"Hm," Liya mused, watching Luu walk away. As Yoshi drew closer and said a soft hello, however, Liya got a good look at her face and was immediately distracted.

"Wha--!" she started, dismayed. "Have you been crying?!"

Yoshi actually threw up a hand, half-blocking her face from view. "Ah, er! Is it that obvious...?"

"Did that weird guy make you cry?!" Liya demanded, with such force that Yoshi took a step back and put up both her hands this time. "I'll kick his ass!!"

"Eh?? No, no!" Yoshi said hastily. "He's very nice."

A sort of pained smile came over her face then, and she looked away.

"I think, er," she said softly, "Learning to shapeshift is just going to be very difficult for me. That's all."

Liya regarded her sympathetically, seeming to accept this. Then she--very slowly, and seemingly with a lot of effort--raised her arms, offering Yoshi a hug. Yoshi accepted it with some puzzlement, and for a moment they just stood holding each other, neither of them speaking.

Finally, Yoshi asked tentatively, "Er...are you all right?"

"My arms are sore," Liya admitted in a mutter, leaning against Yoshi.

[Hello all! This is the end of Chapter 10! Thank you all so much for reading. Just to take care of a few points of business, including what you can expect for the next few weeks:

• For the next 4 weeks I'll be on hiatus, but there will still be something posted every Sunday--extra mini comics or sketches!
• The title page for Chapter 11 will be posted on Sunday 11/8/20.
• Chapter 11 will officially kick off with a double update on Sunday 11/15/20.
• In the meantime: I'm doing not-Inktober over on my Instagram.
• Also, I have a Patreon! Patrons get to see new pages early, along with in-progress sketches and some shop talk on how I make pages, what my thought process is, etc. Maybe check it out if you would like!

That's about it! In the meantime, wear a mask, defund the police, make sure you're registered to vote (if applicable), fight fascism, and remember that black lives matter. The world's gonna look different one way or another by the time the next chapter starts, but hang tight and hang together and I'll see you on the other side. <3 ]

[Obligatory note bc I get some every time: before you decide to comment with something along the lines of 'stay out of politics,' consider what comic you're reading, and also: no.]