the wind shall guide me

@shsl-wanderer

Does your heart beat?...Can you hear me?Status: Breathing

103 posts

late train | open

teenieterror:

[x]

“I’m Rachel Aberle, as long as we’re getting names out of the way,” Rachel adds, following behind the other girls, her mind busy putting every detail into any possible place she could in her mind.

In the clinic, she hopped up onto one of the counters and sat there, her legs dangling.

“I suppose the good news is that this place does have about everything you’d need to survive,” Rachel admitted, crossing her arms. “Except for… I dunno, the need to not be killed. But that was obvious.”

It’s been awhile since she was last able to crack a good joke. That wasn’t a good one either. Her eyes flick to Yuki.

“The last thing we can remember before arriving here was leaving on a bus, next thing we knew, we were waking up on the same bus as it was barreling straight for this town.” Rachel explained. “So, can we assume that we’re still in Japan? I mean, not that knowing that this was an international despair project would soothe my nerves any better.”

Yuki follows closely behind the two, glancing nervously around the new surroundings the whole way. She doesn’t sit down inside the clinic. She stands near the doorway, arms wrapped around herself for warmth – she barely understands how Fuu - Kazae? – could stand the cold, especially without shoes like that. Her own feet were freezing. Shouldn’t she be even worse off than she was right now?

She takes a deep breath. Lets it out. Okay. Cool. She was here. In the murder town. Not dead yet. Great. Goal accomplished. What now.

“Um. Which name do you prefer?” she asks first, because she’s not sure whether to just, like… pick one and run with it, or what. She’s in the mood to get warm and then probably sleep for three days straight, not make decisions.

She doesn’t even seem to realize what Rachel said was a joke at all, just nods in acknowledgement. “Uhh – yeah, this is Japan, I was - I couldn’t have gotten across the water on a bike, it’s – this is in the forest, somewhere. What happened to the bus?”

If boarding a bus and plowing it straight through the scarecrow and into the sunset was a viable option, she’s sure they probably would’ve tried it already. But still. She closes her eyes for a moment, thinking.

“Mm… okay, so…” She nods to herself and looks back at the two of them. “I don’t know if this is actually it, but the last place I was out looking for – it was this, um… some kind of tourist place. An abandoned tourist town, I think? This might not be it, though. Like I said, I got lost.”

“I don’t care what you call me,” Kazae says, a stab of resentment in her voice. It’s obvious why, but even Yuki would be able to pick up that there’s a story here, and not one that ended well for the girl in question. She uncrosses and re-crosses her legs.

She pulls out her notebook now and starts flipping through pages. There’s a section in front where she writes important things that have happened here, while the rest of the pages are for smaller things, details about people, and the like.

“The bus crashed,” she says, and she remembers that happening but she’s using her book to make sure she does, “There was fire. We have been trapped here since, with no easy way to get out.” She looks up at Yuki. “How far into the woods are we? Walking distance?”

For Yuki to get here, that means she had to come from somewhere. Kazae had just assumed they were in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of finding a way back. But if they could just get passed the scarecrow, then...

She hastily writes this down, and then looks up. “I have no idea what this town is. It may be such, though."

#reply #breathing #yuki #rachel #ch 4

weather report | open

shslnun:

The first thing Agatha does is bundle up. She’s not entirely used to weather as cold as snow, sure the rainstorm was harsh and cold, but snow is different. It bites at you, reddens your complexion faster, and tenses the muscles. Nobody is at ease when it is winter, but it is new beginnings. Someone will be reborn, but that will not always mean good things. People can take advantage of the chances they have, and put it to bad will.

Not everyone in the world is a saint. Not even Agatha.

Now sporting a grey scarf to match her already dull look, and grey gloves, Agatha stands out still in the white snow. Her outfit, entirely in black with red accents, she contrasts heavily against the surface. Holding her usual big bag full of medicine, jars and her tools for medicine, she looks no different in the winter.

She walks through the snow with relative ease, it’s not like a snow storm or anything. It’s just wet and piles on quickly, she doesn’t like it. While she walks, she thinks. Perhaps, she is lucky that she never happened to break her code. Agatha is even luckier she is confused on what her secret exactly entails, but she prays it is perhaps something minor. Her sins were forgiven a long time ago, and she accepts that fully.

There is some sense of pity for those who did get their secrets released, she still feels bad about Hayashida’s situation and how she caused it. It wasn’t entirely her fault, she didn’t know it, but the guilt remains. She wishes she could do more for the poor giant, but she can’t do much for him in the first place. She’s only good for physical injuries. Not personal hurt.

She finds herself at the weather station at the end of that thought, lifting down her scarf, she opens the doors to find a familiar face. “F–” Didn’t she get her name revealed, in the time of the bracelets? She pauses, the hesitation dying down as she speaks out. “Fuu. Is that what you prefer?” Agatha is straight to the point, she stares at her with the same expression she always has.

Her eyes direct down to her still shoe-less form. She hisses out. “Doesn’t it hurt, are you in any pain?”

Kazae feels a stab of... something, when she hears the name. Is that what she prefers? Sure. But using Fuu now is pointless. They all know her name, and so the false name is obsolete. She can’t help but feel as though Agatha is being patronising. Like she’s looking down her nose at Kazae. It makes Kazae feel a little smaller, and in response she lifts her chin a little higher, and regards Agatha with a hard stare. “It doesn’t matter now,” she says.

She shrugs, trying to make it seem like it’s no big deal. It is a big deal, but they’d never understand, and it’s not worth it to try making them understand. She won’t bother. Instead, she deals with the more perplexing question. “Doesn’t what hurt?” she repeats. She blinks at Agatha, the question not even registering. She feels fine. But then she follows Agatha’s gaze downward and- She sticks out one foot, wiggles her toes. “No,” she shrugs, “A little cold, maybe.” She puts the foot back down.

She jams her hands into her pockets and her eyes drift away from Agatha, toward all of the cabinets around the room. She wanted to dig into them, but where to start? She chooses one at random, and walks over to it, bare feet silent on the floor.

“You are the last one of us hiding behind a false name, Miss Agatha,” she says, “Mister Sumino and I have been exposed.” She yanks open the top drawer. Her voice is curiously neutral; she’s not trying to be accusatory or suspicious. Just stating a fact, one that she finds interesting. “It is a false name, isn’t it? I confess, I do not know much about Christianity, let alone its sisterhoods. Are you like me, hiding your name? Or is it more... hmm, symbolic?”

While she talks, she rifles through the contents of the drawer, not at all sure what she’s even looking for, what there is to find. This is all very strange, she thinks. As if the last few weeks haven’t been.

#reply #breathing #agatha #ch 4

late train | open

[x]

Rachel doesn’t meet Kazae’s gaze, but follows her lead.

“I suppose it would be better to explain inside,” She agrees, but she can’t help but ask a question reflexively. “But is it really winter already in the outside world?”

She looks at the newcomer.

“The Mayor-” She stops, then shakes her head. “The people that have us trapped here have been influencing the weather- Or at least, that’s what it seems like. How long were you wandering in that forest?”

She stops again. She was hungry for any information on what was going on outside of here, any hints that could help her piece everything together, but she realized that it could wait. Hopefully, when the new person had a chance to rest, she could get those answers.

She gives Kazae a small, thankful smile at the suggestion. Once they were inside, she seems to relax a little – not quite at ease, but not about to topple over from a stress aneurysm, either.

“You guys have been missing for a while,” she said, in response to Rachel’s question. “And then I got really worried about my brother and started looking and I-” She winced. “I got lost. Really lost. And then it got cold, so I had to have started before that. I think… I think I might’ve passed out at one point? I’m not sure. I’m not – and I don’t know what the weather was supposed to be like, I didn’t check. It might’ve just been a cold front? I don’t know.”

She starts biting her nails, looking at the floor, feeling completely useless. “I… I really don’t know much, do I. I’m sorry. Everything feels scrambled.” Takehiko would’ve made a stupid joke about that. Scrambled and pan-fried, part of a balanced breakfast. “I wish I could tell you more.”

She sifts through her mind for anything else she could say, something she actually has an answer for, and- “Oh, um. My name is Yuki Saito. I’m Takehiko’s sister, and – you know that, I said that already, didn’t I. But I guess I was… supposed to be here? Almost. Sort of. I got a letter. I was supposed to be the super high school level good luck, but I said no. I was scared.”

She laughs weakly, looking back up at Rachel and Kazae for the first time in a while. She certainly doesn’t feel very lucky. “I guess it didn’t matter in the end, huh?”

Yuki Saito. Kazae pauses to jot this down. And then it clicks. The reporter. Saito. She looks up, a curious frown on her face. She stares silently for a moment, not really looking at Yuki, but with visions of Takehiko, impaled on the clock face. She never saw the body. But she knew. She shakes her head and looks down again, taking a few more notes on Yuki’s mysterious arrival.

“I am...” she hesitates, not sure which name to say. Everyone else knew. Yuki would know in time. She bites her lip, the words like acid in her throat. “...Kazae Yanai. Or Fuu.” She adds this quickly and snaps the notebook inside. “As much as I hate to bring you further into this place, it’s cold. You will sooner die of hypothermia than murder.”

Without explanation she turns and begins to walk toward town. She’s going for the clinic, rather than one of the houses.. She doesn’t like the houses. She just expects Rachel and Yuki to be following. She doesn’t look back at them, and instead her forms moves into the snowstorm, dark hair billowing back and pale dress fluttering around her knees. And yes, she is still barefoot, and doesn’t seem to have any problem with it whatsoever.

The clinic is warm, though. She glances around once and then perches on one of the chairs scattered around the room. She presumes the others have been right behind her.

#yuki #rachel #ch 4 #breathing #reply

late train | open

lentluck:

teenieterror:

Rachel was completely silent, something that was new to her, but something she’s found herself doing a lot lately as she was pushed to her limits. She wasn’t even aware that she had limits. She didn’t want to know what would happen when she went past it.

But that was neither here nor there. Right now, snow was falling, everyone was on a train, and they were face to face with someone new. It had been a long time since they had seen another person, Rachel realized. And even the people they could see was dwindling in number every day. She couldn’t say it was a good thing, however. She stared passively as the newcomer spoke to them, knowing that, most certainly, she would be forced to kill or be killed, or, like Rachel, be forced with the burden of keeping what this place called justice.

Takehito Saito. Like a spark her mind raced back to the reporter, knowing that he had already perished. She hadn’t been there to see it, but she knew he was dead.

Quietly, she stepped forward from the others, giving the newcomer a somber look.

“I’m sorry,” She said, glancing down. She immediately realized she couldn’t do this, but she pushed that aside because- fuck, someone had to say it. This girl had been waiting god-knows-how long to learn about her brother, no use making her wait longer.

“I’m sorry,” She began again. She tightened her hands into weak fists at her sides, trying to concentrate more on her cold fingertips than on the words she was saying. “But your brother is dead. Has been dead. There was a storm and…”

Rachel trailed off. Would it really be a comfort to tell her ‘but at least he wasn’t killed by someone else’? No, it really wouldn’t.

Her face fell at the first ‘I’m sorry.’ She’d… had a feeling, honestly, from her headcount. These people were from that same class, he should’ve been there with all of them. Wouldn’t have passed up the opportunity to show up if anything remotely interesting was happening.

Still, something in her mind absolutely rejected the idea, because Takehiko? Dead? She laughed nervously. She didn’t think it was a joke, not really, but… god, she’d take a terrible joke over any of this being real.

“A st- a storm? No, you don’t understand, he’s not dead, he can’t be, he doesn’t – he does stupid things all the time, he’s an idiot, but he doesn’t die.” Sound logic. He’s never died before, why should he be dead now? “There’s – how would a storm even–“

And there really weren’t enough people here at all. She didn’t want to think about what that meant, after what had happened to the last two Hope’s Peak classes. Hugging herself even tighter, she almost seemed to shrink in on herself, still shivering. She wasn’t sure how much of it was because she was still so cold and how much was from the sudden terror of the situation.

“…It’s happening again, isn’t it? That’s why… there aren’t enough people here.”

Maybe everyone else was waiting outside of the building and she was just jumping to conclusions, but really? Stepping off a train to meet half of a Hope’s Peak class didn’t give off happy funtime vibes.

Kazae drifts toward the newcomer, jacket open and bare collarbones pale in the cold air. She seems unfazed by the weather, even as her hair collects flecks of snow and billowed in the frigid air.

“Miss Aberle,” she says quietly, although not exactly gently, “You are distressing her.” She moves around Rachel to come face to face with the stranger. Kazae’s eyes are sharp and alert, but are the eyes of someone who has seen much more than someone her age should. Not a good sign either. She’s had that look for years, but it’s only become more pronounced as of late.

She sighs and shakes her head. “You have not come to a good place, Miss,” she says, “But if you are here, I doubt you will be leaving anytime soon. But, you are here now, for what it is worth.” She glances at Rachel, and then back to the stranger. “It is cold, though. Let’s bring her inside so she can warm up, and then, I suppose, we can explain.”

And the expression is almost neutral but just expressive enough to show that she’s not looking forward to explaining. Something bad has happened here.

Kazae wonders why she feels like this at all. Usually she’s good at staying detached. Death doesn’t faze her. Nothing does. She speaks to the dead, so why should she fear death? But there’s something about this girl. A sense. Something very strange is happening. She’s curious, but apprehensive. Whatever is happening here is important, but she’s not sure what the implications are yet.

She looks to Rachel, a silent urge to get this girl in from the cold. Explaining things will be hard enough on her, they don’t have to do it in the middle of a snowstorm.

#reply #ch 4 #rachel #breathing

weather report | open

The first snowflake lands right on the tip of her nose. Kazae looks up, up into the greying sky, grey with the density and multitude of snowflakes. She exhales. It feels like forever since she last saw snow. And it snows in the winter, in her prefecture. Northern Honshuu is like that. It reminds her of home, now that she thinks of it. She hasn’t thought about home in a while.

She shakes her head. She doesn’t like it. It’s abnormal and when abnormal things happen in Tiramisu Town it means bad things happen. An unexpected thunderstorm meant two deaths. What does an unexpected snowfall mean? Three deaths?

Not to mention it’s unusual for this time of year. Snow in... wait, what month is it? She’s not sure. She’s not sure how long she’s been here. She lost track of the days a long time ago. Sometime around when Ene died.

Well, if the weather’s weird, there’s a weather-related place in the new district of town. She heads toward the weather station, not at all sure what she’d find inside.

She’s... recovering from everything. She’s less shaky now. She still gets upset when she hears her name, but the pain isn’t sharp anymore. Dulled. Recovering. The wound is slowly closing. That’s good, right? She hopes so. The temptation is always there to retreat completely, but she knows she shouldn’t. She has to push forward. Somehow, anyway. But that’s what she’s always done, is push forward.

She makes it to the weather station and pushes it open. Immediately she gets the sense that she doesn’t want to be here. The sense of bad things. The sense that pervades all of Tiramisu Town, but has been dulled by repetition and adaptation. But for some reason it’s fresh here. Like the weather station is trying to tell her something.

There are ghosts here, in Tiramisu Town. Not just Kirihito and Haku and all the rest. Other ghosts. She can’t hear them, but she can feel them. And they do not feel good. There must be ghosts here too.

She looks around, first finding the lights. Cabinets, papers - is this really a weather station?

#mmn open #ch 4 #breathing

right turn | chapter 4 | open

shsl123:

Chie, to be entirely honest, looked a bit (only a bit!) startled by Kazae’s appearance, though she very obviously tries to conceal it as best she can with a polite smile. She hadn’t heard much from the medium in the trial, or even since the reveal of all those secrets, so it stood to reason there were a lot of emotions occurring. Kazae’s appearance only reinforced that assumption, which didn’t say much for Chie’s chances of performing well in this interaction.

“Oh, um… hello, Fuu-san… Yanai-san? I d-d-don’t know… which you prefer.”

She waffles for a moment, staring down at her unfortunately scuffed sneakers before gesturing into the maze once more.

“A-Ah, well, it’d be… maybe more effective if we w-w-went together? Just in case… something hap-happens? It’s, um. It’s like the haunted house ex-exploration team! Back together a-a-again, huh…”

Smiling in what she hopes is a casual, comforting way, Chie takes a couple steps into the entrance of the maze.

“You know, even if it’s in-… inefficient, hugging t-t-the right wall will get you to the end of a m-m-maze, won’t it?”

Kazae physically winces at the sound of her name, but doesn’t otherwise acknowledge it. What’s the point? She’s bitter and angry about it but everyone knows, and she just plain doesn’t have the energy to make a fuss about it. She’d better get used to this. Either she’ll die and it won’t matter, or she’ll somehow escape and go back to her old life, where she can be Fuu in peace.

She frowns and doesn’t answer Chie’s first question. And then shrugs. “Fine,” she says, “Just like old times.” There’s no enthusiasm or anything, but rather a certain... deadened sound. Just bland acceptance. It’s about all she can muster right now anyway; it’s much better than anger or tears, right?

She scans the maze entrance. Green hedges, green grass, no indication of which way to go. But was a maze, so that was to be expected. She walks forward, stops, reaches out one hand, and touches the right wall of the corridor. “Hug the right wall, you said?” she asks. Yeah, that sounds fine. She starts to walk forward, fingertips brushing the leaves of the hedge.

#reply #breathing #ch 4 #chie

vicious | open

ultimateinformationbroker:

He lets in sink in and finally, it really does sink in. People like him didn’t get to have close friends like that. For some reason, blinded by an optimism created from desperation perhaps, he had forgotten that. For what reason had he acted so controversially? It was to keep people at bay, keep them in line. To fully have no expectations. He was so stupid to have made such a basic mistake. Well, it was too late to double back now but he had some options still left at his disposal. His eyes pick up on the blood, he watches her very carefully. And then makes his move.

“Awww! Game over. Too bad, this was a pretty good opportunity for me. ‘You think this is easy for me’… I was proud of that line. You to-tally no-sold me.“

Suishou shrugs, the grin expanding on his face.

“But, as expected, you’re just too smart for me, Fuu-san. Y’know, in a story this would’ve worked for sure. I mean, unlikely friendship meets a snag and becomes a life-long bond when the unpopular jerk character shows compassion? That’s a classic! But I guess real life’s a whole other kettle of fish, huh!”

She spent years? What about him? God, he was hit by shame all over again. He was so stupid. How could he have forgotten or skimmed over his usual rules? People were selfish. If a father wouldn’t care, a mother, a brother, a sister, a girlfriend… then why would this person care? People were selfish to their very core. That’s what made his business thrive.

“It was a long-shot but, still, you can’t blame a guy for trying. At least give me credit for some of the lines! That’s some heartwarming stuff. I should definitely be in the running for SHSL Actor!”

He waves her off with his good hand and feels some of his normal brashness come back. Now that he realized his folly, she didn’t matter. No, none of them did. Relationships were impossible. Both making them and keeping them. But breaking them? That was the fun part.

“People just love to blab when they’re upset, you know. I throw in a little sympathy and people just, well, they can’t stop themselves from spilling. But I guess that wouldn’t work on you, huh. I’m a bit disappointed but it’s fine – I already have your real name. That’ll be enough for me to dig up the rest. Guess I win anyway.”

Maybe it’s enough to convince her but he isn’t convinced. Still, reversing this amount of damage is new and it’ll take some evidence. But she’s nothing special. He’ll just keep it up. She’ll either drift away or hate him. He’s confident he can at least handle that much.

“Well then! I gave you your questioning period. As promised, I’ll be taking my leave now. Bye-bye, Fuu-tan. for real, yeah? It’s been fun, bambina.”

A cheery wave and then he steps away. That sentence revealed a bit too much but it’s fine. It’s a work in progress, he’s a work in progress. Even if some of that comes off as fake, he’ll break it more thoroughly later. It’s fine - this is the way it should be.

Now to find his way out! Hopefully it shouldn’t be too hard to find his way back. Sure, he’d come here in a bit of a rush but that didn’t mean he’d switched his mind off completely… hopefully.

Kazae laughs, a harsh and hard sound. “You do not fool me with that smile,” she tells his back as he turns away from her, “You’re quite the conman, Mister Sumino. You played your role well. I almost believed you cared for me, but it was all an act! How droll.”

She smiles to herself, knowing he probably doesn’t care, or at least wants her to think that he doesn’t care. One hand rips up grass with impunity. “What is it they say about trying to con someone? Never fall for your mark.” She’s talking to herself now, not caring if he can hear her. “I think Mister Sumino fell for me. Maybe a little. And maybe I fell for him. Maybe a little.” Rips up another handful of grass. “Oh, but it was an act. Silly me. Silly Fuu."

She looks up at his shape ahead of her, doesn’t really look at him. “You know,” she muses, pretending she’s talking to him, but he probably can’t hear her, “For someone whose whole job is people, you are very bad at people, Mister Sumino. Cutting and running as soon as the job gets tough is so very spineless. How ever will you discover my story that way? A brave mask for a weak little man. Disappointing, really.”

Maybe they weren’t the same after all, she thought to herself, not sure why she’d stopped musing aloud. Maybe they were opposites instead. Kazae was strong. Kazae had weathered so much. Fuu was strong too, but Fuu was a mask to protect Kazae. But Suishouryuu? Suishouryuu was strong too, but Hotaru just seemed weak. Hotaru saw a friend in pain and got cold feet and ran. He opened up to Fuu, but the moment it got tough, he closed in again and pretended like it was all fake.

Disappointing, she thought, looking at the pile of torn grass as if it might offer sympathy. It didn’t. Disappointing that someone she’d thought could be a friend had turned tail simply because she hadn’t opened up as fast as he’d liked.

But people died here a lot. Maybe it was good not to be too attached.

#reply #breathing #suishouryuu #ch 4

vicious | open

ultimateinformationbroker:

Or else leave?

Maybe he should. This is blow after blow. It’s not anger that rises but sort of… acceptance. Disappointment maybe. It’s not like a novel where two characters just ‘get’ each other and that’s that. But maybe, in some fashion, that’s what he’d hoped for. Part of him had always hoped for that. Was that so impossible? Was he really that bad a person? What a mess. Why should he care? Why did he care? It wasn’t fair he was the only one being yanked around like this.

“… So that’s what you think?”

That’s his only comeback. Well, what else was he supposed to say? Insist it wasn’t true? It didn’t matter. If people wanted to believe you, they would. If they cared enough, they’d believe you even if you didn’t have the evidence. Of course, he doesn’t expect that of someone like her, someone he still doesn’t know all too well but somehow the accusation strikes me as a bit much. Or maybe he’s just hurt.

He wanted to… what was it he wanted? Not this, certainly. Was this helping or not, he had no idea. But he sighs again, this time a sigh tinged with more frustration before speaking up once more.

“You’re not the only one with a false name. You ever consider I don’t trust people either? You think this is easy for me? … Ahh… geez…”

The pain surprises him. Turns out he’s been gripping his hand, clenching it, this entire time. Bad habit, that. Even before he got it injured he had a tendency to do that.

“I was abandoned. Alright? I don’t like people. Ever person I’ve known’s stabbed me in the back. My family didn’t bother looking for me in the riots - they wrote me off as dead. ‘Hotaru Sumino’ is dead. And this,”

The smile he gives is anything but sincere as he waves around his bandaged hand.

“is the work of my ‘best friend’. The second my hand gave out everyone either pretended I didn’t exist or gave me hell for it. And this– is stuff I don’t tell people. Information’s my thing, you know? I’m not really eager to share things, especially not for free. Besides, I figure everyone’s out for themselves - everyone lies. It’s not a big deal if I do too. That’s why I do what I do. But for some…”

A pause, as he tries to find the right word.

“wonderfully. Stupid. Reason… I thought to take a gamble on you. Because the thing I really need here in a life-or-death situation is someone I’m worried about.”

Sarcasm again but at this point he’s been pretty straight-up about everything. Having said that, he felt like he’d said enough. Sure, he might’ve been stupid for saying this much already, for caring in the first place, but he’s not so stupid he’s going to just beg her to believe him. If she did, well, she did. If she didn’t, then he wasn’t going to make it happen.

“Look, I’ve said my piece. I’m not going to convince you to trust me. I couldn’t even if I tried, right? That’s the sort of person I am. You want me gone, right? If that’s that, I guess I better be off. I just figured I’d explain it first. Misunderstandings aren’t my thing. I’ll stick around if you have any other questions. I’ll be outta your hair after that. I think that’s fair enough.“

He folds his arms. Honestly he should’ve said enough at this point - he really should leave. But his feelings are messy enough without the help; if that’s how she feels, he wants to confirm it before he moves on.

It’s so stupid. He has no idea what’s wrong with him. Sure, he paraded himself as a detestable person, but that was so people stayed away in the first place. Why come this far and turn back now? Just… why… was this happening at all?

She drops her arms, slowly, hands resting loosely beside her thighs. “I am so honoured,” she snaps, her voice quiet but smeared with pain and anger, “Mister Suishouryuu chose to trust only me, out of everyone else. I should be writing this down, so I can remember this forever. What do you think I am, a love interest in your story? Ar you the hero and I the secondary character?” She’s picking at the skin around her fingernails, an unconscious gesture. “I am a real person. I breathe. Sometimes I am not sure that I am real but the movements and sounds in my ribcage tell me that I am alive. And I am certainly not living for the purpose of providing you with character growth.”

She clenches and unclenches her fists. A spot of blood is welling on her right index finger. “I am not going to stab you in the back. I... you cannot trust my word but it is all I have to offer. But what do you want from me? Happiness and light? A warm embrace? I am hurt. You aren’t the only one wounded these last few days. I spent years building protecting myself and my defenses were torn down in a flash, so how did you think I would be feeling?”

She plunks herself down in the grass again, but instead of curling into a ball she sits cross-legged, a more open position, but her crossed arms are still on the defensive. (The position of her legs hikes up the hem of her dress above her knees, the edge of a scar visible on the outside of her thigh.) Kazae, at least, is not shutting Hotaru off completely. “You don’t have many friends, do you?” she asks, not looking at him, but rather the grass she’s just started to tear out of the lawn. “You do not know how people work. I am in pain. Forgive me if I would rather be angry and hurt instead of supportive of you.”

And now she looks up, a clump of mangled grass in her left fist. Kazae’s eyes are blue, bloodshot. “Face it, Mister Sumino. You do not know me. Despite your best efforts, you do not know what makes me tick. Do not pretend to know otherwise.”

#reply #breathing #suishouryuu #ch 4

right turn | chapter 4 | open

It had been a while since anyone’d truly had a full-on conversation with Chie Nojima. Given her generally nervous demeanor, this wasn’t anything odd, but she seemed to be skulking around more than usual, avoiding people’s gazes. This too could have been explained if anyone’d taken a look at her code in the previous week, though, and so it stood to reason that Chie should be back in action. Normal, skittish action, and, given her sudden burst of forwardness in the previous trial (or attempted, at least), it seemed she was feeling better.

But then, of course, as soon as the new area’s opened up, Chie disappears off on her own to explore. It’s impressive, her level of wallflower-ness given her rather impressive height, but she manages, somehow, to avoid really talking to anyone. Only occasional glimpses of the calculator can be caught as she shuffles in and out of buildings.

Maybe it was the trial that was getting to her? After all, she’d been uncharacteristically instrumental in catching the killer– but, given her talent, she was used to being useful (used, even). Then again, she’d always come off as a rather gentle girl, one who didn’t stomach killing in the least, so she’d logically be unhappy with sending someone to death. Or maybe the brash reveal of secrets the previous week had startled her.

Whatever the case, Chie tiptoes around, avoiding interacting with anyone… until she’s found standing at the entrance to the maze, staring contemplatively at the hedges. When the sound of footsteps makes itself clear, she jumps slightly and turns, automatically hunching her shoulders down to make her height smaller.

“Ah… Ah, h-h-hello. I was thinking of going in… if you’d like. Like to join m-m-me? I’m usually pretty goo… goo-good at mazes, but. If you’d rather not be bounc… bound together, that’s un-understandable.”

Was that a joke? Hard to tell.

At some point, Kazae (or Fuu, or whomever the hell she was) had stopped crying. The tears had simply... run out, even though she still felt like shit. She was down to ragged breathing and the occasional hiccup, although her face was still soaked and her eyes red.

And really, with the moving air around her, dress and disheveled hair moving in the breeze, and a scowl on her face that (if looks could kill) would have ended Chie’s life instantaneously, the spirit medium looked like a spirit herself. Seemingly unperturbed by the hard ground beneath her, she walked barefoot as ever, feet barely making a sound until one misstep followed by the crunch of gravel under her heel. She winced slightly.

She stopped a few paces away from Chie. Subtly, she picked at the skin around her fingernails; fidgets here and there. Probably a nervous habit. She regarded Chie, and then let her vision drift to the maze itself. She was staring off into space when she answered. “I don’t care,” she shrugged. What she really wanted was to lose herself in the maze and find somewhere nice and quiet to rot, but she doubted she’d be able. To that end, exploring the maze was her next best bet. At least Chie didn’t seem like the type to pry.

“I am going in there either way,” she said blandly. Her eyes had a certain... deadened quality to them. “If you want me to come with you, I can, or you can go alone. It makes no difference to me.”

#reply #chie #breathing #ch 4

vicious | open

ultimateinformationbroker:

What do you want she says…

It’s an obvious question but somehow he’s caught off-guard. It sounds so… suspicious. Angry. Well, maybe it’s no wonder. He is who he is. You’d be stupid to trust him, even he’d admit that. But somehow the fact that she’s doing it stings a bit. Honestly there’s still… time to turn back. Make a joke and leave. Or, better yet, provoke her a bit more to glean more information. This timing was just right. When upset, people let all manners of things loose. But if he did that… she’d never forgive him. That scared him. Even if it didn’t, what was the point? Sure, he’d wanted to figure out her mystery, but, getting the answers wasn’t at all satisfying, especially like this. He hadn’t done anything. Getting an answer so easily was cheap, and honestly, he’d been sour about all the secrets that got out. A lack of investigation. No flair.

Irritating.

He’d lived his life with a selfish mantra, proudly declaring he was the only one that mattered. And he’d promised himself ever since he’d been left behind that he’d never do anything he’d regret. Well, time’s ticking and life goes on. If he let’s this go he probably will regret it. So, time for that leap of faith.

“Hm, what do you think I want?”

If she answer he might just get another kick to the ego so he smoothly carries on.

“I… was concerned. Maybe I know what it’s like to get publicly torn down like that. You’re not the only one with secrets bambina, no? And well, great minds think alike. Even at the worst of times.”

That wasn’t quite the right thing to say. No, what he wanted to say was… bigger than that but that made it all the trickier. He heaves a huge sigh and runs a hand through his hair before falling to a sort of lazy kneel. It was easier than standing since she wasn’t.

“That didn’t quite sound the way I hoped. Alright, let me level with you here. People are interesting. At times, useful. So I do what I can to remain impartial. How-ever…”

Another sigh.

“Look, I guess I got worried. Genuinely worried. Seems like I really did become fond of you. Honestly, what luck…”

Despite the words, his tone seems almost a little… irritated. Really, why wouldn’t he be irritated? This whole thing is a huge pain he could do without. Why did people even seek out friendship when it was hard? As a person who lived for control - confidence - perfection… entering into such an unpredictable situation was basically suicide in his own head.

“You can believe it, you can disbelieve it, certainly haven’t done much to prove it one way or the other. Won’t hold it against you if you think it’s all mind games. And hey, I don’t mind leaving right now if that’s what you want.”

He straightens back to his standing position. Just in case. Maybe it’s better if she does want him gone. His eyes wander from hedge to hedge, leaf to leaf, before he finally finishes his thought.

“But… hm. I guess… if you can trust me… if you do… well, I’m here. Misery loves company, right? I can at least hear you out. That’s probably what a friend’d do.”

That’s what comes out. It’s not nervous stuttering, not that he’s capable of that sort of thing, but it’s not as elegant as he’d hoped. It’s not so much he’s nervous or unsure about the words as he is unsure of how to actually be sincere to someone. If he’s sincere, he’s usually able to cloak it, coat it in humour somehow. Protect himself in some way. This time he hasn’t, or rather, can’t do that. It’s dangerous. And it goes against everything he usually preaches.

But hey.

I really am stupid, huh.

Kazae sneers, drawing her upper lip back, exposing teeth. The expression is almost animalistic. Between that and the hair covering her face, the spirit medium looks like a spirit herself - and not a very nice one. “Don’t lie to me,” she snaps, “Hear you out? You just want to know the rest of the story. You want to know why I tried to hard to hide my name.”

She laughs. It’s an ugly sound. “You are unsatisfied, aren’t you?” She sounds like she can’t decide whether she wants to cry again or rip Hotaru’s face off. “Where’s the fun in letting the scarecrows tear my secrets from me? It isn’t enough for you. You want to pry something off for yourself, too.” She scoffs. “Good luck with that. I am telling you nothing.”

She scowls at him for a moment, but then starts to stand, shakily. Bare arms hang loosely at her sides, her shoulders are hunched, her hair’s a mess - that angry spirit look isn’t going away. She’s shivering, has been this whole time but suddenly it’s apparently. Kazae is thin, there’s not much to her and the air is cutting right through her.

“Why should I trust you, anyway?” she asks, “You want to know something about me? Fine. I have never trusted anyone and not been disappointed. Nobody is worth trusting. Why should I make an exception for you? You try so hard to keep everyone at arm’s length; you do not want us to trust you, no more than you can take our secrets and run. You told me once that you wanted to do that. To run away. So why don’t you do that? Why are you still here?”

She throws her arms out to the side, an action that flicks her hair, showing her face more clearly. Pale. Exhausted. “I am Kazae Yanai, the spirit medium. You have what you wanted now. Give me one good reason why I should trust you, or else leave.”

#reply #suishouryuu #ch 4 #breathing

vicious | open

ultimateinformationbroker:

He wasn’t quite sure if he was seeking out Fuu. Maybe it was subconscious, to try and find the person you felt the best with. Maybe it was genuine concern. Maybe it was just a coincidence. His head was a bit of a mess so he hadn’t exactly put much thought into it. He’d seen her drift into the hedge maze and, somewhat curious, somewhat in lost in thought, he’d stepped into it too. It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Every time he found a turn, he’d see her blue dress trail in a certain direction. It almost seemed like she knew where she was going.

After a bit, even he couldn’t stand just tailing someone so he speaks up.

“Hey, hey– wait up.”

Ah. Perhaps he didn’t say that fast enough. She was gone again. Faster than expected. Or perhaps he just wasn’t paying attention. Damn. At this point perhaps it really had turned into some concern. He was a selfish guy, but… well… being concerned for someone a bit wouldn’t hurt too much, right?

When she finally stopped she looked… well, she’d seen better days. Right. His name is a different kettle of fish compared to hers, huh? From their conversations he’d figured she liked people knowing as little about her as possible. For him, it was similar but different. He was angry about it, sure, weakened, definitely, but he wasn’t taking it as badly as she was. Looking at her like this he realizes this… might be do or die time.

If he doesn’t care, if he doesn’t want to get close to someone, now’s the time to leave. They can talk on occasion but never cross paths in any serious fashion. If he risks upsetting her here, risks talking to her then…

Then he really does care, doesn’t he?

… Ahhh, damn it!

What a failure! The great Hotaru Sumino falls to mere emotions. What a disappointment. But looking at her like this, well, there was no way he could leave her alone. And that, unfortunately, meant something.

“Hey-ho. Spare a moment for the other guy who lost his name?”

She probably can’t see but he offers a wry smile. Hotaru makes sure to keep some distance away. Sure he’s bugging her by doing this but he’s not going to become some sort of ‘uwu uwu have a hug’ softie over night.

She looks up, peering through her hair and her tear-flooded eyes. A blurry image of the person formerly known as Suishouryuu appears to her, approaching her. Had he followed her? The nerve. She doesn’t want to see him, doesn’t want him to see her like this. He’d tried so long to figure her out and, well, now he has, and here she is, and she hopes he’s happy.

Turns out he didn’t need a crowbar to uncover her secrets. The scarecrow did it for him just fine.

And his own name. Hotaru Sumino. Maybe he’s the only one who actually understands. Conflicted feelings there. Why did she have so much trouble remembering names, but his was burned into her? She can remember the exact rhythm of the scarecrow’s words as she heard it for the first time. It had taken her so long to learn Suishouryuu, so long to learn all of their names, to fight through the haze of her poor memory, but those two words, those two, had cut through. She had felt it. Pain. Almost (less than) the same pain she had felt when those other two words were spoken.

Kazae Yanai.

Those had hurt, hurt hard. She remembers the exact rhythms and tones of them too; she remembers that entire moment viscerally. It makes her heart thud against her ribs every time she thinks about it, brings that sickened terror and anger back up into her lungs and her throat.

She clutches her arms tighter, trying to swallow the taste of bile and copper. Chipped fingernails threaten to draw blood from the skin on her knees and shins. “What do you want?” she asks, her voice like damp and stretched rice paper barely holding together. She doesn’t care if he knows she’s suffering, doesn’t care about much at all right now. And she knows he can hear it, a storm in her rib cage barely held in check. She fixes him with eyes like the angry sky and demands explanation.

#reply #breathing #ch 4 #suishouryuu

vicious | open

She’d nearly ripped her hair out after that trial. She’d run, not wanting to be in there and around people any longer than she actually had to. They knew. It was too much. They all knew and it was like their eyes were burning her, their presence was burning her. She just wanted to crawl into some dark cave and shut herself in, somewhere safe and secure. The social barriers she’d built had failed her, so she was going to need real barriers now.

Fuu- no, Kazae now. No, Fuu. Wanted to be Fuu. Who? Who. Fuu. Kazae. Whomever she was. Fuu was useless to her now. It had been stripped away from her, leaving Kazae raw and exposed. Names are powerful. Fuu was a lock and key and Kazae is a hurricane.

Kazae- no, Fuu. She runs from them, spends the train ride over in tears, the only one on the train, huddled in her seat, knees against her chest, arms aching like she was trying to crush herself into a state of infinite nothingness.

Fuu- no, Kazae- finds herself in the hedge maze, wandering aimlessly through it, purposefully losing herself in the twists and turns of greenery until she’s good and disappeared. Just gone. She falls to the grass, curls up in a dead end corner, and stays there. Maybe she’ll just waste away. That sounds nice.

It was all unravelling. They knew; nobody was supposed to know. She couldn’t hear here; nobody was talking to her. It was scary. It was silent. The knowledge of the living and the absence of the dead. She imagines eyes, eyes everywhere, eyes peering through the leaves down at her, and she pulls herself tighter. Is she crying? Hard to say. So numb she can’t feel her own heartbeat.

Nobody can find her here. She’s sure of that. She’s in a secluded corner of the vast maze, alone, and she wants to stay alone. If anyone were to find her, they’d see her huddled at the end of a long corridor of leaves, disheveled hair falling in strands over her face, white knuckles clutching at her knees. But no one would find her. She’s sure of it.

#mmn open #ch 4 #breathing

that sinking feeling | open

shslwingsuitflier:

He might consider staining clothes the last of their problems, but what did he know. Did most people really not know how to get bloodstains out of clothes or just learn how to ignore them? Geez. Every moment of silence seems to needle at him and he starts tapping his foot just for a more controllable sound.

“Yeah, fair enough, but I figured that was kind of a…pretty well understood thing nowadays, unless you take your vacations two hundred years ago or something. Eh, guess I’m not the expert on it. And…I dunno, I was trying to do some kinda nice gesture, but guess you’re right, doesn’t matter either way. If you don’t care then…lips zipped.” He even makes a little lips-zipping gesture, though the lack of enthusiasm is palpable. (What, he wasn’t worth being even a little bit curious about?)

“Okay, but, wait, back up. So you’re really going hard with this whole medium thing?” He squints suspiciously at her face as she works, trying to make a change of expression into some kind of usable information. How did people like Suishou do it, anyway, reading people in general? “I guess I’m the one who’s gotta ask the obvious question. So…if you really can do that…”–and his tone of voice reiterates that he doesn’t believe she can–“Then why not fess up? Wouldn’t that be, like…the first thing you’d wanna do when you’re investigating a murder? Check a firsthand source while they’re still floating around being pissed off?”

She frowns when he asks her about her work, and busies herself with cleaning out her arm. Almost done. The last rock - that she can see, anyway - bounces to the floor. The tweezers have blood on their ends, she’ll have to clean them. She mumbles something about an antiseptic and then pushes herself slowly to her feet. The world spins and she presses her palms to her eyes to get it to stop.

And it does, after a moment. She still feels horrible. She wants to crawl into bed and never get up. But she should at least try to fix her arms. She slowly shuffles over to the cabinets, slowly and carefully, to see if she can’t find something. She should also rinse out her wounds. Why is this so hard?

“Hmph,” she finally says, “Now that you know my name, you want to know everything? I keep things secret for a reason, you know.” She pauses, leans her hands against a counter. Standing up was a mistake. She sighs bitterly.

“I cannot hear them well here,” she admits, “There is too much interference. But I can sometimes. How do you think I found Miss Katsumi’s body?” It’s almost physically painful talking about these things here. “You can doubt me if you want. I don’t care what you think. Your... opinions about what I can and cannot do are just as irrelevant to me as your bracelet code.”

It’s a damn good thing she’s not facing Tadao right now, because she’s fighting to hold down tears. It’s not why she kept things hidden but she knew this would happen, they’d all want to know. Her eyes are stinging. She just wants him to go away. He should have gone away before this ever happened.

#breathing #reply #tadao #ch 3

belladonna | chapter three | open

hayashidatrims:

“No, that’s not what I meant…” he begins, but trails off. He couldn’t possibly expect Fuu to be happy in a situation like this. Even so, when she cracked a joke, his eyes studied her face quite a bit. And when no smile came, he was disconcerted anyway. He might have looked like a total creep just staring at her for a couple seconds, actually. Good job, Daiki.

“… Even if you’re interested, I can’t tell you my code. I’m sorry.” His response was abrupt. If anyone found out, it would be terrible. “But I won’t kill you, I promise. I would never dare.” He messed with both bracelets on his wrist, still feeling unpleasant. Unpleasant enough to jump slightly at the sound of her book slamming shut.

So she was here because she didn’t want to be back there. He bit his lip; if only they had initially chosen the same destination! “I wanted to go home,” Daiki started to explain, but his words quickly turned into stammers. “But saying such a thing - erm, Fuu-sama…”

A pause.

“Are you - are you telling me to leave you be?”

She blinked at him, and then shook her head, as if she’d been woken up from daydreaming. “Hmm? Why, you can if you would like to.” She shrugged, and said, “You made it sound like you cannot just go back, and I was curious. Think nothing of it.” Whatever it was was gone. She turned her head and stared off at Puri Puri Land beyond.

She shook her head again. “That is reasonable, Mister Hayashida,” she said, “I do not expect you to share your secrets with me. But, if you feel the need to get your secrets off of your chest, a girl with a terrible memory is a good place to begin.” She popped her notebook into her pocket as if to emphasize her point.

But then she glanced at him with a half smile, this time clearly indicating that she wasn’t serious - although could be serious if he wanted. “I appreciate you refusing to murder me, though. It would really put a damper on my day.” She squinted at the ferris wheel. “I will not murder you either, I promise. Besides, I doubt I could do much to you.”

There’s a pause. “When you say you want to go home... do you mean home, or do you mean home?”

#daiki #ch 3 #breathing #reply

belladonna | chapter three | open

Even with the sidestep, Daiki barely noticed her till he looked up. Someone was leaving before him - oh - it was only Fuu. He blinked at her, slightly confused. Well, at least she got his name right. And he’d already gone off the train already. Not only was he stuck waiting here till it came back, he couldn’t pass up an opportunity to talk to her either. Or else his thoughts would start getting more unpleasant in his mind.

“I… I’m fine,” he told Fuu, forcing a smile. It was clearly stiffer than ever, even if it was once convincing a few weeks ago. “But you’re right… as you tend to be. I’m lost. I rode the wrong train.” His tanned face reddens a little as he glances away, embarrassed.

PuriPuri Land, in the middle of its renovations, was right by them. He tried to avert his gaze from its cheery-looking attractions, honestly. “This isn’t my favorite place in the town. I hope you understand.”

When she made mention of that accursed code, he furrowed his brow, then shook his head. “My code does no such thing. At least, I really hope that it won’t. But I apologize if I seem different.” Daiki stretched a bit. “The same goes for you. If I accidentally break your code, I will accept your scorn.”

And with that, he bowed deeply. Taking the blame before he even had to was a good plan, was it not? Wait, what was she doing around here?

“But, er, I digress - your reason for being here is…?”

Fuu shrugged. “You have not insulted anything of great worth to me by saying so,” she said casually, “Why, you do not think I live in the haunted house, do you?” She looked at him intently for a moment, as if she was actually being serious, but then brushed it off. She didn’t smile.

“Do not worry about breaking my code, Mister Hayashida,” she said. She had already passed that one, and had felt herself physically relaxed when she realised she’d gotten his name right, and that the Mayor hadn’t blasted her secrets all over town. It’d suck if that ever happened, huh? “I am... more interested in your code. Do what you must to ensure that it is not broken. Except murdering me, I would not like that.”

She took a step closer, snapped her notebook shut. She wouldn’t immediately need that now. “I am here because I needed to be somewhere else,” she shrugged, “A change of scenery can be good sometimes. But it isn’t good right now, is it? You can get back on that train, Mister Hayashida. Simply leave this place.” Another step forward. “Well, where did you want to be, anyway?”

#reply #breathing #daiki #ch 3

that sinking feeling | open

shslwingsuitflier

The sound of the individual gravel bits, bouncing away across the floor…it was almost kind of nostalgic, even if the setting was anything but. If he closed his eyes he could put himself back home with E’s pinched frown superimposed over Fuu’s face, almost hear her say you push yourself too hard. But that was so far away it was basically irrelevant, so he almost felt stupid for thinking about it, and he forced his eyes open again.

“Nah, I mean. Considering how the other ones went. If we’re really in ‘trust no one territory’ at least I’m on the same level as everybody else, y’know? I’m not asking for you to thank me ‘cause that sounds dumb as hell–heeeell–enism? Yeah, okay, let’s go with that. How about we stop thinking about it, actually.” She was starting to make him feel bad, considering his actual thoughts on the subject were ‘yeah, he probably could do this, but probably wouldn’t get away with it.’ The worst kind of uninvited thought.

“What, seriously?” He leaned forward, propping his face in his hands and kicking at one of the nearby bloodied gravel bits. “I mean, I’m not gonna say it wasn’t kind of scary but at least I’m not thinking you’re doing it ‘cause you’re possessed or whatever. Sorry for your brain, I guess.” And he truly was. If he had to stop, drop and flail every time he got randomly stressed…well, he might deal with it better than most people since he of course never has been stressed in his life, but it would still be hella inconvenient.

“Easier than what most people are dealing with, far as I can tell, yeah. Buuut promise it’s gonna start hitting me hard at some point, I’m not totally off the hook here. Since…since yours is already broken,” he said slowly, since the phrase ‘since I broke yours’ seemed considerably worse and probably unfair, “I mean, I could just tell you, if you wanna know. Not like it’s gonna make a difference how I deal with it, y’know?”

She switches arms now, and is no less deft with her left hand than her right. Her left arm has started bleeding more, now that all the rocks are out, but she doesn’t care. As long as she doesn’t stain her own clothes, she doesn’t care how much she bleeds.

She looks up at Tadao as he flounders his way through that sentence, and frowns at him. He’s not on the same level as everybody else, simply because they’re alone together, and even now he could overpower her and murder her. He’s athletic, she’s still reeling from a seizure. It wouldn’t be hard. Maybe nobody even knows he’s here with her. She almost wonders why he hasn’t killed her yet. Maybe the motive’s not good enough yet. Maybe she’s not worth it. She doesn’t believe that he didn’t consider it.

She puffs a strand of hair out of her eyes. It’s annoying her. “People are afraid of what they do not understand,” she says flatly, “It has been this way since the dawn of time. A girl collapses and spasms uncontrollably? Frightening.” She pauses. “A girl speaks to the dead? Also frightening. You can see that I am an expert in this.”

She continues to toss rocks away, ignoring them skitter across the floor. “I don’t care if you tell me,” she says, which such bland neutrality that she really does sound as if she doesn’t care one way or another. “What satisfaction would that bring me? Knowing your action will not un-break mine, nor am I petty enough to break your action in payment.” She tears a rock from his skin and immediately a new stream of blood begins to ooze forth. She clicks her tongue in annoying and shifts her position to avoid getting any on her dress. “Tell me if you like. Or don’t. It does not matter to me.”

#reply #breathing #ch 3 #tadao

that sinking feeling | open

shslwingsuitflier

The universe is a cruel place full of mutual killings happening over and over. It could be worse, probably. There could be four of them in one universe. Or more! Not like anyone’s willing to test it right now, though. They’re already in the middle of something.

Tadao grimaces and stares at the ceiling as though repressing the urge to yell at the mention of Toshi and Ken. Yeah, no one needs to remind him that he’d been a fucking idiot both times, thanks. He’d be thinking the words and you, Tada-chan, you had no idea! for the rest of his life. “Okay, well, now you know who to trust, you’d think. You’re the one thanking me here, I thought.”

It probably shouldn’t be so annoying, having his concern meet such a frosty reception, but every time he does act concerned with anybody it’s like everyone tries to band together to make him regret it, and every time he gets pissed at someone for making things worse for the group it seems like people get mad at him for that too. Would Fuu (it seems stupid to keep thinking of her by this fake name, but he’s not calling her Kazae, definitely not Yanai) seriously have preferred it if he just left while she was still convulsing or something? Why did it seem like everyone here just wanted to suffer by themselves?

He blows out a sharp annoyed breath and considers it a victory that he did just that instead of screaming. “Fair enough, I guess.” He offers the tweezers in her general direction, because he probably couldn’t handle it if he tried to set them in her hand or offered to do it himself and she accused him of ‘playing nurse’ again. “I mean, I know what epilepsy is, just haven’t ever seen it all up close and personal, it’s not that weird.”

She reaches out and takes the tweezers, and, in silence, spends several moments carrying out the rather gruesome task of pulling the last of the bits of gravel from the angry red and oozing scrapes in her arms. There’s absolutely no sign of it hurting her. She tosses the first shard of gravel away; it hits the floor with a dull plink.

“I know that now,” she mutters. Her arms is bent back, hand resting on her shoulder, while the other picks at the wound with the tweezers. “I did not before. But can you blame me? It is nothing personal; I cannot trust anyone.” Not here in Tiramisu Town, and not anywhere. She sighs. She’s so tired. “I suppose I should thank you. For not murdering me.”

It would’ve solved a lot of her problems if he had, though.

Plink goes another little piece of gravel. It leaves a tiny smudge of blood where it lands. She doesn’t care. “Your reaction is... tamer than most. Some people are frightened by my seizures. It makes things awkward.” She shrugs, which is a pretty useless gesture with all of her limbs pulled in. “They just happen; I cannot control it. When I am... very stressed they can be triggered, but other times they simply happen.” She exhales a humourless laugh. “My brain is constantly conspiring against me, Mr. Myojin.”

Plink.

She looks up. Her eyes look exhausted. “Your bracelet code must be an easy one,” she says, bitterness staining the edges of her voice, “That is good, at least.” She’d hate to have to deal with that on top of her own problems. There was only so much Fuu to go around, and she was quite preoccupied.

#tadao #reply #ch 3 #breathing

the wind shall guide me @shsl-wanderer - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag