notwhitedevil:

She didn’t really detect a slight feeling of hesitation there despite the tone, so she continued to smile. At the confirmation of who his friend would be, she nodded as well, taking that name into mind. She found to be a bit easy to remember, since it was quite the unusual name, at least in her opinion. She thought that was the first time she ever heard of someone named like that.

“Hm, okay, Anemone-san! If I ever do see her around, I’ll make sure to give a few greetings.”

It would make sense that her best friend was also Japanese. She was probably around Madoka’s age, he guessed. Though, what struck him curious was just how special this Homura was to Madoka. Of course, it wasn’t in his place to pry. It’d be intrusive of him, despite his curiosity. He wondered if she saw this Homura person, the same way he saw Anemone right now.

“Please do,” he asks of her with a smile. “She might come off as a bit of a hard head, but you’ll get through to her I’m sure.”

He ends it with a short laugh, remembering his own first encounter with Anemone. It was… rude, to say the least. The memory left a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth, and in reaction, lifts a hand up to his neck and rubbing the back of it.

It was there that he accidentally pushes away the strands of his hair that covered two, suspicious looking hole-shaped scars near his jugular, now plain and visible to Madoka’s eyes.

notwhitedevil:

“Ah, wow, she sounds fun to be around with.” Madoka chuckled. “And I hope so too! Hopefully I can reach out to her or something.”

Madoka nods a bit subtly. “Yes, she’s a bit quiet, and doesn’t really speak to others unless she’s addressed first… Indeed not the social one she is.” Despite what she said, she continued to smile. “Though she’s slowly learning how to open up to others, so hopefully she won’t give you as much as a hard time she usually does with others, hah.” Madoka had recalled that day before prom when she encouraged Homura to be a bit more sociable, and from that day on, she sworn she’d try to be a bit more friendly towards others. “Ah, her name is Homura Akemi.”

…Wait, I didn’t ask for his friend’s name, did I?
“Oh, how about your friend’s name?”

“Fun…huh. Mm, yeah, I guess she is.” he nods in agreement, though slightly hesitant. Sure it was fun… for Anemone. Araragi usually got the short end of the stick when it came to having ‘fun’ with Anemone. “Oh you’ll be fine.” He assures with a grin, confident that somehow, Anemone would be able to make more connections within the circus.

He listened to Madoka’s words, finding himself comparing this best friend of hers with another person he knew back in his world. She too had trouble connecting with people,  but not until after Araragi had fixed her of her ‘oddity’, did she start opening up. 

“Akemi-san then, huh. Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for her.”

At her question, he found himself chuckle a little. “Ah, sorry about that. Her name’s Anemone. Anemone…like the flower.”

notwhitedevil:

“Just jam itself?” A small drop of sweat trickled down her face at the thought. “I’ll make sure to look out for her, then.” Madoka smiles, tapping a finger on her chin.

“Alright, then!” She beamed a bit, thinking that she had done the girl just a bit of a slight favor. “You might have to try and reach out to her a little, though. She’s… um, a bit shy around strangers.”  The rosette threw a nervous hand behind her head; boy, was she putting it quite mildly.

“Yup. Jam. She’s extremely fond of that stuff. See, I had to cook breakfast for her once, since she couldn’t cook by herself. She insisted that I make toast so she could put jam in it,” he tells the younger girl, smiling slightly at the memory. Boy was Anemone so much like a kid that time. Not to mention, a rather messy eater when it came to said jam. “I hope you two can get along. She’s a bit… a bit of a handful, really. But she’s a real good person.” he added, ending his sentence with a smile.

He tilts his head slightly to the side. “Oh, so she’s the shy type then?” he asks, curious now to this person’s personality. Oh wait..!

“Hey, what’s her name?” he asks again, after realizing that he didn’t know her best friend’s name yet.

notwhitedevil:

“Ah, maybe she’d be easy to spot, then.” She giggled herself too, since that was what she thought. Madoka had rarely come to meet anybody with pink hair like herself around here.

And then she nods optimistically; finding nothing odd in the way he’d mention her. “That’s right! She actually wears this exact uniform most of the time, since we went to the same school back home.” She twirled around once, doing a complete three-sixty so that he could get himself familiar with it. “Hmm, she has really long, dark hair and wears a black headband. Her eyes are violet too, maybe you’ll come to recognize her!” She giggled once and nodded at his last comment.

“She would be,” he chimes. “You can probably spot her eating some sort of sweet treat. Like…jam,” he informs the younger girl, eyes up slightly in thought. That was right, Anemone really liked jam didn’t she? Or basically, every other sweet tasting food that existed, currently. No wait, it’s jam. She definitely loves jam.

He then watches as Madoka did a little twirl, making sure to pay attention to the details of her uniform. It wasn’t any he had seen before, which further proves that Madoka probably wasn’t from the same world as he came from, even if she is Japanese. He smiles, nodding as she began to describe her best friend. “Hmm, I see. Well I’ll take note of that. I’ll make sure to say hi to her when I see her.”

Little did her know, that Homura wasn’t especially social. But that issue would have to wait until he finally meets the time-rewinding girl.

mistressof-massacre:

Just as it had shocked him, the woman gave a surprised blink in return. He wasn’t serious, was he? Even if he was younger, he was still good looking. Lotti wasn’t going to go and say someone wasn’t just because of their age; as long as she didn’t make any advances, it would be fine. Of course, in her time, people at the age of fifteen were considered adults, so the whole situation didn’t even bother her, too.

“You’re quite welcome, of course!~” Her voice had a cheery tune to it, showing she was glad she was his first compliment, too.

The look on her face changed as he said not to tug on it. Did she really seem like the type to do that? “You don’t have to worry~. The only person that I’ve ever done that to is the last I’d do to,” she spoke, her voice calm as she went to touch the ahoge. She wasn’t going to grab it, but she just wanted to poke at it.

“It’s amusing,” she spoke, pursing her lips as she touched it a few more times before chuckling and letting him stand back up. “Normally I’m not intrigued by hair, but… I suppose you can say it does catch my attention~.”

“… that doesn’t sound too weird, does it?”

He lets out a silent sigh of relief after hearing that Lotti had not even thought of tugging at his ahoge. “I’m glad to hear that then,” Honestly, he dreaded the fact that his hair might get tugged on by anyone. He imagined that the pain would be somewhat annoying, and difficult to bear. Of course, getting hair pulled in general was rather painful, so he had legitimate reason to dread it.

His head remained downcast, eyes on the dirt below and on Lotti’s feet as she began poking at the erect strands of hair. “Oh no, it isn’t weird at all!” he responds to her question, before standing upright once more. He tilts his head from one side to the other, feeling his neck to be a little stiff from bowing his head for too long. “I think it’s natural for people to have their attention caught by hair, especially if it stands out a lot,” he tells her with a nod and a smile.

“For example, Lotti-san’s hair is also quite the head-turner, I think.”

He points to her previously described vibrant, pink hair. “I haven’t really seen or met a lot of people with the same hair color as yours.”

notwhitedevil:

At his reaction, she’d tilt her head a bit in confusion. Maybe I thought wrong? A small drop of sweat rolled off of her face as Araragi chuckled awkwardly. Despite how nervous she felt at the moment, she shrugged it off for a bit.

Then the atmosphere would be changed again as her turned to look back at her. “Ah, maybe I’ll look for her if I ever get the chance?” No harm in meeting a friend of a friend, right? And at his last questions, she’d nod smile brightly. “Mhm! She’s my best friend. When I first arrived her, it was a bit scary, and there were strangers everywhere, then she would be the only one who I’d feel comfortable with during my first week. She’s still here with me right now, making every day here seem like a normal one.” She absentmindedly started twiddling with her thumbs while she thought of the ebony. “She’s actually a bit like you, Koyomi-kun. Protective, nice…”

Ah, looks like Madoka noticed that she may have been wrong in assuming that Anemone was purely innocent. She wasn’t, but that was part of the reason why Araragi took a liking to her. It only made him want to understand her more, as well as help her understand herself along the way. It was something he had promised himself to her.

He gave her a nod, smiling at the younger girl. “Yeah, that’d be great! You can’t miss her, really. Since… well, she has hair almost as pink as yours.” he tells her with a chuckle at the end. He seemed to talk to a lot of pink-haired girls lately. Not that he minds. He doesn’t, of course. In fact, he finds the color quite appealing. Or maybe Anemone helped him have that sort of appeal towards that color?

“Heee~… your best friend huh?”

Wait, did Madoka just say… ‘she’? Oh so it wasn’t a boy? Huh, how about that. He chuckles at the thought, remembering a certain friend from back home who was similar to Madoka in that respect at least. He missed the monkey-girl somewhat. 

“Hmm, I wonder if I can meet this friend of yours someday too?” he asks in wonder, smiling as Madoka compares him to her friend. “Hah… well, I’m glad you think I’m those things.”

notwhitedevil:

She was able to giggle at the mention of the last statement. “So she’s quite innocent? If that’s the case, you should continue what you’re able to do for her.”

Madoka smiled gently at Araragi; his protective nature and kind personality which she admired reminded her of Homura. She always had the desire to protect the pink-haired girl whenever possible, even going to extreme measures when actions were needed. He seemed to be that kind of person to her. “Um, I hope as time continues to pass, you’ll still be able to protect each other.” She said subconsciously while still keeping the same smile on her face.

I-Innocent!? Hardly!!

“…nngh…”

He looks off to the side, averting his gaze away from Madoka for a bit and gives off an awkward chuckle, scratching his cheek with one finger. “W-well, I guess she’s innocent in her own way, haha…hah…” Oh, but Anemone was anything but innocent.

Sure, she was like a child. But Anemone had a dark story despite her… cheery disposition. She had murdered countless lives back in her home world and in her own words, had flattened cities single handedly. She had lived through horrible experiments by amoral scientists, a fact that Araragi himself greatly disliked.

Not to mention her constant harassment and her macabre threats to his… erm, family jewels.

Though, he pushed away the negative thoughts for now and focused on the positive ones. Turning his gaze back to Madoka, he nods again and grins. “Thank you, Madoka. That means a lot, really! Who knows? Maybe you two would meet someday here on this circus too.”

Curious, he decides to ask the younger girl the same thing. “So how about you? Anyone special with you in this circus right now?”

deepandwittyurl:

Dat fucking Shaft headtilt

“I have a very strong neck, apparently.”

no don’t do this for prolonged periods it fucking hurts i swear to god

notwhitedevil:

“…Ah, I see.” Hearing this; a small smile slowly formed upon her face. She definitely knew what he would be talking about, since she had started to hold a certain person dear to here ever since she had first arrived her. She honestly didn’t think she couldn’t make it to where she was now without her. The rosette’s small was able to widen a bit at the thought of her.
 ”Do you hold this person close to you, Koyomi-kun?” she asked while tilted her head a bit to the side.

He perked up, realizing that Madoka had probably noticed him smile like the way he did. He laughed a little, bringing a hand to the back of his head and giving her a nod. “Yeah, actually I do.” he answers her with a little smile.

He recalls his first meeting with Anemone. If it weren’t for that pebble he’d slip on, and her sitting on her trailer’s doorstep and seeing him slip and fall and laugh at him afterwards, they wouldn’t be the way they are right now. Sure she had been a handful, especially considering how childish she was. Not to mention, pretty bratty at times too. Yet he couldn’t help himself when he felt the need to take care of her back then. 

He huffs a smile at her memory. “She’s a bit of a child, really. But I guess that only makes me want to take care of her more, you know?”

notwhitedevil:

“Ah, that sounds a bit scary…” Madoka looked down a bit, recalling the day that she had first arrived at this crazy circus. She was alone at too first, but then Homura would be there to greet her within a matter of time. She was thankful for that, really, because she didn’t think that she’d be able to get along as well if she wasn’t here.

But then she’d lift her face and smile at that last statement. “Oh, but that’s good! It must’ve been hard for you I bet, though you were able to endure it until now hm?” She looked at him with eyes of slight admiration.

“It does,” he responds, recalling all the colorful people he had met here way back when he had first arrived. It was a really good thing that he had met and befriended a few of the people here. They weren’t that many, since he isn’t as outgoing as he would like to be, but they were friends nonetheless. 

He’d notice that glint in her eye, and somehow it rubbed at his ego. In a good way of course. He lets out a small laugh, exhaling a breath of air soon after. “That’s true! I guess it’s because I met someone here that…” he pauses for a bit, trying to pick out a word in his head before speaking again. “…that helped me enjoy my time here, I guess? Yeah, something like that.”

The image of a certain pink-haired girl appeared in his head yet again. The thought curled his lips upwards into a smile.

“…yeah, definitely something like that.”

mistressof-massacre:

If anything, he probably was the only one to see her in that light. Then again, many of the people she had met weren’t types to bring up that kind of thing. To her, at least, she didn’t know if they would. It wasn’t as if Lotti would strive for compliments, either, as she found no need for them when she was considered the lowest of the low in standard ranking.

In all honesty, if she’d be willing to tell him, she’d probably blame it on her distortion.

“You did!~ And I appreciate it,” she spoke with a smile, tilting her head and giving a bright smile back. “You’re quite good looking yourself yet you’re very down to earth.. it’s quite refreshing.”

“You think?” For some reason, Lotti doubted that, but she gave him a bright smile in thanks, regardless.

And there it went again, moving as she stared at it like she was going insane. That was when she moved to reach up a bit, only to pause and look at him. “You don’t mind if I touch it at all, do you?” That wasn’t an awkward question at all. “But even so, I know another man who’s hair does the same, only… without it moving~.” A chuckle. “It’s just how your hair is, so there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Somehow, being the first to ever compliment Lotti on her looks, at least here in this circus, made him feel proud. The fact that it looked like she really appreciated it helped too. It wasn’t everyday that he’d get to openly comment on someone. He’d try on another certain pink-haired girl, but he’d either get a cute blush from her, or threaten his genitals into something macabre again.

The latter thought made him shudder visibly for a bit.

He felt sheepish as it was Lotti this time, who commented on his appearance. He lifts up a hand to rub the back of his head. “Heh, and a thanks to you too I guess. Oh, you know… now that I’ve thought about it, this would be the first time someone compliments me on the spot.” 

Or at least it was a genuine compliment. Usually he’d get a teasing from Anemone, but he sorta counted that in, too.

He blinked a few times, a little caught off-guard by her actions. Still, he gave a nod and gives her permission to grab his curious piece of hair. “Just… um, try not to tug on it, alright?” he tells her as he lowered his upper body slightly, just enough for her to reach his ahoge. “Does it really strike you as that curious?” a chuckle. “I’m pretty sure it’s just a normal ahoge.”

mistressof-massacre:

Tilting her head, she let the thought play through her mind a few times, an unsure expression finding it’s way to her face. The only one who really gave her compliments were people who idly started chatter upon first meet, but they were females so it flew over Lotti’s head. Not to say she ignored the compliments, but hearing a woman compliment another was a cycle of womanhood, in her mind, so it was just natural to give compliments as such.

“Here?” Repeating herself, she used that to give herself a bit more time to think before shaking her head. “Nobody, really… only a few of the girls, but I don’t count that as the same.” She wasn’t sexist, but she figured he’d understand.

“But I understand why they wouldn’t, as we’re complete strangers in the long run.”

A small chuckle. The only person she knew with an ahoge other than the boy in front of her was Rufus, despite not having the pleasure to have met the duke himself. Though, if she could recall, she knew his didn’t exactly move on it’s on, which was probably why it was so astounding for her.

“Regardless, I think it’s cute!” Off topic of the real one, but okay. “Not many people can pull off hairstyles like that~.”

He sighed. It seems that people here failed to notice Lotti’s beauty, apparently. Maybe he was the odd one out? The girl-complimenting-girl thing was of course, a girl thing so they didn’t really count. Maybe he was the only one who actually saw her like that? He hoped not, and he was sure there were other people here who genuinely appreciated how women looked. 

“Hm, then I guess I took the honor of being the first to compliment you then huh?” A slight chuckle, with a small smile soon afterwards. “Who knows? Maybe it’ll change from here on, and you’ll get more compliments!” he tells her with an optimistic grin, and a quick thumbs up.

When she commented on his ahoge, it perked up, though as usual Araragi didn’t notice a thing. Araragi let out a small laugh, appreciating the comment. “Well thanks! Hm, but you know, I don’t really need to do anything with it. It stands up on it’s own, naturally.”

mistressof-massacre:

Eyes stared a bit as he spoke, unsure of what to really think of what the boy had just told her. Nobody had really complimented her other than Jack, and he was just a natural flirt all around when it came to women. Even if she knew he wouldn’t lie about looks, she didn’t take it completely to heart. That, and now he was a traitor to them, everything he said seemed to be lies to her.

It was safe to say that compliments, when actually being sincere from someone with a genuine heart, caught her off guard.

“Thank you,” she responded, her voice a bit more quiet than it had been as she felt a bit guilty she couldn’t respond with anything else. Being polite was something she was used to by now, despite those special occasions. The only time she had never really been polite with a compliment was when one of the Baskervilles did, but they were all in the same boat; they were rejects who understood their flaws that caused them to be abandoned by humanity. Hearing it like this from an outsider, it was very foreign.

“I’d comment more, but if I were to be honest, I’ve never heard a compliment like that directed at me before.”

An image ran through her mind that caused her to stifle a laugh, a hand moving to her lips as if it would escape if she didn’t. “Ah!~ I’ll be sure to do that, then! I wouldn’t want you to lose anything at all,” she spoke, finally just letting a chuckle escape. “Though, I guess it would be quite a hassle if it were to escape… playing a game of catch with a piece of hair; people might think we’re insane~.”

Really? Now he found that just a tad odd. How could she not receive such a befitting compliment like that before? Again, he found that bit rather hard to believe, it almost puzzled him. Or maybe… maybe Araragi wasn’t seeing something everyone else could see? Something that prevented them from commenting on Lotti’s apparent beauty? He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to pry either. 

He didn’t know her well enough for that sort of question anyway. For now, only his opinion mattered. 

It’s also important to say, that Araragi had also noticed how quietly she had responded to his earlier compliment of her. If his guess was right, then his compliment must have been new to her, and really caught her off guard. 

He tilts his head to the side, eyes up slightly in thought before turning them on Lotti before speaking. “I find that really odd somewhat, Lotti-san. I honestly thought you’d get complimented more. Hmm… not even in this circus?” he asks, curious. Sure, maybe people back in her world would not comment on it, but what about here in the Ringmaster’s playground? Surely one or two would have complimented her looks.

“Hah, the thought of it is kinda funny I think.” The image of him trying to catch his own hair would be hilarious. It almost made him think of the poor sap that was constantly harassed because of his own hair, much like Araragi’s. What was his name again? Chen? Chered? Cheben? Something like that anyways.

mistressof-massacre:

That was a first for her. Not many people actually listened to her when she was saying something. That, or they accused her that she was shoving opinions down their throat. It wasn’t as if she was forcing people to listen, but everybody had their opinion; whether they took advice or not was up to them when it came down to the final decision, too.

His questioning of her age caused her to laugh a bit, though.

“I’m glad you think so, at least. Everybody here has either mistaken me as a child or some old grandma.”

She wasn’t joking, either. half the people had called her an old hag while the other half thought she was a minor. Mainly, by now, she had taken it as a joke to call herself old, but she understood if some people didn’t understand it. “I’m really in my twenties, but it’s whatever people want to assume.” That wasn’t completely accurate, she was stuck at her twenties, really, but she was much older than that.

And her pout returned hearing him say that, huffing once more. “Uwah! But.. but.. !” Puffing her cheeks, she acted like a kid was just told no to not getting dessert before dinner. The act soon faded as she smiled and chuckled. “I’ll believe you for now, neh? Just hope it doesn’t move when there isn’t any wind~.”

Really? People get her mistaken for someone that old? He found that rather hard to believe. His testosterone took over his thinking process for a bit. Here was a woman who looked no younger than her twenties, had vibrant pink hair, an elegant body and curves in the right places despite being obscured by her thick layer of clothing. The youth could see that quite plainly. Though she’s somewhat on the short side of things, she really didn’t look like a child to him, nor did she look as old as people would call her.

In fact, Araragi found himself quite insulted that people would call her as such. He shook his head, completely disagreeing with how people saw her. “How can people call you that? I’m rather appalled, to be honest. Well, I think you’re neither of that Lotti-san. In fact I think you’re quite beautiful!” he tells her with vigor, crossing his arms snugly on his chest before giving her an enthusiastic nod. He too, was not afraid of voicing his opinion.

Especially when it came to women.

He chuckles, again, finding her reaction to be a bit on the cute side. Hmm, maybe people calling her a child wasn’t so far off after all? “Heh, well if you see it move on it’s own again, maybe you can point it out so I can grab it. Maybe it’ll try and wriggle it’s way out of my grasp.” he joked, giving another lighthearted chuckle to Lotti.

mistressof-massacre:

Lotti’s words had always been confusing, especially when said to younger people. She’d have to remember to not be too harsh on them, but it was in her nature to tell them that giving up your life wouldn’t be repaying anybody, let alone do anything in general. If you were in a situation that involved sacrificing yourself, it would have been better to fight to the end alongside them. If you were to die, it would only be time before whatever it was fighting you would kill them, too, making your sacrifice in vain.

“Mm.. I understand,” she spoke, words rolling off her tongue slowly as she glanced off. “Even if it won’t get down to that, try and remember owing him doesn’t equal a life; anybody who expects a life in return doesn’t deserve it. He might not appreciate it.”

She chuckled shaking her head a bit. “But ignore me, mm?~ I’m just an old lady preaching to the choir.”

“You’re saying your hair moving by itself is impossible when you live in such a life, sir,” she blinked, laughing a bit to herself. “You’re quite interesting to say something as that! Perhaps you just don’t know it can do it since you can’t see it?~” Now she was simply teasing him, though it was all in good fun.

This time, he seems to understand. She had a point. Sometimes, needless sacrifice would only bring more despair, despite good intentions. He could relate it to a situation he had experienced himself. He opted to sacrifice himself for the sake of one’s love, but if he did so, the person he had sacrificed for would only end up killing the one who would have taken his life. It was a complicated love triangle, though it was resolved before anyone’s life was taken. Araragi however, was at the brink of death that time.

He nods in understanding, a little smile forming around his lips. “No, I don’t think I can ignore something like that,” he began, shrugging a shoulder. “I’ll keep that in mind, Lotti-san. You have a point. Not everything that comes out of sacrifice is good.”

Old? “You… don’t look that old at all though, Lotti-san.” he commented. Maybe she just looked young but was actually old? Just like the vampires that attacked him before.

He chuckles to himself, waving his hand again in a dismissive gesture. “Maybe it’s because I can’t see it… but then again, maybe not? It could be just your eye tricking you?” Of course, Araragi didn’t believe at all that his ahoge could move by itself. The paranormal, sure. But sentient hair?

Nah.