Where the Fox makes his home~

[recon5]

As duty-driven as ever, I see... thought Ran as the boy's creations revealed themselves. While Aya's obsession with reporting was famous the shikigami hadn't really thought that it would come before self-preservation. She herself didn't have anything against talking but that could come after she'd ensured that the giants were no longer a threat. Still, she had a duty of her own: to avoid making more enemies for Mayohiga. That demanded a bit more finesse than her usual approach to large enemies.

Ran had long outgrown the need for incantations and gestures in her spellcasting. At a simple thought a multitude of magic circles traced themselves into being behind her. Each could be aimed individually and this way she hoped to avoid damaging too much of the surroundings (including the boy's house) if that was at all possible. Spellcards were a formality that she couldn't afford in this case.

A moment before she could fire, she was stopped by the feeling of a hand on her head, whose owner's identity she could tell without having to look. She stiffened her neck to better support her mistress as the latter pulled herself halfway out of a gap just above the kitsune's head.

When enough of her body was out, Yukari released Ran's head and used her hands to support herself against the lower lip of her gap. She found gravity to be just a bit annoying sometimes but dealing with permanently would take more effort than she was willing to expend. She looked down and smiled at her servant. "My, resorting to violence so quickly? That's not really appropriate for someone your stature."

Ran gritted her teeth and growled beneath her breath but she didn't look away from her targets. She had the feeling that her mistress was toying with her (as usual) and that Yukari probably knew much more about all this than she did, but even her centuries of service couldn't keep her from feeling frustrated at the border Youkai's flippant mannerisms. "Yukari-sama, if you are thinking of 'fooling around' again I would appreciate it if you allowed me to deal with these... problems first- unless you are intending to resolve this situation yourself."

Her mistress pouted for a moment before replying. "Fooling around? After all these years that's what you know me for? I am shocked, shocked, I tell you. Have you forgotten everything I've done? What I can do? By the Yama, you're a fox, not a goldfish."

In response, the kitsune simply nodded in the general direction of the metal constructions. "If you have no intention of helping I will thank you for returning to Mayohiga so that you will be safe from those." She summoned her magic circles again but was stopped like before, this time with a sharp rap on the top of her head from Yukari's infamous fan.

The border Youkai followed up with a few halfhearted taps for good measure as she answered. "Silly fox. Those things cannot harm me no matter how hard they might try. Still, there is only one Yukari Yakumo and everything else might be in danger. We'll have to do something about that, won't we?"

She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. The ground shook again and the sky darkened as a massive gap ripped its way across the clouds and opened with a deafening roar to reveal thousands of eyes blinking in a psychedelic swirl of color. The nightmarish interior soon faded as it descended around them, dissolving and being replaced by a new sky that was somewhat different from the one that had been over them just moments before. As the outline of the gap passed around the clearing the bamboo groves appeared to sink out of sight, being replaced by a barren wasteland. The rumbling continued for minutes afterward but eventually stopped. Yukari's eyes opened suddenly and puffs of violet magic spewed from them for a moment as she exhaled and coughed for a bit before managing to regain her composure.

"Whew! I think I got all of it. Is that kid really a kitsune or is he a mole Youkai in disguise? Still, job's done, I guess. The Bamboo Forest will be safe for the time being. Now back to sleep."

She began to retreat into her gap at that, but was stopped by Ran clamping her wrist in a vice-like grip. The kitsune's face showed nothing but raw anger and she was clearly fighting to keep her tone of voice level as she berated her mistress for the careless abuse of power. "Yukari-sama, are you even aware of the geological side effects of exchanging several million tons of land between two locations? WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CONCERN FOR THE WELLBEING OF GENSOKYO!?"

With a rare outburst of strength Yukari yanked her wrist out of Ran's hand and slid herself completely into her gap. Her reply was cryptic but the shikigami had no chance to question her before the gap closed.

"I am concerned, my dear fox, but after all, this is Gensokyo, you know..."

As she watched her mistress leave, Ran fought to get her anger and confusion under control. The scolding would have to come later, after everything was over. She turned back towards building and the constructs flanking it, watching them carefully to see if they would make the first move.

((OOC: All that needs to be said is that everything is no longer in the Bamboo Forest.))

[CY_Definitive]

Maybe it was just the moment. Or possibly the arrival of a newer and (in his mind) more dangerous threat. Either way, the reporter's words fell softly enough on him. He kept running through the notion that, if he let her in, and told her what she wanted to know (or rather, what he knew, if the last question was unanswerable), then maybe there'd be no reason for that Kitsune out there to come in.

From where he lie, Zeroa couldn't see out any of the windows, though he was sure he heard the Deph's emergence proceed successfully. What perplexed him, however, was the rumbling that occurred afterward. This was followed by the obvious sound of wind picking up, like a storm was coming.

"What is that?..."

Slowly but surely he uncrumpled himself and stood up. He was at a loss as to what happened, and kept getting the urge to go look out a window. But god forbid they find out where in the house he was.

It was a good minute of back-and-forth before he piped "Hold on ma'am!" and drew one lead-weighted leg out in front of the other, heading towards the window closest to him with the curtain closed.

Though Zeroa's response to the reporter probably sounded respectful, he was merely trying to buy himself time and judgement from that Kitsune out there. He wasn't sure what she thought of him, and the fear of her made Zeroa err on the side of caution: he didn't want her to think badly of him. That would make things worse.

On that note, who was she anyway? Someone from his village? No, nobody from there knew where he resided (not to mention they'd have no desire to look for him anyway). Or maybe she was some sort of assassin, sent to silence him before he could reveal the location of the village and bring shame upon them with his origins.

The last thought gave him a bemused expression, which lasted about 2 seconds before withdrawing immediately once the curtains were spread.

All he could do was shudder before a trance-like expression veiled his features. His brain had given up problem solving, much like the process which causes people to laugh at things that cause a predicament. Unfortunately, Zeroa wasn't laughing.

With an almost resigned sigh, his eyes began to water once more and his heart felt heavy. The miserable feeling was coming back now, and he could've sworn he was hearing laughter. They must've been making a mockery of him, moving his house to somewhere outside of the forest (at least, he figured that's what happened).

He would've never woken up today if he knew it was going to be like this. He hadn't felt this sick and scared in a long while, and the feeling was something he'd not wanted a reminder of.

Half of him wanted to get outside to the Dephs so he could fight back, but control of them required him boarding one or the other, and he'd have to try and get to them first. After what happened outside, he wasn't sure what would happen to him if he tried that. That said, the only thing he could really do now was minimize the damage. He wasn't sure if it was her or the kitsune who did that (he shuddered at the latter), but he had to bite at least one of the bullets.

Quickly, Zeroa walked to the front door and undid the deadbolts, pulling it open a small bit and peeking out to see the Reporter standing there. He swallowed once, and spoke carefully, pulling the door open and trying to make sure he looked at nobody else but her.

"I really don't remember where it is" he started, looking at her camera, arm, nose, and mostly feet every so often. "I...I just remember the direction I came from, and how far it seemed. I would remember the route if I saw it from the sky, hence why I'm going to fly there, along with it being a quick route."

The lump one gets when holding back tears was now throbbing painfully in his throat.

"If...If...you have any more questions, you..should probably...I-I mean you can, if you want....come inside. I dunno where we are...but I want to go back" said Zeroa, unsure if it was her who put him here or the kitsune.

[Kitten4u]

While Aya wasn't about to leave because of some potential danger (heck, if she was that afraid of danger she would have left when the rabbits showed up), but that didn't mean that she wasn't paying very close attention to her surroundings. She wasn't exactly being cautious though. It didn't seem like those massive structures were going to attack, and it looked like the rabbits were still just standing there, so she simply continued knocking on the door until she got some kind of reaction.

Unfortunately for her Yukari decided to do...something. Aya noticed the huge gap appear, but it was kind of hard to miss so that wasn't saying much. But what could she possibly do about it? It's not like she could just leave when she felt like she only had a few questions left to ask. All she could really do is close her eyes and hope for the best. It was unlikely that Yukari would do anything to hurt them anyway, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on Aya's part.

Eventually the rumbling stopped and Aya opened her eyes again and looked around. Where were they...? She shook her head; it really wasn't that important to know, at least not right this minute. Zeroa had actually decided to respond to her now, and not only that he responded politely. This was a nice surprise, nice enough that it actually made her smile. She didn't bother to continue to knock and simply waited for him to open the door.

Aya made a note of what he said. His story made a lot of sense actually; she had no trouble believing it. Though, it did make her think about something. Exactly how long had he been away from home? He still had a general idea of where it was, and the rabbits hadn't kicked him out of the Bamboo Forest so it couldn't have been too long. Had he been developing his machines? If he would recognize his town by flying then did that mean that he left flying? It didn't look like he had finished his flying machine, so she found it unlikely that he was using that, but if he could fly then why did he need a flying machine? Perhaps she needed to ask a few more questions than she expected.

"Yes, thank you," she bowed her head slightly and entered his house. "Oh, I see, that makes sense," she nodded. "I do have a few more questions for you. You seem to like your village, or at the very least you really seem to want to go back home. What made you decide to leave in the first place? And why did you choose the Bamboo Forest as a place to stay for the time being?"

He seemed to have calmed down a little bit at least, and that was something that she really needed to know. Aya just hoped that his change of heart wasn't just something that made him more polite; she really wanted to know more about him. He was a pretty interesting person.

[recon5]

Ran found it hard to stay angry now that the boy seemed to have calmed down. While she still regarded Yukari's action as being supremely irresponsible, the display of power did seem to have had a desirable effect- presuming her mistress had intended it to have any effect beyond preserving the Bamboo Forest. The shikigami decided to overlook it for now, but she would remind her mistress to put everything back after this was all over.

The kitsune didn't allow herself to land just yet as the ground below her was still the ground of the Bamboo Forest. She took a deep breath to relax herself and made sure to assume a kindly expression before hovering over to the door of the boy's house just as Aya disappeared through it. A few feet from the entrance she let her feet touch the ground and she stepped in, being sure to bunch her tails closer together so that they would fit between the doorposts.

Once inside, the first thing she heard was Aya's voice. The reporter was already at work again and Ran sighed openly as she realized that Aya was going to take a while, but she told herself that it would be polite for her to wait until the interview concluded before delivering her (or more accurately, Yukari's) safety lecture. Having come in late she had apparently missed the first part of their conversation but she believed that she would be able to pick up whatever she needed to know from the subsequent exchanges. She plastered a knowing smile on her face and stood motionless in the doorway, listening and waiting for a chance to speak.

[CY_Definitive]

It was a damn good thing he motioned for her (albiet nervously) to the kitchen (or rather, the equivalent of one). Otherwise, he might've seen the other Kitsune enter his dwelling, which definitely would've sent him to panic. For now, he was busy at the counter making what could be described as "tea", switching between determination to keep his cool, to keep from flipping out, and to make sure that the tea tasted good (it always did to him, anyway).

He nodded to the table with a bowl of scale models sat in place of fruit. Besides, fruit would spoil. He figured he could take a stroll down nostalgia lane every time he ate by looking at it.

Then she began with the questioning, once again. Still feeling resigned, Zeroa attempted to answer as best as he could. The part about him liking his village sort of caught him off guard, however. He really couldn't say he liked the place, since it had been the source of all his stress and unpleasant memories.

"I never wanted to leave..." he started, watching the water carefully, and making sure he had enough ingredients on the side. "I was banished..."

Recollection was bitter to him.

"Just because I couldn't do magic. They took me out, and brought me here. I didn't know what this place was, nor could I visualize the route."

He sniffled, again. He added the ingredients, making a last minute decision to leave certain things out, so that she could add them if she chose to.

"They put a blindness over my eyes, and had me escorted here. They said I would be safe here, and that it would be temporary, they didn't explain why."

Though it happened quietly, the tears began to roll again. For what he was about to tell her, he himself couldn't be sure what to make of it. That was what got him.

"I tried my best to feel my surroundings. To hear the sounds of the enviornment. To measure how long it took to get here. The direction I went.

Finally arriving, they took off the blindness and left quickly. But you know what the strange thing was? They were laughing. I don't know why they were laughing."

The tea was ready, and he brought her a cup, along with various things like honey, milk, and a type of soluble paste made of various fruits and other sweet things. He added alot of this to his cup, sitting down and looking at the tea the whole time.

"The forest wasn't safe. They lied to me. I spent my first year doing nothing but hiding from those rabbits, who were very unfriendly to intruders, as I saw on several occasions. Because of that, I wonder why they sent me here" he continued, starting to cry softly again.

"They...they wouldn't try to have me killed. I know they wouldn't. That would be cruel. But then, why were they laughing? Why were they laughing so much?"

Zeroa picked up a napkin, and attempted to dry his eyes.

"But I couldn't leave. I wouldn't be able to return to the village anyway. I started to wonder whether it would prove any good to somehow survive here. Prove that I wasn't worthless. Prove that I didn't need magic to be a Kitsune."

He paused. Maybe he was speaking too much.

[Kitten4u]

Dear Kanako people could be so horrible. This is where Aya had to wonder why ordinary people seemed to be so afraid of her. Exposing fiends like this was what she did, so terrible people should be afraid, but the ordinary people would only know about those terrible people because of her. Oh well. She was glad that he (finally) decided to explain everything. Really, such things were totally unacceptable. Now she was even more determined to find that village and deliver swift, tengu justice. In other words she would interview them and write an heavily exaggerated article about them. The fox may not have been an alien, but in a way this was actually better.

Next she had to wonder if the people that led him away realized exactly what they were doing. It was clear that they knew the Bamboo Forest was dangerous, but she wondered if they knew exactly how dangerous it was. The rabbits were pretty territorial, but the chances of them killing someone were slim. Of course, if he thought they might actually come back for him he probably wouldn't leave and that could be really bad. The forest also had numerous traps. Aya had never actually walked into one (somehow), and she never wanted to. Just imagining what they might do was somewhat frightening. Rabbit magic was very...interesting to say the least, not to mention there were some pretty terrible rumors about that doctor that lived in the forest. Again, it was unlikely that he would die from stepping into one of those traps, but it was possible that he would suffer something much worse. If they actually knew what they were doing...Well there were no words to describe how horrible that was.

Aya was pretty terrible at the 'you're just fine the way you are' speeches, so she figured she should just leave that to Ran. She could do something else that might help though. In the mean time she simply sipped the tea he gave her and waited for him to finish talking. It actually took a considerable amount of effort to prevent her jaw from dropping because of all this. Her expression grew more serious, it was just hard to believe that people actually did stuff like this sometimes.

"I see...So your machines, they run on hot water right? It seems like you'd get along great with the kappa. They live on the base of Youkai Mountain, and they work with technology all the time. They seem to really like outerworld technology because it doesn't run on magic at all. Yours seems to work like that too. If you don't mind water you should consider meeting them. I'm sure they'd love your work," she paused. "Anyway, once you're ready to go back to your village I'd like to come with you. I have some questions that I'd like to ask the other people there."

She set the cup down and jotted down a few more notes. Aya decided against getting some pictures of the inside of his house since it just looked like an ordinary house. There was really no need to include pictures of it in her paper and it would probably just make him feel uncomfortable if not hostile. She had basically gotten all the information she felt she needed out of him, so she would probably go after he answered unless she thought of something to ask because of his answer. Aya considered asking about how the machines worked as well, but she knew the chances of her actually understanding it were slim, so she didn't plan on bothering.

[recon5]

At the front door, Ran's ears twitched as she listened to Zeroa's story. She found it a bit hard to believe at first but after thinking it through she realized that it was plausible enough. A lack of magical ability would have been an embarrassment to the boy's family and maybe even to his friends. With kitsune society having developed around magic his parents might have been unwilling or simply unable to raise him properly. It was even possible that the village elders had seen him as an evil omen or believed that he carried some sort of plague.

Ran herself had never seen anything like this in her own village but perhaps she had been too sheltered in her youth. As a magic user she could count herself among the type of kitsune responsible for the boy's exile. With this realization, she finally knew why he feared her so much and she began to feel that she should try to mend his impression of their kind. For the time being she put the safety lecture out of her mind and summoned her shikigami from Mayohiga. She instructed Chen to bring the food she had managed to prepare before being interrupted and she stepped outside to wait.

A good feeding would certainly do the boy no harm and it might even help to break the ice. Once that was done she would be able to help him achieve his goals. Her mistress would have to find dinner elsewhere tonight.

[CY_Definitive]

"Hot water? Well, I suppose so. That's part of the process" Zeroa said, taking a glance out of the window above the sink to spot one of the Dephs in question.

All race relations aside (for which Zeroa had little experience), these "Kappa" sounded like interesting people, assuming what this reporter said was true. Of course, he'd like to meet them purely on a curious note, since his main mission was to get back to his village. That was priority above all else.

He didn't feel too sure, however, about her coming with him to the village. He couldn't imagine what everyone's reaction would be like, already coupled with the fact that he himself had come back from exile. On second thought, could he even stop her if he tried?

[Kitten4u]

((Okay, I fail at life or at least admining. Sorry for the extremely delayed reply.))

So to recap, Zeroa was a kitsune who couldn't do magic and was treated like an outcast because of it. A currently unnamed group of kitsune from his village escorted him to the Bamboo Forest where it would be "safe," told him that they would come back for him someday and left with no intention of ever coming back. Since then, Zeroa had somehow managed to find a way to keep the rabbits at bay and he managed to create some pretty impressive stuff. Aya would probably never understand how it worked, but that didn't stop it from being pretty interesting. She didn't have quite enough information for an article yet, but she needed to speak with the people that brought him to the forest in the first place. She felt like she had gotten all the information she needed from Zeroa, now all she had to do was wait for him to finish his flying machine so he could return home.

"Thank you for your cooperation, I only have one more question. How long do you think it'll take you to finish your flying machine?"

Aya already told him that she intended to go into his village to question those people, so she didn't feel the need to say why she wanted to follow him again. Of course, if he refused to answer or just said that he wasn't sure she would figure out some way to follow him anyway. The tengu had very keen senses, so she figured that she'd notice some flying machine powered by hot water launching. Having a time line just made things easier on her.

Once he answered the next step would be to figure out where the heck Yukari transported them to. Hopefully she would be willing to gap everything back to where it belonged, but Aya didn't really know what to expect from her. Eh, she would figure something out.

[recon5]

Ran smiled wryly when she heard Aya's final question. The reporter had always been too inquisitive for her own good (or so Ran thought) and for the good of anyone she interviewed (or so just about everyone else thought). Ran wondered if the boy would close up like so many of Aya's 'victims' did after one question too many but she remembered that the tengu always managed to get around that too, such was her prowess (or more accurately, her persistence).

As she thought, she began to walk away from the house. She'd taken quite a number of steps when the smell of stewed meat and vegetables interrupted her thoughts and she turned to see her shikigami standing near her with a large pot. She couldn't stop herself from exclaiming her surprise although she could almost predict what Chen's response would be. "How did you get here so quickly?"

Chen's massive grin melted even more of Ran's reserve away and it was all she could do to keep herself from hugging the Nekomata right there. "Yukari-sama helped... oh Nyah! She said to tell you she would be going to Hakugyoukurou for dinner."

Wearing a grin of her own, Ran reached down and patted her shikigami's head. "That was nice of her, was it not? Now, I need you to bring the stew into that house over there. In it there lives a young boy who needs to eat something good."

"A boy? Is he friendly?"

Ran placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle before giving Chen's head one last rub. "Yes, he is. Now get the food to him before it gets cold. Say it is a present from someone who cares about him. Oh, and make sure that Ms. Shameimaru doesn't get any of it until he finishes eating."

"You can count on me, Ran-sama!" was Chen's reply as she left. Ran watched until the Nekomata was almost at the door before turning her head to her right and addressing the golden-haired head that floated beside her shoulder. "Are you going to keep Yuyuko waiting?"

Yukari smiled and laughed. "Of course not! Youmu isn't the only good cook in Gensokyo and besides, I had to make sure Chen got here safely."

Ran closed her eyes and sighed but she had a smile of her own as she answered. "Finally you admit your recent carelessness with your gaps. Perhaps I will reward your honesty with some leftovers."

Her mistress frowned and pouted before disappearing but Ran knew that she hadn't taken any offense. The border Youkai would likely be sleeping during dinnertime anyway so there would be plenty of time for the kitsune to prepare a fresh meal if she didn't wake Yukari.

----

Chen reached the entrance and used one of her tails to tap on the door as she had both her hands on the pot of stew. As she knocked, she called out to those inside. "Hello, Nya~! You have a present from someone who cares!"

[CY_Definitive]

That last question put a frown on his face, as he remembered the incident not too long ago.

That test wasn't just a demonstration of the flying capsule, no. It was part of a strict schedule consisting of testing, modeling, and observations, among other things. While the loss of it didn't hurt too bad, it did sting in the sense that the materials would have to be re-crafted to form another one.

Not to mention the capsule itself was quite bare. For the real thing, he'd have to build more components into it, such as a parachute seat, cargo hold, etc. (heaven forbid he show up at the village with nothing but himself and possibly a wrecked capsule). On that note, he'd also have to devise a system for landing...if it could be done.

"I don't know" he said with a sigh. "That flying capsule that went down set me back a bit. I have to find out what went wrong with it, correct it, and determine if that correction will allow for me to go up again with a new model."

Zeroa stood up slowly, hesitated, and then began to pace back and forth.

"I think if I can work hard enough, I can determine what went wrong and conjure up a working prototype design in a fortnight. Then, in another fortnight, I can have a fully ready flying capsule set to go. So...if all goes well...a mont-"

Hearing a voice at the door, he immediately stopped pacing and crouched a little, like one almost taken by suprise.

Who was "Nya"? They certainly didn't live here, Zeroa thought. And the voice said whatever it was...came from someone who cared. Could they be talking about the reporter? But...her name was Aya.

A bewildered look cast on his face as he paced to the door, stopping on the foyer. How many people were going to show up? Why? The anger part of him was stirring up again. Had the reporter lied to him?

"Who...who's there?!" he said, sounding nervous. Zeroa knew he couldn't make it out to the giants in time.

[Kitten4u]

Aya had the decency to listen closely even if he was talking about all these unimportant details that she didn't really care about. She had seen this kind of behavior with the kappa too. She never really understood why these really talented engineers wanted to talk about their stuff with people that would probably never hope to be able to understand it, but it would be impolite to interrupt or to look bored so she listened anyway.

"That long huh?" she made a quick note of how long it would take him to make it. "I see. Thank you," she stood up and pushed in her chair. "Don't worry about trying to contact me once you finish, I should notice once you launch your flying machine."

Aya wasn't sure if that would make him feel better or worse, but it was true. Tengu had very keen senses, so it would actually be very difficult for her to miss something like that. It was pretty inconvinient that she was going to have to wait that long, but considering the nature of the project it seemed pretty important for him to get it right; certainly more important than trying to get it done quickly. Ordinarily she would have offered to fly him there herself, but that didn't seem like an option here since simply getting him to the village was not the machine's sole purpose. She bounced a few other options in her head, but it seemed like the only real option she had was to wait as annoying as that was.

"Once again, thank you for your cooperation," she bowed slightly and started to walk out of Zeroa's home until she saw a familiar face. Based on what Chen said the food wasn't for her, so she wouldn't take any unless she offered her some (even if it did smell good). "Don't worry," she chuckled at Zeroa's apparent nervousness, "She won't hurt you." And with that she walked back outside.

Now she just had to figure out where the heck they were. This place didn't look familiar at all. Well, Ran was here, so there was one relatively easy way to figure out where they were at least.

"You feel that sorry that he had to deal with me?" she smiled wryly, it was clear she didn't mean it. "Anyway, do you have any idea where Yukari gapped us?"

[recon5]

The first thing Chen saw as the door opened was Aya. She was about to greet the reporter but Aya turned back and addressed someone inside the house before walking off without giving the Nekomata a second glance. Chen frowned a bit at that but her smile returned when she saw the boy inside the house. She stood straight and held her pot out to him. "I'm Chen! This food is for you!"

Then she thought that the boy would like to see the pot's contents, and after thinking a bit about how she would open the pot without her hands (and finding out the hard way that the knob on the lid was too big for her mouth) she bent her upper body backwards and to the left so that her left tail could reach it. After curling her tail tightly around the knob she was able to remove the lid and she held the pot towards the boy again so that he could see the well cooked meat and vegetables inside. A rich aroma filled the air and Chen had to swallow to avoid drooling all over herself.

"It's your dinner, Nya~!"

----

Ran looked upwards before replying. "At this time the sky is a bit too cloudy for stargazing and the surroundings are new to me so I cannot determine our location. However, knowing Yukari-sama she would not have moved us beyond the Border so we should be somewhere in Gensokyo. It may be possible to check from the air but I will not take off until Chen is ready to leave."

She then turned to face Aya with a slightly bemused expression. "If you have the time to wait, however, I assure you that Yukari-sama will eventually return us to a more familiar setting. I will make sure of that myself."

[CY_Definitive]

For the most part, Zeroa remained frozen and silent as the person crossed the threshold and presented him with a pot of what smelled like incredible stew.

Still lost on what to do, he turned abruptly as the reporter made her way out of the house and mentioned to him that the creature was harmless. So, she didn't betray him. Or so he figured.

Timidly, he closed the distance with the girl and took the pot, looking between it and her as if waiting for a trap to spring. After some deep sniffs, to check if he overlooked anything, he brought it to the table and set it down.

From there, he watched it, as if wondering what to do. He was lost in thought now, unsure of what to make of this situation. We're they going to leave.

"Chen?" he asked curiously.