Inlay

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ•° she stuck her tongue out. ㅤㅤ“Don't 'lady' me. I'm not even that feminine.” ㅤㅤ•° leaning forward on the table, resting her head on her hands. ㅤㅤ“I don't think I wanna go home, honestly. Too many unsolvable problems.” ㅤㅤ

“𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚡..“ ↪︎ There’s a soft furrow of the brow but he’d seat the two at a booth counter. The old man working behind the counter to prepare them a meal. “𝚂𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚍𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 ’𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎’ 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜.“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“The hell you mean finest.ᐣ.ᐟ” ㅤㅤ•° she had her wallet in her hand, opening it and seeing she has at least a few paper money. ㅤㅤ“I only got a total of 5000 yen. If you're making me spend half of that I'll tattle on your mom.” ㅤㅤ

“𝙽𝚊𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗’ 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚊’.“ ↪︎ With that said, he’s leading the way. A few turns here and there. Practically covering a portion of the city till they hit a restaurant entrance. ↪︎ The two needing to duck into the building. “𝙾𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗! 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚠!“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ•° ... dangit. ㅤㅤ“Okay, okay, I can't promise too much but you'll get a meal too.” ㅤㅤ•° she's hoping she has enough coins, at the very least. Even a 500 coin can buy her a handful of bread in a konbini. ㅤㅤ“Go, go, please, I'm starving.” ㅤㅤ

“𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚠𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚙.“ ↪︎ In that stance he can at least understand. “𝙲𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚙 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚋? 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑. 𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗’ 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠.“ “𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝.“ “..𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕..“ ↪︎ Cough!

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ•° he assumed wrong. It's the metal golden orb-thing, but she's not gonna pull it out yet. ㅤㅤ“Insufficient magic, or something like that. It doesn't come with an instruction manual.” ㅤㅤ•° stomach grumbling. ㅤㅤ“ ... You know where I can get food for cheap.ᐣ” ㅤㅤ

“𝙼𝚖, 𝙸𝚕𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.“ ↪︎ Did she mean the War train? That would make sense as to why she hasn’t been around recently. “𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚍 𝚍𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝙵𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎.“ “𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚊 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝?“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“Pretty sure Vi is already someone's name, just pronounced differently.“ ㅤㅤ•° she offered a smile, only half confident. ㅤㅤ“I got here by complete accident. You know the machine that Auntie Ying uses to get around worlds.ᐣ Yeah, it blew up on me and now I'm here.” ㅤㅤ

“𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚝. 𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.“ ↪︎ As someone who’s only just now begun to experience such, he’s grateful for it. “𝙿𝚏𝚝- 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚉𝚒, 𝚅𝚒 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗’ 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢? 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗’ 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛?“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“Ugh, you wouldn't know. She gets super worried about some people sometimes. After she's done fussing over me she started fussing over you.” ㅤㅤ•° crossing her arms, lightheartedly grumbling. ㅤㅤ“Right. I'm Viola, by the way. 'Kitty', if you wanna copy your 'ma.” ㅤㅤ

↪︎ He seemed a bit timid about it. The mention of Yingzi. Sometimes, even if unsaid, he felt like he’s more trouble than he’s worth for her. “𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎. 𝙸𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚢. 𝚂𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎.. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.“ “𝙸 𝚍𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚏 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙶𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎?“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“I went to her house yesterday, stayed over until morning.” ㅤㅤ•° she scratched the back of her head rather awkwardly. ㅤㅤ“She talks about you often.” ㅤㅤ•° there's a hint of jealousy in there, but it's swallowed up and kept inside. ㅤㅤ

↪︎ He’d just scratch at his chin once more. ↪︎ Not exactly remembering if she’d ever been mentioned.. he didn’t exactly want to say so aloud and potentially start something. “𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. 𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕. 𝙸 𝚘𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚝.. 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 ’𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢?“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ•° ‘mom zi’. That's the first time she heard someone call their mother with both the title and the name. ㅤㅤ“Uh, yeah.ᐣ I mean, just to make it easier to understand, I am a version of her's daughter, which technically makes her my mom, but calling her 'mom' is weird, so auntie it is.” ㅤㅤ

↪︎ His head tilts questionably for a second. His own realization occurring. “𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚘𝚖 𝚣𝚒?“ ↪︎ The wallet snapped closed and was pocketed once more. Maybe the scent he caught on was that umbra essence? “𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚢𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚎? 𝙰𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎.. 𝙾𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚜?“

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“Devil Hunter.” ㅤㅤ•° she muttered, crossing her arms before humming. Her eyes went wide in realization. She pointed one index finger at him, words leaving before she could stop them. ㅤㅤ“ ... You're Auntie Ying's kid.” ㅤㅤ

“𝙽𝙾 𝙸 𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚃 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝚆𝙴𝙸𝚁𝙳𝙾𝚂!!“ ↪︎ He very flusteredly snapped in turn. All while digging into his pocket and pulling his wallet and ID. A devil hunter? “𝙸𝚖 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚐𝚞𝚢!“ ↪︎ Opposite hand and fingers dig into his chest. He really wants to sell the ‘good person’ aspect for some reason..

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ“You sure you're not one of the weirdos.ᐣ“ ㅤㅤ•° it's her turn to lean forward, shorter frame causing her to still look up at him. ㅤㅤ“I mean, you're pretty suspicious, dude ... ” ㅤㅤ•° a little bit of teasing won't hurt. ㅤㅤ

↪︎ Brows furrow slightly as she steps back. A cup of the chin. “𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞.. 𝙼𝚎𝚑, 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍.“ “𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚢. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑? 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍𝚘𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.“ ↪︎ As if he wasn’t just sniffing her..

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ•° she's pulling away, eyes squinting. He's doing what she used to do, sensing with her nose ... ㅤㅤ“Nope. Don't think I have a little brother either.” ㅤㅤ

◂ @embersoundwave.bsky.social ▸ ↪︎ He’s sniffing at her..? “𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚊𝚛 𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚢.“ “𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝..?“