She missed him. Hikaru. Her Father. She missed them so much. She was personally homesick. There were a lot of things wrong with her. The coma. The aftereffects. Strange reoccurring nightmares and flashbacks. LeeAnn look exhausted not sleeping much in the last few days. It was getting to the point where she was afraid to even fall asleep. What was wrong with her? She wasn't beautiful regardless what her fiance said. She was weak regardless of what her comrades spoken of. She was useless regardless of what her father said. There lied a nice day with clear skies with not even a single cloud. She lied on the rooftops of some of hte older buildings as it was her secret place she would escape to when she was in her youth. When times were so precious and complete. Birds flew over her head in small flocks or chasing eat other for mating season.

Hans, her fiance, stood inside her soul or spiritually in her body. She felt more calmer when he was with her physically or spiritually. It was more soothing to know her moral support was there every step of the way. Leeann's long red hair stood in a high ponytail with her basic black leather jacket, green t-shirt, and black jeans. She wore an brown eyepatch over her right eye. The right side of her face, neck, and full right arm were covered in a purple-dark gray skin color showing it was some sort of infection with her left eye black with a red ring. Her neko ears and tail drooped down looking down at the small ants of people down below. They were so tiny from this bird's eye view. They squirmed around each other passing by and wanting to get somewhere.

Clearly, anyone could tell she was woren and tatter from the inside out. Emotionally drained and wanting to die. Hans and her brother were hte only reasons for her to be alive at this point. "Everything will be alright! Remember if you even think about suicide I will personally drag your soul back to your body and sit on you! That is a promise my good woman. Now happy thoughts! Let's get some cookie dough" echoed Hans in her mind. A small weak smile came from her looking at her ring. Hans knew how to make her smile, but then a thought came to her randomly of how everything was turning out. She was personally tired and wished she could drink her sorrows away, but that was no good. She was immune to alcohol thanks to the wretched illness she had.

"What a lousy life I have? Hans...where is my brother? When you need someone around and they're not there...life sucks" she replied. What she needed was personal help and anyone who knew LeeAnn knew how that went for her. She was too stubborn and stuck in her prideful ways to even budge to seek something for herself. The woman was just simply hard to deal with. Not to mention how difficult it was for the couple, Hans and LeeAnn, to even budge to ask for help. Instead they helped each other, even when they didn't need it.

She got up from her spot slowly feeling her knees grow heavy and head weight her down like an achor to a ship. The coma and brain damage to the head was particularly causing a mental shift in her thinking. The doctors were able to reverse a lot of the damage done to her head but one area. It was weird. It took a good five minutes of her to stand up until she got the energy to even do that. Why was she so tired? LeeAnn sluggishly wandered down stairs from the rooftop to the first floor so she could actually get something to eat. It had been a few hours. Her steps were slow and sluggish. LeeAnn turned from a neko into a walking zombie. What she needed was rest. The Rune Knight perservered herself to keep going no matter what it took to get that food and energy drink to stay awake. Though, her body had different plans. LeeAnn's knee gave out causing her to fall down onto the ground face flat into the ground.

"Ugh...not again. Why is my timing always off" echoed Hans inside her mind.

What a day to be alive. He felt 100 pounds lighter after his time here, her could feel his stay in era winding down after his past few incidents. For Kenny, life seemed to be taking a dramatic turn for the better. His confidence was through the rough, he spoke less and did more, he didn’t hound every woman he met and most importantly he stopped his act of false enthusiasm, finding himself to be far more calm and reserved than he had led on before. Drama, and pain were no longer synonymous with his name, he felt like a brand new warrior fresh out of the box and he was ready to face life’s trials with his head held high and eyes bright with a newly born fire of determination. All of this wouldn’t have been possible, however, as he had realized that there was more to life than love, getting drunk, and fighting his way out of every situation, being calm and letting his hair down was exactly what he needed. Heck, his hair had been growing out with his change in lifestyle, now just brushing against the center of his ear.

Who was to thank for this change? Those he had encountered over the past few days, their names were fresh on his mind but at the moment he was far too full of himself to think about them. Kenny had even began dressing better than where he was not too long ago, it wasn't much of a step above drifter, but what did he care? His worn down overcoat was gone now, it needed to be worn in winter, not in spring where his muscle should be breathing friendly for all to see. He wore a form fitting black tank top, black cargo pants, and finely laced black boots, some spring attire for a warrior on the road, even his sword had found a different position as it was slung onto his back. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt good today! He looked good, he felt unstoppable, all that was on his mind was finding a few jobs to do around town and getting to the nearest buffet line for a hot meal.

Obviously he felt like the cock of the walk and he was letting everyone in Era know that Kenny had arrived and he was a new man! Though to them he was new regardless of how he felt. If only his family could see him now, he wasn’t a knight, nope, but he was a man of his own right and he was on his own living and struggling to survive in a world where he was once crushed and thrown in the wind. Something he did to himself, but he didn’t want to think about that phase he was going through for now. Shaggy beard parted by a bellowing yawn he stretched his arms and nodded as he felt the sun’s rays bless him with their warmth and embrace. Oh! A drink!He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver flask, hastily unscrewing the cap and pouring the contents into his mouth.

The gruff male was getting stared at, some looks in confusion about what he was so happy about, others rubbernecked as they walked by, some seemed impress by the site and another portion was disgusted, though none of that mattered as Kenny didn’t care what they thought at this point, he was all about jewels, food, and keeping himself happy, from weakness to hedonist in a week,maybe he should write a book about himself later.

Kenny would stop in his tracks when a young woman came into view, he passed her up winking at her and turning to continue his view of her as the two passed one another. He spread his arms and shot her a compliment before turning back around. His attention shifted to the sky, birds chirping, butterflies gliding and bees buzzing, spring was hell of a time to pull whatever schtick he was going through right now. Soon a second woman came into view, the only thing noticeable at first her head of crimson hair and… Animal ears? Kenny stopped in his tracks and watched her go on her way before she would collapse, face hitting the concrete in a sickening sight. “Whoa there!” the black haired warrior jogged up to the downed woman, looming over her hands on his knees.

“Excuse me mam, are you alright?” he asked, obviously she wasn’t but he felt the urge to ask for the sake of asking, “Want some help?” he extended a hand to her assuming as soon as she heard his voice she’d look up at him.

The voices were drowned out and felt muffled to her as if she was fading in senses. Things felt extremely out of whack. A gruff voice pleading if she was alright. It belonged to no one she knew of off the top of her head. No one she knew had a voice that deep before. The other voice echoed more clearly inside her head, but not by much. Of course, it was none other than Hans. He remained in her spiritually to help her keep her strength. When the two of them combined, she gets more energy thriving on some mana actually, but that didn't last long. LeeAnn remained unresponsive for several minutes. It was as if she was dead, but wasn't. Hans could not interfere with this. After a few minutes of resting, she slowly got up feeling her face slightly wet from the puddle of water. Her face had red imprints on it showing that it was a hard fall to the concrete.

The redhead's vision was blurring making a black haired man over her. As much as she wanted to respond she was alright, she really couldn't. Her body was not allowing her to speak as if her motor functions were shutting down or something. Hans had to step in and intervene, which he hated to do. He was given the power to control LeeAnn's bodily functions incase something liked this happened. He forced her to get up and pull out a small syringe and medication for emergencies that doctors gave her in case she had this happen again. She filled the syringe full of a clear liquid and slowly injected it into her bloodstream making her more awake but barely. A sudden jolt of energy made her blink and gain full control yet again. Though she still seemed like she was exhaustied and out of it pretty much. Her vision became more clear to see the face the deeper voice had belonged to. "I'll be fine, but can I ask a favor out of you? Could you take me to the Rune Knight station nearby its only a few blocks down. They can help me there" she said, slowly and tired. LeeAnn was not all the cordinated to even get up. As a few false attempts, finally she got on her feet and gained her balence. Holding her head as a massive headache drew near her forehead now feeling more of a pulsing migrain.

"I'm so sorry to be asking you help like this trust me I do, but I cannot stand or even see anything. I'm a Rune Knight. If they ask tell this that I collasped and my bodily functions are not working correctly" she mentioned. LeeAnn personally felt pathetic to ask help from a nice stranger she barely even met, but it was a desperate time. She couldn't even see straight for the star's sake. The pain of her whole body feeling like it was shutting down due to lack of sleep. She had not slept in days. This was the toll she was going to take. All of this caused by the fear of haing this nightmares again. She was at her wits end with her life. The flash backs of those endless days of torture when she was younger before the kitsune named Hans had saved her from a brutal fate. Though, that experience all on it's own still haunts her every single minute of the day. She felt helpless and out of it. "It's the tall house looking place with the Rune Knight symbol. Just right down the road, thank you...thank you..." she said in relief.

Kenny had grown more concerned as time passed, she was unresponsive, limp on the ground like a doll tossed aside by a child during playtime. What was he to do? If she had a concussion he would have to be careful in moving her and given that people were beginning to stare his concern was growing into anxiousness. He was going to have to roll her onto her back so she could at least breath with less well, floor in her face. Two hands reached forward to grip her shoulder, the first would have taken a hold over her sleeve the other would have held her head to steadily turn her along for added stability in case of a concussion. Though before he could initiate touching her she had finally awoken putting him at ease for the time being, though it wouldn’t be nearly enough ease for him to not stay at her side until she became fully responsive and showed him that she could function properly else she ran the risk of having a complete stranger cling to her side.

To Kenny’s amazement, she had stood up on wobbly legs. He wouldn’t adjust himself instead following her movements, something was off about her. She moved at a lethargic pace, almost lifelessly standing before him like a zombie, and retrieving a needle. All the black haired could do was watch in awe as she seemed to revive herself, but it didn’t seem like enough to put a pep in her step. He didn’t know her, so this could have been her norm, but until he heard otherwise he watched and waited for her condition to shift for the better or the worst. There was an instance of swift blinking, the lights came on, but no one seemed to be home, or at the very least awake. Even with her newfound energy she was still out of the loop and Kenny had seen enough to judge that she could use a hand getting around, unless of course she was someone far too proud to accept the help of a stranger. When she spoke he listened intentively breaking his train of thought to tune in, “Of Course I’ll help you.” his answer was short and solemn, the point was across that he would help, but saying anything else would be needless sugar to a bad situation.

“Don’t be sorry, just relax.” he spoke in a soft, deep tone, she was a rune knight… interesting, to think there was a time when he wanted to join the knights and help them protect and serve Era. That was a dream long gone, but it was irrelevant right now as he had to help the knight get to her base. Kenny would then bend his knees so he would adjust to the woman’s height and without any hesitation placed an arm under her knees and another rested against her back so in a gentle movement he would cradle the woman and sweep her off her feet. “Easy does it, my name’s Kenny by the way.” he introduced himself while scanning the area for the Rune Knight’s HQ, “You go ahead and rest up.”

With that he picked a direction and began walking, it may take him a time to get there, but he refused to allow her to walk on her own wobbly feet, maker knows what would happen.

In her mind, her pride and image of herself was damaged. A strong soldier helps other not ask for help from others at least for her. For some reason, her mother had trained in her to never ask for help and to never accept it. Something her father was NOT trying to enforce so much. He was always one to encourage teamwork and also being independent at times. Think pride ran through that whole family. Hikaru was no better and neither was Hans. The man who was kindly helping her lifted her into a princess position with his arms placed under her knees and neck or shoulders. She was so exhausted that she could fall asleep for so many days at a given time. She would listen to his calm voice that reminded her of her older brother. Personally, she missed Hika. She needed her brother here more than anything in the whole wide world and would do anything to tell him how she felt if he just had the time and she had that courage. It was all a huge game with the internal issue.

He introduced himself as Kenny. It was a name that was not heard very often to her sensitive, alert cat ears. Her neko ears twitched as she opened her left ghoul eye looking at him to respond. "Thank you Kenny I am LeeAnn. LeeAnn Nakamura. Pleased to meet you" she replied in a gently tone that was heavy in exhaustion. There were dark circles surrounding her eyes or eye in this case. She looked like someone had given her a black eye on purpose.

Slowly, her closed her eyes going into a deep sleep giving into the fight. The nightmare was going to happen soon. Hans felt helpless knowing he could not control her dreamscape or thinking frame. Only physical movement. Which was fun at times making her do the stupidest things, but he loved her and didn't do it too often only when she allowed it. LeeAnn felt herself in a black scape for what felt like five to ten minutes. The only thing that Hans could do was intrpt the dream and talk to her before he goes bac into his physcial form. It was the private time they needed as she was out cold. As Kenny was carrying her, they were nearing the Rune Knight station. It was not the headquarters but one of the stations that boarded Pages and held enough medical equipment to stabilize her.

Back into her dream world, she finally saw Hans standing there with a smile. He held out his arms and as she felt scared and ran up to the kitsune man. His tall, slender body was warm and soothing. His nine white fox tails surrounded her with comfort and relief. She was safe. Nothing would touch her now. The world was a better place in his arms. "You need to stop torturing yourself, sweetheart. It's not good for you. Please tell me what's wrong..." spoke Hans. LeeAnn refused to tell him as her head would turn away from him with her ears folded. The only thing she did was hug her fiance tightly without a word as she would only smile knowing this was enough for an answer...for now that is. He wanted to know deeper what truly was going on with her. It was a big mystery.

Back into reality, Kenny had LeeAnn in his arms out like a light. There were Rune Knights everywhere from pages to medical assitants and certified doctors. Clusters of Knights everyhwere from the eyes could see. A sea of military men ad women sharing stories about the youth or the training that happened yesterday. It was a joyful scene as there was some serious moments where doctors were running back and forth from recent attacks from missions and everything. One of the doctors spotted Leeann and paused. His eyes looked up to see that the man carrying her was not her faince. Usually, it was a tall white hair man wearing atop hat and steampunk outfit or something. "What happened to LeeAnn? Where did you find her? Third visist this month, I know she's ill, but even for her this is not normal. Come and follow me, we will get her stabilized and see what is going on" said the doctor. LeeAnn opened her eye slowly looking up at Kenny then at her doctor. Yup...she knew it another hospital visit. Something she HATED with a passion and refused to visit the hospital, but she was in a state where fighting back would be helpless and make her situation worse.

He was unsure about the reaction he would get when he reached the HQ. She was clearly hurt, if not physically then mentally. Something was up and as a person he decided to help her as who was he to leave her to face whatever was going on in her mind. Images of her zombie like state forcing her up and injecting herself with the syringe were playing in his mind, he couldn’t put his finger on it but it was such a bizarre site mostly because she seemed almost like a puppet while doing so, arms seeming to force themselves to commit to the action she attempted. He doubted she was intoxicated, she seemed more ached than anything.

She spoke softly introducing herself as LeeAnn, he would look down at her, staring back at him an eye like no other he had see before, he hadn’t seen her face just yet, mostly because her hair must have been covering that part of her face. Kenny didn’t care truthfully, she was still an appealing young woman, and the cat ears were certainly a nice touch. “Well miss LeAnn, save your strength I imagine we have quite a walk ahead of us.”

As he walked he soon realized he had been talking to himself as she had faded into slumber. In view after a shorter walk than he thought was the HQ, he must have miss timed his walk as the tower’s details became clear. He was going to need a good excuse as to why he brought one of their knights to them in such bad condition. He’d think of something, he always thought of something, he could talk his way out of most situations unscathed.

He entered the medical facility doctors everywhere, it made him uneasy as he was never one for doctor visits since he was a child, but for the sake of the woman he was carrying he faced his fear in search of help. A doctor approached, Kenny tried to get a word in but he shot him a few questions before telling him to follow him and Kenny obliged following closely. When she awoke he looked down at her and offered a smile, “Why good morning LeeAnn.” he joked as the doctor turned into a room.

Kenny was directed to place her onto the examination bed, and he did so as gently as he could. “Alrighty, well uh, I guess I should leave you folks to your stabilizing and stuff right?”

She awoken with a small flutter of her only eye showing. The ghoul eye just gave a tender gaze at Kenny before showing another smile. She was too tired to fight today and had to accept this help. Gently, Kenny had placed her on the bed while the doctor hooked her up to an IV and started using some healing magic and archieve. LeeAnn weakly looked up to see Kenny was about to leave, but she would stop him."Please...stay...I like having company. Besides, I owe you one Kenny" she replied. The doctor seemed to pay no mind to their conversation. He was too busy seeing what the hell was wrong with LeeAnn to really care.

She would have her eyepatch taken off and her jacket. The one thing she never wanted anyone to see. Her arms were scarred up with old cuts from battles and her times in the torturing days. Etched into her left biceped was the word "RUINED" that looked to not be a tattoo but cut deeply into her arm. As her other eyes was scarred up seeing a small glaze of blue indicating it was infected with something, but she was miraculously still able to see out of it. The doctors called her "The Walking Miracle" after all the shit had been through she was able to function like any other person, but of course she did have her flaws. Everyone could see the stress had gotten to her. After the methods of stablizing her, the doctor sighed. "Fourth time in two weeks LeeAnn. You need to get some sleep. That's why your here and you wont let that head trauma you had last week heal fully. In order to BE ABLE to fully function to your fullest capabilties, you need to rest and that is an order. But I know you never listen, much like your father" he sighed. He walked out of the room.

LeeAnn shyly looked down scared what Kenny might say about her scars and odd appearance. Most would not call her beautiful, but some would since there was strangely some beauty in ugliness. The Nakamura pursed her lips together and gathered the courage to finally speak up to thank her hero. "Uh...thank you Kenny. Seriously, thank you...I...really dont like asking for help, but I know I am in no state to really well...fight back. Since I owe you one,
name your price and I will gladly pay you in full money or deed" she said. LeeAnn had insisted on paying for the debt to him since it was the only way she knew how to pay in graditude. A small frown came upon her face while her fist formed into a ball showing a slight hint of anger. She wished her brother would be here. After all the times she would give up for him, he could not bend into his busy secdule to at least check-up on her. Though, she was willing to blame anyone for this unwanted anger and hurt for what she has done.

He stopped in his tracks when she asked him to stay. He didn’t think twice in replying “Of Course, who am I to deny spending more time with someone so delightful.” his words were near a whisper not only out of manners for those who were ill around them, but for his new acquaintance the last thing he would want to do is upset her. Shifting his position and avoiding the doctor he took the seat at her bed side and leaned forward, fingers lacing together as he attentively shared a gaze with the woman. If he was being honest she was by far one of the more fascinating people he had met in Era thus far in appearance and demeanor. By no means did he think she was anything less than pretty, but he couldn’t help but stare as he had never seen anyone like her before.

With arms crossed he watched over the doctor’s shoulder, he wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything to hinder her, even something as simple as removing some of her clothing could have made her worst as far as Kenny knew. He had no knowledge of her trauma, but regardless he felt a need to care for LeeAnn, given all he had done was bring he to the Knight’s HQ. His eyes traced her scars, but wouldn’t linger for too long as he glanced back at her eyes. Her ears were the most fascinating of everything,they didn’t bother them but he had never seen a person with cat ears before, from what he knew they functioned like normal ears given they had perked up upon reaching the hospital. When the doctor left he took his seat at her bed side again and leaned forward in finger laced position.

“You have no need to thank me, you were in trouble and I helped, and I’m glad I did. It’s not every day i get to meet someone so lovely.” drifting back his old ways he shot her a compliment and sincere smile, pearly white teeth contrasted his bushy, rugged beard as they shined from the room’s lights.For a moment his eyes drifted to the window, he had asked him to name his price and he shook his head still smiling from cheek to cheek, “What you can do for me, however, is rest up and save your strength.” he placed a hand over balled fist. It was a small gesture, but he wanted her to know that she had nothing to worry about but relaxation as far as giving him anything.

“Well there is one other thing I would like from you,” he cleared his throat, “Can-- Can I touch your ears?” he leaned forward raising his eyebrows. They looked fluffy to the touch and he wanted to feel them truthfully.

“Oh and we should get you a bite to eat, and don’t tell me no. After the spill you just had you should consider having a bite. I’ll feed you myself if I have to."

She had driven herself here in this rugged state. Her stubborn and pride gotten in the way of avoiding her problems as she fell deeper into the well of despair. Most of it was the fear of telling her brother about all of this. Everyone of her family members and teammates knew about her condition, all, but Hikaru. The one person's opinion she cared about the most was the worst one of all. Yes, her brother was easy to talk to, but this was a whole another matter to deal with. It internally placed a state of mind to always hide it so no one suspects a thing. To worry no one and to avoid this pain at all costs. Hikaru. She wanted her big brother right here, right now. More than anyone in the world. Even more than her fiance. Which said something if you knew LeeAnn well.

Kenny was nice enough to stay and keep her company. The other fear of being alone scared her as much as tell Hikaru about her secret. She was too exhausted to even care what the doctor was doing. All she could get was an IV placed into her and stablizing her with the highest magical energy there was. Leeann had special treatment for her condition as she was the Council's new research. The illness perked their interest, but they knew the girl's condition was severe at most and were careful to not trigger anything. After the doctor left, it was just her and Kenny. She could tell he was a ladiesman or at least flirtatious at most. Charming, but she was already taken. Hans did not like this one bit, but he had to stay combined with LeeAnn in order to keep her energy stable. "Thank you...usually my fiance would stay, but he's...busy right now. He is actually doing some research on my condition. Hard at work. And my brother is busy as well...so is my cousin and friends..." she said trailing off. Personally, she knew they would doing anything at the drop of the hat, but she didn't want to interfere with anything or want them to see her in this state. She felt pathetic.

The young Nakamura only lied there feeling like a waste of space. Her family would be so diappointed. All of this was in her mind when in reality they loved her with all their hearts. At least her cousins, Hikaru, Hans, and her father. They all did believe in her, but she didn't in herself. It was a hard hurdle to leap over for me and it was no different in this case either. Kenny said she owed him nothing but rest and relaxation, something she did not know very well, but if it must, she would. At least to please him at his request. Though on thing did catch her off guard was soemthing she did not expect.

To...touch her...ears...?

The girl paused giving a slight cringe and caught by surprise lost in reaction. That was not something you often asked a Neko at all. Though, given she was the only neko around these parts anyways. They weren't too common. "Uuuuhhh....uuhhmm I guess if it makes you happy, BUT only once. It's not something Nekos usually like being asked. In your case since you saved me from despair its the least I can do" she said, with a slight blush to her cheeks. She felt a little silly taking on such a odd favor, but the man did save her life after all.

All was well soon, Kenny felt himself further relax the longer he stayed in the hospital. What a strange day he was having, well, more so this was the first thing that had happened to him of any significance but it was a big way to start the day. He had ‘saved’ someone’s life, something he had never done before, and truthfully it felt kind of good to help another person out, that and actually being wanted around was just the cherry on top of an already appetising sundae. Did doing good even make you feel good? If so he would save this person again, and again if he could to feel like this. He actually liked helping other, which was strange for him if anything since he adopted a mindset of taking care of himself ahead of others, maybe this whole new persona was more complicated than he thought.

When she gave him consent he needed nothing further to do so, but he saw just how uncomfortable the question made her it was evident in her face and expression the blush seemed like one more in surprise than embarrassment. Kenny would lean in, hand reaching out in front of him, but he didn’t touch her ears, he merely placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded to her, “Maybe you can do something else for me? And wait, did you say… Neko?” the word came out of his mouth. He didn’t have a clue what that was, and wondered if it would be rude to ask.

Were her hears real then and here he thought she was just heading to a costume party or something. “Wow, so those ears are… Real?”