wroughtandtempered | heart game

"Young man."

I'm sorry, MK, did you want to be scolded by the tengu? Because you're being scolded now.

"Those are certainly some lovely and very dramatic ideals, but they leave very little room for the important things in life! What is with the young and thinking they have to take responsibility for all things on their own, goodness gracious...

As for the rest— you've already left her heart better than you've found it, even before you stepped foot into it. One of the first things you did on meeting her was help her reconnect with something vital to her; you keep that in mind."

MK flinches at the scolding. She reminds him of Pigsy. The scolding is something he would do too. Even sounds similar to how Pigsy would scold him.

"Kinda hard not to take responsibility of all things when a lot of people keeping telling me I should," MK runs his hand through his hair and sips tea again.

"Also...just some stuff I found out about me and my past..." He shakes his head. "It was wanting to help me, right? That part of her I helped her reconnect with?"

"Moderation is important," Yuuka says firmly. "It sounds like you have shouldered enough to leave very little room left for joy right now. That's a sad thing, and those pushing so much on you should feel ashamed of themselves."

She takes a sip of her tea.

"...And yes, it was. Eve-chan was forced to part from her compassion for a long time, you see. That you were able to reawaken it in her when she had lost the rest of herself... between that and offering her help when she needed it, you may have saved her."

MK finally lets himself shift back into human form. His shoulders relax and he looks even more vulnerable, somehow. He sips his tea. Part of him wonders if he should be bothering Yuuka with any of this. But she'd likely scold him again for that little thought. He doesn't blame the people who did it. He can't, that isn't his place.

"I-I did? Wow. I didn't...I guess I didn't realize how much it all meant. What we talked out in the cursed game and after. I'm glad I could help that much." He's genuinely surprised but there's not doubt in his eyes when she says all that. Or in his mind. He just didn't think what he did was that big.

"You have a cool granddaughter. I see where she gets it from now. From you and her mom."

"Sometimes it is the smaller gestures that carry the greatest weights," she says, before chuckling another one of those gurgling laughs as her feathers puff up.

"She most certainly did, though I'd argue she got more "coolness" from her father than her mother. Dear Reika-chan is... I believe you children would call them "a nerd"?"

More laughter.

"I'll try to remember that too," MK says and chuckles himself.

"I mean, nerds can be cool too. I have a cool nerd mate. So guess she's super cool because of all three of you."

"Good, good. ...Unfortunate as it is, that goes for painful things as well. Do not think less of yourself if something seemingly small does you harm," she says.

"It is unfortunate you couldn't meet Nysteri, but only one of us could be here... Perhaps another time."

MK tilted his head and nodded.

"Okay. I can ask Eve about Nysteri sometime too." MK finished his tea and smiled a little wider. "I think I'm ready to go. Can I ask one thing? The fire in the office room. That needs ambition that Eve doesn't need anymore. Do you think it would be better if we try to find something or if one of us burns something of ours?"

"...It would be best to burn something of yours, if you insist on restarting the fire yourself. That girl has already given up more than enough dreams."

"If we insist?" Rinku tilts her head. "Does that mean we don't have to give up anything to save Eve-chan?"

"That's a good question. The fire, it would be a good thing to restart, right?"

"It would be helpful, but not necessary. My granddaughter will be able to tend to the fires herself once the source of the problem is dealt with."

"Did you hear that? Then nobody has to get hurt!" Rinku brightens. "We just gotta fix what's hurting her! And... I dunno, make it happier in here?"

"Okay. We'll do what we can. We only got one room left, Eve's Room. We get the final mirror piece, figure out what's hurting her, and take care of it. We can do this," MK smiles. He is much more grounded now.

"After a cookie," And he'll snag one to eat. Om nom nom.

She inclines her head.

"Feel free to take them with you to go. —Just don't get any crumbs in her bed, chickie."

Rinku gets up, spins around again, and squeals happily before picking some more cookies up.

"Thanks so much! We're gonna do our best! And definitely not mess anything up!"

"No we won't," MK stands up, stretches and nods.

"One last room. I got an idea. Let's go to Eve's room!"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Rinku hugs him again and starts out, waving as she leaves the room.

"Good luck, children."

Eve's closed door awaits you.

And to Eve's door they go. And this time, MK knocks.

"Can't believe I forgot to try this. Knock knock! Can we come in?"

"Eve-chan --" Rinku starts out in MK's voice, but then corrects herself to her own. "Eve-chan, we're here to help!"

...There’s a soft, muffled click from the doorknob. After a moment, it turns on its own and the door slowly creaks open.

heart game - MK, rinku

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