Night 45: M1-M10 Hallway
...apparently being vampired made the zombie go away. Junpei wasn't sure what to make of this development. yes, he was quite happy that he no longer wanted to go gnaw on someone's arm, but... vampire. He'd seriously swallowed vampire flesh (complete with vampire blood) and then that same vampire drank his blood. That was a bad combination,
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He let a second pass, softer, and then his other hand brushed over and caught the faux-armor on the Blade Brandier's shoulder, tugging the taller man into the kiss more aggressively than recent behavior might have suggested. Like hell he was 'submissive' or anything like that... though he knew better than to push it much farther at first, regardless of any disregard for 'rules' Endrance had implied.
Then he realized there was quite a bit of blue hair in his face too, and finally he broke away, drawing in a long, slow breath as he smoothed back one half of his own PC's silver hair distractedly. "Yeah, well..." he answered belatedly, then let the rest of that breath out as scoff. First kiss? You lied... you had to have lied! "You have to know there's more to me than just 'Haseo,' right?" He couldn't decide if that sounded corny or a bit too bitter in meaning beneath the words. Emotions were weird... but after a beat he decided he didn't want much of an answer to that anyway and tried to pull Endrance in for a second try.
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The response to that question was simple: "Of course I do..." The words were in a slightly lower pitch than usual, and still half-breathless. There was just enough time for Endrance to tuck his hair behind his ear before he was being pulled close and kissed again. That time, he did move closer, wrapping his free arm around Haseo's shoulders. That shift was enough to make him lose balance, but only just...and it might have been subconscious.
Either way, the result was the same: his lips parted just slightly as he landed back on the desk, pulling the Rogue with him.
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Vague uncertainty caused the Rogue to be decidedly more reined in, however, keeping his tongue to himself thankyouverymuch before straightening and bringing Endrance back up with him, panting slightly. The art of using the environment was one yet unknown to him, but... he couldn't object to having their height more level, even if part of his senses flooded back in the pause as well as very acute embarrassment.
"Um--" he started, then turned his face away to rearrange the weapons on the desk. He was far from an expert on keeping a blade, but he doubted it took a genius to know that knocking them onto the floor might dull the sharpness or... something.
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"...s-so...um..." There was that dark flush on his cheeks again, as much from embarrassment as from anything else. The real question was 'why did you kiss me back like that?', but those words were caught in his throat, and clearing it or coughing wouldn't help that. Clinging more probably wouldn't help, either, but Endrance did it anyway, carefully slipping that arm to the middle of Haseo's back.
"...what's your real name?" That wasn't what he had meant to ask, but it was a start to the whole 'there's more to me than just Haseo' issue. "I mean...you know mine...and probably where I live, and all..."
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"Oh, er... yeah, Kaoru, right?" Name. Yeah, that's generally a good thing to let someone know before you go off kissing them onto desks. However, with that thought the quickly-becoming-familiar sense of dread ran down his spine and settled in his stomach, the female doctor's taunting voice echoing in his mind. He swallowed and then closed his eyes with a sigh. "It's Ryou. Misaki Ryou."
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He couldn't believe that he'd just thought that.
But on top of the worries which had unfortunately become normal over the past few days, there was the worry for Haseo too. Sora... Could they really be the same person? Haseo was so different to Sora. He wasn't a PKer (probably), he seemed to abhor the idea in fact, while Sora had been gleefully enthusiastic about the pursuit. Childishly so.
Seven years had passed according to Endrance so if Haseo really was seventeen then Sora would have been...
It made his head hurt to think about time differences and the things that he should have done differently. If he'd only talked to Mimiru earlier, if he'd admitted what was wrong earlier, if he'd found help instead of burying himself in Morganna's lies, but ah, what was the point in that? He had to live life and he couldn't do that by looking backwards.
He moved to pull on the sneakers from the Doyleton trip and then opened the door. He knew where Haseo's room was and well, he couldn't just spend his time avoiding the other player, especially since Haseo was the only one who knew the truth.
He moved down the hallway and knocked lightly on the door. "Haseo? It's Tsukasa." There was no answer, but Tsukasa could hear soft voices from inside. He Tsukasa knocked again before finally pushing the door open and...
...and then he just stared, cheeks heating up. "Uh..."
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There were a thousand other questions that came to mind, then, ones he might normally have reserved for email - but they weren't that important. "And that's right...Ryou." The name somehow fit, and he had to wonder. Did the PC resemble its player? He knew his own did, at least somewhat - he wasn't as tall as his PC, but was definitely also tall and thin, with long hair. Blond, in the real world, but...
...was that another knock? Endrance dismissed it until he heard the voice that went along with it. At least it wasn't Kanji-kun, but... and then there wasn't any time, and while he didn't turn and face Tsukasa, he could feel the Wavemaster's eyes squarely on them.
"Um..." There was no saying it wasn't what it looked like, because it was exactly what it looked like. Still, he figured extricating himself from that embrace - as loath as he was to do it - was the best response, and did so, then looked down, sure that this time he actually would break a few capillaries with all of the blood rushing to his face.
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-- Oh.
All at once that sense of dread blossomed almost painfully throughout Haseo's body, and he stiffened in place as he looked over at the Wavemaster in shock. Something switched over in his mind, and yet it wasn't because of what was going on right then; any horror at someone else seeing him-- them like that would have to wait until later. Tsukasa--
It seemed Endrance was just distracted enough not to stop him... or perhaps simply didn't know the details behind the relationship between Tsukasa and Sora-- and the unstable state Haseo was in regarding it at the moment. It honestly might have been better if Endrance had kept a hold on the teen, because suddenly he was snatching up the closest sword and stepping toward Tsukasa deliberately, grabbing the Wavemaster's shirt and pushing him back with what seemed to be clear purpose.
Yet his hands were shaking and breath uneven, obviously more alarmed than malicious. He sought out a fighting response in confusion to the rush of memories, though he kept the sword at his side for the time being, reversed grip he had on the hilt keeping the blade behind him.
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Before he could flee though, Haseo had moved, grabbing the front of his shirt and forcing him back against the wall. Tsukasa's eyes widened, seeing Haseo's expression twist into something that looked wrong on him, the way that his hands shook and most importantly, the sword in his hands. He swallowed thickly, nervously, wondering again what happened to a player if they were PKed while trapped in the body of their character.
"Sora?" he whispered hoarsely.
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"No! I'm not Sora! I'm not!!" he insisted, anger and fear and frustration almost tangible in the air around them. If he didn't have one of his hands still occupied with a sword, he likely would have tried to use both of them to shake the other teen, but coupled with that and the already loose nature of the patient uniforms, the attempt seemed mostly ineffective... although the Adept Rogue didn't really seem to notice.
The synthesis was likely far more unnerving than Sora had ever been, considering the Twin Blade's attitude and kind of intensity Haseo had only picked up in the last several months. Yet he just couldn't stand it- the last time he'd seen the Wavemaster in the reawakened memories, it was only moments before Skeith had--
"Tsukasa-- why?!"
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Endrance snapped out of the momentary daze and dashed across the room, stepping to the side of the two and putting his hands directly inbetween them. "I know...that things are strange for you. But...what happened last night is not Tsukasa's fault. It's no one's fault but the Head Doctor's."
He stepped in front of Tsukasa, arms spread out. "I...I know the past is difficult. They awakened some terrible memories for you, and...I don't know all of those details. But...I do know that it wasn't her fault."
There was a pleading look in the Blade Brandier's eyes - a silent call to talk all this out.
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He felt a surge of relief when Endrance interrupted them, but it was mixed with guilt and hurt because Sora... Haseo, had every right to hate him for what he'd done. "I'm sorry," he whispered, clenching his hands at his side. "I'm sorry! You said to run, to take Aura somewhere safe, and I didn't know that you weren't following us. And I couldn't log on for months afterwards in the hospital and Bear said that he kept hearing people talk about you and I... I'm sorry."
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Too reckless. Haseo had told Endrance that he didn't want to see Tsukasa, and he'd counted on that word being passed along until he could find a way to deal with the problem. Now, he was the only one that was armed, and he was highly in tune with the fact that he could have just killed both of them right there and, when morning came, there likely wouldn't have been any evidence of the act unless they'd been revived again. The thought horrified him. If nothing else, he was certain that the female doctor would have been highly amused at how messed up she'd made him.
Suddenly he took a step back, and another, then paused for a beat before turning sharply and pacing what was available of the room's short length- once, twice, and then he sat heavily on the end of a mattress, as far as he could get from the other two and pent-up energy visibly draining away. The sword was tossed aside carelessly on the bed, and he wouldn't look anywhere but the floor, lost in thought. He felt like a dog that should have been kept leashed or locked up for its own safety as much as for the safety of others. It was humiliating.
"How did you know?" he asked finally, voice low.
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He stepped across to where Haseo was, sitting down next to him and lightly touching his forearm. "The fact that you mentioned memories, combined with names you...shouldn't have known from R:1..."
Endrance paused. "I...I know these are hollow words coming from me...but...we did everything we could to set you free. We didn't know everything about each of the Lost Ones...but we knew we couldn't let them stay like that. And...I'll do the same now. I can't take back what happened, but...if I can help you make peace with it..."
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He scrubbed his arm across his eyes, trying to force himself to calm down before he really did break down, hating himself for what had happened, what he should have prevented. So many things that he should have done. He should have waited for Sora to join them!
"You kept looking at me like he did," Tsukasa added finally, voice a quiet whisper. "Like I was something interesting that you wanted to chase just because it would be fun for you. Didn't recognise it until it was pointed out to me."
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But he couldn't accept it either. He was convinced that somehow the doctor had hacked into his head and, more obviously, done things specifically designed to hurt him. It seemed ridiculous until put alongside the other stuff he'd experienced involving 'The World' and this place... like being stuck in a "real" version of your player character and still being able to summon an entity that should have only existed in-game. Plus, as a bonus to that, that power inside him, which had helped him and made him that much stronger, was the same as the being who had attacked him and caused so much pain- enough that he'd once succeeded in erasing it from his mind entirely.
"It's been years," he said strongly, but then frowned in distaste once more, conflicted as he looked at the Wavemaster sitting on the floor. "Why are you apologizing to me?!" If what Tsukasa had said about Haseo looking at him odd was true, the Adept Rogue didn't remember it. Sure, there had been a sense of familiarity, but how unusual was that for anyone that had any sense of sociability about them? But more importantly, it bothered Haseo that Tsukasa had been trying to apologize. He was certain that back then, acting as a player killer and never considering the consequences, that 'Sora' had brought it upon himself.
"Don't say you're sorry," he said, still upset, but relatively calmer-toned.
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