[ tower of strength ]

♜ -- I shall forever be the upholding tower, never to falter, always to stay focused. My spirit shall be strong, like rock. My will, unbreakable. -- ♜

[reflexivevoltage]

                                         I just wanted you to be proud of me.

[mmaaptitude]

[kadofaitovangado-deactivated201]

無題 || ４４

[mma-gifs]

Maurício “Shogun” Rua training for his upcoming bout against Jimi Manuwa

[reflexivevoltage]

I might bend I may bruise But, I will never  Ever Let myself break Not While I still have Something to PROTECT

[reflexivevoltage]

Moving, the Knight would not falter. He had found Aichi and now kept him safe. Some free time was dedicated to his 'job' MMA Fighting to keep his skills in check.

[blaster-aichi]

Seeing and hearing Naoki this way cut deeper each time the other opened his mouth; that cold, detached manner in which he spoke. So few words.

               What happened to the fiery co-captain he’d always known?

It was almost like… he’d regressed to the day they met, before Aichi introduced him to Vanguard.

"Did I… do something to upset you?”

It stung to ask, but he needed to know, understand. Anything. For peace of mind, so he could come to understand the circumstances that had brought about such a dramatic turnaround.

He wanted to reach out, try to bridge the gap, but it seemed only to be widening.

    “Naoki-kun… whatever’s troubling you… I’m still on your side. We’re friends, that’s what we do. It doesn’t matter what world we’re from, I’ve met multiples of our friends, even myself, and we’ve all become friends.

Whatever it is… you’re still my friend too”.

[reflexivevoltage]

Aichi, no matter what timeline, could never upset the Knight, it was impossible. If anything Naoki got upset at himself being unable to move forward with his search.

He shook his head as Aichi asked his question, eyes glued to the other's blue hues. Arms crossed over the chest, the shoulder pad shifting as his bicep moved.

Everything was troubling, and there was no way away from those thoughts, however negative they were.

Eyes closed and he bowed his head. It was beginning, so he turned About Face on a heel, his back to Aichi. He was never one to voice his pain, or concerns and now they were eating him alive.

They were friends. That word held little meaning now for Naoki. Aichi seemed to feel there was hope, but the attitude the Knight had dashed all of it aside.

Strong-- like rock. Unmovable-- like a tower.

He had to think himself capable. In order not to break.

[tinycop-blog]

  ”I don’t care. I’ll protect Mama until I find Father..!”

The defiance was ablaze, ignited by his duty as Aichi’s son and unshakable otherwise. How many times has he already suffered and endured the pains of Judgement under the hands of his own family..? Kai was relentless, after all, and his harbored flames of Perdition itself were nothing to scoff at. He could handle this, he knew he could. "—And I will. Father’s the only one that can possibly help me come up for a cure for Mama, without having to seal him away again so hastily..! You just can’t interfere! Ishida-san!”

[reflexivevoltage]

Red hair rippled with the effect the power gave him as it coursed through his body. His muddy eyes brightened and a smirk replaced the usual look of solemness upon the Knight's face.

"If you so wish to protect, then you will fall, in due time."

A cure? That was laughable. Aichi was dealing with something that couldn't be cured, or taken away, at least, not by Tasuku or anyone else. But the Quatre Knights could stem the flow of the seed, and take Aichi to slumber.

His gaze was dangerous as his fist clenched and it rose. He had no problem using his power, even on someone as precious to Aichi as the child. Naoki was ready to teach Tasuku his place.

"I do not interfere, I just handle things."

As if he could be stopped now? His body was degrading on the inside, if only due to the strong power he possessed. Kai wasn't there either to halt the progression.

[nibelwulf-deactivated20140831]

I don’t「care」what you

                                              《think》of me,                                                【 do】 to mE,                                                  ⊰say⊱ to ME,

                                                              Just leave ＴＨE Ｍ out of it.

[reflexivevoltage]

       BAD ᴛʜɪɴɢs ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ                    —-BAD things have ｈａｐｐｅｎｅｄ                                 but you                                               ｃａｎ still ʟɪᴠᴇ                                                                                        you can still ｌｉｖｅ

[promisedleader]

His Heart Was Always There

[promisedleader]

That formal tone had always been something Aichi insisted wasn’t something Naoki was required to use, but it seemed as though he’d never relented. An elaborate answer, as opposed to how straightforward he’d once been.

     Aichi missed that. He missed Naoki.

"Thank you, Naoki-kun. Please forgive me… for hindering what we’ve got to do”.

An evident wince after lowering his head, hoping to minimize the apparent disgruntlement towards the inevitable. It had been his plan all along, and, had it not been for the power inside of him that had thrown him across worlds, he’d have still been perched in that throne, as he’d intended to be.

But it stung, to know that his time was limited. Not unlike a terminal patient.                                              And that likeness petrified him.

What he was facing… was it really any different to death? An eternal slumber?

'I'm sorry, Kai-kun… Tasuku-kun…                   It looks like… I really don’t have long left…’

[reflexivevoltage]

His manner reflected his status as a Knight. All things childish he had left and pushed away to do the best in his service. He felt it was the thing he needed to stay focused.

Never fully relaxed, always on guard, he was there to ensure safety.

Arms now hung at his sides as he moved closer to his charge. A hand gingerly reaching to rest upon Aichi's shoulder.

"Let's move inside. Please."

He wanted the bluenette to not act that way, it made his heart ache and cry out inside. His words and actions could only do so much, but it was good to know where he was, and to finally be within his reach.

[blaster-aichi]

This was nothing like Naoki. Aichi found himself more dumbfounded as the exaggerated seconds ticked by. Struggling to come up with an answer, or even match Naoki’s appearance and voice to that of all he knew to be familiar with the older.

And so dismissive. As if he’d chosen to brush off Aichi when it became evident that their paths were never intended to overlap, at least, not that he’d planned. He couldn’t have.

Though the lack of answers - that secrecy - was rather counterproductive; Aichi was eager to learn more about what had gotten into this alternate of his close friend.

   ”Naoki-kun…”

A thought came to mind; the only thing he could figure might help push them past that first wall Naoki had built up between them.

"If you can’t talk… is there anything I can do to help you?"

[reflexivevoltage]

His heart felt compressed, as he kept an eye on the form of his former friend. Golden hues didn't change, but narrowed a bit as his space was wormed into by Aichi's words.

He didn't want to talk, if anything, he felt like just ending it there and heading away. His skin was beginning to crawl with memories. Ones that he had placed away.

"No." Was his answer, as much as it irritated him to say, it had to be done. Really, he wanted nothing to do with the other, it was already messing with him ways it shouldn't have been.

He'd crack, and it didn't feel right letting Aichi see.

[reflexivevoltage]

Seeing the other Knight, it was a good feeling in Naoki's gut. They could preform their duty together, though the red head knew of the other's wish to do his actions alone, much like his former self.

Keeping quiet, he nodded toward the brunette, and kept his stance calm. What more was there to do? Eyes shifted over Kai's form, and envy showed it head. Just a tad though.

As he knew not every detail between Aichi and Kai, it still pained him slowly to know that they were close. And he had none of that closeness. He thought he did, but he was always outside, standing away from it all.

[promisedleader]

His Heart Was Always There

[promisedleader]

As expected, Aichi was the only reason he’d come. But if Naoki had come, maybe Kai—…

               And what about Tasuku?

"So I see…            May I… be selfish and ask… for a little more time?”

A hand rested itself on his chest, wherein his heart pounded frantically.

"I know that I might not have much time before the Seed stirs and tries to claim me, the way it did Takuto-kun, but… there’s something I want to… try to resolve… while I have the chance.

        Please, Naoki-kun… Could you… let me hold on, just a little longer?”

It wasn’t as though he had run away, nor that he was stalling for time so he could live. It was solely… to see Kai again, and try to figure what to do with Tasuku, at the very least, ease tensions. He couldn’t just vanish and actively abandon his son this time.

Even if there was no hope, he wanted to… try to convince him. Or say goodbye to his face. Regardless of the risk that it would culminate in Aichi destroying himself.

[reflexivevoltage]

If it had been the old Naoki, his jaw would have dropped and a speech would've ensued, but not this one. His eyes narrowed just a bit as Aichi asked.

Their charge, asking him for something like that. How interesting, but still only a tad shocking. He saw no right to refuse, but also at the same time he felt he had to stick with him. Naoki wanted to do his duty to guard and protect the other.

"Only, if you allow me to do what I must. I'll not interfere until I hear otherwise." Was the reply. Not a yes nor a no but a kind of compromise.

[blaster-aichi]

If not for the collision of worlds, and even now timelines, Aichi might have been floored by that uniformed attitude and tone. Even then.. to see and hear Ishida Naoki of all people in this manner was surreal.

And that was an understatement.

"U- Unn… And I’m… glad to see you’re… well.        You are, right… Naoki-kun?”

He couldn’t even string together thoughts, let alone words. It was baffling, lost on the astounding distinctions between this Naoki and the one he knew.

                           Almost as though they were different people.

"Is there.. something that’s troubling you? You don’t seem… like another one of you that I know".

[reflexivevoltage]

His stance was firm, nothing was out of place. He shifted a little, wringing back his shoulder, the open one, and still kept his eyes upon Aichi.

"Things are going, as to be expected."

He seemed to trail off at the end a little bit though, like there actually was something wrong...so there might have been or rather was. He couldn't stay around just stationary-- it was taking a toll.

"Another. I think I understand now." He nodded a little, and blinked, placing a hand at his hip. "I don't want to tell you." Meaning he felt bad keeping it, but this wasn't his place to tell. It was Kai's if anything.

[promisedleader]

His Heart Was Always There

[promisedleader]

Given the distance in not only time, but that their transfer had place them in another world, it was understandable to say the least, that Aichi was bewildered by Naoki’s appearance.

      Tasuku was one thing, having fled the palace after his multiple failures to unleash his mother, but the knight—

Did that mean the others really were here? Had his disappearance sent them all out on a frantic search?

                                  It was almost like being hunted; pursued by his closest, for his, and their own sake.

"You… came all the way here?               Naoki-kun… how did you—

         What about Kai-kun? And Gaillard-kun? Rati? Neve-san? Did you.. all come to find me?”

If that was the case, then he dreaded any explosive confrontation that might occur between Tasuku and the Knights he’d clashed with in the past. Fighting over Aichi’s sake. All wishing that there had been a better future for them.

[reflexivevoltage]

He had been instructed by Kai, the elder of the two closest to Aichi still, even then. He was to travel and search for Aichi. The others-- they were to stay behind until called.

His eyes slipped open again, and his lips pressed together. He didn't want to say the wrong thing.

"I am here for you."

In truth, that was his wish, and his motive for coming. Devoted clearly to the other in everything, Naoki was like a loyal Hound to Aichi, and Kai was the handler who gave him orders.

"The others are keeping the Palace safe, in order to usher you back where you belong." And there his mouth closed and his arms folded about his chest. A man a few words was the Knight lately.

[reflexivevoltage]

;; charge faintly | hc

Since becoming a Quatre Knight, Naoki has learned to subdue his former exhilarated side to better serve his actions and service toward the group and their charge.

-- Though,  ̴͓̰͔̹ͥͪ̆̓̔́ẗ̷̝͈̦̟̬͘͞h̨̺̹͓̊̅̾̃ͩ̋͠a̴͉̝̳͋ͧ͂̋̊̈̀̕t̤̭̞̟̼̲̟̞̩̋̉̉̍ͯ̒̕ ̻͓̜̣̅͑̇̾͌͆͘͝ͅc̡̪͈̊͂̏ͯ̚ǫ̨̰̹͖͕̭̮̀͑͜m͉̘̯̘͒́ͣ͗̂ͬͣ̇e̴̡̘̪̼͕͈̖̯͚ͫͥs̎͊̔́͘̕͏͉͔͉̯̣͎ ̧͈̮͕͍̻̪̯̋̈͂̂̇͋ŵ̥̳̳̩̞̫ͩ͗ͣ̄̀͒i̛̞ͦ̆̀͡ṫ̖̫ͫ̊ͨ́͜ḥ̣̪̀̀ͤ͆ ̨̛͎͔̦͎͛͆͗ͬ̿à̵̗̖̟̪̈ͪ̀͊̀͢ ̲̻̖̼̓̆̾ͯ̓̽͐́͞p̶͖̘͓̻ͨ̇̚͘ŕ̯̻̄̍̑̓͐̓͞͠ĭ̵̳̼̟̣͚̗ͯͣ̌̾̌̂c͈̖̘̤̠ͨ͒͌̅͗ͨͥ͞͞ę͚͈͉͇̙̌̏̏̇̿̆ͅ

First shown >here< And is noted by the TAG: [ charge faintly ]

If Naoki gets riled up in any way, his demeanor begins to get cold, and dark. His powers take form as snaps of lightning in his left hand, where his control emanates.

( Naoki's personal Judgement takes the form of high voltage electricity, usually in the form of loud and sharp cracks of Thunder and Lightning. )

If he truly goes over the edge of himself his power of Judgement will be released and it's even hard for him to control what isn't the normal form of Judgement.

Kai is the only one who can even attempt to talk Naoki out of a spot when roused to the state.