koishi_komeiji | Overflow/Inbox

( continued from here )

Probably. But there are a lot of touhous. Only time will tell. Maybe Kairi would get to meet Koishi's sister one day.

"My nails aren't sharp right now." Well, they were sharp. But they weren't claws at the very least.

She glanced up, blinking, tugging Kairi back more toward the center of the rooftop. She glanced up and over. There weren't any vines near the edge right now but they were visible at the end of the street. "Staying here is probably a bad idea."

Probably, yeah. She was having more fun hugging Kairi than actually fighting the plants anyway.

Edited 2019-03-28 02:26 (UTC)

"That's a really good point."

Of course, she was about to head back to the base when she got distracted by a sudden clingy tentacle girl. But at least said tentacle girl did point out that they should probably get moving.

So with a sigh, she turned to head towards the base. She couldn't double jump or glide, but she could jump much higher and further than she should regularly be able to with the keyblade's help, so now it was time to parkour away!

And at the first jump the tentacles would come out again and Kairi would find herself flying. Who cares about gliding and double jumping when you have a clingy little tentacle friend?

"Ohhh! Where are we going?"

Flying would certainly make things easier.

Oh, well that helped. It helped a lot actually, and now Kairi had a vague idea of what it might be like to be Sora, only better! Granted she couldn't do it under her own power, but still.

"We're heading back to base for water and rest. Or, I am, anyway. You don't have to rest if you don't want to."

"Okay! I can take you there!" She was still kinda nuzzling the back of Kairi's head. Super affectionate, this one. "I don't mind going. But where is the base?"

Koishi was just kind of flying in a random direction...

"That way."

At least being up in the air made it really easy to orient herself. Kairi pointed out the correct direction with her keyblade, and decided to just keep directing her towards the base like some sort of living GPS.

And Koishi would follow where Kairi pointed without much issue (though she did seem easily distracted). And she fortunately waited until after she had put the keyblade user down to do a little spin in the air.

"I had lots of fun doing all this. We should stick together, okay?" Looks like Koishi had no intention of leaving Kairi alone just yet (or possibly ever).

There was no doubt, Kairi was very grateful that Koishi waited until she was on her feet before she went for the spin.

"If you want to stay near me, I think that sounds fine! I'm gonna need a bit of rest, though. I used up all my mana out there."

"All your mana?" Koishi tilted her head. "Oh no! Here!" she began fumbling in her pockets, pulling out a draw string bag and opening it. She pulled out a piece of candy, offering it to Kairi.

"My sister gives me snacks when I go out so I don't get tired or lonely or hungry. Here! You can have one!"" And the hand-made taffy was shoved into Kairi's hand. "She makes it with a little bit of oni sake so it has some bite to it. But its very little so its just some flavor."

Oh, that was sweet of her. In more ways than one. Kairi accepts the taffy with a little smile.

"Thanks, Koishi. But you don't have to worry. I just have to rest for a bit, drink some water. I'll be fine."

"But something sweet always helps me feel better. Even when my youki is strained and I'm out of mana and starting to starve." She didn't bother elaborating on what any of that meant.

She also didn't leave Kairi's side, clinging again to her shoulders. She was floating so she didn't have any weight but she did have mass. So sudden, fast directional changes would be difficult. Not that it mattered at rest like this.

"I promise, I'm not starving. But thank you." Kairi's interpretation of that was that Youkai, or maybe just Koishi's subspecies, could cast spells straight out of their body's energy if they ran out of regular mana reserves. Which was both theoretically very useful, and also outright terrifying.

She'd have to make certain Koishi didn't do that. Unwrapping the taffy and popping it into her mouth, Kairi stroked the girl's arm gently to reassure her. She made no effort to convince her to leave her shoulders as she grabbed a bottle of water from a cooler and moved to sit down.

Kairi was close, actually. Koishi would have no qualms with explaining if asked either.

"Okay. I also have deer meat with me that Sis packed. She likes to dry it when I bring one home after I go hunting."

Oddly enough other people didn't seem to notice the little youkai clinging there. No comments were made and Koishi wasn't offered anything...

"I'm fine, Koishi. Relax."

It took a few minutes for Kairi to realize that no one even seemed to be aware of Koishi's presence. That was... odd, to say the least. Was she invisible to everyone else or something?

"Uh, Koishi? Is there... a reason nobody seems to see you?"

Koishi had zero chill. She would never relax unless literally forced to. In fact telling her to relax only seemed to make her snuggle more. Oops.

"Yeah. I'm a youkai of the unconscious. So normally I'm unnoticed by everyone. It's like... People's eyes can see me and their ears can hear me but their brains can't process that I'm there. So they just kind of edit me out."

"Really? But then why do I see and hear you?"

Did it have to do with the keyblade? She could see things that most people wouldn't, or at least sense them. That was, after all, how she did things like cast magic.

"Sometimes people can hear and see me. Especially when I'm trying to be noticed. People with better imaginations see me too. That's why small children can almost always see me. But they forget me when they grow up. I'm like an imaginary friend!"

More nuzzles. No doubt the prolonged physical contact was helping.

"So does that mean all these people think I'm talking to myself?"

Please don't think she's crazy, doctor and guard aliens. That would probably make her life more difficult than it needed to be.

"I mean... A little bit. They have a subconscious sense I'm here. Probably. So it's not too strange... probably... Maybe..." This was the opposite of reassuring.

"They probably don't think you're crazy though. I don't feel any resentment or nervousness or unhappy emotions. I think they're distracted." There was a crisis going on after all.

Well, that was a pretty good point. Giant angry plants were probably of much more concern than some girl talking to herself. Heck, even if someone did notice, maybe they'd just chalk it up to an effect of the pollen or something.

"So am I going to forget you when this is all over, then?"

You just had to ask that, didn't you.

"Umm..." That hesitation was not good. "Maybe? Sometimes people do. Sometimes people don't. You'll forget me eventually though. Everyone forgets people over time when they stop seeing them. But you'll forget me faster, for sure." Her voice was a little melancholy.

"It's okay though. I'm kind of used to it."

If you knew her Nobody, Koishi, you'd have seen that question coming a mile away.

"That's not true or fair. Alright, sure, if you don't see someone for a long time you might stop thinking about them as much in your mind... but the bonds you made with your hearts won't vanish so easily."

She ought to know about that.

Koishi's grip had loosened some. At least with her arms. She appeared to be holding her third eye which was... very open. One edge had split slightly from the strain, a droplet of blood slowly forming and falling to the floor.

"I can't do that anymore." She held up her eye so Kairi could see. "This is my 'heart.'" The blind surface was plainly visible. The cataract really was thicker and that line across the lens was, indeed another scar. Possibly from some kind of large blade. In fact the whole cataract seemed to bloom out from it.

Okay, that was... gruesome. And extremely sad. Kairi grimaced, reaching out a hand to gently pat her new friend on the arm.

But she wasn't quite done yet.

"Look... everyone's heart has cracks, scars... even seeping wounds. I mean, if you could see mine, well..." She sometimes wondered, did her heart still bear that wound? Even if it didn't, there were plenty of other marks on it, and probably worse ones on those of her boys.

"But that doesn't mean you can't still bond it with others. Maybe... if you're really lucky, some of them can actually fill in some of the gaps."

Koishi shook her head. "You're a kind human. You know that right? But there's no gaps to fill." She reached up to take off her hat, revealing the scar above her left temple. "It's been a long time since my 'heart' was disconnected." She tapped the top of her third eye, tracing her finger up through the air, gently touching the scar. Her left eye twitched the glow flickering momentarily, a ripple of black washing through it for a brief moment as the light touch caused her glamour to falter.

"I'm completely empty now. I mean, it was my fault to begin with." She put her hat back on. "It wasn't exactly smart. Of course this is hindsight talking. After all, centuries of an open heart being hated can make it very-" She was looking for a word. "Heavy."

Though she shivered a little with compassionate pain at the sight of that scar, she found herself shaking her head in disbelief.

"You say you're empty, but... you don't seem heartless to me."

"Well, I'm not heartless. Just empty." She tilted her head a little bit. "Even if I have to fake it most of the time, if I smile at people; If I make them happy, I can experience their heart through them. I can know their joy and love instead of their hatred. It's the best I can do now, all things considered."

She reached forward, pressing a finger to Kairi's chest. "In fact, I'm reflecting your heart right now. That's how I know you're such a good person! It's bright and warm and full of more facets than I can count!"

"People have told me that before. A heart of pure light, they keep saying." Not that she could really argue after everything she'd seen and experienced.

It just never seemed like it really helped her much.

"So you're kind of an... emotional mirror, then? What happens if you're around someone depressed?"

"Whoever told you that is right. It's almost too bright for even me." Koishi was still all smiles.

"Kiiind of. I try to make people happy. But I'll take sadness and pain over emptiness any day. It's something. Which is more than nothing." A pause. "Besides, deep sorrow is delicious. If nothing else I can consume parts of it."

"Does.. that affect the other person, when you eat their sorrow? Or any other emotions?"

Actually, that might be kind of helpful, consuming their sadness. Maybe it would help them cope. On the other hand, with a sorrow like what Koishi was describing, that pain probably should be there.

"Yes. Kind of. It's temporary. Very temporary. And I lose a lot of my meal in translation. But humans need pain. Without being sad how will they know when they feel happy?"

She shrugged. "Besides, if a human is that sad its better to just wait and let them die from disease or age or whatever. Then I can eat the sadness more efficiently since its always easier when the emotion is inside of something. Like flesh and bone." Or a heart.

"What if they move on from the sadness before they pass?"

That had to happen, right? Plenty of people got over even the worst losses...

"That leaves a scar behind. Emotional texture that shaped that person's life during the time they were sad. I'm not just consuming raw emotions. I eat the significance of those emotions too."

Koishi was looking thoughtful (and perhaps salivating a little.) "Fear is good too. I'm supposed to be a predator, not a scavenger. So I guess that makes sense. But I prefer having human friends and that's kind of hard if I'm known for attacking people. But it's fine if they're already dead since they've moved on and they're not using their body for anything anymore." A very pragmatic outlook. If a little morbid.

"I... guess that all makes sense?" She's not sure how the emotions linger with the heart, but alright.

"So if I have a nightmare, I should expect to wake up to find you hanging around, then?"

"People don't have nightmares around me. That sort of fear is transient. There's no point in restraining myself."

"That sounds amazing, actually."

Like the dream eaters Sora and Riku told her about.

"I mean, you'd still have your scary dream. You just wouldn't feel scared. Which can drastically change the nature of the dream since dreams are fueled a lot by emotion."

"Still a definite improvement."

And she somehow doubted most nightmares would be able to withstand the fear being sucked out of them, anyway.

Well, dream fear-eating involved more snuggling than sucking. Usually. "I suppose so. It's not like I have to eat like that very often anyway." Her third eye was slowly closing, her presence wavering a little bit. Though she was right back to cuddling Kairi.

"Comfy."

Well, that was just adorable. Kairi couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"You're pretty soft too."

Reaching up, Kairi patted her on the head, amused.

And just like that she was gone. But not for long. It was as if she entirley lapsed out of Kairi's perception for a moment. But the nuzzling on her shoulder brought Koishi back into focus. She had, perhaps, pushed herself to remain lucid a little bit too long.

Okay, that was a weird feeling. It was as if for a few seconds there her brain had just... forgotten Koishi was there.

How weird. She had to wonder, could the girl just follow her home without her even noticing?

Well... maybe she'd find out after the plants were taken care of.

[No matter how long he's stuck on this world, the moon's effects are something he'll never get used to. And this cycle, he's been hit hard with the heat.

Loathe as he is to do this, there are only a couple people he can rely on and call for help. Koishi's one of them, so he sends her a text message, hoping she noticed it.]

Koishi? I need your help. It's Iris. Are you available to come over to my place?

It took a bit before Koishi answered, the little youkai fumbling the device as usual before putting it to her ear.

"What? Hello? Yes...? Yes! I can come over!" The same jovial tone as always. "I can come over right now if you want. I'm not doing anything." She was no doubt just floating around. As usual.

[Ah, she answered.]

I need Chroma. I'm at my place.

[Short and to the point. The neediness to be around people is annoying, but at least Koishi can be good company.]

"Ohh! Yeah I'll come right away!" The wind on the phone's receiver had already shifted as she changed direction in the air. "I won't be long, okay? You should be more careful and not run out of chroma. That's really bad." It was a gentle scolding.

[It was some deserved scolding, to be fair. Someone like him requires a lot of Chroma, and sometimes his reserves can quickly deplete.

Regardless, he doesn't say anything more, even though the problem is more than just Chroma. He'll just wait on the bed in his bedroom until Koishi arrives.]

Not that he had to wait long. Shortly after she hung up he heard a knock. Not at his door but at his window. As usual the little youkai opted for the most direct route. "Hello! Can I come in?" At least she wasn't getting her fingerprints all over it this time.

[He was expecting the knock on his window, and so leaves the bed when he hears it. The window opens, and Koishi is greeted by a frazzled looking Soundwave, in his avatar, face flushing red.]

Hm. Come in.

[In fact, he'll go ahead and grab her wrist, gently pulling her in for a hug.]

Koishi's smile melted into an expression of concern, and then surprise as she was grabbed. She allowed herself to be pulled in, arms wrapping firmly around his torso, squeezing. Several tendrils slid from her sleeves, winding their way down his waist.

"You're really low, aren't you? That's not good. Not good." There was genuine concern in her tone. "Call me sooner next time, okay?"

[There's no excuse for his low Chroma. He accepts the tendrils moving down his waist, wrapping around him. He isn't sure if it's her intention, but those send a weird shiver down his spine and to his crotch.]

HM... I will. Though it isn't just my Chroma that is the problem.

[As an experiment, he traps one of Koishi's legs between both of his, and then grind once. From there, he gauges her reaction.]

"Well I can sense that. I wasn't going to say anything though since a lot of people are emba- oh!" She clearly wasn't expecting the grab. It was fairly easy to do considering Koishi's habit of floating. Her own cheeks prickled a little bit but she certainly wasn't pulling away.

"Hehe. No dinner and pretty view this time?" She teased.

He should've expected she can sense what' going on in the air, but it is still nice to see she welcomes the grab. Koishi didn't push him away, and that's all he needs to know. His hips grind, using the thigh between his, speed ramping up, and the friction already makes this way too good, thanks to Chroma.

"Unfortunately not." He teases back. "You'll only have me."

Koishi only has a moment to say anything before hungry lips claim her.

She returned the kiss, following his lead and placing her hands on his cheeks. The chroma did feel nice...

"Well. I guess this is fine. As long as you don't mind if I nibble a bit." Fortunately, she didn't bite. Rather, several tentacles were already sliding out of her sleeves to wrap around his back and waist.

The tentacles wrapping around him gets a light moan out of him. Their appearance excites him somewhat, and add to that the grinding, his panties are getting wet.

"... I don't."

In fact, he'll expose his skin to her for some good nibbling. Soundwave pulls one side of his hoodie and lets it fall, exposing his shoulder. Dragging his hand up, along her spine and to the back of her head, he pushes her close to his uncovered shoulder.

[On the first day of Iris week, out of the blue, Koishi will get a call from Soundwave.]

Koishi? It's Soundwave. Would you mind coming over to my apartment?

[A pause, considering if he should tell her the reason for him calling or not. Ultimately, he does, seeing no harm in letting her know his intent.]

I need Chroma. But aside from needing that, I wish to see you again.

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Arrival (Kairi)

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The taffy doesn't actually have remarkable properties. Its just candy.

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NOW I'M SAD

ECHOES OF COM

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CW: moonlacing in this thread later

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iris moon