched aside from her friend's reach, looking slightly towards the door.
"N-no, it's fine... you can lay here if you want, but if my number comes up next in the round, I gotta be ready."
The gut feeling in both ladies spoke out for the feelings of one another:
Leona's gut was building in bile and bloodloss, on top of the feeling of nausea and mental blurriness from the pressure smashed onto her skull not even an hour before.
The feeling within Aoi was the feeling that she could possibly be next, depending on who of the other three round-3 remnants she would wind up facing.
As she stood in the open doorway out, all that was fighting to the surface from within Aoi was the boiling, tainted flame, wanting to do what she wouldn't often want to.
"God... fuck..."
She took that tension and carried it in her fist, forcing herself to push further past the doorway. She had to fight for Leona, but she wasn't gonna be in a good mood about it if things went the direction she feared it would.
Based on fate's decision to pit Leona against a determined Lien Neville at the proper start of the quarter-finals showcase, odds were looking unfortunately grim for the Kusanagi family's representation.
Even as the Shiki vs. Angel fight came to an end with the former being the victor, the mystery only continued from there – Nagase was far from the only one left in the dark with where Angel might be (even if to most, she was better off staying missing).
"Ms. Kagura, can you read me?"
"Uhh... Elisabeth...?"
"Have you any clue yet where Shiki went?"
"Not quite... but I have a few ideas. Mainly, I'm looking towards the place she knows best."
"With how we've accustomed her, she had better know her place by now – otherwise..."
"Let's have faith; it hasn't been a TOTAL disaster having her around..."
"It should stay that way – no one wants blood on their hands. At least I'd hope so, with the ladies I've seen come through..."
"..."
Elisabeth could read the concern from the silence coming through from her partner on the other side of the conversation...
Indeed, the bloodshed was a negative outlook in the tournament – it at least had its purpose within the matches, but anything without meaning or involvement in the tourney was far beyond unnecessary for its worth.
"Just make sure of any suspicious activity," ordered the Blanctorche. "Snuff out ANY sign of something putrid. We can't let things fall apart – not before the tournament's end."
…It took a couple seconds for Chizuru to respond one last time. "...I'll get back the moment I have an update."
As soon as the transmission cut between the hostess and her associate, Elisabeth leaned deeply against her chair – activity was lessened on the screens behind her with the dwindling number of competitors remaining by the time the latest round went underway, and she had eyes on less than she'd consider from the beginning.
Another match was approaching in a matter of minutes, and her eyes took focus on one room in particular...
Aoi's travels through the mansion in the in-between of matches in the third round brought her to a dining room.
On one hand, it was a good idea in thought – maybe there was something in the cornucopia of fancy eats to help recharge and prepare.
On the other hand, however, the growing struggle with what turned out to be more of a 'bloodsport' than a fun environment for competition was almost driving the urge to drink something strong.
Before she could pick up even a single fruit from the labor available, Aoi heard another door creak open on the other side of the wide-stretching table. With a turn of her head, she saw the light coming in from the other room.
"...Athena?"
The Psycho Soldier entered the scene with her hands held low, and an expression of sympathy – a nervous quiver in her lips and an angle of brow hanging diagonally low above her quaint purple eyes. Not quite the attitude of the 'peppy pop idol' – not even close.
"I... wanted to give my condolences. For what Leona had to go through."
After a brief pause, before she could properly read the Kusanagi girl's face on whether she messed up her wording or not, Athena quickly stammered an addition...
"Uh, s-sorry – when I mean 'condolences', I know that usually implies that someone..."
"Don't," Aoi cut off the awkwardness lengthening through.
"If she wasn't the soldier she is, she might as well have died there." Whether she'd bleed out on her own or if Lien did the job and broke the 'deathless' rule...
"What is it you want anyway?" Aoi inquired. "Knowing how all these fights start, you might end up standing in the way of someone wanting to kick my ass..."
"That's... actually why I came here," Athena answered. "I wanted to come to you just before you step back into things... there's never too much time for a little – even when we know who's still in the running beside us..."
"Uhh, you do know, right?"
Aoi eventually answered back. "Sometimes I wish I didn't."
The only thing that was coming to her mind were the two of 'the cult' who were still hanging around, looming their 'power' over most of everyone's head.
The 'Eyeless Floozie' and the 'Blood-Whore'.
"Aoi... I don't mean to offend you or your familial pride in asking, but..."
Athena took two steps closer, holding some of the breath in the back of her throat.
"Are you nervous at all – knowing what might be creeping on your shoulder... whether it be now or later?"
"..."
Aoi's eyes focused on the floor in front of Athena's shoes, carrying the silence in her vocal cords.
She ultimately succumbed to an under-breath mutter.
"I don't fuckin' know..."
Despite the low volume of the reply, Athena could still hear it loud and clear as she looked upon the negative vibes brewing on Aoi's half-frown. It wasn't quite the first time they talked in the tournament, yet it still felt like she didn't quite yet have the full grasp of what Aoi was feeling towards the darkness ahead. With the Hakkesshu, and the threat they held against mankind.
Athena approached, handling Aoi's hands in her own with delicate assurance.
"Aoi... if it makes you feel any better... I can help out for you if you find that you can't quite figure yourself out—"
"I said I don't know, Athena...!" Aoi pulled away, promptly startling Athena back to the distance she previously kept...
Athena leaned forward with increased caution to her approach – there was always the slightest chance Aoi would swing back; it was something to be aware of in the Kusanagi bloodline, as far as Athena knew from knowing Kyo.
"If you don't want to talk, just tell me," said Athena. "Otherwise, we might both be wasting precious time."
"'Precious time' to prod me for my personal demons?" asked Aoi. "Thanks but no thanks. Know you're not the first – and I bet you aren't the last, either."
"I mean... the first step to solving a problem is understanding you have one," Athena advised – only to quickly look over the odds Aoi had so much awareness that it was likely literally in her blood. "I imagine you've long been past that step, however.
"Athena, I don't think you quite get it – it's not just any normal 'problem' like you're trying to treat it like. Orochi hasn't just been crawling up on my back; it's been a problem for not just my family, but for several others, for centuries."
Aoi stopped for a second – she held her thoughts for an extra second to avoid overly-instant over-exertion. "What I'm getting at, is that it's not just a possibility I'll be facing off with those Hakkesshu bastards at some point or another. It's just destiny. Always has, always will be."
The most she was proving right now beyond the 'destiny speak' was the bad mood she struggled with after witnessing the bloodying and the aftermath of such, of someone she was starting to get close with.
As Aoi's seating position on the table grew slightly more antsy before her, Athena's face scrunched, unsure.
"You talk as though you think you know something that I don't – like I don't know a thing or two about 'destiny'..."
As soon as she spoke up with such skepticism, something in the farthest-back corner of Athena's wandering brain felt as though it was going to come back to bite her on the butt soon. The psychic idol was deep in the understanding that the Kusanagi family tree wasn't just spotted with cockiness – it had quite the abundance in its entirety, from the feeling of it, and how it was spoken was just one of many an addition to the curves of attitude swimming in Aoi's personality.
It flowed through just as soon as Aoi's very next sentence – arms crossed, wrists to pits.
"Well? Am I right or wrong then?"
Athena was again struck with reluctance in her lips, but she bravely pushed through with her words regardless...
"I'm just saying... to me, honestly... this whole thing about destiny doesn't entitle you to being the only 'hero' of your story. Especially with what wound up in you because of it."
"And to me honestly, I think it's time you got real for once."
Aoi separated her behind from the table as she plucked an apple from the available foods laid out.
"We're both around the same age – we're following our hearts and fighting the bad influence; no drugs, no crime, no sluttin' around – last bit especially not to Shermie's level this past week. The thing is, this sort of thing hits closer to me – to me, my friends and my family."
As she closed in the distance between herself and the fighting popstar, Aoi looked down on Athena with the slight height advantage.
"You might be named after a goddess, but that doesn't mean you have the power and authority of one, to try and sort out my life. If you want to help, you can trim the edges around my business, just so that we don't wind up fumbling over one another along the way. We clear?"
Athena struggled to answer immediately – as her goddess-gifted sixth sense kept burrowing deep into Aoi's essence, she could only feel the uncertain flames that boiled the Japan-born blood within. She knew the Kusanagi rebel had good intentions, but it only followed bad decisions.
At least Aoi seemed accepting of hesitant silence – just as long as it meant Athena was thinking on things. "Now... if you'll 'scuse..."
She got up off the table with a chomp's worth of apple in her mouth. "I gotta go. If I have to get the upper-hand as soon as I can over those bitches, I gotta find them before they find me."
For a brief second, one of Athena's hands had a grasp on Aoi's arm – but she pulled away, yanking her forearm from within the Psycho Soldier's fingers.
"Don't wait up," said Aoi. "this place is a mess already... I'm not gonna keep anyone waiting for an ass-kicking." As she walked further, she was only prepared for the short-term extent of her travels out of the room and didn't quite see coming what would come out of the conversation.
A flash of pink out the corner of her eye – and then a sudden resistance in front of her, in the form of someone clutching and holding her in place.
"Uhh—!?"
Athena was standing in her way again – but this time with less of the reluctant yet heartful mannerism she tried to assert herself with...
"Please, just... try to understand..."
Aoi continued to push on forth – but it was even more of a struggle when Athena was actively clinging onto her.
"Urgh – get off me, 'Psycho Soldier'; I gotta do what I gotta do – and w-what do you even mean 'try to underst—'?"
Then she looked towards one of the sides of the room, and went silent before she could finish her outward thoughts. Her fussing stopped as her eyes took central focus, being led up to a bright spot up higher in the room, originating from one of the TVs projecting a wide shot of a dining room.
The very same room she and Athena were standing in.
The realization hit the Kusanagi black-sheep like a 'Psycho Sword' to the face.
"Shit."
With a spinning flurry of orange flame, Aoi forcibly separated herself, dismounting from the spiral straight into her fighting stance. Sweat dripped past her brows from the close heat projected, combined with her being spurred into combat, absolutely convinced to 'understand' as the Psycho Soldier pleaded.
From the looks of things, Athena shared the expression of distress – getting over the soot and burn that grazed her shirt, she quickly entered her own combat stance out of reflex from the rivaling energy.
"No goddamn way," Aoi proclaimed, attempting to lift her guard despite the sudden stress (stacked on top of the initial stress) dropped on her like an anvil. "She put us against each other – and you just let it happen?!"
"I've already crossed Elisabeth once before today," Athena reasoned. Even as she said the hostess' name, she felt the wounds beneath clothing burn with remembrance.
"I don't want to question her power again so quickly – I'm afraid there was no other choice..."
Aoi's fists lingered at 80% of a clench... "I can't say it wouldn't be worth a little more punishment, but... whatever... if I gotta go through you to get to them, I guess all that's left is to turn up the heat."
With a tweak of her wrist, there was a puff of cursed purple fire – but the wince in her hand made clear the disgust she felt with it freely bouncing out of her palm. Especially against someone she could consider one of the new friends of her pack...
On the other end, Athena was well aware she was facing a threat that could escalate. She didn't want someone like Aoi, with the possibility of the Orochi curse running wild, to hate her by the end of this...
"The stage is set..." she thought."I hope we don't end up burning the roof down too hard..."
This was proof that the tournament did not pull punches when it came to the potential of possibly breaking friendships by pitting those companions against one another.
Including friendships that had yet to even fully form...
Next Chapter: The bonds that had potential within the flame-gifted rebel and the goddess-blessed hero could break before they could flourish – Aoi and Athena do battle!