Long lost days of you and me

[vermicompost]

Characters: Kariya Matou and open
Setting: The dormitories and the meadow (or anywhere else, if anyone would like to take him somewhere, as he isn't very mobile on his own– he likes visitors, and trips.)
Format: Action to start, but prose is fine, too
Summary: It's only been a year or so, by Kariya's reckoning (when he can remember), but time and magical parasites have taken their toll.
Warnings: blood and possible body horror or angst



Kariya's Room:

[It's difficult for him to move at all, yet he has his wheelchair, and he can push it a little ways. It's hard for him to leave the dormitories, yet sometimes he still tries. Not now. For the moment, he's resting in his room, his eyes closed, even though he isn't sleeping. It's hard for him to fall asleep.

His body is smaller than it used to be. He's shrunk. Both his eyes are oddly whitish, both sides of him equally affected by what lives within him. His pale skin is all lines and veins, and the movement of the worms within him is evident beneath it, where it shows. His skin appears so thin, it seems it might break at any moment. All of him seems like it might break. Sometimes it does. His skin cracks in lines where it's thinnest, and the blood seeps out. He hardly notices when that happens. Maybe it's because it happens all the time, or maybe he simply isn't thinking clearly enough to realize.

He mutters to himself sometimes, and today is no exception. Sakura, he says often, or he mumbles something about going back home. Back home. He's going to get there. He'll go back to the War, he'll fight and he'll win, and he'll make everything all right again. Suddenly, he speaks, his voice firming, loud enough to be heard clearly.]

I'll help everyone go home.

[That's what he'll do.]

The Dormitory Hallways:

[Kariya wheels himself slowly along. He probably won't get very far, but he likes the feeling of moving forward. (He hasn't told anyone he was going.) He likes to travel. He used to travel once, didn't he? He feels so confined when he's in his room too long, trapped in one place. It's better to get out and around. Unfortunately, the corridors are so confusingly, frustratingly similar.

When he's gone a certain distance, he forgets how far he's come and where he was headed. He stops in the middle of the hallway, not sure whether to go forward or back. Maybe if he waits here long enough, he'll remember. Or maybe it wasn't so important. This is a change of scenery, isn't it? He sits back and gazes down the corridor, a wasted figure with white hair, waiting for someone or something interesting to arrive. He can't see very well, but his expression, if anyone were close enough to read it, is a hopeful one.]

The Meadow:

[It's a good day when he can get to the meadow. Some days, he's stronger, if only a little. The meadow is his favorite floor. It's beautiful there. It makes him smile. The grass and the flowers remind him of the park where he used to play with the children. Sometimes he thinks it is that park. But not today. No, he's thinking more clearly today. He moves a thin arm and manages to take out his photograph, from where he always keeps it, in the pocket of his jacket. It's wrinkled and torn and stained with blood, but it's his. His picture of his family: that's Aoi standing beside him, his wife, and with them are two little girls: their two daughters, Rin and Sakura. When he goes home, he'll see them again. They'll be happy again.

He's forgotten that he never married, that he never had children. But why would he want to remember a thing like that?]

Comments

[redbranch]

Hey.

[Lancer gives a quick knock on the door frame. He's made visiting Kariya in his room a regular habit these days, since the other man is too weak to move around on his own.]

Helping everyone go home, huh? It's a nice goal. I bet Rin would proud of her father for saying that.

[He knows their actual relationship all too well, but he won't tell it to Kariya or anybody else. Not with the state that both of them are in. Better that they just stayed in their happy little fantasy, since they have so little else.]

[vermicompost]

Hello, Lancer.

[He smiles, turning toward the door. A visit from Lancer isn't unexpected, but he's always glad to see him.]

Rin knows that's what I want. Sometimes she says I'm being foolish. She often thinks her father's foolish, but I hope she'll be proud of me someday. [He's joking, a little, but at the same time he's sincere.] I know we'll find a way.

[Sakura needs them.]

[redbranch]

[A quiet chuckle.]

That's just her way of protecting you. You know how she is.

[He doesn't comment on Kariya's assertion that they would find a way. Already, it had been several years. Every time it seems they made a new breakthrough, the inhabitants of the Tower just got hit with more setbacks.]

[vermicompost]

I know. [He smiles, commiserating. Rin is that way.] She doesn't want me to be disappointed or hurt. But I won't give up hope. Even if that makes me foolish.

[Even if no one else has hope.

He might be less aware of the setbacks than others due to his condition, but he's not ignorant of events in the tower, except when he temporarily forgets. Maybe his hope is foolish, but he's still clinging to it. As things get worse, he clings tighter instead of letting go.]

[redbranch]

It's always better to have hope. And hey, we know what doesn't work. We can plan around it.

[To tell the truth, Lancer doesn't care whether or not they get out of the Tower. Everything he needs is right here. Still, he can appreciate the efforts of those who haven't given up on defying the administration.]

[vermicompost]

[He knows Lancer doesn't really take things as lightly as he seems to, and he smiles at what seems to be his easygoing manner.]

You're right. It is better. [He doesn't know what he'd do without his hope.] You have hope too, don't you?

Do you think we can, Lancer? What's left for us to try? I keep thinking, but I haven't thought of anything yet. [And with his mind the way it is, he doesn't know if he has much chance of coming up with a good idea.]

[redbranch]

Yeah, I do.

[Though it's only a hope born out of certainty and it's a limited hope focused on what he considers important. A hope that he can continue to protect his Master and his friends.]

Hm...the Administrators' elevator is sealed away but...you think you could use one of your worms to try getting in? I mean, I could couple it with my runes for added effects.

[It's just a random suggestion. One that he doesn't expect Kariya to actually try. Or, at least, not an idea Rin would let him try.]

[vermicompost]

Then that's two of us. A lot of others have given up.

[When Lancer proposes his plan, Kariya considers it seriously. He's always looking for some way he can help, and he's still able to control the worms, to an extent.

He listens intently, then nods, an earnest, determined expression on his face.]

I could try. They'll do what I want, if I concentrate. [Even if it takes more out of him than Rin would like.] They might be small enough not to be noticed.

[redbranch]

Great. Let's save it for a later day, though. Things are kinda...off today.

[What with all the people being younger or older than they should be.]

[vermicompost]

We'll do it. [He feels encouraged, having a new plan.]

Today? Why, what's wrong today? Is it another test?

[He hates the administrators' tests, almost as much as he hates Zouken and Tokiomi. Not so much for his own sake, but for others', especially when the people he cares about are involved.]

[redbranch]

[He frowns just a little.]

Looks to be the beginning of one.

[vermicompost]

What's happening? I haven't noticed anything.

Is Rin all right?

[redbranch]

I think she's fine.

[The lie comes out easily enough. But that's because, like Kariya, Rin is never fine.]

She can handle herself. I'm sure if anyone comes after her, she can take care of them. If she can't, she still has Archer.

[Lousy excuse of a Servant that he might be.]

[vermicompost]

That's true. Archer's a great help. [Kariya thinks he's an excellent Servant. He looks after Rin, after all, which makes him great in Kariya's book.] Even though Rin doesn't admit it.

Then what's wrong?

[redbranch]

A lot of people here are the wrong age. Either they're older or they're younger.

[And their behavior changed accordingly.]

Like Tohko is much younger than she should be.

[vermicompost]

That's strange, but it doesn't seem too bad.

[Not that he's not concerned, but it's better than people being crushed or mutated or twisted or killed.]

I haven't noticed anything, but I haven't gone anywhere– [He looks at Lancer more closely, focusing through his foggy mind. It's only been a year or so as far as Kariya's concerned, and Lancer hadn't changed that much in his memory.] You do seem a little different.

[redbranch]

Huh?

[He quickly looks down at his clothing. Same blue tights that he always wore.]

I look the same as I did yesterday.

[vermicompost]

[He shakes his head. Now that he's focusing, the difference seems clear, even if it's nothing major.] No, your clothes and hair...

You've changed them.

[redbranch]

I did. A couple years ago.

[He frowns.]

Don't you remember?

[vermicompost]

Years? We've only been here a couple years. I think. [He doesn't always trust his memory.]

I don't always remember. Rin would know better.

[redbranch]

I'll ask her about it later.

[He probably won't. Like her "father", Rin's perception of time is a little messed up.]

It's not that important anyway. What's important is we survived being in the Tower for however long we remember, and that we're alive right here, right now.

[vermicompost]

Maybe it has been longer...

[He is highly suggestible at times.]

You're right. That's what matters. That I'm here with Rin, and my friends. Though I'm not surprised you've survived, Lancer.

But I still want to get home.

[redbranch]

What can I say? I don't die easy.

...Take Rin with you when you do, okay? I'm sure it'll be a nice surprise for Sakura. See how great an adult her sister grew into.

[vermicompost]

No, you don't. I'm glad. What would we do without you? [He smiles. Lancer's casual attitude about such things is reassuring, somehow.] I guess I don't either. Somehow.

I can't leave her behind. She's my daughter. But I don't think she wants to go. [He frowns at this. It's one of the things that troubles him. One thing among many, considering where they are.]

She has grown up into a wonderful young woman, hasn't she? [You'll get no argument from Kariya there.]

[redbranch]

Maybe it'll be possible to connect this Tower and our worlds. She has that power, you know. Then you can all go back and forth.

[That is, if their worlds were still out there.]

Yeah, wonderful...just the right age, you know.

[His voice takes on a teasing tone.]