#atsushi asks.

[moonlitaster-blog]

❝ The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome. ❞

☇ * ✧   A  SONG  OF  FIRE  AND  ICE  SENTENCE  PROMPTS  !

           ‘ strategy ’ is a word he’d throw about very LOOSELY when it comes to describing the thought process involved in his own style of fighting; while the orphanage was a teacher nonetheless for holding his own in any kind of a skirmish, he’s not mistrustful or in the mindset enough to consider alternate angles of attack when he’s hurdling head first with sheer BRUTE force on his side. that’s where kunikida had supposedly come in, stepping up to refine and reform his techniques on hand to hand combat against someone readily considered a master of the subject. and now, it seemed, so had akutagawa .  .  . 

           he’s grimacing slightly, rubbing the already healing skin of his shoulder where he had taken the unexpected hit from behind his peripheral, when the quietly spoken words nestle into his ears. curious and surprised eyes flicker to the stoic male just by his side, pausing in his movements and absorbing the fact that for once, akutagawa hadn’t necessarily been DEMEANING him but .  .  . offering an odd piece of cryptic advice. huh. 

                        “    O-oh, yeah .  .  . you’re right about that,” he mumbles with the hint of an embarrassed flush scrawling over a face flushed from exertion, paying suddenly close attention to the rips and tears in his pants. “Usually the tiger’s pretty good at detecting when someone’s about to sneak up on me if I’m attuned to it, but I guess I was so caught up in the fight that I wasn’t fully aware of what it was registering.” 

            it’s a dumb, rookie mistake; if he wasn’t an ability user, he could have been KILLED with less. 

[moonlitaster-blog]

❝ You don’t feel so helpless when you fight. ❞

☇ *✧   A  SONG  OF  FIRE  AND  ICE  SENTENCE  PROMPTS  !

                                ( that wouldn’t be too bad now, would it? to prove one’s existence and WORTH through fighting for others? ) 

            it’s strange to even consider that akutagawa has spoken a shared truth that resonates with the very nature of their beings, a shared shadow cast between twin eclipsing stars with one caught in the tide of darkness and the other frozen in the stark gift of light. it’s stranger still that he finds himself deigning to AGREE, tense frame expecting some sort of following blow from the other male as he takes advantage of the softened pause that accompanies the abrupt statement while atsushi contemplates, vulnerable and quiet. and yet, something urges him onward, mouth moving uncomfortable and awkward around words he would never have believed exchanged between them as he glances down at the worn concrete under their feet in seeking a distraction from the dark figure by his side.

                         “   .  .  . No, you don’t. But I never would have imagined you of all people would feel helpless at all,” perhaps there is a faint trace of envy, cloying and bitter on his tongue. “You’re powerful and in control of yourself and your ability. What would you have to feel helpless about?”