cursebound. (Earinor & Akira)

Otoha seemed annoyed, probably by the fact that his current body she called her vessel, wasn't at all like her human self. She'd probably been strong and independent, not relying on Genji or anyone else. She could have probably marched a day straight without any break, but not anymore. Genji realized that maybe, he should claimed that he was he one needing to rest, or needed to go a bit slower. Would she believe a lie like that? Probably not. He was constantly on the move, he had to be, so he didn't even need to remember to be sure of that. Still, maybe he could have blamed it on his wounds that were still healing, or the curse eating away at him. Now she was already angry though and there was no way around it. She even blamed Genji for something he never said and he wondered if she always had a temper like that. "He is... but that means you have to take it slow. He can't steel his body in only one day. Give this body some time... it'll grow stronger with time.", he tried to calm her down, not sure if it had any effect.

Whereas Genji was in somewhat of a hurry, mostly because he wanted to drop Mikuni and Otoha off somewhere save before the curse got a hold of his body again, they didn't need to rush. Not when it meant Mikuni got hurt and Otoha too weak. She just wanted to take a quick break as it seemed and Genji complied with her demands and sat down opposite from her, his feet dangling from the branch. "We needn't hurry this much.", he carefully pointed out and leaned back against another branch. Otoha wouldn't fall, would she? "I should take it slow as well, with the wound on my back still healing." This time he slid it in. That stab wound didn't bother him much, he didn't really feel it in truth. His body grew numb probably a long while ago. He didn't know what to say, so he stared at his hands instead and kept quiet, listening to the birds around them, that weren't put off by him and his curse just yet. Eventually he opened his mouth again. "Are you hungry? Or do you need some water?"

This body wasn't up to her standards - she should have just taken Genjis, back then, years ago, when she had the opportunity to overtake something that she could have hardly ever called her own to begin with. Noroichi would poison her, her soul and mind, and then spit her back out as a corrupted mess that had no semblance but would serve as the goddess of a new religion, once Genjis body destructed itself further and further. As things were now, she wqas sure that there was no getting through to that thing, so it would at least stop rebelling in one way and not start back up in the other, though, she also knew that her own efforts were, often times, in vain, especially when she found herself sitting on a tree branch, but not out of her own strength or volition; it was Genji that had helped her reach a lofty goal like than, and for once, she was fed up with that revelation by itself. "I don't have that kind of time - I need to find a new body eventually, and coddling this one for the next few years wasn't exactly what I had on my agenda if I'm honest." Which also meant that she could pick and choose from the cream of the crop this time around, at the very least as long as Mikuni did her bidding.

Nothing followed after that, at least for a bit, in which she tried to lean back and just enjoy the breeze that kempt through the trees and hit this body about as right as a fist to the face would, at least if someone capable threw the punch. "How can ... a body be this weak anyway?", she complained, more to herself and Mikuni than to Genji, as she let a sigh spill from her lips and she eyed the blonde man up and down, now that they both confined to their small spaces of one and then the other tree branch. Was this really where they were going with this? Pathetic. "How does your back feel? Any pain? Burning? Or dull?", she inquired eventually, noticing the subtle shift in their topics, and yet, she said nothing. Genji knew what he was doing, she figured, and she didn't want to keep him from having his moment in the spotlight, all the while she clawed herself into the bark of the tree, best not to fall off of it, now that she'd picked to sit on it. A broken bone was easy to heal but also easy to avoid, really. "No, I'm fine ... for now, I think. I mean, Mikuni could probably use some water, I'm sure, but no hunger here ... ugh, now that you mention it, those feelings are pretty pesky once you haven't experienced them in a while and they start hitting you like a brick."

Genji wasn't sure what Otoha was on about. Yes, he wanted to get rid of this curse, before he hurt someone again, but that didn't mean he was willing to push Mikunis body to its limit, only for his sake. "We are both immortal... time is probably the one thing we have plenty on our hands.", he replied, trying to reason with her. She was frustrated, Genji could tell. Maybe she didn't even mean what she said and simply wanted to be angry at Mikuni for who he was. Was it this boys fault? No. Because of Otoha he was forced into his secluded life in the monastery and he didn't have much of a choice to learn how to fight. Why would a priest be proficient with a sword, much less with magic. Otoha expected too much of her vessel, he was but a young man swiped up in godly matters and he never asked for any of this. No one ever asked him what he wanted and yet he was willing to go with Genji and do what Otoha asked. She stole his life and spoke about him as if he was nothing more than a tool.

Genji didn't say any of that out loud and he didn't comment on her complaining. There was nothing they could do about it and was he to try to defend Mikuni once more, she'd only get more angry. Genji didn't want that and kept his opinions to himself. He only looked up when he was asked a direct question. He merely shook his head. "I'm alright. It doesn't hurt, but I also don't have healing powers like you.", he answered. He barely felt the wound, not next to the festering curse that was spreading further every second. It didn't whisper into his ear just yet, but he knew it was there to take ahold of his body once more. He immediately jumped on the opportunity to do something however. Once Otoha told him she was a bit thirsty, he elegantly jumped off the tree and searched their belongings for some water. His old self might have thrown in up towards her, but he decided to bring it to her instead, together with a little sack of food. Once he sat opposite of her again he offered what he had brought.

Whatever had gotten into that man, she couldn't quite say, but it definitely had changed him, now and forever that he lived an honest life amongst those who could no longer take him seriously. Otoha was trying her earnest and, for better or for worse, was still malding about the fact that this guy was, definitely, adapting better to his cluelesness than her. In fact, Genji looked quite serene, no doubt happy even to not be reminded of his past, even if it troubled him and he was right, too - there was no use blaming Mikuni for something that he had never partaken in, let alone thought about for too long. This was getting idiotic, and worse, she was the one that would pay for it, sooner or later, whether she wanted to or not; there was no way about this, and no way out of it, either, no matter how much she would try, she was tied to her own infidelity in a chase that she wasn't even part of. "Yes, but not Mikuni ... fine, we do have plenty of time and I can make his body last longer if I want it to. There's no need to hurry, not for either of us, you're right and I'm sorry.", she eventually found it in her heart to apologize and, for once, couldn't help but smile about it. What a stupid way of living this was indeed.

There was ssome sort of eerie silence between them, at least until Genji finally managed to steal himself off of the tree and used the short deflection of their topic to show that, no, that wound couldn't have hurt in a thousand years and, no, he wasn't going to let her die from thirst, or this body at the very least, if it required as much. Those feelings, that empathy, she didn't register it as something Genji would have ever felt or condoned, but she let him, and as he came back up, she chuckled and took from him what he wanted her to have. "You are quite the gentleman, I must say. I can't believe you changed that much, but to be fair, I guess it had to happen at some point between now and you losing out on your memories.", she capsized the conversation once more and looked almost lost in her own dreams as she faced the man she cared so deeply for, yet couldn't help but judge for his every action. Poor booger, this guy really wasn't well, at least in her opinion, and he wasn't going to help himself in any way if he stayed with her. His loss, then, she figured as she grabbed the bottle and drank from it, almost haphazardly - Mikunis body really needed a lot of care and it was annoying, not only to her, but others, too. "Thank you, though.", she murmured and handed the rest of the water back to Genji, as she herself grabbed the sack of food and procured some nuts from it. That should do the trick. "Want some as well?"

Otoha eventually agreed and it made Genji smile. She was so tensed up and frustrated and he wished he could ease her mind a bit. If they were but some normal human couple, he would have suggested a trip, a picnic maybe, or riding out somewhere, just to look at the world. He didn't know if those things were activities both of them did together way back when, but he at least felt like it was something she'd enjoy. maybe not now though, not when it took so much to get her to take just a little break. "No need to apologize...", Genji replied smiling at her. "If not for this curse we truly would have all the time in the world, it is my fault if anyones, but I will try to keep that thing at bay for as long as I can. Both of you needn't worry for the next four weeks at least." An then they'd see how far it would have spread and what it would whisper in his ear. If it became too much, maybe he truly didn't have a choice but kill someone to ease the curse back into slumber for a while.

Again Otoha mentioned the obvious. That Genji had changed, that he didn't remember anything, but that he still was the same man, somehow. He would have loved to remember who he was back then and he wanted to know what happened to their family after Otoha died. Why were there no mentions in the libraries books? None at all... What if at their destination both of them would learn something they would rather never know? Genji already felt like he failed Otoha and maybe even betrayed her trust. While he thought about it the curse acted out and Genji didn't understand why. He ignored it though, it was but a sting in his shoulder. Instead he could only keep looking at her and ease her mind with a smile. Once he got the bottle back, he drank from it too, then held onto it for now. "No, thank you.", he denied the food offered. He didn't have an appetite, but when did he ever?

There was no denying it: Both of them were meeting at the worlds end, at a crossroads that had no beginning in the first place, and they were attached to one another by each others hip. It helped little, she could discern, but worse than that, Otoha had to admit even more. In truth, she wasn't resting easy on the knowledge she had, hardly so, and she was forcing herself to enjoy something she had denied for years by now - she was choking on her own responsibilities, it seemed, and she clearly couldn't handle all that she was handled, even when all she fed herself was a handful of nuts that wouldn't be going anywhere, lest she finished them, which she doubted. "I'm being pretty harsh on you, I think I need to apologize a lot more than just once. Normally, you'd scold me by now, but there's nothing left of that. Can't say I miss it.", she admitted and packed the food away, knowing that too much would spoil the mood and too little wouldn't sustain a body that always hungered for more, yet was about as well-built as someone that called gruel their favorite meal of the day.

As she thought about it, she had to look toward Genji and mustered his body, up and down, up and down again, with the hopes of actually finding something out about him. How long until he'd mess up? How much time until he'd hurt himself, blow his own head clean off, kill himself in a way that truly mattered? This man wasn't helping himself in the slightest bit, and worse yet, he wasn't doing the utmost that he could be doing - no, this was getting silly, and Otoha understood that she was probably trusting the wrong man in the first place, especially by giving him too much of her undivided attention. "Are you sure? You look emaciated. When was the last time you nourished your body? Just because sickness won't kill you doesn't mean that your body doesn't need to sustain itself; eat something, pretty please?", she pleaded with him and was reminded of a lesser time, when her own words meant so little, it almost hurt to consider it to be any different than what it would be at any other point in life. Oh, how sweet silence could be, no?

"No... you aren't. Mikuni is the one I worry about... he is just a boy caught in the middle of two immortal beings... We should try and consider his feelings as well. All of this frightens him, but with time I'm sure he'll be able to keep up.", Genji answered with another soft smile. He didn't remember Otoha, but his cheeks felt a bit hot anyway. He knew that he missed her like nothing else in this world. Now that he found her again, he knew that she was everything to him a long long time ago. He was happy to have her back and now that they sat there, done with bickering and sharing a calm moment, a break from all the hardships, he felt happy. How long had it been since he felt happy? That too was lost on him, but he was sure, that it had been a very, very long time. For a moment he thought he remembered something. They sat on a tree before, not in a forest, but on a meadow - an apple tree to be exact. Maybe they spent a calm afternoon there?

Genji looked at her pleading face and gave in. He nodded and took the bag from her to reach inside and put some nuts in his own mouth as well. He forced the nursihment down his throat without saying anything. Everything tasted the same to him, or rather like nothing at all, like a muddy substance and thus he simply quickly swallowed a bit of food until he thought both his body and otoha were happy about the food intake. After he hung the back on a thinner branch and secured the bottle as well. The birds were still singing around them, proof that the curse wasn't very strong right now. He couldn't help but look at Otoha for a while, wondering if any other memory would emerge eventually, anything really. If they spent enough time together, maybe he'd been able to remember more about both of them. "Do you... want to tell me about them...? Our children...?"

There was nothing to be learned or gained from something like this - actually, there wasn’t even a way out of the maw of Genjis monstrous words and Otoha contemplated just letting those two idiots fend for themselves, but she realized it probably was a bad idea. Poor Genji, always concerned about those around him but not himself, and sad Genji, always preoccupied with the things in his own head but never those in his heart - hopefully, it stung an awful lot and perhaps, Otoha could have appreciated those words more if they weren’t like that, though, it didn’t seem to be that way. “Concerned about him, huh? Talk about you being a bad father … you never were, and even now, you’re concerned with that kid? That’s sweet of you.”, she told Genji with quite the smile plastered across her face, as she watched him eat and let her own legs dangle over the branch, downward, which was the direction that her eyes darted toward. The crunching she heard was enough to keep her in higher spirits; seeing that her husband wasn’t forsaking himself entirely helped.

With a yawn she announced her departure to the dreamland, or at least was trying to, but she couldn’t, not when her balance was swept under the rug like that and Genji called her back - demanded her attention in one sad but swift move. What was going on? Why did this guy ask so much of her and give so little? Otoha shook her head, let the cascade of words crush upon her and smiled with the slightest semblance of regret. “There’s too many of them, it would be futile to make you recall all their names, but I remember our youngest like it had been yesterday. She had blonde hair like yours and the more she grew, the more she spoke about conquering the world for you, once you’re old and need someone capable to support you. Now that I think about it, she always tried to outpace you and every playfight you had ended in a disaster because she didn’t want to lose to you, which she would have, if you didn’t let her win, but if she knew you did it on purpose, she’d throw a tantrum. Cute as a button but just as deceptive as the devil himself … too bad we didn’t have much time with her, but her brothers were much worse anyway.”

Otoha didn't seem concerned with Mikunis life, which she has stolen away. It had to hit someone and Genji was glad Otoha lived in the same realm as him, but he still pitied that poor boy. What if she left his body for another? Would Mikuni die...? He didn't sare ask and instead slightly shook his head. "I can't imagine being a father..." He looked too young and was too old. The looks part was something Otoha envied about him, huh? How upset would she have been if they grew old together, when she was all wrinkly and Genji still looked like a young man? "The first child... did we plan on having children...?", Genji aked further and he didn't believe that was the curse. Even now he was scared he could pass some of this curse on and besides that, he wouldn't even have thought a cursed soul to be able to produce offspring. Then again, he knew nothing about the man Otoha called her husband and he couldn't fathom his thoughts. Maybe it was of no concern to his, given that he lived mostly unbothered by the curse in the first place.

"You're tired, I'm sorry, we don't have to talk.", Genji quickly stated. A tree wasn't exactly a good place for a nap, unless one tied themselves to it, but Otoha also didn't want to sleep on the ground as it seemed. The sun stood high still, but Genji was sure they could afford a break. They left the monastery quicker than they probably had to. It took time to gather men and equipment. He thought about offering up to hold her, but he didn't dare for a multitude of reasons. "Old...? Me...? Did we never tell them about...?", he asked surprised. He didn't age and he believed the reason to be the same regenerative power the curse possessed that closed his wounds once it grew that far. It made him wonder if he'd grow older if the curse couldn't take foot, because he killed a lot, but he didn't think so. He remembered living with this curse for years right after he got it and he noticed something was off, not because the dark spot swallowed his body, but because he didn't look different after years. "We didn't have much time with her...?" She said she didn't know what happened after her death. Did she still think something happened to them? Or Genji?

Revelations of that matter were partially the least of her concerns and Otoha knew that she was playing a game with herself and Genji if she kept that charade up. Surely, it helped little if the two of them were glued to a narrative that one of them spun and the other ate it out of her hands as if she were a king, commanding an army to forget all they'd seen, lest they'd face the wrath of an entire kingdom that was trailing after them. Yes, in a sense, that was what made everything messier than it had to be, but otherwise, there was nothing that the two of them would have to worry about. In any way. "And I could never imagine being a mother, but here we are, and it happened, whether we wanted it to or not, any kind of regrets are too late now and we both know that.", she murmured and made her standpoint clear: Those children existed, once upon a time, but neither of them were cursed with immortality or forced to ascend to the high heavens. Therefore, they were but fragments of remembrance and the two of them, both Otoha and Genji, had no one they could question about the years that they both spent in the void of nothingness that came closer and closer, tying a noose around both of their necks in a vile effort of making things work out for them. "Not really, our first just happened and after that, well, one is quite a lonely number, I'd say."

"No need to be, I myself am not tired, but as I said, this body is and I can't quite heal fatigue in the blink of an eye.", she lamented, rather earnestly too, and she had to admit, if it weren't for that, maybe she'd sink down below into a pit of shame, with all those feelings and misunderstandings welling up within her if she gave them a little bit of time, much like Genji in the years that had passed since they first met one another and much like the happiness that neither of them felt without one another, she was sure. There was no room for that, though, not anymore, and Otoha let go of a sigh as she fathomed that and realized just how sad all of that had to seem to outsiders, now that the truth had become reality and the two of them were lamenting their little stund with utmost sincerity. "No, we never really ... well, some of them kind of knew, but in the end, we just kept to ourselves, mostly? at least in a way. We didn't want them to know too much or be able to confer too much upon others, should someone get ahold of them. We weren't exactly liked, you know.", she giggled as she thought about it and looked Genji in the eyes, almost as if this man would be able to understand what exactly the problem at hand was and had become not too long ago. "Yes, neither of us. Well, not because anything bad happened, really. We just had to send her away for a bit, but by the time she came home, I'm fairly sure neither of us was around. Poor little one."

"I didn't say I regret any of it...", Genji mumbled. He didn't. Not that he knew of. What evil could it bring to have and raise children, especially if they were not afflicted by the curse? They were probably the only good he ever procured. Would he want children again? No, not with him being as unstable as he was and with him losing most of his memories. The day he met Mikuni already started to fade as well, but he went over everything that happened since then in his head over and over again, so he'd remember. He didn't know what happened to him or his brain, but it had been 800 years, way too much for anyone to handle probably. Maybe he had the same thoughts before, had more children with someone else and forgot about them, he wouldn't know. "How many children did we have...?", he asked next. He couldn't even remember that, such a simple, but very important thing. Why were there no records, what happened to them? He didn't hurt them, did he? No, he wouldn't, couldn't, right?

"Then I shall let you both rest nonetheless.", Genji replied. When they'd move on he'd carry both bags. Instead of letting her rest however, it seems he reminded Otoha of things she wanted to forget. Of her kids, their little girl she never saw again. One might argue Genji had it better, by not really knowing what he'd lost whereas Otoha knew exactly what he had to leave behind. "I... I can't say I understand... but going by what you told me we must have been together for at least ten years, twenty more likely...? At this point I find it hard to believe no one noticed that I never changed...", Genji answered her, confused by the sudden eye contact and he found it hard to hold it up. Eventually he caved in and his eyes searched for somewhere else to look to. "Why did we...? No, nevermind. I'm asking too many questions, I'm sorry." Eventually he'd forget it again, there was really no point and he didn't want to hurt Otoha by asking too much.

„And I’m rather glad you don’t, otherwise I’d have started doubting half your reasoning for wanting to know about them in the first place. I don’t like being played with, but I’m sure you’re aware of that.“, she chastised Genji with a supple, soft smile of her own, not thinking that anything would come of their little exchange. Not a smidge of memories would flow into this guys brain, he’d just accept more and more unnecessary information as a fact and maybe even beat himself up about it, judging by the way that he acted right now and behaved, too. There was little either of them could do about the lost children and the forgotten time they shared with one another in a quite crude sense, but they also had to move on eventually and now was the perfect time for that, was it not? „Lots. We probably called six or seven our own by blood, but there were more that we simply called our children by flesh and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. We needed them, as much as they needed us, there really wasn’t a way around it and it also secured that we had enough people around us that could trust.“ Child soldiers that lived into adulthood were quite he cheap but amicable solution. They had no family and Genji and Otoha had their own, thus, they shared with the less fortunate.

„What a gentleman you are, but I assure you, it won’t be long until we can continue onto our way. Don‘t worry too much about Mikuni, will you? Otherwise I‘d think you are smitten with and not me. That would hurt me.“, she lamented but said nothing more in regards to something as silly as their little affair about whoever it was that Genji liked so much more than his dear Otoha. It was nobody’s business at this point and now that she was feeling the drowsiness set into Mikunis body, she no longer was sure if this had been the best of decisions or if she, above all, was simply due for a new and improved vessel. „We loved one another lots, we were together for quite some time, but I don’t recall how long it was myself, exactly. Probably around the twenty year mark, though, which also means, however old you were, be glad you got your hands on a young wife like me!“ Even if Genji outclassed her in terms of age, Otoha still had loved him like any other and was definitely still reaching out towards him, now that they were so close. „Would you mind holding me for a bit?“

Otoha liked to throw subtle threats in Genjis direction. He noticed it, but wasn't doing anything about it. He simply figured it was her way of speaking, her humor. After all, he didn't remember much of her and he didn't know what was normal for her and what not. Still, he felt like she resented him a bit, for not being who he was and who he wanted and for not becoming that man either. He had changed too much and it seemed their values didn't align with eachother anymore. She didn't need to help him, she owed him nothing after all and he'd leave if she so wished it. At the same time she resented Mikuni and Genji questioned if he furthered it, by trying to stand up for him, when the poor guy couldn't even defend himself. Talking bad behind his back seemed wrong. It also stroke him as odd that a mother wouldn't remember how many children she carried to term. He wanted to believe that those who weren't their blood were loved equally and yet he still wondered about her not knowing specifically. Genji was the last who could blame her though, he didn't remember a single one of them. Maybe even a goddess wasn't immune to time.

It fit her in any case. Otoha was about to become a goddess and she knew. Providing for others was probably what she always wanted and Genji believed what she told him. "I'm nothing of that sorts.", he quickly answered, looking at the goddess that seemed to love playing with him. For now he stopped the questioning, even though he wondered how they met exactly. He couldn't imagine falling in love with anyone, even less could he imagine allowing himself to admit to any feelings, given who he was. It didn't matter though, he knew he loved her, he felt it, even though the feeling might have faded with time too. The connection they shared was still there though. When Otoha asked to be held, Genji hesitated. He didn't want to intrude, for Mikunis sake, but it was a rather simple request and gave them both a chance to rest. "I don't mind.", he eventually answered and for Otoha not having to move too much, he got up from his own little branch and climbed behind her, once she made a bit of room for him. "You can lean back and rest... I'll make sure you won't fall.", he offered, although he only hesitantly but his arms loosely around their body.

Genji was such a sappy man now, she couldn't really believe that she once loved him, and yet, she couldn't blame herself for liking him either. It was, what it had to be, and quite frankly, she wasn't above denying herself something as simple as love - she still had feelings for him, she realized, and with all those feelings came the realization that she, too, wasn't immune to any of his charades, let alone the mess she made of him in the process. There was little the two of them could do like this, and worse yet, there was even less that either of them needed to be doing at this point. Instead, she waited for him to accept her as she was and sunk into his embrace once he finally came closer and decided that she'd sleep right ten and there, and nobody would be able to take that from her in any capacity. Hell, she was comfortable right here and now and there was little anyone could do about that, whatever they tried, they were simply outmatched by her and her idiotic love for a man that ceased his existence long ago. "Don't let us rest for too long, though.", she murmured, rather determined to take a nap up here to avoid any more awkward confrontations with a man that simply knew too little and asked too much.

Otoha closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoyed the bliss that she felt now that her body was pressed against Genjis and those strong arms lay around her like some sort of protective layer that she couldn't quite get out of, even when the grip on her own body was a rather light one. "Now, don't be shy, hold me close.", she murmured and tossed, turned on the branch even so she could lean back into Genjis arms and forget how boney and stupid Mikunis body was - he didn't have any curves, no flesh to help with anything! Every move felt like it hurt the bone directly, simply because this guy was, well, a guy, and lanky at that, but she still found something rather amicable - a position she could rest in fairly well and one that dragged her even closer to Genji. She didn't say much more, and instead slipped away, into a land of dreams, or rather a moment of respite. It wasn't for long and her body didn't give her all that much time for a nap - she knew it would be that way - but it happened either way, without much ado as well. Once she rose, though, she felt groggy, and hardly like herself.

Otoha made herself comfortable in his arms and once she prompted him to hold her tighter, he did. It was a strange feeling to hold Otoha in his arms. It felt unreal and he felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders, yet at the same time he felt some foreboding fear inside of him. Maybe he was afraid of losing her again. His heart felt heavy in this moment and eventually he was left alone with his thoughts. He rested his head on Otohas shoulder, holding her evermore and thinking about the things she told him. None of it sounded like a life he had, or one he could ever have. She knew a different person, one Genji didn't want to be in the first place and she... was she different to back then? Genji couldn't tell. He couldn't tell what being a goddess and being immortal did sto someone like her, he only knew that immortality killed himself and changed him, maybe for the better, maybe not. They weight lifted from his shoulders shifted to his heart and it felt heavy holding Otoha like this.

So many things sounded off, so many things didn't make any sense to him and the books in the library told a completely different story. Otoha was nothing he could confide in, but then again, he didn't have anyone like that for hundreds of years. it was hard to him to adjust to being around others and he blamed himself for every awkward interaction or Otohas anger and frustration. He wasn't used to any of this and he doubted he would be anytime soon. The sun moved a bit while they sat in this tree, the birds kept singing and Genji wanted to wake Otoha after about an hour, but she woke up by herself. Genji lifted his head from her shoulder once he realized and his grip grew lighter. Maybe it was Mikuni instead and he'd yell at Genji again. "How was your rest? Do you want to keep going...?", he asked whoever awoke right now, making sure they wouldn't fall off the tree.

There was lots and lots of silence thereafter, with Otoha knowing that she had to crawl out of there, leave the world be and tell Genji that she was fine - instead, she was dragged underwater, drowned in her own brainfluid and couldn't help but wonder how she got there. Was it her own inability to keep this body together, with a mere mortal soul in it? Or did she just throw herself into disarray, simply because her thoughts were jumbled? Maybe it truly was better for someone like Genji to not question her, her motives or anything that she did, but alas, she could hardly tell him - in her own dreams no less - that she wasn't up for all those tasks he tossed at her feet and all those ideas that he simply tossed at her head. Mikuni seemed confused too, at the very least when he laid eyes upon who visited him in his own head, in an echochamber of his very own feelings and thoughts, tied down to the worst of it, in chains, all quite apparent and yet not there at all. Their entire exchange was wordless, as they were nothing but constructs of thoughts and someones wild imagination. And like a wave from the treacherous ocean, everything washed over them, leaving the choice up to the die of fate.

In the blink of an eye, there was nothing, but as their eyelids fluttered, there was a weird mix of colors in front of their eyes and something sinister was approaching in the distance, at least the clouds would tell them as such, and their own boredom would soon make up for all the things they couldn't fathom. "Ah?", their voice stuck in a perpetual state of untangling, almost as if the two souls in the same body had been scrambled like a pair of eggs and folded into one another, forced to untangle themselves. At this point, everything was rather fishy, but their body hurt and their eyes fell upon what Genji was - a man that held them close. Softly, their fingers grasped upon the blondes arm, traced every milimeter of it that it could touch, and then, it chuckled. Too coy for Otoha, too shy for Mikuni. Frankly, whoever they were, they seemed to be in much less of an annoyed state than what they could be. Something was up, clearly, but maybe that wasn't obvious to Genjis naked eye, or anyones. "Tumultous.", the thing informed Genji, marbling at its own fingers, once it held its hand up toward the sky. This was no comfortable resting place. "Let us get down first, I think I could use something more to drink, and a minute or two to gather my ... our ... thoughts."

Genji wasn't quite sure who awoke, but since they brushed over his arm, he assumed it was Otoha. They didn't look well rested, but Genji couldn't get a good look on their face either. Instead he waited for them to answer and eventually nodded. He slowly stood up, while wrapping one arm around their waist again and pulling them up as well. He quickly grabbed the nuts and water, then turned to them. "Hold on.", he said, not that he would let go, it was more a warning, that he'd jump now and so he did. With air forming under his feet, repelling him from the ground, they fell a bit, then stopped and then fell the last few centimeters to the ground. He carefully let go of the human body in his arms. "Can you stand...?", he asked, before letting go completely, he didn't want them to topple over right away, not when they looked tired and maybe a bit confused. "You look tired.", he pointed out and handed them the remaining water. They had more in the bags, but eventually they'd have to refill the bottles.

They'd find a stream eventually, he was sure, maybe even a city, though Genji wanted to be careful, yet it seemed like Otoha and Mikuni could use a good bed, not sleep up the trees. They still had some daylight left to keep walking and maybe find a suitable place to rest. A cave would be preferable. Genji didn't want to light a fire lest they would be spotted from far away, but the nights weren't that cold and he packed plenty of blankets so Otoha and Mikuni could build themselves a nest that was akin to a real bed. Genji was used to uninhabitable places, but not Mikuni and Otoha complained about this vessel enough as it was. besides, a goddess sleeping on the floor was already akin to a sin, right? Come to think of it, Genji didn't even know anything about Otoha as a goddess, about what she stood for and how people prayed, besides the blood sacrifices... Would that have tainted her soul...? Did she have one?

Neither of them wanted to awake, no, really, both of them had dignity and they didn't want to be one, awake at the same time, confined to the same space that they always found themselves in when something didn't work out for either of them. The waves of yesteryear washed over them, crashed into them as if they didn't have any choice, and both of them were so focused on keeping themselves composed, they barely registered what was happening around them in the first place. Only when Genjis voice finally hit their eardrums did they realize, they weren't all alone, passed out on some fucking tree in a landscape they didn't understand - they couldn't help it, heck, they were definitely aware of their own predicament, as soon as they finally found footing and stretched themselves. Water and nuts, not their favorite, but they scarved it down like they had been starving for way too long. "I am tired. I can stand. Something is just ... wrong.", they lamented, and they viewed Genji in a weird light. A confidant and yet a stranger, nothing more and nothing else, but eternally glued to them like some sort of shadow that wouldn't just fade from their minds.

As they finally arrived in the real world, they couldn't say that they were quite happy about any of that - they knew this body like their own, but their mind was tossing and turning, trying to come up with something, an explanation or an idea of some sort. But whatever the case, whatever the decision, neither of them could figure it out, and thus, they looked at Genji like a deer would gaze into the eyes of danger, just before it could outrun its pursuer. Should they tell? No, no, that wasn't ... that was too much, they had other things to deal with, and this way, it was better, too - they could seek out what they were searching for, even as their body ached. "We should get going.", they murmured as they grabbed their own backpack and glossed over the fact that they didn't even want to carry this; they should, and they were dutybound, but on the other hand, did they really have to adhere to their own, made-up rules? Surely. "Hm ... something on your mind?", was a question they gurgled up in regards to Genji, who seemingly was about as uneasy as the vessel was, mashed and morphed together, like some half-broken claypot that had been salvaged.

Otoha, or Mikuni didn't look right. Genji couldn't tell who it was, both maybe, or he lost his edge. He felt like he was able to tell the two of them apart, but now he had troubles doing so. They stated it too. "I can see that. Maybe you should sit down again.", Genji answered with worry in his voice and eyes. He stayed close to them, in case they needed help, but for now they only took water and food and jugged both of it down. Genji left them for just a second to grab a second bottle of water from their bags and offered it up. "We don't need to rush, really.", he tried to argue, but Otoha, or Mikuni took their bag already. Genji followed suit and quickly took it off of them again. "Let me carry the bags at least. It's no trouble.", with that he already brought both of them in his possession and stored the rest of the water and food in one of them. Something was off and he rather didn't have them fall off a cliff or just stumble over some roots.

"I don't want you to get hurt should we keep going.", Genji answered still very worried. "Your mind is not your own, is it? I know how that feels all too well..." Not that he shared his with a sentient being, but the curse had its way to cloud his mind and judgement when it grew too strong. Mikuni and Otoha shouldn't be fighting though. He doubted Mikuni was able to control his mind like Otoha did. "Otoha... why don't you rest for a while... let Mikuni go on for a bit.", he suggested. Maybe it would ease both their minds. Mikuni told him otoha has never been present like this before, wherever he his his consciousness, it was probably confusing to him to not reign over his own body and maybe Otoha needed to regain her strength after all.

This definitely wasn’t where they saw themselves, not once in a thousand years, but for real, Mikuni couldn’t figure out his own body and Otoha couldn’t help but wonder how they wound up in this predicament. A situation like no other, just for the two of them, just like this, just because; just like that, everything had happened and the two of them had made a mess of themselves, become one, something that was both idiotic and unstable, but who was to blame them? Something was wrong and their souls reacted accordingly - they wore a glassy look on their face and looked at Genji with a suspense of disbelief, all the while they couldn’t help but smile, bright at that, and let themselves be helped. Without further ado, really, they were able to plop down on the ground and looked upward, gazing upon the most beautiful man they had ever met, though, they couldn’t turn that into words. „This just happened … whyever. We don‘t get it, do you?“, they questioned, clearly the best of both worlds, while their own gears were turning in tandem, so close and yet so far from one another, doing their best and making the most amount of mistakes while they were at it.

„Oh, no, it isn’t, well, it is, but not like that. Uh, it‘s, hm. How do I even explain that?“, they asked and tried to come up with a metaphor. Otoha was about to shove one down Mikunis throat, but this dude wasn’t having it, instead, they both weren’t even warring - their standing was rather united, it seemed, and everything was a blurry mess that joined together. Why? They didn‘t have four eyes, and much less of an idea of how this even happened, ugh. „Otoha?“, they looked up at Genji and shook their head. „Wrong one. But I don‘t really feel like Mikuni either.“ Confusion was one tactic, wasn’t it? Now, it wasn’t intended for whatever was going on with them, but it clearly was the best explanation to keep anything from making sense. Surely, all of this had some sort of semblance, some weird root in someone else’s mind - some sort of grounded explanation, but, no. „I can’t quite figure out how to undo it, either. I, uh, we? Are fine, if you want to go on. Uhm, but only if you‘d like to? We don’t need to hurry all that much!“, they proposed almost excitedly as they got back upon their feet.