Day 43: Sun Room, Second Shift

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

When the shift changed, HK stayed put. Even after a long night of zombie killing, he had no interest in meatbag fuel, especially after all the discussion of chocolate with that rather strange meatbag. It was just making him crave the stuff even more than he had previously, if that was possible.

Oh, right. He was supposed to be looking for someone who was "VERY LARGE, WITH DARK HAIR." And also seemed to not know what lower-case letters were on the bulletin. As if that would help. He'd seen a likely candidate last shift, but talk of chocolate had distracted him.

Comments

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

"It feels wrong," she replied. Trying to be contrary felt wrong, too. It was like she just wanted to get into a little hole and die there. "I had a feeling, all day yesterday, and I ignored it. I shouldn't have. I should've tried to warn him." But he probably wouldn't have had believed her. He was always so sure of things, in his own manner. "What can I do now, Sumeragi-san? That feeling... it's eating away at me."

[broken-babylon.livejournal.com]

[backthread?]

What could she do? How to keep going? Subaru didn't know if he had a good answer, but he had the answer that had served for him. "You can live. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. So you can be there when the people responsible for this place pay for what they've done."

There was a lot of anger in Subaru's words, as he thought about Seishirou and his mission to settle things with the older man.

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

[Sure thing :)]

It was the same thing Okita had said on the bulletin in essence, though angrier, Move forward so that I may see them again. However, it comforted Miku little. She was from a different year, a different Japan, and a different situation than Sousuke had been. If everyone went back to their worlds, she would not see him. He would have the blue-haired girl to worry about again, and she would have... her cat. Ruri.

A nasty, bitter feeling surged in her chest. Did she want revenge? "I don't want revenge. I want him." She'd be no better than Kirie or the Tattooed Priestess, if she sought revenge. "I wonder if there's some kind of magic spell to forget a person," she murmured half to herself, and then looked up at him. There was a sad, deep clarity in her eyes. "I'm just so tired of losing people, Sumeragi-san. I want to protect the ones I have left. How do I?"

[broken-babylon.livejournal.com]

Subaru had no answers for that, for any of that. If there was a spell to wipe someone from one's heart, he would have used it on himself long ago. "You've seen yourself how useless I am at protecting anyone." More bitterness, it just seems to be a Day for it, for Subaru. "Not only was I unable to help anyone, my own power was turned against a comrade."

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

Miku looked down at his hands for just a moment and back to her knees. "I see." Well, that was a let down. One of many. "I don't mean to make you think of bad memories," though that did seem to be her talent. If not creating them for herself, inflicting them on other people.


What a horrible, miserable day.

[broken-babylon.livejournal.com]

"I'm sorry." And Subaru truly was. He'd come hoping to be able to ease Hinasaki-san's pain, if only a little, and instead he was just making it worse. He'd once at least been able to touch people's hearts somewhat; now his own bitterness and anger made him useless at even that. "I wish I knew what to say." Once upon a time, he would have.

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

They were a pair, weren't they? Only good at making others feel... not normal. Miku sighed quietly and patted Subaru's knee. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything at all; I understand." Her hair fell in her eyes as she turned to face him, which was probably for the best. Miku wasn't sure how much longer she could deal with red-rimmed wet eyes, much less bare them to others.

"Someday, we'll all be set right again. Someday."

[broken-babylon.livejournal.com]

Subaru wished he had Hinasaki-san's faith in that. His future, he suspected, would only be worse as time went on. Either he wouldn't be able to find Seishirou again and their unfinished business would pick away at his mind like a flesh-eating virus, or he would find Seishirou and... well. Either way it ended, there would be fallout. Or he'd be trapped here forever, trying to hold himself together for Hokuto's sake, while trying not to forget that, in his real world, she was gone and needed avenging. "You're a very strong person, Hinasaki-san."

[rope-victim.livejournal.com]

"No," Miku admitted in her small voice. "I'm not. There's nothing more I'd like than to vanish too, and see my brother. Go in that snow-covered mansion and not wake up." It was easy to tell him, she found. He would understand, maybe, about the dream that would plague her, as she watched so many of her loved ones walk away. "But, I can't, and I'm kept here, even if I don't want to be. So, even if you say I'm strong, I know otherwise, and I must correct you, Sumeragi-san."

"I am scared, just as everyone else is. I'm just not afraid to say so."

[broken-babylon.livejournal.com]

Subaru shook his head, reaching out to touch Hinasaki-san's hand very gently. If the physical contact was unwanted, it was light enough for her to shake it off easily. "Even in the depths of this despair, even in your fear, you can still believe in a better future. Even if it seems far away, even if right now you want to hide away from it all... that's still strength, Hinasaki-san."