Breaking The Ice With Tomoe

"That's good. Now help me get this Reaper off from my back!" exclaimed Tomoe, trying to shake off the poor child.

I made the fox hold still as I gently carried the boy off from the Kitsune's back and to a blanket laid on the ground by Bryan. With that done, Tomoe quickly transformed into his humanoid form and sat on the cold floor. The Kitsune was kind enough to start a small fire to keep everyone warm.

Since I didn't need to sleep, I offered to stay awake for the whole night to stand guard in case of enemy invasion. Bryan, despite his claims, was snoring soundly, with Raiyen slowly dozing off. So the only ones left awake were Tomoe and me, which made me increasingly uncomfortable.

"I'm not going to hurt you... Why do you always give me that look, Lady Lizzie?" asked Tomoe, finally breaking the silence.

"I'm always like this whenever I'm alone with someone unfamiliar. Besides, you've done things that I didn't like even though we had just met..." I complained, pouting.

"But I heard that you were very friendly with Bryan when you first met. So how does that work?" quizzed Tomoe, finding out my lie.

Oof... I guess that excuse doesn't work since I was close to Bryan. But the only reason why was because he was the only being in this realm not to hurt me as a greeting. Besides, the man has the cozy cabin of my dreams and a great set of hands for cooking.

A surefire way to become my friend and ally.

"I guess I can be quite pushy and touchy now and then... But I don't mean any harm, so please don't be scared of me. How about this; ask me anything you'd like to know. It could be about my history, my Twelve Suns, or Raiyen. A small chat to break the ice" offered Tomoe.

"About Raiyen? Do you know anything about him? I thought you two didn't get along..."

"I may not get along with my Master, but I am forced to know things about him when summoned into this world. We share a pact since I am using Raiyen's Elemental Energy supply to keep myself alive, so my dreams are mostly made from the guy's memories."

"Well, I'd like to know more about Raiyen's origins since he sounded like he knew Jack the Ripper personally from the earlier conversation. I understand that his Ancient Relic, Time Ripper, was based on the legend, but the Time Mage isn't connected to the story at all..."

I hesitated at the last part of the sentence. Though I knew Tomoe never liked his Master, I was still afraid that Tomoe might suspect something from me, and Raiyen might hear our conversation. The Kitsune sensed my reluctance and gave a warm smile, making me even more shocked.

First off, the smiles that Tomoe had given to me were all either lustful or playful. But this particular one was none of that. Instead, I felt genuine and worried about my feelings.

"You were from another world like me, right? I'm not going to question how you'd arrive here since it's a sensitive topic, but I would assume that your other world is another version of Earth. With that being said, it's the same for me as well. My world was also another of this realm."

"The earliest memory I've got was somewhere between 1100 and 1200, and I've lived to the year the 2000s before getting summoned here. Though I was in Japan for most of the time, I was not oblivious to the other countries' affairs."

"Conflicts spurred like no business as humans started making machines and weaponry. The people also moved from traditions to modernism, but they never fully forgot their roots, so my legend was still told as fairy tales to the younger generations."

"But since things were heading for a disaster point when World War Two came along, I migrated to some other country to get a view on how the world was doing at the time. But to answer your question on Raiyen... I've got a slight hunch, but I can't confirm if it's true."

Tomoe shifted his gaze from me to the burning embers. I don't know if guilt or sadness was in his eyes as the bright flame danced in his pupils, but I'm guessing that talking about his past has made the fox uncomfortable. More so compared to mine.

"If the past is too difficult to remember, it's alright. Besides, it isn't relevant to the Mission at hand. I only wanted to know why Raiyen looked that way when I talked about my Fourth Order... I thought I was some kind of war criminal in his eyes..." I blurted out, hoping Tomoe would relax.