[OPEN] clever titles are for squares

[flowerclips]

ɪ. ʟᴀᴛᴇ ᴀᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛ

[ it's a little after one in the morning when rei is back on the streets. coming from the direction of the hospital, her shoulders are hung low, her head is cast downwards, and her steps are slow. it's as if she's just simply dragging herself along. perhaps it wouldn't be anything to be concerned about. after all, maybe it was just a long night in the dungeon. ]

[ ... maybe that would have been the case if she wasn't covered in dried blood. ]

[ her shirt and skirt are ruined with a dark crimson colour and there's a very unfortunate small blood splatter across her face (cover your mouth when you cough, terry...). whether or not the blood bothers her, it's not like she can do much about it right now. she just continues to walk down the street, almost as if in some sort of trance. she doesn't pay attention to where she's heading and it's honestly more than likely that any of the following would happen: ]

[ a: she walks straight into a pole. ]
[ b: she walks straight into a person (you). ]
[ c: she walks right into the forest because she's not paying attention and i guess i'll have a bear eat her or something. ]

ɪɪ. ᴇᴀʀʟʏ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ

[ the next morning, rei isn't doing much better. she has thrown out her clothes so she's back to wearing her original school uniform, but she has thrown on a black and tattered cape over herself, though. hm. well, whatever she's happy with. ]

[ she's still in a trance, though, so the following will happen again: ]

[ a: she walks into a person (you) (again).
[ b: she walks right into a food stand and well, i guess there goes 'em apples and oranges all over the floor. she's already getting yelled at so help. ]
[ c: courtesy of card, all 'em apples and oranges actually go into rei's face later on in the day. a kind npc has given her an orange but she's so tired and not really paying attention that she just bites down onto it like an apple and i guess she's eating the skin of the orange and getting orange juice everywhere. thanks, card. ]
[ d: she actually trips and falls flat on her face because the owner of the cape was actually 30cm taller than her so, of course, it's much longer on her. she falls quite heavily onto the floor and well, everything sucks. this sucks. life sucks!! ]

ɪɪɪ. ᴛɪʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴊᴜʟʏ

[ over the course of the next week or so, rei hovers near the entrance of the dungeon but she doesn't actually go in. she looks extremely uneasy and just hovers around. when she spots someone trying to go through the front entrance, she walks on over and grabs them by their sleeve or end of their shirt. ]

... please don't go in.

[ it's a small and sad plead. ]

ɪᴠ. ᴛʜɪs ɪs ʟɪᴛᴇʀᴀʟʟʏ ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀ ᴄᴀᴛᴄʜ-ᴀʟʟ

[ if you want to thread anything else with rei (backdated or slightly forwarddated) or with kokichi, just lmk and i will be there. this is literally just a post for me to throw threads into because it'd be so much easier for me to track, laughs. ]

Comments

i:b

[trabryu]

[ Like a fallen warrior, Mondo walks out of the school, defeated. The battles he had with the Shadows have never been this tough before. He feels completely powerless ー none of his attacks seemed to be effective against the Daitengu. He too, is dazed enough not to notice someone walking on his direction, until there is a soft bump to his chest.

Slowly, he looks down, finding-- ]

Rei...? You okay?

[ He takes a step back, bending down so he can have a good look at her. Blood. There's blood all over her. The sight freezes Mondo on the spot, but not for long. ]

Rei?! What happened?! [ The Daitengu? Did she go in there alone and got hurt? ] We need to get ya fixed up! Let's go to the hospital!!

[ Wait... the direction she came from... isn't it the hospital? ]

[flowerclips]

[ her responses and reflexes are slow. when she bumps into mondo, she doesn't pull back right away. it's mondo's single step back that separates the two and she just looks up at him with tired eyes. ]

Oh, Mo-chan...

[ she's lacking that bounce and energy that's normally present in her voice. she shakes her head. ]

It's-- it's okay. I'm all right. I'm not hurt.

[trabryu]

[ He calms down a little when Rei says that she's not hurt, but all these blood on her can only mean someone else is. She's obviously out of it ー something real bad must have gone down back there. He thumbs over her bloodied cheek, though dry, it smears his finger a little still. ]

Rei...

[ There are many things that he logically knows they need to do. Get her cleaned up, get her some warm drink, get her somewhere comfortable and safe to rest, and some more--

but he doesn't. He lets himself do what he feels like the most important thing to do this moment.

He puts his palm over the back of her head, and pulls her close to his chest. ]

[flowerclips]

[ she flinches a little when mondo reaches over to wipe his thumb across her cheek, becoming hyperaware that, oh, right... she has terry's blood over his face too. she almost forgot about it, but then mondo brings it right back into her attention. she remains quiet, not saying anything, only glancing back downwards. with her eyes on the ground, she doesn't see the hand returning and pulling her towards him. in fact, it's not something that she was expecting at all so it takes her by surprise at first. she's stiff and it takes her a second to process what just happened, but she relaxes shortly afterwards. ]

[ she stands there silently, just resting her forehead against mondo's chest, but within a few seconds, she begins to shake. surprisingly or not, just this simple gesture is enough to bring out the waterworks. it begins off soft, just her shoulders shaking, but then it starts to come out in hiccups and she brings her hands to her face. balled up in semi-tight fists, she holds them to the side of her face. ]

[ she stays like that for a while, just crying on mondo's chest and not saying anything. ]

[trabryu]

[ Mondo doesn't expect her to say anything. He doesn't want her to relive what had gone down in there. Not now.

More often than not, he's useless when it comes to comforting someone, as his first reaction to someone crying is to panic. But this time, anger and sorrow overpower that. Rei's quiet sob pierces his heart, every single sniffle of hers is like a machete slicing his skin. Even if he doesn't know who and what, the pain is excruciating.

Deep down there, his gut feeling tries to tell him something, but he pushes it back, telling himself: It'll be okay. It'll be okay. It'll be just fine. Like a spell, he repeats it, over and over. He lets the building up anger fester instead, hoping it will drown out all the 'what if's that are threatening to pop up.

He'll make them pay. Whoever hurts Rei. Whoever hurts his friends. He won't forgive them.

His hand over Rei's nape tightens, protective, his teeth gritting. ]

[flowerclips]

[ the crying lasts for at least a full minute. it's only been a few hours since terry "died" so all these emotions are still fresh and it takes a lot of effort to try and get herself from crying any more. in her attempt to calm herself down, her hiccups are loud and shake her entire body. eventually, she manages to somehow stop her tears, but just barely. ]

[ she pulls back by a bit and her breathing is still irregular. her hands lower from her face and to her chest. ]

S... S-Sorry, Mo-chan... I-I got your shirt all wet...

[trabryu]

[ When she pulls back, he too loosens his grip, eventually pulling his hand back. He uses his knuckles to wipe off any remaining tears on her cheeks, careful with every touch. ]

Don't worry 'bout it. It'll dry off soon enough. ...Where do you stay?

[ He doesn't feel like leaving Rei on her own. At least not tonight. ]

[flowerclips]

[ she stays perfectly still as mondo wipes away the tears from her face. she's still on the verge of crying again, but she's trying her hardest to keep it together. ]

At the inn. I was just heading there...

[ she sniffs a few times. ]

[trabryu]

I'll go with you.

[ Mondo gives her head a gentle pat.

It's not difficult to see that she's fighting back tears, and he wishes he knows better things to say to her. But in exchange of being terrible with words, he'll stay by her side, for as long as it's possible, as long as she wants him to. ]

If you don't feel like going back there tonight, I know a place to stay.

[flowerclips]

What place?

[ she does need to go to the inn to pick up some new clothes, but it's also... well, it's creepy there. she has heard the rumours that it's haunted and she's easily frightened by things like that. sometimes, she can handle it but other times, such as now, it doesn't seem like a very appealing place to go back to. ]

[trabryu]

My boss's place. They've got a spare bedroom, and they're always very happy when people come over.

[ Kenji-san and Kana-san are almost like his parents here. Before he knows it, every time he's in a pinch, he finds himself running to them. After an incident with Terry, he feels a lot more comfortable relying on them, especially on times like this. ]

They won't bother you if you don't wanna talk, and their futon's pretty nice.

[flowerclips]

[ she thinks over it for a second. she doesn't want to sleep in the inn by herself but at the same time, she doesn't want to feel like a burden... she already messed up earlier by not leaving the dungeon with terry fast enough... ]

... will it be okay if I really come over?

[trabryu]

[ As if to convince her, he pets her head. ]

Their kids have grown up and live away from them, so they get lonely. It makes them real happy when young people like us stay over.

[ To think Terry was the one who had to convince him this before... He definitely understands her worry, especially not knowing the house owners. ]

They're really kind, so don't worry, yeah?

[flowerclips]

[ the pat on the head and mondo's words are enough to convince her and she nods. ]

O... Okay, I'll follow you but I have to get new clothes, though...

[ she absolutely needs to get changed and she has a pair of spare clothes that she can get back at her room at the inn or i guess she can just borrow clothes or something. she just really really really wants to be clean... ]

[trabryu]

[ Mondo nods. Yeah, of course. ]

'm sure Kana-san has somethin'. Either way, the house's gonna be on our way to the inn, so if she doesn't, we can walk to your inn and come back. How's that sound?

[ Unlike how usually he'll just decide on his own and move things along forcefully, he doesn't want to do that to Rei. She needs comfort, and a safe space. Both of which he wants to provide, to his utmost capability for her. ]

[flowerclips]

[ she nods. okay, that sounds good with her. as long as she can get changed, cleaned up, and feel safe, she'll be okay with whatever. ]

Thanks, Mo-chan. I-- I'll feel better... I'll cheer up again.

[ that's a lie because she doesn't know if she'll feel better anytime soon. however, if she says it then maybe it'll happen. ]

[trabryu]

[ .....

Having seen someone badly injured, or maybe even ー he doesn't want to consider this, but ー dead... it's not something you can easily recover from, especially if she cried like that. He doesn't want her to push herself to be the happy go lucky Rei that she always is, as much as he adores that quality of hers. Yet at the same time, he doesn't know what to say, how to say it without sounding superficial.

So instead, he pets her head again, hoping what he feels will be conveyed through his action.

Even if he doubts that there's anything he can do that can make the pain in her heart go away, he doesn't want to let her feel loneliness. At least not physically. He'll offer his hand, if she wants to take it, as they walk towards the neighborhood. ]

[flowerclips]

[ the pats on the head are still appreciated. it's comforting in its own way and when mondo offers his hand, she takes it without hesitation. she has always enjoyed holding hands with people. it reminds her of zen and all the times he held her hand when she was afraid so it offers a sense of safety and support when she grips mondo's hand. ]

[ they walk in silence for a bit. rei allows mondo to lead her to wherever he lives and it's not only until a bit later that she speaks up, albeit very softly. ]

... will you go back inside the dungeon, Mo-chan?

[trabryu]

[ This is the person who used to have difficulties giving crying people a proper hug... character development. But there's also the fact that this is Rei, the person he considers like a little sister he's never had, one that he would protect with his life if it comes to it. Whoever that was hurt, he would nod and understand if it was to protect Rei... at least, that's a better scenario he can imagine than Rei having to face danger alone. Or... is it?

His grip tightens on her hand in response to her question. He knows that this means she probably doesn't want him to, but he doesn't want to lie to her. His voice is gentle ー as gentle as Mondo can be ー when he says: ]

...Maybe. Why?

[flowerclips]

[ immediately, his answer gets her to tense up. her grip tightens as well and she grabs hold of her skirt with her other hand. immediately, her voice starts to shake as she speaks.

... I don't want you to get hurt as well. Please don't go back in, Mo-chan, i-it's not worth it...

[trabryu]

[ He stops then, keeping Rei with him on the spot. ]

Rei...

[ "As well"... it seems like his guess was right. "Who" he wants to ask, but he swallows the question. ]

But... someone's gotta beat that guy up, right? That guy in the deepest floor, I mean.

[ He might not really know how this world works, but Hirajiro's been really weird ever since that dungeon turned up. People in town are getting more and more listless everyday, and it can't be just because the peak of summer is approaching. ]

[flowerclips]

[ she shakes her head. her grip around mondo's hand tightens and something like a dam begins to slowly break open. ]

No! It's too dangerous! You can't go! I don't want you to go!

[ she can't look at him right now. her head is lowered and her shoulders are tense. ]

[trabryu]

[ Mondo doesn't let go of her hand, but he does move to face her. He bends a knee, attempting to have a good look of her face. ]

Rei... [ He hesitates for a moment, before finally asking: ] ...What happened?

[flowerclips]

[ she doesn't look mondo in the eye. in fact, when he asks her what happened, the waterworks begin again. suddenly, she's brought back to that vivid scene once again and she raises her free hand to her face. her hand around mondo's remains tight and her entire body starts to shake again. it takes her a while before she can start forcing out her words between the chokes of sobs. ]

T... T-chan...

[ she hiccups loudly. as she continues to talk, her crying seems to intensify and it becomes difficult to understand her. ]

It's... it's my fault... I-I wasn't a good healer. I-- I-- I couldn't heal him.

[trabryu]

[ Rei didn't need to tell him everything ー just seeing her reaction, and the way she says it, he knew. He didn't want her to relive what happened, but here he was, making her recall and burst into tears again.

Did Terry...? But he's some 'demigod clone', right? He did say he lost some of his powers, but-- Mondo wants to believe that he'll be just fine. ]

Rei...

[ At this point, saying 'it's gonna be okay' feels incredibly shallow, especially when Rei witnessed what went down. But he doesn't wanna think that it's not gonna be okay. Because if Terry isn't here-- no. He grits his teeth, and shakes his head. Terry will be fine. ]

Listen, Rei... 's not your fault.

[ Despite how shaken he is, he manages to have himself together. Maybe because Rei's hand is tight and warm in his, maybe because his strong will to believe that Terry will be just fine is stronger than anything else right now. He takes Rei's other hand and grips it tight, too. ]

You did what you can, and 'm sure it helped Terry some. Terry's-- he's strong. He'll come back to us in no time, with his stupid loud voice. [ He says it aloud, as if trying to convince himself. ] Hot-headed people bleed more, you know? They've just... got too much blood in their body.