(no subject)

[lastingbloom.livejournal.com]

Who: gotguts Unicorn Yato & lastingbloom Crane Yuzuriha
Where: Outside the Highschool
When: shortly after this thread
Rating: G?
Summary: Two Saints attempt to play in the snow...they're not very good at it.
the log:

The sky viewed through the window of her hands was grey, dotted by sparsely falling snow. Though it was unnatural weather to this place perhaps it was the most familiar thing yet for Yuzuriha, something that she had grown up with. “Come with me,” it was barely there, that whisper of childish excitement.

Yuzuriha pulled Yato out into the streets with her. It was strange for her honestly, to spend so much time boxed in by walls. It was for safety she understood but the feeling of the crisp air against her face was something far preferable to her.

Their footprints left in the snow were light, barely there but this place had perhaps already made an impression on them that could not be undone. Yuzuriha let go of Yato’s hand, spinning around to face him. “I am not afraid of being a little dirty, Yato.”

It probably wasn’t fair, Yuzuriha knew that Yato would be too surprised to move away in time. She jumped on him, arms going around his waist, pushing them both into the snow. “Snow is snow, no matter how dirty it might be this moment is nonetheless precious, no?”

“Eh--” Being led out here, Yato didn't really know what to expect. And, of course, this was something that he had certainly far from expected. “Y-Yuzuriha?!” He didn't have time to think, either, when he felt those arms wrap around his waist-- and back he went, the force sending them tumbling.

It was cold. He wished dearly that he could focus on that rather than other things, but he was too shell-shocked to move for a moment, almost as if the ice had frozen him on the spot.

Abruptly he twisted and pressed his face into the snow (he was almost surprised by how deep it was now), at the same time attempting to claw his way out-- He felt like a crab. Embarrassingly enough, he wondered if the snow would melt from the amount of heat that was rushing to his face.

“C-come on, that isn't funny! Didn't I get enough of this from Tenma?!” He wasn't about to admit that it was totally different.

They were really children, no amount of training and grace could change that or the way Yato would flail about like this inevitably. Yuzuriha laughed softly, in disagreement. It was funny, the way Yato’s face would twist desperately to convey something that he was certainly trying to hide. “It is funny, perhaps that is why Tenma does this.”

She rolled off to the side, lying in the snow next to him, as if she didn’t feel the sting of cold. It was an old companion anyways. “You didn’t see much snow, did you? Since Yato trained in the Sanctuary.”

Yuzuriha sat up, looking down at Yato curiously. It was something new, or perhaps it was something that had always been somewhat there but she’d never had the chance to explore it. She had never seen its importance before, maybe she still didn’t but in the meantime it seemed there was little more pressing.

Laughing at his expense, of course. But Yato never really could get angry about it in earnest, so he didn't even bother trying this time. “... Did I? No, it's pretty warm around the Sanctuary. Snow is a lot rarer.” He sat up as well, rubbing his nose. Maybe it had snowed more often in his hometown, but keeping memories of his family was more important than the weather.

Of course it would be different for Yuzuriha, she had grown up in those mountains with that old man. He couldn't remember seeing a lot of snow when they had been in Jamir, but perhaps they just weren't in the right places or the right season.

“Why? Do you like snow?” He scooped some up into his hand, patting it together into a sloppy ball. “I don't know if I do. It's too cold. And it gets in the way.”

Yuzuriha held up the dusty snow, watching it melt in the warmth of her hands. “I had never given much thought about liking it or not. Further up in the mountains, there was always snow. Perhaps it is a comfort now since that is so far away.” It left her fingertips a little numb, her limbs a little stiff, but she had never feared it. Yuzuriha blew at her fingertips, rubbing them together.

“It is probably not the snow, but the memories that I like.” She threw up a handful of snow, making the slight drift seem heavier. “Because it never melted near the tops of the mountain it was always present in my memories.”

Perhaps she was lucky, though she had no memory of her parents she had never longed for them either. The barren landscape of Jamir had been plentiful for her. Even if now only she, Atla, and Shion were left.

“Don't say it like we'll be stuck here forever,” Yato huffed, his motions becoming a little rougher until the shape of the snow became less of a ball and more some other kind of indecipherable shape. “This is only temporary... until we can go back to Lady Athena and turn the rest of those spectres into stardust.”

He was clearly distracted; the snow was already starting to melt in his hands. “Though I don't see why we can't get a head start while we're here...” He hadn't forgotten what that judge had said to him not long ago. It made an uncomfortable feeling bubble up in his stomach.

“I guess it doesn't matter.” He dropped the ball to the ground, tucking his hands under it and rolling it around a bit until it gathered more snow and grew in size.

Yuzuriha turned to Yato sharply, “That isn’t what I meant!” She had no desire to be here, in this city, in this world itself. What she wanted was only that memory, the quiet snowfall, and everything encased in those memories.

She just shook her head finally, lips thinning at Yato’s comment. “Even if you could land a punch on him he would not turn into stardust. We are all equally powerless perhaps.” There had been something about that Spectre’s posture as well, though she said nothing of that to Yato. That man was already defeated, no matter what came out of his mouth. Certainly that was part of the reason that Sisyphus stayed with that man.

Yato paused, glancing over. “Yeah, I know that.” He knew how powerless he was here, could feel it acutely in the sense that he couldn't feel anything at all. It almost felt as if all his pores had been blocked off by some heavy substance, something that both suffocated and snuffed out his very essence. It was both disturbing and frustrating.

“I know that,” he repeated, more irritated than the last, rolling the snowball over again. “But still...” The words trailed off. That guy, he was still irritating. Yato knew that Sir Sisyphus wouldn't let him get a blow in even if they were in fair distance, though he couldn't understand why for the life of him. What was his story?

“The moment he tries something funny, the great Yato won't be so forgiving.”

Though she had been the one that pulled Yato out Yuzuriha simply watched as Yato rolled up the snow, gathering it into a raged pearl. She understood the feeling of frustration perfectly, the same as the feeling she read across Yato’s face. He really hid nothing, though Yuzuriha couldn’t always understand what she saw passing.

“I do not expect you to be civil to him, no matter what might have happened that man will certainly be our enemy. Still there is no need to seek out confrontations as it is,” she didn’t say it but even without their cosmo Yuzuriha was certain the judge would be more than a formidable opponent. And she didn’t want to dwell too much on what would happen if the man were to decide to remove the chip blocking his power. Even if people returned to life here she was not willing to risk such. Or perhaps it was that they returned from death that made it more unnerving. What would a Judge of the Underworld think of such circumstances she wondered?

“What ‘funny’ thing do you expect him to try?” Yato perhaps took it all too personally, but with his temperament it was not difficult for someone to goad him on.

“... Who knows? Spectres are slimy, I'm sure he'd think of something if he really wanted to,” Yato huffed, increasing pace until he had a pile of snow at about knee height. “It's not as if I'm suddenly going to like him. He's just lucky that Lady Athena isn't here.”

He plopped down again afterward, gathering some more snow in his hands and repeating the process. It was starting to numb his fingers, but he didn't really pay it any mind. Even if it was dirty, maybe the change was a little nice-- It wasn't likely something he would see anytime soon once they returned home.

“Anyway, let's not talk about that guy.” He stood, carrying the second snowball with him and plopping it down on top of the first. Glancing around for a moment, he walked over to one of the nearby buildings, reaching up and breaking off one of icicles that had dripped down from a fractured gutter. “... You know, everyone is doing this, but I don't really see what makes it so amusing.”

Making his way back, he stabbed it into the center and stepped away, crossing his arms.

“I don’t expect you to…” Yuzuriha trailed off, watching him pile the second mound of snow on top of the first. Perhaps it was better, to not talk about those things, to not think about things that they were powerless to change right now. “Yes, let’s not talk about that.”

Yuzuriha stood inspecting the snow figure that Yato had built. She had seen them on the device as well but even seeing it in front of her…she couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. It certainly did not help when Yato impaled the icicle in one of the balls of snow. She tilted her head, as if trying to puzzle out the image. “What is it…?”

Yato frowned. Maybe it hadn't been the best attempt, but to put any more time into it seemed pointless. “... It's a unicorn.”

He reached out, grasping the icicle and tilting it until it pointed slightly upward rather than straight out. It didn't do much to improve the overall image or make it more recognizable, but Yato was satisfied with it regardless. “Use your imagination a little! It's not like I've ever done this sort of thing before.”

It really didn’t, but Yato telling her what it was supposed to be certainly helped. “Ah, I see it now.” She wondered how Yato would depict a crane. It was something like looking at the stars and trying to see a ram in a cluster. But they’d long ago learned to do that, this was something new.

“Perhaps it is just the act of making something, out of what is usually little more than dust, that makes it amusing.” Yuzuriha scooped up a handful of snow, moulding it together into a vaguely cylindrical shape. She pressed it to the “body” of the unicorn smoothing the snow together until it was more or less one piece. “A unicorn should have limbs, no?” She took another handful of snow, making another leg. In the end it looked no better but really that wasn’t the point, was it?

“Yeah... limbs.” Yato tilted his head slightly and squinted as he said it, as if changing the angle would make the shape any more discernible. It didn't, but nor did it really matter, he supposed. Out of all the figures that dotted the landscape, it certainly couldn't have been the worst one-- and really, it wasn't meant to be compared in the first place.

He scooped up a handful of snow, awkwardly sticking it to the “head” and smoothing it into a snout. He wasn't entirely sure why he was still doing this-- He had a brief urge to topple the whole thing just to see if it would be more amusing, but in the end he laughed slightly anyway. “I'm good at this, right?”

Yuzuriha took a moment to consider the figure after Yato added the snout; it looked nothing like a horse, let alone a unicorn. “No, we are both horrible at this,” she decided finally, the only thing that was the right shape was the icy horn. “But I suppose that is not important.”

She tilted her head, studying the snow unicorn; a shining white unicorn would have been fitting had it not been deformed. Yuzuriha pulled her scarf from around her neck, wrapping it around the figure’s. “That…does not make sense. But that doesn’t matter either I suppose.” She sifted through the snow, finding two dark pebbles under it all. She pressed it into the sides of the head for eyes. “Perhaps we should try making a yak instead.”

Yato scratched the side of his face thoughtfully. “Why would we make a yak? I don't think I've ever even seen a yak in person.” He plopped down into the snow again. This kind of cold temperature, he was hardly used to it anymore. He shook some snow out of his hair roughly at the thought, glancing up at Yuzuriha. She was probably used to it, though.

“Besides...” He shifted his hand beneath the snow, flinging some of it out at the girl standing over him. “Unicorns are much more superior. I bet a yak couldn't fight for justice.”

“I don’t know, but it seems like a crane would be more difficult to make.” Perhaps it was only natural to try to make their own shape, something they were most familiar with.

Yuzuriha blinked away the snow that caught on her eyelashes. The snow was something she was long used to, without her cosmo though even she could feel the chill. She crouched down so that she was level with Yato, holding his face in her hands. “You are probably right, Yaks are more suitable for farming. The horn on the unicorn would probably not be practical unless it is fighting for justice.” Her fingers were faintly cool from rolling and moulding the snow. “Are you cold?”

“A little cold doesn't bother me,” he insisted, glancing away awkwardly though he couldn't turn his face in her hands. Sometimes Yato wondered if she did these things purposely to embarrass him. If she did, it certainly worked-- and that was the worst part. He could practically feel his skin turning red again.

Nevertheless, whatever remained of his dignity probably collapsed when he sniffed right after saying it, breaking free of the hold to rub his nose a bit. “... Though maybe it would be a good idea to go back inside anyway,” he added as if it was only an afterthought.

“Yes, probably,” she agreed, careful not to laugh at Yato as his face warmed up in her hands. She wondered if sometimes she wounded his pride, but certainly it was unintentional. Yuzuriha wondered if it might be because Yato reminded her of Tokusa in a way, but then no one could compare to her brother. It was different, important in its own way.

Yuzuriha unwound her scarf from the “unicorn’s” neck carefully, folding it a few times and draping it over her arm. “We should go back inside, for my sake as well.”

Yato stood, patting the snow from his clothes and watching Yuzuriha as she gathered the scarf back together. “That's right... Like I would let a lady stay out here long enough to get sick. Especially without cosmo.” He realized that they both should probably learn to be more accustomed to dressing for the weather. It had never seemed to be an issue before, but things being that much different here was something he had already accepted.

He started off, wading through the snow and glancing back once he was a few steps ahead. “Come on, let's go!” It was cold-- Even if he didn't want to admit it, getting back inside would be nice.

Yuzuriha couldn’t hold back a slight snort of laughter, “A lady.” She caught up with Yato in long strides, taking his wrist in her hand. “Then you should not leave a lady behind.”

“Like I would...” There it was again. But Yato managed to keep his composure (at least he would have liked to think so), tugging his wrist out of her grasp and grabbing her hand instead, leading the way back properly.