BLITN

ft. Yuina Higashi

The room rippled, furniture getting pushed back, cases rattling and books falling off their stands as their palms 'touched'.

His eyes widened as he snapped back to consciousness, a loud, obnoxious gasp leaving his throat as he swallowed in greedy gulps of oxygen. The gasping was followed by coughing, his chest ringing loudly as he coughed into his fist.

It felt as if he had only just remembered to breathe after several days of holding his breath.

"C-o— Augh! Shit." He groaned, banging his fist against his chest, blinking blearily.

The phantasmal, magenta, see-through quality he held before slowly disappeared as he desaturated into regular, warm skin tones, glassy eyes turning back to a deep, inky black.

Weeks of 'wandering' disappeared from his mind like a distant dream as he looked around his apartment briefly, before his gaze fell unto Yuina.

---

TL;DR:

Indiana John

ft. howard slayte, Yuina Higashi

Yuina elbowed him, gently— and he folded like an omelet, his spine audibly popping as he bent at an angle with a dramatic wheeze.

In the meanwhile, Koa-Kanno hummed at Howard's request for clarification.

"You'll certainly find no little amount of 'small' things in this island." He said, dragging his hand through his long beard. "However, that is not what I meant, no."

Ahead of the group, Kimyo marched with a puffed chest and broad steps, arms swinging wide.

As Yuina spoke, the old man gave her a smile.

"Exactly right." He said simply, before gesturing forward with his staff as they jungle around them began to thin. "Look for yourselves."

As they stepped out of the jungle, a hill stretched out before them, with Kimyo sprinting ahead of the group before coming to a stop at the top, gazing beyond it.

Past the grassy hill— a sharp decline, what appeared before a hill turning out to be a cliff. And gazing down below— a large settlement.

Carved into the cliffside and the earth, stone and soil shaped into home and edifice, monument and temple.

What would've been the 'ruins of a long gone civilization' stood well-preserved still, for the people remained.

Kimyo didn't wait for them to take it all in— she immediately half turned and descended down the cliffside, showing them the stairs carved into the mountainside leading down into the valley settlement.

---

TL;DR:
Mission

Ancients & Worship

ft. Remiel Calcifet, Yuina Higashi

He stares at Remiel's treasure trove of data blankly, eyes darting between notes, maps and photos.

There's not enough time for him to understand anything— not before the prince clarifies the purpose of it all, in any case.

"Taehoongie..." He echoes softly, cocking his head slightly as he examined the fisherman's photo.

His gaze followed the archaeologist's digit as he pointed out a specific map, a specific archipelago.

It remained fixed unto that spot as the archaeologist and the historian spoke.

"It's there." He suddenly declared suddenly, halfway through Yuina's line of questioning.

"It feels right." He said, stepping closer to the map and laying his hands unto the table, eyes narrowing at the spot.

That familiar, yet unnatural thrumming in his chest that grew louder the longer he stared...

Tapu Lele was being rather clear, for once.

"Is it a long trip?" He added his own question after a moment, raising his gaze to Yuina.

Half a day away from the mainland with a modern boat, but he didn't know that yet.

For Once

ft. Eris Halla

Relief settled in him, briefly, as she seemed to relent. It was never enough, but these sorts of small victories were all that kept him from strapping Eris down to a hospital bed.

At her question, he smiled.

"'course." He said, finishing up quickly with the soldier before him before rising to his full height, turning towards Eris and Reiner. "There's very little I can't heal out there. Remember that, 'kay?"

As long as the patient hadn't been dead on arrival for a while when they got to him, he could do something about it, in his experience.

He turned his to Reiner, lingering.

"Reiner. Eris won't feel fine 'till yer healed. " He said simply. "Why don't ya settle in that bed right there? I'll get right to it."

---

TL;DR:

What ails you

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Well personally, I think I'm just smug enough." He said, nose raised high, as he casually, and very visibly, wrote on his note pad on big, lumpy letters with a marker.

PaTiEnT iS oVeRlY sAsSy. CuTe ThO.

Truly, a work of art, as far as doctors' handwriting went.

Tossing the notepad over his shoulder, he suddenly drew near, the wheels on his swivel chair squealing as he came dangerously close to her, eyeing her up and down with an exaggerated squint.

"Hmm..." He hummed thoughtfully, squeezing at his chin as he examined her very intently.

Before, naturally, shrugging.

"Well, I don't know either to be frank." He admitted with a sigh and a shrug, eyes rolling as he finally pulled back, crossing one leg over the other. "But my bosses want something, so I guess we gotta do everything."

With that in mind, his hand slid beneath his white coat, producing what appeared to be a thin, metal box.

Which upon opening, revealed...

Syringes.

"Don't panic." He said wryly, as he plucked one out, showing the really long, really thin needle. "You won't even feel it. Probably."

---

TL;DR:

BULU

Tapu Island, ft. Genevieve Cromwell

As he finished undocking the ship from the port, he briefly raised his gaze towards the horizon.

"Your conviction will and has served you well, but you lack wisdom. a skip in time does not equate to a life lived." "If you remain as obdurate as you are, pushing others, your peers, and your heart away, you and everything you love will plummet into peril, including your Tapu Temple."

He scowled, the words spoken by that woman barreling unwanted into the forefront of his thoughts, as oft did since that night.

The meaning of her words was not exactly difficult to parse— but he could not understand why she'd feel the need to tell him such things.

Not that chaste my tight ass. Irritation surged through him.

In the end, he could not dismiss everything she said out of hand despite his best efforts. And her mentioning the island specifically...

"Haaaah." He breathed out heavily, bringing his hand to the bridge of his nose.

He had to admit that, if nothing else... it was perhaps best if the temple had more inhabitants, and indeed, guardians, than just Tapu Lele and himself.

Thus...

Genevieve Cromwell. (Unknowing) Elite 4 candidate. AQUA initiative member.

Tapu Bulu's avatar, and Yuina Higashi's close friend.

Only the last two really mattered to him— or rather, the only reasons he had decided to go through with it at all.

It felt awkward to reach out to someone he didn't know, specially for a subject he couldn't quite explain— but that was were Yuina came in.

His ear twitched as the sound of groaning wood reached him, his hands moving to his hips as he turned towards his companion for the oncoming voyage.

"'ello." He intoned, smiling as he tipped his hat. "Doug Sullivan. Pleasure's all mine, Ms. Cromwell."

---

TL;DR:

What ails you

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Ya really need to ask?" He said casually as he turned to her, looking all fancy in the big white coat, stethoscope hanging from his neck. "'Course ya do."

He sounded rather smug about it— specially for someone she knew to not have a legally acquired MD.

"Ms..." He stretched out the words, casually letting his gaze robe down to her file in his clipboard. "Higashi, yeah?"

It was gonna be one of those times, it seemed.

"Tell me." He said, smiling a little too cheekily as he grabbed his swivel chair and brought it close, dropping onto it before her.

"What ails you?"

---

TL;DR:

Recommission

ft. Lydia Magnusson

He listened in silence as she explained, taking a few notes on occasion whilst nodding.

He knew plenty of veterans who would've done anything to recover from their injuries— few of them were as eager as the woman before him to get back into the battlefield, however.

Whatever drove this woman, it wasn't the sort of thing he could reason out of her.

"I see." He says, still writing. "I'll look through your records for your rehab information. I should be able to help, but rehab may prove essential to your complete recovery."

As her words came to a dramatic pause, he raised his gaze back at her, cocking his head slightly.

"The 'incident'?"

---

TL;DR:

One Last Hope

Ft. Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

Their conversation is brought to halt by a call.

An emergency of some sorts, by the sound of things.

She looks apologetic, but he simply steps forward.

"Gotcha. Don't sweat it. Call me back when you're ready, ok?" He says as he hands her a business card. "It's your call."

He couldn't blame her for putting her kids first, after all.

"My office's always open, so. See ya around, Aubre."

---

TL;DR: Nice to meet you, Ms. McKenna.

For Once

ft. Eris Halla

He stares at her, gaze unreadable.

Bandages upon bandages masking scars upon scars.

There was a temptation to just... deal with it, for real this time. Make it all go away, whatever Eris protests were. The fine line between respecting a child's agency and indulging in their self-destructive behavior always seemed to get finer and thinner around his little friend.

Finally, he turned his gaze away with a deep breath.

"Ya shouldn't. Yer body's still recoverin'." He said simply. "As is Reiner's."

Injuries would never heal if one never gave themselves a chance to truly rest. One look at Eris could've made that clear to anyone.

"I worry a lot 'bout ya kids." He said as he approached another nearby soldier on a cot, beginning to work on him. "But you specially, Eris."

---

TL;DR:

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"I can deal with gettin' hurt. S'long as she can't take ya away." He muttered against her hair, eyes still on the spot the woman had occupied before.

If he hadn't been there...

Would the woman have dragged Yuina away? Would Yuina have chased her right out of their timeline?

Chills settled inside him as his jaw clenched, nervous sweat beginning to pour as he breathed in and out, as slowly as he could manage.

But— he pushed that all aside, taking in one last, long breath before kissing the top of Yuina's head.

She needed his support, now more than ever.

"You're you, Yuina." He said, hugging her more firmly, eyes narrowing at the spot left in the other woman's wake. "Doesn't matter what she says, what she's planning. The you now is as real as the you from before."

The woman had proven she could find and interfere with Yuina anywhere, and indeed, any time.

Didn't matter if she intended it as such or not— it was a show of force to him.

"We ain't gonna let her do as she pleases."

A visit to illeana reyes was perhaps in order...

---

TL;DR:
n/a

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

"Seems like everything's complex and nuanced when mass murder's involved." He said bluntly, eyes unmoved.

The triads were not the first nor would they be the last to claim their mass murdering plans nuanced and justified.

Finally, the woman was ready to leave. Yuina, however, was not ready to let her go. She stepped around him, as if to chase the woman.

The alarm bells inside his head were deafening.

"Holy— YUINA!" He was behind her in an instant, grabbing at her, his heart blasting against his chest.

The fear that she might disappear alongside the woman made him forget everything and anything else.

The unknown finished whatever it was doing, and the woman disappeared, leaving them in those frozen woods once again, alone.

With her departure, relief finally flooded into his system, a low sigh escaping his lips, even as he hugged Yuina more firmly, resting his forehead against her scalp.

That was too damned close.

---

TL;DR:
-Everything's darned nuanced
-holy shit
-thank freakin' god

The past in the present

ft. Yuina Higashi

Was that a threat?

Advice?

Pushing others away?

He didn't understand. Not really. Neither what she meant, nor why she'd bother.

Was he missing something, or was it just the woman's MO to be cryptic and inscrutable?

Whatever her intentions, whether it was good or bad advice— the attempt alone was offensive to him.

"Do you make it a habit of giving advice to people you plan to kill?" He finally scoffed, jaw clenching. "Will being 'happy' and 'fulfilled' matter when you end our world?"

---

TL;DR:
-fug u grandma, pick a darn lane and stick with it