>>31106 I'm trying to be patient here, but I'm quickly running out. Your 'compromise' is retarded as all get out, and it seems you don't even understand just how fundamentally different Naomi and Wade are and why such a scenario wouldn't work for her. Naomi has no desire to dream about Gensokyo when she has a direct and relatively safe method of getting there, while Wade is wishing with all his heart for a way out of his boring, nest-bound life.
On top of that, Naomi is defiant and resourceful enough to find a way out from under her parent's collective thumb without hoping that something will just drop in her lap.
---
"I suppose there's not much of a choice here, is there." This isn't a question so much as a statement. Now that certain parties have started to egg the sword-weilding princess into a fight I doubt I could get out of so easily. I could just walk away, but that may very well infuriate her further.
"Stupid ghost, stupid celestial! Wade didn't want to fight, but you pushed him into it!" Nari finally comes back to me after doing whatever it she's been doing. Saying she isn't happy about this turn of events is the understatement of the year. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
Mima and Tenshi merely shrug it off before turning their attention to the ever more impatient Yorihime, while Nari, and Yukari look like they're about to shoot laser beams out their eyes and into the backs of their respective skulls. In the case of the latter, she actually does. Naomi, on the other hand, managed to slip out of Yukari's grip to hug me before I step into the arena. There's no real need to say anything, just to enjoy the feeling while it lasts. Merlin adds to that by hugging me from behind, but I'm more focused on the one who thinks this may very well be a life or death fight for me.
"I won't bother saying 'don't worry' since you'll end up doing so anyway, so I'll just settle for promising you that I will come out of this alive." And then I do something I don't think I've ever done with Naomi before: I lift her up just enough to kiss her full on the lips. I don't think she ever closed her eyes during the entirety of that due to the shock factor, but I can feel the warmth radiating off her face as she blushes, and the subtle shift as she leans into me. ...Why did it take such a clich? scenario for me to finally kiss her like this? Especially when we've both seen Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan?
When Naomi breaks away, she doesn't answer and instead focuses on fighting back tears. And just like every other scenario involving a cute girl trying to convince me not to do something ridiculously dangerous, I find myself less and less inclined to actually go out there. But just like every other time, I eventually find myself walking away regardless.
...
"Toyohime. Don't think I don't know what you're up to."
"Me? I'm not up to anything. I just want to see my sister duel that guy."
"But there's no real reason to do so, is there?"
"There's every reason! He's something we neither understand nor are able to control, and on top of that his heart belongs to the youkai of boundaries! I don't think I need to tell you just how dangerous a combination that is."
"More like, you're looking for a reason to hurt-"
...
I finally make it out to the courtyard, and I can feel the audience's gaze fall on me. The emotions are mixed, but heated all the same. Some want to see a good show. Others want to see the Lunarians cut down a notch. Others still just want this to end with my life intact.
"Before we begin, I just want to ask one thing." Yorihime hasn't drawn her sword yet, simply standing there with arms crossed.
"Ask." Is all I say in response.
"Are you fighting for your own sake, or did you feel pressured into this?" ...That's not what I expected to hear.
[X]"I wanted to duel a strong opponent, that's all."
[X]"I feel that my life is on the line regardless of whether I fight or not."
[X]"Why, did you feel like you got pushed into this too?"
[X]"Because I don't trust you or Toyohime to leave me, or anyone I care about, be."
[X]Write-in
Plan of attack?
[X]Start out as Karas, go from there.
[X]Equip that Fusion set from before.
[X]This is supposed to be a spellcard duel, right?
[X]Maybe, just maybe I could pull off something a little more fantastic...
[X]Try to talk her out of it as we go. There's really no reason for this other than we got pushed into this.