~♥TWENTY-NINE♥~

[generalflirt]

[Masaomi has been dreadfully ill since, well... since about Nagisa's party and going to look for a starfish the night before. Since then, well... he passed out there, barely made it home, and had been nursed ever since. He was slightly delirious though all this, and he relied on Saki to get him through things while working on autopilot. He wasn't able to really move much himself until about the 29th or so. After that you might have seen him going in and out of the kitchen. But had he not seen Saki as much somehow...?

This pattern lasts until he wakes up about three PM on the 3rd. He's finally feeling better, and is able to pick up the journal, flip through things, and then go check on Saki and... she's not there. He searches the apartment, is it just him or is it more empty. Finally, he goes to make a filtered message to her to see if she's around...

And. She's not. The filter breaks.

She's gone.

Gone.

He got back his cell phone a while ago - he hasn't opened it, really, but after Fray gave it back to him the only thing he used it for was that thing with the texts and "Tanaka Taro." But. He flips it open to see Saki's picture in there. His grip tightens. They never even talked and she's gone.. completely gone. He begins to shake. The rage lasts a while and he tries to calm down enough to make a little post saying she's gone. and finally... two hours later, he thinks he is]

[Voice]

Everyone. Ah, I - I... [...No, he can't do it. He can't be calm]

Son of bitch! No! [And then he throws the cell phone clean across the room. It hits the wall with a loud sound - it's not broke, not quite, but the battery pops out of the back and the screen cracks. But who cares. Now, now? His voice is pained beyond anything people have heard in Luceti since about when Mikado was sent home, but this pain is different - Mikado's was cold fury, this one is erratic fury and sorrow and... well yeah]

Why now?! [Voice break] Why- dammit, [He grits his teeth] Dammit!

Comments

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

[...Katara. Hah. Katara. He pauses a moment and then to her he lets it out immediately]

Saki's gone.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

Oh. [No need to ask what happened, then, or if he's sure, or if he's okay. The answers to that are fairly obvious.]

Oh, I'm so sorry.

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

...Mm.

[There's some sound of movement. He goes to collect the cell phone. ...Oh. Haha]

I broke it.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

What did you break?

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

My phone. Ah, that doesn't really matter.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

Ah. All right. [...no. Not all right. Not all right at all, not really.

If things weren't... if he hadn't... then she'd insist on seeing him. But as it is, she's not sure if him seeing her will help or just make things worse. This is the moment where she hesitates.]

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

[And on his end he sets the broken phone down somewhere. He begins to pace. Around this shitty apartment. Thinking. Wondering. How can he fix this - what is there to do, what can he do? He needs to do something. He doesn't reply to Katara for a moment as he mutters to himself, thinking]

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Yeah, muttering and pacing - none of these are good signs.]

Masaomi?

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

[and then, finally, he takes a seat. The journal is in front of him, on a table, he sits in a chair and laces his fingers. Thinking]

Katara.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Well. At least he doesn't look manic. And he's calmed down enough so that he's sitting and thinking, and that's good.]

Are you - [No, he's not all right.] Is there anything I can do?

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

[Is there anything I can do.

A callous part of him immediately thinks love me. But that's stupid. Of course that's stupid. It's also beside the point. He considers a moment... and then sighs as he comes up with what he needs to do now. He looks to a clock. It's a early evening. Well then, that means...]

Meet me tonight.

[ Voice ] 1/2

[markofthebrave]

I can do that.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

All right. When and where?

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

[This apartment- no. ...Not here. Not House 15. The barracks? No. ... Oh]

The Rec Center.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Have a small smile.]

All right. I'll see you then.

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

Mmm. Later though. Later tonight. I've got somewhere to check now.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

What do you mean "check?"

[He's not going to go looking everywhere for her like he did for Mikado, is he?]

[ Voice ]

[generalflirt]

I mean something important.

[ Voice ]

[markofthebrave]

[Not assuaging her concern or curiosity here, Masaomi. But there's that thin ice where she doesn't want to push too much because of - oh, screw it. He said how he felt for her wasn't her responsibility, she's not going to start treating him any differently because of it.]

Important how? What are you talking about?

[ Filter ]

[generalflirt]

[Tap, tap. Filter]

I don't need to ask if I can trust you, right? Katara?

[ Filter ]

[markofthebrave]

[Well that's... unexpected. Kind of rattling, actually. Hmm.]

If you did, I don't see how anything I could say would change your mind.

[ Filter ]

[generalflirt]

[He pauses, pondering over that answer for a few moments. It'a a very Katara-like answer, but it's also not as reassuring as the answers Shikamaru or Gold might give. He considers this for all of a few seconds before nodding to himself. No, he decides. Even if the world is upside down, he can trust Katara - she's shown as much already in that they are still friends.

Well then, does he invite her?

...No. His emotions are too raw, it'll complicate things and he needs a resolution. One which isn't anything to do with her or Saki and has everything to do with his own powerlessness]

I've got to meet with Shikamaru and Gold. [Maybe a few others, but particularly them] Ah, actually- have you heard about Dollars? Or the Blue Squares?

[ Filter ]

[markofthebrave]

[The Blue Squares... And Katara's worry increases. Yes, she's heard about the Blue Squares. From him. They were the ones he was fighting. And she hadn't asked, nut she later assumed that they were the ones who had taken Saki.]

You've told me about the Blue Squares before. I've only heard about them from you. I've never heard of the Dollars.

[But given the context, she can make certain associations...]

[ Filter ]

[generalflirt]

Ah. Well the Squares... [...He can't say they don't matter. They do. They have to. Mikado is the leader of the Blue Squares. Mikado is the leader of Dollars. It's been bubbling within him since their confessions with Anri. He doesn't understand everything, but basically, that means that Dollars is the successor of the Blue Squares, doesn't it? That his most hated enemy might still exist in some form? But that was irrelevant in Luceti.

Until people started to talk about Dollars. That text. And Gold knew it too.

He can't be 100% certain it's Mikado - and he'd be afraid to ask even if he thought it was - but someone is resurrecting the gangs here. Even if it's pointless, he needs to be ready to retaliate. Ready to strike back with enough force that those damn Squares can never revive.]

So you haven't heard. That makes sense.

[If it was a text... he wonders if others got it]

[ Filter ]

[markofthebrave]

Not to me. [That a touch under her breath. And then louder:]

Why does that make sense? What are you talking about?

[It's disconcerting, this feeling that he's opperating right now on a whole other level that she can't see, or touch, or understand. It's like before, when he looked as though he was going to do something wild, like why she asked him to promise that he would stay with a group when he fought...]