Realistic or Modern (Koicomi) Communication Through Miscommunication.

[Rithas]

Cast:
Rithas as: Uta Fukuzatsu
Skyswimsky as: Raika Hiroshi
Ehb (Le GM) as: Hidden ghost that at no point speaks or gets seen

Character Sheets can be found by clicking here.
Check out the Hub Thread and links to other KoiComi 1x1's by clicking here or on the big banner at the top of this post.

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Communication Through Miscommunication

Spoiler: Route Theme: Once Upon a Time...

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Route Summary:
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There's something to be said about the legacy of the Gender Relations Club of Yuzu High. A last chance measure to try and stich together a divide between two single-sex schools unwillingly merged together. A goal to mend together two student bodies so that in their unity they could become something stronger then either school by itself. It seemed foolish at the start. Full of misfits, losers, and people outright betting on it's failure; The Club faced impossible odds for it's short term continued existence and the long term survival of the school. And yet, by the end of the Club's story. It had achieved every goal that had originally been written. Formed a connection between boys and girls, stopped corrupt politicians, raised some grades, and gathered the support of the entire town. With everything done, the Gender Relations club was to set sail into the horizon of the past as it's members moved on from a wonderful and lifechanging year. A story that in it's full telling could bring a tear to your eye.

But that isn't the story we're telling today.

Rather a tale that interweaves and bisects the story of the Gender Relations Club. A tale about two of it's more unusual members. Whose first meeting together accidentally orchestrated by the Gender Relations Club planted a seed from which budded a rose of love. But you must wonder, who were they before their fateful meeting?

Uta Fukuzatsu is that weird kid in school. You know, the one everyone makes jokes about while simultaneously avoiding being around them cause they creep everyone out. Going into the school merge Uta definitely started off with a weird reputation from some of the other more rowdier boys in his school. That he was a little unhinged, who stared at the moon at night. Who only spoke in poem and riddles, speaking things about death and souls. Who ate bugs he found on the ground and who laughed like a creep for ten seconds straight at random intervals. His world is one of the moon, which light barely pierces the darkness, populated by terrors of trauma and loneliness. But if one was to look at the night sky one could find peace, don't you think?

Raika Hiroshi is a weirdo thrill seeker. Bored out of her mind, it's hard to tell if her childish antics are part of a greater ruse or if she simply isn't right in her head. Maybe it is both. While she is a loud, self-centric, and quite a stubborn individual, she can show great care to those that put up with her. While she doesn't mince her words and often refers to herself in third person, Raika is also able to show a great deal of charisma and sway people to her side. She loves to be the centre of attention and have things go her way and absolutely hates it if people can't agree with her. Her world is one of the star, a blazing inferno which lights the sky and everything around it. But inevitably blinding and alienating anything that stares at it for too long.

For us to fully understand how this tale ends after the finale of the Gender Relationship Club. We must first look back at their time in the Club, the story of a Moon and Star falling into each other's orbit. Whose pull ultimately changes the course of both Club Members. Beginning of course, with that first real meeting between two students of fanciful thinking. How little either of them knew then...

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'So, by miscommunication
are important things advanced,
a word misheard can be absurd
or a poem, just by chance'​

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The day was finally ending on Yuzu High. The sun still hung in the sky, but had already began to lull behind buildings as it made it's way to the horizon. Rays of light reached through the windows at odd angles, casting spots of shade partially through the increasingly empty classrooms and hallways.

At this point in the evening the Gender Relations Club had already finished their 'meeting' with basic assignments to help ease the worsening tensions between the girls and boys. The general consesus was to 'Do anything to show that both parties share common points' and to 'clear up misunderstandings'. It was a meeting with a lot of people, many who had given him looks of mild disgust or pity, and a few who ignored him completely. Perhaps that was why he couldn't help but hear the mutterings of a few of the members, and their true desires on the school. Yes, it seemed ultimately there was quite a few worms in the apple.

Entropy came for everything. For this school, faster then most.
That was the apparent fate of the situation.

So he did not raise an alarm. He did not speak. He did not look.
Oh, Pale Lady. Was the foothold he had found in his eternal descent only temporary?
He laughed to himself.
Nothing was funny.

He fiddled with something that he held in his hands.
A cutesy hello-kitty key chain that he twiddled between his fingers.
For in his locked gaze of the floor, Uta had noticed something. Before the meeting, before classes had even finished.

...........

......

...

"-Gross! What does that even mean!"

"Heheheheehheehe-

Does one not see it?
Your very own clues to nest.
Which scattered amongst tiles past dawn.
And now long
Thou'st desire what is missed?
A pet not found before night
Is surely lost upon the morn.
And what else to do then but mourn?"

You see, Uta had seen the keys of a female student fall out of her pocket earlier in the day. Nobody else seemed to notice, and by the time he had picked them up she had already vanished. So he had kept them in his possession all day. And as luck would have it, he saw her with her group of friends preparing to leave the school. So here he was trying to give her keys back to her.

"I think he wants to steal your cat?"
"Not Mr.Sniffles! Stay away you creep!"

It was not going well.

He held out his hand again, shaking the keys faintly as sweat formed on his brow. He had long stopped daring to even look at the group of friends. But he could see their feet tap the floor with impatience and growing irritation.

"I must deflect said thought
Mistaken, no, misconstrued.
I have i-"
"Yo he has your keys!"
"D-Did you steal them!?"
"Urgh, just like every stupid boy in this school. Come here so I can teach you a lesson!"

Not well at all.

Uta backed up a few steps as they stepped forward. He didn't see it, but he could hear the faint 'plampt' as one of them was literally making a typical 'beat him up' gesture with their hands.
The keys jingled again, this time from his shaking hands.

"Heheheheheh
Have at thee?
HEHEHE-"

And then Uta threw the keys in the air and bolted in the other direction.

He did not count how many doors he went by in his retreat. He turned two corners at least, nearly slipped at a unseen floor is wet sign and went to hide in an unused club room. He meekly closed the door behind him and held back the urge to cry.

When he opened his eyes again, he cringed as the evening light shone straight through the windows at him. This room was remarkably more well lit then some of the others. Such was the decision of the sun that day. It was only with this barrage of light that he noticed a lone silhouette at the end of the room. That, and the sudden absence of the sound of pencil on paper.

"Heheheh" Uta looked around. Wasn't this the arts and craft room that they used for drawing and theatre costumes? He wasn't even aware that this was open at this time of the day. He was sure that a staff member was meant to have locked it by now.

"Much like a moth to light,
An unwanted subject who
with ignorance without shame
has entered one paradise
I fear with a heavy price.

Can one, who sits in the light
Amongst the many masks and
Canvas' of snow and sky
See that the moth only
Sought to coexist, not sly
but so that for a moment my
soul could rest in shade
away from a forwards blockade

Back, Back and Back the Moth must go.
For the sun does not approach something like him.
He knows surely behind him is refuge
And with these words, avoid a deluge."

Uta had moved to a corner of the room. Physically backing himself into the smallest crevice. He squinted awkwardly at the silhouette. She looked familiar

"Heh...he.."

 

[Skyswimsky]

Raika was alone. A deafening silence that she was only able to endure, thanks to the knowledge that she had made quite a scene today. A flashy entrance, a bold speech, a wit of her genius. Things that were sure to ensure that maybe, just maybe, her very own self would be a topic of conversation at the dinner table of one or another student. Yet, the specifics of her joining a club she wasn't actually invested in as well as her antics were a story of another time.

Instead, Raika was simply here. A place she did not belong to. The why mattered as little as the how. Believing little in fate or chance, as her silence was interrupted by yet another vagabond. Gently, the girl set aside her pen and paper. Swiftly stuffing the piece into one of her pockets. He spoke.

Raika recognized him. A fellow club member who spoke alien. Words that, maybe with a lot of effort, she could make sense of. But she didn't want to. She didn't need to. She didn't have to. She wasn't sure if he was worse than those people who spoke academics or not. Yet, if his cute laugh hadn't been enough, then it was the very alien tongue he poke that made him memorable enough. Uta Fukuzatsu was anything but an inconspicuous shadow.

"U...huh." Raika spoke. Just a little bit out of it, before taking a step onto the very desk she was just sitting at and lifting herself upon it. Thus, towering over the weirdo. "Ah...!" She finally spoke, her face lighting up some. "You have Raika's deepest apologies." She put both her hands over her heart, her face looking quite apologetic. "In fact, Raika is most terribly sorry for being here." With that, she jumped down from the desk and started pacing around the room a bit. "She takes it you've been looking for some PEACE and QUIET." Pointing at Uta in a sudden stop. "...Unless, you have not?" Followed by suddenly widening her eyes in surprise as if she realized the intent of his intrusion. "Could it be..." Her mouth now gasping in surprise, mixed with just a hint of joy. "Could it be you have been looking for me!?" With some fast steps, Raika was now a lot closer to Uta.

"But yes, yes! Of course." Smiling and just, seemingly happy now. "BUT who could possibly blame you? If Raika were in your shoes, she'd do the same!" Just like Uta, Raika too had a bit of a creepy, maybe even maniacal giggle as she brushed through her hair. Though unlike the boy hers was more on cue. "With her dazzling beauty and her undeniable charm, she did it once again!" Putting the back of her hand to her forehead and stumbling back a few steps, she quickly regained her composure as quickly as she lost it.

"Telle Raika then, how may SHE be of service to YOU?"

Where did she plan to go with this? No clue.
Just as long as he wouldn't speak more alien, things would be just fine.

 

[Rithas]

It did not take long for the silhouette to quickly remind him who she was. When she stood on the table she blocked the sun, and so her visage was clear to the boy. Why she was doing a patriotic She was loud and moving around the room without a care in the world. Whatever crevice Uta had been hiding himself in. He was now consciously try to eek out any more space that it would provide as Raika rapidly closed the space between them. She smelled like a zesty pastry.
Uta pushed his fingers together in a blush.

"Of citrus trees and eastern spice
It must be. For what else would grow
In such sun and light, constant as
White-
I see it but
White, can't you see
the white.

Hehehehee

Um-"

Uta blinked. No, wait. What had she told him? He tried to think on what she was actually asking of him. Which was....what exactly?

"Servitude? I'm not sure what to conclude
That you ask me for a quest?
A request or some sort of test?
At my behest, I must attest
is a lot to digest."

He wondered how long he'd stay here until those girls would give up and leave him alone. Or had they already done that as soon as he started to run away. That was the most likely outcome, no one paid more than a second of attention to him unless it was to shove him into a toilet.

"Heheee." Uta swallowed. Coughing harshly in response, he must have swallowed a hair. This girl hadn't immeditally try to beat him up, so that was a good start. He could do with being able to sit and not being crammed in a corner to be honest.

"The moth only arrives here to rest some wings
So would it be the sin of pride
for it to stare at the light which would guide
and demand it to dim.

Perhaps, one could take a step
and look.
Outside the colours
and check for one of similar sex.
Prowling around
In exchange for a pet, they hunt.
All in unlikely.
They might beckon me.
Though for one to seek a moth.
One would have to look somewhere very befouled indeed."

He smiled nervously at the girl.
She understood what he meant, right?

 

[Skyswimsky]

"U...huh." Great conversation.

Very much to her own dismay, Uta continued to talk in Alien. He had already done so earlier in the club, and now... was he just, really committed to the act? Raika kind of appreciated that. Yet, at the same time, it was kinda hard to understand him. In fact, his weird speech silenced Raika long enough to return some peace and tranquility as he could quite literally see how her blank face was slowly trying to comprehend what he said.

"..."
"..."
". . ."

It likely wouldn't even be that hard to decipher, if she could only remember his exact words from 20 seconds ago.
Something something moths, yes?

"Well well well..." Raika took a few steps back before pacing around the room again in a circle, her hands moving as if she was explaining something. "You seem to be QUITE accustomed to moths, do you not? In fact, most people seem to absolutely hate them. Yet she fathoms..." - a dramatic pause - "...just whhhyyy? For THEY are BEAUTIFUL creatures indeed!" Raika then started to speak just a tiny little bit faster. "Fragile and misunderstood. Butterflies of the night sky! But all they see is a disgusting insect to go ewww and aahh and oh no and SPLASH, the moth is dead. The DAY is SAVED. Hurraahhh!" With a cheer, the girl put both her arms in the air before retracting them, looking quite saddened toward Uta.

"But you need not worry, Raika's friend. For Raika finds them quite beautiful indeed." Well, she didn't mind them? And she certainly had seen pictures before, and much against popular belief, moths were actually quite cute and sorta colorful!? Also just, really fluffy.

Surely, a great conversation they were having here indeed.

 

[Rithas]

Uta dared to look up when silence had settled on the two. He met her eyes.

She stared at him.
He stared at her.
She stared at him
He stared at her
She stared at him.
He looked back at the floor.

Even he was not immune to an awkward silence despite how many he caused, so it was to great relief that Raika rebooted the windows of her mind and began to run around the room again. She was...lively this one. Lively enough for the both of them. Uta focused to keep up with her speech. She was fathoming, well someone was fathoming. Uta looked around to see if there was another girl in the room with Raika that she was mentioning. He was worried there was another one hiding in the opposite corner of the room ready to jump him.

Perhaps if he hadn't been worried about that situation he would have registered Reika's words sooner.
Oh.

"Thou doth think fairly on
Our fair weathered friends?" He pointed a finger up at...something.

"I expect thou will look and from thee eyes will cry

'Thee takes great measure in audit​

of Lepidoptera in our terra!'​

So see it that one will bear to share such knowledge

heehehehe"

Uta laid two hands out in front of him. He stared at them for a moment, reciting something in his head. Taking a breath, he closed his eyes before continuing.

" The number of species that contain moths outnumbers
the meekly number that hold butterfly.
While our friends do often fly under moonlight,
one will find that many fly oft in the terms of the sun.
Some are as tiny as the whites of my fingernails,
while others would cover the plate of my dinner."

Raika realised that she was now listening to impromptu moth facts. Uta had even stepped out a foot or two from his crevice as he remembered whatever was lodged in the cosmos of his mind.
She also realised he was not done with this.

"But is the cycle of life not always there.
For it is a source of protein, said here in the quiet.
Yes, let it all be said and laid bare
That the moth is told to be quite the diet."

Uta eyes opened with a spring. He stared at Raika with mild panic.

"NOT THAT I WOULD KNOW!

I THINK ONE MAY SAY
THE CULTURE TO DIGEST ONE LIKE THIS
IS NOT FOUND WITHIN THY
SO NO NEED TO BE SHY"

Uta bit on a nail on his hand. Crumpling back into the corner of the room.

"A-And spread words like this,
in secret, behind and infront
to fester and spread

Hehehee""

 

[Skyswimsky]

This time, against her better judgment, Raika decided to listen to Uta intensely. So that, hopefully, she could understand him.

Alas, she couldn't. Though his laugh was still adorable.
Until she could finally understand him. Yes, he did indeed like moths... or did he just say he was eating them?
Just for her to not understand anything again.

"U-huh..." Raika frowned once more. She was all for embracing the chaos and having a conversation that really wasn't like a conversation at all, or at least she had thought so until now. But this was kinda... difficult? Not to mention she wasn't any smarter than before about Uta's agenda, other than that there existed more moth species than butterfly species and Uta maybe enjoyed eating insects. A part of her considered just turning around and leaving, yet, somehow, it felt like... losing? And Raika did not like losing.

Once more, she put her hands on her chest. Closed her eyes, and started in sad, but somehow energetic, voice. "It does indeed quite sadden Raika to be the bearer of such terrible, TERRIBLE, news. BUT! She has to admit, her wisdom in Mothology is quite very limited. They're fluffy, and that's about it." Raika gave a nodding shrug in agreement?

Instead, opening her eyes again and taking hasty steps towards Uta once more, carrying intent with every step it nearly looked like she was about to overrun him. "Of much more bigger concern, does Raika wonder." Coming face-to-face with Uta. "What is it with yoooouuuuu, being here?" Gently clasping his hand in her own, and slowly trying to pull him out of his safety corner. "You have ABSOLUTELY no need to be so so concerned! Hiding in a corner like a caged animal." She tried to reassure him? "If Raika wanted to eat you, she would have already done so long ago!" A smile. A nod. Yet her eyes were sharp in anticipation to hopefully decipher whatever he was to say next.

 

[Rithas]

Uta blushes, shivered, and quietly yelped all at the same time as Raika took his hands into her own. "Umm-!" He let himself get dragged out of his corner. The dying sun hitting his eyes once again.

She smiled at him and he realised how clammy his hands were. Or her hands were. Something was uncomfortably moist on his hands.

He opened his mouth to say something. But found his reservoir of words empty for a moment.

"....Uhuh"

This girl was different, the way she looked at him. Almost made him feel nice...

But then a thought clouded whatever rays of light briefly spread in his soul.
He felt the familiar feeling of anxiety well up as he was hit with a wall of intrusive thoughts.

No...
He knew what was happening here.
She was making fun of him!
This was some trick to embarrass him again.
She'd definitely seen him at the assembly or gender club and thought it'd be great to play a game on him.
He wasn't going to sit around and wait for her to turn the other cheek.
He'd avoided goin
Nobody ever talked to him like this. And Nobody ever would. He knew that for a fact.
So for her to...
Well...Well!

His eyes welled up a little bit.
"I ask, no I demand
To end this game
Is my will to you seem so trite
That you see it within your might
To play with your doll
Well I'm not your thrall." He yanked his hands away from Raika.

"See fit that you mock on some other rock then my own
For I will keep stock of those who interlock their words with bone."

He took a deep breath and looked at her, wiping some tears from his eyes.
"I wish it, I wish it. Do you not see.
How many times I bequeath.
No Harm, No Malice,
Let me dream
And I will complete your mission for you."

And then Uta ran to the door and started to flee down the hall.

 

[Skyswimsky]

Before Raika could do much to react, the boy once again rambled on. This time, she was prepared - or so she had hoped. Something about a game and playing with dolls? And mocking rocks? Raika was about to piece things together when Uta had her completely lost on his last bit. Mission? Her mission? Sure, Raika had great plans and all that but... none of them involved him yet!

In fact, it seemed like the boy was about to cry AFTER he freed himself from her. Maybe he didn't like skin contact? Perhaps he was one of these weirdo boys who thought you'd get a girl pregnant if you held hands! ... A thought that was ever-so-slightly entertaining to tease him with. Regardless, no matter what words she could have said or actions she could have done, it was now too late.

The boy ran away.
Just like that.
His exit was as weird as his entrance.
Sorta intriguing. no?

Raika was, simply left alone. Maybe dumbfounded even. Though considering they were in the same club, certain that this wasn't the last time.

"U-huh..." Confused, she too slowly went about the rest of her day...

 

[Rithas]

Quite the awkward start to a relationship, don't you think? But you be surprised how things can change after a Sports Festival Pep-talk, Close School vote, Naked Hotsprings Mystery, Cute Maidcafe and a tense study session later....

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"Raika I'm not sure this is a good idea." Uta muttered, fidgeting with the edges of his sleeves. He looked upon the forest in front of him and sighed. He wasn't afraid of forests, in fact he quite enjoy the various small lifeforms that made home in the habitat. It was just that it wasn't going to be just an walk in the forest, but an 'adventure' with Raika. Which could mean really anything from tree climbing to fighting an eldritch god. But of course, she had demanded they go on one. So here he was.

"
He warns at the beckon.
Yet finds himself unable to resist.
The door to wonder, life kept asunder.

Yet he gazes at the world held aloft
Do we go into these woods?
Of salamanders and spider blood.

'At last the key was mine to those vague visions
Of sunset spires and twilight woods that brood
Dim in the gulfs beyond this earth's precisions,
Lurking as memories of infinitude.'

It's hayfever season and everything..."

He stared at the girl next to him. Warmth spreading to his cheeks with every second of her visage. He had been...trying to think of a good way to describe how he felt to her. It had to be...perfect? But a, dare he se say it, 'love' poem was far from his area of expertise. She had done a lot for him, so how could he describe that back? He had given hints, inklings, threads of the truth allowed to be frayed and exposed to the elements. But nothing had been pulled at, or even noticed probably. How best to construct a sculpture of air for someone who would run through rock?

The boy sighed again. Even his admiration to the Fair Pale Lady did not require such strenuous thinking as this.

"
'Ah, Mrs. Fortuna! Uselessly
you show yourself disdainful. Your favours
I will conquer with brave spirit
like all brave fighters.'

You know, the word forest sources it origin from the meaning of a place reserved for hunting. Are we um, hunting anything in there. I am no good hunter, so I do not know what are in this forest. nless it is eachother. Hhehehe. I mean, or something else obviously. Really it's up to you. Hope we don't get lost or something. hehee"

Uta coughed and looked at the sky. He wondered how many hours of sunlight they had left...

 

[Skyswimsky]

"And Raika is ABSOLUTELY sure that THIS is a most wonderful idea!" She replied to his small whispers with as much gusto as the sun had heat. Her face, full of excitement as she pointed at the green thickery in front of her, albeit somewhat up. Clearly behind the evergreen wall of plant, as if already aware of their destination. Much to Raika's dismay, but also her entertainment, it was still hard to understand most of Uta's words. Though it had gotten better.

"And while the Quest for the illustrious Witches of the Starlight Twilight, or the hunt for the GREAT White Beetledeer of the Forest, may be of MUCH excitement to each of us. Today, Raika simply wishes to show you QUITE a very special place, indeed." She took a few steps forward, twirling around and giving him a wink before extending her arms like a praying mantis. "Higher AND higher we shall rise! And at the very top, there will be a surprise!" Yeah, she just did that. "It's going to be the most WONDERFUL adventure, you'll see."

Yeah, the forest had a mountain. It wasn't that tall. But tall enough to give a great view... AND also had enough of a clearing.

Her plan was perfect, the stage was set. All Raika had left to do was move the two of them there! For being all chaotic and taking things without much planning, this time, she had quite the plan! And spend a bit of a fortune.

"Now, come and see!" Grabbing Uta's hand, Raika turned around and dragged him through the thicket...

...
...
...

It was dirty. Muddy. And branchy. Yet, none of that seemed to bother her much as they switched between apparent mud-path and just more greenery. One had to wonder if Raika even knew where she was going. "Worry not. There are just PLENTY of rumors of people getting ABSOLUTELY lost in this forest. But none of them had yours truly as a guide!" Raika stopped, turning around to allow Uta nearly walking into her.

"A once very wise woman always said: Left is always right, you know! And if the worst SHOULD. Truly. Happen: There is LOTS of protein around!"

 

[Rithas]

Uta stopped short of headbutting Raika, the girl could move fast but could stop on a dime. He pulled out a twig or something out of his hair and looked down at his muddied dress shoes. It was clear he was a little ill-dressed for this. It was a miracle that he hadn't fallen over given his attire. He'd have both his hands up to his mouth if it wasn't that one was locked in the grip of the one he was following. He wasn't quite sure on her style of navigation, but surely even Raika wouldn't just blindly lead the two of them into the woods with no knowledge of a good path through it.......

Wait.

"You want us to resort to cannibalism?

'Of fear and homage to the famine god
Toughen the muscles behind their humbled knees,
Make a seasonal altar of the sod.'

Bare your teeth, and hear the knell
Of the unwanted supper that we desire,
We shall eat our way to hell...

I don't think I'd be able to eat you Raika. You'd be too sweet- oh look!"

The boy bent down to some random bush. Laying his hand out, he stood back to reveal an massive moth in his palm.

"Antheraea yamamai! Isn't it beautiful!" Uta declared, putting it right up to the up to Raika's face, He ethuasically looked between her and the organism in his hands.

"A thousand years to farm
You're children shall weave our clothes.
You will be the one to build our forms.

I think it's markings of it's mature form is one of my favourites.."

Uta wiggled his hand and with a bit of a fluttering start the insect flew away into the woods.

"Odd, it's not the season for it to be around. Yet there it was. Perhaps we've seen one of the strange wonders of this forest already hehehe" Uta gave a smile to his friend before taking hold of her hand again. "R-Right, back to leading me somewhere right?" It was the only Raika wasn't going to accidentally run way ahead of him and get lost.

 

[Skyswimsky]

"Ah, there seems to be QUITE the misunderstanding, my dear companion. For you see, we do NOT have to resort to cannibalism quite yet. Neither you nor Raika are some sort of savages, after all!" As Uta left Raika's hand, it gave her enough freedom to accentuate her entire speech. Something that she seemed to do as subconsciously as chewing soup. "BUT!... You see, nature is full of WONDERS AND... nutritious meals. So if we ARE going to be lost in the forest, it won't be a problem!"

With that explained, Raika widened her eyes in awe as she took a step back and covered her mouth. "Ab-so-LUTELY amazing! You have quite sharp eyes, my dear friend. It may indeed be a MIRACLE of the forest!" They both stared after the moth as it disappeared back into the forest. "Let us not tempt this distasteful concept called fate to draw a conclusion between US and THEM." Giving Uta a nod, they both locked hands again before continuing their way.

...

They traveled for a bit until finally making contact with... a dead end!? A wall, in fact. Made out of rock. The lower end of what seemed to be presumably a cliff. Raika seemed taken aback for just a moment, before pointing up. "Our desired quarry is high up in the sky, just below the stars! Surely we can ascend... somehow." She at least didn't seem crazy enough to suggest climbing. Before noticing an entrance to a cave. "Ah, there it is! A path ahead!" Pointing at it, Raika didn't even ask Uta if he was okay going into a deep, dark, moist place. "M-Maybe we will even experience the WONDROUS JOYS of an h-h-haunt..." The thought alone made her hands shake, just a little bit. Must be from excitement! "Uta! How about a most EXCITING shift in occupations?! Raika will follow, and YOU take the lead!"

 

[Rithas]

He had a sneaking suspicion that Raika had not intended to bring them to the bottom of this cliff. His hints being the route they had taken and also every 'adventure' Raika had brought him on (and subsequently gotten them lost)

Uta stared at the cavern entrance. Specs of light stopped trying to penetrate the cave was stopped headfast by wall of darkness. He wondered if this cave even had an exit or were they just going to reach another dead end in the deep depths. The whistling wind from the entrance meant...something. The knowledge on caves and the underground was rather lacking from him to be honest. Still, this part of the 'adventure' would mean going into the unknown, where day would turn to the darkest of nights.

He sniffed.

"Ok."

He stepped into the cave entrance gesturing for Raika to follow him. Raika could see an almost sly smile being worn by the boy. "I'd open the light on your phone if you have it. Don't want to trip up." It's not like he could use his own phone, his flip phone lighting feature was less than satisfactory.

"
And so the adventure begins the next step
Into the very heart of darkness it leapt
What could follow them with a misstep

And the wind, well...

' The breeze the breath of God is still
And the mist upon the hill
Shadowy shadowy yet unbroken,
Is a symbol and a token
How it hangs upon the trees,
A mystery of mysteries! '
"

The light help a bit, but it could only pierce one sliver of the dark at a time. Uta mainly wanted it aimed at their feet so that they didn't trip over a rock or fall down a gap or something. Still, he seemed comfortable in this. There was a gentle thumping in the dark reverberating around them. Now Uta knew that this was from air above of them passing through crevices and the ceiling, but that explanation was perhaps too boring for Raika. She did say she wanted adventure...

"You know-" Oh, his voice seemed a lot louder in this cave. Lovely acoustics he supposed aside from the echo. Spooky. "They say in caves lie beasts and gouls. Ghosts of those who perished here still hide in the very rock we stand on. Who knows, we might see one. Hehehhee"

 

[Skyswimsky]

A spiral.
As Raika's way too expensive phone lighted up the way ahead she knew they were going in a sort of spiral!
First, down, then, up! Clearly, it would lead them somewhere up the hill.
Raika was sure of it. Not that she had definitive proof. But she believed her guts... and Uta's temporary leadership!

"G-G-Ghosts!?" At least until he had to speak of the spooks. The boy could feel Raika getting a lot closer to him. Uncomfortably close. "Y-You think it's the MOST haunting calls of the pale lady!? Oh... oh no! Raika doesn't have any salt! SUCH. Tragedy! We're all going to d-"

Rattle rattle
The focus on the phone was lost.
Their concentration broken.
Their feet, brushing over an assortment of solid objects.
Rattle rattle

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! BEGONE, VILE SPIRIT, RAIKA IS TOO AWESOME TO DIE. O-Oh right! Ghost Camera!" Raika called out, practically jumping back and yanking Uta with her as she sort-of hugged him. A really strange position for any on-looker.

"Oh..." Shining light upon the source of sound, the girl let out a sigh of relief.

"It is just bones."

Just. Bones. Animal? Human? One had to take a closer look.

 

[Rithas]

She still smelled like a zesty pastry.

A light shining over his shoulder dispersed the notion of an assortment of ghosts that Raika were frightened of that were trying to drag them to the underworld (Atleast, not yet). But it did reveal bones strewn across the rocky floor. He interlocked his hand with hers to gently release her mild death-grip on him.

"A-Ahem."

Red cheeked in the dark. Uta knelt down and picked one up one of the bones from the floor. Backing into Raika so that he keep using Raika's light over his shoulder, and not have to turn around and blind himself. He turned it over in his hand. Scratching his cheek in the darkness. It was a...femur/tibia/fibula/long bone of some sort. Maybe?

"Hehehehe...

The truth of the white.
A death upon us all, say
That sure is a bone?"

What can you say; He was a bug guy, not a bone guy.

While he would have kinda loved to be able to pocket this back home for some aesthetic muse inspiration. He felt a small warm sense of joy that neither of them were particularly frightened of the sight that was portrayed in front of them. The boy was aware that something must have left these bones here. Probably long gone either way. Well if he couldn't keep it...

He tossed the bone into the darkness.

*TACK, TACK, Grrrr, Tack.*

"..."

Uta laughed in a more frantic tone then normal.

"I think I see the light of an exit over here." He said in a light whisper to his friend's ear. "Let's just go over there..."

Step Step.

Yes, it was clear to Uta that this required a tactical retreat from the ghosts.

The two moved as Uta ushered Reika out in his own form of a hug.

"
Hello, Fair Lady.
I for now request that we
Do not perish here!"

They could feel the breeze beginning to brush against their cheeks.

It opened up to...

 

[Skyswimsky]

"That sure is a bone." Raika assured Uta before, suddenly, animal noises.

"..."

"A most tactical retreat in a most dire situation, Raika would say! Unless we have a bone to pick ourselves, that is." She agreed with Uta, though had to be hushed along multiple times. Clearly stopping every now and trying to take a peek at what exactly made the noise. It could range from a bear to a rat! Did rats make grrr?

Yet, the mystery would forever stay a mystery, as the two of them embraced the warmth of the su- "Oh my, it seems like while we were OUT to solve the great mysteries of the DEPTHS, the world has FALLEN to darkness! But, the scene is set, and the actors close to stage! Come, my most wonderful companion! We're nearly there." Once again, Raika took the lead. With the sun slowly settling and the stars and town lights serving as a new source of illumination, it was way less scary than ghosts.

Dragging Uta once again along by the hand, they were now quite some altitude higher! Three to five tree-heights, in fact. And while nowhere really high mountain levels, Uta could find himself being able to overlook most of their home. It also happened to be quite a lot more chill. Neither of them dressed for the occasion, it seemed.

"We have discovered the great maw bellow, survived an encounter with the beast of bones, and are near the end of our adventure! All that's left is a treasure. Are you seeing any kind of treasure?" Raika's goal was clearly, the highest point of this place and the view it delivered. Even if the journey to it was anything but romantic.

 

[Rithas]

You're the treasure.

He didn't actually say that, obviously. He just put his free hand into his pocket to get some warmth. It was colder then he would have thought. He should have worn a thicker sweater. At least Raika's hand was warm.

To her question he looked around. Was there an actual treasure right next to them?

No, of course not. So then Raika clearly wanted the two to go in a certain destination. He pointed his finger out in a direction. "Is the treasure...over theeere~" He moved his arm in a circle until he reached a direction that made Raika's eyes gleam the brightest. "-ere then." It was up even further then. Uta wondered if there was anything at the peak aside from the view. Not that he would have minded of course. A high place with a nice view was all he needed for...well, he still wasn't sure how exactly he was going to phrase it. Phrase something in some way, certainly. Romantic feelings? Probably. Romantic reimbursement? Uncertain.

Was it better to start now? But in what form? A limerick? A sonnet? An acrostic- hahaha of course not.

"Raika...um, nevermind."

Uta stared up at the sky as they walked.

"On a starry night like this
the peaking of light through a threaded blanket
woven with the black wool of the cosmos.
A white button begins to peak through the seams."

Why was it easier to talk about the endless night then to her?

He sighed, a feeling in his heart beginning to twist itself into knots. Hell, even if he found the right words how would he even know that she would accept. They had certainly bonded closely over the year. But she was bombastic and full of life and he was...well, he was Uta. Would she even notice if he created a piece of work worthy enough for her heart?

'You are a whirlpool, you are a whirlpool, and I am very nearly drowned'

Yeah, he think he understood that poem better now.

As they continued onwards. Uta squinted, he could see...something on the horizon. To be honest he struggled at twilight light. He had good night vision but something about this time made him struggle. Shadows upon shadows, at this point.
"Raika, what treasure are we seeking at the end of this. Hehehe. I mean-" He corrected himself, fearing the answer of 'anything' . "What's our goal when we find it..." The boy eyes glanced to the floor. "We could have a nice talk...or something..."

 

[Skyswimsky]

Treasure.
Treasure, treasure, treasure. "Yes, there!" Raika entertained Uta's supporting antics as he was gleaming full of happiness upon simply pointing further up. His smile made her smile! (And vice versa?) Yet, there was a tiny little problem. Sure, Raika had sort of a plan for what they were even going to do! But she wouldn't call it a treasure. In fact, she had never even meant that sort of treasure! But, rather, maybe they'd still find a treasure and everything! Because treasures made every adventure better.

Now, however, she had to wing it. Kay. Good. Alright.

"A white button? The MOST radiant of all?!" Raika asked as they ascended the small pathway further up, joining a grouping of stone stairs that led up and down the main path. The one without a cave and possibly dangerous and hungry animal. So at the very least, their descent would be less scary.

"Can you see the sun past the night veils?" She asked, stepping on her toes as if that extra distance helped her see past the dark sky. "Mhm...."

Yeah, she really needed a new idea!

A light.
Not her phone.
A second one.
Was this fate?!
And a third one.
Kinda romantic, even!

"Look, my dear companion. We're close to what I wanted to show you!" She totally winged it as a few fireflies started to pop up around them. And while Raika knew that this wasn't a fictional story, and the top of the mountain hill would clearly NOT be filled with them, she was willing to bet on it.

Checking if her phone still had enough charge so she could send THE SIGNAL, they were nearly on top. The perfect spot, and all! "A fiery dance of crimson contained on this small mountain. A carnival made solely for ourselves!" Letting go of his hand, Raika took a few steps forward and started to spin. Hopefully not falling and all, but she had to sell the idea!

 

[Rithas]

They weren't at the top yet. But he watched the (average amount) of fireflies buzz around with a smile. He liked fireflies, even if civilization was making their population die out. That wasn't very romant-

Look back at the girl, Uta.
He could feel some inspiration come to him. He....he knew what he would do.
When they got to the spot he would take her hand in his and speak from the heart.
The Poem of Poems.
He would spin words through both their hearts.

He watched Raika spin again on her feet.
Smiling and not caring about falling on her face. Just like she did every time. How often had he seen that smile this year. How often had he been around that energy this year. How many times had he soaked it in to brighten the darkness he felt when he woke up every day. How many times had she unearthed some bravery inside him that had long been buried by everyone else?

"L..."

Lights and lights and lights
And a pale lady, spinning with joy.
Come with me, and you'll never feel ignored ever again.

"Raika I'm in love with you."

Wait what.

Uta eyes widened.
He put his hands to his cheeks and turned red.
He hadn't just blurted that out had he!?
"AAH!" He yelled, echoing out into the night.

The boy stood there in front of the girl who hadn't even completed her spinning yet. A minute or more of walking still to do before they reached the spot that she had wanted to reach. Whatever treasure was meant to be there. It was still muddy here, and the whistling of the cave could still be heard faintly.

"Haha, that's not what I meaN! Well, I mean. er, um. I do. Just not...err HAHAaaaa~"
He wasn't even holding her hand.
Uta turned around and looked at the sky. "Just another one of my poems. Single line poetry. It's an experimental format. You can just ignore it like most people do hehehehe~~"

 

[Skyswimsky]

Spinning in the middle of the night on top of a semi-deadly hill wasn't a smart decision. And also not the healthiest. Thus, Uta's impeccable timing was met with Raika suddenly going "Hu- Aaaahhh!" Before disappearing behind a rock she was twirling on. Though the sound of branches snapping and bushes doing whatever noise a bush made when a way more solid object made an impact with it would likely reassure Uta that she was relatively fine.

"I'm fine!"

Her voice could be heard before reappearing from the same spot the darkness had absorbed her. A little bit more roughed up, albeit nothing too serious. "Raika escaped the CLUTCHES of death for another day! Mhm." She proudly proclaimed, unaware of the immense amount of courage the boy had just built up. "You had spoken...?" Raika reassured. Only taking a guess what he had stammered, though she would rather make sure before-!

"I too, am quite in love-" Was it? "-with the fireflies! Their beauty oh-SO unmatched." Not at all. Uta could count himself likely lucky the darkness hid his shade. "Anyway, my dear companion, we're nearly at the top!" With a slightly bloodied nose and messy hair, Raika extended her hand to lead Uta further up. She had a confession of her own to make, after all!

 

[Rithas]

Uta turned around, expecting some sort of averse reaction to his words. But it seemed he didn't even get that. Mainly because Raika fell over into a bush. Which was very Raika now that he thought about it. But it did that the true meaning of his words were but floated into the air. He grimaced in the darkness. Well, that what he got for not doing poetry. "Yes...the beauty of the flying lights is something." Many things have spoken over Uta in his years of life. But a bush taking precedence over him might be a new low.

The adventure continues, fated confession being heard or not. Even if Raika had not bothered to clean up a few leaves and small twigs that had stuck to her (Again, very Raika.)

As they reached the top. Uta looked around. Okay, there was certainly a quite a bit more fireflies, but it didn't seem like Raika would know the prediction of if the fireflies would come out tongight. That or she just assumed that fireflies always came out every night and not under quite stringent conditions. Which, was highly possible he guessed.

"More lights, a thousand holes in the blanket of the night.
Is this the picture you wish to frame?
To memorize and rejoice, in older more hurried times?"

He looked back at her with a confused smile. He was enjoying this, and it was a beautiful sight to see. But he half expected there to be some sort of large cryptid up here that Raika wanted him to watch her wrestle. Unless she simply wanted to show him a sight that he would enjoy, knowing his affinity for insects.

That warmed his heart.

"A blanket for two is for one to enjoy.
A spectrum of colours that only I can see,
but you can watch the wrinkles of joy on the face.
Blanket to Blanket."

He scuppered closer to Raika.

"Thank you....erm..."

Perhaps now would be another good time to try a confession. Now that there was no bush for Raika to fall into...

 

[Skyswimsky]

Finally! They reached the top. "Woah! It's a festival of the tiny folk." Of course, she had no clue as to why but neither did Raika go here for them. Though Uta loved insects a lot. So that was a plus! No, Raika was here because she could now finally press the button!

"..." There was silence, albeit not yet awkward. And then, a faint whistling from very far away, followed by an explosion and light. "Woah!" Raika called out, pointing at the sky. "What a most unforeseeable coincidence! Fireworks." More followed. Red, blue, yellow, in all sorts of forms! "Woah..." Now it was Raika who was actually blushing some, as she snuggled closer to Uta. It was cold, and the blonde had never been someone to be aware of the concept of private zones before (Although Uta didn't seem to mind).

Everything was pretty much set now. Except it was usually the guy who'd confess! But, apart from that. It was just how Raika imagined. Well, Scuba Diving and finding a planted treasure chest with a letter asking for a date was another option but the sea was too far away. So, anyway. Here they were! Uta, and Raika. And the fireworks, the fireworks that, at the height of their fireworky and beautiful magic, started to spell the following:

I LOVE YOU, UWA!​

...
No!
How?!
Why?
Those useless...!
She spent a lot of money!
They ruined Raika, and her perfect experience!
Everything, ruined!

"..." Raika distanced herself just a tiny bit from Uta.

"Wow! Such a gracious and powerful confession of feelings! That Uwa must be quite fortunate!" At the very least the fireworks didn't die down yet. No way she could continue with this PERFECT confession now RUINED.

 

[Rithas]

Bam bam,
Fireworks.

Uta liked to think he did not jolt when the first one went off, but that would be a lie.

He watched the fireworks with some amusement before they began to spell a sentence. "....Uwa?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion. Was somebody else confessing on this mountain? Or another hill? It was quite dark here, it was very possible there was some other couple- er, there was a couple somewhere around here that they had not seen.

"Uwa..." Uta touched the bridge of his nose in thought. It was a rare name, so it was there a chance that it was some other thing. A code maybe? U.W.A, Ulysses Women Armored. Useless With Animals. Understanding Wicked Accounting? Utmost Winding Accused? The University of Western Australia? "Do you know any Australians that are in town?" It was probably a dead end. A mystery on who that was even meant for. If Raika's theory was correct and it was a confession, then it was a lovely gesture for whoever this Uwa was.

The fireflies had begun to dissipate, whether it was just the swarm moving to somewhere else or that the fireworks had scared them away somewhat. Uta shivered slightly in the quickening darkness, Raika had moved slightly away from him. "Well, whoever it is for. The confessor definitely put in a lot of effort.

For their love they will blot out the sky.
What comes from the heart can never be big enough
In it's colours shall my feelings be true."

Was he going to do something before the fireworks? He had forgotten.

As the fireworks began to die down, Uta sighed as his stomach grumbled. "Well, as much as this adventure was as enjoyable as the rest. My constution requires a meal." He smiled in the dark. "Good thing we had that Firework show! Joy from something unrelated from our reason of coming up here. Truly, the meaning of adventure..." He waved a hand in a matter of fact manner, if Raika was paying attention she could almost surmise that he was jokingly copying a gesture she often made when talking. "Shall we head back then?"

 

[Skyswimsky]

"Yeah, they put in a lot of effort! Imagine if it all was for nothing! Ahahahaha...." For a moment, Raika sounded rather... normal? Sorta defeated, even? Yet, wasn't this the taste of her own medicine? Chaos for the sake of chaos? She had to make the best of it which was... Uta's stomach growled. Right. Food. They had to get nourished one way or the other. All Raika had to do was get back to the drawing board. Of course, a totally spontaneous confession outta nowhere was more like her, but for romance, things had to be perfect. Like from a romance novel! Because, ideally, one had only one shot at it. A dream of hers, that would come true.

"A heart-warming meal to nourish ourselves? Now, THAT'S a wonderful suggestion, Uta!" Joining Uta's hand-waving with her own, Raika took some swift steps forward to catch up. Whatever embarrassment she had felt moments before, was now completely gone again. Taking Uta's hand into her own for like the hundredth time today. Wasn't hand-holding a thing only couples did? But he didn't seem to mind, like, at all! Maybe he thought of Raika as a big sister?

"NOOOOOOOOO!" She suddenly called out, loud enough to make the sleeping birds of a nearby tree flee. "Ah- my deepest apologies, dear Uta!" She had to keep it together! Maybe that failed confession was getting more to her than she liked to admit. "Right. Food. Yes." Focus! "I was thinking, for tonight's meal, I'd love to share my MOST favorite treasure with you!... Raika is also quite happy you liked the fireflies as much as she did!"

...

Luckily, the way down had a simple path to follow. Though while it did give them a lead so they wouldn't get lost, it was anything but illuminated. With darkness creeping onto them with nothing more but Raika's phone light (luckily, jPhones happened to have quite a healthy battery life), the blonde crept that much closer to Uta. For all her adventurous spirit, ghosts were simply just too scary. "What a most freezing night!" She called out, justifying her behavior. "Do you think ghosts are exposed to the cruel laws of nature, too? Mhm... I'd assume a VERY hot volcano would do them quite unwell!"

 

[Rithas]

Uta nodded, it sure was cold tonight.

"But it is often in volcanos where you find ghosts en-masse? Think of the ruins of pompeii, a whole city buried under fire and ash. I wonder what untold dread is seeped into the very soil there.

Blood, Rage, Fire.
A thousand hands crying out for mercy.
Drag us down into the soil, where-
tears and - children burned."

There was a silence for a moment, as the two stepped through some branches.

"That was probably a little too dark for the moment..."

...

The two having decided to just follow the normal nature path on the way back, it wasn't overly long till they reached their first sign of civilzation. The pair could quickly spot the rather dingy lights of a Burgerqueen. It stood alone on the road, still a couple minutes walk away from the lights of the rest of the town. Uta reckoned it had been specifically put here away from everything else as it would be the first thing people would see on the way up or down from the mountain. It was smart, cause as Uta's stomach grumbled again the two of them decided it to be the place to eat. Well, Uta decided to. Raika would practically sprint into this place on any day given the chance.

He wasn't entirely a love of Burgerqueen, mainly because most of their delicious menu involved Dairy which always ended badly for him. One time he asked for a dairy free option of the ice-cream, and then after he consumed it he quickly found out that they had still given him the normal icecream. He would have to find something specific so that the rest of this dat- adventure would not be spent withering in the toilet.

Uta put his face to the window, it was open. But mostly empty, one or two seats taken up by quiet hitchhikers. There was a lone person working the till, they looked tired from a long shift. Uta thought he recognised her as some student from the school, but he couldn't quite place the face to the person.

As they entered the empty restaurant, Uta gestured to the till. It would be easier if Raika ordered for the both of them. "Just make sure whatever it is that it has no pickles...."