Kuoh Academy

[Bloodedge]

"Ah, sou ka." Apparently Izuna had been missing a key bit of information that would make sense of this Takumi issue. True enough, he had not been able to see even Eira's memory during the time in which she was within the Boosted Gear. Now that she explained it though, he understood this difference in Takumi a bit better. "That makes more sense. I saw a little bit of this one in his memories, but only toward the end of his time at that last school. Mostly around the event that made him such a dweeb," he said. With that though, he was content to remain as he was, even seeming to drift off with the passage of time.

The next day, it would actually be Takumi in the club building by himself. His last class of the day was not something he took interest in at the moment for certain reasons, so he skipped it. To be more specific, he left the main building before the end of the school day to more easily avoid having to sit in another detention room for fighting... again... again. This day, he stood in front of the very same window Eira often looked through, with his eyes fixed on one point. What he stared at so intently was the very place he died as a human weeks ago.

[Apollymi]

Eira was able to provide the necessary information for Izuna to make sense of the memories he now saw from Takumi, and Eira herself was able to relax while she floated with him. That night she stayed right there, floating in his arms, only to appear sometime way later next day, coming from her private shower. She was dressed as she usually did for these not necessarily school related events but strangely as she approached her throne room where she watched for her day to day activities, she found Takumi staring out of this window. In this moment her eyes widened and her heart thumped harder than it had in quite some time. "Takumi, hisashiburida~" she greeted the lad having not laid eyes on him physically in what would be more than a week. Even so she was quite happy to see him and at present they were alone and she needed to talk to him. She calmly walked up beside him, leaning in the window and looking out at the spot where she'd seen him die once weeks ago. After a few moments of silence she'd speak on the matter she actually needed to talk to him about. "I owe you an apology, Takumi. My powers were a bit strong when I marked you with that last level and though I thought you should have been immune to me, as a Succubus you weren't. I pushed a bit too much onto you, sumimasen." In this speech she hoped to set his mind at ease and perhaps restore something closer to the level of normal that they were used to while he adjusted properly to being himself.

[Bloodedge]

As he stared out unto the location of his death, Takumi's senses were mostly dulled to everything around him. He wasn't able to hear Eira's entrance at all, but sometime during it, his heart beat with an intensity that he could feel throughout his torso. His left hand rose to grip his chest as a result, though he had no explanation for this at all. Before he had the time to process this random occurrence, he was greeted by the woman who raised him up from the very spot he'd been looking at for some time now. He didn't respond directly to her greeting, nor did he look at her at all. His gaze never even left the ground outside. Eira joined him in looking through the window while offering some sort of apology. It was her belief that she'd simply utilized more of her Succubus power than she realized at the time of his marking, and this was the cause for the oddity of their exchange one week ago. When she voiced this apology, Takumi's lips parted slightly, then a response came several seconds later in the midst of his entranced stare at the ground. "Iie... 'That wasn't why I...' ... I figured that out back then."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Eira had been able to sneak up on the lad as he looked at the spot which had previously marked his death. Strangely he didn't even bother looking to Eira at all, even while he replied to what she had to say. Eira would have been indifferent to this, or rather should have been, but somehow she felt slighted. She couldn't really explain it but his lack of acknowledgement of her made her chest feel tight. Even so, given his actual response was one which seemed to coincide with some understanding of what she'd said, she simply responded the only way she could. "Hai hai... I forget you've had more time than me. Arigatou na~" she managed though she didn't want to move away from him, she felt herself in a strange way wishing for the same sort of closeness she'd shared previously. 'I want...' she had this thought again as she pulled herself away from the window turning to walk away. It wasn't necessarily a conscious thought but something much deeper than she could even think to vocalize.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai," he said in response to her thanks. Still, he looked through the window. Ever since his waking and the irreversible change to the color of his eyes, he felt some strange attachment to the place his human life ended. If asked about it, he wouldn't be able to explain why this was the case. It simply was. 'Huh?' His stare ceased only once, and it happened to be shortly after Eira backed off and stepped away from the window and himself. Surely he heard something else in these final moments. There was something there. It was almost as if he could feel it within his very being, but no... it had to be something he heard with his ears, didn't it? Assuming this to be the case, Takumi let the broken gaze at his death location be replaced by a glance toward the fleeting Succubus. One could note that when he looked this way, his left eye - the one previously hidden by the angle at which he stood - had become orange. "What?"

[Apollymi]

There was finality in his affirmation of his understanding. But soon there was a hiccup in the lad, and his gaze averted towards Eira herself. Curiously the crimson haired Succubus hadn't spoken aloud. The lad had turned towards her questioning her as if he'd heard something. Eira knew she hadn't spoken aloud and turned back to reassure him and allow him the moment he wanted. "Na..." she had started to tell him she hadn't actually said anything but what she saw in the lad's face at this moment changed the word entirely. "-ni?" she finished at almost a whisper. Of course given what she knew about the fragility of the lad's mental state she decided not to bring attention to this at all. But strangely her heart warmed at the sight. It was as if the simple act of him turning to see her, had given her satisfaction in a way she couldn't begin to understand. She wanted to hold him, to comfort him. She wished to look into the eyes of both of him and reassure him, but she did not think this was a good idea given the state he was in. But the warmth she felt looking at him was almost undeniable, after staring for several seconds she simply waved it off. "Gomen, I was probably just thinking aloud."

[Bloodedge]

It was an odd state that Takumi found himself in now. Stuck between two totally different versions of himself, he felt everything. He also felt the nothing that was the space between the two. Even so, he felt somehow compelled. Eira was staring at him, and one or both of the battling personas felt some need as a result of this. He stepped forward. One massive step which seemed to take an eternity of conflict into itself occurred, and was followed by another... and another. Takumi remained both aware and unaware of these movements, but regardless of his intentions by them, he eventually stood before Eira whilst looking into her eyes. Even though his own eyes conveyed nothing, there was a plethora of both positive and negative emotions and sensations swarming within his core.

There was something he could see. His right hand was held against the side of Eira's face, offering her whatever gesture he could to convey what he felt in any way possible. This sight was the only thing that lowered his gaze from her eyes, if even by a noticeable amount. Not only could he see himself doing this... he could feel it. Alas, as he looked at the spot he could feel, there was no hand upon it at all. It wasn't real. In reality, his arm had only twitched in a slight instinctive response to one version of him, but did not advance nearly enough. In the end, he managed only to respond to her claim of thinking aloud. "Sou... desu ka."

[Apollymi]

Eira was enthralled by what she was witnessing. Her eyes couldn't leave this lad as she was confused by the state of his being. When she'd gone into the Boosted Gear, she'd been told the orange eyed version of Takumi didn't exist, but obviously he still did. She couldn't even claim to be one to understand the complex nature of other beings she didn't even understand herself. Still, her eyes took in all of this lad and she saw the struggle taking place, even without having a definite idea of what this struggle was. Her compulsion to act on the necessity to comfort this boy was held back entirely by the idea that she didn't know if doing so would help him or hurt him. When his eyes moved upon her face she saw the twitch of his hand and felt conflicted about not offering her assistance. The more she stared the more she realized that she didn't understand this boy's pain. Instead of harping upon this she did what she was always going to do, what she felt compelled to do more in this moment than any other. She couldn't stop herself from leaning forward while popping up on her toes before pressing her lips softly against Takumi's forehead. An action she'd never done to him before this moment but that somehow felt like the most natural thing in the world to her. "You don't have to think about it so much, Takumi."

[Bloodedge]

Takumi wanted something very specific as he stood before Eira. Inversely though, he wanted specifically to avoid that something. This was the conflict of the current Red Dragon Emperor. He was constantly struggling against himself, and it only happened in the presence of this devil, this... Succubus. Perhaps no other word could describe the crimson-haired woman before him. As if in slow motion, he saw the forward motion of Eira toward himself. His eyes shook throughout this approach, and his mind raced. 'No. Don't... come closer!'

In one moment, Eira rose higher than he wanted when encroaching upon him. In that very same moment, she drew closer than he desired. These things were one and the same, and even with the same reason fueling them. Her lips pressed themselves against his forehead and his eyes widened as a result. She said he didn't have to think about it so much, yet he had no clue what she meant. Or... maybe he did. "I... don't understand. What am I thinking about too much?"

[Apollymi]

Takumi's inner struggle was one which seemed to continue even as Eira herself approached. She couldn't help but end up with a strange reaction, but she somehow felt relieved after her lips made contact with the lad's forehead. She felt his eyes widen when she did this, and as she came down onto the ground again a full inch shorter than Takumi she looked up gently to make eye contact. His question was one which confused her only slightly because she felt as if he should have known. Given the state of the lad as being somewhere between the two versions of himself, whether he was conscious of it or not, he was stuck considering only one thing, "You." That word meant a lot, not just him as a physical being, or even the difference between the kinds of personalities he put forward. As far as Eira could see by the way the Red Dragon Emperor behaved, he was so busy considering everything about himself, he was hanging himself up losing what he thought he knew simply by virtue of not letting himself... be. This was a tad too philosophical maybe or maybe it wasn't at all, but Eira didn't want to make him feel any more conflicted so she left it at that, backing away from Takumi to take the seat she was always going to and wait for everyone else to show up.

[Bloodedge]

A single word summarized what Eira believed he was overthinking. He hadn't been sure at all until this point, but now, he had never been more certain... certain of how absolutely wrong someone could be. Whatever this meant to each version of Takumi, he totally understood what it was he truly thought about too much. Perhaps one day he would come to realize that it was how differently the versions of him thought about this one thing which proved to be such an issue for him. 'Iia. It's... your fault. It was always... Your fault.'

Nothing worked to bring about resolution. Within moments, Eira was walking away from the boy to reclaim her seat. He was left staring at her back while she moved, stuck in a whirlpool of his own emotions and mindsets all the while. 'Stay away,' he thought, becoming more perturbed by each instance of having two conflicting thoughts happening simultaneously. Everything that happened, he questioned, even when he didn't. With no answers at all to take from himself, he trudged along to the couch he'd been frequently making use of, and closed his eyes upon sitting on it.

[Apollymi]

Eira had walked away from Takumi, even so she felt conflicted just a bit, and she wasn't quite sure why. She was almost certain she should have left, but she was also sure that he wanted her to stay. Perhaps it was true, she'd expected too much from him in the moments so soon after he re-emerged from within himself. Perhaps he'd find the comfort he needed to heal his mind and his heart. The only thing Eira felt though was a pang in her chest, as she wanted to comfort him more but knew for his own good that he shouldn't. Once she was seated with her hands clasped in her lap she watched the lad sit and close his eyes and exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding. She found herself relaxing with her hands clasped together for a few moments in silence until people started to arrive.

One of the first would be Youmu who entered not through the door but through the floor taking up her seat on the side of Eira's throne. Her eyes widened at actually finding the woman there after she was gone for so long but she, maintained a bit of apathy. "It's good to see you... Eir," she mentioned having missed the crimson haired young woman while she was away. Eira knew this to be the case because it was very rare indeed for Youmu not to refer to her as President specifically while they were in this building. "Gomen, Youmu. I got caught up doing a thing and I lost track of time..." she said and it wasn't at all untrue but she hated that she'd left them in a huff. "Iie, you were gone long enough I just expected you to bring home another misfit for the group," she said as she laid the hand she normally allowed to rest on Eira's shoulder atop her head while Eira for her part wrapped her arms around the phantom's midsection giving her a gentle squeeze. "I have everyone I need. I didn't go looking for a new friend, and I am not sure I made one, that vampire I woke up didn't seem to like me very much. Or like at all," she mused which made Youmu's left brow rise, ever so slightly. She'd come across many manners of creature but never had she been given the opportunity to cut a vampire. If Eira didn't bring it home as a pet, perhaps there was something new to do. "Oh I know that look. I am not sending you after him or anything," she said with disapproving but gentle laughter.

[Bloodedge]

Since Youmu didn't use the door, it remained closed. That is, until one moment where it abruptly burst open, and in fell none other than Sairevil. His school uniform had clearly been tugged nearly to shreds, and his coat was attached only to his left arm as he slid across the meeting room floor, all the way to the foot of Eira's throne. "Huff... huff... I... made it..." he began to say, only to look up and see Youmu standing beside Eira. Immediately looking very let-down, he checked the area behind him. There was Takumi. "... Third." The young pureblood was quite disappointed in this moment. All he wanted was to be the first to arrive for once, just once. Yet once again, it was taken from him. Having heard the crimson-haired lad from outside the room, Hiroki stepped inside while already chuckling at Sairevil's misfortune. "Next time, Revil-kun. Ohayou gozaimasu, minna. Okaerinasai, Buchou," he recited, clearing his introduction and return welcome within two breaths while retaining his usual upright demeanor.

[Apollymi]

Youmu looked at Eira and shrugged. "Fine, but if one night I take an enthusiastic walk... " whatever she'd been about to say would be interrupted as Sairevil literally burst through the door thereafter and slid all the way to Eira's feet at the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of her nephew looking as if he'd been ravaged by wild beasts, but she knew this simply wasn't the case. She also saw his disappointment at arriving not first. "REVIL!~ Actually you look like you might have gotten into a bit of trouble," she chimed a magic circle appearing around the lad she fully intended to use to fix the clothing on his body returning his uniform to pristine condition. And ultimately right after him was the arrival of Hiroki which also brought a smile to Eira's face as she released Youmu and stood before her throne expecting a hug from at least one of the two males who'd so recently arrived. "Tadaima!~" she chimed. "And gomen, I didn't mean to be gone so long..." she apologized to the group at large. Soon after it would be Miyuki who showed up, at the fallen door with wide eyes. "What happened to the..." she looked up and saw Eira standing in their midst after she'd been gone both from school and from home for a week. It might not have seemed like such a long time, but Miyuki had been staying with Eira exclusively since she'd been picked up a few months before. As such her leaving had made the girl really sad and she'd been worried. "E-e-eira-nee!!" she chimed moving towards her at a relatively high speed and looking up at her as if she was seeing her again for the first time. "You were gone so long, I was worried!" she said which made Eira lean down and kiss the girl on the forehead. "Gomen, Miyuki. I didn't mean to make you worry... I'm back now," she stated which made the black haired girl puff out her cheeks just a bit and blush the bluish tint she was known to present. "Hai! Okaeri!~" she said having accepted this return she was content not to sit on the couch but to instead sit at the foot of Eira's throne in front of the now sitting Youmu where she'd sat for months and months before she'd grown independent.

[Bloodedge]

"Iie. No trouble here," Revil said as he pushed himself off the floor. By the time he managed to rise to his full height, his clothes had been fixed and made orderly again. He took a moment to inspect himself before voicing his appreciation properly. "Arigatou!" he said. With that, he hopped into Eira's open arms to claim the free hug she offered. In doing such a thing, he looked behind himself at Hiroki and grinned, as if to convey the idea that he'd won some form of race today. "Yare yare," Hiroki said with a chuckle. "Next time." Hiroki awaited the moment Sairevil released the woman to share a hug with her as well.

Meanwhile, Takumi sat motionlessly. His eyes remained as still as the rest of his body, until Eira began physically interacting with other members of the peerage. It was almost as if he sought confirmation of something. Everything seemed virtually normal for the most part, but her exchange with Miyuki mimicked what Takumi himself experienced only a short while earlier. His eyes widened, if only slightly. 'Sou ka. It's just normal.' The boy's eyes closed again after this thought, only reopening slightly when they were both back to their red state.