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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[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.]

Did you fail her? [He'll meet your gaze, Masaomi, staring right back.]

I don't buy it. That chick looked way too content with you for you to've failed her. The only person you failed was yourself.

You don't know the situation.

You're right - neither of us do. [There's a pointed glance at Gold.] You two wanna argue in circles about it, or get to the point?

[A grimace. He knows enough about the situation to know you're being a moron about it, Masaomi, and he could argue at you about it until he's blue in the face. ...But Shikamaru's right. He'll deal with you later.]

...You only fail someone by givin' up on them. Now, let's get to the point.

[He did.

but that's not the point, no]

...When Saki got saved [not by him] Izumii was arrested. I left the Scarves. It ended.

[Not for long, he imagines. Shikamaru finally turns back to look at Masaomi again.]

Your gang war, or you and Saki?

[Masaomi's involvement with this crap, Gold imagines.]

Both.

[His decision, definitely. It's like Gold said before - Saki was happy when he saw them together. And he still cares about her; still feels responsible for her. But she is his shame.

And if there's one thing he knows about Masaomi, it's that he deals with his problems by avoiding them.]

Aa. [Shikamaru shakes his head, lowering his arms to put his hands in his pockets.] What a troublesome relationship...

[Sometimes, Gold wondered how he ended up with a guy like Masaomi as a friend, someone who had such problems facing problems, always running from them.

He presses a finger to his forehead.]

But you're talkin' here like you wanna start that all over again. But if it was so 'troublesome' for you, [to borrow Shikamaru's word] then why?

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