Hikaru Hitachiin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hikaruorkaoru) wrote2014-03-04 11:23 am
hikaruorkaoru) wrote2014-03-04 11:23 am
Eleventh Pattern ; audio
[Hikaru wakes up sprawled in the middle of his bed. Same as always, nothing surprising there. What he doesn't know is that he spent the last week as a five-year-old child and was only returned to this apartment a few days ago. He'd gone to sleep and woke up now, aware of the experience only in a foggy, dreamlike way.]
Hey, Kaoru. Had the weirdest dream.
[He shifts, half asleep, feeling for his brother to curl up to as he falls back asleep. Except it's empty otherwise, and the spot on either side of him is cold.]
...Kaoru?
[He sits up, fully awake, and looks around. Something's... off... but he can't place it. Instead, he crawls out of bed, gets on some jeans and a t-shirt, and wanders out into the main room.]
Oi, Kaoru. What's up with getting up early? Could've woken me up if you couldn't sleep.
[Because Kaoru's going to be out there with tea. Maybe he was just suddenly inspired, working on--
No.
He's not there.
And now Hikaru can pinpoint what's wrong.
Things are missing. Drawings from the board, a few discarded clothes and shoes.]
Kaoru?
[It can't be real. It isn't possible.
He bolts into the bathroom to check.
One toothbrush in the cup. One pink, lonely toothbrush.]
KAORU!
[No answer.
He slams the side of his fist into the mirror above the sink. He hits it again. And again. And again. Until it's impossible to see his reflection, until there's blood on the mirror's backing, in the sink, and all over the shattered pieces. His hand's a mess, but all he can do is sink down to the bathroom floor, sobbing.]
[Voice:
It comes late in the morning, probably around eleven.
Hikaru's voice is hoarse. It's easy -- way too easy -- to tell he's been crying. He might still be crying.]
Kaoru's gone.
Hey, Kaoru. Had the weirdest dream.
[He shifts, half asleep, feeling for his brother to curl up to as he falls back asleep. Except it's empty otherwise, and the spot on either side of him is cold.]
...Kaoru?
[He sits up, fully awake, and looks around. Something's... off... but he can't place it. Instead, he crawls out of bed, gets on some jeans and a t-shirt, and wanders out into the main room.]
Oi, Kaoru. What's up with getting up early? Could've woken me up if you couldn't sleep.
[Because Kaoru's going to be out there with tea. Maybe he was just suddenly inspired, working on--
No.
He's not there.
And now Hikaru can pinpoint what's wrong.
Things are missing. Drawings from the board, a few discarded clothes and shoes.]
Kaoru?
[It can't be real. It isn't possible.
He bolts into the bathroom to check.
One toothbrush in the cup. One pink, lonely toothbrush.]
KAORU!
[No answer.
He slams the side of his fist into the mirror above the sink. He hits it again. And again. And again. Until it's impossible to see his reflection, until there's blood on the mirror's backing, in the sink, and all over the shattered pieces. His hand's a mess, but all he can do is sink down to the bathroom floor, sobbing.]
[Voice:
It comes late in the morning, probably around eleven.
Hikaru's voice is hoarse. It's easy -- way too easy -- to tell he's been crying. He might still be crying.]
Kaoru's gone.
[Action]
[Duh.]
For you and your brother... When he returns.
[If he does open one of the boxes, he'll find a silver bracelet with feather engravings along its edge, two hinges surrounding two crescent-shaped gems in the middle, touching to complete the edges of a circle - one gem is red ruby, the other is blue sapphire.
It's probably the first time she's ever felt so compelled to work on something that wasn't a particularly beautiful sword in her eyes. And, at that moment, she can't help feeling just a little nervous about his opinion on it, even if a part of her knows she shouldn't get her hopes up.]
[Action]
[Why would she give them gifts? Unless she was just trying to rub it in that Kaoru wasn't here now.
Bitch.
He just gives her a look, though, and sets them down on a small table near the door.]
We'll open them when Kaoru comes back.
[Because he's going to come back.]
[Action]
[It isn't her intent to rub it in, but rather... Damn it, she's bad at this. She can't meet his eye after saying that, sighing before shaking her head.]
Never mind. Do what you wish.
[Maybe this was a bad idea and she should just go. It isn't as if it's any of her business anyway, and if he's going to be like that then there's no point in trying to help is there?]
[Action]
[Maybe it's because this is something he can control. Something that makes him feel like there's incentive for Kaoru to come back.]
[Action]
... They are bracelets, with ruby and sapphire on each of them. And... Even if he is not here physically, he likely still thinks of you as oft as you do of him. If he was here before, he can arrive here again.
[Her head bows then, eyes closing at the own wave of emotion.]
... I can only imagine exactly what you feel now, and how hard it must be for you. Even so, try to care for yourself in the meantime. He would want you in good health for his return, would he not?
[Action]
[He isn't even trying to argue. Sure, his tone might be short, but it's pained, not insulting. Right now, all of it is directed inward. He's not lashing out. Not right now.]
The people who aren't here.
They don't think about us. They don't worry. They don't miss us.
[Which was good.
And bad.
Because it hurt. It hurt like Hell knowing Kaoru was gone and didn't miss him.]
[Action]
You are right. That does not mean you should be in a poor state when he returns.
[Despite her best efforts she can't stop her voice from shaking. She recognizes it. Maybe she is thinking too hard on it, imprinting too much on the situation, but it sounds too familiar for her to be able to help it.
More and more, she feels the need to flee. But then, that promise she made to herself... It may have been regarding the little boy, but it still applies now.]
[Action]
[Now, it's shouted. It's as sharp and as broken as the pieces of glass still in the bathroom sink.
And immediately Hikaru regrets it. Because he can feel the tears stinging his eyes, ready to start again, so he turns on heel and goes to the couch. He's just... going to sit there. Sit there and not look at her.]
You can leave now.
[Quiet. Bitter.
Because he doesn't like having voiced that fear. Doesn't like that he's upset again. That he's actually shaking a bit. That his throat is closing.]
[Action]
[She whirls around then, a little angered that he isn't there but has retreated back into his apartment. It isn't anger that's fueling her then, not really, when she goes to the door frame and bangs her closed fist against it, likely hard enough to bruise the more delicate parts of her skin.]
Do you think others here do not understand what you are feeling!? Do you not think they feel just as much fear and pain upon waking up in this place alone and without a friend in the world!? At least you are among those fortunate enough to have those they recognize come and meet them here! At least you had someone you could trust! Your brother, your family was here with you!
[She isn't quite aware that her own tears have started to escape then, but after a beat she turns away again, flushed with anger and... Something else. Her tone is quiet, a stark contrast to her shouting when she speaks.]
You are not the only one who has experienced being completely alone without anyone to trust or knowing how to make those bonds, Hikaru. But if you truly wish to remain alone and without even the slightest hope then I will leave you to that.
[Action]
[He's on his feet and turned around midway through her tirade. Of course, most of it falls on deaf ears. This isn't someone he wants to listen to, so none of it's really getting through.
He's hurt, he's angry, he's in both emotional and physical pain.
Empathy comes only on his best days and, even then, in limited quantities. He's never had to care about anyone but Kaoru, not until just the last two years, so the process is slow, especially for him.
He doesn't hear someone else who's hurting. He hears someone who's telling him he shouldn't be. Which just fuels his anger and makes him hold that pain that much closer to himself.]
I didn't ask you to come over! I didn't ask for your help! Or anyone's!
I told you to leave! So do it!
[Action]
... I suppose you even wish for your supposed 'toys' to abandon you. And here I thought you would wish not to be left alone.
[Her head is bowed then, voice much quieter than it was as she tries to bite back her own emotions in vain. She's bitter, angry, frustrated and sad, a blurred mix of selfishness and concern driving her then. But to what point and purpose? Even she doesn't know anymore.]
I knew you to be as lonely as I. I had thought that, perhaps, you would wish for the understanding of another, someone who could help you through that.
... Should you change your mind, you know where I often am in the village.
[Quietly, at long last, heavy footsteps carry Adela away from his door. She feels cold, wanting to just cry alone and wish in vain for her own family's arrival. She's lost. Maybe she's just been fooling herself, thinking that she could really make any attachments there. It seems like, when she approaches someone, she just drives them away. Are the ones who approached her only thinking to use her, which is why they remain kind to her?
She just doesn't know anymore. Maybe she really doesn't have any friends at all, if she's as poor a friend as this.]