Mazed

[Zero]

He's lost...again. How can it be possible for an 18-year-old to lost his sense of direction, just because he can't read signboards? Zero muttered expletives out of his lips silently, wandering around aimlessly under the striking heat of the afternoon.

This had happened to him several times already. There are moments when his buddy/guide, Hunter, forgot about him and left the boy to do his own business. In the end, it's always the same thing; Zero trudging down an unknown path tired and hungry till someone who's familiar to him found him in the middle of the road and drag him back to Veyyard.

Now that he has a phone, this happens rarely recently. He can always call whoever it is that was on his speed dial to come and guide him home. Though by a stroke of awful luck, it ran out of battery a few hours ago.

Zero kicked a rock out of his way, sourly passing by the window of a restaurant. He merely took a glance inside and walked pass, but then he suddenly paused. Turning around back to the window, he peered inside. He thought he saw a familiar face, and a familiar face is crucial for him to get back home.

A black-haired girl enjoying her meal with some...miniature dragon thing. Zero's eyes brightened and went inside the restaurant briskly. While he made his way towards this person, he tries to remember where exactly did he saw her last, and what's her name.

It's too late though since he's already at her table. pausing right beside the lady. "Uhm.." he tried to attract her attention to turn to look at him, "Hey, have we met before..?" That was the best thing he could come up with to cover his mistake of forgetting this girl's name, apparently.


[Tag Saiya]

[Saiya]

Saiya, despite the fact of continuous traveling and meeting acquaintances, still needs to treat her tummy and her Gwen some foods. And while entering the city of Kumo, the asian place have been like a suaving memory passes down her thought. The placed is just exactly like where she lives -albeit the darkness-. Also the place in her master is exactly like this... so joyous and Asian people were there too.

So, with the nice and good ambiance, she grinned and hopped onto the most good smelling food restaurant. Shi wu. She looked at the restaurant and look at her black fire lizard. "So, Gwennie... what would be your pick. I missed this kind of foods," she let out, suddenly ordering as Gwen picked too. Some small meat bun, while Saiya picked some heavy meal. Yea, she can eat those big meals but stay as fit with some fats on perfect sides. She ordered a Pork Tempura with sauce, dumplings, and the restaurant offered an unlimited rice which she takes as well, and some chicken barbeque.

Her eyes were so gleaming in delight at the delicacies she bought. She took a sit at a not seen much place and place their foods. "Ahh... such a nice view and food, ne Gwen??" she let out, arranging the things as Gwen 'kyuu'-ed and eat her meat buns. "Itadakimasu!" she let out, chopsticks on her hand as she gets a cut pork.

Just as she was about to munch the scrumptious food, a voice of a guy butted in. Her mouth were still hanged, and her hand with chopsticks directed on her mouth. She blinked owlishly, but suddenly eyes narrowed. The 'un'gentleman -slash- guy best friend of Mitsuko way back from the Inn is here... she bite her food and munch it.

He was asking if he have met her, well duh! Her eyes were blank, the gleam of delight still remains but a little piece. Though... for Mitsuko's sake... she can be... kind. "Ah right... you're that ungentleman guy who seems to closely want me strangle, ne?" she let out 'sweetly', giving the guy her famous 'sweet' smile. Her eyes yet once again close. "Were you lost?" she straight-forwardly asked, seeming to read his mind.

[Zero]

Since Zero has no memory of this girl, at least for now, he just blinked in confusion, "Eh? ..Did I do something wrong?" He honestly can remember where he even met her, or what he did to her apparently. Zero was told that he has horrible memory when he's in one of those jerkface-phases of his.

Still, Zero tried to remember though. His eyes gazed upwards and his hand unconsciously scratched his hair, actually he looks like a little boy when he's trying to think. "Hmm...I'm sorry, I can't recall if I ever wanted to strangle you.." He responded, still rather confused. "Or...where have I seen you, for that matter."

He kind of missed the 'sweet' aura Saiya is letting off, but he perked up when Saiya read his mind guessed right of why he's even here in the first place. "Oh! Yeah. I thought I should ask someone, and since your face is the only familiar one here, I thought I could ask yo--" He paused all of a sudden, only NOW sensing the aura.

Yes, Zero is THAT slow, actually.

"Wait. Do you hate me?" He asked directly. A lot of people do, so whatever her answer is, it won't surprise him much.

[Saiya]

Saiya once furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but then changed her features into those light mood. The man still stood there, and that ain't proper. "Ah... my bad, please do take a sit..." she let out, offering the chair just beside them. Albeit the last event the man have given to her with such rude acts. She can be still... hostile.

She look up at Zero, and shook her head. Eyes close yet still aware of the event happens in the place. "Please... don't judge me by that word. I do not hate someone or somebody yet at the moment," she replied and smiled. "It seems that you have been... lost for quite sometime. How about I offer you some of our food we bought?" being true to herself, she offered the guy some chicken barbeque towards him.

"I am Mizuho Saiya by the way... if you still haven't remember yet," she introduces to himself.

[Zero]

When Saiya offered him a seat beside her, Zero shook his head and immediately refused, "No, no, that's okay. I don't want to--" But then a waiter passed by him and accidentally rammed his shoulder, knocking Zero down with the boy effectively landing on the seat beside Saiya.

"HEY! That FREAKIN HURTS!!" He turned around angrily back at the waiter, who was shocked by what he's done and bowed in apology at the hot-tempered guy. Now that he got the apology he wanted, Zero turned back to look at Saiya, who then offered him some food.

"Huh? Wait, no, I can't." The brown-haired guy then pushed the plate of chicken back at Saiya with the most polite nod he could manage, since he doesn't have anything against her for the moment. Rubbing the shoulder that got rammed a while ago, Zero blinked at her name. 'That certainly sounded familiar.'

But since he's naturally slow like that, it didn't strike his memory, at least for now. "Huh. Saiya...still don't remember, sorry. People call me Zero." It kind of stings him whenever he introduced himself, it's like saying "Hi, my name is nothing, I'm not of value or importance, so you can call me nothing~!"

Zero frowned at that mental thought for a short bit. 'What am I applying for? A stand-up comedy show? Damn, I'm getting lower and lower every minute of the day..' Snapping himself awake, he then focused his mind back to the very reason of talking to this girl. "Once you're done eating, can you possibly help me get back home?" He does sounded like a little boy no matter how he said that.

[Saiya]

She look at the brown haired guy amused at the behavior he gives at the waiter whom accidentally pushed him from where he seat now. Then towards her, she blinked in confusion? Now... not in confusion but in a mere questioning way of how his attitude quickly diverted in the snap then good way.

Her eyebrow raised in deep amusement, munching the slice pork tempura as she took some rice in her plate and eat as well. She looked at Gwen who seems to be hungry as well, done for the first small meat bun and ready to munch the other one.

The offered food was decline, Saiya eying the guy who politely declines the chicken barbeque. She shrugged her shoulders, suddenly with hearing his thought about his name, she stop eating, just looking at him straight in the eye. No matter how she wanted to never look in someone's thought. It seems that she can't do it and continuously done it so many times.

And here she was, now curious at the guy's name. "Unique name..." she commented, continuing to eat her food, not wanting to give such comments that might make the man angered. She blinked owlishly as she looks at Zero, his voice sounds to be childish as of that. She grinned, her eyes closed. "Well... I have loads of foods to eat, so you have to wait till I munch all this down, ne Doki-kun?"

[Zero]

Zero's a hothead, he's been told that many times in his life, but still at the same time, he's quick to forgive if a person apologizes to him properly. Properly, is the keyword. Thankfully, he's not really hungry at the moment, so he doesn't really want to bother this girl from her food.

It surprised him when he looked back at Saiya and found her staring at him all of a sudden. "Wh-what?" he asked, but only was responded by a compliment that his name was unique. "Huh..? Oh...um..thanks?" That was actually the first time anyone ever praised his name, so it sort of trapped Zero in a trance.

The bounty hunter turned to look at the table and the numerous amount of plates of food when Saiya commented that he has to wait for her to finish. He frowned, then looked around the restaurant, there's practically nobody that he recognized here except Saiya, "Huh. Not like I have any other options.. Wait. What the hell is a Doki-kun?"

Either way, he'll end up waiting then. It's better than being completely alone since he's not praticularly good with directions. 'This looks like it'll take a while... Maybe I should take a nap first.'

"Hey, Saiya." He called to her, tapping his hand on her shoulder to get her attention, just to tell her to wake him up after she's done eating, but Zero paused. 'Wait..' This seems familiar somewhat, his eyes blanked out for a bit. It seems as if Zero was stuck in a trance for a while, and once he was awaken from it, he pulled his hand off of Saiya's shoulder quickly.

"Hold on. Where have we meet again?" Just to make sure.

[Saiya]

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Zero, nodding as she continued to eat the food she ordered together with Gwen. Saiya has this ability to have a fast metabolism so she haven't been that fat or sort.

And Saiya enjoyed eating food, especially those that are Asian delicacies such as the food in front of them. She look over at Zero whom took a sit, asking her what's 'Doki-kun'. She couldn't help but grinned at his question. So he doesn't understand Japanese. Well that makes it easier and great.

"Oh... well that.... it's a nickname.. ^_^" she chirped happily, her eyes closed as she smiled at her answered.

Then with that, she continued eating, looking over at Gwen Saiya offered the said fire lizard some drinks. "Here Gwennie... this is your grape juice," she was busy to assist Gwen, when Zero suddenly taps his hand on her shoulder. She paused and look at him, her crimson eyes were big and seems to look at him innocently.

She blinked owlishly and tilted her head to the side. "Oh... at the Alamo Inn... we met together with Michi-chan," she answered bluntly, frowning in confusion. "Why, Doki-kun?"

[Zero]

Zero's eyebrows creased at her answer to his question. "Nickname? Well that's a downright stupid one.." He rolled his eyes, not really wanting to take part in one of these random discussions, so he leaned back on his chair's backrest.

"Huh, Alamo Inn...." Zero pondered blankly for a second or two, and then it hits him like a lightning striking a long pole. By the shock of remembering this, he had accidentally kicked himself backwards and his chair bumped onto the person behind him. The customer at the back snapped at him, but Zero's head was turned to Saiya.

"Oooohhhhhh!!!" He yelled, an index finger pointing to the demon, "You're that girl! With the creepy red eyes!!" He was so proud that he remembered her, he didn't take into account of the general noise-limit in this place. "Oh yeaaah, now I remember. You're the stubborn one who offers to heal my foot and I...scoffed...at you..."

Now that he remembered the whole thing fully, his voice fades in the end, realizing that he's been quite a jerk in front of her since he's so absorbed in his anger issue with Kankorou. "Aaaaahhhh...no wonder you hate me.." He nodded with a tapping finger on his chin, now linking back up all the missing pieces.

His eyes travelled somewhere else as he tapped his chin, but then they darted their way back to Saiya just to casually saying out a short simply, "Sorry," at her without the least bit of emotion displayed. "And stop calling me with that stupid nickname."

[Saiya]

She took a bit of the remaining pork tonkatsu she have as she watched Zero in deep thoughts. Her eyes glanced up at his, as she reads his mind. And she grinned at the fact, that Zero seems to try to remember her. And it hits him to where she have met him.

She grinned as Zero pointed at her accusingly. "Me? What?" she couldn't help but try to look at him innocently. And he even accused her of having those creepy red eyes. And that struck her a bit... bad. Ahh... so she does have something that nobody likes, eh? Especially her eyes. She grinned grimly, who could have thought anyone would like those eyes that are insanely red? But she shook her head to let her mind drifted away from that comment, "Doki-kun... I owe Mitsuko, that's why I stubbornly heals you." she pointed in an oh-so-obvious way.

"And I was pissed... which is surprisingly... because you acted so childish way back, Doki-kun," she added, emphasizing her nickname for him as Zero annoyingly commented not to continue calling him that.

[Zero]

Zero crossed his arms fiercely now that he remembers this girl, her red eyes are something that kind of stuck in his mind, on top of anything else. "Huh. Yeah. Whatever. That means, I don't have to thank you, right? Because you're doing it for Miki." He grinned, seeing the logic in his words.

At her recalling of how he acted back then, Zero's grin dies down, now remembering the very reason he was being 'childish' in the first place. "Hmn. Good to know my lack of maturity got you to use those red eyes properly," he scoffed, looking away. People who has red eyes could give out much more impact when they're angry, in Zero's point of view.

"And call me what you want, anything's better than my real name. Even thought it sounded stupid," Zero was in the mood for a quarrel anyway.

[Saiya]

She shrugged her shoulders about his logically yet childishly statement that he have just said while grinning. Looking up at him as his grin died down because of what comes next of her statement. She suddenly look at Gwen, the said fire lizard is full and content and she almost finish all the small meat buns.

She suddenly look at Zero, "Are you sure you won't join me from eating all of these?" taking another pork tempura, while eating it together with rice. She look at her almost half food... and there would be thirty minutes more to finish her own foods. "Using my red eyes? Do you find it weird I have this crimson eyes on my own?" she questioned, blinking owlishly as she munch her food. "Maybe you find this weird... especially my eyes because I'm not a human as do you, hmm?" she concluded and shrugged her shoulders.

She paused, gulping down her food, "Well you see, Doki-kun..." she stop and shrug her shoulders once again. Not wanting to continue some offended or statement she might have let out.

[Zero]

Zero was half-surprised as she's still going on asking him about the food on her table, "C'mon, don't be nice to me, I don't deserve it." No matter how much of a jerk he is, Zero is aware of his position in her eyes. He's just a bratty short-tempered child, so there's no reason for him to owe her more than he should.

Zero was then driven into more confusion when Saiya asked him a question regarding her strangely-colored eyes. "Of course I find it weird," he answered immediately without the slightest bit of pause. "And I already know you're not human with those...glowy healing hands of yours. Please, I know I'm an idiot, but I'm not that much of an idiot."

He did experienced first-hand of Saiya's healing ability, after all. Though he was much too angry that time to really realize what she's done to him. Now that he has his full rational thoughts, it's easy for him to make sense of what happened, as long as he remembers.

"You kept closing your eyes when it's totally unnecessary, so I find that weird. Then when I saw your eyes are piercing red, I thought that you're just making it weirder. Why are you hiding them?" He leaned back on his chair lazily, settling down with his legs stretched under the table and his hands crossed behind his head, "Just because it's weird, doesn't mean it's bad."

He takes in a deep inhale and closes his eyes before heaving out in a relaxed manner, "You can go all out on me, don't hold anything back. I can take it." Since he's genuinely not particularly angry at this girl, his wild snappings has a low chance of happening, so it's all good.

[Saiya]

She shook her head and giggled, "You're different now... so I should be nice too. Unlike the last time," she let out, closing her eyes and shrugging her shoulders as she munched her food. She paused, suddenly looking at Zero as he describes something of her eyes being in humane.

She smiled and closed her eyes once again. "Because beneath these red eyes lies so different stories... I shouldn't let anyone know," she uttered out, grinning as her eyes were close and never seen by anyone. "And... we have different views to what we call those of what we see. So... beats me," she trailed off, continuing to eat her foods.

"So Doki-kun... where were you heading again?" she suddenly asked, ignoring the latter part of his statement.

[Zero]

"Well duh, of course I'm different now," Zero frowned, settling himself on his chair comfortably and leaning on it. "It's because I owe you." That's right, Zero's the type that remembers each and every kindness people had done to him. He's also the type that paid them back twice the size.

"I can pay all these for you," he suddenly announced to her, his eyes closing as he sort of balanced his weight with the two hind legs of his chair, letting out a creak once in a while. Since he had remembered that she's the same girl that reminded him to stop being so hard on himself, indeed he's acting differently to her.

"Different stories, what are you blabbering about?" Sure his usual rudeness is still there, but his intention is genuinely good. "Sheesh, I'm not even asking you to lay down your whole past to me. So don't bother.." With both of his arms crossed behind his head, Zero leaned on his arms and chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Mn. Veyyard, at Arthera..." he answered with a sigh. "Can't find my way there. So can you drag me all the way over there, Saiya?"