Our Last Days as Children

[Nayt]

"Hnn? Eep!" Akizetsumei noised as Eld suddenly lifted her by the waist.

Behind them, Gestahl gave the two of them a look of stern apprehension, though neither Eld nor Akizetsumei were able to see it. And if they could? Well, Katalyna already lightly smacked Gestahl in the chest, prompting him to look down at her and see her smile innocently.

"Easy with her, there," Noah remarked with a knowing grin.

Of course Eld could take care of Akizetsumei. Just glancing at him and how he grinned would be more than enough indication that he trusted Eld. He still couldn't help but give him hell, though.

"Gestahl and I are both here, you know," he added, "We hear a crack, and I get your knees. He gets everythin' else."

"Don't be a jerk, Noah," Akizets declared quickly, "Besides! Eld could probably kick your butt any day!"

"Well," he shrugged his shoulders dramatically, "Even so, your brother's out there somewhere, too. And he brought his sword, didn't he?"

[Zach Kaiser]

"C'mon, I'm just picking her up. It's not like I'm going to swing her around or anything." He was well aware how fragile Akizetsumei could be, and he wasn't going to hurt her. Besides, bundles up as they were in winter clothes he'd really have to try.

"And her father's all I'd have to worry about. Maya could probably beat you up in your condition, and I'm pretty sure murder would disqualify Toushikyo from joining the militia."

Granted, Gestahl could probably snap him in two without any help, but he couldn't resist taking a jab at Noah if he was going to antagonize him.

[Nayt]

"Ehhh, I still have a couple jabs left in me," Noah replied confidently.

"Even if you weren't a dumb idiot and got yourself hurt all the time," Akizetsumei declared promptly, "I think you'd never take Eld in a million years."

"Wait . . . T-Toushikyo is actually bringing his sword?" Maya asked, interrupting the discussion.

Informal address. It might not have been anything the others noticed, but Emily certainly caught wind of it. Maya had very specific ways of addressing someone. She was either formal or casual, but rarely informal. Informal address implied something completely different for her.

Maya wasn't paying too much attention to the who could beat who conversation. It was the same old thing that happened whenever two boys got together. If they had comparable egos, they discussed the likelihood of who could beat who. It was the natural way of things, and it never actually stopped. Even into their forties, men could still be found discussing that topic. The older they got, though, the more casual it became. Had Maya been paying Eld and Noah any mind, she'd have seen how comparatively mature the topic was versus anyone else their age having the same discussion.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld, too, caught Maya's change in speech; while he tended to speak casually when he spoke Common, if he were to speak Cizokian undoubtedly honorifics would seep back into his speech. Which was fine, because usually if he was speaking Cizokian it was with someone who expected him to use them.

He ignored the banter about who was stronger; honestly, he doubted he could beat Noah if he was in good condition, much as he hated to admit it. He mostly practiced martial arts as a form of exercise and discipline. Noah, on the other hand, had been fighting a lot and was much more experienced, along with being bigger and stronger.

"I would think so; it's not like he's going on vacation, Maya. It's for his training, right? Even if he didn't bring his own, he'll probably be using weapons pretty frequently." It made him wonder what, if anything, he'd told her about the trip. It wasn't much like him to...well, not be totally blunt.

On the other hand, perhaps it was a sign of how much he cared for her that he didn't want her worrying about him.

[Nayt]

"Besides, isn't that what he's always practicing with?" Sarah asked rhetorically.

"Mn," Akizets chimed in, "He always goes out into the woods and swings it around and stuff."

"Yeah?" Oboreru scoffed, "I bet you I'd be better if dad got me a sword, too."

"You'd just stab your eye out!" Akizets retorted with a scoff.

This, of course, prompted Oboreru to stick his tongue out at Akizetsumei, and for Akizetsumei to look down at him and return the gesture in kind. Still not paying her friends' shenanigans much mind, Maya's thoughts were elsewhere. It looked as if a bit of color had drained from her face.

"I-- I didn't think they-- they'd be using actual weapons . . ." Maya trailed off, now visibly concerned.

[Zach Kaiser]

Deciding that either Toushikyo was late or intentionally ignoring them, Eld put Akizetsumei back down. Besides, she may have been light, but he couldn't hold her up forever, and in all seriousness he definitely didn't want to risk dropping her in front of the present company.

He turned to Maya after to see the concern in her voice matched by the color in her cheeks now. "H-Hey, what's wrong? Did he tell you something about what he'll be doing?"

Perhaps it had been a bit presumptuous of him to assume that if knew what he'd be doing on this trip he'd have told him.

[Nayt]

"Awwh man," Akizetsumei frowned once she was back on her feet, "I didn't see him."

"Did anyone see him leave the house?" Oboreru asked.

Gestahl shook his head. "He had already left this morning. Everyone was still asleep."

Maya shook her head at Eld. "H-he just said th-that he's going to be out f-for, um, a c-couple months. I-- he said th-that there's going to be a lot of running and ph-physical exercise, b-but nothing about swords. O-or fighting at all, for that matter."

There was a fair chance Maya was in a mild state of denial, choosing to cling to some hope that the militiamen known for being particularly skilled with a blade or crossbow, or even the rare one gifted with a firearm, were all that skilled by choice, and that martial abilities weren't beaten into them as part of their duty as militiamen. She sincerely disliked the idea of Toushikyo actually fighting someone. Maya lifted her mitten-covered hands, folded them over the middle of her chest, and sighed.

[Zach Kaiser]

"They need to know how to fight to defend the town, so I'm sure they'll be learning how to fight," Eld replied, kind of confused that Maya hadn't realized that. He assumed it was going to be a central part of the trip.

Not wanting to make her more worried than she already was, though, he quickly added, "D-Don't worry, though; I'm sure they use training weapons when they spar with each other so that no one gets permanently hurt."

It would be kind of detrimental if a trainee lost a limb or something, after all. Or worse; there was something weird about Kyo's sword. It always seemed cold for some reason. It was normally something he'd have written off as his imagination, but after that whole "haunting" incident he wasn't so sure.

[Nayt]

"B-but . . . y-you can be hurt w-with wooden swords, too! J-just like you can be hurt with a real sword," Maya protested, openly voicing her wishes to not see Toushikyo come back injured.

Now she was just wracked. She was worried before. Now she was more worried. Triple worried, in fact. If worry could be scaled from one to ten, she'd have hit eleven just then. If Toushikyo came back home with injuries all over him, she'd have cried, first. Then she'd never leave his bedside, second. Then she'd beg him to forget about all this militia stuff forever, third. And she probably wouldn't be the only one willing to do that, either.

"Y-you don't think he just took off without sayin' goodbye, do you?" Akizets asked her parents, her eyes wide and glossy. She'd have been so angry with Toushikyo were that the case!

"No, honey," Katalyna put a hand on her shoulder, "Toushikyo wouldn't do that. He's probably making friends with other recruits right now."

Akizets stared at her mother, a deadpan look across her face. "You don't know Toushikyo very well, do you, mom?"

[Zach Kaiser]

"You can be hurt, but it won't be anything you can't recover from. Bruises, some cracked ribs, a broken bone at worst or a concussion if you get hit in the head. Unless someone is being really reckless death would be very, very unlikely." After all the studying he'd been doing, he rattled off the potential injuries almost reflexively.

Of course, as none of that was likely reassure Maya in the least, he quickly amended his statement again. "O-Of course, probably not even that bad; I bet they have trainees wear padding when practicing, too. And Toushikyo's been practicing on his own for awhile now, so he's probably really good."

Upon hearing the idea of Kyo simply ditching goodbyes, he agreed with Akizetsumei; he was the type that would probably find it easier than parting. Or so he'd normally think, but if Maya was here then he hadn't said goodbye to her yet.

"He'll come," Eld declared confidently.

[Nayt]

"He better," Akizetsumei replied as she folded her arms over her chest defiantly. "The jerk. If he's gonna go away for, like, two whole months, and he doesn't say goodbye, I'm gonna go find their secret camp and bonk him on the head. And I bet I could find it, too!"

"Aw, come on," Noah replied, talking with his hands, "He's your big brother. I can't see him just ditching you like that."

"He would. I know he would," Akizets replied.

"How do you figure?" Noah humored her.

Akizets replied with a firm nod of her head. "'Cause he's the biggest jerk ever."

Maya held her tongue. Were it anyone but Akizetsumei, she'd have made it a point to correct them about Toushikyo's behavior--but Akizetsumei was his family. That wasn't to say that she was correct, and that Toushikyo was, in fact, a jerk, but Maya wasn't about to disagree with anyone from Toushikyo's family. Not only was it in poor taste, but it also might've spawned some undue tension . . .

". . . you're as welcoming as ever, Akizetsumei," a familiar voice remarked next to their group.

And in a flash, all eyes were to the immediate right, where stood Toushikyo, arms folded over his chest, militia-issued winter hat upon his head, and a thick dark-maroon uniform upon his frame, making his scrawny body look moderately larger than it really was. He also appeared to be carrying his personal sword at his hip, the sheath itself being wrapped in warm cloth to keep the blade from getting so cold it couldn't be drawn. He had that problem once before, a couple of winters ago.

[Zach Kaiser]

When Akizetsumei started going off about Toushikyo, Eld gave Maya a meaningful look. It wasn't something to be taken seriously; just as Sarah and Emma always fought but still cared about each other. As only children it was something he and Maya didn't experience.

Well, he might've gotten a little taste of it when Etsu was staying at his place.

Eld was as surprised as anyone when Toushikyo just showed up out of the blue. "About time you showed up. I was worried we were going to have to send out a search party." He had to give him a hard time; he was probably waiting for the perfect opportunity to show up and look cool, knowing him.

[Nayt]

"T-Tou! Y-- you-- you actually . . .!" Akizets exclaimed.

But before she had the chance to either smack her brother for making her wait and worry for so long, and then hug him and tell him how much she was going to miss him, Maya quickly attached herself to Toushikyo. She threw her arms around him, much to his (and everyone's) surprise, and buried her head in his chest. Toushikyo looked down at her, blinking confusedly.

"I-- I-- I'm g-going to miss you," Maya whimpered into his chest.

Whatever entrance Toushikyo made was all but lost. All he could do was stand there, a blank stare of confusion slapped across his face.

"Yeah, bud, this's where you hug her back," Noah coughed.

He didn't know Toushikyo all that well, but the kid looked like he wasn't too experienced with women. Or at least experienced enough to know when it was a proper time to hug. Though, admittedly, all times were proper times to hug. Sometimes were just more proper.

And so, Toushikyo wrapped his arms around Maya awkward. His reply to her was low, barely audible, and decidedly confused, almost as if he himself couldn't believe he was saying it, ". . . I . . . I'll miss you, too."

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld smiled warmly at the display, doing his best to ignore the small part of his heart that suddenly hurt. There was a time when he could've been in Toushikyo's place in Maya's heart, but that time had passed--he had Akizetsumei, and for the most part he wished them well.

Well enough, in fact, that seeing as this was their last chance to see each other for awhile he was going to do something incredibly stupid to give them several moments where no one was watching them.

As innocently as he could he stooped down in order to scoop a handful of snow, and tried to inconspicuously mold it as best as he could. "Hey Sarah..."

And she inevitably turned to look, he'd lob the snowball directly into her face (though not very hard) and shout, "...think fast!"

[Nayt]

"Hm?" Sarah looked away from Maya and Toushikyo, on whom all eyes were before.

Eld seemed to react before anyone else could. But really, that made a bit of sense. No one else really knew how to react. Sure, Maya spent a lot of her time with Toushikyo, but she'd never just outright hugged him before. Or at least she hadn't in public. Made Sarah wonder if there was something more to their relationship. She wondered a lot of things then, a novel's worth of wonders, until Eld lobbed a snowball in her face. Then she stopped wondering and attained a singular thought: punch this dude out.

"Y-- you-- you no good son of a--!!" Sarah shouted as she dropped her arms to her sides and squared her shoulders. Were it not so damn cold, she'd have rolled up her sleeves, too.

His attempts to draw attention away from Toushikyo and Maya seemed to work. Even Gestahl and Katalyna were glancing Eld's way, temporarily not approaching and speaking to their son, because of how obscure his outburst was.

"Heh. Heh," a laugh of stern disapproval escaped Sarah, "Yup. Gonna kill your ass."