generalflirt | ~♥TWENTY-NINE♥~

~♥TWENTY-NINE♥~

[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!

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That's not what I said at all.

I know. It's just the truth.

No, it's not. Saying that you're not as strong as someone else isn't the same thing as calling yourself weak. There are a lot of people stronger than both of us here, but strength isn't everything in a fight.

I'm not that smart either, Katara. I'm totally outclassed by someone like you or Shikamaru.

[This is... serious. Objective. He's not trying to self-depreciation he just see it as a frustrating fact]

Smarts aren't it either. I've seen you fight, and if you get close enough you can do a lot of damage.

[Like to her ribs, for instance.]

You never know what's going to happen in a fight until it does. If you want to say people are stronger than you here, fine, that's true, I accept that. But that doesn't make you weak, and that doesn't mean that you can't get stronger.

Mm, I'm not weak. I know that- after all, among the Scarves, I was the best.

[The strongest among of a group of kids. That's a shallow title. Or well, he might still be the strongest now. He knows he has an uncanny talent for battle for someone from his time. but... He can't do magic. He can't do ninja stuff or bend or any of that. Inevitably, he's the weak link here]

[It's a good thing she can't read those brackets. As it is, it sounds like he's agreeing with her, so she sees no point in further pressing her case.]

All right, then.

[So where was he...? Oh right. He frowns and then inhale, exhale...]

Dollars is a newer gang. Honestly, I don't know that much about it - they hada major meeting a few months back and I heard they have a thing to do with these slashings lately - and the Headless... well, Celty-san might be involved with them too. But the point is they're new and seem to be really powerful lately in Ikebukuro.

[...the Headless... oh right, Celty.

Huh.]

And you're worried that they might be starting up here?

[...] I got a text asking me about Dollars. I've not been listening to rumors, but...

[Pause to clarify as she thinks that over.]

A text?

A message on my phone. I don't even know how they got it working.

[...a phone. Right, she knew what that was. But...]

I didn't know any other communication devices worked here.

[...] Did you respond to the message?

I did, yeah. A short conversation.

Is it the same Dollars who were in your world?

[..."They knew I was from Ikebukuro." No, that would bring it too close to home, so he nods. He's 100% certain]

So then you know. It has to be someone here from your world. [That... has to narrow it down to less than ten people.]

...but Masaomi, if the Dollars formed after you'd left the Scarves, why is this a problem?

Edited 2012-01-06 02:34 (UTC)

[He shrugs that first part off. Dismissing it. He can't go there - it would immediately incriminate Mikado, which is ironically the last thing he wants to do. But...]

If Dollars is capable of half the things they are credited for, it could be danger here. But that's not all. Katara... why do you think I ended up forming a gang in the first place?

[She could guess, but...]

Why don't you tell me?

People I trusted. Ones I trusted with anything.

[With his life... and more. Much more than his life, ultimately. He left them and betrayed that trust, true, but the idea is still there]

[Right after his parents split up and he moved out on his own.

She just tilts her head to the side a little, listening, all her focus still on him.]

[There is a pause, and then very seriously]

I want you to be my comrade.

[the word he actually uses is "nakama" but I feel cheesy typing it... when I'm not One Piece...]

[Her brows come together in confusion.]

I'm already your friend, Masaomi. How is this different?

Friends have different levels, they have different complications and levels of trust and details and all that. Ah, not to belittle them or anything...

[He shifts his head] I am asking you if I can depend on you for anything, and you can depend on me for that.

[Some part of her that sounds suspiciously like Sokka is pointing out that he's offering this right after finishing his explanation of how he'd been unable to be depended upon. As always, she brushes that part of her aside.

There are her own cautions here as well, from their earlier conversation. She'd meant it when she said she couldn't stand aside and watch him be hurt. And she'd meant it when she said she wouldn't get involved in a fight she doesn't understand. She shifts her hand away from his back and on to her lap, finally breaking off contact with him.]

I hope you know that you can depend on me to do anything that I think is right. But I'm not sure what else it is I can say... or do... that would assure you of that.

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