“Are you alright?”
Tomori managed to barely crack open her eyes to find a girl leaning over her. She had blue hair that could easily blend in with the sky behind her with two black ribbons. She must’ve been the one who pushed her.
“I’m sorry for pushing you, but you mustn’t die!” the girl above her cried as she shook Tomori by her shoulders.
“What?”
“You were trying to die, weren’t you?” the girl asked back, still not fully relaxed.
“N-no,” Tomori stuttered as her eyes drifted, “there was a flower.”
The girl followed Tomori’s gaze for just a second to where the other flowers were falling. She allowed her muscles to relax with a quiet sigh, probably now understanding the situation, but she soon looked back at Tomori.
“Which is more important, a flower or your life?” The girl questioned, her voice now filled with concern and accusation AND relief. Something must have crossed her mind because she suddenly leaned her hand against her chin. “Oh, wait. Flowers have lives too, don’t they?”
Tomori started to push herself up from the ground into a sitting position. Hmm, she didn’t seem to be physically hurt in any way. Even if she was, the black stuff would heal it in a few heartbeats... probably.
“It was a falling flower, so I think it was already dead,” she admitted.
The girl stared at her for a few moments and Tomori couldn’t help but shrink slightly (either literally or figuratively she had no clue) as her gaze fell. A complete stranger had been caring and she just had to go and ruin it…again. Tomori risked looking up at the girl once more. Her rose-gold irises met the girl’s pure gold ones, half expecting anger or fury or annoyance or-
She didn’t find that.
No matter how much she scavenged in that girl’s eyes, she couldn’t find any form of anger. Or at least any angry facial expressions she had studied in manga or with Google.
“You’re a Doom Shadow, aren’t you?” the girl couldn’t hide her excitement or joy (on the spot, Tomori sometimes struggled to distinguish between them, especially with a stranger). “Oh my God, you are! You have that spark in your eyes!”
“Huh?”
“I thought I was the only one!” The girl effortlessly picked Tomori up and placed her on her unsteady feet.
Tomori started shaking her head frantically as the girl brushed some dust off her skirt. “I don’t-.”
“You don’t have to hide it, I’m one too.” The girl smiled reassuringly but it only added to Tomori’s confusion. “Well, that’s what my grandfather calls it but that’s beside the point.”
The girl grasped both of Tomori’s hands, cradling them as if they were the most important thing the girl had ever held. “My name’s Sakiko Togawa. And you?”
“T-Tomori T-Takamatsu?”
“So, your chaos energy is much higher than mine,” Sakiko mumbled as she helped Tomori apply plasterers to the grazes she had gotten while trying to use one of her Doom Powers.
Tomori, who had been eyeing the frankly massive hole she made in the abandoned tram station wall, looked back to Sakiko. “You can’t do that?” she quietly asked.
Sakiko shook her head. “Not to my knowledge. How long have you been able to do it?”
“A few years. I haven't used it since I first got it,” Tomori answered.
“Any other Doom Powers?” Sakiko wondered out loud.
Tomori remained silent as the last plaster was applied.
“Well, you’re all patched up now at least.” Sakiko carefully patted Tomori’s shoulder. “The Doom Healing should kick in when you get some energy back in a few hours.”
“Thank you, Sakiko-Chan.” Tomori smiled up at her friend(?).
Sakiko smiled back as she put the rest of the plasters back in Tomori’s metal box. “It’s alright. You’d do the same for me, and it’s about time someone helped with your Doom Powers. Hang on-.”
Sakiko placed the box down. She grabbed one of the wipes from the first aid kit. “Hold still, I missed a spot.”
Tomori took a sharp breath as the cold wipe connected with her still-hot skin.
Sakiko used her free hand to cup Tomori’s cheek, gently holding her in place as she cleaned the blood, dirt and debris. “Easy, Tomori.”
Thin black vines sprouted and curled around Sakiko’s wrists and fingers before pulling themselves taut as supports to keep her hands steady. A few even continued onto Tomori’s cheeks, grazing against her now slightly red cheeks like a partner’s loving caress, a silent reassurance. Tomori’s breath was caught in her throat at the sight. Seeing her own Doom Powers was jarring enough, but someone else's? And in such a caring and gentle way? An unexpected warmth started taking root within Tomori’s now racing heart as Sakiko tried to reassure her with a smile and words about how her own Doom Powers sometimes hurt her too if she overused them or-.
That smile…
It was simple enough.
Sakiko’s cheeks were raised and her eyes were slightly squinted as the edges of her lips were turned up into one of the only smiles Tomori had seen from someone she wasn’t related to, and it was the best one she ever had the honour of being on the other side of.
Tomori didn’t want to go another day without that smile.
“Your skin should be cooling by now, but you’re still warm!” Sakiko yelled in worry when she noticed.
“I-it’s fine,” is what Tomori wanted to say, but her voice remained elusive at Saki-Chan’s worry. So, Tomori took the executive decision to use her own Doom Vines to bear hug Sakiko.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Tomori said instead, voice muffled by Sakiko’s equally warm shoulder.
Tomori felt Sakiko ruffling her hair. Probably just trying to get rid of any remaining debris…right?
“Same here. We’d probably be completely different Doom Shadows.”
Taki Shiina could only watch as a spiked and armoured ball of ultimate power slammed into the closest monster to her who wasn’t grabbing her, sending him flying out of the alley Taki had been cornered in with a sickening crunch. The half hedgehog, half pill bug ball was also sent back due to the force, almost as fast as the man had flown. Before the ball could rocket out of the alley, it unfurled to reveal a figure clad in a seemingly midnight-black space suit with blood-red highlights- or maybe that was the blood from the man- and above that was…a white and blue hooded band jacket? It had some kind of logo on the left side of the zipper, as well as probably one on the back, but Taki couldn’t make out the specifics. Almost sentient black vine-like extremities shot from the figure’s arms to grab onto a wall and yank the figure towards it. The entities manipulated the figure until they were crouched on the wall above Taki and the other two guys. Taki could see the logo slightly clearer now. Now she had two questions about her savior and/or doom. Number one, why were that logo’s outlines so familiar?
And number two…
What.
The.
Fuck.
Is.
That.
“Is that-?” one man gasped in part horror, part fear and part awe.
“No! It’s the other one!” The man holding Taki tightened his grip on her shirt for a moment before he let go.
“Fuck this, Togawa isn’t worth it!” The man yelled as he grabbed the other one and ran as fast as his legs would carry him.
As he sprinted, he grasped the arm of the now-groaning, probably broken, man on the ground pulling him to his unstable feet and practically dragging him away. Taki felt her earlier adrenaline vanish a few seconds after the monsters left. Her knees decided in that exact moment that buckling seemed like the absolute best thing to do when faced with a “something” above you, currently attached to the wall. However, before she could hit the ground with any kind of force, the same tendrils from the figure shot out and grabbed her. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Taki did her best to flail out of the grip, just how she had taught Tomori to, but the tendrils held firm (and yet surprisingly gentle). Within seconds, Taki was gingerly placed on the ground by the black vines. Her eyes followed as the vines retreated back to the figure, joining their siblings in their job of holding their host on the wall. The figure in the space suit eyed her with concern and empathy despite the helmet that separated them.
“Who… Who are you?” Taki demanded, using the other wall to push herself up to her own unstable feet, her voice both confused and thankful. “What are you?”
The figure seemed to hesitate, looking between Taki and the vines.
“How did you do that?” Taki continued her assault of questioning. “How are you doing that?”
The figure seemed to decide something, nodding to themselves in silence. To Taki’s horror, red and orange lightning began to surround the figure. Before the light became too much, Taki managed to squint enough to see the logo on the band jacket. She was aiming to see inside the visor, but oh well-. It was three Cs with a teardrop underneath.
“CryChic?!” Taki broke through her shock and tried to run to the figure.
A flash of light forced Taki to blink.
With that, the figure was gone only leaving a sticky note in the shape of an arrow. Taki jumped for it but accidentally knocked it to the ground.
“Forgive me. Please be okay. I’m sorry.” It read in surprisingly neat handwriting.
“Tomori…”
Taki steeled herself with a single breath as she took out her phone, finding her call app as quickly as she could brew coffee and calling the caller ID titled ‘Dear Tomori’. As soon as Tomori picked up, Taki immediately started screaming.
“Number one, what are you doing out this late? You know it’s dangerous. Number two, we need to talk. Meet me at RiNG. And number three, thank you but also never do that again!” she yelled so loud she was sure if Tomori was still nearby would now be rubbing her ears.
“I…” God, she sounded more depressed than usual.
“T-the coming out of nowhere in a spacesuit thing, I mean!” Taki quickly clarified. Hang on, even though it was purely hypothetical, if Taki placed herself in Tomori’s amazingly cute shoes she definitely wouldn’t be picking up. What was Tomori think-?
“Would people not?”
Taki could practically feel the anime swear blob. Curse accidentally saying things out loud. “Well, um, I know I wouldn’t, but don’t hang up!”
“Are you sure?” Tomori asked in a hesitant tone, almost as if she was even scared to ask.
“Completely,” Taki reassured in a shaky voice, “just…meet me at RiNG.”
In a sudden burst of light, the figure- no, Tomori in a space suit and band jacket- appeared right in front of her. Taki could only hope the dark visor helped hide her blushing at the proximity.
“I could take you?” Tomori offered, her voice echoing Taki’s hope. “I’m sure it won’t take long. It should only be a few Chaos Snaps.”
Taki sighed and gently took one of Tomori’s hands in her own. After only a short second of a comforting grip, the back vines joined in. Oh Tomori, Taki thought as she ran her thumb across her gloved knuckles, what am I going to do with you?