The reaction he gave her wasn’t what she had expected. Ko has never been one for physical gestures all the time, especially so openly, so she figured she wouldn’t see another for awhile. As he reached for her, cupping the back of her head her eyes widened a little, staring into his eyes with slight confusion and surprise. In better circumstances his smile would have melted her on the spot, making her knees weak as she would have feigned a dramatic swoon to be funny about it, but now? Now was different. He praised her, and she closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. No scent of blood reached her this time, and for that she was thankful. For him- she was thankful. As he pulled away she attempted a smile, tilting her head as she watched him closely. She’d spent the entire time sleeping, so they hadn’t had a chance to talk. He was acting strange, and there was the obvious elephant in the room... he looked different. More mature, a bit older looking and less like a rambunctious teenager. Her gaze never wavered from him as he put his hands into his pockets, and even with a slightly different face she still recognized the expression that he wore. He was thinking. A smile smile formed on her lips, sadness lingering in her eyes. She wished there was something she could do- not just for him but for all of them.
As the thought crossed her mind, someone passing by caught her attention and she glanced over from the corner of her eye. Part of her was relieved to see he’d stayed after coming with them, because he’d said what his main goal was before the attack- and it was not being in a team. Here he was though, a smile on his face as he greeted them. Originally she’d thought seeing anyone being normal in this situation would be a psychopath or something, but after being around people even just for a moment she realized a few things. This would pass, because she had people by her side that were in the same boat as her, and that everyone coped differently. Some were thinkers, some were sleepers... some were fighters. Truthfully under other conditions the latter may have been her go to, but this? This wasn’t something she could fight away. It hit too close to home in some ways. It helped knowing that Ko at least understood why.
Before Ko mentioned them going to eat, her gaze just followed Kirinji as he left, absentmindedly bringing her fingers up to her hair to rake them through her crimson bangs and comb them out. There were a lot of different dynamics to this party of theirs, and truthfully she knew none of them by heart. Ko had always been a mystery to her, a closed book, and while they loved each other, there was no doubt in her mind about that- there were obviously a lot of things he kept her in the dark about. All these things he’d used in the last few days and she’d never even known. It confused her a little. Why’d he pick her if he had the power to be his own weapon? There was a slight pout to her lips when his voice broke her train of thought, her eyes snapping toward him as he walked away. The mention of food was not interesting to her at all, but it was his last words that had her follow. He knew she’d do anything that he asked of her, even if it was throwing herself off a cliff. It may not be the healthiest of mindsets to have, but she certainly never imagined he’d ask that of her. She could exaggerate it a little bit and be safe.
Following behind Ko quietly, she stepped up next to him in the kitchen and looked around, but the objects she was looking at weren’t a hundred percent registering in her mind. She noted that there were pictures and a table, but they were kind of just there. Her thoughts had returned to their rampant assault on her, trying to wrap her head around so many things at once. Despite how many times she told herself to slow down and think of one thing at a time, her mind was on its own tracks though. Kiyoshi’s voice startled her, causing the small woman to jump slightly as reality returned to her eyes. She looked the wrong direction at first as she searched for him, and then her wide eyes fell upon him. What he said didn’t give any inclination that he was aware she and Ko knew each other already, but that wasn’t an important detail and she kicked herself for focusing in on that, getting herself back on track with paying attention. From the look of it, he was about to make food, so she quietly walked over to the table and sat down near the end of it, sliding into a chair as she watched him.
She was expecting, though, just a generic hibachi grill chef. Kiyoshi was... almost laughably far from generic, and she couldn’t entirely follow what the hell was happening. It was increasingly obvious that she was starting to zone out in a bad way as she watched him, her eyes following his hands but the distance in her gaze grew exponentially. Everything was starting to move slowly, blurring as they moved before appearing when they stopped in a different location and the spatula striking against the metal created a rippling sound in her ears. They were ringing, a constant high-pitched sound that grew and grew until everything around her was drowned out. And then it transformed. That ringing evolved into the shrill cries of a baby, at first sounding exactly like the ones in the village the night before, and then in the blink of an eye the dining table, the hibachi- all of it was gone. The expanse of a dark forest stretched out before her, the walls of an infant echoing through the trees as she just stared into the distance. She knew exactly what those cries were. The back of her neck was graced with a growing heat, spreading up into her hair and across her scalp. It was coming, the abrupt silence. Followed by... his painful scream.
The scream jolted her out of it, food before her and she didn’t realize that her eyes were watering, in near tears. She took a shaken breath in through her mouth, blinking finally as she immediately dropped her eyes down to the bowl in front of her. It smelled delicious enough to entice her to attempt eating, but she wanted to work herself up to it instead of gorging herself. If she ate too fast, she’d eat too much, and with how things were going right now... she didn’t want to be caught in a bad moment with a full stomach. Picking up chopsticks, she gave Kiyoshi a quiet thankful as he got himself settled and he’d begun speaking. She listened quietly, only allowing her mind to focus on and process his words. Time seemed to pass quickly as he spoke and she soaked up everything he was saying quietly as she ate very small bites here and there during. She was eating at least, and she’d finish doing so, just taking it slow, but now there was something else nagging the back of her mind. Ikki was here for this- but Eiji wasn’t. She glanced up and looked around, taking a deep breath as she put down her chopsticks. Kiyoshi wasn’t finished talking, so she waited until he was completely done. In doing so, she was present to confirm that he was right. She hadn’t spent any of her vouchers, but this time she would make sure they were prepared when they set out. Part of her didn’t mind that he was asking them to go somewhere else again, given what he’d said, and her conviction before everything happened to protect Naraka, it was a simple and quick answer for her, but she didn’t know if she was ready to face off against them again yet.
With a soft exhale, she moved from her chair and sat her chopsticks next to the bowl parallel of each other, indicating she intended to come back and continue eating. ”I will grab them off the table if everyone is gone. I’m going to go check on Eiji, and I’ll come back and finish eating.” Her gaze shifted to Ko, offering him an apologetic smile. ”Promise.” Turning on her heel she walked out, soothing her own nerves by rubbing the back of her hand with her thumb. She passed Ikki on her way out, giving him a once over from the corner of her eye as she did, before she headed for Eiji’s room. She knew that he’d left them as soon as they got there, and knew what room he’d picked, but she didn’t know if he was still there or not. She wasn’t going to waste time to use sensory techniques. There were only a few places that he could be.
Stopping outside his door, she knocked once before she just walked in. The smell made her wrinkle her nose, but she did have a smelly brother. This wasn’t something she’d never experienced before. Instead of fussing about it, she walked over to the window and opened it. A breeze of fresh air funneled into the room, and let in some of the morning light as she turned and walked over to Eiji asleep in his bed. She watched him quietly for a moment, her heart straining as a lump nearly choked her up as it formed in her throat. He was worse for wear than she was, and if they were going to make it through they would all need some example of a cool head and the strength to pull through the blackened water. If that person had to be her... Almost literally in that moment she could feel all of her pent up frustration and grief be pulled into her heart and trapped inside it, a smile that at first was fake but began to feel more normal the more she wore it, and seem genuine, forming on her lips.
Crouching down next to Eiji, she spoke softly so she didn’t startle him, touching his shoulder lightly. She didn’t shake him, not wanting to scare him awake especially if his dreams weren’t pleasant like hers, and just continued to apply gentle building pressure with her hand until he noticed her. ”Eiji, it’s time to get up.”
