[Day 14 - After School] Nothing More to Give (Open)

"It's... good to see you too, Tsuki-san," he agrees. After a moment spent collecting himself with a deep breath, he moves to sit next to her in the relative quiet of the massive shrine to the Seven. There were more candles lit than usual, as if those who tended the temples were attempting to ward off the purple fog that surrounded the campus, though it only served to make the interior appear even more ethereal overall.

"Have you been here long?" he asks. It was a simple question to start, but her blue eyes could plainly see many more hiding behind the dark in his own.

Yoshi nods and sits down beside Tsuki, though he doesn't speak for some time. He looks to her hands but stops himself from reaching for one. Though he feels it would lend him both strength and comfort to do so, he felt the moment was coming when he would need to find those on his own. Still, if she were to suggest it, or against what he considered the odds, needed to seek those things out from him, he places his own hand close enough to hers to grasp with the offer of taking it clear.

"I... still sort of feel like I'm mostly out of words," he finally admits, "after everything I said last night." There's perhaps an implicit question in his bringing up his speech in the gym, wanting to know her reaction to it but thinking it rude to ask outright.

"Well... I tend to take people at their word unless I have a good reason not to," he admits. With a wry chuckle, he adds, "I know, that doesn't exactly make me the best student to ever come out of the Kitsuki School. Plus, I was concentrating more on figuring out what her words meant than I was judging their sincerity." He thinks back to that night in the gym, wondering why he didn't question Ayumu more rigorously.

"I guess the thought still did cross my mind, if she was hiding anything," he recalls. "I may trust easily, but not to the degree that I'll turn a blind eye to doubt if a reason shows itself. It just seems... if she had any ulterior motives, like... if she secretly favored one outcome or the other... why would she tell us openly about both and our ability to choose either?" The logic as far as he could tell seemed sound, though he looks to Tsuki to see if she might have caught something he'd missed.

"Maybe we'll have a chance to talk to her again before the end of tomorrow?" Yoshi wonders aloud. "I hope we do, now that we've had more time to process all this, but I've heard that no one has been able to locate her or Ikoma Renmaru-sensei all day. The word around campus is also that Iweko-sama will be trying to find Ikoma-sensei later tonight, and I'm going to join him if I can." His eyes search aimlessly a bit before finding Tsuki's, and when they do, he gives a contented sigh and smiles.

"Still... I think all we can do for right now is pray," he tells her. Though he was feeling adrift and well out of his depth navigating this hazy dreamworld, both his faith and her company served as an anchor, helping to keep his resolve steady even as a storm of uncertainty surrounded them.