Yotsuba!&...

[sunflowerfairy]

Characters: Yotsuba Koiwai and you!
Setting: The meadow, the mailroom, and most of anywhere else.
Format: I'm starting in prose, but I'll match you.
Summary: A catch-all post for the Individuation event.
Warnings: Other than a crying Yotsuba, I can't think of anything right now.

At first, the shadows following her had been a little scary, mostly because Yotsuba didn't know where they came from or why they were following her. But it was kind of fun to have them follow her around, like they were all playing one huge game of follow the leader! So, she didn't mind them following her into the mailroom and laughed a little as she looked inside her mailbox..and pulled out a photo of her Daddy hugging her, Jumbo next to them, and the family next door-Ena, Fuka, Asagi, and their Mommy-surrounding them in the background. Surprised and happy, Yotsuba's eyes shined as she looked at the photograph before showing it to the shadows.

"Look! They're all here! Daddy and Jumbo and Fuka and-"

"Those aren't them. That's a lie, Yotsuba." That voiced surprised her, not because it came from one of the shadows, but because it sounded like Jumbo! "It's not! And why do you sound like Jumbo?! It's a good photo-oh.." As she spoke, Yotsuba kept looking at the photograph, just to make sure that it wasn't a lie..but slowly, it changed so that it showed her in a dying wasteland with her family and friends dead all around her.

"No..everything's gonna be fixed..and I'm not alone.."

Here, Yotsuba could be found sitting here with her sketchbook, crayons and Little Yoba, trying to draw what she thought was going to be the actual future. However, she didn't look very happy, and while she did make an honest attempt at it, it was very hard to draw when the souls of the people you loved kept belittling you. Eventually, while they were still there, Yotsuba mostly just hugged Little Yoba and weakly spoke to Daddy and Jumbo, who kept telling her that they didn't love her, that if Daddy hadn't adopted her, he might have been saved, and that Enoch, Diarmuid, and everyone else was going to break their promise and leave her too, all alone in the horrible place she saw.

This..was way too much for her to handle. Eventually, despite a few optimistic comments to the shadows and asking them why they hated her now, Yotsuba just started crying on Little Yoba and talking to her dolly. "Yotsuba doesn't even know what adopted is..do you know, Little Yoba?"

Yotsuba had a tendency to run around and explore, and this wouldn't change that..but she would be looking for Enoch, answers..and silence. She's pretty much free to bump into your characters, even though she'll be more tired than usual, and even though her collar will slowly become lighter, though Yotsuba herself won't notice until someone else points it out.

Comments

Mailroom

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[The 12th of Augest]

Veronica still didn't enjoy being in the tower. It's many twists and turns, as well as all the questions without answers left her flummoxed. The knowledge that her body wasn't really her body made it even more confusing. And now that package...

She had gone back to the mailroom to check her mailbox for anything she might have missed, only to find it empty. Slamming it shut in frustration, she turned to leave, but paused. A young girl, a child from the looks of her, was sitting at one of the tables. She was surrounded by a small group of walking shadows, which already set off a warning sign in Veronica's head. The crying pushed her over the edge and made her go and investigate.

"H-hey there." Veronica greeted the kid, trying her best to appear non-threatening. "You okay?"

Mailroom

[sunflowerfairy]

While Yotsuba didn't know if this person was good or bad, she wasn't in any state to be worried about that, so she responded to the girl, looking pretty worried.

"No..look at the picture! It was nice and Yotsuba was with everyone..but it changed! It's bad!" As she spoke, Yotsuba held up the picture for the girl, and it showed Yotsuba in a destroyed wasteland with the corpses of her family and friends around her.

As she did that, one of her shadow children spoke to her. "But it's the truth, Yotsuba. We're all dead and we can't be saved. People who say that we can be are lying." Yotsuba recognized the voice as Jumbo's, and even though Veronica wouldn't be able to say anything, Yotsuba would turn to the shadow and speak to it, shocked and sad.

"But..we've found you! I missed you a whoole lot, Jumbo..and I'm not a liar.."

[stitchedupbodyguard]

The picture gives Veronica a bit of a shock. Seeing such a young girl surrounded by bodies was more than a little jarring.

"This... this was your family?" She paused as Yotsuba argued with a seemingly silent shadow. "And you think this is them?"

[sunflowerfairy]

"It's not what I think! Yotsuba can hear Jumbo and Daddy behind me! Don't you hear them?! And Fuka and Ena and Asagi and Mommy and Jumbo weren't part of my family..but Daddy was!"

"But I don't want to be. Not anymore. After all, if I had never met you, I might have been saved. Daddy might be fine." Upon hearing her Shadow Daddy speak, it was all Yotsuba could do to bite her lip and not cry.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Veronica let out a small gasp as Yotsuba started to break down again. She glared at the shadows, they were doing something, she just didn't know what. Reaching out, she set a scarred hand on Yotsuba's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, focus on me alright? These shadows, you can hear them, can't you?"

Meadow

[oathshackledbird]

Yotsuba? What's wrong?

[Diarmuid appears at her side, crouching down so that he can be on the same level as she is. He's just barely keeping himself from hugging her at the moment and would already be doing so if he hadn't been worried about startling her and upsetting her more. Seeing her so upset is actually a little frightening since he is so used to her being able to see the best in everything, and, as a result, remaining happy even in the darkest of times.

There is nothing happy about her expression now. His eyes dart to the shadow children around her and he can't help but wonder how much they have to do with this. Perhaps he would know more, but for the moment it seems he has no followers of his own so he really has no idea how they may or may not be affecting those they follow.]

Shall we sing one of Rabbit's songs like I promised we would? Will that make you feel better?

Meadow

[sunflowerfairy]

[At first, Yotsuba didn't notice that Diarmuid was in the meadow, as she was still trying to figure out what adopted was and why Daddy hated her, even as the shadow that was her father told her that it wasn't good to cry..especially since it couldn't fix anything now. It was already too late.

Those words just made Yotsuba cry harder, and when Diarmuid spoke to her, she quickly took Little Yoba out of her lap and stood up so that she could try and hug him. She had waited and worried about Daddy and Jumbo..and now they seemed to hate her. Would they have been saved if she and Daddy never met?]

Dia..what's..adop..adopshed? And..why..is Daddy saying..that he doesn't love me?! Yotsuba doesn't know..but you're not a liar..and I don't wanna be alone..

[The last parts would probably make very little sense to Diarmuid, but Yotsuba was in a pretty bad state, thanks to the shadows telling her that her friends were lying and that she was too by saying the same things and that, in the end, she would end up alone, just like in the picture.]

Meadow

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid doesn't hesitate. As soon as Yotsuba shows she wants a hug, he pulls her into his arms and hugs her as tightly as he can without hurting her. His eyes narrow as he glares at the shadows over her shoulder. He might not know what they are really, but he can't help but think they are the reason she is so upset. Still, he is more worried about calming her down then dealing with them at the moment. He makes some soft, calming sounds before answering her questions.]

Adopted? Were you adopted, Little One? There is nothing wrong with that. It is just another kind of family. I was adopted myself. Well...in my day it was called fostering, but by my understanding it is a very similar thing. I had two mothers and a father who took care of me, but others had one mother or two fathers, or just a mother or just a father. Who you have really isn't all that important. What is important is that they love you and take care of you. They are your family.

[Diarmuid lightly strokes her hair.]

Do you understand? Your daddy does love you. He wouldn't have taken care of you otherwise. Who is telling you these terrible things?

[Because whoever it is will soon find a very angry Servant hunting them. Just as soon as he is sure Yotsuba is going to be okay.]

Meadow

[sunflowerfairy]

[While Yotsuba loved getting hugged, and while those calming sounds might have worked on any other day, since she would have been so puzzled by them that she would have calmed down, she was so shook up right now that she just..couldn't calm down. Even if she had managed to stop crying a little, she was still shocked and sad.]

I understand...but Daddy's saying that! Daddy doesn't love me anymore..and Jumbo doesn't either..

[While Yotsuba wasn't in any position to stop the shadows, her Shadow Daddy picked up Little Yoba as he spoke.]

I'm taking this, Yotsuba. A dolly can't be saved, so having one would have been much better than having you. Those words just caused Yotsuba to start sobbing all over again, so she didn't hear the Shadow Jumbo's reply-that it was a good idea and that they should take the sketchbook too so that the dolly had something to do.

Meadow

[oathshackledbird]

Yotsuba, you need to listen to me.

[He loosens his hold on her so that he can look her in the face.]

I don't know why you are hearing your friend and your father, but they aren't really here. It's a trick of the Tower. Jason is very mad at all of us this month. He is doing his very best to make us hurt as much as he can right now.

[Diarmuid might not be able to hear what the shadows are saying to Yotsuba, but he does notice when they start messing with her things. While he might not be able to do anything to the shadows directly, he is able to reach out and grab the doll away from the shadow that picked it up. He also takes the time to gather her sketchbook and other belongings to set next to them and away from the shadows.

He then gives the shadows a dark look.]

Those things are hers. Leave them be.

[Diarmuid doesn't know if they can hear or understand him, but he's going to try anyway.]

[myblueskies]

"Adopted means someone who isn't your real mummy or daddy decided they wanted to look after you because your real ones couldn't." Romeo had a blood covered chimney sweep brush in his hand, though he had tried to wash the worst of the blood off and he used it now to shake at the shadows and make them run away.

"It's a good thing though because it means they really wanted to be your parents. My dad adopted me because my real dad died when I was a tiny baby," He sat down next to her because she looked sad, and Yotsuba never looked sad. She was always really good at keeping her spirits up so it made Romeo worried.

[sunflowerfairy]

Usually, Yotsuba was a pretty bright beam of sunshine in an otherwise depressing Tower..but she had been looking forward to seeing her Daddy again, and even held people to promises that they would save them..so to have their shadowy spirits spew hurtful words at her was too much for even her to bear.

Yotsuba did her best to stop sniffling and rubbed her eyes as she replied. It was hard though..especially since the shadow child that was her father said that he did want Yotsuba before..but he didn't anymore. After all, if she wasn't there, he might have been saved. It was her fault. But she tried, even though she still kept on blubbering.

"But..Daddy..he says he doesn't want me anymore!"

[myblueskies]

Romeo shook his head, "It's just the bad people." He shuffled closer to her and tried to put his arm round her shoulders. "He wouldn't really say that."

[sunflowerfairy]

Yotsuba let Romeo put an arm around her shoulders and even tried to hug him instead of her doll, but she just couldn't calm down. The bad people were doing this? How?! How could they mimic Daddy's and Jumbo's voices so well?! Or know everything that they did together, even if she didn't understand some parts of it?

"But..he is! Yotsuba hears him! He's right behind me, Romeo! Don't you..hear him too?"

[myblueskies]

Romeo looked behind her and shook his broom at the shadow, which retreated a bit. "Can you remember when all the fog was here? Where you here then? It's just like that, bad people doing bad things and making us sad."

Romeo held her tighter, "You got to not listen to them."

Any other day before the 16th

[brbtalkingtogod]

Lucifel was not looking for anyone in particular, all he wanted was to walk around and ignore the three shadows that were following him. Which was until Yotsuba bumped into him. It wasn't hard to see that she looked tired and was just less the girl he had met in the library the other day.

"Long time no see. Does Yotsuba remember who I am?"

That's fine with me! I'm planning on having her die at the end of the week, so that's fine. ^^

[sunflowerfairy]

Yotsuba, of course, was walking around, trying to be brave as Shadow Jumbo and Daddy spoke to her and followed her around as she looked for information and friends. Normally, she would have smiled happily when she saw Lucifel again..but not now. She was just way too emotionally drained and sad for that.

"Yotsuba does..but who's following you?" Even though she was tired, that didn't mean she couldn't be curious about the shadow children following Lucifel. "Are they being nice?"

It's what will happen to him as well, so. XD;

[brbtalkingtogod]

It was kind of obvious that she was dragged down by all of this. It was the same with him, with everyone, after all. The whole month was just painful and cruel and it didn't seem that it would get better anytime soon.

"... They aren't very nice. But oddly enough they keep finding me, no matter how many tricks I do." He didn't want to speak about who they were.

Yeah..I don't think many characters are going to survive this. xD;

[sunflowerfairy]

At that, Yotsuba just nodded, still not smiling before..trying to hug Lucifel's legs. She normally wanted to be brave and wouldn't have hugged him like this, but she was just so sad and wanted to cheer herself and Lucifel up.

"Daddy and Jumbo are good at following me too..but I don't know why they hate me.."

"Because if I hadn't saved you, we might not have ended up like this. It's your fault that we couldn't be saved."

Nope. orz

[brbtalkingtogod]

The archangel looked down at her in silence, allowing her to hug his legs. She could have told him to kneel for a proper hug but if she wanted one like this...

"Yotsuba's daddy and a friend?" Hate her? All of these shadows were just saying the same just as other people, weren't they? Lucifel put a hand on her head to pet it. "That's not true, I'm sure that Yotsuba's daddy and everyone she knows love her."

"To think that you can comfort this child so easily... You never even touch me when I couldn't bear the painful burden of an immortal anymore and needed comfort the most."

Meadow. Hope this is ok!

[frilliance]

Edgeworth was not in a great mood. First, Phoenix Wright had disappeared from the tower and while he was not necessarily dead, Edgeworth could not help but greatly worry about his friend's fate. His package of a bloody defense attorney's badge and a bloody magatama did not help, even though they were quite possibly a cruel prank from Jason.

Therefore, he was looking for a peaceful place to sit down, write his notes and gather his thoughts. However, this immediately stopped when he saw a certain little girl crying and being surrounded by a bunch of shadows.

"Yotsuba? Good god, what is going on?!"

Those shadows....they could attack her if he did not do something!

It's perfectly fine! Don't worry about it! :3

[sunflowerfairy]

Yotsuba tried to calm down and stop crying so that she could reply to Edgeworth, but she was pretty out of it right now, and even though she liked the man, it took her a few minutes of crying and rubbing her eyes to get her to calm down enough so that she could speak.

"Yotsuba's..not god..but what's adopshed, Edgey? Daddy says he shouldn't have adopshed me, and Little Yoba doesn't know.."

"But, even though she doesn't know, it would be much better to have a doll like that and be saved than you, Yotsuba. You're more useless than your Daddy."

And Shadow Jumbo's comment just made her cry even harder. She loved her Daddy and Jumbo, and even though they joked about Daddy being useless, they were never serious about it. It hurt to hear that they didn't want her. That she was now useless to them.

[frilliance]

Had Yotsuba not be in trouble, Edgeworth would have objected to being called 'Edgey' by a child several years younger' than him (Well, he did not appreciate the nickname full stop and just managed to tolerate one of his best friends using it). Still, this was not the time to think about such things - that girl was in trouble. If those shadows....

"Yotsuba, get away from those things!" he commanded while trying to think of an effective way to drive them off. He may not be much of a fighter yet as he was still training under Diarmuid but he still could not leave the little girl in danger.

[sunflowerfairy]

And Yotsuba would have apologized for the nickname and stopped calling him that if he had told her to right now. However, it would probably be stuck with him for quite some time now as a consequence. However, at the command, Yotsuba just looked shocked and shook her head, still crying a little but not moving.

"No! I don't wanna leave Daddy or Jumbo, even if they hate me! Yotsuba doesn't want to leave them!"

"I would like you to go though. You were always a huge pain. If I hadn't taken pity on you, we might have been saved." This time, Yotsuba bit her lip at Shadow Daddy's words, doing her best to not cry.

[frilliance]

She thought.....these shadows are her father and someone else? No way....

This was very likely a trick of Jason's. Edgeworth could not be completely sure, but considering how angry the man was this month...

"Yotsuba, I don't know what those shadow creatures are telling you, but I can tell you one thing....they are most certainly not your father or this Jumble person. Move away from them right now or you'll be killed!"