mutual hatred [c]

Rock and stone littered the area, reflecting grey against a similarly dark sky. Storm clouds rolled over the mountains, blanketing them in the dull shades that foretold a storm. What sparse trees clung to life on the cliff sides swayed in an increasingly fierce wind, their barren branches reaching up towards the sky as if in a plea for mercy.

Yuuichirou, with a hand raised against the wind, glared out from atop an outcropping, trying to figure out exactly where he was because it sure as hell wasn't Japan.

He'd woken up a short time ago in a confused daze, his head absolutely killing him and his body feeling like it'd been through a war with a dozen vampire nobles. The last thing that he could remember was laying down in the shack that he and his family had set up as their shelter for the night- and that was nowhere to be seen.

Neither was any of his family.

Admittedly, considering everything that he'd been through recently for them, the realization that they were missing had sent Yuuichirou into a slight panic. Were they safe? Were they alright? The question of their safety came before his own- it was only after he'd managed to mentally talk himself down into realizing that they were surely fine considering that the last time he'd seen them was safely asleep. Only then had he properly thought to think about where he was- and how the hell he'd wound up here.

Gone were the familiar sights of- well, anything. All he could see here for miles was just mountains, rocks, trees, and more mountains. With his current elevation he could see fairly far- currently he was trying to get higher up so that he'd be able to see if there were any cities or towns nearby. But the encroaching storm was kind of worrying him- it wasn't exactly a great idea to be on a mountaintop during one of those.

So for now, the current plan was to find some sort of cave or overhang where he could take shelter until the storm had passed, then continue on.

Maybe Mika and the others had somehow wound up near here too...

But seriously. Where was here? And why was here here? The idea of it being an Asuramaru-induced hallucination had already been cleared out- the demon was just as confused as Yuuichirou was. The only thing that he could assure him of was that this place- whatever it was- wasn't Japan.

Helpful.

Continuing to explore the mountainside, Yuuichirou kept his eyes carefully peeled for both shelter and the possibility of an ambush. He didn't know what kind of creatures lurked here after all. (Although he hadn't seen any Horseman of the Apocalypse and they were way too big to hide, so that was a relief at least in some ways.) But it was also kind of worrying since now he really had no idea of what to expect.

His hand was kept securely on Asuramaru's sheath. It was kind of comforting- he was honestly surprised at how much he'd come to rely on the demon over these past few months.

A dark blob in the distance caught his attention. Closer, it revealed itself to be a small cave, far back enough in the mountainside to protect against both wind and rain. Checking it, he was fairly certain that it wouldn't collapse on top of his head either. So at least now he had shelter. And judging by the ambient light, it must be evening.

Collecting what pitiful wood supply he could from the sparse trees, Yuuichirou started a fire near the entrance of the cave, to provide both light, heat, and safety. Settling back, his back against the wall, Yuuichirou watched as the smoke rose up, occasionally being wisped away into the sky by the winds.

He doubted sleep would come tonight.

A rock rough terrain and a weather that was not the most welcoming, truly this was not the most welcoming of arrivals for the sharply dressed man named Hazama. Traversing around the worlds throughout the darkness that were formed by the heartless, Hazama had been able to see his fair share of worlds. While there were a huge amount of worlds he had yet to see, most of the worlds he had been to were those of towns and cities. This world unfortunately for Hazama, was nothing like this. The place he had appeared in was more so a natural range, and definitely not the pretty scenery kind. There were dead trees and rocks all over the place and while Hazama could appreciate a scenery filled with death, but the lack of it being actual people doing the dying kind of made the feeling moot.

“My my, such a barren world…” Hazama said holding his fedora on top of his head as he looked around despite his eyes being closed as usual. There surely had to be some form of civilization around, otherwise it would make his job a whole shit load more easier. Deciding to begin searching out this civilization, Hazama proceeded to walk forward through the mountainous range in order to at least find something of interest. Of course traversing through this greatly rough terrain was not hard in the slightest, it was still a pain in the ass to do so. For Hazama he enjoyed the more urban setting and at the moment he just wished to take a bath at least.

As he walked along the winds begun to increase, causing the green haired man to hold his hat more tightly. “Of course…you’ve gotta make thing much more annoying for me, don’t you” Hazama said with a sigh at the weather as he opened one eye and looked ahead, noticing a cave up ahead. “Oh? I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check it out and wait for the weather to stop being a little bitch…” Hazama said nonchalantly as he walked on towards the cave and entered.

Silently he walked deep into the cave, walking into the darkness nonchalantly without a care in the world. In his hand a ball of light formed due to a minor light ars magus he used as he walked deeper and deeper into the cave until he came to a halt. “Dead end…still, kinda sends shivers under your skin, wouldn’tcha say buddy? Whoops I guess you can’t” Hazama said cheerfully to a skeleton resting on a wall nearby. Clenching his fist, the ball of light vanished and Hazama let out another sigh, disappointed that he couldn’t find anything of interest.

Calmly and slowly he made his way back towards the entrance. Though he walked on through the darkness, he truly didn’t mind it as a few seconds was absolutely nothing compared to the time in the boundary. As he began to get close to the entrance Hazama raised an eyebrow as he noticed somebody ahead near the entrance setting up a flame. “Oh? A guest?” Hazama said, his voice echoing slightly due to the cave. Walking out of the darkness he walked up to the stranger and smiled happily as he spread out his arms happily “Welcome to my humble and very temporary abode! I’d ask you to make yourself at home though I already see you have!” Hazama said cheerfully.