tornheart | Closed

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Who: Shirou Fubuki and Yuuto Kidou
When: Backdated to 7/9
Where: Their home in Green Valley
What: They have a lot to talk about...

Not all of the aches the Awakened felt could be healed by the powers of their demons. Some were hurts that ran too deep and had attached themselves to their hearts, were pains that only time could remedy.

Fubuki's was one such hurt, and it had grown in the absence of the being able to wear Atsuya's scarf, and in the company of a new brother he wasn't quite sure how to behave around. He still had all of Kouyuki's memories. For all intents and purposes, Kidou really was his brother. But he couldn't help wondering, did accepting him as family mean that he was betraying his real one? Was he betraying Atsuya? He didn't want to forget or let go. Through him...it was as though they had survived that incident. If he just continued to remember, to hold on, it was like they weren't really gone. Sometimes, at least.

But he owed Kidou much. In the wake of what transpired the other day at the school, he knows now just how hard the other boy had been working to protect not only him, but everyone else. If it weren't for all of his hard work, things could have turned out very differently. What's more...he knew that it must be very strange for Kidou, too. Of all the things he could have planned for or anticipated, this couldn't have been one of them.

And of all the things...well, maybe this isn't the worst that could have happened. Kidou...no, Michi was always a wonderful brother to Kouyuki. And even when he'd stopped being Michi, that hadn't changed. Whatever their reality is, these things are indisputable and they are things that Fubuki knows he must thank Kidou for.

Though, perhaps thanking him is just an excuse? After all that's happened, he can't shake the feeling of concern for his...little brother. The way they'd been wrenched apart, the danger they'd found themselves in when they'd finally found their way back to each other, he can't help wondering—is Kidou really okay? Because he knows himself. And he knows he isn't. Despite how he smiles and carries on as if nothing happened, he can feel it at his very core. He's been shaken.

It was a rude awakening indeed.

He knocks softly on Kidou's door, but it's not the playmaker's name he calls out. "Michi?" In case anyone is listening. They still have a part to play, after all. "Can I come in?"

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Fubuki regrets that 'as well as can be expected' means very little to him. He'd gotten to know both Genda and Sakuma better here than he ever had back home. He knows nothing of their capacity to weather hardships, only that the three of them were certain to agree vehemently on one thing: protecting Kidou at all costs.

If he's to use that as a means to measure their well-being, then...truly, it's a complicated matter. Because of course it is. If it weren't, Kidou could have provided a more straightforward answer.

"Keeping busy is a good start," Fubuki finally responds. He'd been doing something similar himself, albeit not for as long, and utilizing a different strength of his: his physical capabilities. He needs to be at his absolute best the next time something like this happens.

He can accept nothing short of perfection...

Shaking his head, he adds with a small smile, "At least we're all together again. I'm glad."

As long as that doesn't change, what reason does he have to believe that they won't be alright? Kidou had been able to save Genda and Sakuma before. Whatever was happening now behind the scenes, Fubuki is certain Kidou can ensure their well-being again. And he'll do everything in his power to help. This time...he won't be so useless. He'll keep his promise to prevent them from destroying their bodies.

"In any case, with the three of you working together, I can imagine you've compiled a lot of notes. We're really fortunate to have you with us."

That pause says more than any immediate reply does. Fubuki's pulling at that answer - what does he get from it? How well did he come to know Christopher, or Yoshio? Of course, they're different than Genda or Sakuma, but it would be a start. Kidou wants to hazard 'not well', but he can't know that for certain. And he's not asking, just as Fubuki isn't asking for any followup to that.

"Mm. There's a lot of questions I still have, but so far it's been informative. Luci's promised me an explanation after that battle, but that depends on if we can trust he'll keep his word or not." He pauses for a moment, before adding, "Of course, you're welcome to review what we have if you'd like, though you might prefer a condensed version."

A hand held out to include Fubuki into that circle. They should stick together, and Kidou has a lot to make up for, hiding so many things from Kouyuki as he had. It's rare that he's in a position where it's a plan at all to let on everything he knows, but in this case, it seems the best move.

That invitation comes as a relief, although Fubuki does his best to hide it. He'd wanted to offer his assistance, but...

Would it be welcome? That was the question that had plagued his mind the most. He was, after all, an outsider among them, in a manner of speaking. Kidou, Sakuma, and Genda were all once students at Teikoku and unrivaled players on their soccer team. And Fubuki...he wasn't even originally from Raimon, much less with them for very long. They owe him nothing and he has no right to ask to be a part of anything. To be included despite that, however...

Well, perhaps he can't hide his relief so well, after all. It shows in in the form of a very happy and agreeable smile which is promptly accompanied by a nod of his head.

"A condensed version might be easier to digest," he laughs, but whether or not Kidou expects it, Fubuki will commit to reading everything available. He didn't get to be the captain of Hakuren by cutting corners, and he wouldn't be able to protect his friends by doing so, either. "What do we really know about Luci so far?"

"A condensed version it is, then," Kidou answers with an amused smirk. A lot of the data on people could be safely omitted, couldn't it? Might be better. For ... everything.

"Luci is the person who knows the most about what's going on, or what our enemy is. Either he's the sole survivor from an earlier group than mine, or he's already lost at least one entire army.

"His capabilities include being able to know what you're thinking over the network. He seems to be able to tell where people are. He's warned us before about causing damage to people, and has proven willing to do what he can to protect us, or keep us from dying." He's fairly certain they've covered that before, but in the interest of thoroughness, he doesn't omit it.

"What I haven't mentioned is that he's allowed us to see what could happen if we weren't there. I and some others saw a possible outcome of the fight we faced. And all of my group saw a vision before the first fight. I'm certain that it's his power that allowed both of these things."

The extent of Luci's powers comes as no surprise to Fubuki. He recalls the moment he'd been outed on the app as someone considered to be a minor. Whether or not that was intentional on Luci's part or a miscalculation, Fubuki still isn't sure. But he thinks that Luci isn't the sort of person — or being — to do things he doesn't mean to do.

Still, he hadn't expected Luci to have the power of prediction. If that was the case, why hadn't he been able to warn them about that thing that had infiltrated the app? Were his powers limited in some way? And if they were...why? And what was limiting them?

Questions keep building up to the point where Fubuki's certain that if he asked them all of Kidou now even he would feel overwhelmed, so he settles simply for asking the most obvious, and perhaps most pressing of them all...

"What vision?"

This wasn't going to be an easy thing to answer. Kidou closes his eyes behind his sunglasses. How could he describe it? Especially while trying to not allude to the house that they'd investigated not too long ago, when Kidou was reluctant to go anywhere near it for so many reasons. He's certain Fubuki will make the connection anyway, but he'll try to downplay it for now. Just the facts. Nothing else.

As horrible as it was, it's still an easier vision to describe than the possible outcome of the second fight. It wasn't anyone he knew that he watched die, the first time.

"There was no clue what 'Awakening' could be last time. All we had was a growing suspicion that the lives we lived might not be real. The time came without incident. And with it, monsters did. Although I don't think anyone had left their room, somehow, we all saw them come. We saw them kill."

He speaks mechanically, as if this is any other briefing he's ever given. But despite his best efforts to keep any emotion out of this report, he still is forced to pause after that line.

"After them came something else - a fire truck. It wasn't carrying normal firemen. These ones arranged things to appear as though events happened differently. Then, they set fire to the rest. Although we could do nothing, they saw us watching somehow. They tried to attack us through the vision itself. It's still possible they could have, if we had stayed."

And he still doesn't know if everyone was unharmed from that or not. He likely never will. Nor does he know if they're the 'enemy' that Luci spoke of... but he suspects they're part of it.

As Kidou continues, Fubuki's expression grows more somber. Being witness to the deaths of presumably innocent people — or any people at all — would no doubt take its toll on a person. Although it wasn't within his power at the time, he wishes he had known and could have been there to support Kidou through what he'd witnessed. Through something no one should have had to see, let alone experience...

Sympathy aside, however, this revelation is a startling truth. Someone is actively working to cover up murders in Eddan. With fire. Perhaps even...that fire?

While he tries not to look like the thought has occurred to him, Fubuki fails. There is very obvious surprise and concern on his face, and also in the way he fully turns away from the window to face his...brother. He'd dragged Kidou to one of those places? No wonder he'd been so tense.

"Have...have there been any sightings of them again since then?"

Kidou's heart sinks a little when Fubuki turns to look at him, and he meets the boy's stare with an openly sad one of his own. It was so hard to not think about everyone who fell to those horrors, and why was there the cover-up? Was it to keep people from panicking, or was it just to keep them blind to the truth?

They'd seen those monsters were immune to any normal weapon and been told to go out there and do something anyway. Even more insane, they all had. Michi had been so sure that if he went out there, he would never return. In a way, he wasn't wrong, though he didn't face a similar fate to those people.

It still haunts him at night, hearing gunfire and screams cut short. What became of that man was seared into his mind's eye forever.

"If there are deaths, I'm sure they've been there." His voice grows softer as he continues, "I don't know if anyone else has seen them." Or, if they have, he can't say that anyone's seen them and lived.

It's definitely superstitious, but he's getting worried about saying anything more, even somewhere as safe as his room should be. Nowhere in Eddan had proved really safe, after all - even this house could be a target any night. How did they know where the monsters were going to strike? Are they like Luci, with powers that let them see things...? They saw Kidou through his dream...

"Do we try and stop them?"

Even Fubuki realizes the cover up could be for the public's protection. Or it could be that something more nefarious is going on behind the scenes. If they'd been able to see the people having the vision and had attacked them, didn't that mean that they were probably an enemy?

He's hesitant to consider it, but the thought occurs to him anyways. What if these shadows and monsters are all part of some larger experiment? What if the Awakened are, too? And those firemen were just a cleanup and control crew?

He shudders at the thought despite himself, choosing to attempt to mask the reaction with sitting down on the floor and slumping against the wall beneath the window. None of this is fun. Not at all.

"Who's even in charge? Is Luci the only one we've got to lead us?"

"I'm not sure. There's others, but they aren't as prominent as Luci. I'm sure you'll meet them. But it's true that the only real direction we've been given is from this app and Luci." He figures he might as well head off that and similar questions that he really can't answer well. Answer that first and cut off easy space for those questions.

"As for those firemen..."

Kidou holds his gaze on Fubuki for a moment before slowly looking ahead of him, staring at the baseboard of the other side of his room instead. He does not find weighing these things easy- who is the real threat? What's really happening? What relation ties the firemen and monsters together, if they're not willing to leave the monsters alive? Without knowing any of the answers he doesn't feel confident giving a definite answer to this.

He'll try, anyway. He has to analyze this situation; his older brother doesn't know enough yet. He's counting on Kidou to provide something.

"If we did stop them right now, what would change? If people stop dying, their purpose might be over, too. Until we're told otherwise, our priority right now should be putting a stop to the monster attacks."

It's not do nothing, but in some ways it feels like it. Because it's simply not being able to do enough.

They haven't got much of a choice, though. Fubuki sees that. Kidou may know more than him, may be more experienced, but there's still much that's beyond the scope of even his understanding, answers he hasn't been able to puzzle out on his own or glean from Luci. Working with what they have and what they can do...it'll have to suffice. For now.

"Okay." Fubuki nods. For the time being, the firemen won't be their priority. But if they should happen upon a chance to investigate...it sounds like Kidou wouldn't be opposed. Because the monster attacks are still linked to the appearances of the firemen. And that satisfies Fubuki a little. Makes it feel less like they're out of options and grasping at straws.

Which brings to mind one other concern. Drawing his knees to his chest, he wraps his arms around them and stares across the room.

"This new power..." He needs to perfect how to call upon and control Marchosias. "When can we practice using it? And where?"

If Fubuki didn't like the 'what can we do' attitude before, he's certainly going to love the only answer to that question that Kidou has. It's also what elicits the first sign of real emotion that Kidou's allowed - or accidentally shown anyway. His teeth grit, setting his frown in a harsher line, brows furrowing just a bit more.

"No one has yet."

His words are carefully selected. There's no outright statement of inability made, though the frustration behind it says everything that Kidou chooses not to. If anyone would want to practice this power, it would be him. Like before, he adds to that before there's any chance of protest.

"Even gathering together is a problem. With or without that power, we can't practice teamwork without drawing attention."

Which helped contribute to the mass chaos of Fight 2.

Kidou is right. Fubuki doesn't like that answer. He doesn't like it at all, and it shows in the way that his brows furrow and his face hardens. He's never been very good at not being able to work to overcome a challenge. In fact, the idea that they might be stalled for an indefinite amount of time frightens him. With good reason. He recalls as clearly as Kidou what happened during that fight...and how so much of the trouble they'd encountered could have been prevented if they'd only been better prepared.

They need a place to train. They need it to be theirs and theirs alone, and they need it to be a legitimate place for them to meet so as to avoid attracting suspicion. But they also need to make sure it's easily accessible to everyone...even at night time.

Is there such a place?

"If we don't figure something out soon, we're not going to stand a chance the next time the shadows attack." He pushes himself to his feet, already feeling the bite of restlessness and being unable to do anything about it. "What if they come here next time? What if we're not able to stop them?" His fists clench. If he's not ready by then, if he's not perfect and someone in their family should wind up hurt because of that, he won't be able to forgive himself.

He knows it. His brother is exactly right - they're already in very real danger. Next time, they likely won't be so lucky. His mind flashes back to that conversation he had with Luci, getting confirmation on a hunch he wishes he hadn't had. This isn't the first group at all. It's very possible that they'll meet something they can't face, and ...

"It they come here next time, we may be able to rely on Luci to warn us." That's not a certainty whatsoever. It should be.

Kidou watches the other boy carefully, focusing on his reactions. They match the way he feels on this exactly, which comes as little surprise. They both are too aware of the dangers of going into anything unprepared. Was this why the groups before them - however many there have been- fell? Likely.

"But, I agree with you. This is a problem that must be fixed as soon as possible." How, though?

He hates this feeling of helplessness. But if the adults can't, or won't, do much, and almost everyone involved is older than him... there's really not much he can do, is there? Either of them.

Hearing Kidou agree helped to assuage a little of Fubuki's irritation with their current circumstance, but only a little. The problem still remained, and until they established even a temporary method and location to practice, or were able to investigate the happenings around Eddan and uncover some useful tidbit of information, he was likely to remain on edge.

He wondered, would he feel this tightly wound if they could at least play soccer? In some ways, it felt like only a few days had passed since he last kicked a ball. And in others, it felt as though he'd gone his whole life without really knowing the lay of the pitch and how it felt to dizzyingly whip past opponents towards a goal, and to score before they could even think to stop him.

His school clubs were fun and he loved them a lot, but...they weren't soccer, the sport that had helped him overcome so much, and that was the only way he could ever hope to achieve being perfect.

"We should talk to Luci," he said after a moment, finally glancing at the other boy. If Luci really was anything like a coach ought to have been for them... "Maybe he can suggest a safe place for us to familiarize ourselves with our new abilities? Or we can just train the way we know how."

Which wasn't really training at all in Fubuki's mind, because he preferred to do things that were both productive and fun, but the sentiment remained the same.

Let's play soccer. Let's be like the wind.

If he could just run a little faster, reach a new speed, things would be so much clearer...

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