trans_9 | The Wrath of Neutro

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The Wrath of Neutro

LAST WEEK, ON THE ADVENTURES OF PERCIVAL PHOENIX: The situation had gone from bad to worse. The rescue team now knew what had become of their colleagues, true --
BUT AT WHAT PRICE?

Sakura has been kidnapped! Anwei and Zouichi are convinced they're villainous henchmen!

Lash thinks she's A MAD SCIENTIST!

...

*in the audience, a man bursts into flames and runs off, screaming*

AND NOW, THE CONTINUATION.

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Zouichi is not letting the question go quiiiite so quickly, though. "Thank you for helping me. I'm sorry for attacking you like that."

"...And I also care what happens to you. I hope you know that."

To Zouichi, calling someone a friend is to risk injury at their hands. An inextricable part of it. You can't call someone close to you and still protect yourself from them.

But for now... the hat.

Yes. The hat. He strides toward where it has fallen, lifting it, fingering the winged metal pin...

Zouichi crushes the pin easily in one hand, plucking it off of the fabric and tossing it aside. Then he puts the cap back on. "Let's head back to the others, shall we?"

"Apology accepted," he says with a nod, then a bit quieter, "yeah, I know."

Then, sliding back into his usual detached sarcasm, he adds, "because I'm so likable!" and follows Zouichi's long strides down to the hat, taking a defensive step back as Zouichi puts the hat back on. But Zou seems to stay normal, so after a moment of watching and observing, Howard nods and continues after Zouichi.

After a moment or two, Zouichi stops. "Howard."

Howard stops too, cocking his head. "Zou."

"Sometimes I am disappointed in you."

Howard breaks eye contact, staring instead at his sneakers in a rather child-like gesture. "Okay, Dad. I knew that."

"However..." Zouichi hesitates for a moment; Howard has been startlingly forthcoming with him. Even if it was only because he had no other choice, what he'd told Zouichi was at great personal risk -- by coming clean, he'd also left himself wide open to attack. And Howard, by all indications, was not a person who enjoyed feeling vulnerable, not at all. So Zouichi owes it to him to at least try to return the favor. Clarify things.

"Before I came here, I met many humans, but in the end, it never really mattered if I liked them or not. It didn't matter if they lied to me, or tried to kill me, or tried to kill each other -- if they weren't a combatant or an obstacle, it was my job to save them.

"And because they knew I'd defend them whether I liked them or not, they didn't much care what I thought of them, either. So... I guess you could say neither of us really cared about the other."

"But I do care about you. I want you to stick around, and meet people you can trust. I want you to understand that it doesn't always have to be like the FAYZ."

Howard doesn't answer for a bit, and doesn't raise his eyes. He swallows a few times and scuffs his feet, rubbing the tips of his fingers on his right hand against his thumb.

Zou cares, and it surprises Howard to realize that he often doesn't expect Zou to. Why would he? His parents may have cared, but not enough to stick around when the FAYZ's temptation rolled through town. Orc didn't, and he did everything for Orc, and Howard certainly hasn't given that same amount of devotion to Zouichi.

No, theirs is a friendship born from something else. Something different, hard to trace the lineage of or put a name on.

All the same, as good as it feels to not be alone, it hurts knowing that yet another person wants to change him, wants him to recover from what he and everyone else in the FAYZ went through. He's fine. Being naive and trusting isn't something he aspires to, and that's what he sees people telling him to be.

"Zou, I have to tell you something."

"Yes?"

"I shoplifted and pickpocketed and did some illegal stuff before the FAYZ, too. Not the, the drug-dealing...not anything like that, but I still wasn't the nicest person. Even before. It's not just the FAYZ."

He doesn't know how much of it Zouichi did attribute to the FAYZ, but it's better to get it out now than to let Zouichi find out later. He keeps staring at the floor, expecting that if he looks up he'll see either Zouichi's back or that look of disappointment, of expectations unmet. And he'll go back to being friendless.

He could learn to live with solitude.

"Just thought you should know."

"I know." Well, he hadn't, not exactly, but he'd strongly suspected it.

"You think the only reason I'm around is because I can blame everything you did on the FAYZ? Honestly. Give me some credit."

He pauses. "...but thank you for telling me anyway."

Howard almost flinches when Zouichi starts talking, then barely stifles a sigh of relief and looks back up.

"Oh, you're still here?" he says, trying to sound like it didn't matter. "I guess we've got some Death Ray to unplug, right? Better get on that."

"Already on it," Zouichi says, adjusting the hat. There's the faintest hint of a smile on his face.

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The Wrath of Neutro

Re: THE HEART OF ARTIFICE (Zouichi, relevant rescue team)

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Re: THE HEART OF ARTIFICE (Zouichi, relevant rescue team)

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