Saikō no Chitsujo

Chapter 10.6

"Ok, this is totally nuts," Lubbock stated, voicing out the unspoken view Night raid had on the incident.
"It is understandable, after all, if I had not experienced it I would not have believed it myself," he said, clenching and opening his blackened palm with a wince.

Najenda placed a loosely closed fist on her lips, looking down in thought, "You said something about rescuing Hijiri? What's that about?"

He stared at the group before him for a few moments, hesitating before he spoke up, "Asides from whatever side effect this may have caused," he glanced at his blackened palm, "when I was in my body, I was on a mission with Esdeath-"

"Esdeath?!" A few in Night raid exclaimed in unison, cutting him off.

"So, Hijir- Arata-san, what do you propose we do?" Susanoo asked, studying him warily. Walking outside, he shielded his eyes with his hand, staring at a mountain in the distance. "I believe that is the mountain where Esdeath and I were so I propose we investigate."

...

Esdeath sighed, after all that seems to be the signature expression of the arc. She lifted her palm from her face, scanning him once more. His curly sky-blue hair and eyelashes, his cerulean gaze and his smooth baritone were as they always had been. But what was different were his gestures; from his wolfish smirk that missed the wolfish part, well physically, to his manner of speaking. Esdeath ran her hand though her hair tiredly, the fact that she was trapped with an enemy, the first to defeat her, was surprisingly the least of her worries.

"Yo Esdeath, don't know about you but I'd rather not spend my vacation caved in, so."

WAIT! BRAT! He held up his palm, bright white arcs of lightning surrounding it as he fired it through the ice dome and the surrounding rocks.

"Are you trying to trap us here?" Esdeath frowned at Arata? as the cave crumbled around them. Rushing to Esdeath, he slipped his arm around her waist, pointing up, "You ready to get us outta here?"

Esdeath stiffened momentarily, Arata had never gotten this close to her before and she had no idea on how to react to his sudden embrace. A large frost pillar raised the two out of the cavern bringing them to another one.

Arata? stepped away from Esdeath as they touched down, a pang of disappointment hitting her much to her surprise. He looked around, turning back to Esdeath, "So? Got any idea on how to fix this?"

She shook her head in an attempt to dismiss the trivial thoughts. She knew it was Hijiri that occupied the body but even so, Esdeath couldn't understand why she couldn't come to terms with it.

"Yo Esdeath, got a cold?" he leaned close to her face, her startled expression changing to a frown as she glared at him. Arata? chuckled, "I didn't know you were that easy to tease, my bad."

She exhaled sharply, sheathing her blade as she walked past him. After a long moment of silence, she spoke up, "In order to reverse whatever caused this, I believe we need to find the spot where Arata and I last saw the light."

He rose a brow with a smirk, "Arata huh?"

Glowering at him briefly, she turned away with a huff.

"You really are fun to tease, General," he said with a smirk as he matched Esdeath's pace.

...

"Here," Hijiri? offered Najenda his hand, pulling her up as the two entered a cavern. "My apologies, if I could, I would have flown us there."

"It's not a problem," Najenda replied, turning away. It had bugged her for quite some time and why wouldn't it, before her was a Hijiri that spoke so politely and formally, a complete opposite of the one she was used to. Najenda tilted, the floor crumbling beneath her causing her to fall. Shit! Her prosthetic arm shot up as she aimed, a firm hold on her waist startled her.