[closed] I will oppose all that would befall me

[coughcoughshank]

Characters: Souji and
Date/Time: Thursday, June 23rd
Location: Rain's apartment
Rating: Pg13
Summary: In the aftermath of memories, Souji tracks down Rain to tell him what he's learned about both their pasts.

Comments

[notpissedoff]

[Rain wasn't overly surprised that Souji had stopped by to talk. Okita, rather - Rain had caught his exchange with Cooro in the journals, and that name seemed to fit the other man better in his mind. But they often ended up discussing things after one of them had recovered a memory that was relevant to the other, and from the look of it, everyone had spontaneously remembered something yesterday. So when Rain opened the door of his room to find Okita there, he simply nodded.]

Okita [there was the briefest of pauses - that still wasn't quite right] -san. [Yes. That was better.] Come in. [Rain crossed the room to fetch the seating cushions.

He was grateful that Okita hadn't come by yesterday - he'd been, admittedly, left emotionally raw and reeling by his own memory, and had needed some time to himself to sort his thoughts out. The initial impact had numbed now, though, and he was able to function as normal.]

[coughcoughshank]

[Souji entered, slipping off his geta as usual - this was becoming a somewhat familiar routine.]

I guess you saw my conversation with Cooro?

[notpissedoff]

Yes. [Never mind that Rain hadn't seen it until a couple hours ago due to having ignored the journals for most of yesterday. He was caught up now. He laid out the cushions while Taichou glanced up from his bed in the corner, yawned, turned around, and went back to sleep.] The name Okita seems more familiar to me [more comfortable, in fact], but I'll call you by whichever name you prefer.

[He sat, and looked at Okita seriously.] I imagine you're here to discuss yesterday.

[coughcoughshank]

[That doesn't surprise Souji much, given it's what Rain had called him in his memory.]

Call me whatever is most comfortable for you - and yes, I am.

[notpissedoff]

[Rain nodded once. Okita it was, then.]

Go ahead. [He was more than happy to let Okita do the talking here, and his curiosity about what knowledge the other man might have recovered wasn't the only reason. He didn't particularly want to discuss his own memory... after all, it wasn't anything relevant to Okita. Or so Rain told himself.]

[coughcoughshank]

I saw you in my memory. You were dressed like a healer would be.

[No point in circling around that point, really]

[notpissedoff]

Like a healer? [...Interesting. Rain hadn't known what to expect from Okita's memory, of course, but he knew he hadn't expected that.]

Hm. Was there any reason that you're aware of? [Rain wanted to press Okita for a thorough recounting of the memory - for every detail - now that he knew he'd been in it, but he restrained himself. After all, if he expected the other man to disclose more than he may wish to... then what was to stop Okita from expecting the same of him?]

[coughcoughshank]

You were trying to stop me. From fighting.

[notpissedoff]

[Rain frowned slightly in puzzlement.] That was my reason for being dressed that way? [The question slipped out, and in retrospect shouldn't have been the first question to come to mind. Okita had perhaps just moved on from the 'being dressed like a healer' bit. 'Why was I stopping you?' and 'Who were we fighting?' were better questions, but ones Okita may not have answers to, Rain realized. The Sphere showed them what it showed them; it didn't necessarily provide any context.]

So you were fighting someone, and I was dressed like a healer and attempting to stop you [he reiterated]. ...What more can you tell me?

[coughcoughshank]

There was more than one someone - there was a hallway of them, all dressed roughly. Poor fighters, too.

[He pauses, glancing away slightly]

My lungs... it was bad. [Which is a roundabout way of saying 'I was choking on my own blood']

[notpissedoff]

[...Ah. Well, that at least explained why he would have been trying to stop the other man from fighting. Especially against several other people, poor fighters or not. Rain was silent for a minute. It was sometimes easy to forget, with Edensphere's medicines, that Okita was sick at all... but Rain recalled that memory that was broadcast on the radios awhile back. He'd probably been much sicker than he wanted to let on

[coughcoughshank]

[Souji shook his head - they hadn't been wearing any identifying marks, and he'd been distracted by the rest of what had been happening. But it probably was important]

Just that they fought like samurai - like I do, though not nearly as skilled.

[notpissedoff]

[Rain hmm-ed quietly.] Roushi, perhaps?

[He knew that they'd had enemies, of course, and roushi had been mentioned in two of his own memories. He'd been sent to spy on them, and... his sister had been beaten and killed by them. Even if his guess was correct, though, it still didn't tell them much. A roushi was just a masterless samurai. So who were those particular roushi, and why were they fighting them?]

Did they say anything at all? [He paused briefly.] Did either of us say anything? [Even seemingly trivial bits of information could prove useful - perhaps someone had let a hint slip.]

[coughcoughshank]

I think they might have been roushi... they were mocking me, but not anything that would identify them. I called them 'filthy'.

[notpissedoff]

[So all in all...] Not the most informative of memories, then. [That was the basic gist Rain was getting, and it wasn't surprising in the least - this place didn't like them to learn too much at a time. Far too often, what it chose to show them almost seemed specifically selected to upset or unsettle rather than inform, and it sounded like Okita's latest memory hadn't been an exception.

There was still another question on Rain's mind though, one that had him hesitating slightly before asking.] ...Was I able to stop you? [He didn't like to think that perhaps he'd failed and things had ended poorly for Okita... or that he'd gotten in the way and become a liability himself.]

[coughcoughshank]

[It had been informative - but not in a way he particularly felt like sharing with Rain. And not about their general situation there]

I'm not sure - you had hold of me, and then there was a stab of pain right here- [He reaches up to indicate the base of his neck] - and then the memory ended.