towerofanimus | [o3] ♪ Sounds of madness

Characters: ~~SUICIDE BOY~~

towerofanimus.
Setting: Room 2-14.
Format: Action brackets works best!
Summary: Minato's Paranoia has gotten far worse. To the extent that he's stopped taking his Persona Suppressors... and he really isn't thinking straight.
Warnings: ~~Angst~~ ~~TL;DR~~ Possible violence (from a nervous wreck of a teen), possible cursing, possible allusions to suicide/shooting yourself in the head, possible death (on Minato's end). All possibilities, mind you, that might occur later.

[ After all this time... truthfully? He was breaking down. At first, he'd resisted it fine, using logic. After all, a leader had to be calm and level-headed at all times. But slowly, the nagging feeling that everyone was out to get him, that everything could be a possible trap, consumed him. He stopped talking to people in the Tower. He stopped venturing out of his room.

For the last three or so days, in fact, he had hardly taken care of himself. He had stopped taking his medication that controlled his Persona for quite some time. After all, it was FAR too suspicious that they just happened to have Suppressors.

And what of everyone in the Tower? Was Chidori really not a phantom? Were his roommates not out to get him? How could he be sure that his friends hadn't been taken somewhere? That this wasn't all some awful plot that the Kirijo Corporation was behind?

... That was it. It was painfully obvious to him now somehow, that the same people who had ruined his life would attempt to do so again. As his nerves grew worse, he sat quietly on the edge of his bed, hearing chains and voices. He was hearing Thanatos in his subconscious, reacting to his lack of control. His Persona's whispers became louder.

Louder and louder and louder and LOUDER SCREAMING--until Minato's legs moved themselves and he slid down onto the floor against the wall slowly, clutching his pounding head and breathing like he'd just run a marathon. Clenching his pistol in his other hand and trying to keep a grip of his Evoker against his aching head, he could have sworn there were signs of danger all around him. No, he didn't fear death but it wasn't time, and he had to get back. ... But he couldn't take that medication, what if he ended up like that one group of people? And then he was speaking to no one in particular, in between gasping breaths. ]

... I'm not attached... I'm not afraid...

[ He could die. It was fine. It was FINE it was fine it was fine it was fine he was fine it was okay--

And then there was a loud BANG as he fired towards the wall, towards a Persona that had manifested like a phantom (maybe, stranger, or roommate, you saw it while walking past?), echoing down the hall, and he gritted his teeth and returned to silence, aside from his heavy breathing.

Should you wander toward Room 1-14, you'd find the very, very ill-looking blue-haired teen slumped against the wall, weapons in hand, staring upward, looking rather pale and clammy. Perhaps you, too, might just hear the sound of chains... or maybe the sound of gunfire drew you here? ]

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[ When the door is thrown open, he jolts slightly, eyes widening and then he realizes it's Chidori--

Was it really her though, how could he be sure?

... His momentary shock subsides into silent guilt. He doesn't look at her, because he can't bring himself to. Why? Because part of him felt utterly ashamed to distrust one of the closest people to him.

Of course, this was the part of his mind not currently overwhelmed with paranoia and pain, the saner part of him. Though he'd always tried to hide it, it would be Chidori above anyone who would know him best.

Being the leader, he had to be a source of strength. He'd sooner push himself until he died than admit he was in pain or concerned about something to his team. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but that he always worried for them and didn't want them to worry about him when they had plenty of problems already.

And this problem was his. But his other hand, the one not gripping his head and his Evoker, clenches a little tighter to his pistol, because he isn't sure.

... He has to compose himself, steady his breathing, if he gets worse, he knows for sure his Persona will kill him. ]

... I'm fine.

[ He wasn't afraid.

Of course... then there was the side of him who thought that if he ever admitted he was anything besides unemotional and composed... that he'd be vulnerable and week and he couldn't let anyone in this place see him as that. No, he could not. ]

[Her eyes take in the picture before her, usually hooded gaze going marginally wider in slight distress. From the fact that he's on the floor, pressed against the wall like he's been cornered to the fact that the hand not holding his evoker is clenched in his hair, it's not really a surprise that she doesn't believe him in the least. She doesn't say as much immediately, instead choosing to step in and close the door behind her, not quite moving to his side just yet. Instead she speaks, and her words carry weight behind the calmly-stated fact.

Don't lie to me. I already know.]

I could feel it. All the way in the library, I could feel it.

Minato.

[She does take a step forward now, slowly, carefully; gauging his reaction with each slow movement. Her progress is steady, and she stops just short of him before bending down, arms folded lightly across her knees once she's finished tucking her skirts around her legs as if she's in no hurry. She holds her hand out to him then, fingers curled slightly, and her eyes flicker near-imperceptibly toward the evoker in his hand.]

You are not.

[Measured and blunt, her words nothing but the truth- he wasn't alright, none of them really were, in their little 'family'.]

But that's alright. I'm here.

[Truer still, this statement, because she honestly believed there was nothing they could not weather so long as they were together.]

[ His rational mind, the one that actually KNEW she was right, would have stopped here. But he doesn't move, maybe because at this point it's the Tower, or something else (he doesn't know anymore it's just acting and everyone is after him again, he'd gotten too comfortable-)

But eventually, he looks up at Chidori, a grim look on his face. ]

...

[ But he says nothing, if only because this is Minato, and above all, he has and will always prefer clamming up to revealing things.

The silence probably stretches for minutes, but it feels like hours to him, before he does actually say something. ]

Are you?

[ ... How can he be sure? Hadn't he been told everyone was gone? He had been so RELIEVED, but now he's wondering if assuming it was her was a stupid mistake. ]

['Are you?'

The question startles her, and for moment she's not sure how to reply- but then she blinks and shakes her head at him, lips pursing just the slightest bit in worry as she leans forward, settling her hand on his shoulder. She's not sure just what's wrong with him- though she has a sneaking suspicious that something is just Not Right- but she intends to help however she can.]

I am. I always am, aren't I?

[Eve if it had taken her a while to get there, she liked to think she was always with him in one way or another.]

What is wrong, Minato?

[She can't help you if she doesn't know what the problem is- but asking directly might not work, considering who she's dealing with. But she knows how to work her way around his walls now- it's only a matter of time.]

[ His hands are shaking, and he can't stop sweating. He felt sick (withdrawal does that), and he honestly wanted to just... kill everyone he ran across who even looked at him.

And right now... that's frightening to him. Didn't he usually have that... that side of him under control? It was saved for the clientèle's targets, not innocent people--

He winces, at nothing. Or maybe something; a very obvious something, his Persona is not happy, no at all, he could at least kill the people near him. ... No, no, he wouldn't, he can't, it's wrong to take a life unjustly, isn't it?

Finally he settles on trying to get AWAY from her, shakily slipping and tripping all over himself as he scoots backwards as far away as he can, pointing his gun at her. ]

... G-get away from me.

[ His words come out shakier and more worried than he'd have liked. ]

No.

[Her answer is quiet, resolved- she will not be moved, no matter how he reacts. He is her friend, the closest thing she has to family... there is nothing she will not do to make sure he is alright.

Inside her, however, Medea is shrieking, snarling, insisting that she go- get away, get safe. Chidori closes her eyes and wills her down- Minato is important to her, and Medea's warnings are ironic, considering how often she tries to kill her wielder. She shakes her head and moves forward to follow his movements, shaky and a little awkward because of her dress. Her hand reaches out again, toward his face this time, her expression as soft as she'll ever allow herself to let it be.]

Let me help you.

[ Part of him wishes that he wasn't so stubborn and unyielding right now. That he could simply relax and rely on his friend.

But he can't; not with this paranoia, the overwhelming sense that everyone is here, possibly to take him back to wherever, or to experiment on HIM next--how could he know?

Every part of his body is screaming to get away from her right now, to fight. It's hard not to hurt her at this point, and he attempts to place distance between himself and her again, unsettled. Paranoid.

His breathing is heavy, but he doesn't answer her. Why wouldn't she just leave? ]

[o3] ♪ Sounds of madness

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