RP Log: Tomo & Ryoma
Date: The recent past, I think ^^;
Rating: Just a little bit of language
Summary: Tomo is angry with Ryoma after he is directly responsible for her capture; she decides to ask him a few questions about what he was doing there.
Every time she thought of it, Tomoka felt utterly disturbed. She had just been brought back to Ryuhana, now a sort-of jail for mutant teenagers instead of the somewhat safe haven it had been for her, and it happened with quite a bang after she, Chizuru and other teens were practically hunted down like animals during a trophy hunting journey.
And the one leading them on was... was...
Tomoka's hands tightened into fists. She should've guessed something like that would be likely, after noticing how erratic and odd Echizen's posts were since the JSDF took over their school. She knew what his powers were like, had seen him in action aside of training stunts (like when they met Kevin and Echizen couldn't synch him in fear of synching Tomoka too), heck they had trained together and he *had* synched her...
Biting her lip, Tomoka lifted a hand and touched her collar, so similar to the one put on her during the hours she spent with Kirihara and Eiji in the Valentines raid last year. But no, this was no moment to angst and feel sorry for herself. She had questions for Echizen, and she'd get them out of him no matter what. So, she breathed in and left her room (better said, the one she was "stashed" in, so to say) and went searching for the only person who would be able to tell her what the hell really went on.
Ryoma was on his way back from the medlab (second time today, but they'd stopped giving him guarded escorts between there and his room once he'd convinced them he'd be a good boy), trailing the fingers of one hand along the wall, counting the doors 'till the next turn, when he was met with a determined-looking Osakada instead of the empty air he'd expected at the end of the hallway. He halted, blinking a moment; he knew who she was, of course, but it always took longer to really recognize people when a vital part of them was missing, when it had been bottled up inside by these collars.
"Hi," he offered, finally, because it was rude to just stare and rude to walk by and she didn't look like she wanted to let him by, anyway. He was a bit lightheaded but that always happened; he shuffled from foot to foot, fingers still on the smooth too-white plaster of the wall, trying to feel for imperfections to let him know it was real. He wondered if she wanted him, or if she'd just walk around him and glare like most of them did. He had a feeling she wasn't in a walking-around mood, though with half his senses missing there was no way to back that up.
"Ryoma-kun," she said, calling him for the first time by his given name and not his surname. "Come with me, this is no place for what's needed..."
Seeing that he looked dizzy, Tomoka grabbed Ryoma's arm and helped him to walk towards his room, letting him lean on her. She then closed the door as soon as they were inside, and after making sure no one was spying on them, she stared at her friend seriously.
"I have too many questions, so let's go one by one," she told him. "And the first ones are... Why did you do this to me, Chizuru and the others? Why, Ryoma-kun?"
Ryoma blinked at the use of his first name - Osakada didn't usually... did she? - but then he was all-but-swept off his feet as she took him by the arm and let him down the hall. He winced, but followed without a word; she seemed angry. It seemed like a bad idea to get someone like Osakada angry at him. He didn't like people being angry with him, even though sometimes... it was better that they were. Once they'd stopped, Ryoma leaned against the closed door for support, letting the wood grain pattern itself into the skin on his back as he listened to her speak.
... Oh. He'd... Well, of course he'd... done that. He'd tried and tried, but he hadn't remembered he needed to stay away from clubs, hadn't thought... but he should have felt...
He glanced up at the pigtailed girl, waited another moment to speak, even as he felt the skin of his face go cold. He didn't like that feeling, but he supposed she must like the feeling of being here even less. He owed her. He owed her an answer. It was all his fault. He could remember now. "I... I had to," he said slowly, quietly, glancing anywhere but her face. "I forgot - I tried not to forget, you don't understand. I had to." They'd been very angry with everyone after Yagyuu and then Sengoku had escaped. He'd tried. He'd really tried.
She almost hissed as she heard this but said nothing, trying hard to control herself and knowing it'd be useless to go and start screaming at him. She wasn't sure if this "I had to" was the answer she wanted; it very likely was close to the truth since she doubted Ryoma would bother lying at this point, but...
Tomoka shook her head. "Ryoma-kun, you looked like a devil right then, pointing at us, singling each mutant out... That made me lose my focus and you already know the result." She unconsciously lifted her hand to touch the back of her head, where the injury she sustained in that raid was placed. And at times it still hurt like Hell.
"How come you *have* to do that? Do they blackmail you, drug you? No, I'm not gonna tell anybody; like I have someone to tell," her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, "since Chizuru is still upset and who knows what they have done to Oishi..."
Both, neither, he didn't know. All he knew was every day it was harder and harder to do what he wanted, to remember the things he knew were important, and there were days he couldn't remember anything at all. But when he could, he knew he had to protect - he had to protect Niou, and he had to try and walk in circles as much as possible.
He guessed maybe that last bit wasn't as successful as he'd hoped.
"I don't... don't know what I looked like. I c'n only remember a little. But every time they make me go outside, I try..." He paused. "I guess it didn't work. I didn't mean to." He should've known better - he knew Osakada, knew what she felt like, why hadn't he been able to walk around? He was scared, but he didn't want her to know that. No one could know that, they'd use it against him. He couldn't afford that.
Telling truths, despite how his words didn't directly confirm whether he was drugged or not when he was used in those raids, Tomoka preferred to believe that he really was under the effect of something else, because had he done this consciously... God, the mere idea made her want to have her laser beams and flashlights back.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she nodded and spoke quietly. "I... Well, I believe you, Ryoma-kun. Looks like, even with what happened, the blame can't be really put on you."
He looked paler and almost like he was about to collapse, though, so she took him by the arm again and helped him to lay down on the nearest bed...
"No, s'my fault," Ryoma admitted absently - after all, it wasn't anyone else's, right? There was no way around that. He wasn't strong enough to keep the blame away. "I'm the one who did it -"
She was leading him again, over to the bed, which wasn't really a bad thing, because his vision was trying to leak into white; that happened sometimes, maybe he needed something, but he'd just been given something, so he should be all right. Right? "... I'll be okay." He didn't know if he meant now or later, but Osakada looked a little concerned. He glanced up; "Guess you don't like being bottled up inside, either. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to take 'em off, anymore." He'd used that plan for something else, but he didn't regret it. "Does it itch?"
Sitting next to her friend's bedside, Tomoka stared at him sadly before replying, one hand tightening into a fist and the other over her collar. "My... my rhythm is gone," she started. "I cannot absorb sound and make it light anymore. It used to be a sort-of rhythm that ruled my movements, and the collar blocks it... Just like that night in the factory, Ryoma-kun."
Yes, this collar was very similar to the one put on her and Kirihara. The same night when Ryuuzaki-sensei died (and Ohtori was there, he. Was. There. But he seemed to have suffered so much that somehow he blocked those memories), she and Eiji witnessed how Kirihara lost control after hours of having his energy bottled up and killed everyone but them in the place where they were kept as test subjects.
But enough about that. There were other things to think about. Things that were in the present and future, not in a past where Kirihara still lived...
"And... about what you said," she said, "it looks like you can barely do something about that, whatever 'they' make you do. Much less your fault than you think."
"I didn't mean to steal your beat," Ryoma said quietly; he hadn't meant to, not at all. "I knew, but I didn't know, but..." It was hard to make sense of anything; his head was pounding and his hands felt disconnected, just like they did every day, whenever they sent him back from the medlab. It was okay. It'd pass. But still, he frowned. He was pretty sure he was supposed to remember what was his fault, and what wasn't.
"It'll come back. You'll see," he tried to reassure the girl, because he knew how desolate it felt inside one of these collars. "Once you get it off, you'll be whole again. Maybe... maybe it won't be much longer. I don't know." It was better that way, anyway - the less he knew, the less he had to remember to forget. It was better for everyone.
"I...hope so." She said that without hesitation, trying to also reassure the boy, seeing that his grip on reality was very weak in these moments. Not only it conformed that, whatever the JSDF had been doing, it was truly screwing him up - so, Tomoka wouldn't be of any help to him (and to everyone else) if she broke down.
"But until it's back, Ryoma-kun," she continued, "you should rest. And I should go and check on the others, too."
"Tried resting, it only works a little. There's a cycle, every day, an' it always feels the same." Only sometimes it felt worse. That was scary too. "You c'n go, though, f'you want. Don't have to stay here. I don't blame you." Ryoma was sure of that. "The others might like to see you. You're really popular." He'd just stay here, for a bit, until he felt better. Then it would be time for a meal anyway, he thought. He wondered if maybe today the food would be different. Probably not, though. It never was.
Had she still been her former stubborn and pushy self, Tomoka would've insisted on staying there by his bedside, not losing sight of him until he had at least fallen asleep. But she knew it wasn't the moment to angst while she watched him sleep, and besides she *did* need the sort-of fresh air. And check on other kids who may need whatever support she could attempt to give them; specially Eiji, Natsuki, Momo, Kenken (was he still grounded?), Sakuno, Chizuru, Machiko the Ganguro Girl...
"Uh huh, Ryoma-kun," she told him, getting up. "I'll come back later, then. And... even if it works only a little, you *do* need all the rest you can have. Whatever is happening to you, it's eating you alive... and it won't be any good to Niou and you."
She pulled a small good-luck charm (one of the presents she had intended to give to Chizuru, too bad the b-day outing got *that* fucked up, leaving this as some of the few things Tomoka had in her purse when she was captured...) and left it on the pillow. Then, she murmured her goodbyes and left, rubbing a still sore spot on her head... Phew, it didn't really physically hurt anymore, but the scar would be *yet another* reminder of very hard times for her. And this time, she wasn't sure those hard times would really be over.
Ryoma nodded into the pillow, thinking maybe rest was an all right prescription for now. He'd give it another try. He heard the door close and thought about how he needed to fix... something - he needed to be good for Niou, and good for his friends, because... because he did. Watching the charm as it sat there, unmoving, he resolved to do his best.
Rating: Just a little bit of language
Summary: Tomo is angry with Ryoma after he is directly responsible for her capture; she decides to ask him a few questions about what he was doing there.
Every time she thought of it, Tomoka felt utterly disturbed. She had just been brought back to Ryuhana, now a sort-of jail for mutant teenagers instead of the somewhat safe haven it had been for her, and it happened with quite a bang after she, Chizuru and other teens were practically hunted down like animals during a trophy hunting journey.
And the one leading them on was... was...
Tomoka's hands tightened into fists. She should've guessed something like that would be likely, after noticing how erratic and odd Echizen's posts were since the JSDF took over their school. She knew what his powers were like, had seen him in action aside of training stunts (like when they met Kevin and Echizen couldn't synch him in fear of synching Tomoka too), heck they had trained together and he *had* synched her...
Biting her lip, Tomoka lifted a hand and touched her collar, so similar to the one put on her during the hours she spent with Kirihara and Eiji in the Valentines raid last year. But no, this was no moment to angst and feel sorry for herself. She had questions for Echizen, and she'd get them out of him no matter what. So, she breathed in and left her room (better said, the one she was "stashed" in, so to say) and went searching for the only person who would be able to tell her what the hell really went on.
Ryoma was on his way back from the medlab (second time today, but they'd stopped giving him guarded escorts between there and his room once he'd convinced them he'd be a good boy), trailing the fingers of one hand along the wall, counting the doors 'till the next turn, when he was met with a determined-looking Osakada instead of the empty air he'd expected at the end of the hallway. He halted, blinking a moment; he knew who she was, of course, but it always took longer to really recognize people when a vital part of them was missing, when it had been bottled up inside by these collars.
"Hi," he offered, finally, because it was rude to just stare and rude to walk by and she didn't look like she wanted to let him by, anyway. He was a bit lightheaded but that always happened; he shuffled from foot to foot, fingers still on the smooth too-white plaster of the wall, trying to feel for imperfections to let him know it was real. He wondered if she wanted him, or if she'd just walk around him and glare like most of them did. He had a feeling she wasn't in a walking-around mood, though with half his senses missing there was no way to back that up.
"Ryoma-kun," she said, calling him for the first time by his given name and not his surname. "Come with me, this is no place for what's needed..."
Seeing that he looked dizzy, Tomoka grabbed Ryoma's arm and helped him to walk towards his room, letting him lean on her. She then closed the door as soon as they were inside, and after making sure no one was spying on them, she stared at her friend seriously.
"I have too many questions, so let's go one by one," she told him. "And the first ones are... Why did you do this to me, Chizuru and the others? Why, Ryoma-kun?"
Ryoma blinked at the use of his first name - Osakada didn't usually... did she? - but then he was all-but-swept off his feet as she took him by the arm and let him down the hall. He winced, but followed without a word; she seemed angry. It seemed like a bad idea to get someone like Osakada angry at him. He didn't like people being angry with him, even though sometimes... it was better that they were. Once they'd stopped, Ryoma leaned against the closed door for support, letting the wood grain pattern itself into the skin on his back as he listened to her speak.
... Oh. He'd... Well, of course he'd... done that. He'd tried and tried, but he hadn't remembered he needed to stay away from clubs, hadn't thought... but he should have felt...
He glanced up at the pigtailed girl, waited another moment to speak, even as he felt the skin of his face go cold. He didn't like that feeling, but he supposed she must like the feeling of being here even less. He owed her. He owed her an answer. It was all his fault. He could remember now. "I... I had to," he said slowly, quietly, glancing anywhere but her face. "I forgot - I tried not to forget, you don't understand. I had to." They'd been very angry with everyone after Yagyuu and then Sengoku had escaped. He'd tried. He'd really tried.
She almost hissed as she heard this but said nothing, trying hard to control herself and knowing it'd be useless to go and start screaming at him. She wasn't sure if this "I had to" was the answer she wanted; it very likely was close to the truth since she doubted Ryoma would bother lying at this point, but...
Tomoka shook her head. "Ryoma-kun, you looked like a devil right then, pointing at us, singling each mutant out... That made me lose my focus and you already know the result." She unconsciously lifted her hand to touch the back of her head, where the injury she sustained in that raid was placed. And at times it still hurt like Hell.
"How come you *have* to do that? Do they blackmail you, drug you? No, I'm not gonna tell anybody; like I have someone to tell," her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper, "since Chizuru is still upset and who knows what they have done to Oishi..."
Both, neither, he didn't know. All he knew was every day it was harder and harder to do what he wanted, to remember the things he knew were important, and there were days he couldn't remember anything at all. But when he could, he knew he had to protect - he had to protect Niou, and he had to try and walk in circles as much as possible.
He guessed maybe that last bit wasn't as successful as he'd hoped.
"I don't... don't know what I looked like. I c'n only remember a little. But every time they make me go outside, I try..." He paused. "I guess it didn't work. I didn't mean to." He should've known better - he knew Osakada, knew what she felt like, why hadn't he been able to walk around? He was scared, but he didn't want her to know that. No one could know that, they'd use it against him. He couldn't afford that.
Telling truths, despite how his words didn't directly confirm whether he was drugged or not when he was used in those raids, Tomoka preferred to believe that he really was under the effect of something else, because had he done this consciously... God, the mere idea made her want to have her laser beams and flashlights back.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she nodded and spoke quietly. "I... Well, I believe you, Ryoma-kun. Looks like, even with what happened, the blame can't be really put on you."
He looked paler and almost like he was about to collapse, though, so she took him by the arm again and helped him to lay down on the nearest bed...
"No, s'my fault," Ryoma admitted absently - after all, it wasn't anyone else's, right? There was no way around that. He wasn't strong enough to keep the blame away. "I'm the one who did it -"
She was leading him again, over to the bed, which wasn't really a bad thing, because his vision was trying to leak into white; that happened sometimes, maybe he needed something, but he'd just been given something, so he should be all right. Right? "... I'll be okay." He didn't know if he meant now or later, but Osakada looked a little concerned. He glanced up; "Guess you don't like being bottled up inside, either. I didn't mean to. I don't know how to take 'em off, anymore." He'd used that plan for something else, but he didn't regret it. "Does it itch?"
Sitting next to her friend's bedside, Tomoka stared at him sadly before replying, one hand tightening into a fist and the other over her collar. "My... my rhythm is gone," she started. "I cannot absorb sound and make it light anymore. It used to be a sort-of rhythm that ruled my movements, and the collar blocks it... Just like that night in the factory, Ryoma-kun."
Yes, this collar was very similar to the one put on her and Kirihara. The same night when Ryuuzaki-sensei died (and Ohtori was there, he. Was. There. But he seemed to have suffered so much that somehow he blocked those memories), she and Eiji witnessed how Kirihara lost control after hours of having his energy bottled up and killed everyone but them in the place where they were kept as test subjects.
But enough about that. There were other things to think about. Things that were in the present and future, not in a past where Kirihara still lived...
"And... about what you said," she said, "it looks like you can barely do something about that, whatever 'they' make you do. Much less your fault than you think."
"I didn't mean to steal your beat," Ryoma said quietly; he hadn't meant to, not at all. "I knew, but I didn't know, but..." It was hard to make sense of anything; his head was pounding and his hands felt disconnected, just like they did every day, whenever they sent him back from the medlab. It was okay. It'd pass. But still, he frowned. He was pretty sure he was supposed to remember what was his fault, and what wasn't.
"It'll come back. You'll see," he tried to reassure the girl, because he knew how desolate it felt inside one of these collars. "Once you get it off, you'll be whole again. Maybe... maybe it won't be much longer. I don't know." It was better that way, anyway - the less he knew, the less he had to remember to forget. It was better for everyone.
"I...hope so." She said that without hesitation, trying to also reassure the boy, seeing that his grip on reality was very weak in these moments. Not only it conformed that, whatever the JSDF had been doing, it was truly screwing him up - so, Tomoka wouldn't be of any help to him (and to everyone else) if she broke down.
"But until it's back, Ryoma-kun," she continued, "you should rest. And I should go and check on the others, too."
"Tried resting, it only works a little. There's a cycle, every day, an' it always feels the same." Only sometimes it felt worse. That was scary too. "You c'n go, though, f'you want. Don't have to stay here. I don't blame you." Ryoma was sure of that. "The others might like to see you. You're really popular." He'd just stay here, for a bit, until he felt better. Then it would be time for a meal anyway, he thought. He wondered if maybe today the food would be different. Probably not, though. It never was.
Had she still been her former stubborn and pushy self, Tomoka would've insisted on staying there by his bedside, not losing sight of him until he had at least fallen asleep. But she knew it wasn't the moment to angst while she watched him sleep, and besides she *did* need the sort-of fresh air. And check on other kids who may need whatever support she could attempt to give them; specially Eiji, Natsuki, Momo, Kenken (was he still grounded?), Sakuno, Chizuru, Machiko the Ganguro Girl...
"Uh huh, Ryoma-kun," she told him, getting up. "I'll come back later, then. And... even if it works only a little, you *do* need all the rest you can have. Whatever is happening to you, it's eating you alive... and it won't be any good to Niou and you."
She pulled a small good-luck charm (one of the presents she had intended to give to Chizuru, too bad the b-day outing got *that* fucked up, leaving this as some of the few things Tomoka had in her purse when she was captured...) and left it on the pillow. Then, she murmured her goodbyes and left, rubbing a still sore spot on her head... Phew, it didn't really physically hurt anymore, but the scar would be *yet another* reminder of very hard times for her. And this time, she wasn't sure those hard times would really be over.
Ryoma nodded into the pillow, thinking maybe rest was an all right prescription for now. He'd give it another try. He heard the door close and thought about how he needed to fix... something - he needed to be good for Niou, and good for his friends, because... because he did. Watching the charm as it sat there, unmoving, he resolved to do his best.