+++++ Hikawa Shrine. (Friday + 20)
Shinji felt slightly silly, walking as he was. The inspection tour outside of the Shrine, intended to familiarize him with the layout that he would need to form the barrier to, had given several people the chance they'd hoped for to just exist alongside him. Clare, walking easily at his side, was busily chatting with Sarah, sitting astride his neck atop his shoulders. The former, dressed in clothes tailor-made for her by the same Jorōgumo that had made his own clothing, had apparently chosen to ask the spider woman to make her a tank top that might as well have just been a second skin and a pair of short-shorts that, were it not for the biking shorts she wore as underwear, would have made him exceedingly familiar with large portions of her private anatomy. His halting question about whether or not she was cold was answered by her stating that the cold Winter weather in Tokyo was a nice Spring day where she was from. The latter, apparently, was of a similar mindset. Sarah had decided that she would wear a one-piece bathing suit 'to prevent chafing his neck', covered over with a just-ever-so-slightly loose t-shirt that hiked up past her hips with how she sat with a leg on each side of him. Those legs, shapely, soft, and slightly vanilla scented legs, were crossed at the ankles and resting on his chest so that no matter where he looked…he was seeing her.
Chris walked at his other side, gesturing to locations that he believed would make good places for emplaced defenses. If he cared what either his sister or Sarah were doing, he showed no inclination towards chastising them or stopping it from happening. "And over there," he gestured to a large apartment complex that had been knocked down in the fighting, "is where Miss Daphne said there's a good place for us to create a lake. It means increasing the land we're grabbing up to three square kilometers, and we'll have to be prepared to expand the shores of the lake quite a bit in the future, but it would provide us a place to purify and circulate water for the city. There are a number of streams and large sections of the river nearby that have been changed already by everything that's happened. Our plan is to move that water here, try to shore up the banks so that the water moving through those areas returns to normal eventually, and then look at possibly crafting a natural spring-fed river that would feed into the lake. There are a few underground springs in the area we're claiming, but I'm looking to be cautious with Mujina's safety."
"The Mujina," Clare corrected. "Mujina is her species, not her name."
"…She said it's what I should call her, that means it's her name."
"She said that because she doesn't want to give you her real name," Shinji informed him politely. "That's been a taboo portion of youkai culture for longer than humans have existed as they are now. The few youkai who have names you know, Maria…if she counts, and Mizore, give them out because they no longer recognize that as who they actually are. It's why you can call me 'Shinji' without problems. I don't know who I am, really. I know what I am…kind of." Bringing the procession to a stop, he looked towards where the lake would be positioned. "We need to make sure that it isn't easy to access for children. We don't know how many people can swim, and while adults can at least have a chance of reasoning out that they shouldn't go in the water without that skill…children can be really impulsive."
Sarah scrubbed her fingertips against his scalp, nodding in agreement. "Yeah. Good call. Drowning is a real risk, and we should look at safety from a structural standpoint as well as a physical standpoint. Everything we build, we have the chance to make sure it will reduce as much as possible the chances that someone will be hurt."
"We should add a pool somewhere then," Clare added, pointing back to the Shrine. "Somewhere around the school, so that everyone can learn to swim. Like you said, many adults don't even know how. If it's separate from, but near the school, it can be used to teach both adults and kids."
Shinji coughed out a morose laugh. "If I ever get the chance to learn, I could at least test it out for you."
"Whoa, wait," she moved in front of him, her hands on his ribs, "you don't know how to swim?" Her comment was laden down with genuine concern, instead of derision. There was, however, a frank disbelief permeating the whole.
"Never had the opportunity to learn." He found it hard to be embarrassed about the fact, considering the number of things he'd recently realized he'd never had the opportunity to experience. "They didn't teach swimming at the High School I attended for…like three months. Sen…the man who was given control over my life was never interested in teaching me."
"Fucking asshole," Chris spat out. "That jagoff failed you, and possibly every living being on Earth. We're going to have to fix that skill deficit, man. What happens if you get pushed into the ocean during a fight? Or if one of these Crystals you are looking for is underwater? You're our primary offensive option, and our primary defensive plan. I'll rearrange the order of construction to get a pool made first. I'll also canvas our team, see who all knows how to swim and feels confident teaching you. Once I have that, I'll bring you the list of names and let you choose someone you are comfortable with. Swim instruction is really hands-on stuff, and I'm not going to insist you let someone get all up in your bits that you're not happy around."
"Pretty sure that removes everyone from contention," Sarah quipped. "He doesn't do 'happy', only 'less angry'."
"Then we'll have to work on that too." Clare grinned up at Sarah, having taken well to the younger woman's presence. "Because I think there's a great guy under the gloom, and the two of us could see some serious benefits from getting him to let the sun shine in."
Shinji's frown grew introspective, her words reminding him of the recent declaration of his status as Warrior of Dark. "You…should be careful." Both siblings had proven to be people that were driven to do more than just sit around moping, and had more than earned his protection. "I don't really know what all is covered by what I am. The last woman that tried to…help me, was murdered."
"I was?" Sarah leaned forward, her eyebrow raised with irritation. "Or was it Naoko this morning with breakfast? Or Daphne-san making sure you actually ate? Stop fixating on the tragedies. They happened, it sucks, drive on." When he scowled up at her, she reached down and grabbed his nose, pinching it hard. "You share these tragedies with us now. You're not going through this alone, and I don't care if it gets me killed I'm not going to let you go back to facing things alone." Her eyes shifted between the siblings. "Would you mind giving us a few moments, please?"
Chris held up his hands in a cautioning motion, turning to walk over to where he could inspect a large crack in the nearby sidewalk. "Keep it above the belt, kid."
Clare tapped Shinji in the stomach, sincerity and strength radiating from her. "I'd like to talk to you myself. I get that you're introverted, and I understand that life has been beating you like a redheaded stepchild, but you're not alone anymore." The tap became a soothing caress. "So stop retreating back to the cave every time it hurts." Patting him twice, she joined her brother in measuring out the damaged sections of concrete.
"Over there." Sarah flexed one of her thighs to steer him towards a neighborhood park, further away from everyone else. Once she felt that he was at a safe distance, she pushed herself up and over his head, landing on her feet and spinning about to face him. "I'm fine with you being angry. It makes sense. You and I see the world differently than most. We see the connections between events, the 'effect' that leads to the next 'cause' that leads to the next 'effect'. We see the paths to take that others miss. What I'm not fine with is you being scared into pushing everyone away, and constantly on the verge of breaking down into tears because you can't handle everything alone." Just barely above his navel in height, the blonde teenager had firmly grasped complete control over the conversation. "I can't handle everything alone either. I learned, a long time ago, that there would always be times that I needed to seek out assistance. Sometimes, though, I found out I needed assistance when someone else came over and lifted something off of me that I hadn't noticed. We've all got blind spots. Naoko can do part of the job to address yours…but she can't do it alone either. Now, I'm asking you this because it's not right to just shove myself into your life any further than I already have. Will you let me tie myself to you in a way similar to the way Naoko has?"
Unit-01 flowed into place around Shinji, Ares' Labrys in his left hand, the Axe of Silence in his right. Shinji's hyperarousal had been triggered by the thought of Sarah being harmed. The recurring theme of a woman approaching him out in the open and being murdered for doing so had him looking in every direction at once, searching for the attack. The attack that never arrived.
"I…don't see anything." Sarah herself had reacted to Shinji's reaction, taking up a fighting stance and looking around for the idiot that was about to have their day ruined. Slowly dropping her guard again, she turned and looked up at Unit-01's faceplate. "If it's this bad, that's all the more reason for you to let me do this. Naoko's essentially immortal, so long as she doesn't lie to you she'll live as long as you do."
Everything was quiet, calm. The armband he wore wasn't pulsating. The world around them was silent, save for a quick conversation between Sarah and Chris that he only barely heard. Shinji was breathing as if he'd just run a marathon, the thought of Sarah's corpse before him reminding him that he'd already said that each human present should swear the same oath. That they should tie themselves to him…. Relaxing his grip on the axes, allowing Unit-01 to slink back into his soul, he dropped down to one knee and clenched his eyes shut, ashamed of what had just happened. "I…I messed up with Motoko-san. I forgot to include her lifespan being tied to mine. Because I didn't think to include that, they…they were able to kill her. I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm so, so sorry."
Enveloping his head in a hug, she stroked the back of his head and disagreed firmly, "No, Shinji. That wasn't your fault. You can't expect yourself to be perfect, you can't think that you're able to predict every possible point of attack. They killed her, not you. Will you let me tie myself to you? Will you let me help you, for the rest of your life?" Her answer was a wordless nod. It was enough for her, for now. "By the Laws of Reality, through the Words of Magic, I now forevermore belong to Shinji Ikari, the Silent One, the Grey Elder, the Infinite Titan, the All-As-One, the Warrior of Dark. Every piece of my being is his to enjoy, my life's thread no longer or shorter than his own, my health and happiness in all things equal to his own, my purpose and direction my own to decide, my love for him unwavering."
The overpressure generated when her Oath conjoined them eternally was enough to dislodge several playground toys. After an initial blast, there was a moment of perfect stillness before the air rushed back in to fill in the void left behind. He had hurriedly grabbed her, afraid for her health after what had happened the first time someone had performed this ritual. When sound returned with the air, he was able to make out her softly giggling. "Sarah? Are you ok?"
"…I have no idea how she manages this." Fire was winding its way through her veins. Ice was crawling along her bones. Lightning sparked from muscle to muscle. She had never felt more alive, she had never felt more crushed. "I really want to push you down and…and I…I really need to go back to the Shrine. Please open a portal for me."
Hastily complying with her request, he set the portal in place and held it open for her as she dashed through it. Willing it closed again, he stood slowly and frowned down at the space it had occupied. Clare came over, alone, and without looking at her he asked what he felt to be a reasonable question, "Did…did I just make a mistake?"
"Nope." The bright, cheerful, reply drew his eyes to her as she'd intended it to. "I've seen that look on a few people's faces, from time to time. I believe she needs a few moments to regain control over her ladybits, before they get her into some serious trouble. You weren't looking at her face, because you were guarding her from external damage. She wanted to get her some."
"O-oh." He hadn't been ready for such a frank discussion, and certainly not one that was not with the person involved present.
"Gotta say, if that's what happens when someone does that particular bit of magic, you and I need to start spending more time together so I can get to know you well enough to have what she's having." The look of surprise and worry he gave her prompted her to chortle. "Shinji, you're the only male around that I'm not related to by blood. I'm not into relative humidity, which leaves you alone to tend to my needs. I don't think it's too shameful for me to say that I'd fuck me, because I work my tight little ass off to make sure I'm in great shape. You really should consider loosening up a bit. It's just sex, and so long as everyone involved is willing, it's just good fun."
He scowled at her, frustrated with her cavalier attitude towards something that he felt was not nearly as simple as she was making it out to be. "I just met her a week ago. She's a year younger than me. They all deserve better than me." Standing up, he looked down at her with a mixture of irritation and growing anger. "I didn't ask for this. I don't want this. I'm sure there are…were billions of guys out there who'd be pelvis deep in whichever of them was willing, but I can't, and won't, abuse their feelings in that way."
Clare Redfield was many things, 'weak' was not one of them. Stepping into his personal bubble, she planted her hands on her hips and looked up at him, unafraid and anger-free. "The first guy I slept with I met an hour before we hooked up. He was a prick, and I learned a valuable lesson from the experience. I decide my own value, not you, not anyone else. My 'number' doesn't matter, not to me, and certainly not to you. After that first brush with crabs, which let me assure you is not an experience you ever want to have, I was a lot more careful about communicating my need for 'clean' with the guys I dated. The last thing I wanted to do was sleep with one boyfriend one night, go on another date two days later, and pass something nasty on to the second guy." She caught the change in the set of his jaw, noting that he put together what she'd just said. "Yeah, I dated multiple guys at the same time. They were all aware of it, I didn't keep it hidden. I wasn't looking for a white picket fence and happily forever after, I was looking to figure out what I wanted out of life. I had a lot of fun, I'm positive they had a lot of fun, and whenever I choose to settle down I'm going to do so with someone who understands that it's not the number of dicks I've had in me that matters, it's the joy he and I can give one another from that point on."
He blinked a few times, his estimation of Clare cycling rapidly from one extreme to the other. He had honestly believed that she was someone who he would call 'good'. She fought hard, she protected people, she sought consensus to build trust among groups, and she wouldn't put up with bad people. What she just told him rubbed against something he'd been building in his own mind the wrong way, that fidelity in relationships meant that you didn't do 'those things' with people that were going around doing 'those things' with other people. "…I…don't want to do that stuff with someone that's going to…."
"Go find better?" She nodded, understanding the hesitation and reading the nature of the beast correctly. "Yeah, that hurt me more than once too. Met a guy that hit all the right places, just an absolute machine in bed." Her lips pushed off to one side, a sense of inadequacy radiating off of her. "I saw him the next day with another date, greeted him with a friendly vibe. Didn't want to cockblock him, you know? Tried to give off that 'we're just friends' air, because he and I hadn't really agreed on being more than the one night. He asked his date for a moment, pulled me aside, and let me down as gently as he could. Said he had faked his enjoyment of the evening, that I was a great girl and he was grateful that I'd tried to share myself with him, but that I didn't 'click' the way he preferred. Left open the offer to be friends, even invited me to go see the movie with his date and him to prove that he wasn't 'pump and dumping' me. I begged off, saying I had plans myself. Went home and tried to muddle out why it hurt. He was always super-friendly with me after that, kept his word and even steered me away from a few scummy guys that were really good liars. The competitive part of me just didn't like that he had succeeded in making it feel great, and I failed to reciprocate. I also didn't like that I wouldn't ever have another chance to succeed. But, ultimately, I had to respect how he handled the situation. He wasn't an ass about it, didn't treat me or the other girl like trash, and…probably died a really gruesome death." Her face dropped. "Wow…bummer. Small tragedies in great tragedies, and it just doesn't hit you until you're thinking about it."
Calm had reclaimed his mind, the woman before him rehumanized and recontextualized. "The world I come from, it's probable that everyone I knew is dead. Not from something like this, but from old age. Time moves faster there, apparently. I think it had been a decade for them in just a few days here for us. Considering I've been here…three or so weeks? Anyone I knew is likely dead. I've stopped trying to think about it at all."
"Anyone more special than the others?"
He hesitated, then nodded.
"Do you regret not letting them know?"
"I regret not having the chance to figure out why they were special. Not feeling like I could tell them…without being hurt."
"Do you see why sex really doesn't matter in the grand scheme?"
"I can see your perspective a little better…yeah."
"Good." Slipping her arms around his torso, she hugged him close. "That's the right way to go about it. Don't just drop everything you believe because someone's persuasive, Shinji. But don't close your mind to the facts that they bring to the table."
He set his arms around her shoulders, trying to determine what he should feel about her. The scent of lavender struck him after a moment. "I…like your shampoo."
"Figured you for a lavender guy." Tilting her head back, she rested her chin on his sternum and grinned victoriously. "It's a calming scent, and someone like you could use more calm in their life." She watched him watching her, and decided that blunt and direct were better than trying to tiptoe around things with him. "Whatcha thinking?"
"…That I don't want you to die."
"So," she dragged the vowel out, "you want me around?"
"I want you to have the choice to become what you want to become. Too many good people have died trying to be what they thought I wanted them to be. Too many people have died because Khlorya is jealous of them. I have an entire wall of portraits reminding me of good women that have died horribly for the sin of being near me." His hands shook slightly as he admitted part of his fears. "I'd much rather see you in person, and not as a portrait."
"Scared of life is not a way to live that life." She patted a rapid tattoo on his back. "Embrace what life has to offer while you can, so that instead of sad portraits you'll have happy memories."
+++++ Hikawa Shrine. (Friday + 20)
Shinji was greeted upon returning with the Redfields, and after bidding them farewell, by several of the youkai that had elected to stay behind to help at Maria's behest. The respect and awe they held for him seemed even higher than normal, prompting him to stop and speak to them out of a sense of obligation. "Good morning, ladies. Is…everything ok?"
The Jorōgumo bowed gracefully. "We heard that you accepted another into your House, and wished to thank you deeply for including our blessings to the dear child."
The Kodama was beaming with joy, her hands clasped before her to stop them from flapping wildly. "To see your Tree grow stronger, to feel the happiness grow within it, and for it all to happen so quickly!"
"We've left the cub alone for now," the Mujina assured him. "Humans ain't used to the kind of power an Elder can wield, and it was surprising enough that the Doctor managed to contain herself as well as she did. No way that little bit was going to just take the process like her mentor."
"When she's recovered, we'll offer our gifts to her." The Akaname, one of the friends of the one he'd first met, had a much more refined dialect and appearance. "Might take a few days for her to settle down, but we'll make sure the rituals are completed safely."
There was little doubt that Shinji was confused, to anyone looking at him. "Rituals?"
Mizore, suddenly standing beside him as if she'd been there the entire time, took over the explanation. "We have each gifted you a token of our varied Clans. Accepted your presence as an Elder, and taken comfort in your acceptance of our offerings. Any you would shelter with the gift of your presence, we would protect as if they were family. When, one day, you accept a member of our Clans, and shelter them with the gift of your presence, each of the Clans would grow closer to one another. Your actions bring peace between the humans and the youkai, and we are simply eager to ensure that peace is long-lasting."
Lightly running his thumb along the coins and Crystals attached to his necklace, Shinji looked off towards the Tree and frowned thoughtfully. "I…should have thought of that, myself." Turning back to the gathering of youkai, he looked each of them over, then turned to the one he was most comfortable with. "Mizore, please put some thought into some way for me to show each of these ladies how much I value their sacrifice. I don't know youkai culture as well as I should, and I'd make a mess of it without help. None of them needed to stay behind, each of them chose to do what they could to make a better life for those who left. Everyone here…everyone here is special to me. If they're taken from us, I want…I want them to know that I felt that they were special."
"Of course." The fact that he hadn't included her in 'them' was a clear indicator to 'them' that she was already very close to him. That the yuki-onna had a privileged spot in his life. He couldn't have purchased a better gift for her than that. "I believe that part of it will involve you spending more time with each of them, independently of the others. No woman is ever made to feel special by not having time alone with the man who believes them to be just that."
He took a deep breath, nodding in agreement. "Yeah…yeah, once we find these Crystals, hopefully I can take the time to get to know everyone properly." Making eye contact with each of the youkai, he committed their faces to memory. "Thank you, each of you. Let's get going, Mizore. We've got two more Crystals to find, and we're already behind."
+++++ Hikawa Shrine. (Friday + 20)
The meeting under a much larger pavilion tent between everyone involved in making the area into something that would sustain thousands, save for Shinji and Mizore, was an upbeat, animated discussion that demonstrated how relieved everyone was now that there were plans in place to prevent their untimely demise. Crosstalk was universal, conversations starting, pausing, and starting again whenever various people were needed for their expertise.
Yukiko sat beside Maria, the latter watching the general mood with relief, the former with gnawing worry. Eventually, the shopkeeper asked quietly, "Typically, good news is greeted with a smile; any reason you're not smiling?"
"Because their mood has become tethered to his more firmly than I'd like it to be." Yukiko looked askance at Maria. "You know as well as I do that his rapid-cycling emotional state will not play well with these children."
"Are you sure that it's not just the fact that he's 'off with another woman'?"
"You would look passing strange with your skin and bones swapped about." The smaller woman's voice became sickeningly sweet, "Do not speak to me of jealousy, witch. You reek of it."
"I'm working on being better about it. We're very territorial creatures, my sisters and I."
"And I would welcome news that he has relaxed enough to enjoy a woman's touch of his own accord. Taking joy in life would be a sign of recovery, as opposed to meekly accepting fate as he is."
Maria's mood dropped. "You think this is a false recovery."
"I know it is a false recovery. He has actions to take, now. Once those actions are completed, he'll fall back into the habit of blaming himself for why they failed to make everything all better for everyone. Blaming himself for the smallest act of jealousy by any of the women present. Thinking to himself that if he'd just ignored his human longing, that nobody would be hurt." Yukiko shook her head slowly. "When he left, after Motoko was murdered, he stopped long enough to look back at me. In his eyes, I saw Death. Not his. Not mine. Death. If we cannot get him to find happiness in what is, all we are going to do is change who it is we must fear at night."
+++++ Andes. (Monday + 23)
It had been three days since Shinji and Mizore had resumed the search for the Crystal that Yukiko swore was somewhere in the mountainous area of western South America. Unlike his time with Yukiko, Shinji had spent most of the time sharing his life's story with the Mizore. The entire discussion started when she threw a snowball at him, playfully, then laughed when he tried to form a snowball himself. Once she heard he'd never seen snow, and then remembered why he'd never seen snow, she encouraged him to share stories of his past so that she could, in turn, share her own.
Mizore hadn't shared much over those days, instead quietly listening to the tragic history behind a man that she was increasingly positive she was falling in love with. The way he was watchful over her safety, but not smothering her as if she were weak. The way he made certain she had plenty to eat, despite himself needing much more nutrients. The way that caring for others came both naturally and effortlessly to him. He was a retiring, quiet, introverted young man that she would have gladly ignored Tsukune Aono for. Now that she would have to share him with the others, though, she realized how important it had been for her to experience what she had during her time at the Academy. The feelings she had as Tsukune had ignored her to pay attention to 'that bitch' told her that many of the other women back at the Shrine were likely feeling that same way. He was a limited commodity, but he was a commodity that could be shared safely…with the right women.
"It wasn't any different, to me. We'd drive somewhere, I'd wait in the car and ignore everyone, we'd drive back to his house." Shinji walked through the snow, Mizore walking atop it at his side. He'd been following a vague pulling sensation for the last day and a half, and with the sky darkening he made a rare 'command decision' as he saw a sign that was almost completely buried in snow. "Let's call it a day." Pushing the snow out of the way enough that he could verify that what he believed to be true was, in fact, true, he displayed the result. "Looks like a sign for a resort of some kind."
"Centro de Ski Corralco," Mizore pronounced the Spanish fluently. "If you think we should stop, I'm fine with that."
He mouthed the sounds she'd made, his familiarity with his odd omnilingual nature growing. "I just…kind of figured we've been sleeping in those caves you've made the past few nights. You might like to sleep on a real bed."
"Could I, maybe," she floated closer, standing against him and looking up coquettishly, "sleep on a real bed…with you?" The way the calculations flitted across his face was somehow endearing to her. She could see, in real time, his determination of whether or not what he was being asked would hurt someone. A history of abuse was something they both shared, and knowing that despite that abuse he hadn't given in to hatred gave her greater appreciation for the kindness he preferred.
"I…think that would be fine." Setting one hand on the space between her shoulder and her neck, his frown changed from calculating to concerned. "If that's really what you want."
"Let's look for their best room, and make sure that it's properly secured." Her smile of victory was paired with a smirk of knowing. "Can't relax if we have to worry about stray zombies stuck in closets."
"A wise precaution, and something I am one hundred percent behind." Looking around, he found the most likely direction for the main building. "We'll stop at the registration desk and see if they have a map, or something we can use to find the best room."
The journey across the deep snow, unseasonably thick for the time of year, took them around a series of wrecked and abandoned vehicles. In the middle of one field, there was a crashed helicopter and several downed powerlines. The eerie silence of the world had become 'normal', to an extent, allowing them to use it to listen for potential ambushes without the buzz and hum of human occupation. By the time they arrived to a building that seemed a likely point for visitors to be deposited at, the light from the sun had grown dim. Searching the interior of the office area required that he adorn Unit-01 and use the integrated low-light sensors while Mizore relied on her species' natural nightvision.
"Found it…I think." Shinji tapped a map he'd found pinned to the cloth siding of a cubicle. "Suite luna de miel. Honeymoon suites are probably pretty good, wouldn't you think?"
Her heartbeat began to accelerate. "Oh, I doubt they're anything but the best. After all, who wants to treat their new bride to something 'lesser'? That's a quick path to seeming 'cheap'."
"Yeah." Pulling the map free, he oriented it to the building they were standing in. "Won't have electricity. Might not have running water." Looking up from the map, he pointed towards their destination. "I'll figure something out. It's that way."
Mizore wasn't really paying attention to where they were going. The thought that maybe, somehow, he was thinking of 'sleeping' with her instead of just sleeping with her excited her greatly. Even if they didn't end up doing it, the fact that she could possibly strip him down completely and just lay skin-to-skin with him was enough to get her floating on air. Shinji was checking the map as he walked out of the building, looking for the other landmarks that would indicate he'd read it properly, when the fireball engulfed him.
Protected within Unit-01, all he felt was the pressure of magical fire baking the armor. All of the heat he felt came from within, as rage filled his thoughts. He hadn't been paying attention. He had lost focus. He had no idea if Mizore was even alive, and whatever had just attacked him was going to beg for the release of death before he was done.
Exploding out of the dying flames, Unit-01 spotted its prey. Four enemies, two that walked about on misshapen limbs and two that used wings to keep themselves aloft. Beings of Chaos, that it could tell, they were not the mutated abominations of Ireul. The first creature, apparently the one that had launched the attack, stopped cackling like a hyena as it saw hundreds of tons of metal-coated pain charging directly for it. Too slow to avoid anything, it was cleaved in half by Ares' Axe.
The second ground-bound creature had fallen backwards, avoiding the Axe of Silence and scurrying off to gain distance while the two flying foes stabbed at the Eva with cruelly barbed spears. After two swings of its axes missed, Unit-01 tossed Ares' Axe towards where the second walking beast was attempting to cast some form of spell, cutting the miserable wretch in two. Apollo's Bow appeared in its grasp, and one of the two winged monstrosities received a reminder in manners via six well-placed arrows.
The final creature, now wanting to be anywhere but where it was, was not ready for Unit-01 to jump off the ground and slap it across the skull with Apollo's Bow. Stunned and dizzy, it tumbled to the ground and had one wing broken by a violent stomp as Unit-01 landed atop it.
"Who?" The reverberating snarl of Shinji's voice made the single word all the more ominous.
A series of squeaks and whimpers that doubled for speech attempted to parlay any small bit of information it had about who had sent it there into a chance at freedom. The tones and tongues it used were untranslatable to any language used by humanity, but to Shinji they were clearly understood.
"You come here, you hunt me, you strike me with your pathetic magics and pitiful spears, you kill Mizore, and you somehow expect mercy?!" Reaching one gauntleted hand down, he grasped the creatures beak and squeezed it shut so that it could interrupt him no more. "Where was mercy when your kind began positioning the false Crystals? Where was mercy when children were consumed by what was once their beloved pets?" Snapping the creature's neck, he shouted down at the corpse of his foe, "Where was mercy when the last living beings were forced to flee this world?!"
"Is this what you are, now?" A familiar voice spoke into the stillness that followed his outburst. When he looked up, he saw Carla standing in the snow, pain and sorrow hanging from her. "A monster? A creature that lives only to satisfy its darker urges?"
Slipping a sharpened icicle up under the youma's chin, Mizore answered for him, "Few creatures take kindly to someone who murders their mate. An Elder, such as he, could quite possibly destroy this entire mountain range in reprisal for that act." Applying a hint of pressure, she asked her own question, "Why were you not there, helping us defend what was left? Have you thrown your lot back in with these abominations?"
From Shinji's perspective, and through the relief he felt at seeing and hearing Mizore again, there was something slightly off about the situation before him. It wasn't until Mizore shifted her stance that he realized what had happened. Somehow she'd avoided the fireball that had enveloped him, but that avoidance had cost her the clothes she'd worn. Avoiding the distraction of her physical allure was difficult, and so he approached Carla to use the taller youma's form to block his line of sight on the smaller yuki-onna. "After you answer that, I want to know what you're doing here."
"I was searching for the same thing you are. The Crystals must be kept from It, and must be kept from you." Carla did not appear to be afraid of Mizore, or him. "I'm here because I can feel the Crystal of Wind."
Do not listen to her, Warrior. The voice of the first Crystal he found spoke to Shinji alone. She is misguided. She believes that Black is White.
"You were meant to be a shining beacon and yet here you are, wearing coal-tarnished armor without remorse. You allow yourself to be maneuvered like a pawn when you were meant to be a king!"
Everyone is tarnished, somehow. None go through life without picking up its dust.
"You bend the knee without knowing, you serve your enemy without knowing. You create the very future you wish to avoid, and you do it all out of hate. Out of spite. Tell me, Warrior, what good has ever come out of darkness?"
"…There's a first time for everything, I hear." Dismissing Unit-01, he pushed Mizore's threat away from Carla's throat. "You tell me I was meant to be a king…but what use is a king with no country? What purpose does a king serve, if he can't protect anyone? You want someone to lead you, wait a couple thousand years…she'll be at the Shrine." Taking off the overshirt he was wearing, he offered it to Mizore without looking at her. "If you don't want to be a part of the solution, I highly recommend you avoid being a part of the problem. You didn't come here to fight, and so I'm not going to kill you. Hurt anyone under my protection, and…well, you'll wish I had." Once Mizore was wearing his shirt, he turned away towards where they had been heading to start with. "I'm nobody's pawn."
+++++ Andes. (Tuesday + 24)
Mizore was lounging in a very comfortable recliner watching Shinji as he watched the floor between his feet while he sat on the foot of the bed. Wearing his shirt, which held his scent wonderfully, and nothing else she swished her foot in time with a song playing through her head. She was well aware that many people might find it uncomfortable to sit in silence watching a man think, and she truly believed that they were missing out on opportunities to learn a great deal about others. She couldn't read his mind, but she could easily tell his thoughts. He had heard something that didn't sit well with him, whether it was from the youma or some other source. He was processing that information, contextualizing it, balancing what sharing it might do as opposed to what not sharing it might do. She knew that he'd speak with her in time, just as she knew that there was plenty of joy to be found in simply watching him work. She was a child of the snows, and the snow was a patient hunter.
It had been three hours since he'd opened the door and sat down. Three hours since he'd said anything aloud. Three hours since he'd begun to scowl in the way he tended to when thinking his deepest thoughts. And after those three hours he finally looked up, directly at her. "Metamorphosis."
With the side of her head propped on her fist, and her elbow propped on the arm of the recliner, she grinned toothily at him and responded, "Twenty-two points, without any double- or triple-letter score modifiers."
He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of her statement. "What?"
"Scrabble. It's how I learned English." Rolling her hand to prompt him to continue, she enjoyed that she had caught him off-guard again. "Go on. What about metamorphosis?"
"Tungsram, Carla, she asked 'what good has ever come out of darkness'. I knew that nothing was ever that simple, that…binary. Especially whenever I end up involved. A caterpillar has to cocoon itself, entering darkness for however long before coming out as a butterfly. That metamorphosis requires a period of darkness. That's probably what I am. I'm not going to rule anything, I will literally fight people to the death to avoid that responsibility. I'm not cut out for it. But you can't always fight with sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes, you just have to fight fire with fire. We're fighting against the darkness…so why not use that darkness to protect the future light?"
"I think that she was being slightly more rhetorical, but I do understand your point. So what now?"
Silence reigned as he let his eyes move along her form. With the overlarge shirt she was wearing obscuring just enough to keep her from displaying anything in particular, it also managed to tantalize him with thoughts of how she felt against him several nights before. "I'm…not telling you anything you don't already know, but you are painfully beautiful to look upon."
She could have jumped him right then and there and been perfectly content. "Well, a life of enforced activity has done wonders for my physique, I agree."
"No…well, yes, but that wasn't what I was talking about." His cheeks turned slightly pink, and he looked back down towards the ground. "You're confident without being arrogant. You're deadly without being unapproachable. You're quick-witted without being contemptuous. I look at you and I see this…riot of noise. Your life story unfolding before me, telling me how much you've survived. But I also see…who you are, and who you can become. I see pathways, and that's…it hurts."
"If it hurts, I think I should probably know a little more about it." Using the lever on the recliner to return it back to a normal seat, she walked over and plopped herself down in his lap, hanging her arms around his neck. "It's just the two of us here. What am I doing that's hurting you?"
He paused, again. When he finally spoke, it was in a harsh whisper, "You're giving up your freedom."
"I gave that up years ago. My duty was to ensure that the yuki-onna did not become victims, to take up a position I was really not cut out for as ambassador to Reliqui. I've found more freedom in being around you than I've had in a long time."
"No…it's…." Blowing out a heavy sigh of frustration, he shook his head. "Just ahead of us, of you and I, the path you've walked splits into two paths. I can see…feel…I know, somehow, that the path where you and I don't…become closer, has a lot of other paths that fork off of it. I can't see where they lead, but I know that you'll be free to choose them."
"And the path where we get sweaty with one another?"
"…It doesn't branch off. It's just one long, winding, road."
Rocking slowly side to side, in time with the song she'd been hearing for the past day, she kept her cheer of victory from overwhelming the moment by keeping it in her chest. "And that's probably terrible to imagine. A long, winding, road with me by your side. I can see why that hurts."
His brow knit, and he frowned down at her. "You can be a bit of a bitch, you know that?"
"You'd be amazed at how many people have told me that over the years." She smirked playfully. "Ever since I first met you, I've grown to feel like everything that's happened had a reason for happening. The pain I endured at the Academy, the rage I felt at the start of the Wars, the confusion I had when you and I 'clicked' began to clear away as I realized that I wasn't meant to do any of those things I regretted failing to succeed at. This, you and I, is what I was meant for."
"But you-"
She silenced him with a finger to the lips. "No interrupting, I'm talking now." When his eyes dropped in apology, she kissed the tip of his nose. "I get along very well with the shrine maiden. She's far more diplomatic than I'll ever be, but I'm far more pragmatic than she'll ever be. She can be the center of attention without any embarrassment, and I abhor the spotlight. She's listened to me, considered what I've said, and been unafraid of offering alternatives only to accept my thoughts on the matter when I don't choose them. She's a great leader, which is a position I do not want." She felt him huff out a laugh of agreement. "You and I aren't the people to look to for guidance. We're the people to look to for safety. This path I choose to walk, the lack of other branches means, in my mind, that it's the right path to walk. I share you with the others, and you tell me who the others are. The people I think should join our little family may not be the people you think should join our little family. If I don't like someone, then I'll try to work it out with them, or I'll come hear you out. If I bring a lady to you that I think offers us an advantage, and you don't like her, then we talk and you hear me out."
After she removed her finger from his lips, he asked the obvious, "Why do we have to include so many others? Daphne…and I are…going to learn how to…."
"You know it's adorable watching someone be worse at diplomacy than I am, right?"
"Rei was right, and I shouldn't treat Daphne like some stranger. I shouldn't treat this like it's just a job. I just…I don't know the words to use. I don't want to just be 'the father of her children', and I don't want to say that we're learning to love one another because that makes me feel as if Suzuhara isn't the center of her world anymore. He's dead, I'm alive, and if I could I'd switch those two around without hesitation. I'm ignoring the urge to throw you down on the bed and kiss every centimeter of your body because I have no clue how all of this interacts!"
"Poorly. Tragically. Generally, with a great deal of crying. But it's our life, Shinji. We didn't get a vote in how it started, we barely got a vote in how it got to this point, and now we're doing everything we can to exercise our vote for how it continues." Her foot was bouncing energetically, her eagerness to encourage him to stop ignoring a particular urge growing. "Perhaps you should not think of yourself as a 'human', to the degree that you are. It's not unusual for youkai to have family groups that are based around sharing a male. Yes, typically those clans are polygamous, and the women will sleep with other males outside of the 'family' without feeling the slightest hint of remorse, but balancing the culture you grew up in with their cultures to create a better balance…it allows us to move forward, instead of being stuck where we are."
"I know I'm not human, believe me." He set his forehead down atop her head, enjoying the feeling of closeness. "I don't want to be…unfaithful. I don't want any of the wonderful women that have offered their time to me to feel like I have a wandering eye. I don't want to live every day dreading 'the talk' where I'm told I'm a really great guy, but that man over there has a bigger dick and no mental trauma. I want to be able to give a shit again." Pulling her close, hugging her with force just shy of painful, he tried to figure out how to explain everything he was afraid of. "I want to know what it's like to have someone actually love me. I…want…." Shinji noticed a glow growing from one corner of the room before Mizore did, the latter with her eyes closed enjoying the embrace. He hoped he'd have the opportunity to apologize for the way he threw her as far away from any potential blast as possible, and hoped that covering whatever it was creating the glow with his body would help muffle the damage.
As he threw himself towards the danger, he was met halfway by a green-hued Crystal moving with far greater force towards him. The powerful artifact was no larger than the others adorning his choker but struck him with enough force to completely alter his trajectory, nearly reversing it in total. The sound of the impact was sickening, a portion of his throat collapsing and several bones fracturing. Crash landing on the floor, now in possession of four Crystals, he made several failed attempts at drawing in oxygen before being roughly rolled over onto his back by Mizore.
"This is going to feel weird, and I need you to not fight me on this." Her tone was matter of fact, her nerves made of steel. Levering his jaw open, she created a hollow tube of ice that forced his throat apart enough for oxygen to flow freely into his lungs. "Don't fight it," she cautioned when he tried to take a breath on his own, "the ice is fragile, so I don't damage your trachea." Using an innertube pump that had been left behind by the previous occupants of the room, she slowly worked air through the tube. "Hey, do you remember that time you spoke to me using your mind? That was a good Wednesday. It seems like it was only a week ago."
He began to calm down as she took care of breathing for him. You are a real smartass.
"Smart isn't the only thing my ass is," she proclaimed with a saucy wink. Her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the newest Crystal. "What the hell was it doing here, of all places?"
It wasn't here. It came here. I think it was looking for us, just as much as we were looking for it. Relaxing his body completely, he let his hand lie on her thigh. Thanks. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be more gentle.
"I've had worse happen. We should probably get back to the Shrine, don't you think?"
I…was kind of enjoying being alone with you.
"And I was enjoying the way you enjoyed my legs. I'll be able to enjoy you enjoying them longer, if we get you proper medical care."
I can't die. It'd just be really uncomfortable for a while until my body healed enough to let me breathe again.
"Funny thing about theories, they're always more intriguing when they're untested." She glared daggers at him. "Let's not test the theory that you can't die, and instead get you to the people who know how to keep people from dying."
+++++ Hikawa Shrine. (Wednesday + 25)
Shinji's arrival did not go unnoticed, nor did the fact that a nearly nude Mizore was using a makeshift ventilator to keep oxygen flowing to his body. Clare was the first person on the scene, dropping down to one knee and assessing the situation. "Probably should have kept the advanced stuff for later in the relationship, ma'am. Virgins break easy."
"Keep a steady rhythm." Mizore handed over responsibility for pumping oxygen to Clare, freeing up both hands to create a wave of snow to move all three of them towards the medical wards. "He promised he was ready for the Bionic Camel, and being the delicate flower I am, I trusted him."
Shinji's eyes rolled upwards. I'm surrounded by smartasses.
"O-oh…wow." Clare's face registered a string of varied emotions. "Never had a guy do that before."
"My Master is a man of many talents." Naoko had just beaten them to the clinic, and was in the middle of preparing the bed. "Speaking in your mind is one of the lesser, if I'm honest." With everything in place, she handed Mizore a thin plastic sheet. "Slide this under him, let's get him on the stretcher."
Mizore's eyebrow lifted as she considered the sheet, then she shrugged and tossed it aside. Picking Shinji up carefully, she set him down on the bed. "He has no spinal injuries. According to him the Crystal 'found us'. It also found his throat at high velocity."
I'm fine. Shinji reached up with one hand to touch his throat, only to have Clare grab the appendage and hold onto it with a warm, friendly smile that spoke of increased volume if he tried to touch his injuries again. I…just need a little rest.
"You 'just need' a medical examination." Naoko was of a mind with Clare. "Miss Redfield, if you would be so kind as to keep his hand occupied. Mizore, I believe you can hold the other one for me?"
I'm not-
"Going to get any rest at all, unless you listen to Doctor Akagi," Mizore chided in a grimly bright tone.
I don't think-
"Shinji," Clare's tone was both conciliatory and ominous, "one of the first lessons I learned, with regards to what you and I were talking about several days ago, was that when someone truly cares for someone else…the last thing they want is for that person to 'act tough' when something's actually wrong. Let people care about you, because then they know that you care about them. We can sort out why you feel it wasn't necessary after we're certain that it wasn't necessary."
Letting his body relax, he simultaneously let both Clare and Mizore hold his hands while Naoko performed a preliminary inspection. What happened while I was gone?
"Nothing monumental. We broke ground on the pool you wanted, started tearing apart the buildings within the new boundaries for raw materials."
Naoko amended the original statement, "We did have the incident with Sarah-chan."
"Bah," Clare scoffed, "I've taken worse falls from sitting on my bike in the rain."
Shinji's body tensed. What happened to Sarah?
"She was helping measure something," the woman in question walked into the building, a nasty bruise on her cheek, "and the building she was standing on asked her to no longer stand on it." With a happy grin on her face, she moved to stand next to Mizore, opposite Naoko and Clare. Bending down, she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "I'm fine. Promise."
He was more than a little surprised at how wonderful the display of affection felt. Are you sure?
"Yes. What happened to you?"
"Blunt force trauma, soft tissue damage, broken hyoid, fractures to the clavicle, minor tearing along the sternohyoid and sternocleidomastoid muscles…." Naoko stood back upright from her examination. "I recommend we find a saline drip that has some extra calories in it. He shouldn't swallow anything for a while, not until we can figure out whether or not this is all healed."
Sarah frowned. "No NG tube?"
"I don't believe he would tolerate it well." The doctor brushed her fingers through his hair. "We have to take the patient's temperament into account when discussing treatment plans, otherwise we're missing a vital portion of the equation."
I need to get back out there. Shinji hated to disagree at that moment, because all four women were calm, but time was wasting. Once Yukiko tells me where the last Crystal is, I've got to get there before Carla, or those monsters do. We almost lost this Crystal to them. I'm only here to rest a few hours.
"I…uhm, I could help?" An unfamiliar voice spoke from just inside the doorway to the treatment room. The Kodama, clearly cautious about approaching both an injured Elder and at least two of the women that were closer to him than any other, was not however timid. "We have some luck with healing those tied to the Green. Since the Elder has chosen to make his home inside an interconnected copse, grafted to the Earthmother's gorgeous tree, I believe I could get him back on his feet faster."
Mizore vouched for the youkai, "She's telling the truth. It's common for the more flora-based youkai to seek out Kodama for treatment. I doubt it could hurt to try."
I don't care if it does hurt, Shinji stated plainly. Freeing his hand from Clare, he motioned the willowy youkai over. Do what you can, Kodama-san. Even if it doesn't work, I still thank you for the effort.
Her approach was sprightly, a seemingly infinite amount of energy contained in a fragile-seeming body. Ducking a quick bow to Mizore, respecting both the social proximity she had with Shinji and the fact that she was wearing something that smelled strongly of him, the Kodama interposed herself between them and touched one hand to his forehead and the other to his stomach. "This might feel…cold."
'Cold', as a descriptor, was both inadequate to the task of describing what he felt from her efforts but also the polar opposite to what was produced. His skin seared, his nerves screamed, and his muscles locked up tight. It would have been painful, had his body not become so overwhelmed with sensory input. After an unidentifiable amount of time passed, a hypnic jerk ripped him back into full awareness, disorienting him as he came to in a completely different room than the one he had just been within. It was too dark to see anything in great detail, but he was familiar enough with the room he'd made to know that was where he had been taken to.
"Don't worry," Rei Hino's voice came from beside him, disrupting the burgeoning sense of panic, "according to Daphne and Maria, it was an unavoidable consequence of your rapid growth in power."
"…What was an unavoidable consequence?" He tried to sit up, and was quickly pressed back down by Rei. "Rei, please, I-"
"Did you ever stop and think about what your single-minded devotion to protecting everyone does to the rest of us?" Leaning with her hand pressed hard against his sternum, her hair dangled down and brushed along his skin. "How we feel every time something happens to you? How none of us can stop life from ripping things from you?" Her tears dripped down, spattering across his chest, unseen but clearly felt. "You sit there and you hem and you haw about how you're terrified that you're going to make a 'wrong choice', how you refuse to let anyone grow closer to you because someone else might get hurt, and every damn time something happens to you all of us hold our collective breath until you stagger back upright! If you want to fight alone, Shinji, then do it. Piss off and go walk the Earth like some childhood manga hero. But if you're going to stay here with us, you are going to stop acting like everything is on your shoulders alone." With a loud sniff, she stood upright and stormed off, opening the door and allowing the light from the kitchen-slash-dining room to flood into the bedroom.
Shinji could feel everyone staring at him. By the light of the dining room, he was able to finally look down and see what had happened. Heavy scarring laced around his chest, along his arms, and he presumed possibly up his throat. A fractal pattern, similar to curved ferns, burned into his flesh, radiating outwards from the point that the Kodama touched him. He touched one of the thicker stems with an exploratory finger, and felt someone else approach from outside. "Is she ok?"
"She was sobbing when she exited the main hall," Yukiko responded quietly. "She puts up a brave face, but she is just a teenager trying to be a warrior."
He looked askance at the woman he had begun to doubt truly existed. "I meant the Kodama."
"She's terrified. It took the combined efforts of Uranus, Mizore, and Maria to stop her from harming herself."
"There's no reason for her to do that." Swinging his legs off the bed, he pushed himself to his feet. "I'm fine."
"I would disagree."
"You don't get a vote." Moving to the foot of the bed, he knelt down and begun preparing a new travelling pack to replace the one destroyed in the fireball. "Do you want the barrier to remain up, or should I take it down and allow you to do what you think is best?"
"Now is not the time for-" She cut off when he looked up at her, his eyes once more devoid of what made him 'Shinji'.
"Stay. Leave. I don't care which. I'm going to go find the final Crystal. Alone."
"I would…prefer that you not."
"You still don't get a vote." Shoving the last of his clothes into the sack, he stood up and clad himself in Unit-01. "I'm going to, and I quote, 'Piss off and go walk the Earth like some childhood manga hero'." Looking down at the sack, he tossed it onto the bed, another burden he didn't need and wouldn't use. "Last chance. Do you want the barrier up, or down?"
"Up, please."
"As you wish." With a gesture, he opened a portal to the location he had gleaned from Yukiko's mind. Turning to step through, he was halted by several thick branches latching around Unit-01's waist. The urge to simply incinerate them was smothered when Daphne walked through the portal, a pack on her back.
She took several steps into the interior of a cavern that had no connection to the surface world, then turned and looked directly into the eyes of Death itself. "Are you coming, or are you going to leave the door open?"
The branches slid away, returning to the walls of The Tree. Freed once again, Shinji walked through the portal himself and slammed it shut behind him. Creating another portal just beneath Daphne's feet, intending to return her to The Tree, he frowned when instead she simply floated in place. A slight tilt of his head showed that she was standing on thick fungal growths.
Her voice was even, emotionally neutral, "Try that again, and watch what happens." A second portal opened above her, and she disappeared in a puff of leaves just as it began to descend, only to reappear attached to his back with one arm around his throat. "I warned you." Tearing his helmet off, she kicked off of his spine, sending him stumbling forward to smash his head into a nearby wall. While without Unit-01's optics he was mostly blind in the cave, she had the natural advantage of sight in any conditions. Turning the helmet about in her hands, she shook her head sadly. "I would be angry with you, if I didn't know that you have suffered through a terrible life. I understand why you are the way you are."
Recalling his helmet to his hands, he slammed it down atop his head and growled. Said growl died quickly when he realized that she'd put something inside of his helmet that gave off an almost violent floral scent. His balance failed, and he stumbled down to one knee, bracing himself on his hands.
"Something many people forget about us, since we've fallen into the realm of 'myth and legend', is that we control all sorts of plant life. Not just trees, or flowers, or grasses. We also control fungus, and lichen, and more importantly for the context of this particular conversation, plants that are no longer native to this planet." Walking slowly over to him, she took the pack she was wearing off, setting it down so that she could sit atop it just in front of where he'd become paralyzed. "I think, now, we will have the chance to talk about what can be done to…help you."