Soul Resonance, Let's Go!

((HHHHHHNNNNNNNNNN OHHHHHMYGOD))

~ y u m e ~

Yume's stomach turned when she heard the doorknob on the front door shake a bit before the door slowly opened, knowing that it couldn't have been anyone but Kureno. She kicked herself for letting Hibiki stay this long, especially because of his previous discovery earlier that day. The male blonde stopped her mid-sentence when he heard the door and tiptoed out of her room to set up an ambush. The weapon knew what was about to happen, but she found she could only curl into a ball, close her eyes, and cover her ears. During the encounter between the blonde and brunette, Yume wandered among her thoughts and feelings of her partner. Was it obvious he's attracted to guys? Have I been blind this whole time? Is it just guys? She never considered to question who a person was attracted to, and Kureno was no exception. The subject had never come up between her and Hibiki, or else she would have picked better words and prevented her last beating.

Her efforts to block out sound were useless; she heard the whole "conversation". She found herself smiling a little at Kureno's last snarky comment, but this smile disappeared fast when her boyfriend returned to her room, in full rage, of course. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here." He pulled her up by her wrist from the ground as if she weighed nothing more than an article of clothing. Normally, she would not fight him and would do anything he said. But at this moment, something in- explainable flooded through Yume and she wasn't sure who was more surprised when she pulled away from Hibiki's grip. His eyes widened. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" He grabbed the back of her neck this time and began to drag her away. His grip was just tight enough that she was struggling to breath. They reached the living room, where Kureno lay bruised and battered, half on the couch and half on the floor. He was definitely in much worse shape than Yume at this point, but Hibiki could easily change that at any moment. The weapon managed to wriggle free, only for the abuser to turn around and return his grip on her neck and slam her face into the wall. The world began to spin after that. She was released, but it didn't seem to be Hibiki's choice. She fell to the ground, swearing she saw Kureno tussling with Hibiki. Unfortunately, the meister did not seem to be winning. He was thrown down to the ground, and all of the fight in him, if there was any before, was completely gone now. Yume prayed this was the end of it all, but the male blonde felt it necessary to pick her up one last time and throw her into the side of the coffee table, back arching as it hit the edge. Her head was thrown back as a result. The mostly one-sided battle was over, with the winner yelling a few more words at the both of them, but Yume was too dazed to make out what he was saying. And then a door slam. And then the apartment went silent. Yume was fairly sure they had both passed out, but for how long she was unsure. She woke up before him, his head next to her right foot. The world was still a bit hazy, but she pulled herself up and crawled over to her beat up partner. The blonde leaned over him, with a hand placed on either side of him. His breathing was extremely slow but steady. Blood all over his face, bruises already forming in meshes of blue, purple and black, and a fat lip. And for the first time in who knew how long, Yume came into physical contact with her partner. Her hand grazed over his chest, being cautious to not further upset any possible unseen injuries. Yume's throat swelled up and she suddenly tasted salt. "I-I'm so sorry... You're lying here bloody because of me..." she whispered as some of the tears splashed onto his face.

((left it open to whatever you want to do, whether it be Kureno heard what she said or he didn't, whatever you wanna dooooooo <3))

((HAHAHAHAH okya.))

He didn't know what sort of energy had come to him to allow him to stop Hibiki from hurting Yume--or at least to try and stop him--but it was gone now. He was so tired.

Kureno's mind was fuzzy, and he was lulled back into the waking world by a familiar voice. He felt warm, gentle hands on either side of his face, then one left to carefully brush across his chest. He grimaced as light floated past his eyelids, and he didn't want to open his eyes. But something warm and wet fell onto his face, falling down the contours of his quickly-swelling injuries to his hairline and to the edge of his jaw. The meister groaned, and finally forced his eyes open. Yume was near him, her eyes clenched closed as she cried, but he had now idea where Hibiki was. Was he hurting her? Kureno jolted up into a sitting position, narrowly missing a collision between their foreheads. He swiveled his head to look around for the blond offender, but he and his violence had gone. He hoped for good. Kureno's sudden movement caused his head and his stomach to spin, the room twirling around him. He muttered a curse and held his throbbing head, eyes squeezed shut to try and keep himself together and not throw up or pass out again. He wiped some blood off of his face. The worst part was where that first punch across his face had landed. His skin was raw and grazed, speckles of blood oozing from the many scratches there every few seconds. The corner of his bottom lip was torn a bit, and he tasted blood there. His arm hurt to move too much, and he could already feel a bruise forming there. His stomach ached, the pain and the sudden abuse he'd suffered making him feel like he was going to be sick. Kureno finally turned to Yume, and he himself almost began crying as she huddled there, shaking. He crawled over to her, reaching out. She jumped a bit at his touch, maybe she hadn't realised he was awake yet, or perhaps she was just lost in her despair. Her green eyes opened wide, tears falling freely from them, her lips muttering strings of incoherent apologies. Kureno scooted closer, gently bringing her to him, giving her plenty of opportunity to push him away or escape his grasp if she didn't want to be close. She let him pull her towards him, enveloping her in a careful embrace. He carefully, slowly made his way to his feet, bringing her up with him. They were both unsteady, but drew what little strength they could from each other. Kureno lowered them both onto the couch, Yume curled against him, shoulders still shaking and small hands desperately clutching the fabric of his shirt. His arms were draped carefully over her shoulders, his head leaning on her lightly. He closed his eyes, wanting to fall asleep, not caring that if he did they would fall asleep in each other's arms. Maybe that was what they needed.

That was Kureno's last thought as he drifted off once again, feeling strangely safe and at peace as they sat there, and he felt his shirt steadily stick more to his skin with the weight of his partner's tears.

((WOO okay. was that okay??? i didn't really know totally what to do. but i kind of feel like that is a momeont where...like after this, they'll start to get better. what do you think? i mean now that HIbiki is out of their lives, and now that they've shared that awful experience, I feel like they'll use that to get better and help each other and whatnot. if you want you can time skip in your next post, or even halfway through your next post, to them better--either a little bit, alot, or entirely better/back to normal. idc :3 whatever you be feelin <3333))

((yeah that's what I was thinking- this is when they slowly start to heal themselves, since they now share similar scars. I'll probably time skip halfway through my post, actually more like a quarter ))

~ y u m e ~

The weapon and meister's current position felt natural, settling, just right. Yume felt a little guilty that she wasn't the one comforting her partner. It was not only her job as weapon, but they lay in this mess because of her poor decisions. Her tears poured out without her consent, dribbling down her face and landing on Kureno's shirt. She felt the slowing down of her partner's breathing, indicating that he had fallen back asleep. What was to happen tomorrow, next week, or next year, Yume wasn't sure, but she was sure that she was exactly where she needed to be.

~~~time skip, about 2 weeks after the incident~~~~

"Let us know if you need anything," Maka took both of Yume's hands and assured her, standing outside of the front entrance to the DWMA with the usual crowd including Maka, Soul, Blackstar, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz and Patty. Everyone acted as they normally did. The school day had ended a few minutes ago, and the group had gathered to say their goodbyes for the day. This was Yume and Kureno's third consecutive school day, thanks to their fresh dedication to recovering after their slow destruction of themselves. On the first consecutive day, they walked in together and explained to Professor Stein their situation and, thankfully and surprisingly, he was quite understanding and allowed them to stay in the EAT class, on the condition that they would notify him sooner if a similar situation were to happen again. They received some stares from other acquaintances the last few days, and at one point Yume found herself clinging tightly to her meister's sleeve. She quickly pulled away but he grabbed her hand, put it back where it was on his arm and gave her a reassuring pat. They didn't say anything in this moment.

Their walk home was like any other. The weather had banished the last bit of any lingering cold, which made for a pleasant walk. The citizens of Death City had taken notice of the warm temperatures and emerged outside in little to no time. Meaning, the sidewalks were much more crowded today. While the weapon and meister were making small talk, about halfway home, a fairly tall male with luscious hazelnut hair and freshly tanned skin accidentally bumped his shoulder with Kureno's as they passed each other. "I'm so sorry!" The male turned his body to apologize as he walked away. "S'all good man," Kureno reassured him with a friendly wave while also looking back. But he did not turn himself back around for a few seconds, keeping his gaze on the passing guy. Yume was immediately reminded of Kureno's involvement with a fellow known as Tobias, backing during the darker times. Kureno had briefly explained him to Yume, but was stingy with any details. Her suspicions over the past couple weeks of him being gay still remained, and what happened moments ago only seemed to confirm her theory.

She decided to attempt to pull more information out of him. "Soo, have you heard from Tobias recently?" Yume chimed. Her question seemed to surprise him, like it was the last thing he expected to hear. "We never really talked outside of the hangout." He sounded slightly bitter, or maybe uninterested in talking about his previous relationship to which the blonde was still unsure of what exactly to call Tobias and Kureno's involvement. It seemed that Yume was going to have to drag information out of him. "That guy that accidentally bumped into you was pretty cute, don't you think? Noticed you looking at him." She nudged his arm suggestively. "Yeah I guess." The brunette's gaze now remained forward, continuing to look bored with the conversation. There was no getting information out of him right now. But Yume refused to give up. She was determined to confirm her suspicions, one way or another.

((so I'm mostly pleased with this post, but there was one little part that I wanted to mention but I don't think it'll fit right with the rest of the post, so I'll save it for later. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed~))

It felt good to be back in school, and even though they'd had a lot to catch up on, they were steadily getting their work done. Quicker than he thought, in fact. There had been a couple, small relapses in the past several weeks. A scratch he found on Yume's arm that looked all too fresh and all too purposeful. When she'd caught him sneaking a couple of his last stash of drugs and made him dispose of them properly. But it was okay.

Detoxing had been hell. He'd been bedridden for a couple weeks, shaking and sweating and head throbbing with headaches. He'd yelled at her and begged her and cried and clawed at his own skin with his fingernails until she had to force his hands away from himself. She'd cradled his head in her lap, hushing him quietly, humming to him as she stroked his hair and her tears fell down onto his shoulder until he finally fell asleep again. He was sure he'd been awful to her. He'd thrown up whenever he tried to force something down, and dry heaves were common when he successfully rejected her attempts to make him eat. It had gotten better though. And he'd apologised profusely, and she'd apologised, and they'd fallen asleep clutching to each other again.

But that was behind them now, firmly behind them. They were closer, yes, but it was still different. Recovery was a long road but the steepest of the uphill climb had been conquered. As the partners walked home, he tried to ignore her jabs about a guy that had accidentally bumped into Kureno on the busy streets. He pursed his lips in embarrassment and annoyance as she nudged him in a particularly suggestive manner, and he blushed a bit. He kind of wished she didn't know he had had relationships with guys now, because that was pretty much all she'd talk about whenever any guy even slightly attractive so much as glanced at him. He'd played along a bit at first, but it was kind of weird. Did she not get that he liked girls too, that he generally liked girls more? Whatever, maybe she was just getting him back for that one time in the first few days of detox when he'd missed the toilet and thrown up on the bathroom floor and was too sick to clean it up so she'd had to. He couldn't argue with her suggestive comments, really, he more than deserved it.

As they continued walking, no more than three minutes later, they heard a call behind them. "Hey, hey wait up!" it wasn't really a familiar voice but it seemed almost like it was directed towards them, so both partners turned to look. It was the same young man that had bumped into Kureno just a little bit ago, running towards them through the crowd. He stopped, breathless, in front of the meister and ran a hand through windblown chesnut hair. "Hey, sorry," his voice was raspy from his running, his cheeks slightly flushed, "I, think you dropped this when I rudely bumped into you," he said, offering a little piece of paper. Kureno was confused, and surprised, but he took it with wide eyes and a slight flush on his own face. "O-oh I--uhm, thanks. It's no trouble, really," he tried to smile but it didn't exactly work. This was weird. That paper didn't look familiar to him at all. "Anyways, thanks! See you!" the guy turned and trotted away--had he winked at him before he'd left???--and Kureno stood watching for a few seconds before he stepped to the side out of the stream of people to look at what he'd apparently dropped. Yume followed him, peering around him at the paper. "What is it?" she wondered, seemingly confused as well, but her voice had a strange lilt to it he didn't like. "I...dunno, I don't think I've seen it before..." he murmured, then unfolded the little paper to see number and a quickly-scrawled name. A phone number. The guy had given Kureno his phone number. Kureno blinked, his face now clearly red, and quickly crumpled up the paper, shoving it into the pocket of Yume's light jacket. "W-whatever, I don't need it, you can have it," he said quickly, grabbing Yume's hand to haul her along towards the apartment. "Wait! What is it?" she called, but her giggle made him think she'd seen or already knew, and that only made him blush harder. "I don't want it!" he exclaimed, trudged quickly along and finally up the steps to their apartment and the sanctuary of his couch, flopping down with a groan. He hadn't even bothered to kick off his shoes or his own jacket. Why would that guy do that? How could he know that Kureno was sometimes interested in other guys? Nothing like that had ever happened to him before and honestly he wasn't really sure if he liked it. It was kinda flattering, sure, but...Kureno couldn't quite place it, but something about being in a relationship right now, a real relationship, didn't appeal to him. But that wasn't entirely it, either. It was almost like he was subconciously waiting for someone, or something like that. 'Whatever, doesn't matter,' he tried to assure himself, burying his face further into the pillows.


(( sooo ye x'D idk i didn't really know what to write about. if you wanted to do the thing now that we were talking about last night, you can. she could like ask him if he wanted to go out to dinner or something to celebrate their return to school [we could pretend its a friday since neither of us really said what day it was in our posts] or something and he could jus tlike grunt noncommittally into the pillows and she could be like "okay yay lemme go get dressed " x''''D whatevr you want just an idea, you don't have to do it now idc. i just figured you could if you wanted if that incident with the other guy would give her enough 'evidence' of his gayness x'''D omg im excite i love everything about this rp their interactions are perf ))

((I'm totally gonna do the thing we talked about, where Yume flips shit and what not xD because I want to and because it'll be entertaining. Knowing Yume, the little incident is more than enough to prove that he's gay lol))

~ y u m e ~

Kureno's annoyance and embarrassment towards the brunette stranger they previously encountered only furthered proved Yume's hypothesis of Kureno's mystery sexuality. He always seemed to be straight, what with his asshole attempts at wooing her in the past. But there could be no other explanation for his comatose relationship with that Tobias fellow, along with his rosy cheeks caused by the stranger earlier.

Although detoxing had been possibly the most challenging experience they both had ever experienced, it would have been even tougher without each other. But the light at the end of the tunnel was now partially visible, and Yume decided that that was something to celebrate. She decided to see if Kureno was up to grabbing some dinner at a halfway fancy restaurant, within their budget of course. She walked out of her room and into the living room, where her partner lay face down and body sprawled out in a mountain of pillows, clearly irritated. He didn't seem to notice the sound of her feet as stepped closer to him. Yume grabbed his shoulders and flipped him around so that she could speak to his face rather than the back of his head. "You know what we deserve? To treat ourselves. Get up and get dressed." She commanded him. At first he was not pleased by his disturbance but was now a bit confused. "Why?" He groggily asked as if he had been awoken from a deep sleep. "Haven't you noticed how well we've been doing? In my book, that deserves a reward! C'mooon, it'll be fun, I promise." All she received in response was a back turned towards her and a low growl. To change his mind, the blonde slowly lowered her right hand to the brunette's side and only had to gently grace his side to earn a jerky reaction from him. When he turned back around, she caught a glimpse of his smile from being tickled, but it was quickly replaced with a scowl. "Okay fine I'll go..." He grumbled while rubbing his eyes. Yume smirked and walked away from her mini victory and to her room.

It was just her partner that she was having dinner with, but she still wanted to look halfway decent for him. She stripped down to her underwear and bra and before looking for an outfit. Rummaging through her dresser, she found plenty of outfits but couldn't even narrow down every possibility. Kureno has a pretty tasteful fashion sense... "What?!" The word wasn't supposed to be audible, but Yume surprised herself so much at the consideration of giving her partner a fashion show in their own home. Then again, would it really bother him? After all, it's not like he would be attracted to her, especially only wearing underwear. His bedroom door had sounded a minute ago, more than likely he was dressed, ready, and waiting for Yume in the living room. She shrugged her shoulders, grabbed two dresses on hangers, and waltzed out to get her partner's opinion. When Kureno's eyes were drawn to the figure entering the room, the meister gasped and flailed his arms, unsure of what to do with himself. "YUME! What the hell are you doing?! I thought you were dressed!" He finally covered his eyes with his hand when Yume walked closer to him. "What's wrong? I just need some help deciding what to wear tonight!" She placed one dress on the coffee table to better hold the first one against her body. As she started to speak again, Kureno beat her to it. "Fine, but perhaps it would be better to show me the outfits on you?!" He seemed quite distraught that she was standing in little to no clothing in front of him. It seemed a bit out of character for him. "What's the problem? You're gay, so what does it matter?" Yume hadn't meant to so casually mention his sexuality, but it was now on the table and couldn't be taken back. This is when Kureno took his hand away from his eyes and his eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "Gay? Yume, I'm bi. I thought you knew that." He spoke calmer, seeming to now understand the situation completely. The weapon's stomach turned a bit at his correction of his sexuality. She wasn't completely wrong, but still embarrassed. "B-but, you prefer-"

"Girls. I prefer girls."

Her stomach now did a full flip. The dress fell from her grip. And one of the pillows on the couch replaced it. "AND YOU NEGLECTED TO MENTION THIS TO ME YOU BASTARD?!" Yume put all of her strength into slapping her partner with the pillow, convinced that she could do some damage if she tried hard enough. He raised both of his hands to deflect her blows. She wasn't exactly sure why she was currently hitting her partner with a pillow with all of her might, but it felt satisfying. Mostly she was angry that he actually did neglect to mention this fact about him, especially after she paraded around in her underwear like it was nothing to be fussed over. Soon the pillow was gotten rid of by Kureno snatching it from Yume's grip, but that didn't stop her. The pillow slapping turned into plain slapping, and a punch was even added in there. "I'm sorry, I, thought, you knew!" The brunette attempted to explain himself while out of breath and being attacked by his partner. Eventually the blonde wore herself out, leading her to retreat to her room and slamming the door. The anger was gone now, and all that remained was embarrassment. She paced the room, going over her analysis of her partner and wondering when she became dumb enough to assume one's sexuality over a couple little happenings that she knew almost nothing about.

((not completely satisfied with this post, but it was still very fun to write. Left it open to whatever you think Kureno might do next I'm starting to realize that sometimes our roleplay is kinda like those books where you choose what happens next. Like "If you want this character to do this thing, turn to page #whatever" ))

((omg yessss it was woNDERFUL to read omfgggg love <3 good work good work my friend. nicely done. x'D but OMG that's a good point ugh i love us yessss))

Truth be told, Kureno wasn't entirely sure what had just happened. He sat there frozen for several minutes after the slamming of Yume's bedroom door, staring at the wall as his mind replayed the scene multiple times in his head. He sighed, smiling despite himself, and finally rose to standing. He picked up a couple pillows that had been sent off the couch in the rather one-sided scuffle, and replaced them on the cushions. His arm didn't even hurt where Yume's punch had landed, but honestly it hadn't been all that hard. He knew she was more embarrassed and surprised than anything, but he rather enjoyed the encounter. Though if he ever mentioned that he was sure he'd get a sour look and maybe physical harm in return. The meister chuckled lightly at the thought, and stepped into the hallway to stop in front of Yume's room. He heard soft footfalls as his weapon partner paced her room. Kureno's hand hesitated, half-poised for a knock, before he relented and softly clunked his knuckles against the wood. Her steps froze, and there was a short silence before Kureno cleared his throat and spoke. "I...liked the dress, if you still wanted to go. You looked nice--" his words broke off as he remembered, he'd only actually seen her in her... "I-I mean you would look nice, in that dress!" he cleared his throat. What was it about her that made him fall over his own words sometimes? "If you were still interested in having dinner with me, I would be...honoured to go with you tonight." he finally finished, his head bowed so that he was resting it against the door, hand flat against the wood, eyes closed as he tried to hear any movement from the other side of her door.

He was about ready to give up and go back to his room to change into pajamas when the door suddenly opened. He lurched a bit to catch his balance, unknowingly smiling when he saw her. Yume's lips were pursed, and she was blushing and not looking at him, but she was dressed now. "So, is that a yes?" he asked, slipping a hand into his pocket to make sure he had indeed put his wallet and key there. In response, she hmph-ed at him and swiftly stepped past him, grabbing his free hand and hauling him through the apartment and out the door, as he tripped after her with surprised cries. She locked the door with a flick of her wrist, and only let go of his arm when they were on the sidewalk on their way to dinner. He straightened his shirts, and safely slid both hands into his pockets. He silently, subtly offered her his arm, but either she didn't see it or just didn't want to take it, so he shrugged it off. Kureno watched her not-so-subtly out of the corner of his eye, admiring the way her hair blew in the slight breeze, caught in a pretty clip she'd slid in the blonde strands to keep part of it away from her face. It matched her simple but well-fitted dress--the first one, the one he'd commented on outside her door. The meister smirked, head tilted to look at the pavement as they continued to walk. His voice was soft, "I told you you'd look nice." There was a quiet but meaningful "Hmph," and then a hard elbow to his ribs that forced him to grunt in surprise. As he recovered, she roughly linked her arm through his, tugging him along. He glanced down at her, staring in disbelief. She was looking pointedly in the opposite direction, and he thought her face was red still. Suddenly, he broke out in laughter, his other hand rising to brush incredulously against his forehead. Her gaze flicked to him in annoyance, confusion, and astonishment, green eyes wide. He stopped as he met her gaze, his hand covering his mouth. They stared at each other for a few short moments, the smile gone from his face behind long fingers. Then, his stomach tightened and his mouth stretched into a tight smile just before he broke into laughter again. Her chiming giggle joined him, and by the time they got a hold of themselves and reached the restaurant, their faces hurt and their stomachs were tired and hungrier than ever--but most importantly, their hearts were lighter than they had been in a long time.


((awwww yay cute things ^^; i hope that was okay <3 I dunno what to do after this tbh if you wanna do the dinner thing and then maybe it would go into that part where like they would see a girl who obviously got stood up by her boyfriend and kureno is a sweetie orrrr we could wait until later for that! i don't care <33333 :* YAY. ))

((omfg could they be any cuter? We'll have to test that theory ))

~ y u m e ~

The strange but refreshing laugh episode made the rest of the walk to the restaurant fly by, so much so that they'd almost walked right by it. It was a step above fast food, but not quite at the requiring-a-reservation level. The server greeted them happily, slipping in a smile that indicated he assumed the two were a couple. Yume blushed at the thought, but she didn't correct him either. The server walked them to their table, and before he could pull out Yume's chair, Kureno beat him to it. The blonde wasn't much for flattering instances like this, and this summoned the butterflies inside her. Once their menus were handed to them and drink orders were taken, the server made his exit and the partners were left to themselves. "Not to give you a fat head or anything, but this was a pretty good idea," Kureno's sly smile made its return, and although it earned him a kick in the shin, it was both relieving and thrilling to see it again. So was seeing him dressed up and clean, in more ways than one. Sure Yume was bouncing back from her own troubles, but she always thought Kureno had it rougher. After a couple minutes of gazing over the menu, the waiter returned with drinks and left with meal orders. "I mean, no offense to your cooking, but I'm kinda sick of it right now. So thank gods for tonight," Yume joked, raising her eyebrows and cocking her head a little sideways. The banter was officially back. But tonight felt different. Sure fake jabs and joke-centered insults were being exchanged, but the weapon felt a sense of admiration behind their words. Before, it only sufficed for playful purposes.

Kureno began to stare intently at something ahead of him, behind Yume's back. In a worried tone, "That girl... She looks she was just stood up." Yume turned around to behold what he was talking about. Indeed there was a teary-eyed girl, with long dark brown hair currently in curls, and in a backless emerald dress down to her ankles. She gripped tightly onto a crumpled tissue, occasionally dabbing under her eyes to catch falling tears. She appeared to be dressed up for some sort of date, but the actual date was missing. For how long, Yume did not want to guess. She noticed a few other restaurant goers looking at the poor girl and leaning over their tables to whisper something to their tablemates, and not all of them seemed to be sympathetic. She turned back around, wanting to cry herself. Kureno began to stand up and Yume stopped him. "Where are you going?" Confused, because he seemed to be heading towards the exit. His voice low in volume, "I just remembered something I need to do." And away he went, exiting the restaurant. Still confused, the blonde looked around the place, for some reason expecting some grand event to suddenly happen at her partner's exit. Indeed there was a grand event that took place. About a minute after leaving their table, Kureno re-entered the restaurant, but walked past his table and right to the one behind it. His arms were spanned out as he entered. "Darling my deepest apologies for making you wait so long, next time my boss makes me work that late past my shift's end, he's gonna get an ear full," the brunette announced loudly and brought the other brunette into an embrace. The girl's face was buried in Kureno's chest, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking. The judgmental looks from those around the restaurant were now turning into relieved and 'boy was I wrong' faces. When the girl was released from the embrace, her face revealed nothing but confusion. Same as Yume's. Kureno did the same for the girl as Yume and pulled out her chair and scooted it back in as she hesitantly sat back down. It was only when the meister sat himself down at the girl's table did the weapon fully understand what he was doing, and she turned back around and slunk down in her seat, holding the goofiest grin at how lucky she was at her choice of partners.

((I DONT EVEN KNOW MAN SO CUTE HELP ME))

The girl was confused, that was plain to see. Kureno smiled at her and winked, trying to convey, 'Just go with it, you can do this.' At that, the girl blushed promptly and looked down, her eyes still a bit watery. She sniffled and rubbed the back of a hand gently at the bottom of her eyelids, and he thought he could see her smile a little. Kureno reached across the table and swiftly swiped her discarded tissue from in front of her, leaning over the table to gently lift her chin to look at him. "Please don't cry, love," he pleaded, looking all the bit like the apologetic gentlemanly boyfriend. He added in a lower tone so only she could hear as he carefully dabbed at the stray tears on her cheeks with her tissue clutched lightly between his fingers, "You shouldn't cry over someone as idiotic as to stand up a girl as beautiful as you," he pulled back with a gentle smile. She blinked at him, fully understanding now. She smiled genuinely, the corners of her eyes even crinkling up in the most adorable manner. "Th-thank you," she responded in a quiet voice. Kureno leaned on the table with one arm, smiling more slyly now as he said with another wink, "Oh, it's my pleasure, trust me," and he won a chiming laugh at that, and the last of her tears dissolved for the night.

The girl's name was Chizuru, and Kureno spent the next half hour making sure she forgot all about the jerk who had stood her up. Chizuru had already nibbled on the appetizers that the waiter had given her in the beginning, and her appetite had evaporated in her rejection, but her laughter was just as good as any food they could have sold here. She apologised a couple times, asking if he'd come here with someone, but Kureno easily shrugged it off. He hoped Yume wouldn't mind. After a little less than an hour, Chizuru stood. Kureno paid for the extra appetizers they'd gotten, and he walked Chi to the door of the restaurant. "Would you like me to walk you home?" he asked, standing in the streetlight outside the door with her. "Oh no, you've done so much, I-..." she stopped, looking down, and smiled. He nodded, gently taking her hand. "Then this is where we say farewell," he murmured, giving the back of her hand a light, chaste kiss. Her cheeks were rosy, but she had a sly look in her eyes as she nodded towards the window behind them. Kureno swiveled his head to see that she was indicating the table Yume was sitting at, browsing something on her phone. "She's pretty lucky, you know." Kureno looked back quickly, his own cheeks reddening, and ran a hand through his hair in sudden nervousness. "Oh, no, we're not--we're just friends," he corrected, laughing despite himself. Chi smiled again, and stepped towards the sidewalk away from him. "Still...you shouldn't keep her waiting any longer," she replied in a sing-song voice, and winked at him much as he'd done to her. With that, she laughed again and waved goodbye, heading on her way. He returned the gesture, calling out a "Have a safe walk home!" and watching until she turned the corner before heading back inside.

"Alright," he said breathlessly, finally returning to his seat across from Yume, "take two! I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, I'm sorry. I just...I dunno what came over me really, to be honest," he laughed nervously again, talking too much. He was a bit flustered from Chizuru's parting words, but he shrugged them off as best he could. "I'm guessing you've decided on what to order, from all this deciding time you've had?" he asked, joking lightly as he picked up a menu, sipping at his water and peering up at her to try to read her reactions.

((oh Kureno... glad to know he's not an asshole 100% of the time xD but for real that was super adorable and I now picture this scene in my head probably too often but WHATEVER *in abridged!Hisoka voice* also since we have no clue what time of year it is, I'm just gonna make it wintertime for at least this one post ^^' you'll see why...))

~ y u m e ~

Whoever that female was, Yume was glad Kureno had thought on his feet, because it was obvious she said something to him that flustered him all up. And this was one of Yume's favorite things about her partner: watching the relaxed meister turn into a flustered mess. The rest of the meal continued on as if the evening's earlier event never occurred. Jabs were exchanged with smirks, gentle kicks on the other's shins happened occasionally, and all the while enjoying this rare occasion. Kureno had grabbed the check before she could, but he seemed very serious about it. On one hand, she desperately hoped that he didn't feel that he had to pay because he was the guy, but on the other hand, she thought the act to be very sweet. The temperature had dropped significantly from the time they entered the restaurant, and Yume's small leather jacket wasn't quite enough to beat the cold. She tried her best to hide her shivers, but Kureno is no fool. He stopped in his tracks to remove his jacket and place it around his partner, doing so very carefully. Yume looked up at Kureno after his jacket was placed on her shoulders, and they held eye contact for a few seconds, both of them seemingly unable to look away. No words were exchanged, and they continued walking home.

When they reached their destination, the meister and weapon noticed there was a lack of light coming from the halls of the apartment complex. "Maybe they're trying to save energy?" Yume guessed. The key was placed in the lock and their door swung open, the apartment greeting them with a slap in the face of brisk air. The apartment air was dry to the bone, indicating that the power was out not only in their apartment, but the whole building. "Wonderful," Kureno mumbled to himself. No lights, no hot water, and no heat. The partners were in for an interesting night. "It's like I'm camping in a tent on an autumn evening," Yume complained as she walked to her room to change into a warm pair of pajamas. She had to make her phone battery last, she couldn't read because it was nighttime, and no power for TV or movies. Kureno had already began to light a few candles while she was changing clothes, but the flames' light could only travel so far. Yume walked back into the living room and plopped herself on the couch, grabbing the nearest blanket to curl up with. Kureno dragged his feet into the living room a few minutes later, also wearing warm pajamas. "A fun evening, but not exactly how I'd end it myself." The brunette sighed, lowering himself to the couch fairly close to the blonde. They both sat there for a few seconds, still and silent, unsure of what to do next. She scooted next to him and placed half the blanket on him. She inhaled a whiff of Kureno's cologne, and felt like melting into a puddle. The scent complemented him nicely. "So uh, you and whatshername back there..." Yume nudged Kureno. He pushed her away playfully, holding a tiny smile on his face. Kureno then began discussing his rendition of the evening, describing how wonderful the girl was and how undeserving her should-be-her-ex-boyfriend was to be with her. The last thing Yume remembered was Kureno retelling a story that the girl, Chizuru, had told him earlier. She tried not to focus on her shivering as her eyes closed against her will. Waking up a few hours later, the weapon noticed her position had changed from before sleep had overtaken her. Two knees were in front of her, a few inches away from her face, her legs curled in close to her with the blanket only covering her now, and a hand lay heavy on top of her hand. She could hear her partner's slow and steady breathing, meaning he had also fallen asleep. Somehow, without waking her up, he had managed to lay her on his lap and attempted to keep her as warm as he could. A couple tears rolled down her cheek and landed on the brunette's pants, leaving a temporary stain. Ever so carefully, she lifted his hand and brought it towards her lips to gently caress it with a kiss and silently thank him. And not just for keeping her warm.

((fucking fuck shit fuck shit fucking shiiiiiiiiiiiiit))

As he was reciting a story Chizuru had told him earlier that night, he slowly felt Yume's body relax against his. He made his voice softer as her weight leaned into him, until he could hear her steady breathing in the cool apartment. He turned his head to look over at her carefully, unable to see much in the dim candlelight. Kureno leaned forward carefully, reaching just far enough to suffocate the flame with a cup. He then relaxed back, giving his eyes a minute or so to adjust before gingerly sliding and situating both himself and the sleepy girl who still leaned against him. He eventually got her into a more comfortable position, laying on his lap, and he tried to make sure the blanket covered her feet snuggly as well as reaching towards her shoulders. With a few moments of held breath as she murmured and shifted in her sleep, Kureno finally relaxed back into the cushions behind him. He flailed for a moment, unsure where to put his arms. He settled for sliding one between the side of his body and the arm of the couch, where it would stay at least a bit warmer, and the other he gently laid across Yume's arm, just below her shoulder. Without really meaning to, his fingers lightly curled around her wrist, realising just how little her hand was, and for some reason a wave of affection washed through him. He hesitated, unsure if she would be mad about the position if she woke up before him or something of the sort, but he didn't care. He just wanted her to be warm--after all, it would be annoying if she were to fall ill again, right? And anyways...it was kind of nice.

Kureno slept a lot well than he thought he would. There were a few times when he thought he might have woken up, perhaps if Yume shifted in her sleep, curling closer against him for warmth or maybe farther away in embarrassment or disgust or something, he didn't know. At one point, he could have sworn he felt fingers ever-so-gently grasp his own hand, lifting it limply and bringing it back towards the body that lay on his lap. His hand might have twitched in surprise or comfort, since it was warmer there, against soft skin--and for a moment something even warmer and softer--but he quickly fell back asleep. If he was ever awake to begin with.

Kureno mumbled incoherently, sunlight assaulting his eyelids. Had he forgotten to close his dark curtains last night? No, that would be silly. They were almost always closed, especially when it was so cold out all the time. After a few more minutes of annoyance and gathering his strength, the meister slowly cracked open his eyes. He grimaced at the sun streaming from the balcony door, reflecting off the thin-looking layer of snow that softened the ground like fleece. Grouchy, he turned his head away and tried to raise his right hand to rub at his eyes, but he found he could not. Looking down, the boy realised his hand was now captive of his weapon, who lay curled on his lap with his own hand held tightly in hers, clutched close to her, her breath tickling his skin just slightly. He fought the urge to blush, and instead looked straight ahead. There was no little light on the tv to tell him the power was back on. Frowning, Kureno sighed, his brow furrowing as he closed his eyes again and tried to go back to sleep.
He didn't know if he was able to or not, but the next thing he remembered was a body stirring against his abdomen. There were little, quiet, cute mumbling noises and Kureno cracked open an eye to see that it seemed Yume was waking. He let his head rest against the cushions behind him, his hair disheveled from shifting in the night. Breathing a deep sigh, he yawned before letting his eyes open again, now looking down at his partner. She wasn't looking at him, but she knew he was studying her. For a moment, she curled tighter in on herself, squeezing his hand lightly towards her, before releasing it and stretching long. He leaned his head away to avoid a stretching fist, her shoulder-blade digging into his thigh a bit but not exactly uncomfortably. She sat up, looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, and her cheeks were a little red. He hoped she hadn't fallen ill from being too cold, especially after all he'd done to try and avoid it. Yume smiled sheepishly, then her eyes averted slightly above his own as she chimed almost too cheerily for having just woken, "Good morning," and reached up to ruffle his hair into an even messier state. He closed an eye, scrunching his nose as his hair was mussed, and again looked at her with a mixture of slit-eyed questioning and brow-raised confusion. "Good...morning?" he muttered back, his voice low and raspy from sleep. He tried to clear it, and only ended up yawning again, covering his mouth with his newly freed hand as he wiped at his eyes to try and banish the last of sleep. "Still nothing?" he heard her say, looking around at any telltale signs of power--clocks, electronic's lights. He shook his head, making a disappointed noise in his throat, for some reason not wanting to move. Then again, that was extremely common for him in the morning sometimes.
For some reason, when he glanced at her, he remembered vague memories from their couch slumber the previous night. "Did you...sleep okay? Wake up at all or anything?" he asked slowly, brain still slow at forming sentences. He tried to keep his eyes open, and focused on her face.

((HHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN))

~ y u m e ~

His question seemed a bit two-sided, as if he were expecting more than one type of response. She narrowed her eyebrows at him, confused at his question. Was he looking for a particular response? "I think so? Don't remember much after sitting on the couch." Yume rose from the couch, crossing her arms to bury her hands and keep them warm. The weapon started out to the fridge to retrieve some orange juice, then reconsidered the decision. "You know what sounds good? Hot chocolate. You want some? Oh wait." Duh. Power was still out. "Guess I'll have that orange juice after all. Want some OJ?" Kureno grumbled a yes, or at least Yume guessed it to be a yes. He still hadn't fully woken up yet. Dork, she mentally insulted him, the comment bringing a smirk to her face. While her partner rubbed his eyes and stretched his limbs out as far as they could, Yume poured the remaining juice into two glasses and grabbed them using her sleeves as mittens. Making her way back to the couch, both glasses in both hands, sight set on her partner, a memory from the previous night suddenly rose to the surface. The kiss placed on his hand by her lips. This distracted her from the current moment, causing her to lose grip on one of the glasses and it was sent straight to the floor to spill and shatter into pieces. Kureno lunged forward towards her as if a kishin was inches away from capturing her. The glass landed close to her foot, causing a couple pieces of the debris to pierce the skin on her foot. The pain only settled in when she attempted to take a step back, which earned a sound of distress from the weapon. Immediately she was swooped up into her partner's arms and placed gently on the couch, and he then dashed to the bathroom and returned a few seconds later with a first aid kit. "Careful!" She reached out her hand when it seemed like Kureno was about to step in the glass and meet with a similar fate. He didn't say anything in response nor did he speak while he patched up his partner. He gently picked up her legs and laid them down on his lap, the concentration showing in his face. By this time Yume's foot had begun to bleed and leave trails of blood down her foot. First, the meister carefully picked out the glass pieces with a pair of tweezers, which was the most painful part. The blonde balled her fists to keep any sound coming from her mouth, not wanting to make her distress shown. After that, some antibiotic ointment was rubbed onto the wounds, and the job was finished up with a wrapping of the foot with gauze and tape. "Don't you dare try to walk on this foot today." His order was stern but concerned as well. "Yes doctor Kureno," the weapon brought her fist to under her chin, pretending that she had just come out of major surgery. He chuckled, the worry in his eyes slightly disappearing. And with that, her brain shut down and her heart took over. She began to lean into Kureno, eyes slowly closing the closer she came to his face. Male lips and female lips only millimeters away, a giant gong was banged in Yume's head, forcing her to open her eyes and reconsider her surroundings. Taken aback by what she was about to do, she threw herself backwards onto the couch, refusing to look at her partner and gather his reaction. Instead, she stared at the ceiling and mentally punched herself in the gut. You idiot!

Kureno felt cold the second his brain realised the damage to Yume's foot, and he was immediately rushing to help and consider what he should do depending on how bad the injury was. But now, oh, now his entire body was frozen. His chest was inflated with his sudden intake of breath as he had instinctually straightened his neck, inadvertently leaning a bit away, when Yume first began leaning towards him. The only thought in his brain was a chaotic spiral of varying forms of, and expletives centered around, the word 'What..?!?' Before he could even scarcely begin thinking, before his body even decided to move without his permission (he had no idea what it would have done so he was somewhat thankful it didn't have time to react either) Yume had darted back and was looking away. It was so sudden Kureno wondered if it had happened at all. He blinked multiple times, feeling his body relax a bit again as his shoulders dropped, and he raised a hand to run through his hair. 'Wait...what just...did...the fuck?' Had he ever even woken up in the first place? He honestly wasn't sure. Where had that come from? And that...moment...that slice of a moment he thought he remembered from the previous night...had it actually happened then? His mind kept replaying the scene. He'd never been that close to her. They'd hugged, yes, but...never close like that. He didn't dwell on it for long, he didn't want to. He didn't know what to do. He felt a decent bit warmer than he had previously, and he thought Yume's face was a bit reddened too, but suddenly Kureno just started laughing. He didn't really know why. Probably just his body's reaction to the awkwardness and confusion he was feeling. Either way, it felt...okay. He laughed, dropping the occasional f-bomb and other such words between chuckles. His fit didn't last long, and as it was dying down he stood and began walking towards the kitchen. As Kureno's laughter mostly died down, he reached both hands up to savagely muss his hair, letting out a wordless shout as he did, and shook his hands out to his sides as he flicked now-even-messier dark hair that probably more resembled a disgruntled black Pomeranian crouched atop his head than much else at this point. He turned back towards he couch, for some reason unable to stop a beaming smile across his face. "Alright! I'm going to go clean up this mess before you do something else dumb," he said, probably as much to himself as to her--Yume was now seated staring at him with wide eyes of some mixture of emotions that made her just seem blankly questioning. Probably questioning his out-of-character actions. But he had some weird skip in his step as he headed to the bathroom to find a dustpan to begin brushing up the glass fragments. He took a vaccuum to it next, hoping to get any slivers that had escaped the naked eye and the brush bristles. He didn't so much as look up at Yume while he worked, but instead just whistled a tune without much thought at all. By now his stomach was grumbling, so he made his way to the kitchen without asking what she might want. He fetched the cereal from the cupboard, as well as two bowls and two spoons. He then opened the fridge quickly, snagging the milk and closing the fridge again to keep as much cold in as he could. All the while he had to struggle to keep the smile off his face.

((OKAY so i hope that wasn't too confusing? lik,e. i just feel like hat is the most natural reaction to something like that happeneing. that he would have. like. idk. it's really out-of-chrarcter for him but like without him really knowing or trying his mind is kind of just like 'wHAT THE FUCK OKAY' and is like his brain is rebooting or something x'''''D his random bubbliness isn't saying that he exactly liked what happened. hes just. that hapepned. but idk he hasn't even really thought about that yet. anYWAY IDK IF I LIKE THIS BUT IM TIRED SO BYE))

((WOW HELLO HIATUS BYE HIATUS))

~ y u m e ~

It's not as if the weapon and meister could pretend anymore that they didn't care about each other. Of course Kureno would spring into action the second he knew his partner was in any sort of distress. But placing herself only millimeters away from his lips isn't exactly the way one thanks another for taking care of them. Knowing Kureno as well as she did, she knew that he was holding a cheeky grin on his face. She wasn't looking at him, but she just knew. After he was finished cleaning up her mess, he gathered bowls and spoons and prepared two bowls of cereal. He placed one bowl on the coffee table next to her and then started to sit next to her, but then immediately remembered the situation and decided to sit on the ground and eat. "Might as well drink the milk before it goes bad, right?" Kureno replied to the puzzled face Yume made at the bowl. They ate in silence, minus the crunching of the cereal in their mouths. They both pulled their sleeves around their hands so that holding the cold bowl would be a bit easier. After they finished their meal, he retrieved their bowls and placed them in the sink, then returned to his spot on the floor. The elephant in the room could not have been bigger. She was half-waiting for him to bring it up. She shifted in her seat a bit, causing the brunette to sit up a bit and lean towards her injured foot. He circled her foot with his hands. "Don't worry, I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to," she annoyingly remarked, gesturing to his guarding position. They held eye contact for a second before Kureno slowly backed away and returned to his normal sitting position. "Thanks." She reassured his slightly-disappointed look on his face with a gentle smile. It was the first time she had felt any heat on her face since the power had gone out.

A few hours later Yume opened her heavy eyes and immediately threw off all of her blankets in a daze. She temporarily didn't know where she was but only knew that she was about to die of a heat stroke. Forgetting about her injury, she kicked her foot against the other end of the couch, which resulted in pain shooting up her leg. "Ah godammit!" she yelled. Barely two seconds after that the bathroom door swung open and her partner sprinted to her side. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he asked in a frenzy. His hair dripped a bit on her arm and he struggled to keep his towel around his waist. "Are you incapable of putting clothes on?" she retorted but was secretly enjoying what stood before her. He annoyingly sighed at her. "Seriously." His gaze held strong. "I'm fine. Seriously. Just forgot what happened earlier." She removed the jacket that she was wearing and placed herself upright on the couch. "And from now on, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to seduce me. Guess I haven't rejected you enough times yet." She gestured to his uncomfortably small towel. He looked down at it and blew a bit of air out of his nose in amusement. Leaning closer to her face, returning to the same position that they had been in earlier, he spoke in a low tone. "Make me." He rose back to his feet and practically strutted towards the bathroom. Before entering, he remained facing away from her and removed his towel in the front but still covering everything in the back with it. "By the way, power's back on so I turned the heat back on." And the door was shut a few seconds later.

((I'm actually pretty proud of this. Didn't think I would be on my first post in fucking forever. But I left it open so that we could talk about what we want to do next, since we're facetiming right now. I have a couple ideas but I want you to read my post because 1. I can't wait any longer I want you to read this and 2. I want to hear your opinion on what should happen next. WEEE HOPE YOU ENJOYED))

((its Time.
also u know how. that last post affected me. i dont think i have to say anything. good day.))

He closed the bathroom door behind him, a smirk seemingly permanently plastered on his lips. Letting the towel fall completely now, the meister continued on with his usual bathroom routine. It didn't take long, because, as usual, he'd left his clothes in his room. He didn't know exactly why he'd picked up the habit of doing that. Probably from forgetting them there a few times too many and just giving up. Although he did enjoy the feeling of walking around with less clothes on than usual--who didn't? And, he would definitely be lying if he said that messing with his roommate and partner wasn't on his list of reasons. And, especially now that the power was back on, it wasn't ridiculously chilly in the apartment. Honestly, it was getting a bit stuffy in the bathroom from the steam of his shower. The meister collected his towel more securely on his thin waist, his second towel draped about his shoulders as he ruffled his hair with it in attempts to stop the dripping. Kureno opened the bathroom door, crossing through the hallway and the living room towards his bedroom. Yume was still on the couch, of course, and very intent on her phone at the time. He suppressed a chuckle, and busied himself with getting dressed. He fetched his phone, pocketing it in the back pocket of his grey jeans, and left his black button-up shirt hanging open from about the sixth button as his hands were preoccupied with carrying his towel back to the bathroom. Setting them on the hangars, he crossed back to the living room, standing at the foot of the couch, staring at his own phone and appreciating the cool air that played across his chest and upper stomach, cooling off and drying the water droplets that still clung to his skin. Kureno was looking at his phone, reading a message that he must've received when he was in the shower.  Without glancing at her, he asked his partner, "Did you get a message from Kid?" he paused, mulling over the words on his screen, and finally looked up at her. Graduation was nearing, and Kid had to go due to his father being Lord Death. Which meant Liz and Patty were going to be there, which meant they would be bored, which meant they--mostly Patty--were now trying to goad their friends into joining them. Kureno had something close to negative interest in going, himself, but he was curious if his partner had been asked about it as well. He smirked at her, wondering if she was still avoiding looking at him from their earlier incident. It seemed like they had a great many 'incidents' when in one another's presence.

((HEHEHHEHE THERE WE GO OMF IM SO. BRUH I WAS SMILIN THE WHOLE TIME JUST TO BE WRITING HIM AGAIN I MISSED THIS SO MUCH FUCKING RIP))

((man I kick myself for letting our RP slip deep into the depths of a hiatus))

~ y u m e ~

It was no surprise that both Yume and Kureno had received a message from Kid, asking them for their presence at the upcoming graduation ceremony. Wherever Kid went, Liz and Patty followed, and Kid wouldn't exactly be fit for keeping them entertained during the ceremony. Yume wasn’t too keen on babysitting the two, Patty more so than Liz, but she knew that Kid along with his father needed to look their best at the ceremony. Before answering her partner’s question, she replied to Kid’s text saying that she’d gladly attend the ceremony. She almost replied for the both of them, but then figured it was safe to assume that Kureno would rather be anywhere else on that day. “Yes, and I happily told him that I’d help him out. I assumed you’d have plenty of better things to do that day,” Yume set her phone down on the coffee table and leaned forward with one arm resting on top of her knee. The brunette perked up a bit. He usually wasn’t one for hiding his sarcastic remarks before they escaped his mouth. “I cannot believe you think I wouldn’t spend a whole afternoon with you if given the chance,” Kureno got down on one knee and took her hand in both of his, “Miss Yume. What a missed opportunity that would be.” There it is… At first she played along with his act, leaning in closer towards his face while he did the same. He seemed more surprised when she slapped him hard enough to make her point than she expected him to be. He let out a half-sigh, half laugh and returned to a standing position. He ran a hand over his cheek where her hand had previously made harsh contact. "I guess I’ll see you there, then.” Her partner began to make his way towards his room but stopped in his tracks when she made a final remark. “And you weren’t wrong about that missed opportunity.”

The next couple days passed by without much activity. Yume divided up her time between her bed and the couch, barely moving a muscle at Kureno’s orders. Her foot had already mostly healed the day after the incident but she humored him, waiting to receive his official clean bill of health. She was thankful that the graduation ceremony was already upon them, as she was anxious to leave the apartment for the first time in too long. The weather was finally warming up, making the day of graduation a beautiful day. Dressed in a baby blue dress coming just above her knees with tan high heels, the blonde exited her room feeling energized. Kureno was waiting for her in the living room, rising to his feet upon her entrance and looking stunned. “You, look, incredible. As usual,” he smirked. The brunette gestured his hand out for her to take his, and instead of slapping it away, she gripped it gently. He responded by tightening his grip. “Thank you. You clean up nicely, but we both already knew that. Shall we?” He grabbed her purse for her, she grabbed his wallet and keys for him, and the couple-looking pair began to make their way to the DWMA. The sun shone brightly, appearing to return the life to everything the winter had temporarily taken away. Including the bond between meister and weapon. Their hands wisped by each other a couple times along the way. Yume wondered if he had the same thing on his mind as she did. “Promise that we won’t let any crazy shit happen today,” she looked up at her partner. He looked down at her and then away from her and shrugged his shoulders with his hands in his pockets. "Life is crazy, m'lady."

((bruH DONT blame urself we were busy!!! and i def understand how shitty it is to lose a post <3 buT WE'RE DOING IT WE'RE GETTING BACK INTO IT AND IM SO EXCITED))

The two finally made it to Death Weapon Meister Academy, heading for the gymnasium where everything was being set up. Graduates were elsewhere, getting ready and chattering excitedly somewhere away from the bustle of the last-minute touches to the decor for the ceremony. There, they found Kid--quite nervously telling some poor volunteer that the symmetry of the streamers was all askew. "No, no, that black streamer is slightly to the left of it's partner on the opposite side! See?? And now that red one is shorter, you have to clip exactly one-third of an inch off of that one there! One-third of an inch precisely!" Kureno made his way over to Kid, putting a hand on his shoulder. "As much as I feel like I might regret saying this...do you need any help?" Although Kid was grateful for the assistance, Kureno found he did indeed regret offering. He proceeded to spend the next twenty-five minutes re-taping and re-cutting the streamers that had been placed asymmetrically all around the gymnasium. Luckily, Kid was getting distracted with other things as well, so it wasn't too bad. He adored Kid, he really did--and maybe possibly probably still had a bit of a thing for him not that Kureno would ever admit it--but the young man could be quite the hassle at times. He honestly marveled at the relationship between Kid and his weapon partners Liz and Patty. Kid was powerful, to be able to synchronise so well with not one weapon, but two at the same time. It was honestly incredible. Kureno's gaze shifted up into the bleachers, where Yume was talking with Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki while BlackStar and Soul had begun a contest to see who could jump more steps down in one bound from the top of the bleachers. He wondered if he would ever be able to synchronise with Yume that well. When the thought about it, he felt like all of their friends had more secure partnerships than theirs. Tsubaki was the only one who could put up with BlackStar, and they both understood each other without even having to say much at all. Kid, Liz, and Patty were a capable trio beyond what Kureno could imagine. And Maka and Soul...they felt the most like his own partnership, yet even though they fought, they always knew that they would be together in the end. They could do anything they wanted to as long as they put their mind to it. He thought he and Yume could be like that, but...he wasn't sure. Sighing, the meister put down the scissors he was using and made his way up the bleacher steps, straightening the black tie around his neck so it lay in the middle of his deep blue button-up shirt. Now that he thought about it, he supposed he and Yume matched fairly well today. He smiled at the thought, and started towards her but thought better of it. She probably liked the chance to get away from him and talk to her friends in peace. Instead, he went to join Soul and BlackStar, who had since stopped their competition, and chatted with them until the guests and family members began filtering into the gymnasium.

As the gymn began filling up, the boys made their way back to their other friends. Kureno swiftly slid into the seat beside Yume, reaching his arm around her shoulders. He looked at her--well, at her side profile as she was pointedly ignoring his presence--and lifted a thin, pale finger to play with a strand of her soft, golden hair. He could smell her shampoo from here--or was it her perfume? Did she use perfume? He honestly wasn't sure. He gently, subtly slid his face closer to her, closing his eyes as he pressed his nose, and lips, gently to her temple. She stiffened, and he withdrew his head as quickly as he'd advanced. "Mmm, you smell absolutely amazing," he informed her, his voice low. He felt sure she might hit him, at least a kick to the shin since they were in public. After all, that was the closest they'd ever been. Especially in public. He felt sure he was in for it, but it was worth it. He smirked wider, watching her cheeks redden. She was just too much fun to tease, he simply couldn't help himself.

((soooo bit of a boring fillery post sory. I was GONNA just skip to the during/after graduation ceremony things as soon as i started my post, but i guess my hands didn't wanna do that. well. hERE. im still not sure how i feel about his little stunt, even if it's a small one and its def the kind of teasing thing he'd do (esp since he knows she would hate him doing that in public where everyone would be like >>>>>...>>> but. i had to. ANYWAY. yes. here.))

((I'm laughing because I'd probably have the same 'what the fuck' reaction as Yume. I'll see what I can do...))

~ y u m e ~

After a couple seconds of considering the situation, Yume realized it wouldn’t be worth it reacting physically to Kureno’s so-called ‘gesture’. At least not while they were surrounded by an entire gymnasium of students and faculty and families. Instead she leaned over to her partner as he had just done and put her lips right up against his ear and whispered in the sexiest tone she could muster, “I’ll drop kick you in the gut if you try that again.” He retreated to his normal sitting position, but not without snickering to himself a bit. As the last of the guests filled up the remaining seats in the gym, Lord Death gestured to the audience for them to begin settling down, as the ceremony was about to start. The band played their never-ending tune, speakers of the ceremony entered extremely slowly, and the actual graduates were very last to enter. Kid was among the speakers, though the weapon wasn’t completely sure if he was going to speak or simply remain in his seat on the stage. Of course it had to be a bigger class than usual, which meant more sitting. Patty was sitting in the next row up, right behind Yume, and continually poked her head and back throughout the entire entrance ceremony. She also cheered extremely loudly when Kid entered, and all of her friends’ attempts at keeping her quiet were nothing but failures. When the actual speaking started, Yume leaned over and whispered to Kureno that she was going to sit next to Patty for the time being. The whole thing progressed normally as any graduation ceremony does. The audience became more and more antsy as time went on, with Lord Death taking his sweet time wrapping it up after all the names were called. Yume made the dumb decision of attempting to exit the same time as everyone else, along with Liz and Patty, and temporarily got lost from the rest of the group. She and Liz grabbed onto Patty’s wrists and made their way outside the building to await the rest of their friends. Yume had passed by a couple of the graduates that she had maybe met once or twice before on brief accounts but, nonetheless, congratulated them on their success. Once outside and away from the crowd, Yume texted Kureno to tell him where they ended up and to meet them there. She then texted Kid to let him know that she was with his partners, where they were, and to meet up with them. Seeing Kid on the stage with his father, she was quite proud of him and wanted to congratulate him as well. Until her meister and the rest of their friends found them, the blonde hung out with her fellow weapons, becoming slightly anxious when she did not receive a response from him. He definitely had his phone and it was definitely charged. But no answer. It wasn’t like him to not respond to her, no matter how mad or upset they could be with each other.

((eh I don't know if I like this. And I wasn't sure how exactly Kureno would kinda sneak away from Yume, but if you have any better ideas you know I can change whatever you need me to! <3 also this is shorter than I thought it was sorryyyy))

Kureno behaved himself well, in his humble opinion, he remainder of the ceremony and indeed a bit after. About halfway through, his phone vibrated with a message from Soul. To be more precise, a couple messages from him. He stealthily slid his phone out of his pocket, on the side of his body away from Yume, though despite his efforts, he did get a sharp elbow into his side and an annoyed grunt accompanied by familiar disapproving green eyes a few times. Soul had had the brilliant idea to go for a guys night out later, but he knew Maka wouldn't go for it, so he (and BlackStar) suggested they sneak away once the ceremony was over. Kureno couldn't remember the last time he'd hung out with just Soul (and...BlackStar..unfortunately), and so he almost immediately agreed, and waited impatiently until the end of the dull and far-too-long graduation speeches to come to a close.

Eventually, they did, and in the rush of the crowd it was easy for the males of the group to slip away from the main throng, and they quite quickly fell into a long-striding walk, laughing and joking and hanging about one another. They walked aimlessly for a while, and before long the sky had darkened and night had fallen. They had gotten a little bite to eat, and were now making their way through the streets stopping at anything that interested them and just enjoying themselves. That was when they heard a voice. "Oh Sooouuullll! Ooooh, and Kureno too~" the young men stopped and turned about, Soul giving a questioning grunt. Kureno suspected the owner of the voice, and was unsurprised to find out he was right. Blaire stood, hanging suggestively out of a tattered, wooden and metal door, the light from the inside that surrounded her silhouette a stark contrast to the darkness of the streets. She wore rather skimpy clothing, but that was not unlike her. However, with the hand that wasn't grasped to the side of the wall, holding her up as she leaned out, she held a platter upon which was balanced several flagons of alcohol. There was merry ruckus and drunken laughter coming from the room that the cat-woman stood at the threshold of, and it was obvious that she'd gotten a job as a waitress/bartender at a sleazy club in the less desirable part of town. Soul tilted his head up, keeping his mouth straight despite the rather sultry looks she was giving both him and Kureno. Soul curtly asked what she was doing, to which Blaire replied by propping the door open further with her heel and putting on her most innocent face before saying, "I'm inviting you in, silly!" Soul shook his head--and most likely his mind out of the gutter, for he too was just a teenage boy, and what can you expect--before scoffing a bit and turning away. "You know we're underage, you idiot cat. We can't go in there even if we wanted to," and the three of them began walking away, with BlackStar yelling agreements. "You can if I say you're with me! Oh Soul, you can trust me!" she said, winking when Soul turned back to her, "I've got the boss wrapped around my finger~" she smiled, and widened the door gap even further. Kureno bit back a scoff--he expected he had more than her boss's good graces wrapped around her 'finger'. He met his friend's red eyed gaze as Soul looked towards Kureno, who was admittedly a bit surprised by this turn of events despite himself. The meister was...no stranger to the less legal forms of recreation, but he didn't know if Soul or BlackStar had had experiences like his. In fact, he pretty much entirely doubted they had. Kureno blinked at Soul, then replaced the surprised expression with one of willing indifference and shrugged, "Up to you man," he said, letting Soul know he would gladly follow with whatever the white-haired weapon chose to do. A second passed, and then Soul smiled his wide, pointed-teeth smile, and the three turned on their heels and left the chilly, dark alley for the warm and buzzed atmosphere inside.

((k so ugh idk how i feel about this. but. its fine. I juST WANTED TO RP I WAS SO BAD. RIP. im excite tho >>>>:3 heheheh))

~ y u m e ~

Yume was willing to bet that she had never seen so many pictures being taken at once. Every family was taking a picture of every possible combination of family members with the graduate. Not too far into the future, that will be her and Kureno and all of their friends. Not wanting to dwell on the future, she checked her phone once more for new messages. Same as the last four times she checked, nothing. Yume had been waiting with Liz and Patty for almost twenty minutes now, and the worry grew a bit stronger with each passing minute. Quite honestly, she just wanted someone to show up because Patty and even Liz were becoming quite antsy. When the crowd of people began to disperse, she heard her named being called from somewhere. Her heart jumped hoping it was her partner, but she was a little disappointed and relieved at the same time to realize it was Kid approaching the three. "I got your text Yume, I'm so sorry it took me this long to find you guys. My father was introducing me to a million and one people, I finally had to sneak away before I met the next million people," Kid straightened his tie and smoothed his hair while mumbling something about symmetry. "Anyways, I appreciate you keeping my weapons occupied for the time being." Patty subjected Kid to a tackle/hug combination, while Liz rolled her eyes at her sister. "No worries Kid, happy to help. By the way, have you seen Kureno around? He's not answering my texts." Kid shook his head, regretfully saying he had not seen him at all today. Yume did a quick scan of the crowd, hoping that she would find him wandering around trying to find his partner, but no luck. After Patty was finished going on about something funny that happened during the ceremony, Kid thanked Yume once more and the three of them made their exit, Liz and Patty saying their goodbyes as well. Now completely alone, the weapon decided one more time to look for her partner, walking around attempting to locate the tall brunette. By this time the crowd was no more. Kureno was gone, and Yume was left to walk home by herself. It had been a while since she returned to the apartment alone. She was reminded of her first journey there, after she had been forced to move out of her dorm and find another place to live. All her other attempts to live with her friends had failed miserably, and she was forced to face her last and most dreaded option. Reflecting on how much has changed since that day forced the corners of her mouth into a little smile. Dare she say, the dumb, cocky, smart-ass brunette was the best thing to happen to her. Regardless of how many times he makes it seem otherwise.

A few hours had passed, and still nothing. Worry still loomed over Yume's mind. She decided to clean the apartment to keep herself occupied, but worry ensued once more when she was finished. Not wanting to consider the worst possibility, she just assumed she had done something to upset him during the ceremony and was blowing off steam, and she was fully prepared to discuss it whenever he decided to return home. A bit childish, she thought, to be this upset over something so little. What could she have possibly said/done? All she did was elbow him because he was looking at his phone during the ceremony. Anyone else would have done the same thing, right? They've had plenty of worse issues than this. The day was now lurking into early evening. It had been a while since Yume had eaten, so she decided to fix some dinner, pondering whether or not she should make dinner for two. Her phone then buzzed on the coffee table, and she rushed to see who it was. A text from Kureno popped up on her screen. Finally! She unlocks her phone and reads the message, and almost drops her phone. More out of shock or anger, she wasn't sure. The text read:

Heyy babe wishy ou were here!

Attached to the text was a photo of her wasted partner alongside Soul and Blackstar whom she guessed were in similar conditions. In the background was Blaire, whom appeared to be wearing an extremely revealing outfit that she might as well have been naked. Blackstar was holding a glass with the name of the place they were at. "That motherfucker."

((so I wanted to stop here because I had a feeling you'd maybe have some fun writing what would be happening at the club xD))

Kureno took his phone back from BlackStar, glaring. "Heyy dude, whadya do that for?" he questioned, blinking hard in attempts to stop the ever encroaching slur from marring his words. The blue-haired assassin just laughed loudly. It was too late to delete the message to Yume. She might have gone to bed already and hopefully wouldn't see it before he got back. Maybe he could even get to her phone first and delete the message before she had a chance to see it at all. He didn't notice that the Chupa♡Cabra's stylised font was displayed on the glass that BlackStar held, with most of it's contents already drained. Kureno had quickly found out that BlackStar was quite the lightweight, while Soul could hold his alcohol much better than their loud-mouthed friend, and pretty much as well as Kureno could hold his. While he still had some sense of what was going on, he knew that tomorrow morning was not going to be too pretty of a sight. His hangovers were for some reason marginally better than those of most other people he's met, but that didn't mean they were exactly a day at the park. Either way, tonight will be and has been his most illegal time in a long time. And that was what he was thinking right before Soul asked if he wanted to do shots. After that, he didn't really do much thinking at all, even as Blaire tried and eventually successfully almost entirely unbuttoned his shirt, his tie hanging from his neck completely undone. He had enough sense in him to push her away, and she couldn't stay for long either way since she did work there after all. He was pretty sure she did anyway. That was how they got in, right? He was sure of it. Soul was a bit better at deflecting Blaire, and honestly Kureno was a little surprised, but he didn't have much time for that. His legs were getting unsteady and there was much more merrymaking to be had, so he let himself stop thinking for the night.

That was, until he heard Soul mutter, "Ohhssshit." They were sitting on one of the dirty couches near the back of the room, finally slowing down a bit, lazing around and joking and drinking--with Kureno smoking the occasional cigarette, which he forgot at the time that neither of his friends knew of that habit, but nevertheless the assassin and the weapon would later remember next to nothing about that night. Kureno swiveled his head over to Soul, furrowing his brows as he tried to focus his vision on Soul to see what made his friend sound actually scared at a time like this. Then he heard BlackStar loudly yell out his partner's name, "Heeeeey, Tsubaki! TSUBAKI! O'er here!" followed by something about feeling extra strong but Kureno blocked out the rest of BlackStar's words as his drunken mind worked to put the pieces together. They were in a club, they were minors, and they'd been there for who knows how many hours. Tsubaki was here, or at least someone that looked like her maybe, and Soul suddenly got very scared and very quiet and looked like he was either going to be sick or run away or pass out. Which would be viable, but he didn't think Soul had had that much to drink; in fact, they might even remember parts of tonight. But wait, no. Tsubaki...Tsubaki would only be here if she knew where they were. And if she knew where they were, then she would've told all of their partners, and with Soul suddenly so nervous...

Kureno was quite forcefully brought out of his chain of thought when BlackStar was dragged from his spot on the couch, stumbling and trying to talk to a very exasperated Tsubaki who obviously wanted to get out of the club as quickly as she'd come in. Just as soon as BlackStar was stood from the couch, Soul stirred but was knocked back into Kureno, his head knocking together with Kureno's jaw as the force of Maka's slap probably sent Soul's ears and own head ringing. Kureno didn't even notice that he dropped his drink on the floor, and just clutched his head in his hands to try and stop it from spinning with the dual force of the collision and the alcohol. As soon as he did he realised Soul was also being removed from the establishment, and Kureno was just about to get up to follow him when he raised his eyes and met them with a far too familiar pair of green ones, and felt what little was left of his drunken dignity rush out of him in a moment, and replaced by a healthy dose of regret as his stomach twisted in fear.

((okayyy there we go!!! and just to make it clear, he's not like SCARED of her or anything, he's like. like his scared that she'll hate him or be disgusted in him, as he felt like she would be the previous times she's found out about his alcohol/drug abuse and cigarette addiction and stuff. he's scared of hurting her, not of him being hurt))

~ y u m e ~


Yume was now able to say that she had seen her partner both high and wasted. She expected no less when she discovered where he was, thanks to the picture that was sent to her from Kureno’s phone but more than likely a doing of either Blackstar or Soul. She immediately after that called Maka and Tsubaki and they were both on their way within seconds. They both had reactions Yume expected. Maka had steam blowing out of her ears, and Tsubaki was red with embarrassment. The blonde was conflicted with exactly how she was feeling towards the whole situation. Anger, yes. And some embarrassment too. Maybe a bit of disappointment as well. But approaching the bar, she wasn’t completely sure how she was going to fetch the brunette. The three females made it there in probably record time, and Yume’s stomach dropped at who greeted them upon entering the establishment. “Heyyyyy ladies! Came to join your fellas, I see!” Blaire twirled her hair with one hand while offering a drink to Maka in the other hand. Maka shoved her out of the way and her eyes frantically searched the room for a couple seconds before she dashed over to a couch in the corner of the room. There they were, in all their drunken glory. Tsubaki caught up to Maka before she reached the boys, trying to hold the meister back from doing too much damage. Blackstar didn’t seem to fully understand the seriousness of the situation, and Soul had turned whiter than his hair. And Kureno looked like he was still trying to understand everything himself. While Maka and Tsubaki collected their partners the way Yume had guessed they would, the blonde watched from afar waiting her turn. She flinched slightly when her partner got caught in Maka’s reign on Soul but figured it was good to wake him up a bit from the daze he seemed to be in. Her friends said their goodbyes and went in separate directions after exiting the bar. Finally she headed over to the couch where her partner remained, head dangling a bit. When she pushed her feet against his on the floor, his gaze did not meet hers. She sighed and knew it was going to be fairly silent on the way home. The weapon reached for her meister’s hands and pulled him upright from the couch, almost letting him fall over because she was unaware of how heavy he was. With one arm over her shoulder, and the meister slouched over that their heads were at the same height, Yume lead the sad and drunken brunette towards the door. But of course she couldn’t leave without another remark from Blaire. “Poor guy, I think he had a bit too much to drink~” The blonde had no words, but only a glare in response. Even Blaire was smart enough to recognize her annoyance with the cat. The weapon and meister left seconds later and the journey home began. About halfway there, Yume plopped her partner down on a bench to rest for a minute. “Well now I know why I’m the weapon and you’re the meister,” she lightly joked. Again the brunette did not make eye contact with her. She sighed and gazed up at the night sky, attempting to count the stars to distract herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kureno’s head slowly falling forward. Catching him and brushing the hair out of his face, she decided it was time to continue the rest of the journey home.

((so I don’t think I made this very clear, but basically Yume’s not really showing how she’s feeling about the whole thing right now because her main concern is getting Kureno home and in bed safely. Probably the next day she’ll reveal how she feels to him))

Kureno accepted the help of his partner without words. Even as she spoke once they'd made it outside, he couldn't make words rise from his throat. Part of that was probably because the ground was spinning a lot more than he thought it would be, and if it weren't for Yume he knew he'd have fallen by now. As her soft, gentle hand grazed his forehead, brushing his messy bangs from his skin as she struggled to support his wavering form, he finally raised his eyes to meet hers. Green eyes met his own grey, which narrowed slightly as he furrowed his brow, almost appearing worried. But in truth, he was trying to think through the haze. Had she always been so beautiful? He wasn't sure. They were still walking, him leaning into her as he tried not to trip, but he couldn't stop looking at her. Finally, she breathed out a bit of an exasperated laugh, and asked, "What?" questioning his continued stare. He blinked, realising yeah, she probably could see him staring, and it probably was kinda weird. He averted his gaze, looking at how his feet struggled to stay walking in a straight line. With a low, scratchy voice, he murmured, "I'm...sorry." Almost as soon as he spoke, he felt her stop their progress, and he himself jerked to a stop too. He looked at, worried of what he'd see in her face, but she was looking down now. Her chin lifted, but she kept her eyes forward and said nothing as she made them continue on. He swallowed the knot in his throat, and let her lead him home. After all, he wouldn't be able to get there without her.

He was able to make it up the stairs with less difficulty than he thought it would take, and braced himself against the wall as she ducked under his arm that had been around her shoulders for support. Yume unlocked the door and stepped into the apartment, flicking on the light that had Kureno blinking and shielding his eyes with his free hand for a few seconds before he attempted the next few stumbling steps into the apartment. Yume had already disappeared from the hall, and so Kureno clumsily reached for the door and tried to close it behind him, not paying attention to whether it latched or not. The drunken meister made his rather zig-zagged path towards the couch, almost tripping over his own feet countless times before collapsing on the safety of the cushions. There was a glass of water waiting on the coffee table and he somehow managed to sip some without the glass slipping through his hands and shattering to the floor. Someone with careful hands might have helped him, brushing hair away from his face, but they were gone down the hall somewhere as mysteriously as they'd arrived. He felt more delirious than he had earlier, and tried to unbutton his shirt a bit with trembling hands, getting his fingers caught around his loosened tie. Eventually he got his hands mostly free, and somehow managed to begin unbuttoning his shirt. "W-what are you doing?" a startled voice spoke close by, and Kureno blinked up to see blonde hair surrounding a confused and slightly red face looking down at him. "'S hot in 'ere, I gotta....'s too hot," he explained, feeling like his head was beginning to pound. He felt hands grab his own, and shook his head a bit while the buttons of his shirt magically became buttoned again and she murmured words that he didn't totally understand but her voice just sounded so nice and she smelled so good and he didn't know he said that out loud until her hands froze over his chest where they had just finished buttoning the last button. But even then his own words and actions didn't register in his mind. His head felt heavy and it lolled lazily to the side, his hands raising slowly, shaking ever so slightly as he tried to undo what she'd did to his undoing of his shirt buttons. His arms got too heavy on the way, and his eyes had been closed for a while now. It felt like time had passed, but then he felt small arms trying to wrap around his waist and bring him to standing. Kureno groaned, not happy about being moved from his comfortable position on the cushions, and stumbled into his weapon heavily as she struggled to bring them both upright, talking to him in a gentle and quiet voice that just sounded like faint music in the background.

He felt like he fell asleep while they walked, but at some point he was dropped with another body onto the familiarity of his mattress, a whuff as the air rushed out of the both of them at the impact. Yume disentangled herself from his limbs, since going down with him was the easiest way to get the entirety of his long, thin form onto the bed. She puled down the blankets for him, and righted him on the bed. Kureno felt a hand brush his face again, and his eyelids fluttered. He wanted to reach a hand up to put on top of this small, warm, gentle hand against his face, but his entire body seemed too heavy to move. "Mm, feels good," he slurred, only able to shift his head against her touch. He thought there was a breath of air against his face, and a small giggle that sounded like sunshine, but then the touch was gone and he grumbled with a furrowed brow at the absence of the hand against his skin. It returned for a moment, a thumb smoothing the creases above his eyes, and Kureno's breathing slowed. He probably murmured a few other similar things, but in no time his body had descended into heavy, total darkness that only comes with the deepest of sleep.

((rip))

~ y u m e ~

The weapon had so desperately wanted to close her door, wanting to forget about the whole evening and send it to the grave. But she worried that the dumbass brunette would need something in the middle of the night so she cracked it instead. She removed her shoes and peeled her dress off her body, the stress of the evening creating an abnormal amount of sweat on her body. She was still trying to figure out exactly how she was feeling, but even after the apartment was silent, so were her thoughts. Yume was unknowingly grinding her teeth, slumped down in a half-sitting, half-lying down position in her bed with her arms crossed. Staring at one spot on the floor until she fell asleep, lights still on. That night, she would dream of the strangest occurrences but would not remember a single one when she would awaken, due to the lack of energy from the previous night's 'festivities'.

The sun was high in the sky, well past sunrise. Yume's eyes felt glued shut, and her limbs felt as if they had not moved for hours. Squinting at the amount of light in her room, the weapon reached towards the nightstand to check her phone, suddenly realizing that it was 11:36 a.m. Shit, that dumbass probably needs some water or something, she sighed and threw the covers off of her body. To her surprise and confusion, her door was now completely shut. Last Yume checked, it was cracked slightly. She slowly opened the door and peaked her head out, now noticing that Kureno's door was wide open, and his bed messy and empty. "Wasn't sure how late you planned on sleeping so I closed your door just in case," a slightly snarky voice called from the living room. The blonde took a few steps out from her door and she looked to her left, and who else but her partner was sprawled out on the couch with a book in hand and earbuds in his ears. "You'll be happy to know that I ever so patiently waited for you to wake up to make breakfast," Kureno placed the bookmark in his book and took one earbud out and let it dangle. He walked to the kitchen and began pulling out bowls and utensils and ingredients from the fridge. "How do you want your eggs? Eh, I'll surprise you." He began cracking eggs before she could give her answer. Before she could even what he was making. Before she could even get two words in. Did he not remember last night? Even if he didn't remember it, he surely would be feeling the aftermath. This had to be an act. His chipper expression, the rate at which he was moving around in the kitchen, the usual smart ass comments... Either he was an incredible actor or it was all a bullshit act. She leaned on one forearm against the counter and looked at Kureno disbelievingly. "Okay hotshot, give it up. You don't have to pretend you're okay. I'm not judging you... too much." Kureno did not pause in his breakfast preparations but was fully attentive in responding. "What do you mean? I feel fine. You're the one that looks like she could use a balanced breakfast." Yume scoffed. "So you're telling me that you do not feel in any way hungover, not even the slightest?" The brunette looked almost offended at her accusations. This time he stopped to look at her. "I promise I feel fine. Go sit down. Breakfast won't take too long to cook," he shooed her away to the couch. Yume decided it was best not to argue with him... at least right now. She was determined to get more out of him than 'I promise I feel fine'.

((I see Kureno as the kind of guy who just doesn't get bad hangovers, or hangovers at all... I hope that's cool? I can change it if need be! <3))

((shit son it's been eons im so sorry. writin this in honor of u comin my way ;3 ))

He nodded to himself as she went to take a seat on the couch, obviously still having things on her mind that he would no doubt hear about at breakfast. So, he busied himself with cooking for the two of them. He decided on omelettes with various veggies and cheeses tucked inside, wanting something a bit healthy to eat after last night. He'd been blessed with somehow never really getting hangovers, but he figured his body deserved something resembling care after the abuse he'd put his liver through last night. And Yume deserved it too. She'd gone above and beyond for him, he wanted her to know he appreciated it.

He carefully transferred the omelettes to plates, getting forks as well as salt, pepper, and ketchup just in case, and putting them on the little coffee table in front of the couch along with two glasses of juice. "Bon appetit, mon amie," he said with a flourish and a bow before taking his seat next to her and adding salt and a bit of pepper to his food. Before he tackled his breakfast, his fork paused above his omelette and he carefully set it down again. "Seriously, thank you," he said, quietly, waiting for her reaction but unsure if he should look at her or not. He didn't know if she was mad at him, or if she was disappointed, but he hoped that this would make it okay. "I know I always...mess things up but...I...I really appreciate you, ya know?" he struggled a bit, having to clear his voice in the middle of his words when he faltered, messing up his hair with a hand in his uncertainty before intertwining his hands into a light fist on his lap, his gaze down.

He would answer any questions she had, and take any punishment she had for his behaviours last night. He knew he hadn't really considered how she would feel, or what she would have done if she hadn't had to take care of him. Again. She seemed to always be picking up after his messes. He really was lucky to have her, and he liked to think he was finally realising that every now and then.

((da na na naaaaAAAA *zelda fanfare plays* its a poST ! after like fiVE HECKIN MONTHS. im the worst and ik this is short but we can also taLK WHEN WE SEE EACH OTHER >:3 bc i know we had a plan for ;*where to go next but i dont totally remember it. sO. i hope this is okay and i'll see you in a few hours ))

((lets gooooooo))

~ y u m e ~


After sleeping away the previous day’s whirlwind of events, along with her partner’s kind gesture towards her, Yume decided to relieve herself of her fury towards her partner. He seemed sincerely apologetic, which says a lot coming from the man that is constantly teasing her. The way he hung his head low, not meeting her gaze, almost broke her heart in two. Despite her slight apprehensiveness to admit it, her actions and feelings yesterday were out of concern for her partner. “Check your ego,” she lightly joked, “As long as you know how much you worried me yesterday.” The brunette snorted air from his nose in response, while a small smile creeped onto his face. “Can’t promise I won’t ever drink again.” Kureno winked. Yume only responded with her continuing to eat her now slightly-cold breakfast. She wasn’t prepared to have a mini heart-to-heart with her partner over breakfast.

~skippy skipp~

The week was about halfway over, the weather was still cold, and Yume was nervous about attempting soul resonance with her partner again. Professor Stein made an announcement right before the end of class about the continuation of soul resonance training after lunch. The first attempts were not smooth, which was to be expected. But it still made for frustration. The longer it took them to resonate, the longer it would be before they were allowed to begin taking on missions. The ring of the lunch bell cut Stein off, and he rolled out of the classroom still sitting in his office chair before he finished saying goodbye to the students. Soul and Maka practically sprinted out of the classroom to get their favorite table in the cafeteria, while Yume, Kureno, and the rest of their friends took their time heading to lunch. “You guys go ahead, I’m gonna talk to Professor Stein for a second,” Yume announced to the group, though Liz was the only one listening. “No problem, we’ll save you a seat!” The group walked off towards the cafeteria, engrossed in multiple little conversations. The blonde walked down the steps to the front of the classroom behind them, eyes fixed on her professor, intent on making Stein aware of her struggles with resonating with her partner. In the midst of becoming lost in her thoughts while stepping down the stairs, the weapon suddenly felt an obstruction in her way. Her face was now centimeters away from another, as she had bumped into another student. She was a tall brunette, much like her partner, and her face was heavily made up, with a bright red lipstick smoothly applied to her fairly plump lips. “I am so sorry, I got lost in my thoughts and ran right into you, I am so sorry,” Yume began spilling out an apology, picking up the phone that she had so carelessly knocked out of the girl’s hands. It had landed next to the girl’s right foot, which was dressed in a red flat, similarly colored to her lipstick. She wore a tight pair of dark blue jeans, paired with a black blazer and a white blouse. She smelled like peaches with a hint of apricot. “No need to apologize, I also wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Don’t worry about it,” the brunette smiled and briefly touched Yume’s shoulder. A tight knot appeared in Yume’s stomach, making it hard to reply. All she could do was smile and nod at the no-name that stood in front of her. “My name’s Asami, by the way,” Asami reached out her hand for a handshake. Yume did the same, introducing herself to the brunette. “I’m Yume.” “Well Yume, I apologize again for being careless. I’ll see you around,” Asami gave the weapon a cheeky smile, and began messing with her phone as she walked out of the classroom. It took Yume a few moments before she realized that her partner had been standing in the doorway watching her, and he currently held his trademarked smirk on face. The blonde felt her cheeks become even redder than they had been moments ago. Walking towards him, she squinted her eyes and gave him a small shove when they met in the doorway. “Who’s your new friend?” Kureno jokingly asked his partner. Yume was asking herself the same question. Who the hell was that girl? How was she so pretty? Why was I so tongue-tied talking to her?