edelweiss - &team

37

If it was meant to be like a cat and mouse game, Yuma was not feeling it. As he walked towards the man, growing increasingly annoyed at the man's erratic movements, Yuma poked his way around the man's mind, to gradually understand his psyche. Then, Yuma quickly realised that Death didn't have to do much with this man. A man with a monotonous, draining desk job where he was isolated and mocked by peers and superiors alike, furthermore a lonely only child with deceased parents. He would have snapped sooner or later.

"What a shitty existence," Yuma sighed.

Finally, he found the man, half-trembling behind a pile of wooden crates, seemingly from a restaurant. Judging from the man's expression and actions, he had witnessed either Yixiang, Yudai, or Maki's unmerciful treatment of the puppets, deciding to flee and take shelter where he thought they wouldn't find him.

"Hey bud," Yuma tried to sound friendly and energetic, "Wanna come out and talk things out?"

Silence ensued, and when Yuma decided he wasn't going to stand around waiting for the spineless man to show himself, with a flick of his wrist, the wooden crates were flung out of the way, smashing against the walls or falling into the centre of the street.

"So! I assume Death and you are linked. You know who we all are, aren't you?"

All the colour, if any left, drained from the man's thin, haggard face. He suddenly looked so small in those heavy, menacing clothes.

Yuma crouched down so he'd be at eye level with the potential murderer, though still a safe distance from the glinting knife clutched to the man's chest, trying to lace his words with as much empathy as humanly possible as he said, "I know what you've been through. I feel for you." He was mainly trying to stall time as he figured out what he should do with the man, but impromptu therapy was also an option.

"You'll never understand me, you-" The man struggled to pick the right phrase, then hesitated, considered his word choice before spitting it out harshly, "You immortal freaks."

"Hah, you're well-informed," Yuma sighed, tilting his head up, his patience rapidly depleting. Then he brought his gaze down to meet the trembling man's. "So? Should I just kill you then? I can tear your limbs off. Or I could make you claw your eyes out. Perhaps I'll just stop your heart. What do you prefer?"

As the man gaped at him Yuma slapped his own forehead, "Ah, right, I have a promise to keep. Well, you lucked out. Since we've isolated the area, I'll do you a favour and just wipe your memories. No one would have noticed your silly shenanigans anyways."

The man's stare was a mixture of fear and shock, so he didn't try to move when Yuma came up to him and flicked his temple lightly. The man's eyes fluttered shut, the knife in his hand falling from his grip as he landed on the floor with a harsh thud.

"What a pity," Yuma pouted lightly, mildly sympathetic, before he turned to get back to the others.

As expected, the others truly were lazing around. Harua poked at a particularly deflated puppet, eyes filled with awe. Yixiang was attempting to shoplift. Yudai and Maki were damage control. They all took a while to realise Yuma had returned, but their faces lit up when they finally did, all traces of boredom vanishing.

"How was it? Did he put up a good fight?" Maki gushed. Yixiang rolled his eyes, "I bet he just cowered and wet his pants."

"Anyone would do that if they saw you, Yixiang," Yudai said jokingly, seeming to insinuate Yixiang was a fearsome figure, before adding, "That face of yours...ugh...I would wake up in tears everyday if I looked like that."

Yudai sidestepped the scimitar that soared towards him, and Maki took the opportunity to restrain Yixiang, grabbing the older member from his back adorably. "What now, guys?" Maki asked as he tenderly hugged a wriggling, cursing Yixiang.

"What else?" Yuma sighed for the nth time, "We head over to the labyrinth."

"We do a lot of walking here," Yixiang complained (his anger towards Yudai had subsided after a nice, long walk), "Yuma couldn't you have flown us here or something?"

"That is in no way my speciality. Plus, this walk is good for you. Yudai doesn't have to keep avoiding your pointy scimitar."

"Why you-"

"So...this is a labyrinth!" Maki announced as they reached their dreaded destination, "There's ways to prevent yourself from getting lost in them, right?"

"Yeah, but let me try something," Yixiang suggested, pressing his hand to the hard stone, then watched as his arm slid through the stone. "Yep, as expected," Yixiang turned to beam cheerfully at them, "I'm better than Kyungmin."

"Wow. Your head is so far up your a-"

"Yixiang, just do it."

Yixiang held both hands to the cold stone wall, willing it to bend to his will, before he suddenly remarked, "Why don't I just tear this down?"

"Wow, why didn't you come up with this earlier? Instead of suggesting I should be a freaking fly?"

"Goodness, you're still on that? I guess we're even now, then."

"Back to bringing the labyrinth down, please."

"Can you not?" A sudden voice from above tiredly piped up. Their eyes shot upwards, where, standing casually on the top of one of the stone labyrinth walls, was Kyungmin, looking exhausted. Behind him, perched daintily, was Minhyung, chewing on his lower lip.

"Ooh, the double Mins on the wall," Maki tried to joke, but was met with Kyungmin and Minhyung's identical disgusted expressions.

"Well, we cannot not," Yixiang cheekily shot back, still giddy on his "I'm better than Kyungmin" high.

"Good luck with that, then," Kyungmin remarked, as he and Minhyung started to make their way towards the inner walls of the labyrinth, "See you in a bit."

"I'll try to reach one of them," Yuma suggested, "Then maybe we can tear down the labyrinth strategically."

He worked silently for a minute, the others waiting patiently, before he said, "I think I can sense Fuma. I think he's the closest to the outside right now."

"Give me a direction," Yixiang asked, before he started to strain and collapse the labyrinth. "Hm, it's tricky," Yixiang grimaced, watching as some stone started to give way, "This isn't really matter but-" His words died in his mouth as he refocused, and finally, one massive ring of the labyrinth sank down into nothing.

"Damn," Yudai laughed, pride shining in his eyes as he clapped Yixiang on the back, "Let's go get our professor."