Part 4: Dawn
"Everyone, fall back! The bay is lost! We're overrun!" The Bay of Sorrows was strewn with the lifeless bodies of men and women from all creeds, fighting to invade or defend the soil of Yamato. At the centre of this inferno of conflict, brave commanders and devious strategists from the nations of Albion and Inisfail, currently invading their common enemy. The might of their assault was truly epic, like something from myth, an overwhelming force that swept upon the bay and left naught but death in its wake. "Everyone retreat to the main camp! We shall rally our forces there and ensure the safety of the princess and Lord Shirō! For Yam – AUUGHH!" The armoured woman's cries were smothered by the fire reducing their body to embers.
"Lady Bodhmall." Æthelred crested the hill behind the sorceress, her fingers still burning from the heat of launching yet another fireball at some unfortunate grunt. "Was your own strategy not to open a dialogue with the princess of this province? I hardly think that reducing this…" He looked at the charred corpse of this poor soul, the cloying scent of burnt flesh sticking to the back of his throat, and grimaced, "…peon to miserable ash is helping matters."
"I don't trust you Albion lot to do what needs done."
"Very well, I shall ignore that comment. Let us send a messenger forward to this Princess Nagi and her army and see if she agrees to relinquish this region willingly. If not…" He grinned, relishing in the idea of the carnage yet to come and the opportunity to cross blades with his legendary rival once more.
"Nagi-hime!" A solider of Yamato, bleeding from his mouth and bruised in every area visible to the princess threw himself at her feet. "We could not defend the bay. I… I apologise from the depths of my soul."
"Worry not, brave one." Princess Nagi stepped from her makeshift throne, situated in the largest tent of their ramshackle encampment, and bid the solider rise. "Lord Shirō shall return soon. I shall formulate new tactics based upon the information he gives to me. Rest now, for this battle is not yet over, but you shall see the end of it yet." Princess Nagi trod back and forth, waiting for her loyal general and humble servant to deliver the news. Surely it would be grave, but that mattered not. Yamato had faced greater threats before. It would prevail now, as it inevitably did under her leadership time and again. She heard the rustling of curtains at the front of the tent as Lord Shirō stepped forth and the two bowed at each other, the princess steeling herself for the news to come.
"My lady…" he cast his gaze down to the ornate carpet beneath them. "Yamato will crack under this pressure if things continue this way. I am the only general on this battlefield, and you its only strategist. The powers that be have left us to defend against Albion and Inisfail all by our lonesome! It is as if they wish for this nation to be torn asunder!" Shirō had a tendency to chew on the sleeve of his letterman jacket when he was nervous. Nagi noted part of the white of the sleeve looked chewed off, leaving only one of its two signature red lines intact to cover its perimeter.
"I understand your frustrations, my lord, however, it is with regret that I must say we cannot expect reinforcements. Our best option now would be to gather the troops we have remaining and attempt to divide and conquer by leading the Inisfaili into the forest…" she gestured a (fingerless) gloved hand to the centre of the map, on the war table in front of her, waving it over a swathe of woods just in front of the camp, "and the Albion into the plains." She gestured to the two areas flanking the forest. "The two armies share an uneasy alliance. Any chance to co-operate with only their fellow kin is one they will take. We shall send both samurai and assassins into the forest and position archers with light ground and magic support in the hills."
"With all due respect, my lady, a strategy like that would require three more generals: two for the forest, for it is dense and vast, and one for each of the regiments of the plains. We have only myself."
"Then, unfortunate as it is, we must trust our troops to follow my strategy in the areas you cannot oversee." The princess felt a wellspring of anxiety in her heart. Though she knew she had to perform, it was times like this where the pressure threatened to crush her entirely and, though she tried to hide it for morale, it was inevitable that gloom would seep into her words and a dark shadow be cast over her face as she stared into the floor. Shirō had seemingly clocked this anxiety and unravelled the set of rosary beads keeping his auburn hair in a neat ponytail and began to pray for salvation, for a transformation of their fortunes.
"Heh. What a sorry sight I've walked in on. That's what you get when the fairest princess in the land chooses a two-bit general over first class, though." That voice! Nagi cast her eyes upwards and felt her heart stop for a moment. That imposing form… those piercing yellow eyes… that body, tanned and muscular from days roaming the sunkissed lands of the world in search of opponents worthy of his blade… that dark green jacket that covered an even darker and ever-noble heart… his beautiful chestnut hair that seemed to blow in the breeze with every step he took and that picture-perfect smile that seemed etched onto his face, completing a form of divine radiance unmatched by any man before or since…
"Herghebitherwenermnn… Lord Tomonamiiiiii…!" Princess Nagi nearly felt her knees give out from under her. Like a fallen angel sent from whatever heaven metaphor failed her racing mind at that moment, he had appeared before them in all his glory to turn the tide of battle.
"Ah. You." Shirō sneered.
"Me." Tomonami pushed him aside, which would've earned him a swift kick to the jaw had Princess Nagi not been present.
"From what I heard…" Tomonami put his hands on his hips and stared down at the princess, causing her face to travel the entire known colour spectrum of red.
"You were listening to my strategies, Radiant One?"
"Yeah, anyway, I heard you were in the market for three more generals. Well, even though I could easily hold down all four fronts on my own…"
"Braggart." Shirō glared.
"Go suck on your sleeve and stay out of this, Letterman. I brought two mercenaries along with me. Sure they're not even half my strength, but when I'm that good you don't need to be to win a battle as trivial as this." Indeed, two figures had appeared in the tent behind Lord Tomonami. They had likely walked in with him, but Nagi was too transfixed by his Radiance to care. She sized up the first of the two mercenaries. He wore a long, flowing black jacket over a white hoodie. His hair was a lighter blonde than that of Æthelred's, but it was equally as messy in a more, wispy, soft, and flowing way. However, what really caught Nagi's attention was the remnants of a black mask on his face. The two ends of the mask remained, hanging around his ears, but the majority of it was burnt off, leaving singed brown fabric at the ends of the two parts of the mask that remained. Nagi wondered why he kept it on; after all, it offered little to no use to him now.
"Lord Kanade, assassin." The mercenary introduced himself as. "Nice to meet you." He smiled and extended a hand, which the princess took in turn. "I'd be glad to lead that… woodland assault, was it? It's good to be among company during the heat of battle."
"Indeed, your fellow assassins would be well led by a fellow class-member. Very well, you shall be in charge of that portion of the assault. Seeming as we don't have much choice anyway. And, erm, your friend…?" The other mercenary had his back turned to them, doing… something. The only thing the princess could identify from a glance was the distinct red scarf he had wrapped around his neck, as well as the neat grey blazer he wore, shredded in places from what seemed to be many battles. Visible underneath the cuts was a skintight black shirt, which he probably kept numerous of to replace after each conflict he found himself in. Despite the princess never being a fan of anything so tight-fitting, she had to admit that the cotton material it was made from, striped vertically like the base of his friends' hoodie, looked comfy. But still! The impudence of him, facing away from the princess like that. She had half a mind to pull the side of this mercenary's head that wasn't shaved towards her to teach him his place. Then, as if from nowhere, he straightened up.
"Time to introduce myself already?" He spun around on his heel and pointed with two thumbs towards himself, winking as he did so. "'Sup? Name's Lord Fret! Guess I'll be fighting under you with my buddy over there!" His words were slightly muffled as that ridiculous scarf of his covered his mouth but even through it, princess Nagi could tell she did not like this boy and his honeyed way of speaking. Something about that pep and that shimmer in his eyes and that intoxicating aura of light that emanated from him… unlike the dark-yet-gallant and refined Lord Tomonami, this light-dweller was like an animated doll, moving and talking like he was made of plastic. And what kind of a name was 'Lord Fret'?
"Command the plains." She said bluntly. "Lord Tomonami!"
"Aw, come on! You're just gonna brush me off like that? Not even gonna ask my class? We didn't even get to the 'what kind of a name is Lord Fret' bit yet!"
"Oh boy, here we go…" His blonde friend murmured from across the room.
"Believe we, we most certainly did get to that bit. In my head. I am not want to share my regal thoughts with you, is all."
"Rindude, the princess is being mean to me, man!"
"What do you want me to do about it?!" The two struck up conversation, or more aptly an argument, at the front of the tent while the princess moved to converse with Lord Tomonami.
"So, Your Radiance may have the pick of my best men to command his front with. Simply go out front and I shall have Lord Shirō," as if objecting to the idea of having anything to with Tomonami, he threw his hands up in the air in protest, to which the princess responded with a steely glare, causing him to return to sulking, "command those troops be loyal to you for the duration of this battle."
"Works for me. So long I get to crunch some enemies down to size my own way. Heh. This is why you're the best commander there is; there're never any rules for me when you're involved and when there are, they're always in my favour." Her heart pounded in her ears at this comment, as it did whenever a compliment from Lord Tomonami was involved.
"Lord Shirō, when you are done aiding Lord Tomonami you may also delineate men to our mercenaries over there before mustering a force of your own."
"Very well, my lady."
"And you two!" The mercenaries stopped their bickering and turned to look at her. "Are your orders clear?"
"Absolutely."
"Crystal, boss!"
"Boss? I don't recall ever giving you the go-ahead to call–" Nagi pointed a finger at the light-dweller, intending to make her stance on the issue clear before Tomonami put a finger to her lips, causing them, and her body, to quiver slightly.
"Ignore 'em, princess. This battle is as good as won." Tomonami got on one knee.
"Y-Y-Your Ra-Radiance I–" Nagi's hand had gone clammy as his Radiance held it in his grasp. He smirked and slowly leaned inwards, leaving a kiss upon the back of the glove covering it. She felt her breath leave her lungs as every part of her turned weak and her mouth began to taste acidic.
"Retmememnerwannemmmm…" was the only noise she could muster up as tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"Heh. See you after the battle." Tomonami left the tent, dimming the light in the room, his radiance now gone from it.
"Ooh, chivalry isn't dead. Do I get to do that too?" Lord Fret piped up.
"Absolutely not." Nagi turned off the waterworks immediately, staring stony-faced at the mercenary in front of her.
"Wow, you sure changed your tune fast. And, hey, this might be my last battle! Don't I at least have the right to go out looking like a gentleman?"
"I see the cuts on your blazer. You've survived battles like this before. You'll survive this one now."
For some reason, that last comment made that shimmer she had noted earlier disappear from his eyes completely. They hadn't darkened, per se, but it was like they had morphed into a hue that was much more natural and much, much sadder. She pondered why that may have been.
"Survived battles like this before, huh? Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I probably came off as a complete jackass then, huh?" The scarf had fallen down off his mouth and he now spoke completely clearly. His tone was sombre and the princess knew that, somehow, she had struck a nerve. Even if it was this light-dweller, causing upset this way greatly displeased Nagi – complete cordiality was her very own 'special skill' and this had run counter to that ideal.
"No, it is quite alright. If you want to, you may show your fealty to me, though let us both hope it is not the last time you find it necessary to do so." The light slightly returned to his eyes, though Lord Fret retained that sorrowful hue behind them.
"Well, if you're offering." He approached the princess and got on one knee, then clutched her hand. His fingers were colder than Tomonami's, but the way he grasped it was more gentle and almost nurturing, like the touch of a healer rather than a mercenary. "Hm, you know, what's with these gloves?" He moved his free hand to remove her glove, but it was quickly intercepted and slapped away.
"You may not–!" Even the princess was surprised at how quick and sudden her reaction was to this; it was like an instinct taken to protect him from looking under there, though she did quite not know why. Or perhaps she did and was just reticent to admit it.
"Whoa, hey, your tent, your rules. I ain't gonna object." Though startled, slowly he regained his composure and began to move once more towards her hand. His eyes closed and his lips rested against her hand, seemingly just content to stay there for a second. Like his fingers, they were cold but soft, and gentle. If Lord Tomonami's lips were silk, his were wool. She waited for him to plant his kiss.
"You know, boss, I–"
"WUAGH-!" Nagi snapped out of her glassy-eyed transfixion on the Scramble, as Fret moved to sit down beside her.
"Why'd you jump like that?! Made me nearly spill our drinks…" Fret laid down his order in front of her. "Anyway, I was gonna ask – got you your iced coffee and scones by the way – why do these characters from EleStra dress like you and me but they fight using bows and arrows and stuff? Wouldn't Lord Tomonami be a real king of the battlefield if he just carried a piece on him?"
"I see someone hasn't played the Aion side storyline."
"Uh, was that my homework this time?"
"No, it was to play through–"
"Chapter 4 episodes 5 – 20, 5 side stories and increase my relationship level with Tomonami and Pecherin, I know." Nagi was quite surprised Fret had remembered all that, considering she had told him it a week ago through mouthfuls of a Justice Burger before rushing back to campus to make a seminar. "What? You seem surprised. The Fretster has a sharp as ice memory, y'know?"
"I believe the simile you're looking for is 'cool as ice' and, even then, I fail to see how that applies to your memory. Unless you mean to imply it's iced over."
"Pfft, nah, I'm too hot to have a frozen brain," Fret laughed. "Kidding. Anyway, uh, I've been saving up my gems the last two weeks. Is there anything worth rolling for right now or…?"
"This week's banner offers subpar units at frightfully low drop rates," Nagi noticed Fret take a bite out of his sandwich while listening to the start of her spiel. Clearly he was expecting a long rant, which wasn't too off the mark. "We don't know the banner rotations yet, though we can hazard a guess since this is mid-August. It is likely they wish to rerelease the swimsuit banner for another week or two and have it run subsequently alongside another banner of value… likely a Vamana or Breoghan summon, they've been out of the rotation for quite some time and are highly sought after for their offensive capabilities… yet equally the dawn of a new meta seems to be upon us and they may seek to ensure a banner that can balance both fanservice and a worthwhile roll so perhaps Endless Carnival Tomonami is in the cards… heh heh… to think I could acquire my fifth duplicate swimsuit Tomonami alongside his elegant ballroom clothing for the third time… wait for me, Your Radiance!" Nagi felt her cheeks flush and her heart pound at the prospect of an incredibly rare dual Tomonami banner. Events like this came around once in an EleStraniac's lifetime, bar the fact it had already happened multiple times.
"So you kinda lost me at the end there but what I think you're saying is at least one of the banners next week will be worth it?"
"If you wish to simplify it that much…" she took a bite from her scone, "then yes, that is indeed what I just told you."
"Oh, boss, before I forget, when can I join your alliance?" Fret piped up after a few minutes of play.
"As soon as you have cleared Chapter 4. 4 – 24 forges would-be strategists into tactical masters and weeds out those unfit to progress through Tomonami's tale further. And I suppose it may also be when the alliance system becomes unlockable to new players, though I find it unreasonable to gate it behind ninety-six chapters of progress first."
"Yeah, kinda defeats the whole 'communicative brilliance' of the game, huh?"
"In a way, though have you not noticed yourself interacting with strangers in the global chat, asking for their advice, praising their team compositions, and sending them support units? These minor things can go quite some distance in allowing one to reveal their true self to ones they do not know." Fret knitted his eyebrows at this and sipped his drink. Nagi knew that it was important for one to understand even the most basic tenets of online communication can, to one such as him, be important steps in being genuine to others. "It seems minor, I understand. But…" Nagi took another bite of her scone, finishing the first. It was beginning to dawn on her, based on the fact she was beginning to feel acute discomfort in her stomach, that not having an evening meal due to yesterday's experience was causing her to feel famished. "so long as you're being yourself, even to those strangers, then it means progress is being made."
"Yeah, it's just… I dunno." Fret pouted. "Kinda feels like I'm still set in my ways. It's easy to talk to people, don't get me wrong. But is everything I say just some sort of front? It's been playing on my mind for a while now and I just… I'm so confused. Neku said that every part of me made up what I was and there was no use hiding those parts of me that could hurt others. But then I thought, if I'm only realising that now, what about me a few years back?" His eyes went dark. "Heh, last night I… began to wonder if those years I spent with Rindo… if they were all just some… just some lie and we were never really friends."
"Lord Tosai that is… rather unhealthy."
"But think about it, y'know? I know how to be myself and what I'm really like – I mean, everyone does. But do I really? The more I think about it the more I second guess myself. What part of me is just that persona I started putting on for the sake of making sure I never got hurt again? Did Rindo only tolerate me cause he needed a friend who didn't disagree with him or challenge what he said? Did I only keep him around because I wanted a friend who never would confront me on my façade? Oh God… was I… was I using him?" By now tears had begun to well up in Fret's eyes. She could only imagine the emotional turmoil he was going through – he hadn't had to ask introspective questions about himself for as long as he had stopped caring, after all.
"Fret…" Nagi leaned over the table and daubed his eyes with a napkin. "It's fine that you're asking these questions, you know?"
"Fine?! How is any of this fine?!" He spat through clenched teeth and tiny sobs.
"Because it shows you're trying to make an effort to understand yourself." She took the napkin away. "And for what it's worth the friendship between you and Rindo was genuine. Even if you did it without realising, you did bring to Rindo's attention many of his shortcomings. It wasn't just that you two were compatible because you kept him at arm's length. He enjoyed your company because you were Fret and likewise you enjoyed his company because he was Rindo. You were… probably more genuine to him than to anyone else because you felt you could let your guard down around him." Fret just started at the wood below his eyeline for a moment, thinking.
"Yeah… you're right. Seems everyone other than me has been right about myself over the past few days."
"It is unnecessary to put yourself down that way."
"Hah… probably. But… yeah, I always did feel more relaxed around Rindo. And more terrified. So much more to lose. I… never want to lose him. Or anyone I've met over the past few weeks. Not like… not I like I did with him, okay?" Nagi smiled. Despite Fret's low tone and clearly sour mood, he was smiling. Making something good out of negative memories. It was… comforting to her? Was that the right word to describe it? It certainly felt that way.
"Oh and, boss?"
"Yes?"
"Those feelings I have… they're just as strong for you too." She felt herself go slightly red at that last remark. She knew what he meant, that he didn't want to lose her and was worried she thought that because she had treated him in a less than friendly way for about a fortnight he cared less about her than her other comrades. But that phrasing was a very easily misconstrued way of saying that.
"So, uh… I just wanna know why." Fret's tone dropped further. This was a topic he was afraid of broaching.
"'Why' what, Lord Tosai?"
"Why you're just not being honest with anyone."
"What do you–"
"Wait, let me explain. I'm seeing the state you're in now. You look exhausted. And your stomach has been growling for however long we've been here now. You look like you're at the end of your rope and it's just…" Fret chuckled nervously, his eyes flitting all over the place so that they didn't have to meet hers. "You're not doing this to yourself on purpose are you?" Nagi felt a cold sweat begin to form down her neck. She could almost hear that voice goading her not to tell him and she obeyed the phantasm, fearing its return during the daytime.
"W-well, the situation right now is just extremely stressful. I've missed many weeks of lectures and seminars and a lot of reading that I've had to make up for lost time on and all that has left me withered and weary a-and you know how it is, after the Game, things are chaotic, a-and confusing and everything is just–"
"Bullshit." Nagi winced and nearly bit her tongue. She may have been an excellent communicator but she was never a good liar and especially not to friends.
"H-Huh?"
"I said what you're telling me is bullshit, Nagi. There's something more behind this, I just know!" Wait, was he angry? Nagi felt a dark cloud cast over her emotions. She had come here for EleStra, not to make a friend feel bad with her poor excuses.
"I mean, seriously. I have eyes! Underneath your eyes, it's all dark and your hair is a mess and you have all these nervous twitches what're, like, really obvious, and just look at how pale your skin is–"
"Please don't say things like that!" She had closed her eyes and put her hands over her head without even realising it. It was something instinctive, a protective measure against… words? No, that couldn't be right. But… then why were her arms retreating from her ears? Why was she slowly opening one eye to an expression of horror and concern painted all over Fret's face? Why was so she so scared of what he just said, of what was quite clearly the truth?
"…boss?" Fret just stared at her, quite obviously confused as what to do next, not knowing the protocol for situations like this. Nagi slowly straightened up and cleared her throat. "I… um… sorry. I hit a nerve just then, obviously."
"It's… okay. If it's alright with you, may we just–"
"Drop the subject for now? Yeah… I think that would be good." There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment as the whole establishment continued on as normal. After a minute or so, Fret pushed half of his sandwich towards her. "Hey, I'm still concerned about you so… eat up. Gotta solve at least one of those problems and they sell the nicest BLTs you'll ever eat here." He smiled. A simple smile, made with tired and skittish eyes. But… it was Fret's. Not some persona and not some façade's. She grinned sheepishly and silently accepted his offer.
"Phew! My, that was quite delectable." Nagi yawned, looking back at Fret who looked far more confident now than a few moments ago. "Thank you, Lord Tosai. I shall reimburse you for that when we have finished dining here."
"Nah, no need. Prices here are dirt-cheap anyway."
"No, I insist. My way of saying thank you for being forced to deal with… whatever that outburst was that made itself known just now." Nagi brushed her fingers with a napkin before producing turning her phone on. "Shall we return to EleStra?" She slid the empty plate back across the table.
"Absolutely! I actually wanna show you this cool PvP strategy I've been… Wait a minute." Fret narrowed his eyes. His tone had dropped again, like before. Before Nagi could even ask what was wrong, his arm had shot across the table and he was now grasping her right hand, just above the wrist. "Boss… the hell happened to your hand?"
"O-oh. That. Glass smashed."
"Huh?"
"Glass smashed over it. …In my hand." Looking at her hand. Nagi could understand his concern. There were tiny, and some rather large, lacerations dotted over everything not covered by her glove, which may as well have just been her fingertips but they'd been messed up so badly it didn't take a detective to spot the cuts.
"Hang on a moment." Fret carefully removed the glove from her hand, looking up at her multiple times to see if she would protest it. Despite the fact her heart was in her throat and her hands were shaking more than usual she allowed it. Nagi could not help but cast her mind back to her earlier daydream. She had stopped him then. But now? Nothing had changed as far as she could tell, yet she did not ask him to cease and so, when her hand was fully exposed, she could see Fret register surprise at how pale it was. She expected that, but it still stung. She was normally quite pale, of course, but this was something different, or rather, something natural. This corpse-like complexion was her natural skin tone, something altogether sickly and inhuman. She looked away from her hand, her cheeks burning, not with embarrassment, but with shame.
"You need to take care of this." Fret loosened his grip slightly. "Put some plasters on it or something, cause some of those cuts under your glove are gonna reopen otherwise." Nagi turned back to him.
"And when did you become an expert on lacerations, may I enquire?" She was not in the habit of making such petty, passive-aggressive comments like that to him anymore but a mixture of shame and frustration of allowing herself to be seen this way just made it come out. And it seemed to hurt him.
"I just… know this stuff, okay? Don't ask. I… I won't answer. Sorry." Fret said this last bit bluntly, almost like a robot. Had he practised saying something like this before?
"Lord Tosai… now is a prime opportunity to open up about things that are weighing on you, such as this."
"I said I don't wanna talk about it!" Fret tightened his grip once more and yanked, pulling Nagi forward slightly and causing her arm to go crooked, her body slightly contorting itself over the table to keep up.
"Ow… I'm only making this request because… I let you see my hand… see something I keep hidden, so…"
"Did you listen to a word I just said?! You don't tell me the truth about what caused your cuts and I won't with–!" This time Fret slammed her hand down on the table, causing her to grimace. The tables next to them went silent for a moment before continuing their meals. Fret was right, those wounds would reopen. In fact, two of them just did due to his actions, causing blood to slowly meander its way down her arm while they just stared at each other, not quite computing what just happened. Nagi was unsure of how her own face must've looked but Fret was cycling through about fifty emotions a second and none of them were positive.
"Did I walk in on something I wasn't supposed to see or is this just a regular occurrence now you're back in the RG?" Nagi turned her head to face the voice, as did Fret, though the shock of what he had just done delayed this somewhat. In front of them was a tall, orange-haired man dressed in his usual Reaper attire, down to the lollipop, though with one exception, that being a massively over-sized Hog Fang necklace swinging around his neck.
"Oh… Kariya was it?" Nagi questioned him.
"Yes, that it was. It's rude to talk to people with blood dripping off your elbow, you feel me?" Kariya quickly turned his less-than-bothered stare to Fret, who seemed to look right through him. "Hey, kid. Be a gentleman and fix your own mess. I'm not doing it for you." He said while handing him a napkin.
"Oh… r-right. Yeah, I-I'll just…" Fret spoke timidly and began running a trembling hand up Nagi's arm and to the wound he reopened.
"'Anyway, what are you doing here Koki?', you two aren't willing to ask, but I know you want to. 'Why approach us?'" Kariya sucked his lollipop before pointing it at them. He'd pulled up a chair… at some point, Nagi couldn't tell when, but it was there now and he wasn't even sitting on it, just putting his right leg on it. "Well, I suppose I'll let you in on the finer details." That ridiculous necklace flapped around as he bent down to address them. "Either of you know anything good to order here? Preferably something sweet and something bitter enough to kill a man."
"I'm rather surprised a person so keen to sing the praises of Shibuya hasn't visited this establishment beforehand."
"Oh, I have. Just once. There're better cafés all over the place, you dig?"
"Then… pardon my asking, but why are you here?"
"Well, they do say variety is the spice of life. Thought I'd give it a shot again." Kariya grinned, making no effort to obfuscate the fact he was absolutely hiding something on purpose.
"Very well… I doubt I'll ever get you to tell me the truth about this, so I would deign to say the Ice Cream Float is plenty sweet and the dark coffee here is likely passable in terms of bitterness."
"Thank you very much." Kariya twirled his lollipop around in the air, probably calculating what that would cost him. For that matter, just how much were Reapers paid anyway?
"Oh, and…" he broadly gestured to the two of them. "This is nice." Nagi failed to see how someone dressing the wounds of another they had opened, when said wounds had been gained via trauma-induced stress was 'nice'.
"Elaborate."
"Well, come on. Don't you get it? You and him… hanging out like proper friends, it proves that what I love so much about this city holds true."
"Elaborate further."
"Dunno if I mentioned my little philosophy about this place but the way I see it, it's like stargazing. Here, people come, they meet, sometimes they clash, but always they change. This place is a galaxy of different ideals, ways of life, views on the world… and when people with differing opinions gather, there's conflict. And in the aftermath of that, something new can be born. Change. Be it an opinion or a moral, Shibuya can morph it… all we Reapers do is offer something more than that. A catalyst, through a challenge, that alters a person. The last nudge before a star goes supernova. And if in the aftermath of that something new is created, then that's when situations like yours arise. You're living proof of that philosophy. Shibuya's own neutron stars, shining on." No sooner had he finished his grandiose speech than was his lollipop back in his mouth.
"How poetic. Is that truly your view on the people here?"
"Mm-hm. I mean, just look at how you've changed. Thanks to Furesawa here, you got over that dumb binary system you had going on I heard you chatter about sometimes. Light and dark, was it…?"
"Hmph. How impertinent. That system of categorising others has a near one-hundred percent effectiveness rate when it comes to how people will gel together. Make no mistake, I may accommodate everyone but I truly feel in my element with those in the dark. I merely tolerate those who dwell in the light." Fret reactively pressed down slightly harder on her arm with the napkin with that last comment, clearly hurting from it.
"Suppose I deserved that…" He muttered, speaking for the first time in what for him may as well have been an eternity. Nagi heard it, though she knew she was not intended to.
"I dunno sister, seemed like you two have a whole therapy session vibe going on, even if he is a fan of painting you red. Wasn't exactly spying on you or anything but it seemed what was happening there was a whole lot more than 'tolerance'." Nagi opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Kariya quickly continuing, wishing to prevent a rebuttal. "But, who am I to say whether that part of you has or hasn't changed? Guess that even if it hasn't… well, even stars have the propensity to change." He took his leg off the chair and began to walk towards the counter. "Good luck. And cheers for the recommendations."
"Well the food is paid for, so shall we go?" Nagi stood up and dusted herself off, the cuts having closed again now. "I for one am not in the mood to continue to be lectured by a Reaper with too high an opinion of himself." Fret just nodded, seemingly defeated. Nagi wanted to speak up but couldn't bring herself to. However, as they approached the door…
"Boss?" Nagi was pleasantly surprised to hear Fret's voice close to its usual volume again.
"What is it, Lord Tosai?"
"I… I'll text you later. And I'm so, so sorry." He hurried ahead of her.
"Fret!" They emerged onto the crossing, where all was loud and the noise of the crowds burned her ears. "Tosai…!" She made a grab for his shoulder, but felt herself stop before she could grab it, that hesitation causing him to become lost to the crowds at the crosswalk. She doubted he had even heard that last cry for him. Nagi peered down and saw her hand was bare, meaning that in his hurry to leave Fret had taken her glove with him. She clutched it into a fist and held it close to her chest defensively with her other hand. She let herself sink into the booming cacophony of the Scramble, feeling a cold wind whip at her a while. There was no point going after him. He had long drowned the sea of people now.
"Time to go home." She murmured, tears flowing, like blood, down her face.