Chapter Text
Rina Tennoji was a spellcrafter. A good one, too. Although she wasn’t exactly well known, she didn’t mind- her innovations and quality-of-life focus on spellcasting were for personal use, and what others thought really didn’t matter much to her.
Well…that wasn’t entirely true. The only other opinion she gave significant value to was the opinion of her childhood friend- one almost completely opposite to her in personality, that being one Kasumi Nakasu. Really, the only other presence to have set foot in Rina’s isolated tower, but even then, it had been so long since she’s ever even heard from her.
To say she was surprised would be an understatement, when her past few days have been such a blur. And it all started with a knock on the door.
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Her focus was broken by a presence at the foot of her tower. One to take various precautions, a spell was in place to inform her of any movement around the base of her tower- and even then, her tower was surrounded by well-maintained fields of illusion magic. She wasn’t violent in any extent, and although she could make it so that trespassers be severely punished for attempting to sneak in her tower, she didn’t really see it fair.
Nonetheless, she had to check it out. Not many people could get past her fields- especially considering counterspells for most of them hadn’t existed yet, because she had just made most of them without ever telling anyone.
First came a knock. And then more knocking, increasing in intensity. Something about this felt familiar…could it be…
“Rina-chan!” came the voice the spellcrafter could never forget.
It was.
Wasting no more time, she hastily rushed to open the door. Usually, on supply runs and the times she absolutely needed to venture into civilization, she cast an illusion spell on herself- specifically her face, imitating emotion to a scary degree.
But never with Kasumi. Not only did the other girl know Rina like one would a close family member, Rina couldn’t ever bring herself to lie, period. And especially not to Kasumi. Even if the hero standing on her doorstep wouldn’t return the favor, scheming and withholding information from the spellcrafter.
Rina wasn’t going to lie, on more than one occasion she did feel hurt that Kasumi didn’t seem to trust her, but every time Kasumi lied about something, it always turned out to be for her good, or the greater good of most people involved. Even if the hero came off as sinister, when talking about her latest plan, sometimes even going so far to indulge herself in cackling more fitting of…well, a witch living in a tower.
“Kasumin…”
“Awh, and here I’d thought you would’ve been delighted to see your bestest friend in the entire universe! It’s been what, a year?”
“A year and a half…”
The ashen haired girl pulled Rina in an embrace, one the spellcrafter was all too eager to return.
“You’re still wearing that..?” Rina says, having gotten a better look at Kasumi’s clothing, specifically the pink badge sporting a smiley face pinned on the hero’s chest area.
“Well, of course! Why wouldn’t I? Even if it isn’t one of the best antimagical artifacts created in the world- and that’s an objective truth, by the way- I’d still wear it every day. You made it just for me!”
Right, that also explains how Kasumi was able to bypass her fields. Rina made a charm for Kasumi’s safety back when the hero was still but an adventurer, and Rina didn’t tell her (primarily because Kasumi felt it didn’t need to be asked) but it was a gift that took a little over a month to create.
She was proud, even happy, that Kasumi seemed to have valued it so much. Of course, that didn’t show on her facial expression- but Kasumi knew her friend well enough to see that she was glad.
Kasumi was the first to break away from Rina, much to the spellcrafter’s mild annoyance.
“Ehe~ Before you complain, let me change, first. Then you can hug me aaaalll you want~!”
Rina lets out a huff, barely noticeable to anyone but the hero. She conceded, though. Although Kasumi wasn’t wearing armor, she was still carrying around a bunch of stuff that would complicate things. A sack of…something was set by her side. Rina wasn’t sure what Kasumi was bringing with her, or why, but she’s probably going to tell her eventually.
The tired-looking yet extremely awake (and excited) spellcrafter steps to the side to let the girl in her abode. The sheathed sword at Kasumi’s side was quickly taken off and placed on a nearby table as Kasumi made herself at home.
Rina would complain, if the place wasn’t already messy due to her negligence. It wasn’t her fault her tower was so large (it was, but she couldn’t help it. Some spells failed, and some spells didn’t do what they were intended to do. A shrinking spell making something, say, a house, taller for example). The spellcrafter excused herself to fix something up for her guest, preferably a warm drink.
She really needed to tidy up her tower, it was getting increasingly difficult to navigate, and similarly, increasingly dangerous. Her innovations and inventions littered the place, and although none of them were built with offensive capability in mind, they were still harboring potent magical potential. In other words, they could explode if she messes up.
Not the first time she’s had something explode on her, but…she’d like to avoid that. And she’d never forgive herself if anything she created caused harm to her only friend.
While she carefully tread over to her designated ‘kitchen’ room, her mind wandered and reminisced.
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When Kasumi announced she was going on an adventure- to see the world, Rina was happy for her friend. It had always been a lifetime dream of the then-young girl to brave the outside world, to explore and find treasure.
In the process, Kasumi became a hero of great renown. Kasumi sent weekly letters, which became bi-weekly, and then monthly as she grew ever-popular and her workload increased.
Rina couldn’t handle fame. She couldn’t handle being the center of attention, in fact, that was one of the reasons Kasumi was incredibly important to her, in the orphanage they grew up in.
Kasumi was great at being the center of attention. Every eye on her was one eye less on the socially awkward and shunned Rina.
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Before she knew it, the hot chocolate was ready. Rina had a great grasp on how the world worked, and applying magic to make…well, the magical equivalent of home appliances was the logical next step. Less time spent on making sure she ate enough and took good enough care of herself was more time she could spend spellcrafting and researching. She went back to the living room.
“Sorry for the wait, Kasumin.”
What greeted Rina was the visage of Kasumi in a skintight garment that covered her entire body save for the hands, feet and of course head, seemingly lazing around her Rina’s spacious living room couch. Her clothing was neatly folded and placed on the table- and a bunch of other things were placed on the table too, organized neatly. Rina recognized some of them as rare materials, some of them were magical artifacts, and…some of them were clothing.
Kasumi jolted back upright at Rina’s voice, flashing her a smile.
“Fufu, it’s not a problem!”
The hero pat the space on the couch next to her, at which point Rina sat down in her Kasumi-designated spot and offered her the cup of hot chocolate.
Now, Rina understood Kasumi’s decision to wear her skintight suit. It provided good protection against the elements, another layer separating her flesh from a blade, and it, most importantly, stopped uncomfortable clothing and armor from abrading her skin. But still, it was extremely distracting in their current situation, the black fabric clinging to the girl’s form.
(Kasumi intended for this to happen, in all honesty.)
Rina would be a terrible magus if her willpower was lacking. When the initial bout of distraction waned, she wasn’t too affected.
But there was something she couldn’t- no, didn’t want to resist. And that would be embracing her. Kasumi did give her permission to ‘hug her all she wanted’, and Rina was going to capitalize on that.
And so she did, the two soon spending time in comfortable, intermittent silence. Rina sensed that Kasumi was tired, and aside from general small talk, Rina made sure not to tax Kasumi with too many questions.
The artifacts could wait.
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Empty mugs joined the artifacts neatly set on the table, the peaceful night sky gently casting rays of moonlight through the tower’s windows. Some time ago, the pair had drifted off to sleep.
The gentle lighting barely illuminated their sleeping forms- peaceful expressions on their faces, their reunion after a year and a half of separation spent in the comfort of each other’s arms.