Of the many lessons that frequent excursions into the TV World had taught Rise, one rung true even now. There was no better way to start the morning after than with a healthy dose of home cooking.
The only issue was that said lesson was learned in Inaba. With her Grandmother's cooking, not hers. But darn it all, there was a time and a place for everything, and Rise's mind was made up. Time to get good at cooking!
"Okay, this one looks good!" Rise thought to herself as she expanded the recipe on her phone. "Basically scrambled eggs but made with tofu… No problem! I can do that!" And so she set about her work in her miniscule kitchen, assembling both her array of ingredients and myriad tools with which to manipulate them.
Fifteen minutes later and nothing was on fire yet, hooray! However, there was one teensie, tiny little snag. "Cumin and chilli powder… Cumin and chilli powder…" Rise chanted to herself as she scanned through all the labels in front of her. After triple checking, she tilted her head and sighed. "Darn, no cumin. Guess I'll just have to improvise!" She bubbled back up, reaching for her worryingly long rack of spices.
Wait a minute, there was another problem. "How can a hotel room not have a single teaspoon?!" Rise grumbled to herself, stepping out and going so far as to look through all the drawers surrounding her bed, stepping lightly and biting her lip so as not to rouse Astaire from his slumber against the wall. "You know what? I don't even need a stupid teaspoon! I can eyeball it, sure I can!" She said with an affirmative nod, going back to her culinary concoction.
Wait yet another minute, there was yet another problem. Upon closer inspection, the recipe called for mild chilli powder. Everything on Rise's countertop was hotter than the blazes of hell and damnation. A fact she only realised as she screwed the top off the first bottle. "Seriously? What kind of recipe uses mild chilli powder? Where's the excitement? The pizzaz? The passion?!" Rise crooned overdramatically, forgetting that her passion was the reason she'd almost lost her tongue a few days prior.
Like a bomb disposal expert holding pliers between a set of wires, Rise hung over the skillet with both bottles in hand. She licked her lips as a single drop of sweat ran down her head. She would need precision. Skill. Determination. With no tools to dispatch, everything was on her. Slowly, the mouth of each bottle descended. Steady. Steady, Steaaaaady…
Rise jumped as a guttural, horrific, lung-emptying scream erupted from the bedroom without warning.
Astaire.
Without a moment to spare, she threw open the door and bounded in. "Astaire-kun, what's wrong?! Did something…" She stopped midway as she realised Astaire was curled up into a ball, facing the floor. His breaths shook in time with his body as he shivered uncontrollably, hands clutching the sides of his head. "...happen?" Rise finished. Not that the answer wasn't already obvious.
She knelt down next to him, weighing up what might have happened. A bad dream, perhaps? It was possible, but what would've been bad enough to make him…?
Wait. He'd mentioned before that his Shadow spoke to him in his dreams. The day before, his Shadow had taken over his body. Surely the two had to be connected. Whatever the case, it didn't change the fact that Astaire was curled into a quivering ball on her floor, nor did it change that she needed to do something.
Her mind went back to when she was younger. When she'd stayed over and had nightmares at her Grandmother's house. Yeah, that would work.
Slowly but surely, Rise reached out and gently stroked the back of Astaire's head. At her touch, she could have sworn that his breathing eased a bit, and that his shaking had become less violent. "Ssssh. It's alright, don't worry. It was just a bad dream." She hushed with a gentle smile, just as her Grandmother had done.
Seconds passed before Astaire moved properly. His hands loosened around his head, allowing him to slowly look up to meet Rise eye-to-eye. The two stared at each other for a beat, and Rise opened her mouth to provide some manner of comforting follow up. All that stopped her was Astaire lunging forward and throwing his arms around her, hugging her as tightly as he dared.
"Oh wow." His grip was ironclad, his heartbeat prominent and rapid. Judging from how his back felt when she carefully wrapped her arms around it, he'd been sweating buckets, too. Not to mention he'd straight up hugged her of his own volition. "That bad, huh?" She asked gently, giving him a squeeze. His head buried in her shoulder, Astaire nodded.
It was coming. Rise just knew it. It was only a matter of time. She counted off the seconds in her head as Astaire's grip loosened and his heartbeat returned to normal. Roughly a minute had passed, and then- "BWAH!" Astaire flew from her grip like a cat from water, scrambling backwards on all fours and looking positively mortified. "F-Forgive me! I didn't mean to act so-!"
"It's alright, really!" Rise assured him, both hands outstretched. "I mean, I know I'd want someone to hold if I had a really bad dream too, don't worry about it!"
"I… I thought…" Astaire pressed his back against the wall, bringing one hand to his head and drawing his knees in closer. "...I had to watch, and then… and then I thought I'd lost you, so I…" He tried and failed to recount fully, the mere act of recalling the dream bringing a grief-stricken look to his face.
"Stop. Don't push yourself to remember, okay? You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to." Rise assured him again, hobbling over to his side on her knees. Whatever context losing her had, it didn't seem wise, or fair, to pry. Astaire seemed to agree, opting to remain silent as he ran his hands through his hair and sighed. "...We need to deal with your Shadow as soon as possible. The sooner you stop bottling it up, the better." She added.
A brief look of horror flashed across Astaire's face before his expression fell again. "...I understand." He said defeatedly, head lowering.
Before he could wallow any further, Rise tapped a knee and gave him a dainty smile. "C'mon, it won't be that bad. I'll help you out and everything." Oh no. "We could start later today! I have a break in the middle of the day, so we could try then!" Oh Gods no. "Hey, remember what I said last night. Your Shadow is you, but you're not your Shadow. Whatever you end up admitting to, I'll still be there. And so will everyone else, too."
Her words would have been reassuring, had Astaire not suspected he'd need to admit to something involving her during the proceedings. He gulped as a tight knot tangled his throat, following up with a nod. Like it or not, his Shadow needed dealing with. Whatever would be, would be.
"Great!" Rise cheered as she hopped to her feet. "But before we do any of that, we're going to need the energy to get there first! And as luck would have it, I just happen to be-"
Hold the phone.
Sniff, sniff.
"OH, SHOOT, THE FOOD!" Rise screeched, sprinting back into the kitchen.
"Mmmm! Phenomenal!" Astaire couldn't resist smiling as he worked his way through a double portion of breakfast. It was so good that he was even taking his time, if only because she sheer flavour was enough for him to obsess over every bite. "Are you certain you don't want some, Ms. Kujikawa? Surely it's only right to partake in the fruits of your labour."
Rise quickly tapped in a reminder on her phone - 'Buy teaspoons. Don't try adding spice when Astaire-kun is sleeping.' - before looking up. "No, no, I'm fine, thanks! Just make sure and eat it while it's hot!" She beamed as best a hungry idol could while watching someone eat food in front of her, plopping her head back down onto the bed's sole pillow.
Every bite he took made her toes curl a little tighter. She swore the air was distorting around his chopsticks as they went from his plate to his mouth. How could someone conceivably eat that much concentrated spice and still not feel anything? Spice was good, no doubt about it, but there had to be lines drawn somewhere, and Astaire was striding over them without a care in the world.
A sudden buzz from her phone grabbed Rise's attention. It was a text message. From 'xSenpai~!x'. She made another mental note to change the name some time before she flicked her phone open.
"Are you wearing anything right now?"
"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Astaire asked, raising an eyebrow towards the bed as Rise rapidly assaulted her phone, furiously tapping out a message with a reddened face and fumes all but blasting from her ears.
"Okay, good." Came Yu's surprisingly composed reply after the venomous tirade he'd been sent.
Astaire's attention was once again drawn as Rise let out some manner of exasperated growl and slammed her phone into the bed. She aggressively crossed her arms and began glaring holes in the wall. "What does he think he's doing, asking me something like that?! He already has Yukiko-senpai, doesn't h-"
"Sorry, that probably wasn't the best way to word it." Yu apologised flatly.
"GOOD GODS ABOVE!" Astaire bellowed, reflexively bringing his foot back as Yu's head appeared from within the TV.
Then his arm appeared too, shielding his face. "Woah, hey, wait a minute! Astaire-san, it's me!" Yu insisted, eyes fixated on the pointed ends of Astaire's shoes.
Thankfully, he failed to suffer the same fate as Teddie as Astaire calmed down and lowered his foot, shortly before Rise crawled over to the end of her bed to confirm what was happening. "Eh? Senpai, you're here?" She began before sharpening her gaze. "...What were you thinking with that text, huh?"
"Sure, I could've just barged in, but I think you and Astaire-san might've reacted… poorly." He said, eyeing up Astaire and lingering on his shoes.
In light of his explanation, Rise's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point… Just find a better way of telling me from now on!" She finished, pointing at Yu's disembodied head. "And come out of the TV already, you're giving me creeps just looking at you!"
Yu shook his head. "Sorry, no can do. I wasn't planning on sticking around. Astaire-san." At his word, Astaire straightened his back. "You're coming with me to Inaba."
"What?"
"Huh?" Astaire and Rise replied in unison. "When was this decided?" Rise asked, looking between the two of them.
"Since we could barely hurt regular old enemies with our strongest weapons, that's when. You mentioned something about 'titanite' making our gear more effective, right? Do you have some in that box of yours?" Yu asked, motioning to Astaire's chest.
"I certainly do. There's only one hiccup." Astaire raised a hand behind his head and glance off sideways. "I… can't actually make use of it like this. I'd either need a bonfire or a blacksmith, and I doubt you-"
"Perfect." Yu interrupted him, extending a hand from beyond the screen. "The guys should be waiting for us at Junes, we shouldn't keep them waiting."
His unperturbed manner threw Astaire for a loop. Either prerequisite sounded pretty hard to come by, but Yu had hardly blinked at the thought, now outstretching his hand and urging him to follow.
Yet something served to pause Astaire. His eyes wandered to Rise, who watched the conversation with some mixture of intrigue and… something else on her face. "...Is something the matter, Ms. Kujikawa?"
Whatever else had been simmering alongside her curiosity, it shot off Rise's face in an instant. "N-No, no! Go right ahead, by all means! Senpai wouldn't have come all this way if it wasn't important, right?" She asked, nodding at Yu.
Rise was a good actress. Undoubtedly so. But something was sticking out, even to Astaire. "Will you be alright at the studio by yourself?"
"Yeah, totally!" She nodded again. But something was still there, visible but inexpressible to Astaire's untrained eye.
Was it worry? Upon thinking of it, Astaire couldn't help but think so. Between the previous day's tirade about Kaoru being a creep and the Dark Spirit attack the day before, she'd have plenty of reason to worry.
As would he, given his absence.
"Hold out your hand, please." Rise raised an eyebrow at Astaire's request, but decided to play along. One quick coat-search later, he placed something cold and angular in the palm of her hand. A thick piece of what seemed to be white stone, with cloth wrapped around the top "White Soapstone." Astaire elaborated. "If something should happen in my absence, and you feel you need my assistance…" He knelt down and ran his finger across the carpet. "...simply write my name on the floor and touch it. Do that, and I'll appear at a moment's notice."
Rise examined the soapstone as she ran it over in her hands. Write his name and touch it, and he'd just appear? It sounded nonsensical. Impossible.
But something about it put a calm smile on her face. "Thanks, Astaire-kun. I'll keep it close by." If Astaire said it would work, chances were that it would, however impossible it sounded. That alone was enough to give her comfort.
A nod was shared between them, and with a grasp of Yu's hand - after putting his glasses on first - Astaire and Rise parted ways.
Yu Narukami was an odd sort. He exuded a strangely comforting air, the sort that made Astaire feel like he could tell him anything. Less comforting was the other sensation he gave off: Pressure. So sheer and persuasive that Astaire not only felt like he could tell him anything, but that he was likely going to, whether he wanted to or not.
"Wow, that sounds rough." Yu said, eyebrows raised. "Your dreams usually that bad?"
"I've yet to have a good one, if that says much." Astaire lamented, pushing his glasses up his nose. Given how closely Yu had been watching him since they'd entered the TV, it didn't seem wise to let them drift too far off. "That was the worst, though. By far."
Yu rubbed his chin as he weaved between both monster corpses and trees, giving the former a wide berth. "It only seems right to think yesterday played a part in that." He paused to sling his sword over his shoulder, keeping close watch on Astaire as they walked. "...Alright, I've decided."
"Decided what?"
"Tell me everything your Shadow's bugging you about. All the stuff you can't accept."
Astaire stumbled as he tripped over a monster corpse, expression stricken. "What?! You can't be serious! You faced it head-on when first we met, what more could I tell you?!"
"People change, Astaire-san. It's not a stretch to think Shadows would be the same. If yours is talking to you in your sleep, and it is changing, none of us can help if you don't tell us what it's doing." Yu sidled up closer to Astaire, giving him a serious look. "Come on, tell me."
The closer Yu got, the more the pressure mounted, to the point where Astaire found himself veering away into the trees to lessen it. A choice he quickly regretted as he tripped over a wayward monster tendril and almost went headlong into a bush.
Clearly vying away from it wasn't going to be an option. Yu's razor-sharp eyes still bored holes in the side of his head. "Alright, alright, I submit." Conceded Astaire, proceeding to rack his brain for details. "...Deriving pleasure from my… lesser deeds. That's the first." Yu nodded, "Then… denouncing the Lords. That was the second."
"That doesn't sound so bad. Those Lords of yours don't exist in our world, surely denouncing them couldn't matter that much."
"IT MATTERS TO ME!" Astaire roared, instantly rounding on Yu with fire in his eyes. Fire which he was quick to exhale out when he noticed Yu's free hand move to his sword. "...Sorry. It's just…" Astaire ran a hand through his hair and looked up into the leafy canopy. "...Lord Gwyn constructed our world. Took it from the Ancient Dragons and made it fit for Lords and humans alike to live in. They have given us more than anyone could ever hope to repay, but that doesn't mean I shan't try."
"Okay, okay, got it." Yu relaxed his stance and eased off. Take it easy. Baby steps. There was no use in pissing off Astaire's Shadow and Astaire himself. "What about after you came to this world? In your dreams and such?"
"Nothing." Astaire replied all too quickly.
Oh Gods be damned, he'd done it again.
"...Huh. You're sure about that, are you?" The weight in the atmosphere increased tenfold as Yu glared daggers at Astaire's side. "This isn't going to get better with time, Astaire-san, especially if you're going to keep secrets from us." The second 'us' passed his lips, Yu had an idea. "I'll ask Rise if I have to."
Again, Astaire rounded on him. "I haven't told her either! Leave her out of it!"
And there it was. Yu grinned to himself. "Oh? So there is something to tell, is there?"
The fury in Astaire's eyes was quickly snuffed out as his expression sunk. Uh oh.
"Something you haven't told Rise, even though you're so close… Hmm." Thoughtful hums passed over Yu's hand as he tapped his chin. "Could it be, then, that it's something about her?"
"Damn it all, yes! Yes, it's something about her! Are you satisfied now?!" The admission echoed around the forest, around the bushes, trees and corpses as Astaire threw his arms out to the sides. He waited for a follow-up question, for some other intrusive prodding which he knew fine rightly he'd have to answer. The pressure wouldn't subside until he did.
Then the pressure seemed to subside. Sans follow-up questions. Instead, Yu looked him up and down, studying his haggard appearance with analytical precision. When at last he returned to looking him in the eyes, he replied. "Alright." Replied, and resumed walking afterwards.
Astaire blinked in disbelief. "'Alright'? What do you mean 'Alright'?!" He asked as he jogged up to Yu's side anew.
"I mean it's alright. We've got what's worrying you, now we just need to work through it." Yu shrugged. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Astaire fidget and fumble, trying to work out how best to articulate his worries. "You wouldn't have told me about Rise being involved before now, right? And now that you've told me, you don't need to shy away from it. That sounds like progress to me." He paused, yet Astaire continued to look unsure. Thus, he continued. "You'll eventually need to tell me what's bothering you in more detail, Astaire-san, but you don't need to do it right now. We'll take the first step and call that good enough for now. Deal?" He finished, offering Astaire a handshake.
Yu Narukami was an odd sort. But he wasn't bad. He knew how to use that oppressive aura of his, but he knew when not to use it, too. He'd pushed him, but only far enough. The thought swam around in Astaire's head, and only left once he met Yu's eyes above his outstretched arm. They were infinitely softer than they'd been before, reassuringly so. So reassuringly that a smile was inevitable.
"Deal." Astaire nodded as he returned Yu's handshake.
Yu returned his smile in kind before focusing on the path ahead. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's not keep the guys waiting much longer, shall we?" He said as he quickened his pace, with Astaire happily matching his stride beside.
Social Link Rank UP!
Lust - Rank 1
Knight Astaire
"Stop, stop, stop!" The coach hollered from the seating area as he waved at the sound and lighting crews, plunging the stage into relative silence. He raised a hand to his forehand and sighed exasperatedly. "Rise-chan, you can't go dancing that far back during your segment, the instruments are gonna be there."
For the third time that day, Rise stomped a high heel off the stage. "Well why aren't they here then?! I thought the whole point of this stupid rehearsal was to help plan stuff like that out!" She fumed, fighting the temptation to toss her microphone stand javelin-style in any given direction. Stupid rehearsal and stupid director and stupid dancing segment and stupid screw-ups and stupid…
The coach's expressionless face blinked as he put his hands behind his head, turning to holler at everyone else instead. "Break time, anyone? Sounds like a good time for break time." His colleagues next to him nodded in agreement, as did several of the stage crew off to the side. "Same goes for you girls, too. Go get your heads cleared, then come back and give it another go. We'll reconvene in thirty." He motioned to Rise and her backup dancers, the former of which stormed off without another word.
The coach raised an eyebrow at her as she disappeared backstage. Stomping and storming didn't seem very Risette-like. Even after a year out, she'd come back and performed like she'd never been away at all. Top that off with how frustrated she'd been getting and it was hard to say there wasn't something wrong with her. All he could do was hope the next thirty minutes might ease it off her mind, however slightly.
Frappucinos weren't exactly diet material. Much less when they were so thick that they were two steps from being classed as 'liquid cake', but after the morning she'd had, Rise couldn't claim to be all that concerned. Dieting could wait a while, hazelnut and caramel were her two new best friends for the next twenty minutes as she strode towards her dressing room.
The routine was supposed to be easy. Well, easy for her at least. Five screw ups in a row wasn't just frustrating, it was unheard of, not to mention annoyingly beyond explanation. What was she doing wrong? Everything was exactly the same as last time, and yet…
"...I'm too low for zero, too tired to work..." Wait a minute. That singing from around the corner. "...Tried one on with a friend last night, and wound up losing my shirt..." That tinny sound of western 80s music blaring from what sounded like a pair of headphones too loud to concern themselves with noise cancelling.
It couldn't have been anyone else. Rise quickly strutted around the corner and launched her free hand at the singer's shoulder before yelling, "KANAMI!" Partially so she'd actually hear her and partially because hoo boy. She had some explaining to do.
"...I'm too low for z-EEEEEEEEEEEE!" Kanami screeched as she spun around on a heel, a cloud of curled hair and bowed ribbons. No sooner was her 180-degree spin complete, her face switched from stunned to overjoyed on the spot. "Oh, Rise-senpai! I was just about to come looking for you!"
"No kidding." Rise's face sat hard and flat, not even bothering to raise an eyebrow, or operate outside of a monotone response.
Not that monotone dissuaded Kanami at all. "Mmhmm! I was gonna come ask you where Astaire-kun was! After yesterday, I was gonna ask him if…" She trailed off, noticing that Rise was either on the verge of crushing the Frappucino in her hand or launching it. The eyebrow twitching gave it away. "...Oh, was I not supposed to bring that up?"
"It's more the day before I'm interested in, Kanami-chan." Rise said menacingly, stepping forward like a predator cornering its prey. "Astaire-kun andme both almost got in a whole heap of trouble because of you! What part of dancing with him seemed like a good idea?! And right after the news went and made a big deal out of us, too! What did you think was gonna happen?!"
In spite of her Senpai looking like a twin-tailed monster from Hell itself, Kanami stood firm. "You mean you didn't know?!" She gasped, eyes wide as her jaw hung open. "Someone who doesn't know what kind of music or dancing they like?! I had to do something! I just had to!" She insisted innocently, eyes aglimmer.
He knew what kind of music he didn't like, that was for sure.
Wait, no, that was beside the point. Focus, Rise, focus! "You couldn't have done it some other way?! Some way that, oh, I dunno, doesn't involve getting all touchy-feely with him?!" She continued, hands moving to her hips as she leaned forward, eyes narrowed.
But something about her clicked something inside Kanami. Rise could see it on her face. Despite looking, sounding and feeling outright incensed with her junior, and making little attempt to hide it, something stood out. Something that made her smile widely and half-close her eyes. "Aww! Rise-senpai…" Kanami began, her grin widening mischievously. "...You're not jealous, are you?"
"J-Jealous?! Me?!" Rise immediately flustered, leaning back and trying to regain her composure as it quickly flew the coop. She brushed some stray hair aside and cleared her throat, slapping her angry face back on again. "I'm not jealous, I'm annoyed! You almost got us in big trouble!"
Kanami's response was to put a finger to her chin and gaze off at the ceiling, smiling all the while. "Y'see I heard from somebody - not saying who - that you maybe, just a teensie-tiny little itty-bitty bit, might've had a crush on him." At that, Rise's blood ran colder than the ice in her Frappucino. "But I thought 'Nah, no way!' and didn't really listen to them much. Then there were rumours going around that you two had run off to Inaba, of all places!"
Oh, crap.
"So then I started thinking, 'Inaba's pretty far away', right? It almost looked like you were going out of your way to try and not get noticed by anybody!" She laughed innocently. "Then I considered that maybe that certain someone might be onto something! Just a little bit, though."
This was bad. This was really, really bad. Rise's foot tapped ever more quickly off the floor as she folded her arms and glanced off at one of the walls. "I-I don't have a crush on him, or anyone else! Not that it's any of your business."
Ever so innocently, Kanami smiled and cocked her head to the side. "Maybe not, but I was curious anyway! I wanted to be sure that my beloved Rise-senpai was falling for the right guy, after all! So I decided to go check him out and see what he was like for myself!"
"I'm not falling for him." RIse grumbled.
Her grumbling ceased as Kanami let out a… sigh. A sigh which didn't rub Rise the right way at all, much less so when she saw she was cupping her cheeks with either hand. "Haah… That's good, then."
"What? Why?" Rise unfolded her arms and took a step closer to Kanami, setting her drink on a nearby stack of chairs. Her expression had shifted from indignance to utmost curiosity, so quickly that it was impossible to hide her concern. "Is there something wrong with him?"
Still cupping her cheeks, Kanami shook her head. "No, no, silly! Nothing like that! It's just… I just…" It was only when she paused and looked about fit to burst that Rise noticed her immense blushing. "I think I have a crush on him too, for real! Kyaa~!"
What.
Yet Kanami's gleeful squealing continued. "I can't hide it any longer! I wasn't being totally honest with you earlier, I did want to see him, but it wasn't about what happened yesterday!" She balled up her fists and held them to her chest, the Kanamin Beam turning up to eleven as her eyes lit up the corridor. "I wanted to go over and confess my love to him! Today!"
"No, you can't!"
It just slipped out. Before she knew it, Rise had said it before even wanting to say it. Before even thinking about it. Yet she'd said it all the same. She'd even clenched her eyes shut and balled her fists at her side, so serious was she.
"Heehee. Gotcha." Kanami giggled. Her expression couldn't have been more different from before. No blushing, no coy motions and no cheek cupping. She instead stuck out her tongue and winked, putting her hands behind her back. A complete tonal shift. "I thought that might work. Sorry, Rise-senpai~!"
She didn't want Kanami confessing to Astaire. No, she didn't want anyone confessing to Astaire. And she'd all but admitted it.
RIse fixed her gaze on a fascinating spot on the floor as she felt the heat rush to her face. "D-Don't act like you know everything! It's just… confessing to him would just make things awkward, is all! It'd make working together really, really awkward!" She insisted, trying to hide the wavering in her voice and failing miserably. For all her acting talents, Kanami had all but laid her bare.
"Awkward?" Kanami tilted her head again. "I don't think it'd be awkward at all. Oh! Unless you think he'd reject me, is that it?" She asked, clapping her hands together and tilting the opposite way. "You seem pretty sure, Rise-senpai. But… what if you're wrong?"
It was impossible to tell, but Rise swore she could feel her face pale a few shades.
"Say I were to confess to him, and he even looked like he was falling for me. What would you do?" Kanami leaned in, smiling playfully and lowering her voice to a whisper. "Would that make you tell him how you feel?"
Instantly, without another word, Rise whipped around and quickly began storming back to the stage, ears red - from embarrassment or rage, Kanami couldn't tell - as she stomped away.
For once, Kanami's persistently cheery smile faded. Watching her Senpai turn her back on her was the final nail in the coffin. As good as she was at hiding it, even she had her limits. Her eyes turned to Rise's frappe, still sat upon the stack of chairs and far from being empty.
"...There's nothing wrong with being honest, Senpai. With him or yourself." She said quietly.
For whatever reason, the walk towards the shopping district had proven to be remarkably obtuse. "I can probably guess the answer, but I'll ask again. Where are we actually going, here?" Astaire quizzed his walking partners, eyes flitting between them.
"You'll see." Yu answered, much in the same way he'd answered the last two times.
"Don't look at me, I ain't tellin' ya." Kanji shrugged.
"Honestly, Stairry-kun! Haven't you ever heard of a surprise before?" Teddie asked as he bobbed along in his suit.
Much as he'd expected, Yosuke didn't say much on the matter. Not that Astaire could blame him. Even still, the sheer amount of non-answers was beginning to wear on him. Everyone else had mainly talked amongst themselves on the walk from Junes, and quickly resumed doing so after he'd asked his question, almost as though they were trying to block him out.
Which was rude for many reasons, but especially because he was laden with the entire Investigation Team's arsenal in his box. If they wanted their gear upgraded, the least they could do was tell him how.
Then the scenery began to seem somewhat familiar. Certain streets and buildings which he could vaguely remember from the past few days. Which was odd, seeing as he hadn't seen that much of Inaba to begin with. So where had he-?
"Oh! Well, I'll be!" A familiar, elderly voice spoke out from somewhere to Astaire's right, beyond Kanji. He turned to meet the smiling, well-wrinkled face of Rise's grandmother as she swept at the front of Marukyu Tofu. "If it isn't Dojima-san's boy! I thought you'd gone and left us all a while back!" She said cheerfully, leaning on her broom's handle.
Yu chuckled and shrugged. "Guess I'm just hard to get rid of, that's all." He said casually, hoping he wouldn't have to explain how exactly he'd travelled as far as he had.
Luckily, Rise's Grandmother found her attention turned to his entourage instead. "And you're with all your friends, too! How delightful!" She smiled wholeheartedly. "It's a shame you weren't here yesterday, my Rise-chan just decided to show up out of the blue! Her and that new bodyguard of…" She trailed off, stopping to adjust her glasses and focus on the head that peeked over Kanji's shoulder. "Ah! It seems you've already met!"
On cue, Astaire stepped out from behind Kanji and scratched the back of his head. "We, uh, certainly have! Good day to you, Ma'am!"
Kanji was quick to step in afterwards. "I-It's his day off, see? So we were gonna head on over to Daidara-san's to, uh…" Oh, crap, right, she didn't know they'd been sneaking out weapons for the TV World every other day. What were they all going to Daidara's for, then?
"Armour! We were gonna get him some armour! Y'know, for looking after Rise-chan!" Yosuke offered, appearing in front of Kanji and Astaire as he shoved them both to the side.
The tension in the air was palpable as Rise's Grandmother hummed thoughtfully, gaze lingering on each of the boys, who bristled in turn as they felt her time-tempered eyes scan over them. After a few seconds, her face softened as she smiled again. "Ah, I see. Well, if it'll keep my Rise-chan safe, don't let me keep you! Stay out of trouble, now!" She said cheerfully, waving the boys goodbye as they quickly ushered one another to the neighbouring building.
Yu heard the first question coming before Astaire had even asked it. "Daidara? Who might that be?"
Well, the surprise had only been partially ruined. Unable to shy away from it any longer, Yu stepped up and held a hand to the closed doors. "You know the way you said you needed either a bonfire or a blacksmith to make titanite useful?" Yu asked, pushing the door open before he got an answer.
Instantly, a waft of desperately hot air billowed out of the building, scented with the smell of ash and sparks and instantly slicking Astaire's forehead with sweat. Then he heard it. The sweet, sonorous sound that gave his heart wings, that lifted his spirits to the highest possible reaches imaginable. The sound of a hammer off an anvil.
But it didn't stop there. Stepping inside, Astaire's neck twisted to and fro as he gasped in amazement. Weapons and armour of every kind, all in pristine condition and packed in so tightly that the walls behind them might as well have not been there. It was a warrior's more heavenly dream, and he was stood right in the middle of it. "Good gods in heaven above…" Astaire murmured as he took it all in.
Then, a noise. Or rather, a noise dulling down from one corner of the shop. "It's about time you lot showed up. With keeping that door closed, I'm absolutely drenched!" A deep, gruff voice bellowed over the noise of the furnace as its owner stopped to wipe his face dry of sweat. A man with red hair and a large X-shaped scar below his balding head.
"Sorry Daidara-san, we were-" Yu began, only to be interrupted as something large, blue and very excited dashed by him,
"You're Mr. Daidara?!" Astaire asked enthusiastically, fists balled and his eyes rivalling Kanami's for sparkle intensity.
Daidara took a puff from his cigarette before answering. "That I am."
"And you're a Blacksmith?!" A pitch or so higher.
"That I also am."
"Have you ever worked with titanite before?!" A pitch higher again.
A thoughtful puff. "Can't say I have."
The tools on Daidara's countertop leapt up as Astaire's Bottomless Box slammed into the surface, under his ecstatic expression. "Would you like to?!" Astaire's grin stretched from ear to ear, so wide that his eyes nearly closed over entirely. He quickly reached into the box and snatch up a small shard of Titanite, presenting it to Daidara's discerning eye.
It looked a bit like charcoal, if charcoal were made of ore. It also seemed a bit similar to granite, if not quite as pleasing to the eye. Daidara tapped the shard off the counter, Sounded tough. He snatched up a small eyeglass and looked at it more closely. Good structure. Stable. Real, real stable. Finally, he bit into the small black clump, garnering odd looks from his audience, save for the really excited fellow in the coat.
"...This is good stuff." Daidara finally said. "I could work with this, yes. Depending on how much I have to work with, that is." He slid the shard back over the counter to Astaire. "Couldn't do much with that alone. You got any more?"
"DO I?!" Astaire gripped the Bottomless Box, flicked it open and spun it around, interior facing the floor.
There was a deep rumbling sound, like that of an earthquake localised entirely within Astaire's box, before a veritable torrent of black rock came tumbling out of the box's mouth. Shards upon shards of titanite flowed like water from within, quickly forming into a sizable mound on the floor which showed no signs of getting much smaller. Then the sound of rock on rock changed, becoming less frequent but louder. Larger shards preceded massive chunks, the thickness of Yu's arm, if he had to eyeball it.
Finally, the tumbling ceased. The mound of titanite finally ceased its rumbling, the peak sitting around Astaire's chest. Daidara's mouth hung open, dropping his cigarette to the floor, as did the mouths of everyone who wasn't Astaire. "That's… a lot of titanite." Kanji helpfully pointed out.
"You're tellin' me..." Daidara said as he reached for another cigarette, brow still high with awe.
"Wait, wait!" Astaire insisted, righting the box and delving his arm inside. "There's one more in here, I know it!"
Well, it wasn't like they could tell him not to stick his arm in now. Yu shook his head as he pondered what possible explanation, if any, would excuse them. His efforts weren't helped as Yosuke came up beside him. "I don't think one more piece is gonna make that much of a difference."
Words which were quickly eaten as Astaire retrieved his bounty with a might heave. A slab - a slab - of titanite, came out of the box, landing atop the pile with an almighty THUMP. As thick as the pavement outside, and twice as heavy looking, the slab once again coaxed Daidara's new cigarette out of his mouth all over again.
"What could you do with this much?" Astaire asked earnestly, looking about ready to squeal with delight.
For the briefest of moments, Yu caught something in Daidara's eye. A sharp, excitable glint. Something neither cycle of the Investigation had ever shown him. "Don't worry about the cost, either. I'll flip the bill for whatever Astaire-san orders." He added quickly, before Daidara could give his answer.
That was the spark that lit the fuse. Daidara gave a toothy grin to Astaire, who returned one twice as wide. Completely in sync, they turned to the rest of the team. "Leave us. This is going to take a while." They said in unison.
Without protest, Yu, Kanji, Teddie and Yosuke quickly scuttled out the door, the heat at their backs intensifying as Daidara and Astaire's work began.
"Well, that went about as well as I expected!" Yu happily announced, breathing in the comparatively cool air outside. "After this we'll be rolling through the TV World like it wasn't even there."
Yosuke raised an eyebrow and looked back at Daidara's place. "How long do you think 'a while' is gonna be?"
"I dunno, but I can't see it bein' quick." Kanji said as he stretched out in the afternoon sun. "If that's how it's gonna be, I'm gonna shoot on back to my place. Frickin' heat's getting worse, I swear."
He hadn't even turned fully before Teddie was at his side. "Oooh, I wanna come to your place too! Do you have any scarves that would go well with… Teddie Blue?!" He asked as he posed dramatically.
"It's June, Ted, the hell d'you even need a scarf for?" Kanji posited as the two nonetheless began walking for Tatsumi Textiles, squabbling back and forth all the while.
And then there were two. "Ah, crap. How are we supposed to know when he's done or not? The guy doesn't even have a phone!" Yosuke asked, watching Kanji and Teddie disappear up the street. "Hey, you think maybe we should-?" He turned to ask Yu, only to wind up asking his back front was preoccupied with… staring blankly at a featureless wall.
Oh, wait, right. He'd explained that before. Something about some door only he could see, leading to the Velvet Room. Got it.
Yosuke mumbled something at the ground as he kicked a stone across the street. Had to find something to do. Something to kill time. The only problem was that he'd no idea how much time needed killing.
...Daidara couldn't wind up taking that long, could he?
From the confines of her covers, Rise stared listlessly at the moon, her chin propped up by her hands.
Astaire still wasn't back, and Senpai wasn't answering her text messages. Something had to have happened. Something bad. Another Dark Spirit, maybe. Perhaps even something worse than a Dark Spirit. Something which not even Astaire and Senpai could stop, not even together.
...Nah, no way. Anything that could defeat Astaire and Senpai would've been making the evening news after destroying half of Inaba. She'd have heard about it if that were the case.
The thought reassured Rise only slightly, because it still meant that they were both nowhere to be seen. She rolled onto her back and spread her arms out for lack of anything else to do. Something about the hotel room at night felt kind of… empty, without Astaire around.
Kanami's words bubbled up to the surface of her thoughts, creasing her brow on instinct. Jealous. Pfft, as if. She didn't even have anything to be jealous of. What, dancing with Astaire? Big deal, so what? It didn't mean anything, not one single thing.
But her blood stirred with an unfamiliar heat. An iron vice gripped her heart and a gnawing feeling set in her gut as she replayed the events in her head. The photos, Kanami's little talk and her stupid, cutesy little know-it-all attitude that…
...Darn it. She was jealous. Maybe just a little.
It'd have been all too easy to feign ignorance and ask herself why she felt the way she did, had the answer not been easier still.
Rise rolled back onto her front, flicking her hair behind her shoulders and biting a lip in thought.
...Did she like Astaire? Like, really like him?
Maybe.
Did she want to tell him if the answer was yes?
Hell no.
'...What if you're wrong? ...and he even looked like he was falling for me. What would you do?'
No matter what way she tossed and turned, Kanami refused to get out of her head. The silence in her room was deafening, only serving to amplify her thoughts louder and louder as time went on. The only way to shut them up was to entertain them. To drown out Kanami's words with some of her own.
...Was Astaire liking Kanami really that hard to believe? After all, if Rise herself had propositioned that they dance together, never mind holding her waist throughout, he'd probably have flipped out. Maybe he'd go and bang his head off whatever roomly accoutrements in the hotel he hadn't smacked into yet. It'd have been like trying to ask a fish to go for a walk.
What did it say, then, that Kanami had somehow managed to do it? Either through goading or - godforbid - Astaire's own will, she'd done it all the same. No flipping out or furniture assault required. How? How had she eked Knight Astaire out of his shell in so little time?
...Knight Astaire. Knight. He was her knight, not Kanami's. Whatever eggshells he felt he was walking on when he was with her didn't apply. He didn't need to protect her. He didn't need to play it safe. He didn't have to worry so darn much.
The longer Rise pondered it, the better a fit they sounded.
Damn it. It was happening all over again.
Yu and Yukiko. Astaire and Kanami.
The former seemed perfect for one another. Both smart, both mature when it mattered and both able to lean on one another when the going got rough. The signs were all there. She'd just been too stubborn to acknowledge it. Stubborn enough to keep poking and prodding, to keep trying again and again even as the hope began to fade. As her hope dwindled away to nothing, something else had risen up to replace it. Guilt.
What they'd had wasn't hers to intrude upon. Their happiness wasn't hers to compromise. All her poking and prodding did was make Yukiko that much more wary of her. She never said it outwardly - far too polite for that, - but Rise could tell.
Her meddling was getting in the way of their happiness. And so she sat back and stopped meddling.
Perhaps sitting back was the right thing to do in this situation too.
It couldn't hurt any worse than the last time.
Rise's morose thoughts were violently shunted away as something large and heavy thumped into her bed's footboard with an "Agh, Hell!", causing her to squeal and immediately recoil towards the other end of the bed.
Her body relaxed as she realised exactly who had 'Agh, Hell''d in the first place. "Astaire-kun?"
"Ms. Kujikawa!" Astaire sprung to his feet, fists balled in excitement and his face… completely covered by a knightly-looking helmet. "You wouldn't believe the things Master Daidara can do, he's magnificent!" Astaire said, his voice tinny as it rattled around the inside of his helmet. "Not only did he upgrade everyone's weapons dramatically, but he offered to tinker with my weapons and armour, too! Now even if I have these accursed glasses on-" He flicked up the front of his helmet's visor, revealing his joyful, glasses-bearing face behind it. "-I should surely be a force to be reckoned with! Nothing shall stand before our combined might now! Hurrah!" He finished, fists pumped in the air.
In the awkward beat of silence that followed, Rise couldn't help but begin to laugh. Hopping out of the TV and rambling like a hyperactive five year old in a suit of armour was too funny to not laugh at. She wiped a tear from one of her eyes as she watched Astaire chuckle sheepishly along with her. "So that's what kept you so long! I was almost starting to worry a little!" She said between light giggles. "It's good that that's all it was, though. I'm glad to have you back in one piece." She beamed.
Instantly, Astaire's armour was replaced with his coat as he knelt down to the floor. "You concern is appreciated. I only wish Mr. Narukami felt the same. I think he had a small fit when Master Daidara handed him the bill!" He sniggered as he lay back and supported his head with his hands. "I can only hope it wasn't too taxing, else it'd damper my plans of requesting some more original works later on!"
A dismissive hand waved at Astaire from atop Rise's bed as she lay back and relaxed herself. "Senpai bought all of our stuff last year, I'm sure he won't mind burning a new hole in his pocket this time!" She went to laugh, only to be interrupted halfway by a yawn. "Haaah… I think all my dancing today's finally catching up to me. I think I'm gonna nod off." She said drowsily, pulling her covers up to her chin.
"Ah. R-Right. Very well then. Goodnight, Ms. Kujikawa." Astaire eventually replied after a long pause.
Had the realm of unwaking not beckoned Rise as strongly as it did, she may have wondered what took him so long.
At 3AM, Rise awoke.
Well, perhaps awoke was being a bit too generous, as it implied that she had been sleeping soundly in the first place.
It wasn't the earliest she'd ever woken up, because she'd peeked out at her clock reading 1:47AM earlier. She was stuck firmly in Limbo. Too drowsy to stay properly awake, yet not drowsy enough to legitimately doze off. All she could do was lie lethargically in her fabric cocoon, staring at the wall and listening to the sound of Astaire's gentle breathing as he-
From the floor beyond the footboard, something quickly jostled on the spot. It was over as quickly as it began, and ended with what sounded like a muffled thump off the carpeted floor. "...Hey. Are you awake?" Rise whispered out of her covers.
"Thankfully, yes." Astaire whispered back, his head peeking around the footboard to meet hers. She stuck a hand out and motioned to him to crawl on up to the floor beside her, which he eventually did, however sluggishly.
"Good to know I'm not the only one having trouble getting back to sleep." Rise said, unwrapped her upper torso from the covers.
For a moment, it looked as though Astaire had fallen asleep, until he thumped his head off the floor again. "It's not that I'm having trouble sleeping, I'm having more trouble with not sleeping." He said with another thump. "After last night, I'd be a happier man if I never slept again."
"Oh darn, I almost forgot! Sorry…" Rise mumbled drowsily. "Still… you can't just go the rest of your life without sleeping." She added, conveniently leaving out that death by sleep deprivation might just make it possible.
"I can give it a bloody good try." Astaire mumbled back, thumping the back of his head again. "Actually, what's keeping you awake, Ms. Kujikawa? Has your Shadow started bothering you as well?" He lolled his head lazily to the side and raised an eyebrow as well as a sleep deprived man could.
"...I dunno." Rise half-lied. It wasn't that she didn't know, moreso that she had a pretty good feeling what it might have been. It starting with a 'Kan' and ended with an 'ami.' A cocktail of uncertainty and bitterness seemed to well up any time she thought about it. Looking at Astaire didn't exactly help matters either. So what would?
Then again, the cure for uncertainty was answers, and answers were only gained one way.
"Say, Astaire-kun?" Rise gulped as a tightness took hold of her throat. "Do you… have anybody that you like?"
"Hm? Of course I do. I like you, Kanami, Kanji, Mr. Narukami…" Astaire began with so little hesitation that he couldn't possibly have understood what she'd actually asked.
Stupid medieval-minded dummy, needing stuff spelled out for him… "No, not like that. I mean… y'know, anybody that you like like. Like, a whole lot."
That did the trick. A look of realisation crossed Astaire's face. "Oh. W-Well, I… I suppose, uh…" He began fidgeting, running his hands through his hair. "That's… I don't think I could… I, er…"
"Okay, stop." Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. Figures. "How about this: Did you ever feel that way about someone from your world, huh?" It wouldn't answer whether or not he liked Kanami, but it might make him more willing to talk about it.
Asked that, Astaire calmed down. Explaining the past would be leagues easier than explaining the present. "Hmm. Let me think…" He murmured, stroking his chin. Someone from Lordran? Someone he'd felt that way about? Was there such a person? "Yes. I think I did, once."
When he didn't follow up, Rise propped herself up on her side and leaned expectantly. "Well? Who was she? What was she like?"
Astaire pushed himself up and set his back to the bed, sensing those wouldn't be the only two questions. "Her name was Seiglinde of Catarina. Much like myself, she was a knight. Er, knightess, that is."
He stopped again. "C'mon, c'mon, tell me more! What did she look like?" Rise urged him on.
"She was… big. You know, round, like-" Astaire traced the outsides of his torso with his hands.
Rise wasn't quite sure what she'd expected, but it hadn't been that. "O-Oh, okay." Was… that Astaire's type? Did it have anything to do with liking Kanami? After all, between herself and Kanami, the latter had way bigger-
"Well, I say that, but I never actually saw under her armour, so I can't say for certain." Astaire continued, raising an eyebrow at Rise's relieved sigh afterwards. "I happened to meet her during my travels. She was being held captive in the Duke's Archives…"
"It was you who rescued me? Why, thank you!"
The moment the armoured girl spoke, Astaire felt his undead heart skip a beat. Her voice was as radiant and warm as the sun itself. Unfortunately, it didn't make recovering from his fight with her captor all that much easier. Small shards of crystal fell off his iron-laden shoulders as he panted, decorating the grass below. "Think… nothing of it…" He said between breaths.
A gauntlet reached out to him as he doubled over, fingers splayed. "I am Sieglinde of Catarina."
His stamina quickly regaining, Astaire straightened his back and firmly clasped her hand. "Knight Astaire. It's a pleasure to meet you." He smiled under the folds of his hood.
"The pleasure's all mine!" Sieglinde insisted, waving her free hand in front of her face, the other being preoccupied with supporting her bastard sword. "I don't know how I ended up in that crystal! It wasn't terrible in there, but I could hardly move…"
Astaire glanced down to the other end of the grassy field, taking note of the crystalline cavern that awaited him further on. "Seath the Scaleless' work, I'd imagine. You're not the first person I've had to rescue in this manner, I had to fend off one other such golem in the Darkroot Basin not too long ago."
"That far out? Goodness." Sieglinde reached around to her back and retrieved her Pierce Shield, filling her free hand. It was funny, actually. Sword aside, if she hadn't spoken Astaire guessed he'd likely have mistaken her for- "Oh! Have you seen my father?"
Aaah. That explained it. "A knight of Catarina? Armour and arms like yours, but wielding one of these instead?" Astaire motioned his head towards his Zweihander. He felt joy swell in him as Sieglinde seemed to perk up inside her armour. "Yes, as it happens! Last I saw him, I dropped him a few clumps of moss in Blighttown. Can't say I'm sure where he went afterwards, though…"
Sieglinde seemed far from perturbed at his lack of knowledge. "Thank Goodness! I knew he was here somewhere. Now I must find him. Thanks again, truly! For both helping myself and my Father!" She said cheerily, walking off towards the Archives. "Farewell, Sir Astaire!"
Even under the onion-shaped helmet, her voice carried her smile. Astaire waved at her half-mindedly, suddenly feeling a come-down from the rush he'd just experienced.
Her voice was as an angel's. She wielded a greatsword, as he did. She was bold and brave enough to venture into Lordran all on her own.
Something twisted and knotted up Astaire's rotten stomach the more he thought about it. He shook his head and turned for the Crystal Cavern, hoping the venture might clear his mind.
"Ow. Ow. Ow."
"Please, do keep still! It's only going to get worse if you leave them in!" Sieglinde assured Astaire, plucking a large hunk of crystal out of his side. A small pile was beginning to form at her feet, glistening and reflecting the light of the sun as it shone upon Firelink Shrine. "There, this should be the last one. Brace yourself!"
"ARGH, DA-" Astaire forced his fist into his mouth before he could say any more. The pain was bad, but it wasn't worth swearing in front of a lady, goodness no. As the pain slowly but surely faded, he hobbled over to the bonfire and refilled his Estus flask, two swigs stitching his side back together completely. "Aaah, much better." Astaire sighed contentedly. "Thank you, Ms. Sieglinde."
"Oh, just Sieglinde is fine, thanks!" Sieglinde insisted, taking a seat next to her armaments beside the fire. "Would I be right in guessing that your delving into those caverns wasn't the smoothest venture?"
Astaire joined her, sitting next to his Zweihander as it sat planted in the ground. "You would be. Ruddy humiliating too, he's already killed me the once as is." He lamented, dipping his flask into the fire once again to replace the charges he'd used. "...And what of you, Sieglinde? How fares your own quest?" He asked, the lack of a 'Ms.' sounding awfully odd to his ear.
A sigh tinnily slunk out of Sieglinde's helmet. "Little better than yours, I'm afraid. I still can't find my Father anywhere. I looked over Blighttown from top to bottom, but there was no sign of him! Oh, if only he'd learn to stay put and keep out of trouble…" She slumped her back and shook her head. "At this rate, I'll never get to… What are you doing?"
Astaire stood and retrieved his sword from the ground before slinging it over his shoulder. "Seath can wait. I think I'll go and investigate Blighttown myself. Possibly beyond." He said, that heart-rending sigh of hers still echoing in his ears. There was no way any upstanding Warrior of Sunlight could stand by and watch someone so charming be so glum.
"You will?!" Sieglinde shook her helmet in disbelief. "Are you absolutely sure? I wouldn't want to offload my troubles onto you, or my Father's, for that matter!'
Astaire shrugged. "There's very little anyone could ask me to do that would be much trouble, believe me." He assured her. The flame from the bonfire licked at his fingers as he put out his hand, letting the heat run up his arm and spread to the rest of his body. "...Least of all, you." He said quietly as the fire engulfed him whole, sending him off to Quelaag's Domain.
"The poor girl's not even Undead."
Seigmeyer's words latched firmly onto Astaire's mind, replaying over and over again. Sieglinde was human. She wasn't afflicted with the curse.
A polished, hardly-used scimitar served as his mirror as he peeled back the folds of his hood. The light hit a patch of dry looking, shrivelled up skin before Astaire quickly folded them back again. Still Undead. Still looking Hollow.
It felt unfair. So torturously unfair. To be made to feel the way he felt, to meet someone so wonderful in so desolate and destitute a place, only to be told something like that. From the moment he'd left Siegmeyer to the moment he'd slain the Bed of Chaos afterward, his face sat more sunken and sullen than it usually did.
The first thing to cheer him up was Sieglinde. Which seemed especially odd, considering she was the root of his woes to begin with. She came up the steps from the New Londo elevator. Evidently, braving the Valley of the Drakes just to open one door had been worth it. "There you are! I was hoping you wouldn't have gone too far away."
He couldn't tell her. Never. The thought ate at Astaire from the inside out. And yet, "Sieglinde! I trust your Father was still in Lost Izalith when you got there?" That voice could never darken his spirits. It could've put the sun to shame without even trying.
"Thankfully, yes. He finally sat about long enough for me to actually catch up to him!" Sieglinde chuckled, and good lord what a chuckle it was. As much as Astaire tried to prevent it, his rotten, undead heart refused to calm itself.
Stop it. Stop it. "I really have no idea how I could even begin to repay all you've done. For my Father and myself."
Astaire's heart calmed to the point where he felt able to afford a dismissive wave. "You needn't worry. I didn't do what I did because I was seeking repayment, it's quite alright."
A move he quickly regretted when Sieglinde tilted her head and replied with, "Oh? Whyever did you go through all the trouble, then?" Astaire suddenly felt his innards wish to become outtards. "No normal person would go through all that effort for nothing, I'd think. Why, then?"
The answer was right there. It'd have been so quick. So simple. "Well, I'm the Chosen Undead, aren't I? Who else is a better fit for solving problems than I?" But it wasn't an answer he could give. "I-In any case, if you finally found your father, how shall you proceed from here?" Better to get off the topic and let it slide.
"I shall return to Catarina, I think. This land is far from hospitable, I think you/d agree!" Sieglinde said with one of those laughs before calming down. "But… there is one more thing I must do first. I shan't feel right leaving without."
Astaire raised a hooded eyebrow. "Oh? Do tell."
For the first time since he'd met her, Sieglinde… fidgeted strangely. Hands fumbling with one another as she shuffled on the spot. "I… feel that I should follow my Father once more." The puzzled noise Astaire gave her in return urged her to continue. "H-He mentioned to me before I left! Something about his final mission! I don't know where he is, but… I fear he may have gone Hollow!"
A final mission? He hadn't mentioned anything of the sort when Astaire had spoke with him. He'd tried to sacrifice himself for his sake, then grumbled about something when he came to help. After that, he…
Oh no.
Immediately, Astaire was on his feet, sword in hand. "That bloody fool! He's trying to get himself killed!" Izalith. He'd have to backtrack out of Izalith, the head honcho was already dead. The Ceaseless Discharge was dead by Astaire's hand too, as was Quelaag. If he was after something big, it'd be something big. Somewhere Astaire hadn't been before.
"Ash Lake." Astaire said before he'd realised it. "He's going to Ash Lake." Never worrying about how or why he remembered the name of a place he'd never even been to, Astaire tossed his shield to his back and grabbed Sieglinde's wrist. "Come on, we have to hurry! We need to get to Ash Lake this instant!"
At last, the fight came to an end. Siegmeyer's body collapsed onto the shores of Ash Lake, accompanied by the heavy panting of Astaire and Sieglinde, both bereft of stamina and one of them devolving into light sobs. "Oh, Father… dear Father…" Her Bastard Sword dropped from her grip as she dropped to her knees, next to her Father's body. "Well…" Sieglinde sniffed, "...at least… he'll stay out of trouble, now…"
What began as a sniffle became a full-on cry. Sieglinde's sobs echoed among the Archtrees and the water, rebounding all at once to compound on Astaire's heart.
Slowly, he held out a hand, aiming for her shoulder. He couldn't bear it. Though his armour was littered with bloody openings, courtesy of Seigmeyer's Zweihander, and though every single wound stung and seared more potently every second, Sieglinde's crying struck him harder than any blade could ever hope to. He had to do it. Had to comfort her somehow.
An inch away, Astaire stopped, fingers tensed into a fist.
Both parents dead, one of them by her hand. Stuck in some disparate land of undeath with nary a caring shoulder to cry upon. She was strong, no doubt, she wouldn't have made it as far otherwise.
But if she needed a shoulder to cry on, she deserved someone better. Someone from Catarina perhaps. Someone with a human-looking face. Someone who wouldn't eventually lose their minds and try to kill her, only to have the present situation replay all over again.
Someone who wasn't him.
Thus, Astaire drew back his hand. "Let her go." He told himself. "Let her go back to Catarina and let nothing stop her."
Focus on something else. Something, anything to take his mind off Sieglinde's crying. Astaire put his hand to his hips and gazed around at the scenery. Wide, towering Archtrees for miles, stretched across an endless sea. The one Archtree at the end of the smooth, untampered shore.
"...Hm." Astaire hummed to himself. "Curious."
Sieglinde, finally recovering from the sheer trauma of what she'd just been through, stood up to face Astaire head-on. "Whatever do you mean…?"
"Your Father. I believe he came here to fight something after I bested the Chaos Eaters in Lost Izalith with him. To sacrifice himself in a blaze of glory, so to speak." Astaire cast his eyes over the shore again, taking in the smoothness of the sands. "...But what was he here to fight? It doesn't look like a struggle took place."
A tinny hum came from Sieglinde. "I… I suppose you're right. But he couldn't have come here for no reason! There must be something we-"
Sieglinde was abruptly interrupted as a shadow cast itself over her and Astaire. The sound of water thrashing behind them, combined with an ear-splitting roar, shook them both to their cores. They turned around, weapons raised to find... er...
"...What?! What was it?!" Rise asked, clutching her covers around her chest in anticipation.
For a moment, Astaire's face was blank. "I, er… don't quite recall."
Rise lunged forward from her sitting position onto all fours, her face inches from Astaire's. "What?! What do you mean you 'don't quite recall'?! You put me through an emotional rollercoaster like that and you don't remember the end?!"
"I don't, honestly! Whatever happened, all I remember is reawakening at Firelink Shrine afterwards!" Astaire insisted, backing away from Rise's face. "Without Sieglinde, too, I should add."
Rise relaxed and sat back, putting her head back on her pillow before she sighed. "So. Did you ever see her again?" Astaire shook his head. "Meaning… you never told her how you felt."
"It wouldn't have made a difference." Astaire shifted his back off the bed's side and lay back down on the floor. "No sane being could ever love an Undead. They'd only be inviting pain and anguish into their life further down the line. I could've told her, but I could guess what the answer might be."
Loving someone from a distance, only to give up on pursuing them to ensure their own happiness.
"...I think I know how you must've felt." Rise said quietly, looking Astaire in the eyes as he raised an eyebrow. "It's nothing, really. Just something from a long time ago, don't worry about it." She assured him, rolling onto her side and putting her back them.
She heard Astaire hum, then sigh as he too rolled over on the floor.
Internally, Rise's thoughts were abuzz. To tell him, or not to tell him? What would happen if she did? Would it make things awkward? Between him and her? Or between him and…?
"...Senpai." Rise finally chose to say, while at the same time refusing to turn around. "I had a crush on Senpai. That's why I know how you must've felt." He'd bore his previous' crush's details to her, after all. It only seemed fair to return the favour. "Goodnight, Astaire-kun." She quickly added, bundling herself up in her covers.
Well at least one of them was feeling up to the task of sleeping. Where Astaire had felt himself begin to reluctantly nod off, Rise's addendum immediately shook it off. She'd had a crush on Yu.
In hindsight, Astaire wasn't surprised. Yu was the leader. He was charismatic and mysterious, alongside being as handsome as he was. He was powerful and commanding, just as his Persona was. There were few women he could think of who wouldn't find themselves drawn to such a type.
That's right. It wasn't a surprise at all. Such a charismatic sort was bound to attract that kind of adulation, it was only natural. Mmhmm.
...It didn't explain why the fact made Astaire feel as demoralised as he did, however. Nor the lingering sorrow lingering in the back of his head. Having never felt it before, giving the feeling a name was impossible. To anyone else, the symptoms made the cause all too clear.
Envy.