FRIENDS WANTED;

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[From door to door, Ventus travels the Dressing Room, planting posters along the walls.

These posters include a rather rough drawing, mostly scribbles, but it at least slightly resembles a Kairi...with yellow eyes. The poster reads:

FRIENDS WANTED:
This is Kairi. She doesn't have many friends here, and that's really gotta change. She's a great person who's a lot of fun, and I'm sure she'd love to meet new people!

Sometimes she wears Vanitas armor, but don't worry; she's not dangerous at all!

And yes, he will be putting these everywhere. When he can't reach places on foot, he'll simply use his Glider!]

Comments

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[This isn't good. Ven wants to intervene, but he's not sure what'll happen if he does. The last thing they need is another χ-blade incident.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[good. now he's bombarding kairi with fireballs to try to get her moving. if ventus is still standing too close to her, he might be in the line of fire too.]

[temporaltrap.livejournal.com]

[ Oh, she's moving alright- straight for Vanitas. She's not in the mood to play defensive. ]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[Sigh. If they're gonna fight, then fine. Time to try a Shotlock!]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[vanitas is taking full advantage of his agility to start a game of cat and mouse between kairi and him. when ventus's shotlock finds him, he's knocked off of his feet. it's a critical moment. if kairi is close enough to land a blow on him, she can keep him down. if not, he's sending dark firaga after ventus but rushing towards kairi to slash at her.]

[temporaltrap.livejournal.com]

[ It won't be quite so easy; Kairi does, after all, have Vanitas' armor for a reason. She has the speed and she has the strength, and she has that one really annoying combo that is hard to block once it's started! ]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[Either way, once he finishes his Shotlock, Ven's going to try and get closer to Vanitas, sending a lovely mine square his way.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[he's getting combo'd by a girl in his armor, and he's tripping ventus's mines. there's hardly time to come up for air before another blow reaches him. he tries to counterattack kairi before jumping up to erect a pillar of ice from the ground under her.]

[temporaltrap.livejournal.com]

[ It's a direct hit! One that makes her cry out in a mix of surprise and pain. Mostly surprise, really. She can't exactly attack right away after an attack like that, so it's up to Ven now. Hopefully her getting hurt doesn't distract him too much. ]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[...Oh, he did not.

Without even thinking, Ven casts Salvation. Enjoy the light show, Vanitas.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[vanitas is satisfied with the cry, and salvation catches him off-guard. although vanitas is looking strained as he tries to get back up onto his feet, he's laughing.]

So this is what it takes...

[his thundaga spell is for kairi, not ventus. he thinks he's found his weakness, not to mention the key to making him stronger.]

[temporaltrap.livejournal.com]

[ She should have realized this would happen, but she didn't and the Thundaga hits almost as hard as that ice did. She forces herself to retaliate this time, however, sending a Firaga at Vanitas as soon as she can focus at all. ]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[Even if the firaga doesn't hit, Ven's going to follow it up with tornado. Anything to stop Vanitas from hurting her, at this point.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[firaga is pretty easy to block, but the tornado picks him up to do him in. when it's over, vanitas is left lying on his back, incapacitated.]

[temporaltrap.livejournal.com]

[ Kairi's... going to turn around and take off as soon as she's sure Vanitas isn't going to move right away. She doesn't want to even see him anymore right now. Sorry Ven! ]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[He looks at Vanitas for a few moments before turning in Kairi's direction. He can't risk staying by Vanitas, if the χ-blade really is his priority.]

Kairi, wait!

[If he has to, he'll change his Keyblade back into a Glider.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[vanitas struggles to lift his hands to either side of his head, holding his helmet like he's suffering more pain from a headache than anything else.]

No...

and now that Kairi's escaped, it's just these two B)

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[He stops in his tracks. Though it goes against his better judgment, he looks back at Vanitas. This... isn't what he'd expected.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[indeed, vanitas does not appear to be doing what ventus remembers happening before under these circumstances. void gear lies heavy in his hand. he struggles to recover but gets nowhere.]

Ven...tus...

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[Okay, something's seriously not right.

On one hand, this is Vanitas. What if it's a trick to get him to lower his guard?

On the other hand, he does look pretty hurt...

Slowly, Ven approaches Vanitas, Keyblade in hand.]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[ventus might notice that the closer he gets to vanitas, the more the boy writhes on the ground. the movements are subtle. even now, vanitas clearly doesn't want to let ventus see his vulnerability.]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[He still doesn't know what's going on, thus he continues to approach Vanitas. Why does he look so pained? Isn't this the time when he'd try to fuse?]

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[it would be, and yet it isn't. ventus's proximity makes vanitas make an agonized noise which sounds strangely too high for his voice. void gear vanishes, and vanitas's hands grasp his skull harder.]

[erasemefriend.livejournal.com]

[...Okay, even though this is Vanitas, seeing anyone in this much pain is heart wrenching.]

Hey... what's going on?

[nihiloexnihilo.livejournal.com]

[it hurts. it hurts more than anything he'd ever-- he grits his teeth to try to stop another noise as best as he can, but it's hardly worth the energy.]

Ventus.

[now his hand is reaching out for ventus. what is he doing?]