•Third Person•
Everyone sits around the fire, under the night sky as the crescent moon slowly passes over.
"Hm... It's a chilly night to be sleeping out. Yet somehow, (N/n) is doing just that."
Shinoa looks to (Y/n) as she peacefully sleeps on Yoichi's shoulder with Mitsuba's coat wrapped around her. Light snores leaving her mouth.
"Will Yuuichiro catch a cold, lying there like that?" Yoichi asks.
"Maybe we should've brought blankets." Mitsuba sighs.
"Oh! How about I run back to the city and get some?" Yoichi suggests, but before anyone can reply...
Whoosh.
Kimizuki throws his jacket onto Yuu to keep the cold from reaching him.
Everyone turns to him with a look of surprise.
"...What're you looking at?" He asks, nervously.
"All I have to do to get warm is sit closer to the fire. But if this dunce catches a cold, he'll lag behind in training which will delay my training." Kimizuki explains.
"I wasn't going to say anything, actually." Shinoa says.
"Uh, you weren't?"
"No."
"Oh. Good."
Kimizuki sits awkwardly by the fire with his hands being warmed by the warm flames.
As Shinoa watches, she gets an idea. Whether it's a good idea or not is something no one will know.
Meanwhile, Yoichi taps (Y/n), waking her up.
"Hm? What is it? Are we done here?" She asks, giving out a small yawn.
"No, but I don't think you want to miss this." Yoichi giggles.
•(Y/n)'s POV•
As Yoichi giggles, I look over to everyone else to see Saltymizki grumbling, Shinoa with a small smirk, Yuu still dealing with Asuramaru and Blondie sitting across from Saltymizuki.
Soon, Shinoa holds Blondie with a serious look on her face.
"Wah!" Blondie gasps from the sudden contact, "What're you doing?"
"Are you cold. Here, wear my jacket." Shinoa beams.
I mentally face palm and continue to watch this play out.
"Psst! You play Yuuichiro." Shinoa whispers.
"Huh? Wait... Oh!" Blondie finally understands what Shinoa is trying to do, but...
There's no way she'd go with it... right? Nope. No way a stickler for rules would really go along with something so fun.
"Omigosh, Kimizuki, that was so nice of you. Like really, super, super nice! You're the nicest nice guy to ever be nice to me!" She acts out.
Huh? Since when did aliens exist? That can't be Blondie, hahaha.
"Heh. Aren't I just amazing?" Shinoa says.
Barely able to keep my laughter in, I add something to the conversation.
"You shouldn't read too much into it. You're that nice to everyone, are you?"
"No, Yuu! You're the only one I'm this nice to because you're the only one I love!" Shinoa declares, going along with it.
"R-Really?" I stutter, playing around.
Shinoa and Blondie jump at each other and call,
"Yuu!"
"Kimizuki!"
"To be continued." I say, covering the two.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!!" Kimizuki yells at us.
"Still. Mitsu, your 'nicest nice guy' line was truly superb." Shinoa compliments.
"Of course, everything I say is remarkable. But let's not forget (N/n)'s 'You're that nice to nice' line."
"Thank you, thank you. I'll take that Oscar and throw an after party." I giggle.
We continue to play around as Saltymizuki starts to lose it.
"Damn it! Hey, Yoichi! Mind if I kill those three?" Saltymizuki asks.
"Awh, asking permission. I don't know if Kimizuki is better matched for Yoichi or Yuu." I tease, ready to sacrifice myself for a beautiful joke.
"Ahahaha! But they're right, you know. You're super nice." Yoichi joins with the fun.
"Watch out, Yoichi! Don't fall for the nice guy act!" Shinoa calls with no motivation.
"It'll be trouble. Don't let him trick you. Rawr." I say in the same tone as Shinoa.
"Dwaaah?! So which is it?! Make up your minds!" Saltymizuki counters.
They continue fighting while Yoichi and I sit next to Yuu.
I look at him as he seems agitated.
"Y'know... It's been a while, right? When will Yuu wake up? Is he okay?" I ask, bringing everyone's attention to Yuu.
Saltymizuki checks his pocket watch and looks back up.
"This training was supposed to last 20hrs, right? We're already way past that mark." Saltymizuki says.
"He's probably having a tough time. Given how incredibly powerful his head is... the demon inside of it is probably nasty." Blondie says.
'You hear that, 'Nasty Demon'? You better not be giving Yuu a hard time.' I connect to Asuramaru.
'Shut up. If anyone is giving a hard time, it's him! How is he so stubborn anyway? He's hung around you for way too long.' Asuramaru complains as I laugh internally.
'Both of you can shut up. I don't even know why we have to do this. Humans are just begging for an opportunity to be possessed.' Hikari sighs.
"He's just lying there... What's going on?" Saltymizuki asks Shinoa.
"Don't you know? He's talking to his demon, Kimizuki." I point out, playing with Yoichi's hair.
"His demon?"
"Yes, the 'curse' part of cursed gear barely holds the demon in check. By talking with it and establishing an amiable relationship... You can loosen the curse... just a little." Shinoa explains.
"Oh, so the looser the curse is, the more power you can make the demon. That would make one much stronger, but it's like opening a cage bit-by-bit. The demon can find it easier to possess its host." I analyse.
"Correct."
"But since it's been over 20hrs, does that mean he won't go berserk?" Yoichi asks.
"No, we're not out of danger yet. The 20 hour mark is only an estimate for how long it should take. Once he makes a serious connection with his demon... there will be a clear response." Blondie says.
As if on cue, Yuu suddenly tenses up, catching all of our attention.
"Yuu! Mistuba, was that the response?" I ask, distressed from the suddenness.
"Okay. Everybody, help me hold him down, so he doesn't hurt himself!" Blondie commands.
My senses stand alert.
"Shinoa! Horsemen to the North, 1km away." I say, looking towards its direction.
"Of all the times it could appear..." Blondie curses under her breath.
"I'll go take care of them. You guys stay here and watch over Yuu." Kimizuki volunteers, already leaving.
"Don't stray too far, Kimizuki. If Yuuichiro goes crazy, the four of us will barely be able to contain him." Shinoa adds before we watch him leave.
"Yuuichiro... Good luck." Shinoa wishes.
«•»
Yuu slowly opens his eyes as we hang above him with an arm holding down each limb of his.
"Yuu! Thank god you're awake!" I sigh, relieved.
"Huh? Uh... I didn't cause you much trouble, right?" He asks, slowly rendering the situation.
"Yay! He's back! This means he's done, right?" Yoichi cheers.
"God. You really went crazy." Kimizuki sighs, wiping sweat away.
"I did? Sorry. I didn't mean to."
"You say that as if you could go crazy on us if you wanted." I flop don't onto the ground.
"So? Did it work?" Kikizuki asks.
"Yep!" He grins, looking into the distance.
"Great job." I grin back.
"This is great and all, but I'm sick of sitting around waiting. Let's put Kimizuki's training off until next week." Blondie jokes with seriousness.
"Ahah, I agree we can do mine now." I smile with sparkles in my eyes.
"Hell no!! We're doing mine right now!!"
"Awh! Do we have to? I'm kinda tired." Yoichi giggles while I struggle to hold in my laugh.
"Not you too, Yoichi!" Kimizuki cries out.
Yuu scoots over to me and Shinoa, trying to look casual.
"Well done, Yuuichiro. Did it go all right? Your demon didn't wound your heart too much, did it?" Shinoa asks.
"Oh, that? Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, I'm not alone anymore. I've got you guys." Yuu grins, wrapping his arms around us in a hug.
"If Asuramaru is mean to you, just call me and I'll teach him a lesson, haha." I laugh.
"Of course only you'd volunteer to do that." Shinoa smiles at me.
The night sky rises as the Sun rests, letting the moon shine its brightest light in its crescent form.
(1368 Words)