halloforigin | 2017 OPEN RP POST

[It all happened so fast--Matatagi would be more than impressed were his body not deciding to rebel against himself for the movement from earlier. His ribs hurt like no other, and his legs...well, they hadn't really made any progress from before, still feeling like lead and just as useful.

The battle doesn't last long, with Cure Peace's body completely eveloped in lightning as she takes off for AkaOni.

A flash...a pair of high heels hitting the pavement, and no sign of the Bad End General meant that she'd done her job as Precure and disposed of him, much to his relief. Not that he expected any different from her, although the lack of tears was certainly new.

Something that brings a little playful smirk to his lips.

She approaches him, though, and his back instantly straightens up as he attempts to inch more up the wall to prop himself, unaware of how much he'd slide down during the battle.]

Heh, the look on his face was priceless. That the first time you've ever been that pissed at him?

[His teeth grit, shutting one eye to bide the pain while the other watches her scramble over to him.]

I've been angry with him before.

[ Gone is the cold fury that had spurred her into such a state, and her eyes are large and concerned now as she reaches out to try and silently encourage him to lean on her. One look has already told her that he's in bad shape, but now that she can properly look him over... it makes her bite her lip. Matatagi hadn't deserved this. None of it, and even now, he was still trying to play it off like he wasn't in agonizing pain. ]

... But this was different. All I could think about was making sure he regretted what he did to you.

I... [ and now her voice trembles, slightly. ] I'm sorry, if it hadn't been for me, you never would have been targeted like this--

[It's nothing new to him. When you were an older brother, you had to shrug off things that bothered you, whether they be an injury or your feelings. You had to be that strong, stable pillar for them, because they looked up to you to be that when they needed something to hold onto. Sometimes it left you scrambling for your own stability, but Matatagi always found it. Now was one of those times, as he adjusts his back and hisses at the jolt of pain running through his system like that flash of lighting Yayoi had just finished the Bad End General off with.]

About time you showed someone that spine of yours. Was beginning to think it didn't exist...

[Her words after that, though, the ones he KNEW were coming, only make his brows furrow as he listens, clenching his teeth (either in pain or in frustration--it doesn't matter.)]

Yeah?

[He exhales, as if purging the pain from his body (or he wishes).]

Maybe you're right. Maybe it's cause of you I got targeted like this. [He starts, adjusting himself again. When your body refuses to sit propped up, it's such a bitch to keep inching.]

But maybe I--ngh--wanted to be here.

I promised you I'd protect your brothers-- your family.

[ Sorry, Matatagi, she's definitely going to have you lean against her now so she can get you to your feet. ]

And I don't think I've broken that promise. So even if you're worried that I won't be able to... it might be better if you didn't put yourself at risk so much.

[ Because that's why he's been lingering, hasn't he? To make sure Yayoi keeps the promise held between them. ]

...Idiot.

[His weight shifts naturally--after all, it's not like he can really protest when his legs feel like jelly, only going through the motions for standing up because that's what they've been doing his whole life. Did she really think this was all about that promise?

Granted, it wasn't false--he had made sure that it was to keep her end of the bargain--but he never doubted for a second she'd do it, after the first time. As much as he hated to admit it...she was something he trusted. Perhaps the only person outside of his family that he trusted WITH his family.

Precure or not.

His breath hitches when he puts his weight half on his feet, feeling how unstable they are as he practically doubles over in his rib pain, hissing the rest of that sentence out.]

It's not just about that!

Matatagi-kun!

[ Her distress wins out over her confusion when he nearly buckles like that, and she wraps an arm around his waist to keep him upright and held against her. Slow and simple, she thinks, taking small steps in the direction of his home. She doesn't think he'll let her carry him entirely, but if it comes to that... ]

I-I don't really get it, but it can wait. For now, we need to get you inside and get your injuries treated!

[Albeit his feet being sluggish (something he'd never thought he'd say about them, honestly), they do work, although not quite as well as he'd like as they start to make their way back to his house. He doesn't put up a fight at least, perhaps too laboured to muster up the energy to say anything.

Well, except for--]

I thought I'd see you crying, honestly.

... Ah. [ Her lips twitch in a faint, almost helpless smile, even as her gaze remains fixed ahead. Thankfully, his home isn't far from here, but explaining this to his brothers is going to be hard. She'll probably have to change back before then, too. ]

I just... there are a lot of things that scare me, or make me sad, but seeing the people I care about get hurt... I was more angry than anything else. And I thought that it wasn't the time to cry.

[There's something to be said about Matatagi--for as sharp as his tongue was, and for how bleak of an outlook he had on life in general...he always listened to her when she spoke. He never interrupted, or cut her off to argue back. Even when she was crying, he always let her get everything out before he answered. And now was no different.

Her answer hits him, though, right where that one part of his heart had stirred when he saw her so angry at AkaOni for what he'd done to him.]

Heh...it was a good look on you.

[Instinctively, he nods at his house just ahead, letting her know that if she needs to change back, now would be the time to do it]

Lightning storm without the rain, right?

[ She holds onto the transformation - and the additional strength it provides - for as long as possible, focused on getting him as close to the house as she can before light shimmers around her and she's back in civilian form. It suddenly becomes a lot harder to help hold him up, but they're nearly there anyway. ]

... Mm, I guess it was like that. But I don't think I ever want to see you like this again.

[Even had there been no telltale shimmering effect, he could feel the moment that Yayoi was back in civilian form, the weight on his legs a little more noticable than they were just moments ago. It's nothing they can't handle--it's not like they were broken, just sore--but he has to admit, there were benefits to Cure Peace propping him up compared to Kise Yayoi.

It doesn't matter, though. He can make it to the door, at least, using his hand to prop himself up with the wall should the weight be too much for either of them.]

You're telling me. It doesn't fffeel good. [He may have strained a bit of his torso muscles there, but moving while not making your ribs even worse was a challenge.]

[The couch is just in the room up ahead, nodding to her and then to the den to signal that's where he wanted to go.]

But I'm not mad, okay? Not mad at YOU, at least... So stop guilting over it.

[ He may feel her nod, and her movements become even more careful as she guides him forward. Yayoi's familiar with the layout by now, and it's no difficult task to walk him into the den and over to the couch, where she can just as cautiously lower him down to sit. ]

I don't know how to make it stop. [ Not when he's clearly in so much pain, and even though she knows he isn't mad (she's seen him angry, she knows what that looks like on him), there's no denying that he was targeted because of her. Even if he said he'd wanted to be there.

With Matatagi safely on the couch, Yayoi just stands in front of it, trembling fingers grasping the bottom of her sweater. ]

There's... a lot of feelings inside of me right now, and it feels like I'll explode, but I don't-- I've never felt like this before.

[ Scared and frustrated and so protective over someone who never wanted that from her anyway and relieved and dealing with some bizarre urge to just... but no, it isn't the time for that. ]

[He pulls himself up against the armrest of the couch, letting his legs finally rest on something other than hard pavement as he reclines around the pillows. Truth be told, he didn't expect she'd stop from him just saying so, what with how worried she got about him always being around when the Bad End Generals showed up.

His eyes avert from hers a moment, hand reaching up to grip where his heart rested in his chest, feeling it beat furiously against his ribcage (which he couldn't say felt all too nice, but that'll be something he'll keep to himself). She wasn't the only one with conflicting emotions right now, that part of his heart still aching for something he couldn't bear to give himself.

He knew exactly what it was, too--it's not like he's naive or anything. But whether or not he was willing to lay it all out like that..]

Felt like what?

[It's a lot more inquisitive than he wants to let on.]

[ Yayoi isn't an idiot (and she does think, fondly now, of all the times he'd used to call her one, how he still used the term for her). Even if she hadn't been able to put it into words, what it felt like to have her emotions melting together and twisting into what felt like a storm inside of her-- she knew what it meant. But this wasn't something as warm and gentle as what Akane had felt for that foreign exchange student. It hurts, makes her doubt herself even more, makes her feel so different from how she usually is, and it scares her.

But what had scared her more... ]

Like there was someone who was so important to me, in a way that wasn't like my friends or my mother... that I'd do absolutely anything for.

[ And with that softly uttered, Yayoi swallows hard and turns away. ]

I-I should go find your first-aid kit, we need to treat your injuries--!

[He knew that's what it was from the moment words left her lips, letting them sink in like he was a sponge to water. That 'someone' was obvious, almost too obvious for him to even point out...to call her stupid in the way he did, when he knew that she was actually very perceptive.

in a way that I'd do absolutely anything for.

He'd always told himself that he'd never trust any 'friendship' someone gave him. He'd learned his lesson the hard way back in gradeschool, when he was only seen for what he could provide to them--a race car--and not him as a person. He'd tried to remember that every time Yayoi smiled at him. Or when she sheepishly admitted she had sketched him out when he did his stretches at practice.

It never worked. All his fronts never, ever worked.

She turns away at that moment, ready to go find that first aid kit, ready to switch the topic to something more neutral and safe and move away from these feelings he now KNEW they both had. Which means it's now or never...because he really doubts his heart will allow something like this to slip through if he doesn't say it at this moment.]

Hey.

[His voice is rough and curt as always, almost sounding more like he's going to chastise her than anything. And despite how easily it comes out, he feels like his stomach is going to twist on him, his ribs finally breaking from the sheer anxiety of what he's going to say.]

Go out with me.

[And with that, he averts his gaze, as if the window looking outside were now the most interesting thing in the entire world.]

[ Her heart's pounding so loudly, drowning out anything else, so fiercely it almost makes her feel sick. And of course, for someone whose chosen method was flight instead of fight (until fairly recently), she automatically seeks out the safest route. Find the kit, take care of him, excuse herself and go home and wallow in her own stupidity for just saying something like that at a time like this--

But Matatagi's voice cuts through the rush of blood clogging everything else, harsh and rough in a way that makes her flinch slightly in preparation. Not that she'd ever be ready.

... And she isn't when he continues, and she's left staring at him with an almost inquisitive gaze because she's not quite sure she heard that. That, or he's really in too much pain. ]

Eh?

[ Good answer, Yayoi. ]

Edited 2017-07-12 04:37 (UTC)

[She's making him say it again--of course she'd make him say it again. He can almost feel the blood flushing his cheeks with heat as he keeps his eyes trained on the window, never more thankful for his dark complexion than now.]

Go out with me.

[The demand is now more like a request, his voice quieter and losing its edge as the sentence progresses.]

That's what you want, right?

Matatagi-kun...

[ Yayoi continues to stare at him, even though he makes no indication that he'll be meeting her gaze anytime soon. Somehow, though, that helps steady her own nerves.

Slightly. ]

... What do you want?

You think I'd ask you at all if I didn't?

[That edge to his voice is back, snapping a little harsher than he would have liked...but he's flustered beyond belief now, and the sheer uncertainty of her answer is strangling that part of his heart that held a sliver of hope for this.]

It's not like I'm some lovesick nerd who says this to just anyone...

[ Maybe she's been too frazzled today, because even though he snaps at her, Yayoi only hunches her shoulders slightly instead of offering a full-body flinch or cringing back. The way he speaks, she's learned, isn't always how he feels, and he's got a valid point. Matatagi isn't the kind of person who offers someone something just to appease them.

So after a few seconds of silence, of steady breathing to make sure her voice won't crack-- ]

Okay. Yes-- I will.

[And just like the breaking of a dam, the pressure is released and he can feel something flooding throughout his body. Relief...something he honestly can't say he's felt too often in his life. Money was tight--even in his happiest moments he knew he could never truly relax. His mother would always look at him worried that he was sacrificing his childhood in order to provide, and could never get the security of being a child.

She was right.

But for now...in this one fleeting moment, the pain in his ribs and legs ebbs away, and like salve to a burn, he feels it wash himself clean of anything negative.

It only lasts as long as he'd allow it to (a couple of seconds), before his dark heart takes the reins once more...but it was worth it.]

Good. So that's settled.

[And now, with that answer given, he turns to face her, eyes glittering as always...but there's also something different to them. Something bitter, but warm. Like black coffee.]

...The first aid kit's in the closet.

O-okay! [ Well, there went all that composure she'd been struggling to build up, but Yayoi really does want to tend to his wounds before anything else. She does pause, gazing at him, to register that something in his eyes has changed and that something makes her face grow warm...

And then she hurries off to find the kit, returning within a matter of minutes and kneeling in front of the couch. If she focuses on this, she can slowly let it sink in that they're... dating now.

They're dating. ]

What hurts the most right now?

[Her reaction--the scuttling of a mouse as it tries to find a hideout is almost too much. From the moment he said the first aid kit's location, she'd booked it in that direction, hair bouncing and voice squeaking all the way. It's enough to cause his stomach to flip, and his breath to hiccup into a laugh, his only defense for his ribs being the arm tightly wound around them.]

Hahah!!

[It hurt...it really hurt. But right now, he doesn't really seem to care as her reaction of it finally registering was too funny to hold back. It's not til she returns that he's limp on the couch, gasping for air and holding his midsection like it's going to come apart at any second.]

Right here. I think one of my ribs cracked.

[ ... it's almost a shame she'd missed his hysterical bout of laughter, because when she returns to find Matatagi practically sagging into the couch and clutching at his midsection like that, it's not the most reassuring sight.

Still, from where she kneels now, she struggles not to bite her lip and instead lifts the lid of the kit. ]

Can you... lift your shirt for me? I can't do much about ribs, but we can at least tape it...

That'll be good enough.

[Her request is done without hesitation, Matatagi lifting up his shirt as far as it'll go until it reaches his armpits, using his weight to press it into the back of the couch and keep it there while she can start to go to work.]

Guess I'll be out of commission for awhile with this...

[A pause.]

What about you? Not hiding anything, right? Precure armor's pretty good, usually, but--

[He wants to make sure.]

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