cetana | Arrival; Backdated to 8/1

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Arrival; Backdated to 8/1 - OPEN

[Castle]

[Hello there, castle friends. You're getting at least one new buddy today, and for some of you, he might even look familiar.

When Sasuke wakes up, his school uniform - a sailor shirt and black pants - are still dirtied by soil, along with his hands. A thin cord of rope remains loosely circled around his neck, though there's marks on his neck that suggest it was much more snug previously. Unsurprisingly, he looks pretty alarmed at all of this, although a completely black cat soon shoots to his side, investigating him and making sure he's okay.

The sight doesn't calm him entirely, but he does relax enough to pat it on its head, scritching behind the ears.]

Kurou? Where...?

[Hirajiro]

[And then some stuff happens. It's very upsetting. But it's fine. He'll be fine. He's just got to get out of the castle and find the town, which he is capable of, because even if he was terrible at it he still had training all his life in a mountainous forest. He can find his way.

There's just... other problems with that plan. Which is why people in town might find themselves looking at a black cat that, if approached, keeps walking just out of their reach - and yet, it will stop to make sure they keep following it nonetheless.

The reason for this becomes abundantly clear soon enough, because the cat is leading them to a teenager collapsed on the street. There's dirt on him from a forest, though not necessarily this one, and if they look closely enough they might even see a little rope burn on his neck, though he at least had the sense to remove the rope from his shoulders.

He. He probably needs some help. Please help him.]

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[ Cats are abundant in this town of Hirajiro. She usually doesn't stop to pet one, but it's been so hot today... she wants some animal therapy. However, when she approaches the black cat, it keeps scooting away. With the way it's acting, she can't help but to wonder why it wants her to follow it...

Then she sees the reason why and immediately rushes over to his side. She thinks he collapsed from heatstroke, which isn't really a farfetched idea, but then she sees a little rope burn around his neck. What the fuck.

She is immediately picking him up bridal style and carrying him to the hospital, careful not to move his head too much in the process. ]

[ Kido's walking down the street with a bag over one shoulder and a strip of paper in her other hand when she spots the cat. She stops where she stands, as if giving the cat a chance to bolt, but when it just looks back over at her, she takes a tentative step forward, clicking her tongue softly in an attempt to coax the cat towards her.

It doesn't do much, leading her bit by bit down the street, but the next time the cat turns around, Kido's knelt down with the bag on the ground, pulling the tab off a small can in her hands. ]

I was saving this for somebody else, but... Here, kitty. Are you hungry?

[ It's cat food. This probably isn't the sort of help that Kurou wants to bring to Sasuke, but cat food is meat and it's probably tasty? Maybe Kido has something more fit for human consumption in that bag of hers. ]

[The good news is, he's pretty light! The bad news is he's probably a little underweight, actually. But that's much less pressing than the fact that he sure is warm, even for having been out in this heatwave.

He does stir a little when he's picked up, eyes cracked open.]

...Who...?

[It's a mumble, but given she's carrying him, it's not hard to hear. The cat, meanwhile, is going to follow.]

[Why must you tempt him like this.

He does take a couple steps towards her... before swerving to get back on track, stopping and looking at her.

Come on. We need to go!!]

[ Unfortunately, RO is also pretty warm... a little warmer than what a human should be. Probably from being out in the heat for some time longer than she'd like. But if she hadn't, she wouldn't have been able to find Sasuke. ]

Don't talk. I'm taking you to the hospital. Save your energy.

[Unfortunately, while Sasuke is usually a smart boy, he's very dumb when it's about himself. Which is why, even though she says that, he's going to try to gather the strength to look around a little in spite of feeling fairly sick.]

Wh-- Who are you? And Kurou...?

[This would work a lot better if he actually had energy, but apparently that's not stopping him.]

[ Boy... RO doesn't say anything in response for a while, only focusing on getting Sasuke to the hospital. Unfortunately, it's a fairly long trek from where he was found, so it'll take a while. However, she doesn't mind the silence and holds a fair grip on him so that he doesn't try to escape. ]

Are you suffering from heatstroke?

[ Damn, and she almost hand him. Kido pushes herself up onto her feet, carefully holding the can upright so none of it spills, but she does follow after the cat, trying to reason to herself that maybe the cat has kittens, and there's no way it can bring a can back to them like it could a mouse.

Alright, alright, she'll play food delivery. ]

[Well, at least he falls silent for that time, though he pushes himself to stay conscious as best he can. Kurou is a silent kitty, so he can't even know for sure the cat's still there.]

...Maybe?

[He's not. And in his current state, he can't really put forth the effort to lie all that well. So, between the slight pause before the response, as well as the tone - she can probably put together that he's not being honest.]

[Well.

The cat doesn't have kittens. But it does lead her to this weird kid passed out on the street!!

The cat stops to sniff at him, butting his head against black hair and then looking to Kido. Please help his human!!]

[ Kido breaks into a full run when she sees a person lying on the ground, setting the can of cat food on the ground and then just sort of... hand-hovering over Sasuke because what is she supposed to do in this situation? Should she shake him? Call the hospital? Is he even alive?!

That's probably something she should check first, so she places two fingers on his neck trying to find a pulse. Her hands are weirdly cold, even in the summer heat, so she hopes she can at least feel the warm skin of somebody still alive. ]

[ RO isn't a lie detector, nor does she have one installed, so she'll just take it as him not knowing the symptoms of heatwave and being too faint to realize what's currently happening rather than Sasuke trying to lie.

His answer only quickens the pace, which never faltered once and she eventually makes it to the hospital, opening the door by pressing the handicap button so that it can open itself. ]

I need a nurse here, stat! This boy is suffering from heatstroke!

[ With that, the nurses come with a stretcher and everything to carry Sasuke away to get treated. She's glad that at least some people can react urgently when they can, considering the state of Hirajiro at the moment. RO follows, since he's not going to an emergency room or anything. ]

[He is alive!! Good job Kido, he definitely has a pulse. Plus there's still marks on his neck because of a rope, but eh, details.

Actually, the touch causes him to stir a little, eyes cracking open blearily. There's no words, but there is a confused sound.]

[And away he goes! He's not really in any state to fight it, plus the hospital people really don't deserve that kind of disruption in their lives. Interestingly, the cat just sits outside, apparently knowing better than to try to walk in itself.

But eventually the staff do return to let her know- it seems he was dehydrated, exhausted, and hadn't eaten recently to boot. He does seem to be conscious, however, if she wants to check on him.]

[ She did bring him here, so this might as well be her responsibility. RO thinks that the cat staying outside is normal... but goes to where Sasuke is. She sits on the chair next to the bed, wondering if they'll hook him up to an IV if he can't eat for some reason. Giving a dehydrated human a bucketful of water is just asking for trouble and she wonders... despite how he didn't have much energy to begin with, he's certainly more life-like than some of the others in the town. That's really saying something.

RO will quietly wait until Sasuke regains consciousness. After all, she doesn't really have anything else to do, and she might as well make sure that the boy gets proper treatment after the intial one. ]

[They do have him on an IV, he definitely needs that. He just got here and he's already racking up hospital bills, this is going to potentially suck for him later, but then again almost all times suck for him, so maybe it's not so different from his usual life anyway.

So yes. After a while she does indeed get to see him wake up, looking kind of quietly confused as his eyes search the room, because where is he? And how did he get here? And really, just what is going on in this place, in general?

His gaze inevitably makes it to her, and when he speaks, it's quiet.]

...You're the one who found me.

[ Fortunately, Hirajiro's hospital is much more lenient than America's, so Sasuke will have an easier time with bills... unlike someone that's knee-high in debt from hospital bills. ]

I am.

[ It's a direct answer, though that's just how she normally is. ]

Are you feeling better? I'll stay until I see that you get proper nutrition. An IV can only do so much.

[Red is taking one of his routine strolls throughout the castle with his Pokémon friends, Pikachu, Blastoise, and Charizard, when an unexpected sight causes him to suddenly stop in his tracks. The other three follow suit in alarm. There's a boy on the ground, petting a cat. But it's not just any boy. It's...

Immediately upon looking at "Yuusuke's" face, the image of Red slashing the other boy's throat right in front of him, blood spray painting his entire body as Yuusuke falls to the ground and Shirou screeches in despair flashes through his mind. His face loses color, moving himself behind the large 6'7" dragon and clutching onto its side as he stares at Sasuke in terror. Charizard wraps a protective arm around his trainer's shoulders, fixing Sasuke and Kurou with a harsh stare. Blastoise gives them his own wary stare, but Pikachu just looks up at Red with confusion and concern.]

Chu?

[This is totally Yuusuke and he'll definitely want to get revenge on Red for killing him, right? As much as he hates the guy, he doesn't want to have to repeat that incident ever again. However, there is a sliver of doubt caused by the rope around Sasuke's neck, which is the one thing that's preventing him from just bolting right out of here. Red didn't kill Yuusuke by hanging or strangulation, so why is that there? Is he hallucinating right now?

He feels physically ill, and so anxious that he's convinced his heart is about to explode. Nevertheless, he forces himself to call out weakly to the boy.]

...Y...Yuusuke...?

[ Oh. Oh thank god he's alive, because Kido wouldn't know what to do if he were dead. She withdraws her hand as soon as he stirs, not missing the rope burn on his neck but is more preoccupied with looking him over more thoroughly now that he's conscious, trying to see if there's any blood or something obviously wrong or out of place. ]

Hey. Wake up.

[ She keeps her voice loud and sharp, trying to hide the tremor of nerves behind it, so the boy has something to focus on. ]

Are you hurt anywhere? What do you need me to do for you?

[He could use any and all small blessings at this point.]

...Yeah. I guess I needed to rest more. ["""Guess.""" Like he wasn't warned about it back at school. But at the time, he just wasn't that hungry, and it was hard to sleep knowing Yuusuke was up to his usual tricks...]

Um... Did you see a cat...?

[He's not bleeding, so that's good! But his hands and knees are coated in dirt, almost like he was on the ground and needed to push himself up again? Yet here, he was definitely on a proper street.]

Nn... No, I'm okay.

[This is a blatant lie. A lot of things hurt right now, which is an oddity in itself given he wasn't supposed to feel pain anymore. But then, he didn't need the power of a snake spirit to endure it, either.

He raises the back of his wrist to press against his forehead, since that's probably the cleanest bit of his hand available to do so.]

...Is there somewhere I could get water...?

[Sasuke you. You probably can't even make it there, buddy.]

[He sees Red of course, and his entourage of creatures that he definitely doesn't recognize at all. It's enough to make him freeze up too, especially when the pokémon go on the defensive. Kurou actually moves in front of him at that, back arching as he tries to puff his tiny body up as large as possible to intimidate them right back, because this is his human and he is determined to protect him this time.

The name definitely gets a reaction, too- albeit likely a different one from what's expected. Sasuke actually starts, looking behind him, and then scanning the room like he's expecting to see someone else around (and he is, because Yuusuke was the one who set the rope trap and caught him, standing over him as he coughed on the ground). It's only once it's clear that no one else is in the room that he turns to Red again, expression tight with both confusion and wariness.]

...You know Yuusuke?

[Even his voice sounds the same.

Wherever he is now, it's definitely not Morimori. This boy is probably human if his... animal companions are anything to go by, so it would have to have been someone Yuusuke met before high school... right?

But it's not really in Yuusuke's nature to terrify people to that extent without reason, either, and Red's clear fear just adds a layer of puzzlement to Sasuke's already mixed emotions about this entire scenario.]

[ Despite the neverending sneezes and teary eyes, Hibiki follows the cat on a whim&madsh;it turns out to be a good call because no longer than a few minutes later, he sees Sasuke lying on the street. Hibiki kneels down next to him and tries talking to him. ]

Hey...can you hear me?

[ It's accompanied with some loud sneezes and coughing, too. ]

Good kitty. I'll take him to the hospital, okay? So follow me.

[ Hibiki will wait for a little while, hoping that Sasuke will regain consciousness, but if that's not going to happen, he'll pick him up and carry the boy on his back. ]

... There are many cats in this town, but if you mean a black one, it stayed behind. It should be outside the hospital.

[ Perhaps that one is his and not a stray for once? ]

If feeding it is an issue, I can do that while you stay.

[He does stir a little at the voice, and Kurou will sit patiently as Hibiki sets about picking up Sasuke because - well, even if he's conscious, he's not actually capable of much movement right now.]

...Who...?

[He remembers trying to get through the forest, but...]

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Arrival; Backdated to 8/1 - OPEN

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castle - cw for mentions of murder :')

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