towerofanimus | Carry That Weight [Closed]

Characters: Yosuke Hanamura and Saki Konishi
Setting: Room 2-05
Time: Day
Summary: Having been encouraged by his friends, Yosuke finds the guts to ask Saki about a sensitive subject.
Warnings: Expect tears to be jerked.

[He tried to tell her everything, really! He did! He told her about her death in... an unfortunate way, but still. He told her about what he'd been through. He told her that they caught the culprit, that he was facing justice. He even told her - hell, showed her - the power he'd obtained, the one he'd use to protect her from here on out or die trying. He'd told her how much he missed her, and how happy he was to see her (though really, there was no hiding that one even if he'd tried)]

[But there was at least one thing he was too scared to mention. One thing he was petrified of. He's still petrified, even as he walks up to her door reminding himself over and over that he'll be okay, calling back to mind the encouragement he's been given from everyone he can think of. Even as a shaky hand knocks on it and a voice that tries its damnedest to sound confident and sure calls out]

Hey, Saki-senpai? You in there?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Saki recognizes the voice anywhere. She's up off her bed in moments and opening the door with a smile. It's so nice to see a friendly face, really.]

Hey, Hana-chan.

[He gives her a forced smile, but it's clear his heart's not in it and he doesn't feel like lying anymore. It vanishes just as soon as it arrived, and he finds himself looking awkwardly at her feet, wishing he felt ready for this in any way, shape or form]

Hey, I... there's something kinda serious I want to ask you about, if you don't mind.

Sure. Come on in.

[She opens up the door to let him in and then closes it after him, walking over to sit on her bed. She'll pat it so he knows to sit down. And if anyone else, this might start rumors. But it's just really the only comfortable place to sit.]

What's wrong?

[He makes his way over and takes a seat next to her, but that's the easy part. The hard part is bringing himself to look at her. Well no, the hard part is overcoming the ball of worry and disgust and panic in his stomach that's stopping him from acting even remotely like a functional adult. The rest should come easy after that, right?]

[It doesn't, but it's a useful lie as he finds himself looking at her feet again, forcing himself to drag his gaze higher until he's finally looking her in the eyes. There, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now all he has to do is speak, but he opens his mouth and no sound comes out. He closes it, tries again, and still nothing. Of course, he puts his foot in his mouth every other day of his life, but the one time he needs to talk he can't even get out a damn squeak. Get it together, Yosuke!]

[At least the third time seems to be the charm, but the words don't seem to come out right. As if these words ever could]

I need to talk to you about the liquor store. The one in the other world.

[That? That is the one, sure-fire way to make her nervous. She won't look at him--guilt eating away at her already. She can still recall her Shadow's words clearly, and her declarations--the ones Saki had denied. Because she couldn't feel like that, right? She couldn't really--]

Y-Yeah? What about it?

[He swallows hard, but forces the words out, trying to force himself not to notice how uncomfortable she looks because if he does he's sure he'll stop and never have the courage to do this ever again]

I told you how we went there, how my shadow showed up and said horrible things. But I never told you what triggered it.

When we walked in and looked around, we... we heard a voice.

... your voice.

O-Oh?

[This isn't good. She's not sure where this is going and she's not sure she wants to know. But this is a very sore spot, because she still isn't comfortable with what was said by her Shadow back then.]

[He finds himself stalling, because just what is he supposed to say? 'So, you kinda hate me, huh?' Nothing sounds good in his head and nothing seems right and he can only stall for so long, he has to say something.]

So, you kinda hate me, huh?

[... that could have gone better]

That's a lie.

[The words come out of her mouth before she even really thinks. It's a felt response, one that's automatic. And her expression is pained and... Angry?]

That's something the other me said there.

[She could have told him that he was actually the long lost descendant of the imperial court and it would shake his world less than what she's said. In the long time it's been since that fateful day in the liquor store, it's the one possibility he never really considered. Between what he heard and what those bratty girls had said in the food court, that was it]

[Right?]

[She hated him, didn't she?]

[... didn't she?]

[His mind drifts back to that hug her first day, the one that felt like it lasted forever and he's not sure of anything anymore. He just stares at her dumbfounded, trying to form a word, a sound, anything]

Your... shadow talked about me?

Yeah. She said a lot of things I didn't like. That... Was one of them.

[Really, Yosuke, would she have had such a strong positive reaction at seeing you if she hated you? But either way, now, that knot in her stomach is beginning to dissolve. She needs to talk about this, and with that first bit out of the way, it becomes easier.]

I... you...

[Well, this conversation isn't going how he envisioned it in the slightest. Not even close, and he has no idea how to handle it]

Do... you want to talk about it?

[Because at this point talking about her shadow is going to be way easier than talking about how he spent a year and a half and more convinced that she had hated him]

[Easier for him, maybe.]

...Not much to say. But... I never hated you. I think I was afraid I might, that maybe I was using you... But it wasn't true. Even though I think I started to believe it after hearing it so much.

[She smiles at him, still kind of nervously. It's hard to admit this, but she trusts Yosuke. And if she doesn't tell him now, then she might not ever.]

[He's still staring back at her, his head reeling. Just like that, she's thrown everything he's known out the window. It's like the ladies in his life just have a habit of knocking him on his ass, whether it's literally or figuratively. He manages to at least sputter out a half question, nervous though it may be]

But... even the girls at Junes thought you hated me...

[Yep, world still doesn't make sense]

Carry That Weight [Closed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject