As the Wind Caresses Old Memories [Awakening/Akira]

[Luka Kurokawa]

The wind was cold.

It blew against Luka's neck with quite a bit of force. She wasn't used to such harsh weather at all. It was probably due to the fact that she was well outside the safety of the city in the middle of the night. She was in a dangerous place at a very dangerous time. Though, that had been the idea. The girl slowly walked down what used to be a road in the old Mosaic Ruins. Her eyes were red, her cheeks stained with dried tears from not long ago. She thought back to what had just happened, all while hugging herself from the cold wind.

She had done what she had promised herself to never do. Through some odd and unusual circumstances, Luka had considered someone her "friend." Truth be told, she was beginning to accept such an idea. Perhaps for a little while, maybe even just a moment, Luka had seriously considered the two of them being friends. But after the failure that she had displayed, nearly causing Akira's death, she immediately withdrew, repressing those feelings. Though, she would never let Akira know that of course. That would only make things worse. She knew that she could never have friends, nor family, nor lovers, nor anybody that she could care about. Anything that she became close to would all be destined to die should she try. She was a cursed entity. An entity that could be formally named, "Death." She would never permit her feelings to get the better of her, no matter what the cost. Even if she was hated.

Even, if her only choice was to die.

And that is why Luka could be found here on this windy night.

Eventually, Luka found herself stopping. She didn't feel like walking anymore. Perhaps it was her deciding that this was how she wanted to go. Looking up at the grayish-purple sky, the girl simply stared outward. She wasn't sure what one should normally think when death presented itself to you. Then again, she was presenting herself to death. In that sense, perhaps there was nothing to think? She had nothing to say to any malevolent being watching over them. All she had was an awful feeling in her stomach and a tinge of regret. Regret that this couldn't have turned out better. Finally satisfied, the girl crouched to the ground and waited.

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira had managed to track Luka into the terminal and out into the Shadow-infested outer circle, but she gave him a run for his money. The crossdresser was pretty tired. They went out on a mission. They were caught in an ambush. He developed a new strength. He proceeded to carry an unconscious girl on his back for the better part of an hour. The shower was only a temporary fix. Waiting on her to wake up, only to get into an argument, get hit, and then left on a basic note of “Hey, I'm gonna go kill myself now~ Bye-bye!” in a less happy tone didn't exactly rejuvenate him, either. His plans for the rest of that night? Straighten that girl out, get her home, then go the fuck to sleep.

Soon, the boy found her form crouched on the ground, as if she were praying for something, awaiting on something. Was she waiting for the death god's judgment? How cute. It showed that the boy was right, though. If she really wanted to die. . .

”. . . you know, you're helping my argument. Sitting there and waiting for death to come means you're sitting there and waiting for hope to reveal itself.” He calmly, casually declared as he closed in until there was some fifteen or so feet between them. He just watched at that point. He was close enough that, if she tried to run, he could catch her. Their game of tag was just about over. ”Come on, I'm dragging you back one way or the other. We've got work to do.” It could have been considered tactless or cruel that he was just going straight for the best possible route. That door was closed. There was going to be some form of conflict, but if he at least showed her that the chance was there, perhaps it'd help in the long run?

Or maybe he was just tired and bullshitting it. That was also entirely possible.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka waited in the position she did for what seemed no more than a few minutes. Then again, she may have dozed off a bit in that time despite the wind blowing on her. When she heard a voice from behind her, she knew whose it was. Opening her eyes with a sad expression, she slowly got up. Why did her have to find me? This could have all been easily finished if she had managed to lose him. But now it seemed that there was no immediate escape.

She refrained from turning around to face him. For now, at least. Instead she looked up at the sky again. You have a knack for making things difficult I must say. But you certainly are reliable, looking at it from the other perspective. Her voice was calmer than it was back at the apartment. In fact, it was more of a casual tone. Its no wonder you're the student council president. You just don't know how to give up. She looked straight ahead now, with her neck getting a bit tired. Akira. You became someone that I felt I could rely on. You could even say I felt comfortable calling you my "friend." And for a time, I was okay with that. But that was the issue. . . as the people who are precious to me are all destined to die. Finally she turned around to meet the boy's eyes.

I am Death.

She simply gazed at him with a cold glance. You had nearly died during the mission in the mines. Though it may have been the shadows that would kill you, it would have been my fault. I can only imagine that it will happen again, so long as I live. I am simply here to rid you of that fate. One life for another. One that has something to live for, opposed to one who can cause death. She spoke out loud so that the boy could hear her loud and clear.

[Akira Nakajima]

The conversation was supposed to be serious once the girl began speaking. Despite that, the boy had to resist the urge to laugh in her face the moment she claimed to be death. She went on to same even more ridiculous things, too. He hadn't nearly died- she was the one that had been in danger. Ah, he was both amused and disgusted. This girl was awfully full of herself, thinking herself to be the embodiment of death. He was going to speak, but his shoulders quaked. Then, he laughed. It was the height of his ignoring the severity of the situation. It went on for a couple of moments before he calmed himself, gazing at her. His eyes were alight with that mirth, but that slowly died down.

”I knew you lacked common sense, Ruka, but that's a bit absurd, even for you.” He slowly shook his head before firmly fixing her with a stare. ”Everyone is destined to die. Humanity is a victim of the second law of thermodynamics. If not for war, disease, accidents, or our general stupidity, we'd die of old age. Everything dies. Whether or not these things or people are around you is purely coincidental. Why can I say that? It's pretty simple, but I'll make sure you can understand it clearly.” He paused, closed his eyes, then coughed lightly. Then, eyes opening and practically glaring at the girl, he pointed at her with his free hand.

”You're not death! Death is a calm, impartial judge that lacks mercy or consideration- coming for the weak, the strong, the young, the old, all equally! You say I nearly died? Good job.” He clapped sarcastically, scissors waving in the air. ”You can apparently see alternate dimensions, 'cause I think I did a pretty damn good job of kicking ass safely!” He crossed his arms, scissors pointing towards the ground. ”Moreover, death incarnate would not be blushing and fidgeting while asking me to do whatever I wanted with it. Death wouldn't be overjoyed at having the chance to dress up and practice heroics. Death would not give a shit about those things. Know why? Because it's death. It has no feelings, no humanity. Kinda sorta things that are just oozing off of you right now, you know?” He was about to go on, but something stirred behind him. Half-turning, he sent a cold glare. It better not have have been a human. And if it was a Shadow. . . he was going to wreck its shit. Aaaand it was a muscular wrestler asshole. Just like during the mission. Wonderful. He sighed, then fixed the girl with a glare.

”We'll finish this in a minute. For now, you have two jobs, and they come down from the top- because I'm the Student Council President. Firstly, apologize to death. That was rude of you to use Murphy's Law as justification for your being death. Secondly, gaze upon the power you gave me by fainting in that fight. Witness that your defeat in that battle gave me more power- the power to help others, to save them. Realize that you just saved lives indirectly.” With that, the boy turned away from the girl. He had plenty of things in his jacket, but the one he was reaching for was his evoker. Scissors in his left hand and evoker in his right, he rolled his neck. He couldn't just beat the shit out of Luka, so it was probably best that a Shadow appeared. He really needed to abuse something.

”Come, Alma Elma!” He pulled the trigger. Sprouting from the back of his head like a perverse rose, the succubus “dripped” from his head, slowly filtering towards the ground. A seductive smile curled her lips as she gazed at the girl. Then, shifting to her feet, the entity faced their enemy. ”Agilao.” He ordered simply, and the succubus flew at the titan, whirling and sticking her tail in its face. The three-pronged appendage split open and spewed fire out. That would definitely---- . . . do nothing, apparently. The boy sighed, stepping towards it. Apparently, he was going to have to physically get near the thing. ”Skewer!” He ordered, the succubus attempting to run through the gloating giant. It, too, was ineffective.

Well, shit. It was just one special thing after another today!

”All right. Fine. Fall back. I'll do it.” He sighed and shook his head before charging in, evading the titan's first swing. Whirling, his slashed across the Shadow's front, but it was as though the blade gently traced over the chiseled abs- like a lover's touch in the form of massive scissors. Annoyed, he gave the thing a roundhouse kick as it used some sort of fire attack on him. It was a wasted effort on both sides- neither attack worked. In other words, this son of a bitch was immune to everything he could do. Had he already reached the limits of his new power?

As he regained his footing, he was caught in the chest by a gigantic fist. That was the second time during his activity that day that he was hit like that. And he flew back, crashing upon his Persona as the two slid back towards Luka. The boy looked more annoyed than in pain. Awkwardly, he pushed himself off of Alma Elma and to his knees, signaling for a Mediarama. Of course, due to the range, it healed Luka as well. The boy slowly stood, taking a deep breath. That was annoying. He was pretty pissed. Just when he had to go set an example, some asshole nulling everything he could do popped up?

Murphy, you were one son of a bitch.

”Hey, Magical Girl Runa Ruka. He's immune to my attacks. Be a hero and nail him with your darkness or ice, okay? I'll distract him.” He fixed her with a stare. It was fierce. ”I'm counting on you, got it?” He then had a Rakukaja placed on himself before drifting back into range of the titan. He used evasive maneuvers. That kept him safe and it meant he could give the girl plenty of confidence in attacking without hitting him. Seemed that was as good as he'd be able to do for the time being.

But, damn. He needed to unleash that frustration on something.

[Luka Kurokawa]

The first thing that the boy did in response to her words was laugh. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the boy. Was what she said really so funny? She did not simply give herself the title of "Death" on a whim. It was given to her by others; time after time. People began to spread rumors about her as the awful events surrounding her unfolded. Old friends and family. . . none of them came to her aid when she needed it. Even when she had been abandoned past that, the words never ceased. Just as the boy had said before, the kids at the orphanage even said such horrible things about her. And just as the boy had hoped wasn't the case, the caretakers were just as bad. In fact, they had probably helped egg on the torment. After hearing such words for the longest time with nothing to solidly contradict them, how could one deny such a notion? To hear this boy laugh at her like this, the girl simply brushed it off as his lack of understanding. You say that as if I gave such a title to myself. . . Do you honestly take me for some childish person who simply pities their self so bad that they give themselves a title like "Death?" As someone who simply wishes to throw the blame of all of the problems they are having onto some fictitious notion that would be beyond anyone's control? She defended herself. Rather, she simply wanted to clarify her words. Finally, her gaze lowered to the ground. When my adoptive family died, I was met with such names. When none of my other family members came to defend me, they simply spoke about me; again I was met with such names. When I was moved to the orphanage, I was once again met with the names that I had grown accustomed to hearing from both the other kids and the caretakers. Names that I would hear for the next eight years without a single contradiction. And yet, the most prominent title that I was given throughout all of that time, was "Death." This girl did not simply give into the names she was given. They were drilled into her head over a long period of time with no sign of reprieve.

Akira was intent of convincing her otherwise though. His argument seemed to be that everyone dies eventually. He said that the people around them at the time is purely coincidental. Of course, all of this made logical sense to Luka. Everything Akira had said since back at the apartment was logical. Everything he said made sense. But many years of contradictory information tainted the girl's mind. It wasn't something she would simply accept over a few minutes of arguing. But the boy wasn't finished, of course. He had to made the point clear that he had utterly destroyed the shadows that had ambushed them. She didn't exactly care how badly he had beaten them. Eventually, he would one day cease as a result of her. That was just how it was.

But something clicked by the other thing he said. Death was impartial, unthinking, unmerciful, and unbiased. That was all true, she believed. But didn't that go against the idea that death followed her whims and feelings? She raised her head to face the boy now, listening as he spoke. Just where was he going with this?

Her eyes widened as the boy made reference to the day they went to the mall. The day that she had caused him to get all out of sorts over what she had said. The day that the two of them had spent together doing things like karaoke, taking pictures, getting dressed up, and going out to eat. She felt feelings of embarrassment when getting dressed up. She had gotten a weird feeling in her stomach when the boy had sung that rather interesting song. She was hurt when the boy made note of her thought processes. She was happy when she received that scarf from him. Could Death really feel such things? Humanity. That was what she had experienced that day, for the first time in many years. But that would mean there was a contradiction somewhere in her own thinking. Her mind was a mess as it tried to sort out just what the contradiction was. It had been staring her right in the face at that point, but she chose to search everywhere but there. She remained silent for that moment. She had nothing to say to him. Not yet. She needed to think for a moment. She had time to, right? Wrong. As Akira's gaze turned back, Luka's eyes followed his to see the cause of alarm. It seemed that they had company. Bad company.

She wasn't really alarmed at the sight of the enemy. She was far too apathetic about danger at this point. She listened to the boy for the moment, completely ignoring the first request that he made. The second one confused her though. New power? Just what was he talking about? Regardless, she averted her gaze from the boy and the creature. She was still trying to piece together her thoughts. She was expecting him to call the name of his persona, Imp, then likely order an attack. But when a different name was called, the girl simply had to see what was going on. A new power. Her eyes widened as the meaning behind what he said had unfolded. He had obtained a new persona. Was something like that normally possible? More importantly, this had been her doing? Luka halted her thoughts for a moment as she simply gazed at the new persona. It seemed that it smiled at her too. Had this not been a rather serious moment, Luka probably would have felt too embarrassed to maintain eye contact with it.

The boy sent out a first attack; a seemingly powerful one at that. That was probably thanks to the strength of his new persona. The girl expected the creature to fall over flat from the sheer power that he had let out. Unfortunately, it was quite the opposite case. The shadow was completely oblivious to the fire attack. Of course, Akira wouldn't give up there. He had other attacks. A pierce attack came from the succubus persona, once again doing absolutely nothing. Now Luka was beginning to worry a bit. The boy's remaining option was to go in and fight on his own. And that was when Luka's one fear had come true. The enemy was immune to that attack as well. It would be impossible for Akira to beat it. Following Akira's landing on his feet, Luka's hand reached out fruitlessly as she watched him get smashed by the gigantic fist. Watching him fly back to her, she covered her mouth. What should she do? The boy healed himself, indirectly healing her as well. Though, she was already in pretty good condition.

Her eyes quickly turned to the boy as he addressed her. He needed her help in fighting the shadow. It was the only way, being that his attacks were useless. But his plan was something that she didn't like. He was planning on being a decoy. He might get hit again. She didn't want that to happen. And yet, she needed to remain here to consider what to believe. So for a time, she hesitated, simply watching as the boy got up and moved towards the large enemy that he had no chance in fighting. He didn't even know if Luka would even help him or not. How could he have such faith in her? Her mind was a mess, but she needed to think. She needed to think, but she was running out of time.

To hell with that.

She didn't really understand it all yet, but she knew a number of things. Enough that she was satisfied in acting now. For one, she was capable of humane feeling as displayed when they had gone to the mall together, and now, when Akira was in danger. Secondly, Akira had faith in her. Despite her protests, the barriers she placed, the escape, and even the apparent lack of will to help, he still believed that she would fight. Maybe just this once. . . Finally she began to move towards Akira, slowly. I'll forget those things I was told before. . . And listen to logic. Listen to what I believe in. . . She was running now. Running straight up to Akira. The enemy wasn't her target. Not yet at least. She had a rather childish reason for doing this. Grabbing him, she pushed him to the side before he could act as any sort of decoy. It felt good. She also somewhat hoped that she had knocked him over with that push. It was certainly strong enough to do that. And without a moment of hesitation, she continued at the large enemy as she pulled out her evoker. I can change! Time seemed to slow down at that point as she brought the evoker to her head. Her heartbeat became heavy; easily readable to her. And just as she tensed her fingers on the trigger, something came to her. A surge of power. And with the sound of her evoker going off, all of the energy seemed to be released. A new name came to her. She didn't speak it of course. She simply willed it. She willed it into existence.
Slowly, a hooded figure rose up from the ground in front of her. It was a beautiful woman with white hair. She smiled at Luka and extended her palm towards her. The two gaze at each other a moment as Luka extended her own palm to meet hers. Hel. She spoke the persona's name as it was revealed to her. Nodding, she turned her focus to the enemy now with Hel turning around to follow her gaze. Before she forgot though, there was something she felt the need to say. Idiot. Stop trying to act like some big dumb hero. I'm taking care of this. She spoke in Japanese that time. Then, turning back around, she and Hel prepared for the battle.

The enemy made a running charge at the two of them, starting off with a powerful punch. Hel moved in front of Luka, holding off the blow from connecting. Being connected to Hel, Luka felt the force surge back to her, causing her to slide back a little. Her mind focused ahead despite the physical force pushing on her. She started off with a simple ice attack to shake the enemy off. It was simple to cast and wouldn't take much energy. Releasing energy from her hands, Hel pushed the creature back. Finally free to act, Luka ordered a dark attack. They were her specialty after all. And so, dark energy began to form in Hel's hands, releasing a powerful blast of energy at the enemy. It was significantly stronger than what she used to be capable of. But the enemy seemed to still be kicking. In fact, it seemed more angry than anything. She needed more power. But that was the strongest attack in her repertoire. What else could she do?

But that was when something revealed itself in the recesses of her mind. A new skill? Hel. Mind Charge! A blue light seemed to charge up both her and Hel. Was it a heal skill? No. Somehow, Luka's mind became exceedingly clear. Her focus was unmatched and felt stronger. The enemy began to charge itself as well. It seemed as if it wanted to match Luka now. I'm not one to talk either of course. I'm certainly nothing like a hero. She shot one last smirk at Akira before turning back towards the enemy, starting off with a familiar pose. Shooting through your soul in the name of truth! Hel managed a magnificent spin, causing her dress to spin somewhat as a result before stopping next to Luka. The two stood back to back while facing the enemy. Then slowly, the both of them raised a hand in the shape of a gun at the enemy. Defender of the city and Student Council Vice-President on the side, Fake Hero Luka is here! As she spoke her last words, a beam of dark energy shot out at the shadow, going straight through it with an insurmountable amount of force. Perhaps those hero lessons weren't all for naught?

The shadow didn't move after being hit with what gave the appearance of a jet black railgun. Instead, it remained there with a rather large hole in the middle of its chest. A moment later, it slowly began to dissolve in its entirety. She had won. Hel slowly faded back into Luka's mind as this had become evident. Breathing heavily from the battle, Luka turned back and ran over to Akira. If he was still on the ground from being pushed, she would have slid to her knees to get to him. Are you alright? When she got there, that was the first thing she would worry about, of course. Some things never change it seems.

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira could only blink as he was grabbed. A very dull "Eh?" escaped his lips as he was shoved to the side. Alma Elma broke his fall. His scissors bounced over to the side. Okay, it seemed that the girl wanted to fight the Shadow by herself. He was entirely fine with the change up until she insulted him. Acting like a hero? Hardly. It was only logical to send someone in to take the attacks if they had no other purpose in a battle- especially if they could reduce and later heal any damage taken. Was being logical idiotic now?

And, just like he had earlier that day- or the day before, if one was to be particularly anal about the terminology- Luka advanced her Persona. Awakened to new power, just like he did. Relaxing atop Alma Elma, the boy really felt that he could go to sleep. Of course, with the girl spewing out a bunch of embarrassing shit that he put in her head to begin with, that wasn't going to happen. Alma's hand had shifted to the boy's head. He was being petted by an embodiment of his subconscious. That, and his subconscious's tail was stroking his leg. Was this some glorified form of foreplay with himself?

Oops, almost got excited with a new idea there.

The "defender of the city" blasted the Shadow away with an amped-up dark blast. The enemy dissolved. Then the "fake hero" turned and ran towards him, even sliding towards him. Well, that was messy. With the help of Alma Elma, the boy surged into a sitting position suddenly. Then, like cruel clamps from the depths of hell, he pinched both of the girl's cheeks, tugging them. Despite the motion, he was smiling angelically. It was questionably more dangerous than his business smile.

"I don't know. I think my feelings may be hurt by being called an idiot for taking a logical battle step while a hypocrite ran in, calling herself a fake hero and putting herself, the only valid attacker, in danger." He uttered it all in a honey-sweet tone, in Japanese, before releasing her cheeks and unzipping his jacket a bit. The first thing he pulled out was a certain scarf that had been cruelly abandoned. This time, he did what he wanted to do when he first presented it to her. He lobbed it at her. It kind of just. . . drooped over the back of her head thanks to the way he threw it. "Don't go throwing away the things I buy for you, either." He huffed before reaching inside his jacket once more, producing a plate that had been wrapped with plastic, the boy dully stared at her.

"I warned you before." He extended his arm, expression suddenly serious. "You damn well better eat those eggs. They're now warmed by my body heat. That increased their value by five hundred percent." And, with that, the boy's expression softened. "Told you back then, didn't I? You'd eat them when this was over. Your Persona changed because you had a change of heart, didn't you?" His lips curled into a slight smirk.

[Luka Kurokawa]

Au! The girl felt her cheeks get pinched, then pulled across her face. Guuuuu. . . Her usual noise that she made was slurred by the pulling of her face. She was clearly a little annoyed by this behavior, but she couldn't stay mad. He seemed rather happy despite his actions and words. He replied back to her in Japanese, of course. She pulled his hands off her face out of protest and turned away. I'm sorry then. Her cheeks were red from being pinched. Though, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the boys words played some part in that.

At the noticed of her scarf being thrown to her, she instinctively caught it. This time she frowned at his words, slowly putting her scarf back on. That was her one regret from this night. Throwing her first gift that she had received in so many years to the ground was just awful of her. Of course, when she saw the plate come out of his jacket, she smiled. A slight giggle escaped her when mentioned warning her. And then a nod at the remark regarding her persona. Yes. She took the eggs which were lukewarm thanks to the heat the boy had just mentioned. And just as he wished, she began to eat them. She was really hungry, having not eaten in quite a while. A mission, eight hours of sleep, then an escape to the ruined city could do that to you. She began eating the eggs like it was the best thing she had ever eaten.

I'm not Death. I chose to believe that because it made sense. I'm capable of humane feelings just like everyone else. But most of all, I realized that I can change. She continued eating the eggs, having almost finished rather quickly. She felt a lot better now, in more ways than one. A great burden had been lifted from her today. She realized that death had nothing to do with her. Well, perhaps it represented her, at least? Death is a two sided coin after all. The end of one thing. . .

. . .and the start of something new.

[Akira Nakajima]

Well, despite the fact that events on the boy's intended schedule had gone completely out of whack, he managed to get through an issue he wanted to gently work out over the course of weeks done in one night. Of course, in retrospect, he had taken two large blows to his chest, carried a girl for over an hour, watched said girl for several hours, was slapped by said girl, had to chase after said girl, talked said girl down from suicide, was shoved by said girl, and was now watching said girl eat. This was the second damn day that this girl had practically dominated. Well, whatever. The mess was over, hopefully for good. She understood some basic human values.

Now if only they could fix that lack of common sense.

With Alma shoving him up to his feet, the boy stood. Having an aid that would do just what was needed the very second he thought of it was amazing. Imp never struck him as reliable in terms of size. Alma, however, was human-sized and very attractive. If someone told him to screw himself, he'd be very tempted to test it out. Dismissing those thoughts, the boy looked down to the girl- to the newly-awakened human- and smiled softly. He then extended his arm, offering her his hand.

”While it's great that you've finally come to understand that, and I very much enjoy laying on my Persona, it's a bit late. Unless you've got something else you need to do here, I advise that we make our way back to the city. I took a shower at your place, but I'm seriously wanting another. Also, I'm not entirely sure I recall locking your door. Which might be a small issue, since you're coming back and all.” He playfully jabbed at her previous declaration- in which she claimed she would not return home. It was all good and done with, so why not?

”And it wouldn't do to leave a girl like you all by yourself here in the middle of the night. Or morning. Let's go.”

[Luka Kurokawa]

It would seem that the worst of everything was over now. But honestly, that was one hell of a day. Technically, two days now. But that didn't exactly help matters. Luka eyed the boy's persona again, seeming rather uncomfortable with its gaze. Seriously, why did it bother her so much? Well, whatever. It wasn't that big of a deal. She looked up at the boy as he rose to his feet. He must have been enjoying using that persona the way he did. Maybe she could do interesting things with Hel as well? Then again, her little display with the posing probably counted for that.

It seemed that the boy took a shower at her place while she was asleep. While she didn't exactly mind it, the images were now there. And to think she was sleeping not too far away from all of this. She wasn't exactly sure how to feel about that. Then the mention of the door being unlocked came up. Luka didn't really mind if the door was unlocked to be honest. She doubted anyone would try to steal her plush collection, manga, or games. (And they sure as hell wouldn't check the fridge for money.) But she giggled at the mention of her indeed coming back to her apartment. Truly, all the bad stuff that had happened was behind her. And judging by Akira, it was probably behind him as well. Smiling, she took his hand and pulled herself back up.

Alright then. We'll head back to my place and you can take another shower if you want. I suppose it is because of me that you got dirty again. Luka had a knack for finding herself apologizing to people. But this time, it wasn't really deliberate like most of those times. She felt that she might be apologizing to people less in the future. After all, she was only human.

[Akira Nakajima]

Alma Elma slowly faded away at that point, leaving the two kids alone as they stood. The girl offered her shower again. He retracted his hand and zipped his jacket back up. He smiled and headed for his scissors, stretching and twisting his body. Yeah, a shower at another person's place would be fine. He'd also use her tub this time. Nothing like soaking in somebody else's tub. After spreading and closing the scissors a few times, making sure they functioned properly, he gripped them in reverse, the blades pointing behind him as he lowered his hand.

”Sure. That sounds fine. Though your soap selection is a bit lacking.” He shifted and passed by her, smiling impishly. ”I carried you before. Maybe you should carry me this time.” He winked and whirled away, heading towards the terminal. ”Oh, and be sure to check the fridge when we get back. There's a surprise waiting!” And with that, the boy strolled forward at a normal pace, waiting for her to catch up before proceeding.

The trial was over. For now.