The cat’s demeanor drooped considerably, Itsuki finding the Page’s lack of hope to be quite depressing. Mamertine sounded as though he’d seen too much to remain positive towards humanity as a whole. Without hope, though, Itsuki was fairly certain the war would never end. For some people, hope was all they had left to cling to.
”Kibo.” he said quietly, looking up from his position far below Mamertine. “Kibo. That is a word for
hope. There are many words for it, but… I think that one is best. Kibo. Maybe someday, Mamertine-sama,
kibo will return to your heart, too.”
Themisto, for what it was worth, didn’t seem too phased by the cat’s emotional pleas. He was more of a realist, or less of a philosopher. Shifting his weight, he shrugged at Mamertine. “I gotta girl I wanna protect.” he admitted, smirking to himself. He sounded foolish, knowing full well how he’d nearly been killed a few times. “That and… I dunno, it’s kinda cool to have a secret identity and be able to jump tall buildings in a single bound. Not… exactly, but you know what I’m gettin’ at. We’re… different from other people. I mean yeah, there’s some serious assholes out here. Epidote’s one of ‘em - if you see him, he’s wearin’ a gauntlet, about my size, blonde, shoulder pads, real a*****e - beat him in the face for me. Dude’s got some seriously bad karma comin’ his way for harassin’ people like that. Says he’s killed a few people. I gotta bone to pick with that douche.”
The super senshi scoffed, shaking his head. Another tangent.
Drawing a breath, he explained further. “...and my sister’s out here, bein’ a creepy weirdo. Apparently she’s been runnin’ around out here like a creeper for like, six years or somethin’. I didn’t know until recently. Kinda crazy, imaginin’ how many people you know might be runnin’ around out here, and might get killed without you knowin’ about it.” Themisto turned away for a moment, his gaze scanning the horizon of concrete buildings and city lights. “...there’s some weird stuff goin’ on out here, and I know I ain’t the most poh-sisticated dude you’ll ever meet, but… I dunno, deep down I think I’m alright.”
Itsuki seemed touched by Themisto’s unusual display of softness. The cat giggled, as much as any cat could. “Themi-chan is good. A little rough around the edges--”
“
Hey, my edges are
badass, thanks.”
“---but I’m happy to be his neko. Even if he doesn’t like me sleeping on his face, hee hee~”
Themisto sighed, his palms and face meeting quietly.
