6th Inversion [Vine - Text/Accidental Video]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[The Vine unfurls to show the following letter:



A minute or so after the letter is sent, the mirror opens to show Akiha's bedroom. The fireplace is roaring and Akiha is sitting on the floor before it. Her knees are pulled up and she has her face buried in her arms, black hair pulled back in a ponytail. If one looks closely, her shoulder's shake every now and then.

Clearly, she's oblivious to the mirror's activation, but the Vine and Akiha never did get along...]


[Sent privately to Gal]

Comments

[cobbledtogether]

...Understood.

[Either that reply satisfies Lambda or even she knows enough not to pry further. As always, it's hard to tell which.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

Are you... Are you alright with me... with what you know?

[cobbledtogether]

Yes.

[The reply comes immediately, but Lambda tilts her head as she delivers it, looking a bit perplexed. Just as she hadn't seen the need for an apology, she sees that question as unnecessary.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

I suppose you were one of the few to encounter me like that where I didn't hurt you.

Thank you. For not choosing to leave me.

[cobbledtogether]

...You're welcome.

[From the halting, uncertain why she says it and the look on her face, though, she doesn't understand why she is being thanked for that.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

You don't understand, do you?

[cobbledtogether]

I do not.

[She admits it readily. Akiha was Akiha, and she had not given her a reason to feel otherwise.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

Perhaps it's better if you don't.

[cobbledtogether]

[That doesn't seem to help any. She just stares, puzzled.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[Akiha gives a soft sigh.]

Gal left because of me and I don't know if she'll come back. Kohaku is in the Clinic recovering from a severe injury and when she's well, she may choose not to come back. Hisui has already been returned to Misaki City. All that's left here with me is you and Kris. Kris won't leave... and I was afraid you might since I'd made you uncomfortable.

[cobbledtogether]

You did not harm me.

[The fact that she could have is not lost on Lambda, but Akiha has said that she wouldn't, and she hadn't. For her, that is enough.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

There are some that would leave over insult or other non-physical reasons. But you're right; I didn't harm you.

[cobbledtogether]

I was not insulted.

[Confused, maybe, but she hadn't taken anything Akiha had said as anything more than a little strange.]

[ritsu_kouyou]

...good.