Kabaneri Fluffbit – Twitchy

~ crossovercreativechaos

Kurusu kept his face set, bodyguard neutral, and hoped Kibito was right. Smoke, flying bees, the ever-present reality of being outside the walls – all it would take was one dropped comb to set off a panic. And if the Kabane showed up….

He blinked away a stray skirl of smoke, updating his mental map of exactly who was where and how many people he’d have to knock down to drag Ayame into the locomotive. His lady would hate that – but of everyone on this Hayajiro, the Yomogawa heir was the one soul they could not lose.

I need to go over that with Ikoma and Mumei. They’re not bushi. They don’t understand. Yet.

And speaking of the Kabaneri… Kurusu glanced up at that still-visible blue sling, and decided. “Kibito. Start loading everyone.”

His old friend’s brows rose, but the burly samurai didn’t argue. “Better let Uryuu know we’re not leaving them,” Kibito said casually, moving off. “The Hunters are twitchy.”

“Of course we’re not leaving them!” Ayame kept her voice down, glancing between the lowering comb and the locomotive. “What’s wrong?”

“Possibly nothing.” Kurusu inclined his head, falling in as escort as Ayame headed for the Hunter leader.

“Down, a little more….” Uryuu waved a hand their way. “Don’t get too close. Not until the lid’s on. What?”

“We’re loading,” Ayame informed him. “Please don’t worry. It just takes time to load people who aren’t used to Hayajiro. So we have to start sooner than you would have.”

Uryuu let a breath pass as most of the mass of angry bees finally vanished into bamboo confines. “Lid on, don’t squash any if you can avoid it.” Lower, “I’m going to guess I should be worried.”

“We’ve been stopped a long time,” Kurusu said bluntly. “Ikoma’s wounded. His friends should make him rest. But he’s still up on watch.”

Now Uryuu did glance at them. And past, checking what ears were listening. “If he sensed any Kabane, he wouldn’t just be watching. You’re being twitchy.”

He would not grit his teeth. “Twitchy,” Kurusu said flatly.

Uryuu shrugged. “We’ll speed it up.”

9 thoughts on “Kabaneri Fluffbit – Twitchy”

  1. Ominous premonition is ominous. Though when the core element of your “early warning/danger alert system” as well as core of your critical combat unit are being overstressed by injured personnel pushing their limits ever closer to possible complete incapacitation, it is only prudent to expedite activities in order to get to a state/mode where said critical personnel can be received.

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  2. Well Kurusu has a right to be twitchy. They don’t really know how long Kabane might follow an active Hayajiro or from how far away they might ‘detect’ yummy humans and start swarming.

    Ergo he’d very much prefer that everything be completely as quickly as possible so they can get out of here.

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  3. If there are things that can and will make use of any opportunity to eat you, I don’t think twitchy is a word that really apply. Because twitchy implies that you are being paranoid about nothing or otherwise making a big deal when you don’t need to.

    It’s not paranoia when something really is out to get you.

    Besides if I were those guys, I’d always err on the side of caution when it comes to that.

    And maybe the Kabane aren’t in direct sensing range yet. But they are close to set out the “something ain’t right alarms” or something.

    My money is Kurusu being right that they need to be back in the train and gone sooner rather than later.

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      1. Yeah . . . . but is not wanting to stay where a bunch of Kabane could jump you for any longer than is absolutely necessary paranoia or just showing good sense. Or both.

        Being both is probably why Uryuu isn’t arguing or saying that he’s wrong. The Hunters themselves would probably start to twitchy the longer they stayed in one spot.

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