"We were handling it." Yuki's jaw tightened as she felt a bit miffed by Victor's words, her tone being a bit defensive.
Victor didn't bother saying anything else as her just fixed her with a calm gaze making Yuki avert her eyes as she held the side of her arm, her defensive exterior cracking a bit.She knew he was right and that was precisely the problem.
" We were..." Yuki said softly almost stubbornly like she was trying to convince him more than herself.
"Sure."
That single word landed differently than she expected. There was no argument or frustration in his tone he just appeared like he could care less about the outcome of the conversation , it just felt like it didn't particularly matter to him either way.
Yuki wasn't sure why that bothered her.
"We're capable of taking care of ourselves." she added, because apparently she wasn't done.
Victor looked at her for a moment, then looked away, scanning the treeline. "I know."
He didn't even bother arguing or countering her words , as he just showed indifference.
This caused another silence to settle between that was both awkward and heavy and to Yuki it felt like she was the only caring too much and it miffed her.
Yuki was very much aware of how much Victor's indifference was bothering her as she deliberately released the grip on her sword and exhaled the breath she had been holding.
She had so much to say to him , at the same time she couldn't find anything to say to him, and this was eating away at her from the inside.
She had pictured the scenario in her head multiple times , more times than she would like to admit. And it really did go differently than in her head than what was happening now.
She hadn't expected to meet him her at all , out of 100 million people selected what was the chance that he got picked , not to mention be in the same zone as her. It almost felt like fate.
'Fate?... Heh' Yuki scoffed as she gazed at Victor's side profile and she heard the sound of Sakura wheeling herself towards their direction.
"Yuki—" Sakura was about to say something but Yuki cut her off with a glare making the purple haired girl pout as she turned her gaze to Victor and a mischievous smile formed on her face.
It was quickly replaced by a bright smile as she ignored the glare poking holes into the back of her head and wheeled herself over to Victor.
"Vic!~ " She called out cheerfully.
Victor blinked. He looked at her like he was recalibrating slightly, as he hadn't expected Sakura to act so familiarly to him despite the way Yuki was acting.
"...Sakura." he said carefully.
"You remember me." She looked genuinely pleased. "I wasn't sure since I was a quite girl the last time you came over."
"You threw a textbook at my head."
"You were being annoying." she said reasonably. "Yuki's words, not mine."
Yuki made a sound that wasn't quite a word.
Victor's lips twitched as he got flashbacks to how mischievous the girl before him was , at the same time he felt glad that she still retained her personality despite what happened.
"You don't sound happy to see me." Sakura pouted dramatically and crossing her arms across her chest which caused her boobs to jiggle and it was pretty hard for Victor to not look but he did control himself.
Sakura caught the glance and felt amused but didn't say anything.
"I'm happy to see you." he said, with an awkward smile remembering all the times Sakura cockblocked him and he prayed to God that she wasn't at home when he visited Yuki.
She laughed like she could read that thought directly off his face. "Liar. You have the same face you used to make when I'd sit between you two on the couch."
"You did that on purpose."
"Every single time." she confirmed cheerfully and completely without remorse. Her eyes swept over him as she took in his gear. "You look terrible by the way, that robe is genuinely ugly."
"It's functional..." Victor shrugged not feeling offended since the cotton robe did look like something a peasant farmer from a mediaeval fantasy series or movie wore.
"Hehe~ Im sure it is.." Sakura giggled feeling Yuki's death glare...
...
" What would we have down without you, My hero.." Sakura said with a swooning expression while holding her cheeks making Victor feel helpless and Yuki to clench her sword tighter.
"Don't."
"I'm serious." she pressed her hands together while her rose coloured eyes gazing at him with an innocent and pleading gaze. "Completely sincere,you were so cool~" She leaned forward slightly in her wheelchair, chin tilted up. "Pretty please , take us with you? We'll be so useful, I promise."
Victor's gaze went exactly where she intended for approximately half a second before he looked back at her face with the slightly pained expression of a man who had made this mistake before.
"Sakura." Victor groaned as he rubbed his forehead.
"Yes?" Sakura said in a completely innocent tone.
"Stop that." He just gazed at her deadpan.
She laughed, the sound feeling bright and genuine and dropped the act without any embarrassment whatsoever. "I missed you." she said, and that part was real. "Also we genuinely do need a party so I wasn't entirely lying. Pretty please?"
Victor exhaled. Rubbed the back of his neck helplessly as he glanced briefly at Yuki.
Which was a mistake.
" I don't mind... But what about your sister? " Victor asked in a curious tone.
"She agrees." Sakura said, without looking back.
" Sakura- " Yuki's voice came from behind and it held a sharp edge to it that was completely ignored by Sakura as she just smiled brightly at Victor.
"She doesn't look like she agrees." Victor's lips twitched as he caught a glimpse of Yuki's expression that got even colder.
Which made Victor wonder what he did to make her dislike him so much , was partying with him that bad , or was he that untrustworthy.
""She's just stunned by joy." Sakura said simply. "She'll agree once she gets over it." She gazed at Victor with a smile , while gazing at his side profile longer than necessary.
She really was happy that she got to meet Victor again and if Yuki wanted to be Tsundere then she can only blame herself, and it wasn't like Victor and Yuki were dating anymore.
"Fine..." He looked at Yuki one last time before turning away.
Sakura's smile turned triumphant as she spun her wheelchair around to face her sister.
Yuki was staring at her with an expression that promised consequences later.
' Totally worth it' Sakura thought cheerfully...
...
Yuki had made up her mind , she had let Sakura mess around enough and wouldn't let her sister make such a major decision on behalf of her.
Especially since the person in question was Victor, maybe it was pettiness , but Yuki didn't like Victor's indifference and she didn't want to agree so immediately.
'Maybe if he asked a few more times'
Yuki thought inside her mind as a flush crept up her ears.
Her exterior didn't match her interior at all , it was a classic case of a tsundere.
" About the party—" Sakura started to say in a serious tone but she was cut short by a sudden howl that made her stiffen as her hand instantly flew to her sword.
It wasn't close but it wasn't far either and what made the hair on Yuki's neck stand up wasn't the single howl but the fact that three more answered it almost immediately from different directions.
The clearing went quiet and Victor turned towards her and whatever Yuki had been about to say dissolved in her throat as she looked at his face. The carefully neutral expression he'd been maintaining since the start was gone and what replaced it was still a calm expression but it was a different kind of calm entirely.
His eyes scanned the surroundings as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"Stay with your Sakura." Victor said in an almost commanding way as he didn't bother arguing or suggesting, he just said what he wanted to and his tone left no room for refusal.
Yuki's first instinct was to offer a rebuttal but the way he looked at her and said those words made her feel a certain kind of way as all she could do was agree softly and her words came out more submissive than she liked."Fine..."
She knew that Sakura couldn't defend herself and relying on Victor was the best option here since there were multiple monsters and Victor had shown himself to be more than capable of handling such a threat so she didn't have to worry about him too much.
Not that she would!
...