Kuoh Town

[Apollymi]

Eira had only explained what she thought he needed to know, even so Takumi's reaction to her explanation was strange. He pulled away from her seeming to be confused, and Eira understood enough of her abilities to know about this. Beyond this he reacted as if it was somehow his fault that he felt that way, that he'd been wrong about something. He apologized to her and she had no idea why. "Taku...mi," she mumbled in response to his apology. "You don't have to apologize," she said as she released him. It was an odd thing to do, given that she didn't like letting him go, but since he wanted to flee her presence she couldn't make him stay. 'Why?' this question hung in Eira's mind as the lad aimed to move out of her bed as well. "Be careful, Takumi."

[Bloodedge]

Takumi had nothing to say to the notion that his apology was unnecessary. He still felt it was. In previous moments, he'd obviously misread some sort of sign that may not have even existed as anything, and acted on what he thought in the moment. Sure, she had returned his gesture for a moment, but... she was a Succubus. This wouldn't deter Takumi from his goals at all, though. He simply now had to seal something away. For the moment, he looked around Eira's room until he found his clothes, seeming to have few enough issues moving while he collected and donned them. As he put them on, he didn't appear to be very satisfied, finding various moments in which he tugged at this and that. Everything seemed virtually fine nonetheless, until he was fully dressed and attempting to move further. A single moment saw every muscle in his body temporarily give out, though his control over himself returned before he managed to fall over. 'Shimatta!' he thought. Pushing forward, he gathered his bearings and reached for the door to Eira's room. If nothing else, he had to leave this room now, lest he misunderstand something else. "Ja," he said in a voice that had become deeper than its previous state, yet also more strained. Without further ado, he moved the door into its open position and stepped out.

[Apollymi]

Eira watched as Takumi dressed himself. The struggle of this moment was one which hurt her quite a bit, but she told the lad she'd let him keep his emotions. She couldn't go back on that now, still she wondered why if their connection should have been better the lad didn't seem to understand at all. More over, while he was dressing himself he had a moment where all his muscles froze and she fought not to immediately move to catch him. 'Why? Why don't you understand?' she thought as she lay in bed propped up on her elbow. Watching the lad reach for her door and with a passing word he left. "Ja ne," she murmured. With that she rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling. She didn't want to be in this room alone right now, but she also didn't want to cause Takumi any more stress. As such she was stuck in this room by herself for now at least.

Meanwhile the rest of the house was as busy as it always was when Takumi stepped out into the hallway, he'd find himself bumping into Maiko who in the meantime had changed into pajamas and had several bags of snack food and bottled drinks in her hands. Her eyes widened at the sight of him there as she fell to the ground with all the things in her hands falling around her.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi moved onward after closing Eira's door behind him. He didn't appear to have any specific destination in mind, but his chosen path resulted in him bumping into Maiko. He stumbled back, but once again caught himself. Maiko, however, fell back while dropping a slew of snacks and beverages she'd been carrying. In that moment, he snapped back to reality in an eye-widening moment before dropping to one knee in front of the girl. "Gomen. I wasn't paying attention. Here," he said while reaching out with his left hand to grab as many of her things as possible, and reaching out with his left to offer her a lift. Little did Takumi realize, he'd hardly be able to get up himself. Now that he'd lowered himself to one knee, his body was in the process of giving out again, and it was taking more out of him that he realized just to move as much as he was now doing.

[Apollymi]

"Iie, it isn't that big a deal, Yasukawa. I've taken harder hits on purpose... You sure you should be up so soon though," asked Maiko seeming a bit concerned about the lad's well being as he went about trying to help her up she shook her head no and pushed herself up off the ground. "No offense but you look like shit," she said honestly before she aimed to take her snacks from him. She was quite curious as to why he was leaving Eira's room if he wasn't all fixed up, as their leader tended to look after this lad extensively, even so she felt it wasn't her place to question it so she didn't. She'd go on to tuck them all under one arm before extending her other to him. "Where are you off to?" she asked specifically avoiding all conversation concerning anything negative that had happened this day. She'd grieved a serious loss like his and knew better than to bring it up before the lad was ready lest he become upset.

[Bloodedge]

Maiko claimed she'd taken harder hits than this on purpose, and given her personality and general preferences, Takumi believed it. The girl then rejected his offer to help her up, doing so herself while claiming her items from him. Then came her own offer to help him off the floor. Only in this moment did he bother answering her question to him. "I'm fine," he said, ignoring her outstretched hand to push himself up. As difficult as it was, he managed to rise by using his lifted knee like a crutch until he gained the momentum. From there, he pressed his right hand against the wall to balance himself while attempting to move past Maiko. "I'm going home."

[Apollymi]

Maiko already had a lot of respect for the lad, watching him push himself up on his own two feet was something which only added to that. Even so, she could see the state he was in, and found it amazing that he fully intended to walk home. With her arms full of snacks and knowing she could chow down at anytime but knowing there was only this opportunity to be a proper friend to the lad, she decided her course of action. "Yosh! Going with you then... at the very least to make sure you actually get there," she mentioned and just like that the rather pushy girl made her plans to the lad known. "And don't try running off without me, alright? Just a couple of minutes..." she said.

And just like that she ran off and changed back into street gear and stuffed a backpack with all the snacks she'd intended to eat. And within a few moments she returned to the lad ready to go. "Alright, lead the way..." she said with the same general attitude and tone she'd had since this meeting had begun.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi scoffed when the girl claimed she was coming with him, but it didn't seem malicious at all. In spite of this, he remained in his place as she ran off to change and apparently pack up her snacks. A short while later, she was in the vicinity of the lad again, back into her normal attire and seemingly raring to go. Takumi moved on without further hesitation, taking his leave of Eira's place of residency with a single phrase offered to the Rook in his company. "Doumo arigatou."

[Apollymi]

After returning to Takumi's presence Maiko saw that he was content to take his leave of place that Eira and a great number of her peerage called home. As they left even though he'd scoffed when she'd run off to get dressed he even managed to offer a thank you to the girl for her presence, she shrugged this off as they walked towards his house and kept the same upbeat attitude. "Iie, that's what friends are for," she mentioned. With that she was content to walk him home keeping a close eye on the lad as they moved about. She really didn't think he was up to this physically and she could only assume given what he'd been up to before this that mentally he wasn't all there either. In any case, she'd be there for him in this moment, because someone had been there for her in her time of need as well.

[Bloodedge]

"... Hai. Friends," Takumi repeated as he moved out of the building. It was a long and arduous walk back to his apartment, but surprisingly, Takumi managed to make it without any issues... bar the constant stumbling, somewhat hazy vision, and the general lack of anything besides the will to move and the present moral support of companionship. Eventually, he reached his front door, which he leaned against while inserting and turning the key. He had finally made it. At last, he could enter his home and gather his bearings, recuperating in his own time. A relieved grin passed his face, but just as the door he was leaning on had its handle turned, Takumi found himself falling face-first into the building.

[Apollymi]

Maiko watched this lad stumble on his rather long journey from Eira's home to his own. She would have wondered why he bothered with this much work but she figured it had to do with his process and as such wouldn't interrupt it. When they finally made it she was paused to his right, watching as he finally put the key into the lock of his apartment door. Beyond this he finally got the door open and seemed to be relieved. It was a joyous sight, until of course the lad fell forward as if he intended to collapse. Maiko caught him with an outstretched arm. "Oi oi, don't collapse at the finish line. Come on then..." she said as she pulled him up on her shoulder to help him walk into the door. She'd take him inside and place him on the futon within the space before going back to retrieve the lad's key from the door and joining him within. "It's pretty respectable to want to do it on your own. I mean I can't really talk 'cause I did the same thing, but damn you had me worried for a second there," mentioned Maiko as she slung the backpack full of snacks between them on the couch. "Celebratory, snack break," she mentioned as she took a snack size bag of chips and cookies for herself and a bottle of juice and left the lad to plunder her snacks of choice himself.

[Bloodedge]

At the precipice of consciousness, Takumi's fall came to a screeching halt. It was Maiko who stopped his descent to the floor, and this simple jerking motion let him snap back into a proper woken state. Her follow-up was to guide him to a futon and place him there, before going to retrieve his keys and returning with her bag. These snacks she brought up were not the worst idea he'd ever heard, but he had something else in mind. As such, he pulled himself up and turned toward the bedroom. Stumbling his way in, he latch on and hung on to the wardrobe door, which he intended to slide open and locate something to wear besides whatever rubbish he had on already.

[Apollymi]

Maiko was content to start on her snacks, but it seemed Takumi wasn't quite ready to settle in just yet. He wandered towards the back of his apartment obviously with something in particular mind. "Just don't pass out naked in there..." she mentioned knowing that she'd probably not go pick him up off the floor if he fell. Or rather if he did, it would be a bit traumatizing for her to deal with. While he was gone she let her eyes wander around this sitting room and felt strangely about it. He properly lived alone, and while she knew other people who did this, she found it strange for multiple reasons not the least of which being that she always lived with someone. Regardless she spread the rest of the contents of this bag out across the table and started on her chips with her legs crossed in front of her.

[Bloodedge]

Maiko's warning meant virtually nothing to Takumi. In no way did he intend to fall again. Once his wardrobe was open, he dug deep into it until he located some of the darker articles he once wore. He tossed them out onto his bed, then made his way toward them while discarding what he wore. This took much longer than it should have, but he managed regardless. When he emerged, he sported a pair of cropped black trousers, and a steel gray shirt with skull prints. Like this, he made his way back into the living room to seat himself. Begrudgingly, he flopped onto the futon. A trembling hand reached into a package of cookies to claim one. As he sat next to Maiko, he noted her rather spacey expression, and decided to comment, if only to make small-talk since she was still here. "I didn't decorate it myself, if that's what you're wondering."

[Apollymi]

Maiko ate more chips and couldn't help but wait on the return of Takumi. If he heard what she had to say, he didn't reply to it initially, but eventually, he did return. The black haired girl might have thought the lad took a bit long, but by the time he finally returned, he looked a bit more comfortable and strange considering the only way she'd seen him dressed before. "Uh...huh, you look like a delinquent. Badass!" she said in response to the new 'old' look of the boy now eating cookies out of the bag she'd opened. He started with small talk about how he hadn't chosen to decorate, and she couldn't help but chuckle thinking about it. "I mean, it's about what I expected. But a house plant or something wouldn't kill ya'," the girl joked figuring she might as well say something since she had basically invited herself along and started stuffing her face in another person's house.