#college has barely begun bruh 😭😭😭

[scintillate-stars]

‘Not normal?’

“What does that mean?” she inquired, “What is ‘normal’ for you?” she further asked, her gaze trailing to where he’d been looking at, the wall. She places her hand softly, noting nothing out of the ordinary

“I’ve been to creepier places with disturbing stories, this is far better I’d say” Though it was not fun, it wasn’t the worst either.

A small playful smile plays on her lips, “It’s Fuyuuki,” she corrects, “You offered the liberty, and I made good use of it” she replies with a sense of triumph. “But you do look old, forties maybe?” she added, sounding serious with her analysis. “Or being considerate, the late thirties but not younger than that” she shrugs. 

“I’m leaning towards the possibility that this is a test,” she replies even if the old man doesn’t care to hear, “If for acknowledgement, It would most likely be for promotion” she pauses, “Though according to the rules, I would be accompanied and supervised by a first-grade sorcerer. Which isn’t the case” she further elaborates, “This test might lead to acknowledgement.” and that didn’t sound bad at all.

“I don’t think they’ll send me to die either,” she clarifies. Throughout the conversation, she felt that maybe the old man wasn’t as difficult to deal with as expected. There is progression, alas thanks to the predicament.

“How vague…” she commented at his last words visibly displeased. Was he trying to sound 'cool?' poor efforts. Perhaps she was in the wrong for expecting interesting answers but had a feeling she would receive this nonetheless. "Oji-san, that's not cool at all" she sighed shaking her head.

Out of curiosity, she asked, “Where are you going?” but not following him yet, in the end, he’d take a whole turn back to the place he started off, was there any point then.

 As soon as she said those words, just for a brief moment, there seemed to be three of the old man- an illusion? But it faded just as quickly, she was far from tired. There is no way this was a hallucination or her mind playing tricks, she was very much there. Then came a shift in the energy of the curse, it became weaker.

“Did you… notice that?”

“Second-Grade’s ‘s what I was told too,” he mutters begrudgingly, a hand finding its way to a jut out hip; he’s still focused on the wall. “And what I’m suggestin’ is this isn’t normal. Take it how ya want.”

It’s not really on him to confirm or deny both what she’s asking and what she isn’t asking, but she seems smart enough, so she can figure it out if she likes. He really isn’t concerned with her figuring out who he is anymore—right now, there’s bigger things to worry about. And maybe, if he acts nice enough, she won’t tell anyone he was even there, so it ultimately won’t matter what she puts together. Really, he’s a merciful man!

“I don’t think it quite makes Special-Grade cut myself, but then again, we haven’t seen the damn thing.” He continues on, finally pushing on his weapon enough to have the sharp end pierce through. Depending on his line of thought, the wait-time for a reaction could take a minute, but if he’s right, it’ll confirm one thing...

“Whatever it’s doing, the quicker it appears, the better. Don’t know about you, but crawling around some abandoned building isn’t my idea of a fun night.”

Frowning to himself, he pulls the weapon out of the wall; he’s still waiting to feel something, just the slightest disturbance in Cursed Energy, so maybe if something goes in, it’s not able to get out easily. He’s only carrying a standard blade right now, anyway, so it’s not like he expected to cause serious damage, but even for a Curse, getting poked surely wasn’t—

“Little shit,” he scowls at her, very unamused; “I’m not that old, yanno, but credit to you since I said whatever...”

He groans out a sigh, then, letting the matter go; at least it was something. It was also pretty kind, considering some other things he’s been called in his life, so he’ll let her have it. But, again, the kids these days. Where was the respect?

“Is it acknowledgement or a test?” He questions, though even he couldn’t say if he’s actually expecting an answer or not. Whether he’s really looking for one. Another one of those things she can figure out on her own.

“Doesn’t seem like there’ll be a lot of improvement is all I’m sayin’, considering they’ve sent ya on a mission you may not even be able to survive.”

Still, overall, what happens to her isn’t his problem; where there may be a hiccup in the road, with it possibly being wrongly-graded, he’s not nervous or thrown off. Such a thing happened in the ol’ line of work; it was entirely possible that this was a mission he wasn’t meant to come back from, too, at least from the expectations of the employer. Ah well, if it was, he’d handle it—one way or another, he’ll come back alive and he’ll be paid his dues. No human or Curse was gonna come in the way of that.

“Who’s to say what I’m here for?” He shrugs away the question, beginning to move past her. “I can fight, that’s reason enough for me to be here.”