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This day can’t seriously get worse, right? Oh how Itha wishes that was true.
His morning started off rough, from Robbie stealing his stilts and getting hurt while trying to wear them so Michiko yelled at him to keep an eye on his stuff better, to getting deathglared by Joseph after accidentally bumping into him while heading to breakfast. It caused him to drop his mask in the process and he apologized to the photographer before grabbing his mask off the floor and rushed off to the dining table. Itha just kept his head down the rest of the time for breakfast, eating silently as he waited for his match to begin and get him out of the awkward situation he put himself in.
Finally, when it was time for his match, he got up quickly from his seat and went off to the waiting room. Of course when doing so, he stumbled on his stilts and almost fell face first into the ground. It was until he was caught by another hunter and placed back comfortably on his stilts, looking up to see who caught him and noticed it was Alva. Concern was written on his face for the younger as Itha blushed red in embarrassment, “how much is he going to make a fool of himself today??” he cursed to himself as he pulled his hood down slightly so he didn’t have to make eye contact with the other hunter.
“T-Thank you for catching me.” He thanked softly to Alva, who smiled softly once he saw he was okay, “Just be careful, Itha.” The smaller nodded before heading off to his match so he wasn’t late.
He decided to go as his regular outfit for this match and not morningstar. The cape was not the best, especially when dashing and it snags a tree branch making his dash and his breath being cut short, making him surrender his match after many harassment from the trees. He thought he was supposed to be the hunter, not these objects randomly scattered around the maps, he was still bruised after crashing face first with the tram.
He hopes that this match would go better for him.
…
Three stuns.
Three stunners are sitting at the table and the map that was chosen was the hospital. Wall-y areas plus stuns is not gonna end well, especially with that prospector and antiquarian. And even if he lands hits on either one of them, the enchantress is always gonna be nearby. The younger hunter slouched in his seat as he pulled his hood down more to cover his face and sighed loudly. This manor just hates him.
The distant sound of glass cracking was heard and Itha raised his hood up to notice that he was already in the map, this is gonna be great.
That was utter hell.
Even bringing excitement to that match, he felt like his role was switched and he was getting hunted. The Antiquarian kept hitting him against nearby walls and even after she ran out of her stick, that prospector was ready with so many magnets, slamming him against the walls and enchantress watching nearby as she gathered so many curses off of him, using her long stun whenever he picked up either one of the two. Because of three man bullying that was happening, that mechanic was able to decode in peace without having to worry about Itha getting close to her at all, letting them get a 4 man win, only chairing the three at least once before the last cipher being popped. His detention didn’t help much either as the prospector kept using his magnets to gain distance even after using his winds to regain those distances lost.
He was gonna be bruised in so many places.
So many losses and being bullied by these stuns is making Itha more and more discouraged to even play in these matches. He really wishes he had more cipher pressure to help him out to at least slow down the survivors a bit but guess nothing goes right for him. He had better luck when he first came into this manor because none of the survivors knew how to counter him but know it was living hell for him instead. The small hunter just sighed and continued on his way, passing hunters on the way as they glanced at him, noticing how defeated he looked. He just hoped Robbie didn’t want to play today, he didn’t have the energy or motivation today.
Itha removed his stilts long after his match was done and trudged back to his room, thinking to himself on the way before he stopped in front of his door and stared at the wood. Itha didn’t want to be alone as he turned on his heel and quickly walked over to another hunter’s room instead, one the survivors usually hated going against.
That said hunter was Ripper or his formal name, Jack, who was in his room humming his familiar tune while painting, seeming to pass the time until his match. The humming was cut off as the sound of his door being opened and he turned his attention on who was coming in without knocking. He soon noticed it was the fox of the hunters, his hood and mask was off of him as he walked over to the taller hunter.
Before Jack can question what he was doing, he was being hugged tightly and felt him bury his face into his neck,
“You okay?” The taller hunter asked and felt Itha’s grip tightened around him as he placed the brush down, that he was holding on the easel in front of him, and hugged onto the smaller.
“I just want to stay here.. just a little bit longer..” Itha murmured into the other’s neck as he didn’t move from his spot. Jack noticed faint bruising forming on the younger’s pale skin and soon connected the dots on what has happened,
“Sure, sure.” He whispered softly as he patted his back and held him closer, burying half his face into the white hair.
They stayed together in a comfortable silence until Jack’s match.