heavenlydecree | (no subject)

(no subject)

[If there was one thing Takatora was sure he should have learned by now, it would be how to keep his life in perfect running order. He had been the head of Yggdrasill's Research and Development branch from the moment he'd left high school and even before that, his father had kept him on a tight and strict schedule, never a second unaccounted for or left out of place. Unfortunately, with all of Takatora's scheduling and trying to squeeze an extra hour into every day, he still felt as though he never had time for anything, let alone everything. Even his weekends left little time for himself, though Takatora was also painfully aware of his obsession with triple-checking everything under his command and bringing such weight onto himself. He couldn't allow for errors.

His morning routine started a bit later on the weekends, if only because Takatora knew he had to catch up on sleep at some point to make up for running himself ragged. Getting sick was something he couldn't risk. The usual morning routine went by quickly: dragging himself out of bed (he'd never become a morning person, as much as he wanted to), showering, getting dressed, checking for any news or alerts while he had been sleeping. Thankfully, nothing important had happened during the night. Takatora always lived with the fear of something awful happening while he was asleep that he would be unprepared for, but every morning brought the same temporary relief. For now.

Takatora headed out of his room after an hour or so, still checking his phone as he made his way down the hall and towards the stairs. Ryouma already wanted to talk to him about something, which was mildly surprising as Ryouma rarely (never) got out of bed so early, which meant he'd been up all night again. Stepping past one of the maids, Takatora spoke a return greeting to her as he continued on, paying more attention to typing out messages than his surroundings.]

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[Kouta sighs heavily, dejectedly, before following Kaito's lead. He doesn't like taking the Inves away from it's corner and risking the chance, but... Kouta gives it a few knocks and starts backing up while he's fighting, trying to give his enemy the impression it's managing to push him back to keep him following.]

[The crack isn't far, and Kaito shoves the Inves through, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Kouta's following suit before jumping in after it. He doesn't want to delay - they need to finish this fight now. Besides, the more he fights, the stronger he gets.]

[Thankfully, Kouta's right behind him without any real issue. To make sure the Inves goes through, Kouta turns and forces the other back through, not sure he would go willingly otherwise. He jumps in right after, realizing as soon as he's in the forest that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Even if he had convinced himself to fight again, being in the forest always made him think of the white armored rider.

Except, now that they're so far away from anyone else, Kouta also wants to end quickly. He spins his sword, taking a chance at exposing his back to the evolved Inves while he charges at the one Kaito has been fighting to help him take it down faster.]

[Now that they're out of the way, Kaito dashes towards the Inves and kicks him into a tree, listening to the satisfying crack of... whatever their bodies were made of against the wood. Probably wood. Whatever. It didn't matter, considering the thing was backing up.]

[He leaps forwards, slashing his Lockseed and watching power build around his spear. He stabs it through the Inves, picking it up and smashing it into the ground.]

[Kouta hesitates when he sees how riled up Kaito is, especially with how the other seems to have everything under control. Uh. ... okay. Unfortunately, his distraction also means the evolved Inves is attacking his back, knocking Kouta forward a few steps. He turns and positions himself to slash his lockseed once, leading with that attack and judging to see how much damage it does, which... is not nearly as much as he'd hoped.

Except now they're being loud which he hopes doesn't draw anyone's attention -- Inves or otherwise.]

[Kaito's target falls in an explosion of red and yellow light, and he turns away from it once he's sure it's dead. ... Seriously, Kazuraba? He doesn't even have to say anything or transform back to get the force of his glare across.]

[Kouta notices that look and definitely knows exactly what look he's getting, so, yes, Kaito is correct. But that doesn't stop him from pouting in response.]

Don't just stand there! Help me!

[He takes a few steps back and hits the sword on his belt twice -- just as the Inves seems to be trying to run from him. Kouta quickly gears up his attack and charges after it, slashing his attack and resulting in a fairly sizeable wound. It's almost enough to kill his enemy. At least enough that Kaito can easily finish it off.]

You can't have people continuing to finish your fights for you, Kazuraba!

[But he'll do it, if only because this Inves is pissing him off. He slashes his Lockseed and rushes at it, the spear and the energy surrounding it stabbing through the enemy and slicing left and right. The Inves falls and explodes, and Kaito turns to look at Kouta.]

[Worrying about Yuuya the last few days, coupled with his fear over Micchy's dealings with the mysterious man, in addition to suddenly having stronger Inves to worry about and now Kaito yelling at him, Kouta feels his anger flare up as he charges at Kaito to push the other back against the nearest tree -- if he's lucky.]

The important thing is that we defeat them! It doesn't matter how! As long as we're protecting people...

[Kouta swings at Kaito's chest to punch it in frustration.]

Do you really think I'm doing all of this on purpose, just to make you clean up after me? Do you think I want them to be so strong I can't defeat them?!

[The charge catches him by surprise, and he digs in his heels. The punch he attempts to catch as he glares at Kouta through the visor.]

Then get angry at them, not me! Shouldn't we be finding out more about what that company is doing here?! Do you think that they're going to wait for you to get stronger? No! You have to get strong enough to take them out yourself!

[Of course, Kouta's so angry it's not hard to guard against his attacks, but that doesn't stop him from trying to attack again.]

I'm trying! I don't want to be weak... I want to protect the people I care about... ... so don't talk down to me.

Then do it, don't try it!

[He goes to kick Kouta in the chest to try to knock him down.]

When you show me the strength you really have, then I'll treat you like an equal. Not before!

[Kouta stumbles back a bit before hitting the ground, pushing his arms behind his body to hold himself up. It wasn't that easy. He couldn't just create strength from nothing, but even though he was trying as hard as he could...

Kouta pushes himself off of the ground, standing back up and practically shaking.]

... then fight me. I'll prove myself to you.

.. Yeah? And what would I gain from fighting you? You're a shaking mess right now. Run home to your team - unless you really think you can take me on.

[Kouta bristles at Kaito's words, passing his sword from one hand to the other. He hated this. He hated that any of them had to fight, whether it was each other or the Inves or Yggdrasill.]

If I defeat you, then look at me properly.

Then prove to me you're worth it!

[He steps back, spreading his arms and inviting Kouta to try to land a hit.]

[With that invitation, Kouta twirls his sword in one hand, rushing a few steps forward--

... and abruptly stops, breath catching, as he catches a glimpse of the white armored rider in the distance. Not looking at him, but certainly too close for comfort.]

[- Dammit. He turns to follow Kouta's gaze and growls. He's not totally sure if he should approach him or not - he's already proven to be far too strong for him to fight right now.]

... we have to leave. We have to leave now.

[Kouta rushes forward the rest of the way and grabs Kaito's arm, trying to drag the other behind him and away from the other Rider. This is not a good place to be.]

Don't -

[Whatever. He yanks his arm away from Kouta's grip and follows him. He hates running, he hates feeling weak, but he can't die yet. Not here for a stupid reason before he's done something that matters.]

[Yeah, nope, not listening, not sorry. He's pulling your ass out of here. ... if they can find a way out. Kouta's doing his best to stay out of sight, wondering if he would look less threatening if he undid his transformation, but then he would run the risk of getting caught off-guard.

It's not until they start to pass by, low enough that they're near the white armored rider but out of his sight, that Kouta realizes he's talking to someone.]

[This is their chance. He stops and crouches, trying to listen to what the white armored rider is talking about. What's going on? They don't know enough and they're just barely keeping their heads above water.]

[Kouta still has his hand on Kaito's arm when they stop, feeling himself jerked back. He makes a small noise of alarm, then comes back and smacks Kaito's arm to try to get the other to move, not wanting to say anything. Can't they just leave?! He understands the appeal in staying, but it's too risky.]

It's already gone. Find me another one.

[Takatora heaves a frustrated sigh at the radio communication. Ryouma had sent him out this far to pursue an evolved Inves, but the crack and the Inves weren't there, as much as Takatora had checked. He turns his sword over in his hand, waiting for the response.]

You were a little too slow. It looks like they're competing with you today. [Ryouma's teasing voice grates a bit on Takatora's nerves for the day, but he doesn't fight it down.]

They're not important right now. Find me another one. We can't risk wasting time when they're evolving like this.

[There's a frustrated sigh on the other end of his radio.] Fine, fine. So impatient, Overseer. You never want to have any fun.

[... Tch. It's too dangerous to get closer, so he nudges Kouta and tilts his head. Now they can go. They might have to travel a bit to find a crack that's far enough away from the white armored rider's location.]