An unfamiliar voice was to blame for the interruption of his scheming.
"They shoved you off too, huh?"
Turning any quicker would've left him with whiplash. Upon looking to his right, he caught sight of his company.
Standing with her back to a sturdy oak, a girl eyed him with a sort of indifferent curiosity—a gaze that inspired both insecurity and anticipation. She was at equal height to him, with light crème skin occasionally dotted with darker brown freckles. She didn't look any older than him, either.
The girl sported cinnamon locks that flowed in gentle waves down just past her lower back, then transitioned to cascading blonde curls near the ends. Above her left brow, a monarch butterfly bow with an amber gemstone positioned at the tie allowed a windswept tuft to curve outward.
Her face was fair, somewhat lean, and shared those freckles near her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
Piercing amber eyes offered him no choice but to meet them. They shimmered in what afternoon sunlight managed to pierce the canopy, and sent that radiant gleam right back where it came. Her framework was well defined, shapely enough to be called an above-average athletic build.
She wore a sleeveless gray-blue vest on a teal and black v-neck tee, ending just above her stomach. An inch or so down from the end of the shirt, the girl fashioned herself in a skirt of identical design to the tee, with dark gray socks extending above grey, black, and white dyed running shoes.
Her cardigan's collar reached all the way around her neck and opened wide at the front, too far to be buttoned closed, so he assumed this to be exclusively for style.
He'd have continued staring off if she hadn't spoken up again.
The girl raised a brow. "You there?"
Kyoya blinked a double take and stood with a jolt, composure all but leaving in the moment. "Everything alright?" She laughed a little, that humor doing a bit to ease his nerves.
It took him a moment to speak comfortably.
"Yeah, no sweat. Made me jump, is all." He returned the gesture with as genuine of a chuckle as he could give, at least mostly leveling out whatever tension had come over him. "They just told me something about needing to be checked and then didn't really follow up with anything, so I up and left. Same with you?" His head tilted slightly.
"Just about sums it up. I watched those guys turn you away like that, so I take it you also came here to hatch some plan to get in?" She nodded.
This girl's intuition was right on the mark.
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Though, so far, no alarm bells rang. Even if they were strangers, there was a very clear common goal in mind. He'd always been one in favor of cooperation where it could be applied, especially if gain went his way.
"Right on the money. I don't know what their deal is, but something about all that doesn't settle right. At least, to me, anyway."
"No, I'm right with you on that one. Dunno why a gal can't just enjoy a festival, buuuuut—" she trailed off, peeking through some of the underbrush, presumably back towards the gate. "Now I've got a mystery to solve... Still planning on getting in there, though."
"You must pretty interested in all that Legend stuff, to be that dead set on getting in," the boy observed, absentmindedly kicking around leaves while they talked.
"I've got my reasons; I'm sure you've got yours..." She shrugged in reply. Though, afterward, he noticed a slight hesitance in her face, as though she'd stopped herself from mentioning something. He didn't have long to think about that, though.
"...Y'know," the girl began, "I actually can't help but feel like I recognize that wacky silouhette from somewhere... Have we met?"
"Wacky?!" Kyoya recoiled, instantly crossing his arms in defense. "It's not wacky at all!" Any and all insecurities about his appearance flooded back in a flash, and now all he could think about was if he really looked so outlandish.
"Calm down, I never said it looked bad. Unique for sure, but just call it a fashion statement and you're safe." The girl seemed to be able to tell that her humor did something to keep him less tense, offering another brief smile before continuing. "Really, though. I could swear I've seen somebody that looks a helluva lot like you at some point before."
The gal leaned in front of the tree again, adopting the same thinking pose as Kyoya had earlier. After a few moments, she shook her head and sighed. "I'll just worry about that later. I've got a contact on the way to get me in—I figure I could use the good juju from helping you out anyway, so consider it breaking even for taking the time to chat."
If for no other reason, he felt inclined to accept because he also felt a tinge of familiarity somewhere. It was fainter than faint, but present nonetheless.
"Could she have known me from Teleo?"
Kyoya had never stopped anywhere on his journey to the homestead, nor remembered ever meeting anyone during that period. Not once did he stay in the capital for longer than was absolutely necessary, and as such, he definitely didn't meet her there.
Despite the origin eventually being deemed unknown to him, it's being there at all was enough to get him thinking—an unfortunately all-too-common trend.
Albeit a bit cautiously, he prodded the offer.
"What's the timeframe like?"
"Ten minutes tops. Called 'em in a good minute ago—we shouldn't be waiting long."
With that caution fading, Kyoya ultimately settled on this new face being trustworthy. Whether it was because he genuinely felt so, or he simply didn't have it in him to think much further, the boy had no clue. Any newfound acquaintance would be of some benefit, some way or another.
The Miscreant even thought about how Reika and Guran would have felt; how they'd react to seeing him already having encountered, as well as held a friendly, two-way conversation with someone completely new for the first time in years.
Deep down, he hoped they really were watching.
He hoped they were proud.