Track 02 - Here Comes the Sun [OPEN]

[princeofjunes]

Characters: Yosuke Hanamura and YOU!
Setting: Floor 25
Format: I'll follow, but action is far faster for me
Summary: Yosuke's in a half-thinking, half-escapist mood. What better place to do both?
Warnings: None!

[In the middle of this springtime meadow is one high school student, sprawled out on the grass with his headphones on and blasting music. He switches every few minutes between nodding his head to the beat and looking oddly contemplative. But he's aware of his surroundings, and as people pass he'll do one of two things]

[If Yosuke doesn't know you, he'll simply smile and offer a friendly wave]

[If he does, he'll slip the headphones off his hears and give a greeting] Hey!

Comments

[guardiandragon]

[Tatsuki no longer travels the Tower without a makeshift knife on hand, least of all these upper floors. As innocent as floor 25 seems, she still doesn't trust it. If the first 24 were any indication, there was a catch here.

She fidgets nervously with the shiv, wondering why she leaves the dorms for anything but food, now that monsters roam the tower. She's so lost in thought that when Yosuke calls out, she jumps, spins around, and points the knife threateningly at him as he just sits there, immediately and visibly embarrassed when she realizes what she's doing.]

...Oh, uh. Hey, Yosuke...

[princeofjunes]

[It's not like he can blame her paranoia - that's likely why he manages not to jump as well when she whirls around pointing a knife at him. He does however, hold his hands up in his best gesture of surrender]

Not that I blame you for being jumpy, but was I clear before on my 'no stabbing' policy? Because I have a pretty strict 'no stabbing' policy.

[guardiandragon]

No, that's perfectly understandable, I can support that.

[She lets out a slight nervous laugh as she tucks the offending object away in her pocket.]

So, um, mind if I join you?

[princeofjunes]

[He pats the ground near him and gives a smile]

I wouldn't have called if I didn't want the company. It's been a while, Tatsuki. You holding up alright?

[guardiandragon]

Not even a little, but it's to be expected, right?

[And that spot on the ground is where she sits.]

How about you?

[princeofjunes]

I'm... [The time in which he takes to choose a word is telling] ... man, I don't even know anymore.

I try to keep telling myself that at least I'm meeting cool people here - [And there was that one time he watched a girl work out topless but best not to mention that] - but it's hard to ignore the fact that we're pretty screwed here.

[guardiandragon]

I know... I'm trying to cope with maybe never seeing anyone I care about again, and it's, well, it's pretty much impossible. We really are gonna die here, aren't we?

[She keeps the tears back, but she doesn't say it nearly as stoically as she meant to.]

[princeofjunes]

[Okay. He's had his moment of weakness. Time to man up. So Yosuke takes a deep breath and scoots a bit closer, putting a hand on her shoulder]

Like hell we are! We are not going to die in this dump. I refuse to believe that. We might be stuck here for a while, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel.

[guardiandragon]

[She glances aside at his hand, then continues to hang her head and stare at nothing in particular on the ground in front of her.]

And what if our homes really are gone? Without that... [She stops herself from finishing the sentence, but the implications are clear.] You've been to the fifth floor, right? The one with the video feeds?

[princeofjunes]

They're not gone.

[He almost surprises himself with the force he says it, but the convictions behind the statement are true. So he continues, deciding to share the content of his ponderings]

If that bullshit with the monsters and the tower disappearing told me one thing, it's that this place is a lie. One big, fancy, expensive, manufactured lie. And if we can't even trust that the ground we're standing on won't just up and disappear, then I'm damn sure not trusting this place when they say home is gone.

[guardiandragon]

[She blinks twice, then looks him straight in the eye.]

Wait, disawhatnow?

[princeofjunes]

[blink]

... you're joking, right? I know you didn't sleep through something that crazy.

[guardiandragon]

...I went home.

[princeofjunes]

[He's stunned for a moment but tries not to show it. So that's why she seems so sure her home is gone - if she went to it and... but no. If he lets that get to him he'll start to doubt himself, and this is the first time he's felt sure of anything in a while. So rather than let himself think, he starts talking]

The tower started going crazy. First monsters just started showing up - and I mean all sorts of monsters. Stuff that had no right to be here. Stuff from home. And if home is gone, then that crap should be gone too.

So after they ran crazy for a while, the tower started... disappearing. Like the floors vanished and it was just the stairs. And then it was like everything reset, and went back to normal. And the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that something went wrong with whatever is keeping us here. So it did whatever it could to distract us until what went wrong was fixed.

So whatever you saw, wherever you went - it was a lie. It had to be.

[guardiandragon]

You weren't there.

[Her fist clenches around the collar of his shirt, and her tone manages to convey both anger and sadness in wrathful harmony.]

It was Karakura. I was there. I walked the same streets I grew up on, it wasn't something that could just be faked. [Even though it had been, once, but she wasn't really aware of that detail.] And I don't know how to describe how dead that place was. The dust-filled sky, the cracked ground, the crumbling walls, hell, even the goddamn sun was dying. And it wasn't just that.

...I can sense your spirit. If I couldn't see, hear or feel anything right now, I'd still know you were in front of me, because I can feel your spiritual energy. I feel it all the time. Plants, animals, people, even objects, they all have it.

Imagine having that, and then suddenly feeling nothing. There's no way to describe it. I've never been anywhere that felt so dead.

[princeofjunes]

[It's do or die, and to his credit, Yosuke doesn't back down, even held like he is. Oh yeah, there's a part of him inside going 'oh god she's going to murder me', but he keeps his gaze level on her eyes and doesn't shrink back. Souji wouldn't back down, and if he wants to believe that his partner still exists - if he doesn't want to turn his back on everything they accomplished - then he has to fight in that spirit here and now. So once the storm is over, he shoots back]

Yeah, you're right. I wasn't there. I can't imagine something like that. I can only guess how terrible it was, and I know I wouldn't want to have to go through that. But I still think it's a lie. No, I know it's a lie.

So go ahead and deck me or whatever if it helps you get it out, because I've been where you are! I've been angry at the world, I've felt like I've lost everything. [And as he briefly remembers those moments in the hospital, he knows it's not somewhere he ever wants to be again] And I know once you get a grip and think, you'll come around. If that takes decking me, then do it, because I'm not just spouting some shit to make you feel better.

I know home isn't gone.

[guardiandragon]

[For a moment, her grip on his shirt tightens, but she releases it after only a moment.]

It wouldn't be worth it. As long as we're both in this, fighting over it isn't gonna solve a damn thing.

[She returns to her previous slouch, wrapping her arms around her knees.] But don't act like you know anything for sure.

[princeofjunes]

[Oh thank god - he wasn't too eager to get his face caved in. Crisis sort of averted! But as he fixes his collar he fights the urge to be angry at her, and instead sighs]

I know, I shouldn't act like I know it for sure. But everything I've learned points to this place being a lie.

Maybe I'm just lying to myself. But either way, I am not ready to throw in the towel. So I'll keep believing.

[guardiandragon]

Maybe... but every morning that I wake up and can't sense anyone I know...

[princeofjunes]

... yeah, I know. It's not easy.

[He gives her shoulder a playful punch]

But you're tougher than that, right? Don't tell me I was all wrong about you.

[guardiandragon]

I dunno. I never really wanted to be strong for my own sake. Without Orihime or Ichigo to be strong for, that strength just feels... empty, I guess.

[She lets a wry grin slip through the cracks.] Not that they've really needed it lately, but still.

[princeofjunes]

[It may be inappropriate as hell, but he can't help trying to lighten the mood a little. Or he's setting himself up to get a beating. Either way, he cracks a grin]

So does that mean you're just a weak, vulnerable girl I can take advantage of? Because if you're not used to being strong for you, well - you are hot. Just saying.

[guardiandragon]

[He just gets a look from her that screams murder.]

You can't possibly be for real.

[princeofjunes]

[He just bursts out laughing]

Damn, am I that transparent? There go my dreams of being an actor.

[guardiandragon]

[A chuckle.]

Hey, what happened to not giving up, huh?

[Unconsciously, her hand starts to drift over his, and she doesn't notice when it comes to settle there.]