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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Aa. [It sounds troublesome. Things with gangs tend to be, and messy to boot. His tone becomes more pensive.] They're that much of a threat, then?

[Just like Gold thought. Masaomi wants to get these "Yellow Scarves" started in Luceti.]

To you, they're a threat. ...And you want help to be able to defend against them.

Not just them, but that's part of it, yeah.

It sounds like you're thinking about starting something up - at least if 'defense' and 'survival' are only part of your goal.

[And you're free to correct him if he's wrong on that, Masaomi.]

I can get preparing for the worst, but I don't know if that's the best response.

Enough with the secrets, dude. [He's staring straight at Masaomi now.]

For months, you've been keepin' secrets from everyone. But if you're gonna talk about "trust", it's time to come clean. This is the first time I've heard about these "Scarves" and "Squares" from you, so what else're you keepin' secret?

Ah? ...Do you want to know?

[and now he glances... at Shikamaru]

[His response isn't immediate, but he nods.]

It'd be good to hear.

Then it's unanimous. [Let's hear it, Masaomi.]

[...Fine. he closes hsi eyes and when he opens them, he focuses intently on explotaro. Saying all this in an even voice. An emotionless voice. Critical. Objective]

I moved to Ikebukuro when my parents split. I was eleven then, and in elementary school. By the time I was thirteen, I'd dyed my hair [he tugs on a lock briefly. This lighting doesn't show it well, but he is in need of a new dye job. Much of his roots are dark brown now] and I'd somehow managed to gather a lot of like minded people around me. A color gang, we called ourselves the Yellow Scarves. At the time... well, I thought it was just how things were done in Tokyo. Gangs of middle school kids, fighting stupid little turf wars until the cops showed up. That's what me and the Scarves did then, all wearing our colors. Against Green, Red, ... Blue. All of 'em.

But eventually... things changed. Between us an another color gang called the Blue Squares.

[Escalation. This is the part he could put together for himself, from the moment Masaomi referred to himself as the General of the Yellow Scarves in the past tense.

These Blue Squares have been mentioned enough times that he can bet they had something to do with that.

He said it was dangerous. It wouldn't have been just a stupid fight between kids by that point - older kids and adults would start getting involved, and they'd fight harder.]

You got in over your head.

[So this is what Masaomi's been hiding from him... From everyone. Could the fight Masaomi and Mikado had months back have something to do with all this, then?

Almost as if continuing off from Shikamaru's statement.]

And things went downhill from there, huh.

Mm. [To both accusations. He looks up at the ceiling, taking his eyes off explotaro but not putting it on to anyone else. How shall he put this...]

That bastard, Izumii - he lead the Squares. The fights got more brutal. We didn't even know what happened, really, but suddenly we were being hospitalized. It was around then I met Saki and... ah. Someone else, that is, and things started to turn around. We started to get fed information about where to fight them and with what. How to do it, who to do it with, when... Our luck was finally turning around, but then they just kept coming.

...Until Luceti, I figured that was what you called a war.

[Well that finally explains what Saki's disappearance had to do with bringing this all on, sort of.

Rooted to his spot, Shikamaru's focus remains fixed on Masaomi's movements, trying to get a read on him. He's looking at anything but them right now, not even for a blank look. But what would usually be a sign of dishonesty translates here to something more akin to... shame, maybe.]

[Gold keeps his gaze fixed on Masaomi, tracking his every movement.]

This other person... Was it that Izaya fellow? [Gold's heard enough about Izaya from his chat with Shizuo to know the guy's no good and that getting involved in something like that might be right up his alley.]

Ah.

Mmmhm.

[He'd wondered about that - he said Izaya was an informant when they talked.]

That explains some things. [A couple things. He asked Shikamaru if he was an informant too, back when they worked together on that first draft. He pauses, then adds:] He's not in Luceti anymore.

[Which they might already know. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, yadda yadda. Still a good thing, either way.]

[Just thinking about Izaya... The things Shizuo told him about that scumbag makes Gold's blood boil. He can't stand people like that guy... Manipulative bastards... He's all too eager to move away from the topic of that guy.]

But something happened after that, didn't it?

Wars ... have casualties. Ah, that's something even true of ours.

[He looks at his hands now. ...Oh, they're shaking]

...Saki.

[...Of course, that would happen. Gold just cringes when Shikamaru mentions that.]

...Yeah.

That Izumii guy... kidnapped her.

[and tears start to roll down his face. His hands are still shaking] I- [No, he can't tell them he failed]

He broke both of her legs. Bad. She... was paralyzed.

[But she wasn't in luceti, right]

[Considering she was walking both times he met her, yeah.

But this time Shikamaru does shift his gaze away before he talks, keeping Masaomi just in his peripheral vision. It's automatic, not out of embarrassment, but respect among men. Even if it wasn't said, he can guess the reason behind this display well enough. That shame from before.]

...must've been some recovery.

[But she was better in Luceti. Either she was healed or it never happened in the first place or the Malnosso did something about it... or something. But that doesn't matter.]

It coulda been a lot worse for her.

[And now he looks at them - well, Gold. and his eyes narrow]

Worse? I failed her, Gold.

[No comment. Shikamaru exhales slowly through the nose, watching the wall.]

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