[Chapter Ten - Audio; Japanese. English.]

[perpetualstoic]

[The post begins with silence. Heavy breathing. A shiver. Or is it a sob? It's pretty hard to tell. After a few minutes, he starts mumbling in Japanese.]

You fucking...

You idiot.

Moron. Idiot. How the ever-fucking-hell could you...

Goddammit Shuichi, you're a fucking moron!

You. Scientist bastard. Fix him. Bring him back. Now. He already...

Comments

[blameshimself]

...Ei-Eiri-san.

What happened?

[perpetualstoic]

...

He's dead.

[blameshimself]

[ Ohhhhh fuck. Eiri is with a corpse. Eiri is with a corpse. He's alone. With a corpse. Just like in New York. ]

I'm coming over.

[perpetualstoic]

[...He's in hysterical blackout mode for the time being.]

[blameshimself]

[ You can expect a knock on the door about an hour and a half later. Tohma is never on time when it counts, is he? ]

...Eiri-san?

[perpetualstoic]

[You won't get a response from him. He's in the bedroom, holding Shuichi's dead body.]

[blameshimself]

...Eiri-san?

[ He slowly opens the door to the apartment, not sure of what he'll see. Well, he knew. He just didn't want to think about it. ]

Eiri-san?

[ And he slowly steps insid and eventually heads to the bedroom. ]

Ei--

[ .........oh god. ]

[perpetualstoic]

[He still doesn't respond at first. But he looks up when Tohma enters the room; And a rare sight it was. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks. His face with filled with complete defeat.]

I... I couldn't fucking...

[blameshimself]

Eiri-san, what...

[ So much like New York. He lingers at the doorway for a moment before forcing himself to walk across the room and stand beside Eiri. He wanted to pull Eiri to his chest and hug him tightly, but... he wasn't sure if that was what Eiri wanted, and he hated not being sure. ]

Can you tell me what happened?

[perpetualstoic]

[Anything had to be better than this near catatonic state he was falling into. He looked away from Tohma, his eyes focusing on Shuichi's unmoving chest. He took a few strands of the burgundy hair between his fingers, twirling it idly. It was obvious how broken he was - especially when he spoke.]

He was tired. I told him... Not to be such a shithead and take a nap.

...

...

He never woke up. I went to get him for supper. And... [He trails off, choking on his words. And possibly a sob.]

[blameshimself]

That's....

[ Sudden, wasn't it? Shindou was a whiner and when Tohma had spoken with him earlier that day... Wasn't he fine? Or had Shindou really grown up enough to hide something like that? ]

He isn't gone forever, Eiri-san.

[ His hands moved to Eiri's shoulders and he squeezed them tightly. This wasn't exactly like Kitazawa. Kitazawa was never coming back. So.... ]

Maybe... Think of it as a nap? The scientists aren't... reviving anyone now it seems, but they will. So don't worry.

Everything will be okay; I promise.

[ Think of it like a nap? Eiri was far too old to believe something like that anymore, wasn't he? ]

[perpetualstoic]

[At first, he hadn't moved. Eiri allowed Tohma to rest his hands there, to provide some kind of much-needed comfort. But at the notion of thinking of it as a nap, he jerked away, looking up angrily at his brother-in-law. The expression was anger, but his cheeks were stained with tears. They were still in his eyes, stuck there as his frustration took center stage for a moment.]

Don't spout of stupid shit, Seguchi. He's dead. He's fucking dead and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.

[blameshimself]

Eiri-san... It isn't your fault. What were you supposed to do? Did he even tell you he was feeling unwell? Or....

[ He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to Shindou and he didn't have the courage to ask Eiri for anymore details. It would probably only serve to upset him more, anyway. ]

I'm sorry, Eiri-san.

You... need to keep in mind that this isn't like before. People do come back to life here. And, although it's just as scarring and just as traumatizing... he's going to be okay.

I promise.

[perpetualstoic]

He didn't. The idiot just said he was tired. Fucking retard. He... Should have said something.

[There's a pause. He looks up at Tohma with a mild hopefulness - still angry and discouraged, but there's a glimmer of his younger self lying in those eyes.]

... Yeah.

[blameshimself]

[ Tohma offers him a hesitant, reassuring smile. ]

But, you can't just sit here with Shindou-san like this. It's like watching water boil--if you keep staring at him, the scientists can't take him, right? They wouldn't want us to see them doing it... right?

[perpetualstoic]

I want to see the bastards. I want to see what they fucking do. [...]