Chapter 16: Expedition (7)
"It'll be fine, Manaka. We did what we set out to do and I need to clean up my house anyway, the place is practically a pig sty at this point."
The pale-blonde gave the tired homunculus an unimpressed glare, both of them having changed out of their exploration-geared outfits and instead adorned far more normal attire, Nanashi leaning heavily on his cane as his magus friend safely stored away both Wynstar and the Yali's remains.
"I don't want you to leave."
The plain, simple statement caused the male to sigh in agitation, following in the girl's wake as they left her workshop and approached their home's living room, the space currently occupied by Ayaka and Haruki as they'd laid out a collection of refreshments for them to enjoy.
"Humor me. Why don't you want me to leave?"
"Because you are as weak as ever and would immediately wander into trouble the moment I remove my gaze from you, as has happened multiple times prior."
Narrowing his eyes at the back of his friend the boy held back on a sharp and instinctive response, instead replying, "That hasn't stopped you from letting me go more or less as I please before, you know."
"Oh, is that so? Well if true then consider this my polite request that you do not wander off and get yourself killed by a passing dog, please."
Nanashi knew her damn well enough to understand that she wasn't asking, eyes narrowing at her brusque and abrasive attitude as he cooly responded, "I'm allowed to live the rest of however long this life ends up being as I please, Manaka. Not as your little lap dog that'll meekly accept however long you let the leash get."
The girl froze, back rigid and features hidden from view as she slowly, dangerously turned to face him, cerulean eyes glowing with a sort of possessive madness.
"You think you can do whatever you please, Nanashi? You, the weak and pathetic little boy that has relied on me to do almost every single difficult task for you?"
Feeling that comment hit a little close to home the homunculus got right in her face, snarling back, "Yeah, I know I'm weak, I know I'm pathetic. Thank you so much for reminding me of that fact when it's not like I get a damn reminder everytime I have to compare myself to you, the perfect little doll that didn't even know how to live until the miserable cripple showed up!"
Manaka reeled as if struck, a brief flash of honest hurt crossing her face to Nanashi's childish glee, Haruki and Ayaka watching the tableau unfold like a high-speed train crash as the pale-blonde refound her courage, returning the feral snarl as she growled, "How brave you are, Nanashi. Quite the change in character, considering how much of a shivering, mewling child you were when facing down the Yali."
Teeth bared and dull red-eyes aflame with anger the teen fired back, "You're not the boss of me, Manaka. Some terrifying monster I have to be afraid of. Get over it and then get over yourself."
Both refused to back down, Manaka gnashing her teeth before practically shouting, "I'm merely worried about you, you idiotic buffoon!"
"Well you sure have a fucked up way of showing it, don't you?!"
A tender, hurt silence spread between the pair-
-and Manaka spun on her heel, eyes glistening as a slightly shaky voice shouted, "Fine! Then go and return to the hovel you call a home, go get killed by some random burglar and go continue to get bullied!"
She stormed off with all the fury of a typhoon, an odd tightness to her tone as she screamed out, "I hate you, Nanashi!" before the door to her room slammed shut.
An incredibly awkward, incredibly heavy silence settled over the remaining trio, the homunculus taking deep and heavy breaths in a bid to calm himself without much success, anger and indignation being quickly overridden by guilt and regret at what he'd said.
"That was poorly handled by the both of you."
Grimacing at Haruki's neutral words as Ayaka looked as if she was trying to sink into the sofa Nanashi grumbled, "Yeah, I know...but I was just...I was just so angry!"
The older man nodded in understanding, asking, "What occurred in your latest trip to the Reverse, if I may so ask? Was it the cause of all this?"
About to shake his head and reply that he didn't have a clue Nanashi suddenly thought back to Wynstar's last comments, of telling them to cherish each other-
-and felt a pit open up in his stomach.
Of course Manaka would try to keep him close afterwards, after hearing and seeing the result of emotional attachment and what it could do to an individual...and it was absolutely on him to understand that his friend wouldn't have a clue on how to properly articulate that desire, so new to everything human that she was.
As if to confirm those thoughts Haruki quietly stated, "Manaka is still very much trying to parse through the sudden rush of sensations and emotions she now experiences on a daily basis, if my observations of her are correct. Please understand, Nanashi, that the day after her mother died she truly became little else but a doll going through the motions. Meeting you has allowed her to once again understand happiness and grief like the rest of us."
Feeling his wince grow even more pronounced at the affirmation of what he'd already figured his friend's father concluded with, "I don't ask that you forgive her hurtful words, only understand why she felt she had no other choice but to give voice to them, if it might keep you safe and unharmed."
"...Yeah, I get it. Dammit, I just got...fuck."
Nanashi startled as Haruki put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a careful squeeze of reassurance.
"Do as you originally intended, a night to cool off will no doubt do the both of you wonders in terms of making amends."
Feeling his lips quirk in a wry smile Nanashi asked, "Are you sure you're a magus? Manaka and Ayaka are always telling me how most of you guys are pretty amoral and uncaring about anything other than the craft itself."
Amusement tugged at the older man's lips as he stated, "Suffice to say there is a reason we live in Japan, a territory commonly seen as something of a backwater among the moonlit community...despite my daughter's clear descent from something other than eastern origins."
"Right."
Ayaka seemed to gather her courage, squarely meeting the homunculus's gaze as she added, "Don't worry, Nanashi. I'll speak to sister in a little bit and get her to understand what she said was wrong and hurtful...and that you didn't mean what you said either."
Offering the brown-haired girl a tired smile he nodded in acceptance, responding, "Thanks, Ayaka. I appreciate it."
There wasn't much to say after that, the Sajyou family seeing him off as Nanashi breathed in the cool evening air, relieved that it was looking to be a cold night rather than a warm one, slowly making his way home at a stumbling but steady pace...mind lost in thought at the Unicorn's last words.
"Love...is that what we feel?"
He puffed out an aggravated breath.
"Love hurts and just generally seems to be a pain in the ass."
"And of course I forgot about this shit…"
Grumbling to himself as he had to halt at yet another bus stop and catch his breath the homunculus grimaced as he realized that if he wasn't careful he very well may die trying to get home in the most stupid way possible...exposure to the elements.
He'd forgotten that reinforcement wasn't really an option in public spaces and had to make his way back on foot...a foot that had not long ago undergone kind of a beating at the hands of a Yali and wasn't exactly that strong to begin with.
His body ached, muscles burned and despite the cool air he was sweating profusely, the breezy chill leaving him shivering despite his overheated state.
"Jesus I better not die, Manaka might just find a way to preserve or bring back my soul if only so that she can scream its head off."
Snorting in amusement at that random thought he took a deep breath, preparing to rise to his feet and resume the trek-
"Nanashi? Oh, there you are!"
-and paused as he heard a very familiar voice suddenly speak up behind him.
"...Abigail?"
Sure enough, cheerfully skipping towards him with a radiant smile upon her face was the familiar ball of crushingly powerful conceptual weight, bright blue eyes sparkling as they met his dull red.
"Oh it's so good to see you again! Have you been well, how have your forays into the Reverse Side of the World been proceeding?"
Quickly getting over his surprise at the girl's sudden appearance the homunculus cast a worried gaze around the street, hurriedly asking, "Forget me, how are you? You haven't been attacked by that thing again, have you? Or ended up with mobs trying to chase you down?"
The blonde blinked at his abrupt panic...and gained a cute tinge of pink on her pale cheeks as she sat next to him, responding, "It's very kind of you to worry, Nanashi...but I am perfectly fine and in good health. Not to mention that I have been taking extra care to avoid any that might be...unsettled by my presence."
Sagging in relief that the nightmarish display that had been played out before his eyes hadn't caused lasting damage the homunculus remarked, "That's good to hear...should we even be staying out in the open like this, then? I was on my way home and we can hang out there for the night."
"Oh, well, I wouldn't wish to impose-"
"Forget it, it's not like I have anything better to do with my time. I'll swing by a convenience store and pick us up something to eat, my house doesn't have shit in the way of things to snack on."
She seemed positively delighted at the offer, eagerly nodding in agreement before clasping her hands in front of her, stating, "As always, god watches over us in mysterious ways."
Briefly weirded out by her adherence to a faith that seemed rather pointless - considering what she was bound to - the homunculus decided to let the matter sit, instead trying to rise to his feet...and almost collapsed in the process, scowling as his wobbly and thin legs refused to support his weight.
Abigail wordlessly and gently hooked his arm over her shoulders, effortlessly raising him upwards despite her equally fragile seeming frame as the male inwardly felt like crawling into the nearest hole and dying in it.
"Do not make such a pouty expression, Nanashi. It's my pleasure to lend aid and I promise not to tease you about it."
Blinking at the oddly specific reassurance the boy nonetheless appreciated the gesture, allowing his body to rest on Abigail's deceptively sturdy shoulders as they began the trek towards his residence, the youth's brow furrowing as he noticed something strange.
"She said she was hiding out and assumedly living under the radar, right? So why does she still smell so good?"
Resisting the urge to openly sniff his other blonde and pretty weird friend so that his dulled senses could get a better reading of her scent the homunculus resigned himself to accepting that, as a creature of mystery and otherworldly power like Manaka was, there were just somethings about her that defied conventional explanation.
"Beauty being one of those very things, but I doubt I'd get very far admitting that aloud."
Sighing to himself he ignored Abigail's questioning look, instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and thinking on what he should get from the convenience store for them. Hunger now, eldritch musings later.
"So were you just in the neighborhood or were you looking specifically for me?"
Eating the box of sushi he'd gotten for her with equal parts gusto and reverence the girl swallowed before sighing in contentment, affixing him with a smile as she chirped, "I was searching for you in particular, Nanashi. I never received the opportunity to thank you for aiding me during our previous meeting's little interruption."
The youth violently flinched, spindly fingers clenching as he remembered the sounds and sight of the happy girl before him ravaged and raped by some outside abomination, swiftly replying, "You don't need to thank me for putting an end to that, Abigail...anyone in my position would have done the same."
Her smile became a tad more sad and lonely, the lithe female asking, "Are you sure of that, Nanashi?"
Belatedly remembering her effect to drive others to madness - that he was for some reason immune to - the boy grimaced, mumbling, "Sorry...didn't mean it like that."
Melancholy forgotten in the span of a second Abigail happily popped another morsel into her mouth, responding, "Do not beat yourself up, Nanashi. Not many live the same way I do, it's an easy thing to forget."
"Except at least half of the people I interact with on a daily basis have...unique existences. You'd think I know better than to say dumb shit like that."
An angelic smile adorned her lips, the young lady reassuring him with, "Well there is always next time. Now, enough of self-recrimination, tell me of your travels to the Reverse Side of the World!"
Unable to help but shake his head at his friend's insatiable enthusiasm and cheer Nanashi explained, "It's actually going surprisingly well, considering the sheer amount of things that could be going wrong. In that regard Manaka has been a huge help, on my own I never would have even been able to make it to the Reverse. And this last bit we even met a Unicorn and...well…"
Obviously sensing his more dour mood the blue-eyed girl cautiously asked, "It did not end well?"
"For us? It ended great. The Unicorn gave us his blood to use as we would and the Yali's corpse will make for a good bit of phantasmal material, should we need it. It's just…"
A heavy sigh escaped the youth.
"The Unicorn - Wynstar - was attacking the Yali because it killed his mate and when we took the thing down he decided to die alongside her body rather than let us heal him."
One of his fingers tapped out a rapid beat on the dining table, meal of some random meat and salad forgotten.
"It was just strange to me, that someone would let themselves die rather than live, especially when I'm fighting tooth and nail to survive at almost any cost."
"You have never felt that way about someone before?"
Abigail's surprised words snapped Nanashi out of his reverie, the boy slowly replying, "Well before I met you and Manaka I...didn't really have anybody. I just lived on my own and went to school like normal. Of course, seeing as how I didn't know that most people don't see things like my mystic eyes do - and my odd and sickly appearance - I wasn't exactly the popular kid."
The blonde tilted her head, slowly asking, "You...did not have parents? Caretakers?"
"No, not that I can remember. It's just been me in here for...I dunno, a little more than a year?"
A deep, unsettled expression abruptly appeared on the youth's features.
"No, that's...I should be able to remember, right? I'm not a normal human, I was created so someone made me, right?"
Abigail quickly placed a hand on his own, soothingly stating, "I'm sure there's an explanation for that, Nanashi. Don't worry about it, alright?"
She offered a bright smile, "I would daresay you have plenty to worry about without this additional concern!"
Some of his tenseness and anxiety dissipated at the warmth of the girl's hand, at her reassuring words...but inwardly the blonde was quickly forming her own ideas on just what, exactly, her friend was undergoing and how it had come about.
After all, whatever he had done to Sut-Typhon had caused a small gap in her recollections of the event, a blank spot where no amount of concentration proved sufficient.
...Had whatever he'd done spread to his memories, erased any and all trace of who or what he used to be? Her past experience with the vast majority of Magi suggested they weren't the type to part with useless trash of no use to them merely on principle...to let a living, breathing homunculus with mystic eyes wander off and play at being human?
Impossible.
"Oh, Nanashi...what strange misfortune befell you, that you cannot even recall your origins?"
Forcing herself back to the here and now Abigail noticed Nanashi unleash a titanic yawn, eyes bagged and drawn as she quickly stated, "While I would love to chat away the evening with you, Nanashi, I think it best if you rest for now."
She was surprised at the violent shake of his head, the homunculus sharply responding, "No! Err, I mean, I'm fine, Abigail."
A wry smile tilted her lips.
"The yawning and bags under your eyes imply otherwise, Nanashi. What do you have against the idea of rest?"
Averting his eyes the ruby-eyed youth eventually grumbled, "Everytime I've fallen asleep or gotten knocked cold it's led to you being attacked by that fucking thing. I don't want you getting hurt on my account, Abigail."
The blue-eyed girl blinked at the male's words...and felt a colossal blush spread across her face, accompanied by an amused giggle as her body blossomed with warmth.
"That's very sweet of you, Nanashi, but you falling asleep or unconscious was not the trigger to those attacks. And after what you did to Sut-Typhon last time I don't think it's in any particular hurry to change my mind, I promise you that I shall remain unharmed throughout the night."
"...Oh. Well, okay then. In that case I think I'll take you up on that offer."
He sniffed himself, grimacing at the scent.
"Shower first. Hope there's warm water in it this time…"
Abigail tilted her head, curiously asking, "This time?"
"Yeah, first time we meet you took a shower before me and used up all of the hot water, I ended up catching a cold that day-"
Nanashi snapped his jaw shut before he could dig the proverbial hole any deeper, Abigail looking distraught as the next few minutes consisted of heartfelt apologies and repeated insistence that it was fine.
"Geez, that girl...there's such a thing as too much courtesy, you know."
Shaking his head and feeling mildly more refreshed after cleaning himself off the boy stiffly shuffled into his bedroom, retrieving his nightclothes as he made to head downstairs to the couch-
"Umm...Nanashi? Aren't you going to come to bed?"
-and felt his mind screech to a halt as he noticed Abigail resting on his small but functional bed, shyly gazing in his direction as his jaw dropped.
"...What?"
Blushing in a way that made her seem abnormally cute the blonde ducked beneath the covers slightly, stating, "Aren't you going to rest on your bed? There's room for both of us on it and you said resting on the couch was cold, so…"
Blinking as if he expected the sight before him to vanish like a bad illusion the homunculus was kept waiting, eventually swallowing as he replied, "Y-yeah, sure...okay."
Nervously approaching the equally apprehensive blond the boy slipped beneath the invitingly warm covers, both of them staring at the ceiling and resting ramrod straight.
"...You sure I'm not making you uncomfortable, Abigail?"
For some reason his question seemed to amuse and slightly relax her, the sky-eyed female smiling as she responded, "Not in the slightest, Nanashi."
And like that in under a minute her breathing was deep and even, the male idly wondering if he was going to be able to get any sleep with such a cute and strange girl in such close proximity to him-
-and he felt his body go on red alert as with a cute mumble Abigail rolled onto her side, gently resting against his arm as her soft and fragile hands lightly traced the contours of his skin, warm breath tickling his face.
"Ah hell. Definitely no sleep tonight."
He surprised himself by actually managing to fall asleep perfectly fine a scant minute later, his companion's presence a balm for his stressed mind.