It's evening, and for a miraculous change, Ayana is not out fetching energy or data for Takashi. No, the foxgirl is here at home, staring at a cookbook confusedly, while a pot of noodles cooks on the stove.
Ayana has dressed in a short black skirt and tall black stockings, a grey Hatsune Miku teeshirt, and her now-perpetual jewelry: silver foxes chasing about her left wrist, a black choker about her neck from whence dangles Still Night in jewel form, and a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands, with heart-shaped tan palm-pads.
If she ever bothered with makeup, it might be easy to imagine Ayana in black lipstick, heavy eyeshadow, and spiked hair, today. But instead, it's only her fluffy ears, and trio of tails, all wagging slowly as she tries to disect the recipe.
"Say what?" Ayana asks as she leans over the cookbook. "Well, okay, I guess, but I'm not sure why you would want to pinch a pepper," nevertheless, she pulls out a green pepper and pinches it once, twice, then drops it in a bowl. She's already sliced several tomatoes (messily) and green beans. Next up, she adds balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the peppery bowl, and then tries to stir. "How is this supposed to result in the pepper getting mixed in?" she asks the air unhappily. "Stupid cooking. It makes no sense!"
Takashi comes into the lavish dormitory that he shares with his familiar - and is immediately made aware of the smell of Ayana's attempts at cooking. While she might not be following the recipie exactly, there's still a pot of noodles and smell in the air.
There's a rumble as Takashi walks through the door and he tries to remember when the last time he's eaten actually was. He has a tendency to get... engrossed in projects, especially when, like tonight, he feels like he has a breakthrough just on the cusp. The fact that so much of that ends in dead ends doesn't make a dent in his ethusiasm.
He smiles. He doesn't actually question it, he just wanders over to the kitchen where Ayana is, and a hand comes up to scritch her ears almost automatically. Then he looks at the bowl.
He points to it, a half smirk on his face. "What are you doing with this?" he asks.
Ayana's ear folds over at the scritching, but so intent is the fox on her task that she doesn't actually lean into it. Still, all three tails start wagging, slapping up against Takashi's thigh as she leans forward to inspect her work again. "Cooking," she mumbles unhappily. "You haven't eaten since yesterday, and don't lie to me and say you have," she notes unhappily.
"You seemed to like when I cook last time," Ayana explains, "so I thought I'd try again. There are steaks in the oven, and this is supposed to be a ... what's it called again?" she flips back a page, then recites, "'Green Bean and Tomato Balsamic Salad.' The bowl is a vinagrette." Beat. "Or it's supposed to be, but this pepper is giving me trouble. It's supposed to turn into an emulsification, but I don't see how it will ever do that."
She sighs and turns to face her master, grumpily, "Whoever made this recipe must have been stupid. There's no way pinching a pepper will turn it into an emulsification with oil and vinegar!"
Takashi looks at Ayana. And he blinks. "Has it... been that long?" he thinks, putting a finger to his lips. That hand rapidly moves to the back of his head and rubs at it. "I'm sure I'm fine." His stomach gurgles in the negative. He scowls at it.
"Okay, maybe I do need to eat. And..." he stops. "I do appreciate you cooking for me, but..." he's not sure what to say. 'don't' isn't something that comes to mind, so instead he looks at her. "Noodles, steaks, and a salad..."
She talks about what she's working with directly, and her looks at it. Then he grins again. "Pinching a pepper? I think they mean 'a pinch of pepper' as in... you know, a small amount, Ayana." he says with a smile.
Ayana slaps her forehead, then turns around and pulls the green pepper out of her vinaigrette. She tosses it into the trash, and turns to grab the pepper shaker. "'a pinch'," she grumbles glumly as she puts a bit of pepper in the sauce, then stirs it up some more. "I really, really hate recipemakers," she notes to Takashi with a pointed finger.
"Sit down," she orders him. "Take off your shoes." Ayana turns back to her cooking, and finishes up the vinaigrette and thus the salad, then mixes them together. There is a beep, and she leans down to open the oven. "Ohhh those smell good," she mumbles happily as she reaches in with a pair of tongs to turn the steaks over. Oven closed, she sets the timer again, then pulls the noodles off the stove and drains them.
"Three minutes," she promises Takashi. "And then you can have your meal, and stop acting like a childish newt about eating. You do realize that when you fail to eat, it impacts me, too, right?" she asks, glaring at him.
Takashi shrugs. "It's accepted parlance. You're just not familiar with it cause you usually eat everything raw." he says, looking at her - until she orders her to sit down. He's hungry - and frankly a little tired, and so miraculously, he doesn't put up a stink about it. He walks over to pull out a chair. "They do smell good." he confirms as he sits down.
"A newt?" he says, perplexed by her choice of words. "I know it affects you. But a pizza or some fast food would fix it too. If cooking makes you this upset or tense, I'm not sure it's worth it all, just to get some food in me, if that's your concern." he adds.
"Upset!?" Ayana asks, peering at him confusedly. "I'm not upset. This is how I always feel. I'm just irritated that you let yourself get this far without eating!" She hmphs, quietly, then turns back to her cooking.
Soon, the entire affair comes together: noodles go in the salad with a raw egg (which is cooked in the heat of the noodles), and the steaks are laid out atop a bed of noodle balsamic eggy salad. It's not exactly the tastiest meal in the world, but it might actually be edible.
Ayana brings both plates to the table and places one in front of Takashi, along with silverwear, then kneels down beside him at the table, claiming her own seat. "Honestly, I don't understand what's gotten into you, lately," she tells him softly. "Ever since you cleansed me of the bond with that silly wolf-girl, you've been acting like I'm broken, or something."
Takashi turns to look at her. "It does seem like you are... upset... irritated... those things. a lot. At least around me. It worries me." Takashi says. Even though Takashi is not so simple as to think they might not be a result of something he did to her intentionally. Side effects may be apparent.
"I don't know. Maybe I'm being silly." he says, as she comments on the bond itself. "Maybe this is your new normal." That might be a tinge of regret in Takashi's voice. Not for his actions, of course - but for the fact that they were neccessary.
He raises an eyebrow at the way Ayana chooses to present the peices of the meal. And he even comments. "I think these are meant to be served seperately, rather than all together."
But he starts digging out the noodles from between the steak and the salad - and the noodles on their own are quite good. "Still... thank you."
Ayana points her fork at Takashi. "Just eat," she tells him with a warning tone of voice. Then she begins using her own fork to shovel food into her mouth, heedless of any thoughts for things like 'cutting', 'chewing', or 'not making a mess'.
It only takes Ayana a few minutes to finish eating, and her face has uncouth dabs of balsamic vinaigrette and steak juices on it. She wipes it with a hand, then leans forward to lick her plate clean, as well.
All this done, Ayana turns and takes her plate to the sink, then returns to put her arms around Takashi's neck from behind, leaning on him while he continues eating.
"New normal," Ayana repeats the words thoughtfully. "Is this somehow different from the 'normal' that I was when you created me?" she asks. "I mean, other than the fact that I know we're not the heroes in this story anymore. I rather liked the way you created me," she notes. "We made a good team, back then. We still do, now. But you're right, I have been irritated with you a lot more, lately. Can you fix it?"
Takashi does not shovel food into his mouth like a peice of industrial equipment - unlike some in the room. He works his way through the noodles, then the steak, and finally finishes off with the salad. It's the best way he can figure not to have a slew of contradicting flavors in his mouth at the same time. It's still a wierd meal.
Then Ayana has cleaned her own plate and she's resting against him. And he turns to talk to her. "Ayana-chan..." he says a bit softly. "The old way you were had you literally ask me to unmake you." he reminds her. "That's not good either. Maybe you're irritated with me because of that? I don't know." he says, honestly.
"I don't like the term heroes and villians. Calling us villians makes it sound like you don't think we're doing the right thing. Or like you don't expect us to win. Heroes and villians are something for fairytales and movies. This isn't the same thing. Nothing really changed. I just... let you think something I shouldn't have."
Ayana falls silent for a long moment, thoughtful. It's rare for the foxgirl to go so long without saying anything, so either she's bored with the conversation entirely ... or she's really, truly deep in thought.
"I asked you to unmake me because I was disloyal to you," Ayana says eventually. "I was feeling conflicted by the pain of loving you, and being forced to love that ... creature," she explains. "She turned me against you, and I was a liability to you. I do not ever want to be a liability to you, Taka-kun."
Ayana hugs him, gently, then explains, "In hindsight, breaking the bond is all I needed. Now you have done that, and yet I feel like there is something more. Something ... different, between us. And the way you say it ..." she trails off thoughtfully again, then clucks her tongue.
"You did do something to me," Ayana surmises. "I don't know what, but you clearly feel guilty about it, or at least uncertain. Am I still a liability to you?"
Takashi is also quiet. There's a long moment of silence before he responds. "I didn't want to unmake you. I didn't think you made the choice to be disloyal... it didn't seem right to punish you for it. But you were torn about it all too, and I wasn't sure."
"But you were very sad. And I didn't want to see you sad - you're like a part of me, Ayana-chan. Not like. You are. I created you out of parts of my soul. And I've always thought of you that way. Like family, or more. So seeing you sad, hearing you ask that. I didn't want to let it happen. So instead I made sure it wouldn't again."
"But it did change you." he says. "Maybe in ways different than what I antipated." He puts his fork down where it clatters loudly. He did not eat all of his dinner. "I don't think I made the wrong choice. I just resent that I had to make a choice at all. I didn't want to change you. But I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to lose you."
"And I did what I thought was best - what I still think was best. But I'm also wondering if I lost some part of you, even still."
Again Ayana remains very quiet, arms still gently around Takashi's neck as she considers his explanation. "I see," she replies thoughtfully. And then she falls silent once more, staring at his plate for a moment. Ayana reaches past Takashi and spears a lingering bit of steak with his fork, then brings it up to her own mouth and eats it. "Ooooohmp," she says beside him, then swallows.
Finally, she pushes away from him and walks back to the kitchen, to begin doing dishes. She doesn't say anything further while she cleans up the kitchen, just leaves him to his own thoughts. But her ears are drooped down to either side, and her tails are still and at rest.
Takashi doesn't say anything for a little while. The little comments she makes don't deserve replies on their own. Eventually, though, he gets up and walks into the kitchen. As she's doing dishes, he comes up and hugs her tight.
"I'm sorry, Ayana-chan. But you were in so much pain. And what's the purpose of all of this power, if I have to suffer - if you have to suffer."
"I will never forgive that girl for how she made you feel, and for the lies she put in your head. For the pain she put you through, and for how she tried to make you betray what you are." His hands ball up in fists, and Ayana can probably feel the energy coming off of him even before those telltale wisps of blackness rise and fall around him. He's truly directing his rage at the circumstances not to himself or his actions, but to a convinent scapegoat.
"I just can't believe that you would do that without someone lying to you. I know that you know the truth about me."
Ayana tilts her head as Takashi hugs her from behind. Oh how she very much wants to turn and fall into that embrace. She, too, misses the relationship they once had. But if he found out the truth, he'd be devestated. So she stays the course.
"She did lie to me," Ayana tells him quietly. "And warped my perceptions. She warped our bond!" Ayana reminds him. "But you have set it right again. I just don't understand why fixing the damage she did has also resulted in me being irritated all the time. Are you certain it is fixed exactly how it was before you were hospitalized?"
Of course it's not. Of course she's different. He tore those emotions that were causing her trouble right out of her. He knew what he was doing at the time. It's not a wonder that she's the way she is. But he doesn't want her to be.
"I still don't know what exactly she even did. So I can't say for sure." he says, finally. "But I also wanted to make sure it couldn't happen again."
Then there's a pause and he turns around. "I couldn't let it happen again. I hope you understand that. So there's obviously some differences. I can't help that. I just... maybe I need to find some way I can keep you safe... but also happy." he adds.
Ayana finishes the dishes, then turns around to peer at Takashi. "'Happy'," she says the word thoughtfully. She seems to be testing it, as if weighing the value of the word. "I see. So it is better that I live life unhappy, but not a liability, than to allow me to die knowing that I could no longer be a burden to you."
She frowns, briefly, then pushes away from the sink. "Well, if that is your judgement," she agrees, before wandering towards his bedroom. "I'm going to go play some games on my phone until I am tired. If you need anything, I will be avialable."
Takashi stops dead when she says those things. She walks out of the room and he's standing there, staring at the sink.
Were his actions actually wrong? Was it better to have done simply what she asked, and unmake her on the spot?
Takashi puts both hands on the counter. He removed Ayana's positive emotions because of the damage they did to her, but did that have value if she was still feeling that way? If she was truly unhappy, as it seemed like she was.
But no matter any way he looked at it, the initating blame could be laid at the feet of the Cute Wolf, at Ikiko. He was forced into action by this.
Still, the more he thought about it, the more he saw a measure of weakness in his own response. To not throw you full force of power at a problem was a weakness. The full measure was to make sure the problem could never happen again, by eliminating it. The actions he took with her flew in the face of the doctrine of ruthlessness his father had taught him. At the way he should be acting, fighting.
It was, perhaps, too late to rectify this mistake - though perhaps he could find a new way - use his mind, his power to resolve this issue.
But the next time something like this occured, he was going to act the way he should've. Ruthlessly and efficently.