bloody-bunny:

Himari didn’t realize her potential. For a second Yuno thought how strange, but then she understood it must be rather usual for girls their age. A majority of girls are not forced to their limits, forced to learn what they are best at. Back home Yuno had been forced to do that first in her academics, and then in a game where hesitating meant life or death. Yuno realized she could learn a lot from Himari, because she was so normal. While sometimes normal had negative connotations, it was a positive thing in Yuno’s mind.

“It’s ok! Don’t worry. Finding yourself isn’t something that comes automatically.  If you look around, there are still adults who haven’t found themselves yet. I’m sure you will be able to find your strengths! After all, you do have a great support system.”

Yuno listened to Himari talk. It must be nice, she thought.  Yet Yuno had pretty much come to terms with her upbringing at this point. It under those circumstances it brought her to Yukkii.  Any pain she had and would endure would be worth it if she could have Yukkii. So Yuno laughed a bit as the girl cut herself short.

“If you are sick, perhaps you shouldn’t push yourself too hard to find them. If they love you so much, I am sure they wouldn’t want that. I love Yukkii more than anything, and I wouldn’t want him to over exhort himself. As I said he is weak, and like your brothers is always where trouble is.”

A sigh escaped Yuno’s lips. It seemed like they were in similar situations in their search for their loved ones. Yuno and Himari wanted to find the men in their lives, before those men found trouble

“Plus, I am sure they will find their way here. When people are destined to be together, not even different worlds can keep them apart.”

Admittedly, Yuno’s words comforted her. She had been under a lot of stress worrying about her brother’s and the pinkette had calmed a lot of her fears. And she actually understood her; Yuno was missing Yukki like Himari was her brothers. She couldn’t have stumbled across anyone better.

“Thank you, Yuno. I’m glad I have someone like you around that understands me.”

Though it was also true that Yuno was more like Kanba and Shouma in this case; if the Takakura brothers were here, they’d most likely be looking for her and be worried over her. Because sort of like Yukki, Himari was sickly and weak. She never let that drag her down, she always kept her head up high, though. It was just the truth.

The shadows casting behind the trees and the two girls told Himari that it was getting late.

“Oh! What village do you live in? I live over in the Village of Wisdom, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around there before.

Then again, she hadn’t exactly seen everyone yet so there was a chance she was wrong.

(Source: takakurahimari)

kepthishead:

The pause Elliot decided to take didn’t last longer than a few seconds, and his hands began to work out the keyboard once more. Acknowledging someone else’s presence in the room, but brushing back the thought of paying any attention, at least for a while.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t enjoy knowing other people could hear him playing the piano, after all, it was one of his skills, to play the piano as he had been taught perfectly from Nessa and Claude. Aside the voice of the other one in the room let him know more than clear that some young girl had entered, so he was in no rush to stop his fingertips to answer any questioning from anyone.

Minutes went by that very moment, in which more tunes came out, it was nothing, the melody had no structure, nothing more than pressing random keys but making them sound at least tolerable. Such as the way pianist would write down any new melody in their heads. 

After the final note, the noble cracked knuckles to recompose the position of his fingers, took a deep sigh and looked back at the girl standing there, to realise it was nothing more but that Himari girl who had told him the day he arrived that his world had been destroyed, making Elliot become worked up and scream at her.

The younger of the Nightrays stood up and walked straight to her, looking down at her. She didn’t even know what a melody was, as he had just being playing random notes of the piano.

“I was practising with whatever came out of my fingers. Have you not hear anyone playing the piano before?” Unamused, people who weren’t nobles didn’t pay attention to much cultural things, they could be impressed with just anything. 

Had she ever heard anyone play the piano before? She wasn’t sure if he was being sarcastic with her or not, seeing as how she could be naive, but yes—of course she had.

Once upon a time, before she got sick, Himari and her two dear friends had aspired to become idols together, forming Triple-H. She was well acquainted with music, even if it had been some time since she had done anything with it.

“It’s been a long time I’ve heard anyone play,” Himari admitted with nostalgia. It was hard for her to do anything with music anymore. Once she left school, Hibari and Hikari continued on as Double-H and became famous. It saddened her, knowing that she could have been doing this with them. But she was also extremely happy for them at the same time.

But back to the topic of Elliot’s playing—even if he had been practicing, it had been well enough that Himari mistook it for an actual song. It might have seemed like nothing to him, but it had been a while since she had heard anything like it.

Then there was also the suggestion that music in their time periods were different; it was mostly techno and pop in her world. Clearly Elliot came from a different era than her.

“But, even if it’s been a while, I can tell that you’re a great player. Your ‘practicing’ sounded beautiful.”

And that was the truth, it had sounded beautiful. If he thought of that as nothing, she wanted to know what he sounded like when he himself thought his playing was good. But she wouldn’t push him now; that could come later.

“How long have you been playing for?”

kepthishead:

Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic—- The echo of the seconds as they slide away from reality, small memories from the piano and the studio in the house that saw him become a grown up young man. Every being superfluous, the notes from each key the sad tunes that might have come out of his fingertips, the happy ones, the angry ones.

Every since Elliot found this old piano in the Polis the abandoned building became his refuge, the only place in the entire island where he could find peace, and yet the peace wasn’t there all the time, it felt broken, as broken as his life, his decisions, his family. 

The noble sat down and let his hands work every single key of the piano, at the speed the hands wanted to have, with the pause the time wanted to give, anything that could fulfil his emptiness. He’s seen so many people yet never felt interested in a single one of them, even when he didn’t want it to his soul have been wandering, he’s solely a body, and his eyes don’t express much he feels nearly nothing. 

Needless to say, it was nearly impossible someone would find interesting how music tunes happened to come from the building every now and then, no audience, no judges, no fans. It was just him and the piano, both of them broken and alone. Not even the sound of steps coming from the distance would catch his attention, not even the sound of the wind blowing and twirling leaves in all the directions.

—————Sudden silence, both of his hands creating distance between the fingertips and the keys…

“Could it be, that I need to write a song?” But maybe he didn’t.

It was surprising, really, how Himari spent so much time outside. Back home she spent all day cooped up at home or in the hospital, rarely getting to go out. Here in Arcadios she spent most of her time wandering around. Maybe it was something about the air, but she felt so much healthier here.

“Ahh~” Himari stretched her arms out as she walked through the Polis. Not many people were around where she was at, so she was free to talk to Penguin #3 without people overhearing. She’d probably be marked as strange, talking to something that nobody but her could see.

“Isn’t is such a nice day, Threetie?”

The little penguin walked beside her, matching her pace perfectly. The air was so nice she felt the need to compliment every thing about Arcadios every day. It would be absolutely perfect if Kan-chan and Shou-chan were here.

Further into her walk, she began hearing the faint sounds of a piano. She stopped walking and glanced around, finding an old abandoned building. Figuring it was where the music was coming from, Himari began making her way over to it.

As she grew closer, she could hear the music clearer. It was beautiful; some of the most beautiful playing her had ever heard. Whoever it was playing it, she wanted to meet!

She entered the building and by listening to the playing, she found where the piano was located. There was a boy with sandy hair playing…a boy she recognized. The boy named ‘Elliot’ who had been rude to her upon his arrival at Arcadios. She didn’t think she’d run into him again. But she had to admit, rude he may be, his playing was lovely.

—Then he stopped.

“Could it be, that I need to write a song?”

Didn’t he write what he just played? It sounded like nothing Himari had ever heard before, and she had heard a lot of music. So she decided to make her presence known.

“Well didn’t you write what you were just playing?”

I should try being what most people call ‘active’.

bloody-bunny:

Though a bit hardened by time and violence, Yuno could still read people, even though she wasn’t always good at normal interaction. The girl’s eyes look a bit sad when Yuno mentioned protecting the boy she loved. Yuno had felt that pain to; even sometimes she almost failed at protecting the boy she loved.  And in the end, ironically he ended up saving her. She tried her best to comfort the girl.

“It’s ok. I am kind of jealous, that you didn’t have to live in a world fighting to defend the people you love! And anyway, we all have our strengths. My strength is fighting, I am sure you have strengths too! We all do, sometimes we just don’t realize it.”

Yuno wondered what it was like to have a family that protected you. It must be nice.  At least one day, on day I will be Yukkii’s bride. And then we will be a family…and see the stars together. Yuno couldn’t help by smiling at the thought. It was the only hope she had.

“It must be a great feeling to have people who love you enough to protect you.”

Yuno nodded as she listened to the girl’s story.

“I had to leave school a few months ago. Some things came up. Once upon a time I was pretty popular actually…the top of my class. In the end no one knew the real me though. Are you home schools then? Ringo is a person you are looking for? What are your brother’s names? Oh, the boy I am looking for is Amano Yukiteru. If we both look for everyone, it could be easier!~<3”

The girl was nice, the kind of girl Yuno probably would have befriends if she was normal. Since she arrived she had be struggling between both of her sides: the psychotic killer and the girl she was before, everything went wrong. Here she wasn’t stuck in a time loop and forced to kill for survival. But it wasn’t so easy to reverse the entire mental trauma she had faced in her life. She knew Yukkii would want her to, ‘be normal.’ It is what he always asked of her.  After everything she went though, could she really have a friend again? Could she be a friend again? It seemed so long since she had friend. She could barely remember it. 

That was certainly something to think about. Himari with a strength? In her mind, she pictured her with super-big muscles like wrestlers, but immediately shook that thought off with a distasteful look. She had never considered herself to be particularly strong. She had always tried to be for her brothers, but in the end they still worried about her. Maybe it was her love? She knew that was strong!

“I think I’m one of those people who don’t realize it.” Himari admitted.

It put her down a little, but Yuno’s words did comfort her; she would find out someday.

“But you’re right. When my brothers protect me I feel as though nothing can touch me!” She cheered, almost immediately after freezing.

Ah! She didn’t want to make Yuno feel upset or jealous or anything…instead she awkwardly tried hurrying to cover it up.

“Um, that’s unfortunate that they didn’t know you in the end. I know how that feels like. But I’m sure that there will be someone someday that will love you for you. And if you want, I’ll be your friend!”

She could relate to Yuno. She didn’t want anyone to feel like that, so she would try her best to help the pink-haired girl.

“No, I’m not home schooled. I had to drop out completely once I got sick. But yes, I’m looking for Ringo! My brothers are Takakura Kanba and Takakura Shouma. They’ll be anywhere where there’s trouble, most likely.” She muttered the last part with disapproval.

She was grateful that Yuno would help her find her brothers. It was definitely easier and less stressful to look for them with someone else.

“Amano Yukiteru?” Himari repeated. “I haven’t seen him, but yes, let’s look for everyone together!”

(Source: takakurahimari)

the-first-deadman:

Noticing that the other was a few steps behind her, Shiro slowed down her movements to fit the girls pace. She wasn’t bothered by this at all, for that she often runned ahead, and it wasn’t all that new that she had to slow down in order to walk beside her companion. Also, it was more polite to walk beside each other, right.

“Shiro thinks it’s nice to meet you, Himari~”

From the sound of the name, it seemed to Shiro as if Himari was from Japan also. Then again, she didn’t knew much about foreign countries and common names there. And being as curious as she was, the question leaved her mounth rather quick. “Is Himari from Japan, too?” the albino said, looking at the other female. “Your name sounds a little like it.”

Continuing to lead the way, Shiro looked around and tooked the scenery in some more. It sure was different from what she was used to, and from what she’d seen before.

Speaking of seeing… She couldn’t see anyone else here, yet she could swear she had heard Himari talking to someone else before.

“You, Himari?”

“Shiro heard you talking to someone before, but I can’t see anyone beside us…”

Before she could think about if it was a good idea or not to ask, the sentence had already came out. Oh. Oh well.

One of the first things Himari noticed, though she was never one to judge, was that Shiro seemed to have not received much schooling or something. She spoke in third person and seemed a little naive. Of course, Himari didn’t go to school either so it was perfectly alright with her.

“Yes! I live with my brothers in Japan.”

“Do you live there too?” It wasn’t often that she’d meet many girls around her age at home, especially ones as nice as Shiro seemed to be. She would be sure to try hard and become Shiro’s friend! Even if they just met, Himari could tell that Shiro was definitely someone that she’d like to be around.

As they walked on the orange-haired girl noticed Shiro looking around like she was searching for something.

“Did you lose something?” Himari asked her curiously, stopping just in case. They could stop and look if she did—Himari wasn’t in so much of a hurry to return. She just needed to find the way back.

But then Shiro confirmed her fears; she heard her talking to her Penguin.

“Oh…you heard that Shiro-chan? Um, I was just talking to myself…”

There was no other explanation. She couldn’t tell Shiro about Penguin #3; that was an even crazier and less believable explanation than the talking to herself one.

(Source: takakurahimari)

the-first-deadman:

For a moment, Shiro could have sworn that the other had hugged… well, air. At least it looked like that, but the albino quickly shrugged that off. Hugging air would be silly, right? Who did something like that, anyway? Well Shiro probably would if she was hyper enough. It probably just looked like it. Yeah, that was it. For Shiro, at least. Altough, if she would have been able to see the girl’s penguin, Shiro would have probably asked her alot of questions about it. But since she couldn’t, the animal of course leaved unoticed.

“Well, this place is reeeaaaally big, so it’s easy to get lost!” she said, gesticulating with her arms a bit, to emphasize the word ‘really’ a bit more. Not that this was really necessary, but… “But Shiro knows this place a bit, and if you’re lost, I can tell you how to get out if you want!”

Being lost sure wasn’t nice, and altough Shiro hadn’t seen all of the forest yet, she had seen and been here long enough to know how to get to the exit. Or back to the way, for that matter. Ah but, what if this girl didn’t wanted to get out, but rather wanted to look around the place?

“Oh! Or do you just want to find the path again?” Well, either way, she would have lead her to said path first anyway. But asking couldn’t hurt, right?

She happily hopped a few steps ahead, turned in Himari’s direction again, and pointed in the direction they had to go. “The path is not far! Shiro will show you the way!” the girl waited a moment for Himari, before starting to lead the way.

Standing up to her feet, Himari started following the energetic girl towards the path. She hadn’t really given her a choice, but it wasn’t like Himari really minded. As long as she was able to find her way back home it didn’t matter where this girl took her.

“This place really is big, I was worried no one would find me.”

She was a little shooken up from that scare still, so her steps where at a slower pace than the girl Shiro’s. She was still close enough to talk to, though.

“I’m Himari, by the way.” She spoke towards the other girl.

If she remembered correctly, the girl referred to herself in third-person as Shiro. It was only fair since she knew Shiro’s name that Shiro knew hers…she was helping the lost girl out anyways.

(Source: takakurahimari)

bloody-bunny:

Yuno accidently let something slip. That was something she rarely did. But regular interactions still left her semi-flustered. Murdering in cold blood that was something she could do. Talking to girls her age was a struggle at this point. Not only was she forced to slaughter people once but twice. It had made her a bit warped. Meeting people was just a battle, but an internal one.

“I was adopted. I didn’t have any brothers and sisters. It must be nice, to have not one but two people to protect you. It is even nicer you have never had a reason to fight.”

The girl blushed a bit and scratched the back of her head. She didn’t know how to cover her slip up, so she decided to make a semi-truth. She didn’t have to know the extent of the girl’s violent past. There was a way to sugar coat it.

“There is a boy I like. He is really sweet and very kind. But he isn’t strong enough to survive. So I had make my strength make up for his weakness. He has the habit of getting himself in in great danger. If I wasn’t there to protect him….he’d probably die..I couldn’t let him die.”

Yuno tried to play it off with a smile on her face.

“Do you have anyone you like in your home world? Wow! We are really close in age. I’m looking for the boy I like I mentioned earlier. I am scared if he is left alone, he will find trouble in this world.”

To have the ability to protect the ones you love like that…though it was in a violent way and against Himari’s morals, she wished that she had the ability to protect her loved ones. She always felt so useless…like she was holding Kanba and Shouma back. She tried her best at taking care of them, but in the end it was always them who ended up protecting and taking care of her.

She actually somewhat understand Yuno’s intentions so didn’t deem her as bad or anything for it. She seemed like a regular girl, blushing and everything.

“It must be a great feeling to be able to protect him like that. Even if I don’t completely understand, I do wish I could sometimes protect my brothers more. You must really love him.”

Himari gave her a reassuring smile since Yuno looked a little nervous about something. Himari knew she didn’t tell her the complete story of her childhood; of course she wouldn’t. It must’ve been nerve-wracking for her.

But wow…she actually had to pause for a second and think about how to answer her question. Himari did love someone—Shouma. He was her soul mate, they had shared the fruit of fate. But nothing would happen between them and she accepted that fact. As long as he was in her life, she was happy. She wasn’t really sure if she loved or liked anyone else. Kanba, maybe? They were difficult thoughts that she’d rather save to mull through a different time.

“No. I stopped going to school a while ago, so all I really have are my brothers and my friend Ringo. Actually, I’m also looking for them. Maybe you’ve seen one of them? If you tell me the boy you’re looking for’s name, I can tell you if I’ve seen him or not.” She offered.

For this, she understood how Yuno felt. She wanted to see her brothers more than anything and she suspected it was the same with Yuno and the boy she liked. She had finally found someone who understood…it was comforting.

(Source: takakurahimari)

bloody-bunny:

“Oh no~<3! Are you ok? I can’t say I’m not kind of jealous. I was kind of forced into learning how to defend myself you know? But you should really learn some way to defend yourself! There could be an enemy around any corner! What would have happened if you can ran into someone who is bad, and wanted to fight other than for self-defense?”

It is rare people are born bad or warped. She was molded this way by sad circumstances. Once upon a time Yuno and this girl probably had a lot in common. Now there were only thing things in Yuno’s World: Yukkii and survival. But, she wasn’t in her world anymore. It was strange trying to adjust to a life where he with in a perpetual look of fighting and protecting.

She could tell by the girl’s jumpy reaction that, this reaffirmed her thoughts, the girl wasn’t a threat. It was the reaction of a girl who had probably never been in a fight. What must it be like, to be a girl like that? Normal? The girl was petite like herself, but definitely had fragility about her. Something about her said that she was sickly. It would be ok, to be kind to her. She was just like one of the girls back in school.

Whenever Yuno was presented with this situation, she put on her “perfect citizen” face. Lately she found herself relaying on, “What Would Yukkii Do?” When Yukkii tried he was really good at making friends. She could tell the girl was still nervous. Nothing good could come of that.

“Don’t worry, I’m disarmed! As long as you have no ill intentions, you don’t have to worry! I won’t hurt you. As I said I’m just a bit jumpy.”

Ill intentions meant something different to Yuno’s than other. It meant anyone who got in the way of her love for Yukkii. Whether it be in a death match or a in a battle for his affection. Anyone who would hurt Yukkii or take him away from her was an enemy. No one would get in her way. As long as the girl wasn’t a threat to either, she had no reason to make an enemy. Not yet. She could be kind to her for now. She popular once, she could do it again. Might as well probe for information.

“How old are you? I’m fourteen. Have you met anyone nice around here?”

One thing was for sure in Himari’s life: any kind of fighting this girl was talking about was out of the question. If it wasn’t for her sickness, it was her morals. She wouldn’t be able to hurt or kill someone. She was a good girl. That’s exactly how her brothers would want her to be, plus she didn’t want to worry them or make them think she’d get into any fights ever. They worried enough as is.

“You were forced to learn? Why?” Curious, why would someone be forced to learn to fight? And a girl, nevertheless. “My brothers have always protected me to the point where I don’t need to fight. Besides, there’s never been a reason for me to do so.”

Well…there could have been a few reasons, but none that she thought at the top of her head. What reasons could this girl possibly have to fight like that? It made Himari wonder, but at the same time she wasn’t too sure she wanted to find out. She was innocent and anything too gruesome made her squirm.

But the reassurances that she wouldn’t be harmed did work. Maybe she was being a little too trusting, but Yuno seemed to be an ordinary girl. She was definitely friendly to Himari. And even if her brothers weren’t there at the moment, she always felt as though she made them worry too much.

Since she was forced to drop out of school when she got sick, she didn’t keep many friends. For the longest time it was just Kanba and Shouma, her brothers and best friends. Then she met Ringo, but it was always a wish of hers to make more friends to make them worry less. It would be nice as well, so maybe she could befriend Yuno…

“I’m thirteen years old. I’ve met a few people, but everyone here is nice. Were you looking for someone in particular?”

(Source: takakurahimari)

bloody-bunny:

There was little that interested Yuno in this world. So she immersed herself in a world of her own. Her face was firmly planted the images of Yukkii on her phone. That small screen was the only solace she had. She was trying her best to meet people, but it has been so long since she was normal, it proved difficult.

Yuno’s quickness in fighting was always her strong point. And while she had not had to use her skills since arrival didn’t mean se had lost her touch. The moment the girl ran into her, Yuno sprang into action. She threw her phone from her right hand to her left hand. The moment her right hand was free she whipped out the switch blade from her bag. Just as she was going to go into a fighting stance, she finally noticed the girl who bumped into her. The girl was fumbling and apologizing. She and laughed nervously.

“Oh~<3! Don’t worry about it! …Or this. It is scary being a girl alone in a strange land you know? I guess I am a bit jumpy. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t scare you.“

Yuno extended her hand to the girl, a pleasant smile on her face. A girl, she could be nice to a girl. Right? Yukkii would want me to do my best at being normal. I have to try. Being normal means having friends and creating relationships. But a deep fear always welled in her.  That she could befriend a person that would take Yukkii away. No, she had to stop worrying about that. Anyone could try to take Yukkii from her: friend or foe. And he’d be so proud of her if she learned how to befriend people. When it came to interacting with the people of this land Yuno felt as if she was being ripped in two. Yuno then pushed all of these fears back in. All she had to do was smile and be pleasant.

“I’m Yuno Gasai. It is nice to meet you!”

The moment Himari started apologizing was the moment the girl she ran into whipped out a knife and looked like she was about to begin fighting her. It scared the girl so bad she stumbled back a few steps with her eyes wide in surprise. This sort of thing had never happened to her before.

“Oh~<3! Don’t worry about it! …Or this. It is scary being a girl alone in a strange land you know? I guess I am a bit jumpy. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t scare you.“

She had scared her. A lot. But Himari would be lying if she said she didn’t understand where the girl was coming from. Arcadios was a bit creepy at times, especially if you were all alone.

“It’s okay, it scared me just a little.” Himari admitted calmly, straightening herself out again and twisting her hands together in front of her dress. “Actually, I don’t know any self-defense which is why I was so surprised.” She gave the pink-haired girl a nervous smile, trying to ease herself down just a little.

Himari had always been too sick and fragile and had to rely on her brothers to help and protect her. So if this girl actually had wanted to fight, Himari would have been dead by now. And that wouldn’t do, would it? What a terrible thing to do to Kan-chan and Shou-chan…

The girl extended her hand towards Himari, making her jump a little again, uncharacteristically. She might have been a tiny bit afraid of a knife slicing out…

Not wanting to be impolite or show how afraid she still was, Himari took Yuno’s hand and shook it. She didn’t really blame Yuno before, so there really was no need to be afraid anymore… these thoughts helped calm the orange-haired girl down.

“Yuno, is it? My name is Takakura Himari. It’s nice to meet you too.”

(Source: takakurahimari)