Footsteps of Time (Yvette/AH)

Letting go of the doorknob immediately as the door opened, Kazuya would stand towering over Yvette, seeing her look worse for wear. Still unable to fully understand what she said, though he had tried to learn some French, he could see the disgust on her face before walking away from him, leaving the door open. Stepping carefully into her apartment, he would place the book he had gotten for her down in any available space that was clear, before glancing around her apartment. Immediately seeing her make a beeline for the beer bottle, he would regard Yvette, well, more like her back, with a half-asleep or bored look on his face, whichever was interpreted first.

Wordlessly, without a single indication, Kazuya would step closer to her, but not to try and stop her. Instead, he would go and find a large, empty garbage bag and begin to pick up the empty beer and occasional whiskey bottles strewn all around her apartment floor, depositing them into the bag. Slowly and silently, he would do what he could to clean her apartment up, sweeping up all the cigarette butts and ash up and dumping them into a separate empty garbage bag, though he would leave her books alone. He may be slightly concerned about her, but he wasn't stupid enough to try and touch her books, especially considering the state she was currently in, he didn't know how she would react, which could range from ignoring him, to going on a rampage. Either way, he would keep an eye on her, thought it was more out of worrying about her, and less about his own safety.

... Yvette-san... What happened to you? What caused you to end up in such a sorry state?

Slowly turning his head to look at Yvette, the same half-bored or asleep look on his face, Kazuya would not be fazed by the annoyance she felt that was conveyed through her words, and watching her turn on her side and face the inside of the couch after tossing her beer can onto the table, the can would end up rolling towards Kazuya, stopping right before his feet, as he would glance down at it slightly. Considering Yvette showed no sign of even wanting to clean her apartment, much less clean up her own act, Kazuya would do it for her.

Bending down and picking the beer can up, he would throw the can into the bag with the rest of the bottles for recycling, and sweep the cigarette butt on the table into the bag and picking up both bags, would carry them to her door, leaving them beside the door, to take out later. If Yvette was even listening for a bit, she would notice the apartment suddenly grow quiet, no sounds of movement heard at all... until suddenly, Kazuya would appear out of nowhere behind her, towering over her... Then place a cup of hot coffee and a full pot of coffee on the table, instant obviously, since it was the first thing he found, before straightening up, as he would look down at her, his arms held loosely by his sides and his face partially hidden in the shadows.

["... It's up to you if you want to drink the coffee or not, but do you plan on staying like this forever?"]

(OOC: Words in square brackets are Japanese.)

Still having absolutely no idea what Yvette said, Kazuya would casually folding his arms across his chest and watch her lift herself up from the couch with some effort, noticing the pained look that crossed her face a couple times during that time, his gaze would follow her as she walked past him and went to her dresser, before hobbling to the bathroom after getting a change of clothes. After she had gotten out of the shower and came back out, she would see Kazuya sitting at the table, his back facing her, as the sound of pages being softly flipped could be heard.

The cup of coffee and pot he made for her still left on the table in front of the couch, as he heard Yvette go to the kitchen, he would slowly turn his head to look behind him slightly, just as she disappeared into the kitchen. His gaze trained on the spot she had been before entering into the kitchen, he would slowly turn his head back to face forward, that same half-bored or asleep look on his face.

As Yvette sat on the floor after sliding down against the drawers, she would suddenly find Kazuya standing in front of her, as if he had appeared out of nowhere. His arms casually folded across his chest, he would tower over her slightly... before crouching down in front of her, keeping a respectable distance between the two of them, a slightly somber but concerned look on his face.

["... It's your choice if you want to drink and smoke the entire day away, I have no right to stop you. But I will not stand by and watch you drink and smoke yourself to death. You may not care about yourself, but] I care about you and I won't let you do this to yourself. ... I can't..."

Seeing Yvette slowly shake her head almost desperately, instead of being deterred by it, it made Kazuya all the more determined to care for her, whether she wanted his care for her or not. His words were not just lip service, he wasn't being kind or sugar coating his words because he wanted something of her, he genuinely cared about her. Very few could say they knew what Kazuya was thinking, even fewer that they understood him. The concerned look on his face remaining there hearing her gasp out at him, her voice hoarse and anguished, the moment he saw tears run down her face, he had made his mind up already.

Reaching out, Yvette would feel his hand gently cup her cheek and slowly turn her head, bringing her eyes back up to his, as she would see he had moved closer to her. She would then feel him gently pull her towards him, his other arm reaching out and gently taking the cigarette from her hand, as he would clench his fist up, the cigarette held inside. He'd then engulf his entire hand in fire, completely burning the cigarette to ashes, before wrapping his arm around her, pulling her into an embrace and holding her close to him.

"... If you hate me, that's fine. But I meant what I said. I care about you, to the point that I can't let you do this to yourself. I didn't invite you to Tokyo, or rush in to save you because I wanted something. I did it... for you, and you alone. That is my only reason."

Continuing to keep his arms wrapped tightly around Yvette as her body jerked with sobs, to comfort and in a way, act as support for her, truth be told, there really was no special reason behind his actions. Inviting Yvette to Tokyo, running headfirst into the fight against Kaiser to rescue her, and now taking care of her when he saw how badly broken she was, Kazuya did it simply because of her, and her alone. He truly did care for Yvette, to the point that he refused to give up on her, even if she had given up on herself.

"... At least I have a reason, and didn't do all this for the hell of it. Yvette, you are my only reason for everything I did. I don't need any other reason."

Pulling away slightly, making eye contact with her, he would look deep into her eyes, if she looked back, she would still see concern in his eyes... but there was also a slight hint of fondness mixed in. He was determined to help her, take care of her... and protect her, in his own way.