A Strange New World (Saiouma Post-Apocalyptic AU)

3

Shuichi didn't move, frozen in place by the stare of this curious stranger, his eyebrows furrowed. If they had malicious intent, why hadn't they acted on it? They had been crouching there for nearly a minute, but it felt like forever. Endlessly gazing at him as if assessing him for something. The piercing silence, if it wasn't sending chills down his spine, would have otherwise been just plain awkward.

That clown mask freaked him out, and along with the hooded cloak, it completely hid what they actually looked like. Judging from their stature, they were his age, a bit younger if anything due to them being lacking in height. 

He just couldn't be sure. But if they were going to attack, he wanted them to just act on it already rather than making him wait.

He wanted to assume they were friendly. But he knew caution was important, and placing blind trust in someone who had a weapon and hadn't even spoken to him yet was most likely a bad move, and a potentially fatal one.

As if reading his thoughts, they lifted a hand up to their head, just like that, breaking the stillness.

First, they pulled down their hood. Their hair was a deep indigo- tipped in violet- with several long, dark strands slightly curled at the end sticking out of the sides of their head, seemingly defying gravity. Then, they pulled off their mask and tossed it aside with a small phew. 

His eyes matched his hair, although the shade of purple was quite bit lighter. His face carried an expression of childish curiosity, blinking a few times his way, his eyebrows raised. Although he looked inconspicuous, something about him tipped Shuichi off to the idea that he wasn't quite as innocent as he seemed. Maybe it had something to do with how well he could handle a crossbow, as most people their age hadn't even touched a weapon like that before.

Despite this, he couldn't say he felt the stranger was malicious. Just mischevious, and one of the last person in the world you would want to turn your back to.

"Your face looks stupid."

Well, that's certainly an interesting way for him to introduce himself.

"Wh-what...?" Shuichi asked. He had heard him just fine, but was beyond confused. He had shot down two monsters as if it were nothing and scared the living hell out of him, and now here he was acting like a 6th grade bully.

"I said your face looks stupid, duh. Like a really surprised dead fish." He remarked.

"Um, I'm sorry?" He stammered. There were a million questions he wanted to ask this person, but had no idea where to start.

The purple-haired stranger rolled his eyes and got to his feet. "As fun as it was to watch you stare at me and wait for you to do something, I got bored eventually. We have places to go, people to see, and we can't stay here forever!" He held out a gloved hand. "Get up."

Shuich glanced over his hand, as if checking there wasn't something hidden on it that could be potentially lethal. His eyes wandered back to his expectant face, and he pondered whether or not it was a good idea to accept his help.

He gave an exasperated sigh. "Get up or I'll kill you."

Well, that made the descision for him. He took his hand reluctantly and rose to his feet, his knees the texture of jelly from all the shock he had experienced. He just wanted to run into his room, hide his head under his pillow, and cry himself to sleep.

"Jeez, how have you managed to survive? You're shaking like a deer in headlights. You must be really lucky, which is good, because you seem kinda dense and you deeeeeeefinitely aren't strong." The stranger insulted him once more, and he wished the boy would stop hurting his pride as it didn't really seem neccessary.