destinystrings | So what happened?

He seems a little let down as Otonashi denies food, but he can't exactly blame him, considering the unsettling story he's being told. At the very least, he's relieved that the redhead takes the hoodie from him, figuring some extra cover would be welcome.

What Otonashi was describing sounded like some kind of horror game... What sort of person, or people, could orchestrate a secret lethal fighting ring like this? Especially on such a large scale. Outfits? Weapons? Kidnapping? It gave him the chills.

"Did you see who kidnapped you?" He was picturing a masked figure in the night kind of kidnapping, not really wrapping his head around the scope of it, as much as he tried.

"No... To be honest, I don't even remember going to sleep. The last thing I remembered was reading something, but I--I guess I could have nodded off there."

As soon as the owner sets down their orders, he begins cracking open the small packages of cream.

"I don't know exactly who did the kidnapping, but I know the hosts and the guards of the place--they weren't--none of them were human. And there's something else that worries me..."

Kidnapped in his sleep with no memory of what happened... it just got creepier as Otonashi explained more and more.

"Not human..? Were they like the monsters that come out at night?" He probably meant the actual monsters during the 13th hour, not the ruffians that hung out in alleys after the sun went down.

He similarly grabbed enough cream and sugar to choke a pig, piling it into his own coffee as he listened. "What is it..?"

A chill runs down his spine, visibly making him shiver.

"Ah, you mean... the creatures during the 13th hour? These were different kinds of demons... a lot of them screamed at us or bet on us, they weren't there to attack us directly." Whatever they were technically classified as is lost on him; all that stuck out was the feeling of rough hands handling him and the undignified treatment, hardly above how one might treat cattle.

He takes a sip of coffee to ward off the feeling, but cringes at it. Too bitter. "They took at least one civilian, too. She was... no older than fourteen, maybe. I thought the civilians would be safe from something like that..?"

"Is it..." He sips at his own coffee, making sure it's appropriately sweet. "...The monsters, the 13th hour ones, do you think that... they're being controlled?"

Legitimizing this as there being some hierarchy of intelligent monsters was terrifying, but at least that was a way to explain it. Having some explanation was better than just... not knowing. He had to puzzle it out somehow, if only to temporarily make himself feel better.

"I mean... maybe the ones that kidnapped all of you are calling the shots..." His brow was furrowed in concentration, as if he was a breath away from cracking the combination. "...So maybe they caused the Taurus sickness!"

~~Nothing is ever your fault Otonashi ok ok~~

"I don't know... A sickness always comes from somewhere, but this hit people born under a certain sign. N-no, not even-- some people weren't even born under the Western Zodiac at all. It hurts because it's not logical--"

He stares into his own lukewarm cup, slumping. "One day it was just... there."

Abruptly, the redhead stands and pulls his chair around to sit directly next to Hinata, forgetting his coffee in the process. That done, he pulls up the network on his watch, intent on finding an anonymous post he made regarding this very thing -

- but he stops short, his watch's light catching the dirt on his face as he turns to his companion.

"... Hinata, there was an organized rescue effort. Did you... hear or see anything while we were gone? Information had to get out somehow."

Edited (Oops he can't actually read that message because it disappeared off the network/isn't in the archives) 2013-08-26 23:36 (UTC)

"Maybe it wasn't a sickness..." He took a bite of his shortcake, licking the remaining cream off the spoon before setting it back down. "...I saw a TV drama once where the villain was controlling everyone of a certain blood type by using like... blood magic or something. So it looked like random people, but they all had the blood type in common, see?"

At least Hinata is savvy to pop culture.

"So maybe it was like that, except with star signs..! Star magic..?"

Surprised, he watched as the flower-crowned redhead came to sit next to him, curiously peering at the watch as it was fiddled with. Truthfully, most of his concern manifested in him physically going out and looking rather than sitting around on the network hoping someone else had the answers.

"Ah... I saw something about the civilians not being used in... illegal fighting rings or something..." His memory on this is shaky at best, considering he just skimmed over it.

"T-TV drama?! Augh, no, don't use television to explain things!" It seems Otonashi cares not for the pop-culture explanation, or is too distant from TV dramas to relate with it. Canon blindness has struck again.

"Besides, what about robots who were never "born"? I don't know, maybe your soap opera situation is possible..." He pulls up his own backlog, retrieving what appears to be an anonymous message. He'll get to that later.

"That's okay, I'll ask around a little... And start sleeping during the day, I guess." Though it's likely he won't stick to that regimen, it's not completely unfair for him to feel a little unsafe and unstable after being snatched in his sleep. "I should be out more during the 13th hour, too. That's partially why we're here..."

[His posture sags slightly as he's scolded for using pop culture as a point of reference, quietly taking another bite of his shortcake. He was so sure he was onto something too...]

[He glances briefly at the message, looking instead to the redhead as he speaks again. He wasn't sure if it would be snooping if he reached over and started fussing with the other boy's watch...]

Is there... anything I can do to help? [A lot of this seems to go over his head, but he's not unwilling to learn or help out.]

Otonashi waves him over again, managing an appreciative smile. Very rarely does anyone actually respect space...

"Just hold onto this and the Astrology document I gave you... okay? This is--ah, I mean... I was the one who made this post to the network." Otonashi has to stop to compose himself before any guilt finds its way into his voice but manages it well enough. It has to be about what they can do as a team for positive change, not what Otonashi failed to do. "Some of the responses might be important later."

Talk of a "mysterious figure" who seemed to know what was going on enough to coach people through a Zodiac fight. People born before the Zodiac's existence being affected by it here. And... people telling him to get over it or worrying about him: you know, standard fare.

"Oh, and... we could start patrolling at night together. Unless that doesn't work with you. I, uh, I do it already, so I don't mind going it alone." Considering his Persona is support, at least it says something for his resolve to help if he goes out and fights anyway.

Otonashi made this post... he remembered seeing it in passing. If it hadn't been anonymous, maybe he wouldn't have had to worry as much as he did? He briefly felt the taste of bitterness on the back of his tongue, swallowing it down with a sip of coffee as he listened attentively.

Just... don't make me worry like that again.

The next point confuses him, however.

"Night patrols..? That's fine, I'll go with you... but why?" If the 13th hour monsters were mindless and regenerated every night, wouldn't they just be fighting a losing battle?

He falls quiet and pulls away from Hinata. No words are exchanged, and even if only by his own imagination, he feels aching tension. No regret, no, Otonashi sees a way he can inform and assist someone else and goes for it without question.

But if he could, he would choose now to excuse himself to be alone. It would be comfortable and familiar and any excuse to withdraw for introspection is welcome in times of change or tension or confusion. Having people worry about him long-term -- more than just in passing, or out of politeness or mutual obligation -- is still a little bit alien. Sometimes his relationships with people are easy when he pours himself into them to care for others, but when it comes to any love or concern circling back around, he's flustered and -- again by his own flawed imagination -- convinced he shouldn't take it or, moreover, need it.

"... I like to think my life can have meaning here. So, I--I'd like to protect a few people for that alone. If I can't even do that, what good am I? I would be doing just enough to exist." And the thought of that visibly hurts him. "I can handle it on my own, since it... probably sounds pretty dumb."

Not a second later, his coffee mug is tilted bottom-up in the air as he unabashedly chugs some of it down. Otonashi has the form of a true drinker without the liver damage and promise of miserable hangovers.

Ah... so he wanted to go on patrols to protect those unfortunate enough to be caught out during the 13th hour.

"Eh- that's not dumb..!" Hinata smiled brightly, bringing a hand down on Otonashi's shoulder. "You can count on me!" He garnished this with a wink and a thumbs-up, being intentionally embarrassing to try to get a rise out of the conflicted redhead.

Even if the only thing he could offer as a comfort was his own idiocy, hopefully it would be enough. But for now, he went back to eating his shortcake, scraping the soggy, strawberry-stained cake into his spoon before eating it.

"Hwe can shtart tonigh..!" Hinata, don't talk with your mouth full...

There is a distinct moment where he isn't sure if he wants to stare the goofiness right off Hinata's face, crack an obvious joke at Hinata's expense as an easy-mode route, or even if the thought of humor right then would turn his stomach and cause him to lose his coffee in lieu of his meal.

For a minute, he is unable to look away from the hand on his shoulder. Hinata might as well have grown an extra head, if Otonashi's silence is any indication. Only a moment later, he breaks down -

- in a choked, uncontrollable fit of laughter. It's the kind of laughter that requires a hand in front of his mouth, the kind that would have brought that coffee up through his nose if the timing had been unfortunate. (Thank goodness for small miracles, right?) It's sudden but soft like a rush of wind, but he's just tired enough and just grateful enough that he can't rein it in.

As much as he swore that his life was worth no more than someone else's, as much as he promised that he would die so someone else didn't have to down there, it's something stupid like this that brings cements that gratitude. He's alive. He has the freedom to laugh, yes, partially at Hinata's expense.

And he has the freedom to shove a bloodied hand - too late to realize what he'd done, unfortunately, but he'd apologize profusely later - to cover Hinata's gaping mouth, protecting them from projectile shortcake crumbs. "Chew your food first, that's gross. C'mon... You sure I can count on someone who doesn't even know basic manners?"

Confused by the outburst, the blunette finished his spoonful of cake, ignorant to the fact that some of it had ended up on his face. After a moment of quizzical staring, he smiled, deciding that Otonashi's laughter was more important than his dignity right now.

...He seemed to make this sort of decision a lot.

As a hand came to clamp down over his mouth to prevent him from making more of a display out of his abysmal table manners, the blood and cake intermingled, making a fine mess of both his face and the redhead's hand. Together, they made a proper hot mess. His mouth covered, the rebuttal he came up with amounted to little more than muffled complaining.

A few of the civilians glanced over at the pair, failing to see the humor and trying to ignore it... noisy as they were.

Three.

His laughter starts to finally taper off into more of a soft chuckling -- giggling? -- until it's nothing but soft sighs and attempts to catch his breath.

Two.

When he finally opens his eyes again, he soon realizes there are small, now brownish flecks on Hinata's face. But that shortcake wasn't --

One.

-- oh. That, in fact, is old blood, not part of the cheerfully colored cake Hinata had ordered.

And he's off.

"Ahh, I'm sorry! Excuse me, that was an accident... Heh, let me just--" Cue the redhead grabbing a fresh napkin and hovers over to wipe up the mess that is only partially his fault. Before he does, though, he catches himself.

Those big brother tendencies can easily turn into mothering tendencies if he isn't careful. "Err... do you want to do it instead? I didn't mean to get more dirt on you--" Saying nothing of the ick that Hinata has already accrued himself, mind you.

Hinata tilted his head some in confusion as Otonashi made a mad dash for the napkins, reaching up to wipe some of the frosting off his face... finding that it wasn't just cake anymore.

It begged to question... "O-otonashi... Is this yours?" ...Or someone else's?

He wasn't going to stop Otonashi if he insisted, but he wasn't going to be upset if the other boy deigned not to clean him. He reached over, taking the napkin in question out of the other boy's hand and unceremoniously smearing it across his face. Maybe having help would've been better... since the mess only got worse.

"It's mine. I wouldn't..." He sounds shocked and mildly injured by the mere thought alone.

Despite his run-ins with attacking "Angel," the demons--the concrete adversaries--here, and his friends in a time where he was distinctly not himself, he would never choose to hurt someone.

"I let her do this. They wanted to see blood-- Stop, stop! You're making it worse."

Seeing Hinata's struggle with basic hygiene and table manners (and noticing that a customer is pulling a disgusted frown in Hideki's direction), Otonashi grabs another napkin, licks the end of it, and sets to work cleaning up that increasingly filthy face.

"You got dessert everywhere. Aren't you supposed to be the "popular, mature, and dependable senpai?"" Depending on who you ask, of course.

His expression fell at the tone the redhead used, the pain of guilt in his eyes.

"No, I didn't... think you would, I just..." Just what? Had more hope in Otonashi's self preservation than that?

He wouldn't touch on the subject right now, he could tell his friend was still too on-edge after the whole experience. But he'd let someone do this to him..? What if he'd been killed!? What if she'd been looking out for herself more than she had been!? Hinata clenched his jaw some, trying to bite back the sick worry that threatened to make his cake come back up.

He did manage a small smile at being called senpai, as sarcastic as it was. "I usually wash my face in the sink..!" It was a weak defense, but there it was.

"Do you... want to leave soon?" He glanced at Otonashi's ensemble, wondering if a toga was really good monster hunting gear. "You have your gun, right?"

Maybe he's picking up on the implication. Maybe it's just empathy. Either way, he evens out his tone and shakes his head.

"If we didn't look convincing, they might have just killed us for not cooperating..."

Besides, it isn't a bad injury, he knows. As far as he's concerned, Otonashi had plenty of control over the situation once he knew there was a rescue effort in the works.

"You usually--?! Then-- Do you usually make such a big mess--?" Wait. He holds out his hand.

"Nevermind. I think I know." Again, that gets a small, albeit strained, smile out of him. Hinata: master of melodramatic scenes and failure at table manners.

"Uh, yeah, I have everything. The only thing they took away from me was my clothing..." Which he's rightfully a little grumpy about, but at least he's decent. He can fight well enough, surely. With one last swig of his coffee, he stands and brushes any remaining crumbs off his interesting mess of an ensemble.

"I probably shouldn't do a full patrol tonight, but... I'd like to, maybe another time." Caffeine notwithstanding, he could use a good sleep before delving into a complete 13th hour patrol.

"Ah- No, I didn't mean a full patrol..." He glanced at his watch, checking the time. Sure enough, it had gotten very late. "I didn't think we'd be able to get back to our apartments in time, that's all."

Similarly, he stood, checking his gun to ensure it was loaded adequately before tucking it into his jacket. And not wanting to draw more attention to them than they already had, he went up to the counter to pay. Forgetting that would be bad for both of them...

That done, he met Otonashi at the front door of the Cafe, holding it open for him to go first.

"The tramway is this way... I'm not sure how long it takes for the... monsters... to start spawning, so keep an eye out."

Decency aside, he was never more grateful for the hoodie than now. The chill air nips at his somewhat bare legs, but the sweater keeps him warm enough.

"Yeah, I will. Don't worry about me." He combs through the toga to find his gun and quietly walks on ahead of Hinata. "I can't wait to get this thing off..." It's too long, and there are no pockets, so keeping concealed weapons is somewhat of a careful chore. Theoretically he could shove something in his underwear, but he'd very much rather not have a gun, ammo, or a knife down there.

Any frustration with his current demon-sponsored cosplay crumbles when the sound of creaking and skittering creeps nearby, though not directly on top of them. Exhaustion be damned, Otonashi has his weapon drawn and ready in seconds, waiting for something to appear.

Thankfully, he bites his tongue just before he can make any smartass comments about Otonashi wanting to take off his cosplay. Teasing his already shaken friend about wanting to get naked because maybe he was that way seemed in more poor taste than usual.

Of course, his attentions were soon drawn by the sound of skittering, stopping dead in the middle of the road. His heart pounding in his ears, he tried to determine the source, lavender eyes drifting to a dark alleyway some way down the street. Slowly, a blue carapace caught the light, unveiled to be a scorpion-esque monster about the size of a large dog as it progressed out into the street.

"O-otonashi." Hinata spoke with hushed urgency, not taking his eyes off the monster. He wanted to make sure he had the redhead's attention before doing anything else. "Do you know anything about it?" Weaknesses? Strengths? Things to avoid? Otonashi did more of these late-night patrols, so if either of them would know, it would be him.

Much appreciated, Hinata. Stripping (other than for utilitarian purposes) and sexuality are the last things on his mind.

Catching his first glimpse of the scuttling monster, he tightens his grip on the gun and drops to one knee, meeting the scorpion beast's bright eyes. If a human expression can be read, Otonashi's says nothing short of being absolutely, one-thousand-percent done with the demons in his life right now.

He wants to help. He wants to fight back against them. But with this so soon after being kidnapped and treated like a glorified meatbag, he doesn't hesitate to duck and pull the trigger, trying to fire towards the legs or underbelly. His nerves and pounding heart be damned, he can't allow these demons to do more harm.

"I don't see this one often. Just keep your distance." As for element, weakness, and strengths, though? He has no idea.

His shot grazes the underside and sinks into one of its legs, provoking it to lunge forward, pincers out and ready to snap at the first skin they can find.

Hinata glances over at the redhead, opening his mouth to call out some kind of battle plan... only to see that uncharacteristically pissed look on his face. He's not screwing around, is he... He can't help the grin that tugs across his face, excited that they get to be serious together. He likes having a comrade in arms! Even if... it's much more dangerous now.

"It's blue." No shit, Sherlock. But he is actually trying to make a point, surprisingly. If his excessive knowledge of video games was correct, then... "It might be water or ice. Do you have any fire or lightning?"

Hinata's Persona is Light, so he can't really exploit any weaknesses here... With this in mind, he similarly crouches down, firing rounds where the plates of its blue armor connect. Unfortunately, that's about when it gets pissed off and lunges at them. He tries to quickly scramble to his feet, but the claws bite into his leg.

Thankfully, the cut isn't very deep and could probably be fixed up with some light bandaging, but that's the least of his worries. He's frozen in place, unblinking, unmoving.

"No. All I have is Light," he answers, gritting his teeth in frustration. Another shot pings from the monster's armored claw as it lunges past, digging into Hinata.

"Hinata--!?" His first instinct is to scream at the other boy for not following directions, or to scold him for screwing around in the middle of a fight. When the monster sinks another claw in, this time sans the paralyzing venom, Otonashi quickly realizes it isn't a ploy.

Unwilling to let the monster continue tearing into Hinata--and already feeling a pang of guilt for doubting Hideki in the first place--he throws his own bodyweight into the other boy to knock him out of the scorpion's grasp. If he can glean an extra gun off of the disabled Hinata for the time being, he'll snatch it up and wedge himself between the demon and his ally, slowly backing up into the fallen teenager.

"I'm going to assume you can hear me," he cries, his hands shaking. "H-hold on, okay?!"

So what happened?

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