Late on the 6th [Voice]

[justicereigns]

Right, this is Smoker. I'm back in my own body, thanks to everyone who helped when I was a kid, and you know... during the shift.

Jitte and kickboxing lessons will be delayed until the 10th, but that doesn't mean stop practicing. Keep up the exercises, because I'll be very disappointed if any of you start slipping.

For anyone else interested in joining in, I teach basic self defense, kickboxing, and jitte. There are one-on-one sessions and group sessions, feel free to ask about a schedule because with the drafts ongoing, at least you can learn something to get a fighting chance for survival.

And who still here in the village knows anything about motorcycles? A friend recently reminded me life can be too short not to pursue some things.

Lupin, if you still remember the thing I asked Red about, I'd like to discuss it.

Kotomi-chan, if it's not a bad memory, whatever did happen with the paper your father was writing?

Comments

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[etudes]

[ She's a little quiet as if she really is thinking about it, but.. it's difficult, and it's easier to just focus on telling this. ]

.. It all happened when I was a kid.. When I was still very young, my parents died in a plane crash. [ Her voice is even softer and more vulnerable than usually. ] That paper.. it disappeared with them in that crash then, but I didn't realise that. I thought instead that some other papers in my father's office were the paper they were working on.

And.. I-.. I thought that it was all that thing's fault that my parents died, so.. I didn't care about the world, I just wanted my parents, so I felt so mad at the paper that I set fire to it.. It fell, and the entire room started burning. If Tomoya-kun hadn't saved me back then, I would have died..

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[justicereigns]

[Oh. Did Smoker call her human? He takes it back. She's a saint. This is her idea of being selfish? Is she even aware of what most people do on a regular basis? Tch... Probably not.]

[He's quiet as he tries to find words and tone that won't be as rough as he usually is.]

That's not that selfish, Kotomi-chan. It's really very understandable actually. There have been a lot of worse reasons for fires set. Do fires bother you now? [Seems important to ask since she's dating Ikki.]

And is that how you first met Tomoya?

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[etudes]

[ She still is convinced that is is selfish, really-- it's true, Kotomi has very weird notions of what is selfish and what isn't and sets way too high standards for herself. But it's easier to just focus on directly answering what he's asking her. ]

... Fire is.. scary. [ But Ikki already found out that much about her too. ] Everytime I see it, I think back on that time..

And.. I met Tomoya-kun earlier than that, but that time in the burning office was the last time I saw him for a really, really long time. After that, Tomoya-kun stopped visiting and forgot about me for ten years..

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[justicereigns]

Does Ikki know that much? Because his fire only protects those he loves.

He... forgot about you? What? How?

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[etudes]

.. H-hmm.. Ikki-kun and I already talked about fire before..

And.. I don't know. Tomoya-kun never came back after that day and when he met me again at school all those years later.. He didn't recognize me anymore, even if I did. But.. I was glad all the same, since he came to talk to me even though he didn't even remember me..

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[justicereigns]

Good.

Hn... [Smoker can't really imagine the thinking of the guy. Although ten years can change the way a kid looks and maybe his memory wasn't that good... Maybe.] Did you become friends again?

[Sorry Kotomi-chan. Just like Ikki warned before, Smoker has a bad habit of asking a billion questions.]

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[etudes]

[ It's okay, with her obliviousness she doesn't even notice he keeps asking questions. ]

We did. Eventually Tomoya-kun found out about everything and remembered though.

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[justicereigns]

So you were still friends before you came here? Just friends though, right?

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[etudes]

Tomoya-kun was my very best friend..

... What does Smoker-kun mean though, 'just friends'?

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[justicereigns]

Not dating like you and Ikki.

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[etudes]

[ there's a looong pause here. ]

Me and Ikki-kun.. are dating? [ she never thought of it that way, and since nobody seriously told her 'you're dating' she.. just never assumed it to be that way.. ]

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[justicereigns]

Yes. If you weren't before, after this last shift, you're definitely dating. Don't let him say otherwise, because that's just more tsundere.

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[etudes]

But if Ikki-kun didn't say it to me before, does he know he and me are dating? Is it something that Smoker-kun decided by himself..?

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[justicereigns]

No, he knows. He either didn't say it because he didn't want to admit it, or he thought you'd come to that decision on your own. Probably both.

And I think if you asked anyone else in the village, they'd agree you're dating.

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[etudes]

I see.. I didn't know that at all. If Smoker-kun wouldn't have told me that, then I wouldn't have known..

[ ... ] Ah, Smoker-kun, can I ask something else?

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[justicereigns]

What's up kiddo?

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[etudes]

...

What exactly does it mean that Ikki-kun and I are dating?

[ hello, girl with no social knowledge whatsoever. ]

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[justicereigns]

[Oh. He will just. Die of cute. And mild exasperation.]

It means you go out together just the two of you. To dinners, or something fun. On dates. Do you remember part of the event? After you were both kids, he believed you'd grown up in Luceti all your lives; that this was home. And you were dating then. It's basically a romantic thing. Like a small step towards marriage and in the similar direction of a physical relationship.

[Look at him. All learning how to explain such things.]

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[etudes]

.. I think I understand it.. So that means Ikki-kun likes me, doesn't it..?

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[justicereigns]

A lot.

Remember when you hugged for half an hour... or probably more?

He wouldn't do that with anyone else.

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[etudes]

Ikki-kun wouldn't..? Just with me?

So.. because he would hug with me, that means he loves me?

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[justicereigns]

He'll kill me if I answer that.

It's up to him to tell you and how. But you wouldn't be amiss in acting like you know he does.

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[etudes]

.. I think this is all still really, really confusing, Smoker-kun..

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[justicereigns]

Love often is kiddo.

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[etudes]

Does Smoker-kun know a whole lot about it..?