001

[uzumaniac]

WHO: Shuichi Saito and Kirie Goshima
WHERE: Heropa 009
WHEN: 8/5
WHAT: Seeing eachother for the first time since arriving here.
WARNINGS: Talk of messed up events, feelings.

'Worried' wasn't really even the right word here. He was a bit beyond it now. But before he could go out and deal with what was plaguing him, he had to calm down.

For days Kirie had been... out of sorts. It didn't do well with him. She was the one who had to remain level headed because he- he can't. As stoic as he seemed, as calm as he was brought up, Shuichi wasn't able to put a lock down on his emotions like she was. So for her to be distant and troubled was a problem. He wouldn't be able to do anything for a few days though, apparently she needed some time? It was weird to be told that, to sense she needed distance. It snarled at his insides and was a driving force when it came to his will to leave once a few days had passed. When something was wrong with her personally, which didn't happen often, but when it did, it was second nature for Shuichi to move in and do something, even if he himself was struggling with his own demons.

Thinking he had given sufficient time, Shuichi was the one who ended up leaving his apartment and city, to head to hers. Perhaps it was his resolve that did it, but he didn't notice his powers causing too much trouble as he traveled. He wasn't thinking about them at all either, which was new since arriving here. It seemed like every moment of ever day he was sitting within his nightmares and fears, trying his best to hold them down only to make them curl up and strangle him further in the darkness. Having something to motivate him now though, something he actually cared about, it got him moving, moving right up to her apartment complex, and to her door.

With eagerness in his movements despite the dour look on his face, he lifted a hand to knock a few times against the door. He looked... as he always did, but perhaps skinnier now from the last few days. He was tired, but- when wasn't he. At least he dressed himself well enough, though he still had broken glasses, ones that had been broken since he arrived.

He waited at the door with his hair slightly curling. He didn't notice. His anxiety in seeing her made his powers take form here and there, causing floor boards to have more spiraling designs and the like, but subtle things for now, without too much to manipulate around him.

Comments

[hairswirls]

Who knew how long Kirie had been trapped in that forest, but whatever amount of time it was, it was spent suffering. She had gone in believing that everything could be solved, that she could actually help someone. Sure she was wary and knew things could go wrong (things had always gone wrong), but she had always had a juvenile optimism that helped her to keep moving. It was something that took a while to return to her here, but when it came it went away too quickly again.

She had been killed, again. Only this time it was much more painful and happened much too quickly. Her body remembered every pain down to an atomic level- her body ripping apart, blood covering everything, and memories of Shinichi flooding her mind. To say it was traumatic was an understatement- it was horror-inducing and it nearly caused her to have a panic attack once she came back to life.

It was fair to say the least that she wanted sometime alone, to be away from everything and everyone. She had to think about the life she was living, the life she had lived, and what the future held. It was the first time she had honestly reflected within.

She knew she had promised to see him, for the first time ever since they died, but she just couldn't. She didn't have the spirit to be the strong one for him this time- she needed a shoulder to cry on and comfort her. Something she knew no one could give her but herself.

When the knock on the door came, she simply ignored it. She assumed one of her roommates would open it, but nobody did. Nobody was home actually, something she didn't know until she went up to the door. She opened it, her hair messy, wearing nothing but a pair of ill-fitted pants and a loose t-shirt. Kirie was certainly surprised at who was at the door.

"Shinichi....I wasn't....expecting you. Is something wrong?"

[uzumaniac]

He has a slight idea of everything that happened but not directly but then-

Maybe he does. Considering what the two of them went through back home, The Shimmer was extremely similar. She just... had to live through it again. He would've never wanted that for her, yet while she was still here and doing her best, had he gone through the Shimmer... had he experienced it all for a second time? It would've been difficult for him to actually fight to survive it. When he finally laid down in that ancient, spiraling pit, he had accepted his death, his fate.

He still did.

He never thought he'd get to live again and honestly, he wasn't prepared for it either.

But then she was there, and she was why he now was so far from his "safe" apartment and lonely, known room, be it one given to him. Something was wrong and it was unlike her to be so distant and while there was nothing else giving him a reason to really breathe, let alone move around so much, she was.

Shuichi even felt a degree impatience waiting for her to open the door. He never showed such a thing much, opening and closing his hands maybe, but otherwise he waited, staring into the smooth material of the door and feeling his heart in his ears. He noticed it too, the lack of the spiral encroaching on him now. It was because... of his resolve to see her, right? He didn't feel nervous about seeing her at all, relief even.

When the door opened he remained as reserved as always, staring at her for a moment before nodding.

"I said I wanted to see you. Can I come in?" He'd ask, standing in the doorway with the expression on his face being more soft and focused than it really has ever been since arriving here. He looked her over with purpose, taking in... well, her, since seeing her so long ago, seeing her in those final moments. Of course something would happen before he got to see her again, making her like this, making her... scared, tired. He just wanted the both of them to be done, he knew she felt the same, but it wasn't. So- he'd try to be here to grant her some relieve, save her from it in some way, even if she was always more capable than him. Having a purpose too gave him a sort of energy, like when they went to that grave to deal with that boy that had haunted her, or when he lept from a crowd with scissors to free her.

He felt that way now, though there was no physical, visual, immediate threat.

never do tags on mobile, the autocorrection is horrible!!!!

[hairswirls]

"Right.", she said simply to his conviction. She stepped aside, allowing him to entire the home. It was empty, both in terms of items and people. Kirie's room itself was nothing too much to look at- she had been advised people could come and go at any moment and while she didn't think much on it, subconsciously she didn't want to get too attached. So it had the essentials basically and a few things here and there she would get, eager to explore the items since it had been so long since she had done such a thing.

She stood before Shuichi, her expression strained and slightly nervous. It was as if their roles had become reversed and she showed no signs of getting better. There was something about that event that finally broke her spirit- something the curse couldn't even do back home. Back where she was the one who was helping strangers during those last few moments, despite everyone else becoming selfish and greedy. Though finally giving up and dying in Shuichi's arms may have been the start of her emotional turmoil.

In a way though his presence was something interesting to behold, she certainly wasn't expecting this. It was touching really, like all the times he had saved her. She wanted to reach out to him and touch him, hold him. They never really were the kind of couple though. So she simply remained at a distance, her teeth slowly sinking down onto her lower lip.

"I'm....sorry I didn't reach out to you sooner. I know I promised we would see each other but...I haven't really been in a good mood.", she said, her voice firm but soft. She never really commented much on her feelings looking back on it, she simply took each challenge from the spiral head on. There was that one time where she cried but again Shuichi gave her some comfort then.

It's too late

[uzumaniac]

That kind of couple or not- there was no hammer and stake needed here, no alley to escape from a tornado, no boy to confront that is interested(but lying) in Kirie, or evil hair to cut with scissors. This was something else.

And embrace felt like... like what he should do.

Just like in that great pit.

So as he stepped after her, silent as he took in the space, as bare as his own, he moved to come up behind her as she led him further into her room, as she spoke. He pressed his chest against her back and hunched slightly due to his different in height. Raising his arms, he wrapped them around her and sunk his head low near the side of her head and her shoulder, quiet as he did so.

s2g my phone hates me, I can't even do fonts on tags anymore :(

[hairswirls]

That took her by surprise, his sudden embrace, no word to be said about it. She stopped in her tracks, not returning any sort of touch for a few moments. How long had it been since they last had an embrace of sorts? That's right that moment they died. Something she hated remembering and associating with something so sweet. His lack of words though, they filled an empty space that had resided in her heart.

With a deep breath she leaned back into his touch, her arms wrapping themselves across his. She closed her eyes, taking in this precious moment between them. He really was the love of her life after all this time, after everything they had been through. There was nobody else she would rather be with.

"I...I want to be stronger Shuichi.", she said, her voice weak. She was holding back tears at this point, her eyes becoming moist. She wasn't sobbing or crying though.

[uzumaniac]

Sentimentality wasn't really something his household practiced, it was commonplace though back home, with their country. He could be warm when he wanted to, she always seemed to understand as well. Intimacy wasn't beyond him it just-

They were young.

Maybe it never seemed this important before now, before everything that had happened then.

As she leaned back he tightened his hold, pushing his face down against her further. For a long moment he stared down at the floor, past her, at... nothing. He wasn't trying to see anything. It felt good to hold her like this again, and to be alive when he did it, not to fade into some quiet, winding eternity.

"I should have been there with you." No he shouldn't've, no one should've been in there. But he'd... rather go through something with her than alone, or knowing she was doing it without him. He was so terrified of all that has happened, of his powers now, of any potential curses similar to it... but some how they were nothing compared to facing things without her.

Maybe it was part of the curse. Maybe he was stuck to her forever now, bound together by that infinite spiral. Even if that was the case though, ah... he wouldn't fight it.

[hairswirls]

Perhaps because Kirie had been so strong, so willing to keep moving forward that she had never noticed such a thing, nor desired it per say. She was happy being with him, being by his side. It was enough for him to be there for her, and while he had always been the one to save her, she had always been the one to keep them moving forward towards the end.

Now in this moment though, she wanted nothing more than to remain in his embrace. It was comforting, soothing even. He was warm and absolutely everything she needed. He made her feel stronger just by being there and so she moved boldly.

After a few more moments of enjoying his embrace, she gently turned in his arms. With wide and glazed eyes, she looked up at him, her expression soft but full of stress. She tilted her chin up higher before she leaned her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes, resting on him with ease.

"You're with me now, that's all I ever wanted. You're all I ever needed."

[uzumaniac]

He said nothing to that, knowing it to be true. Shuichi stared down at the ground past her, loosening his hold to accommodate her movements before holding onto her tight once more. His heart was beating a little fast as she might find, but he continued to keep his unchanging expression.

"I've been depressed." He says, glancing to the side, towards a window with the blinds drawn.

"I realized that's what it would be now, being out of Kurouzu-Cho. Since I still can't stop thinking about that place. And I never leave. When I got here, I just accepted that."

"That I was still dead."

He paused, his eyes looking down from the window now.

"But we're not dead here, so- we need to go back to surviving the best we can, like before- before we find ourselves at the end again." He said, his voice sort of thoughtful. But words were... what she needed now he thought. Normally that wasn't the case, normally he needed those words, her disposition, her will. But he could tell experiencing something like the Curse all over again had Kirie unsettled. After what happened, it makes you think it won't ever again, they met the end. And then for her to experience it once more...

He didn't question how she clung now. He'd be her support when it was needed, even if she was far better at staying level headed.

[hairswirls]

Her body was pressed up against him, showing a deeper affection than ever before. There was a time before the curse where she would hound him, eager to be near him, excited even. They were normal once-

right?

Normal, what was that again? Something she hadn't experienced in the longest. Not that this was normal at all, but it was a shade close to it. He was here for her, taking on a rare role. He was being her rock, something strong enough to keep her stable.

Tears continued to run down her face, eventually though she looked up at him, her face very close to his.

"Shuichi...", she paused, taking a deep breath. "Thank you...I love you more than you would ever know. I'm sorry, I wish I could be stronger for you."