Marionette

Cosmos, Chapter Forty - Kuro to Ao [黒と青]

Dancing glimmers of broken sky dotted the world in which she walked. The world was quiet, muted as the clouds overhead brewed and blackened. Much like her decision had muted life in and of itself, silence was her sole companion during the slow, and rather pitiful descent down the mountainside.

It was for the best, of that Amaya could only hope.

If things continued just as they had been, she would surely wind up dead.

Amaya's feet lead the way through the trees and streets, following the wordless thoughts that scarcely occurred to her. The world towered around her, and for once, she was fine with the idea that she was powerless beneath its encroaching shadows.

Sometimes the best solution was the easiest one, the one with no resistance. She was sure that this was one of those times. Even if it was hard for her to willingly give up like that, it was still easier than fighting against forces she couldn't handle anymore.

Before long, Amaya found herself walking down streets she couldn't seem to recall the names of, though they were familiar in a sense. Bags of shopping she scarcely recalled even buying hung from her hands, a small amount in spite of the searing pain that was ripping its way through her arms. Her gaze traced the pavement beneath her feet as she ambled along with no real comprehension of which route she was actually taking.

'Oi!!! Amaya-san! There you are!' A voice rung clear across the street from behind before long, and then a second later she found herself stopping to turn her head towards the sound of frantically moving feet. 'I haven't seen you for a small while, I think Daniel wa--...AUUGH!'

A thoroughly startled Isshin practically yelped out as he noticed the bandages wrapped around her head, and the hint of bruising running up the side of her neck as she'd turned to face him properly.

'Hello, Isshin-san.' Amaya greeted the startled man softly.

'Wh-what on earth happened?!' The man practically demanded as he seemed to struggle with the situation he found himself witness of, and his usual closed-eye smile was wiped well off his face. 'Daniel said you never came in yesterday, but we both assumed you forgot or something! Are you alright?!'

'I'll be fine, I just look worse than I really am.' Amaya responded lightly as she shifted her weight on her feet. 'I just shouldn't do much for a few days, I've been told.'

Or rather, she knew from experience.

The startled man seemed to blink for a few seconds, before a more composed form of his closed-eye smile eventually spread across his face, albeit with a rather wry edge to it.

'I see, well you should come in and sit down. I'll call for a taxi to take you home.'

'Thanks but it's fine. I only live a few blocks away.'

'Then you should come in and have a rest.' Isshin responded seriously as he reached over to gently lift the bags of shopping from her hands. 'You probably have a concussion, and you should really take every opportunity to rest, even for a minute. Daniel was wanting to catch up with you about his project, anyway.'

Well... she guessed she could afford that.

She could just imagine the look Karma would give her if he so much as caught wind of her forgoing the recommendation to rest at that moment.

She was escorted just a few meters back down the street into the gym she hadn't even realized she'd walked past. Everything appeared to be rather normal everything in it's proper place, though little would change in just a few days.