ardent | 010. [Action for Dangan House/Text]

Entry tags:

010. [Action for Dangan House/Text]

[ACTION]

[His first thought upon waking up is that he doesn't know where he is.

His body tenses immediately on that bed in the basement, jolting sharply awake as though he's been startled by something, as though he's just been sleeping and he's had a hell of a nightmare; his eyes are wide, his gaze shifting around the room as though he's trying to get some idea of his surroundings and what's happening around him, and he might just look disoriented if it weren't for the fact that his gaze is so blatantly unfocused.

He's taking in everything without really seeing it; his breathing is quick to even out, however, and after a moment his body relaxes against that futon he sleeps on, and any fear that may have been present in him is gone entirely, seeming to take any genuine fight he may have had along with it.

After a moment he sits up, and if he isn't hindered immediately by anything or anyone he'll get up and start pacing the length of the basement, the motion aimless and ultimately pointless, just something to do because...well, it's something to do.

He hasn't lost that odd, disconnected look in his eyes; he's not registering anything very well, that much is obvious.]

[TEXT]

[A text will be hitting the network shortly after Ishimaru wakes up and any discussions with people in person have been carried out; it's short and uncharacteristically careless, and he isn't paying much attention to the device after it's out there, though he'll respond eventually to anyone who replies.]

i'm awake

and i'm sorry

[OOC: Canon-updating completed, for good or ill.]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[...relieving us of any butter remaining in the kitchen is likely a very, very good idea, yes.

That said, however, Ishimaru doesn't respond, not verbally, though he does tense up quite a bit as Naegi enters and he can't seem to look at him; his breathing falls shallow and for some reason he can't explain, a slight flicker of anger is threatening to flare up before it quite simply extinguishes itself back into the nothingness that spawned it.

He casts his gaze downward; the look behind them is dead as hell, though his thoughts are still active, trying to put together exactly how he should react to everything that's happened in comparison to everything he's found out here.

It's entirely too much; he isn't sure what to do with it, and so he quite simply does nothing.

...This might take a while.]

[He tries to keep things short so Ishimaru doesn't have to take in a whole bunch at a time.]

Not too long! I think it's been around a week since you passed out. It was basically like when we all passed out back in October.

[And that...isn't right; something about it isn't right at all and he doesn't want to consider what but that doesn't stop the pain from starting in, starting in his chest and twisting tightly around his insides like barbed wire, and it's then that he pushes away from Mondo - and it's not just stepping back, it's actively fighting to get out of his grip.]

Don't...don't...

it wasn't like that

i went back to that school.

[Oh good, his worst fears have been confirmed.]

Yeah, I kinda figured. I'm sorry you had to go back, man. None of us deserve that.

At least you're back here now, right?

[Probably not helping, but he really doesn't know what to say about this. Being back here doesn't change the fact that Ishimaru had to go through that.]

ishimaru?
what's wrong, what happened? what are you sorry for?

[r u ok, buddy??]

[He nods a bit more readily in response to the question - fresh air is always good, outside is always good and he'd just spent the last good long while unsure if he'd ever see it again so outside is definitely good - and he more or less accepts what she's doing in regards to their positioning, following her up the stairs with little complaint.

There would be more of a complaint if she'd carried him, admittedly, but. For now, this is fine.

It helps that he wants to see the outside, to verify that it's still there because everything he's heard here is threatening to come crashing down, and somewhere in the back of his mind he's...afraid, that maybe the destruction that made it so they had to lock themselves inside has reached this place as well, and...

...no, no, stop that. Come on. Breathe. It's fine. She wouldn't offer to take him outside if it weren't.]

right. i think.

i'm not dead yet

[That last line has...more meanings to him than just the literal one by now, but the literal one works just as well.]

i was gone for a while.

coma.

oh.

[...yeah, just oh. He has no idea what happened, of course but obviously it's not something good if this is Ishimaru's reaction.]

do...you want to talk about it, maybe?
or just something else? we can talk about something else if that will help you maybe take your mind off of it.

Nobody knows why the weather's like this.

[She guides him along steadily, out the back door and across the yard to the flat planes of the tennis court, where the footing will be steadier (she assumes) and they're away from the roof awnings so he can get a good, long look at the expanse of blue patch-marked in places by tufts of white clouds.

And when they get there, she shifts slightly, releasing him but catching his hand so he'll be able to feel that she's still there, even as she lets him stand on his own.]

See? It's all blue and...up there...

i don't know what to say

i'm sorry

i'll think of something, if you want

[And he's shaking a bit when she lets go of him but aside from that he's standing just fine, and when he looks up at what's being indicated, it certainly is up there, and it certainly is blue, and he's so goddamn grateful to see it that he can't stop the tears.

Somewhere in the back of his mind it occurs to him that this is how they met, too, with him staring at the sky and tears streaming down his face and her standing nearby, but she'd been unexpected then. She's holding his hand now and he's just...

...just.

So, so goddamn grateful.]

...It's...It's good for appreciating today...

[She thinks she might end up crying herself, a little bit, when the sight of the sky managed to dislodge actual words from him; it has to be a good sign, that he's talking, because it means that he's not just absorbing and reacting — there's something else there, too, still trying, and whatever that is, that's what she's got to try to reach and bring back out.]

Yeah. It's really good. It's...it's a really good day today.

[Because you're awake, and I'm here, she thinks, and that's enough to make it good, isn't it?

Probably not. But her fingers are warm where they twist between his, and the feeling of his palm is much better than the bite of nails.]

I know what you're doing this time.

[Because of course he's not the only one who remembers that this is how they met.]

[His grip tightens a bit on hers.]

...It's hard...not being able to see it.

I can't back home.

I know. When you're all boxed up you...start to miss it.

[Like air vents and storage lockers, just steel walls all around. Sometimes they feel like home, but you start to miss the sky, too.]

Remember you said...when bad stuff happens, we can take care of each other. Well...when good stuff happens, we can see it together, too.

[He twitches rather sharply at that, though he doesn't let go of her hand; he lapses back into that unsettling stillness, though again, it's not for a lack of thoughts, and it takes him far too long to respond.]

...We couldn't...do that either.

[He's shaking.]

...People died.

[That has quite an impact on Hagakure too. It gives him an idea of what Ishimaru has experienced so far...and he can definitely guess that he's been through the worst parts because of how concerning these texts are. Ishimaru's not acting like himself, just after...well, no need to go into detail.

But Ishimaru saying he's not dead yet so bluntly like that just kind of brings all those experiences back to Hagakure. He was there, trying to take charge in place of Ishimaru until he got better, but it never happened. He never got better before he died.

But there's a chance here, right?]

That's good. And you're not gonna die here either. Everything's okay here, remember?

[She remembers, then, a time when the person crying at her side was Mondo, not Ishimaru — they were out, and on their way to pick up Celes, and they'd told her about what life at their school was like, what they were made to do. And Mondo had said, twelve hours, and I attacked Fujisaki, and she'd realized then that the only way Ishimaru could still be alive was if Mondo wasn't.

This is how people react when their brothers die. She remembers it. Mondo probably knew it. Now it's Ishimaru's turn.

And she remembers, too — they made the survivors watch.]

I know.

[She doesn't know like he knows, but she knows enough. Knows how it messes you up inside, when it happens and all you can think about is how you couldn't stop it.]

It hurts for a long time. But it doesn't stay forever.

[There's a good long pause before Ishimaru responds; though it's difficult to tell over text, it's more through consideration than simply...losing interest in the device and wandering away, though given how he's been for the past several days back home that's probably a logical thought, um.]

you're a good person, hagakure-kun.

it's good that you're here.

...I didn't...do enough.

[And there are the tears again in full force, and he isn't bothering to wipe them away or hide them; he just twitches again, and before he can stop himself he's screaming because he isn't sure what else to do.]

I didn't do enough! If I had done more, if I had been...better I would have found a way to save him, to save both of them, but I...I wasn't good enough...

[This is how Nate feels all the time, Parker catches herself thinking, and almost ends up bemused by it, because in the second after it passes through her mind, it occurs to her that maybe this is...empathy...or something...

The fact that he's screaming barely registers; if the volume bothers her, she doesn't show it. She just turns in, keeping their hands connected, and stands against him so that he can cry into her shoulder instead of into the open air.]

Bad stuff happens because of bad people.

[She closes her eyes, swallowing hard.]

Not because of you.

[Mondo lets go like Ishimaru's on fire, backing up a step and apologizing immediately.]

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, shit...

[He's not sure what Ishimaru is so upset about and he's not sure how to help. The frustration is evident on his face.]

Is there... anything I can do to help?

[The moment Leon sees that message on the network he's pounding up the staircase and throwing the door open, a huge relieved grin breaking across his face. ]

About time you got up Ishimaru! The Class Monitor's gotta be more on top of stuff than this, I think you're starting' to slack dude! Come on, let's get'cha outta bed and back in the game!

[ Clearly what Ishimaru needs is one SHSL CLUELESS MORON. ]

[Oh, that ain't good.

That's one of the handful of people on this bullshit island that Blake actually gives a damn about, and he does not sound right. He hits the video button. He's not gonna screw around with trying to type on this little damn phone.]

Hey. Kid. What's going on?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 2 of 7

010. [Action for Dangan House/Text]

no subject

[text]

no subject

[text]

[text]

text;

no subject

[text]

text;

text;

no subject

text;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

[text]

no subject

[text]

no subject

no subject

no subject

Action

[video]