maskormenacelogs | The world moves faster than I knew

No . . . I don't think so. [She pauses, worrying at her lip with her teeth.]

. . . How bad is it?

It's not good. The last adjustments . . . I think they were mine, from when I disassembled the first Storm regalia. When I gave all the core parts back to Ikki-kun.

So all this time, his A-T haven't been adjusted for him at all. Not even for him before his injuries.

[ Her smile doesn't reach her eyes. It doesn't reach anywhere.]

It's been a year. And then he used his Infinity Atmosphere like that.

Oh—oh. [It's a strangled little sound, thick with understanding of just how awful the situation really must be. And they don't even have Ine here to help this time.]

So, he's— What do we do?

He'll be okay this time.

[ Her fingers twist together, weaving and untangling in meaningless patterns. ]

He's been really careful, so the buildup has been slow. And even if it was a few hours between when it happened and when we found him, it wasn't more than that. Ice for another day, and good meals and a lot of rest, and he'll be okay.

That's . . . this time, though.

We can't let it happen again.

That's why I wanted to talk to you.

My team . . . normally, even if something happens to a King's tuner, we'll still look after them. So I wouldn't mind . . .

[ It's a weird thing to say, to even consider. Doubly so in that she'd never even tuned Ikki directly. But it was Kazu, it was Ikki's best friend, and they'd probably been part of each other's sounds forever.

And Makigai-sensei . . . it would be really hard for her, if they brought home a second crippled Flame King. ]

I'd help, if I could. But Kazu-kun . . .

All he would say is, "I don't need a tuner." Like Ikki-kun did, before. Like something really bad happened to him.

Of course he did. [Of course he did! As if that was anything approaching a reasonable thing to say. As if he really thought everyone was just going to sit by and let him slowly wreck himself like that.]

Emiri will never forgive me if I let him get away with that.

They're all really stubborn, aren't they? Kogarasumaru's Kings.

I think . . . it might be better, if it's you and Ikki-kun talking to him. I can tune him, and I can give him the parts he'd need to not use the Flame Regalia at all. But both of those things are ones he won't accept, right now.

. . . I wouldn't really accept the second one, either.

But like this, he'll run until his legs burn out. And even if that's what he wants . . . that's when teammates are best. For not giving up on you, even if you want to give up on yourself.

He wants to run again. He's said it, and he needs to. And he will, just because you're both here.

That's a start.

If they weren't so stubborn they wouldn't have lasted as members of Kogarasumaru.

[She huffs, combing her fingers through her pigtails, tugging gently at the ends.]

. . . I can talk to Ikki-kun. We could both talk to him, and then he'll do whatever he wants like he always does. It'll probably work out.

If all else fails, we could put the SC on Ikki-kun. We'd at least get some readings that way.

But if it's that, we should probably wait until Kazu-kun's body is a little more healed.

[ A touching scene plays out, in her mental space, of Ikki and Kazu holding hands, looking into each other's eyes.

"You've always been the one closest to me. That's why . . . "

And Ikki elbow drops Kazu into the bed.

"Submit to this, Kazu!"

Mm . . . yeah. They would definitely have to wait until he was healed. ]

Do you really think he'd . . . [Go through with it?

The question fades out before she can even finish speaking. This was Ikki. The boy known for stripping in public. Of course he'd go through with it if he decided that was the best way to help.

. . . Yayoi can only nod in agreement in the end.]

That's . . . another reason I wanted to talk to you first.

Let's leave that as a really really really last resort. For Kazu-kun's sake.

[ Her pocket chirps, cheerily informing them, "You have arrived at your destination." ]

Mm . . . Maybe I'll try talking to Kazu-kun myself first.

[Into the store then, with only a brief pause to grab a basket to take along.]

I don't think Ikki-kun would jump to that first, but I don't think it's a bad idea, either.

[ It's so different, this American grocery store—it's huge, and the produce is all jumbled together rather than being carefully stacked and protectively cushioned.

There's barely any fish, barely any seafood at all, really, but the entire back wall is dedicated to meat. And not thinly sliced strips, either . . . there's steaks and planks of ribs and roasts the size of their heads. Turkeys so big they wouldn't even fit in a Japanese oven.

Kururu stares. ]

This . . . it's . . .

It's really America, isn't it.

It's . . .

[Is this really what America is like? This constant feast?]

These . . . These steaks are a meal by themselves.

We could make sukiyaki for the entire house.

[ Even with Ikki's appetite. Even with TWO Ikkis' appetites.

She picks up a package, puzzling through the English label. ]

It's not even that expensive . . .

[Yayoi leans over her shoulder, squinting at the label and trying to make sense of the nutrition facts.]

Why don't we get it this cheap at home?

. . . economics? Somehow? The marbling isn't as great, but still . . . we can definitely afford this. Even just on the government's allowance.

[ Though that brought a whole other issue to mind. One she'd been thinking about all night, between counting minutes and shifting cold packs on Kazu's legs.

She turns her wrist up a little, looking at the nanite tattoo there, the package of meat still in her hands. ]

Yayoi-san . . . have you thought much? About registering.

Registering?

[Of course she had. How could she not with the constant reminder of the tattoo on her skin, or the file that she still felt the urge to look at every few hours?

She shifts uneasily at Kururu's side.]

It's hard not to think about it right now.

It really is.

I think . . . I might.

[ It's like admitting to an embarrassing secret, and it's not . . . an easy thing to say. It wouldn't be an easy thing to do, even the idea of it is heavy. Heavy and cold, the kind of weight that drags winged beasts down to the ground and chains them there. ]

I . . . will, probably.

[Yayoi's quiet for several long seconds. Her stance shifts, tension bleeding into it—and then out again? It's not easy to decide how she feels about the admission.]

. . . Why do you want to?

Because if I don't, I can't 'run'.

We're missing a lot here. I don't have the Factory, and there aren't going to be any secondary facilities. Skynet is gone. There's no parts manufacturers filling the gaps between stock work and custom sets—there aren't any parts manufacturers at all.

It's not just the sky regalia any more. It's not even just regalia.

You and I are the only A-T mechanics in the whole world. If I can't support you, and Ikki-kun, and even Kazu-kun and Agito-kun . . . there's going to be no one else who can.

[Yayoi lifts her wrist to stare at the tattoo while Kururu explains, tracing her thumb over the patch of skin.]

. . . Mm. I realized we were the only ones too. I even said it to Ikki-kun just before you got here. [She turns a brief, sad attempt at a relieved smile (barely a smile at all) on Kururu.] We would've been really bad off if you weren't here with us.

And . . . [Her smile fades into something more somber, hesitant.] I've— I've been thinking about it too. Doing it.

[ Kururu finally puts the roast back, eyes not leaving Yayoi. ]

You have? I know what I want to do, but . . . why you?

For me it's . . . We need to find a way home, right? And the government has the thing that brought us here, so it's like—keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If I register, then it might be easier to find a way back. Easier to get closer to that thing.

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