"Apologise! Right now, mister!"

Hazama didn't think that...Fluttershy had it in her to raise her voice even a single octave higher, but life just kept throwing curveballs at him. Albeit, this particular one was self inflicted, although how was he supposed to know how violent the white Pony's reaction would be to him batting her hoof away when she tried to take his hat?

The yellow one had, in a hushed voice, warned the unicorn away from any future attempts, but apparently the one known as Rarity really wanted it, and so did something equal parts surprising and stupid.

A turquoise shimmer manifested around her horn, and a similar glow made itself known around his hat as well. Without further warning, his hat lifted away from his grasp as though it had gained a mind of its own, but Hazama knew better. It wasn't quite the same as what he was used to, but the presence of magic element was unmistakable.

He would have been more impressed at the telekinetic ability if he hadn't spent that particular moment springing up and grabbing the brim of his hat, dragging it back to himself quite forcefully.

What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that the unicorn would also lurch forward with his sharp tug, obviously not prepared for the strength behind his arms. She'd been sent sprawling, the wind knocked out of her stomach with an 'oomph'.

Fluttershy had done three things. First, Rarity was helped back to her feet and was checked for injuries. Secondly, Rarity recieved a scolding for trying to take a Human's possession by force. Not because it was wrong, but because Hazama apparently could have hurt her over it. The white mare had apologised, visibly miffed at having to extend that courtesy to a Human, even one with decent fashion sense. Thirdly, the pegasus had turned on Hazama, asking politely that he apologise.

How she expected a creature that was (in her mind) about as smart as a dog to apologise, he didn't quite know. But apparently she could detect that he wasn't sorry at all through some means, and had gotten slowly more irate when it became evident that he held not the slightest shred of sympathy for the unicorn.

Hazama, for his part, was utterly bemused that he was expected to apologise at all for defending his shit from a magical thief. The sad part is that he was fairly sure Fluttershy realised this, and wasn't all that sorry either, but she had to ask it of him to make the unicorn feel better.

So now the three were in an awkward triangular stalemate. Hazama wasn't sorry at all, Rarity wanted him to be sorry (somehow), and Fluttershy sided with him but still wanted him to apologise in order to not hurt Rarity's feelings (again, somehow).

Rarity was the first to break the standoff. Using a hoof and tossing her hair to one side in a well rehearsed motion, she turned her head away from Hazama and back to Fluttershy.

"Oh, don't worry about it, dear. I don't know why you're expecting an apology from a Human given that even you can't communicate with them. It was my fault, regardless."

Even though he'd taken no actual part in the brief argument other than being one half of the cause, Hazama still decided to claim that as a victory.

So, with his presence in the 'conversation' no longer required, he stopped to think about the implications of the use of something similar to magic element.

It was worrying. If every reality connected to the Boundary had magic element, then there could also be much, much stronger users of it around. Even though he definitely considered himself without hubris to be in the top 10 strongest living beings back home, slightly below Terumi and (to his chagrin) Ragna, definitely below Izanami, but above most others, that didn't count for shit if he suddenly found himself up to his neck in magic users as skilled as Nine, if not worse.

This theory was only supported by the strength and ease of the unicorn's telekinesis. Most magic users had to train for a hell of a long time to achieve that sort of level with a given spell, and the fact that this mare had used one without so much as blinking with the exertion was somewhat ominous.

Still lost in thought, he took his place back on the beanbag, taking the time to angle his hat better on his head so as to not crush it.

The two Ponies had moved to the kitchen area for the moment, a kettle having been brought out and mugs placed on saucers atop of the table, steam gently puffing upwards.

Their attention was not particularly focused on the tea, but rather they spend several minutes stealing glances (aka staring) at the Human lounging on the Bear's seat.

"So you don't know who or where his owner is?" Rarity asked, deciding that the time had come to actually take a sip of her tea, which had gone colder than she would have liked.

"N-not really. I woke up to feed the chickens and Polly, the other Human, had gone wandering off near the Everfree Forest. When I found her, she was trying to get close to...Him." Fluttershy said, gesturing again at the Human, who had now taken to spinning his hat around a finger yet again. It relaxed her, somewhat, to know that he was curious enough about clothing to start playing with it. She'd started to get worried about how stiff and dare-she-say formal he was.

Rarity tutted, smacking her lips and placing the cup back on the saucer. "My, how very irresponsible. Leaving a Human out like that, and in such fine clothing, too!"

"I-I know. That's what's weird. H-has there been anypony in Ponyville looking for a missing Human?"

The unicorn shook her head. "I don't believe so, dear. But then I don't admit to paying much attention to news about Humans."

Fluttershy sighed, keeping a watchful eye on him to make sure that he didn't decide to go walking off like Polly had. She'd made a decision about today, and wasn't sure Rarity would be overjoyed to hear it.

"I...I'm sorry Rarity, but I don't think I can go to the spa today. Not with a new Human I know nothing about. I don't know how nicely he'll play with the animals..."

Rarity took it with grace, bowing her head slightly in acceptance.

"I understand, dear, I understand. But perhaps I can still accompany you to Ponyville proper so that you can find his owner, hm?"

The animal caretaker blinked slowly. A flush appeared on her cheeks as she ducked her head down and refused to meet her friend's eyes.

Rarity quirked an eyebrow, leaning in slightly. "Fluttershy... You can't."

"I know... It's just he's so well behaved! He wouldn't be a problem at all to keep around. I...I mean, whoever owns him will come looking, right...?" Fluttershy muttered hopefully.

As much as Rarity didn't like the Human, she had to admit he seemed relatively docile. She didn't know what she was thinking trying to take something from a Human, but any other member of the species would have growled and started getting aggressive. All that this one did was take it back. Forcefully, yes, and Rarity still had no idea how he'd packed that much force into one tug, but other than that it was a perfectly reasonable reaction to have. Still, though...

The fashionista put a hoof atop Fluttershy's, smiling softly. "He does seem...Reasonably decent, darling, but he has an owner. If he's intended to be somewhere with a deadline, he needs to be found as soon as possible. In fact, he might already be late for a Human pageant, with those clothes..."

Fluttershy bit her lower lip. Everything about what Rarity said made too much sense to ignore. As much as he seemed well trained, that was just another sign that his owner had spent a lot of time getting him into shape and ready for presentation.

"You're...You're right." She conceded, crestfallen. It was a shame, really. A lot of Humans made Fluttershy nervous, but aside from being a little strange at times, this one had been pleasantly easy to deal with.

Rarity continued to look at her friend for a few moments, measuring something. Without a word, she stood up from the table and shook Fluttershy's side.

"H-Huh?" Mumbled the confused Pegasus, unsure of what her friend was planning.

"Come now, Fluttershy darling. Before you get too attached to let go!" Rarity said, the teasing grin on her face doing nothing to soften the truth of the words. She really did need to find his owner quickly, or else she might not be so willing to part ways.

Hazama was only mildly irritated to be broken from his thoughts, but he was glad to be outside again. It was still a trippy experience, getting used to life again, and he was constantly reminded with each breeze that he actually had the opportunity to forge his own path now.

It was a prettier day than he'd ever seen before. Blades of grass swayed in the wind, as if waving hello to the three travellers in the middle of the path. Some very large birds careened high in the sky, tiny dots of colour disappearing and weaving amongst clouds. The sun was unobstructed by clouds, and the earlier morning mist had been dispersed, alongside the damp dew it had sprinkled over the plants. It was a shame that Hazama didn't hold that much appreciation for pretty things, then.

Something was bothering him, and he couldn't place a finger on it. Years of experience going undercover had taught him to trust his instincts when he thought was being watched. All that meant is that his brain was picking up signs unconsciously, and he had yet to realise it himself.

The two Ponies were animatedly discussing something in front of him, and he didn't care enough to listen in to their words after he'd heard them start on the subject of spa visits. It can't have been them that were examining him, then, so who was?

He was starting to get...Not nervous. That was the wrong word. Edgy? Apart from being a general descriptor he'd heard used in reference to him before, it was surprisingly fitting now. He wasn't a fan of unknown variables; especially as the latter end of his previous life had been spent trying to crush someone who fit that description perfectly.

Hazama squinted, the sun bearing down heavily upon his body. The clothing he wore was more suited to city life, where direct sunlight was a rarity, not open treks in broad daylight. Grunting quietly, he tilted the brim of his hat downward to shield his eyes.

That was when he saw it. A shadow on the dirt in front of him. Small, circular, but growing in size. Something was approaching him. Quickly, if the shadow's growth was any indication.

'Come to think of it, those birds up there are pretty quie...Oh dear.' He thought, as his eyes caught sight of the yellow mare in front of him, specifically the wings on her back.

He could hear it now. The whistling of wind. Whatever the approaching pegasus was doing, she was doing it very, very quickly. By their standards, at any rate.

Hazama knew he couldn't dodge out of the way. Well, he definitely could, but making a purposeful dodge would require speed and attention to detail that no animal would be able have. But he doubted that something approaching as quickly as whatever this new Pony was had pleasant intentions in mind for him. And he definitely knew that he was the target, as the shadow had slid down to surround him from a top-down perspective.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted a butterfly in the field. An idea.

'I can't believe this is what i'm resorting to.' He groaned internally, making to chase after the insect.

Fluttershy jumped at least five feet into the air, yelping in surprise as something crashed into the ground behind them, making the earth rumble in every direction with the force of the impact.

The two mares turned quickly, shouting for and panicking over the fact that the Human had just been back there.

They stopped, mouths agape as their cries of fear halted in their throats.

The bottom half of Rainbow Dash was sticking out of a crater in the ground, while the Human they'd been so worried about was about two meters to the left, apparently having been running after a Butterfly he'd been distracted by. His head had turned back to the group, blinking innocently.

Author's Note

Because crossover characters getting tackled by Rainbow Dash is a cliche and a half.

So I haven't got too much to say as things are progressing smoothly, but I have decided that in the AN of every chapter (for as long as I can do so) I intend on posting a track of BlazBlue music. I'm starting with Hazama's various themes and the characters closely linked to him, but i'll branch out from there.

For now, have Hazama's character theme: Gluttony Fang (It should be mentioned that when I say 'character theme', I mean the theme that a character has when you fight them.)