recolle | [Open]

[Open]

WHO: Kirishima & anybody he might run into on the streets, at school or who would notice that he's not calling or leaving his dorm for over a week
WHERE: Various locations (school, streets, students dorms)
WHEN: 09/10 - 09/20
WHAT: Kirishima regains the first half of his quirky looks in the worst possible way and ends up drawing all the wrong conclusions.
WARNINGS: MINOR BODY HORROR! Bleeding eyes, losing and regrowing teeth, spitting blood.

1. School August 10th

[It starts with a simple taste of copper on his mouth and a gentle headache somewhere behind his eyes ever since he woke up. Neither of it is enough to be even a proper annoyance to Cutter, although he does make a face for a brief second when he first becomes aware of it. Chewing on his lips isn't a habit he has picked up just recently, but the added stress of dealing with the ever-changing whims of what counts as normal in Recollé has been getting to him and worsened his bad habit.

Then the ache behind his eyes is becoming sharper and the coughing starts until he makes a mistake. Knocks out a tooth with his tongue, then realizes that several others are coming way too loose too.]

"I- I gotta go! Sorry! I- r-restroom, no nurse....-!"

[By the time he makes it to the door he is coughing frantically, his whole chest heaving as trickles of bloody saliva and another tooth land against his fingers.]

2. Streets August 10th

[Cutter wastes no time staying any longer at school looking for help. Instead he ignores the worried stares and runs straight for the street, barely even remembering that he is leaving most of his stuff behind. His keys are in his pants pockets and that's all that counts.]

"Goddamn it!!" "What is this..." "...what's happening..." "there's so much blood" "can't stop" "hurts HURTS hurts hurts" "Help...!" "My teeth" "can't stop don’t stop hurts" "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!?!"

[His thoughts manifest as white and red scratches against pitch black over his head, flashing frantically and reaching out with thorny tendrils as he shoulders his way through the people on the street withot a cares who he runs into.

He's too distracted to feel shame for the tears that have started running down his face and leave pale pink trails behind because they are mixed with blood. The same blood is also running out of his nose and between the fingers of the hand he keeps pressing over his mouth, soiling the front of his shirt. He needs to get out of here fast!!]

3. Home August 10th - 20th

[It has been a couple of days since his changes have starter and Cutter has completely cut off any contact with the rest of the world. The urge to cough until he ends up hacking out another tooth or two with some foamy bloody mess from his mouth comes and goes, but the pressure behind his eyes has become a numbing constant that grates on his ability to concentrate and think properly.

His eyes have gained a blood-shot tinge that seems have infected his irises and only gets worse with each passing day and there aren't many of his original teeth left by now. Some molars, a lone canine, some others that are very loose and feel like they won't last another week.

That's not the worst, though.

The worst are the alterations between being increasingly hungry and feeling sick at the very notion of food – Cutter can blame the first on increasing fatigue as he neglects his body in favor of sleeping or covering in a corner, trying not to think about anything. But he wants food he cannot eat. His thoughts keep slipping into daydreams of eating steaks, tearing through meat and savoring the taste and texture as he chews through it ...and that's a problem.

The worst thing are the new, jagged razor-sharp teeth that have started to push through his gums in place of his ordinary teeth. Those aren't no nice biters. They are fangs! Fangs big enough to belong to somebody or rather something that's clearly a carnivore, and from the size of them one that can put humans straight onto its dinner list...!]

"Ugh, I'm so screwed...!"

[He flinches when a sound cuts through the silence of his home. Dammit, is that the phone or the door?! What should he do?!]

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[Her sharp knock is not meant to be threatening, as Maggie waits at his door. She was not aware of his physical changes, she hadn't made contact with him ever since the end of all the chaos last month. But... she had grown to care about him during that time, despite every instinct telling her not to. So, she felt it was best for them to meet again. It was only the whims of fate that dictated they would end up meeting with both of them being changed in ways they could have never even imagined at the start of all this. She knocks again, harder this time. Her voice as she calls out to him sounds somewhat higher pitched than it did before.]

"Cutter? It's Maggie. I need to talk to you about something."

[Her voice is oddly collected, laced with a certain sense of concern as she waits with baited breath for them to meet. She has her explanation prepared for all of this... but she needs to know if he would be willing to accept it.]

Edited 2017-09-10 04:33 (UTC)

Maggie...?

[Maggie, Maggie... What the fuck is she doing here?! His brain reels at the sudden knowledge that she is in front of his door -- can probably smell the blood and the sickness in the air, or is that just him finally losing it -- and.. and.... What should he do?!

After a long pause Cutter finally shuffles close to the door and leans heavy against the wall besides it.]

Maggie, I'm sick.

[His voice sounds tired and hoarse and helpless enough that he hates himself for it.]

Go away. I'm f- ..let's just talk another time, okay? When I'm not dying.

[ What's the stranger sight, Cutter running out of the school, or Mafuyu walking towards it? For all the truancy Mafuyu exhibits, this is the one time she feels as if she's in the right place at the right time, catching Cutter by the wrist when he bumps into her and having to dig her heels into the ground just to get him to slow down. She's about to tear into him herself for not watching where he's going, but—

there's so much blood, tears in his eyes that spill onto the ground, the pain evident on his face and confirmed by the thoughts above his head, and it hurts to see him hurt

Instead of letting go, Mafuyu's grip on his wrist only tightens, enough to be painful but not enough to distract him from what pain he's going through right now; she doesn't know if anything can, with this sort of reaction. ]

...Who were you fighting? [ Her voice is calm, quiet, but oh boy is she raging deep inside. ] Who did this to you, Cutter? Give me names.

[It's not Aizawa's class that Cutter runs out of abruptly, on that particular school day earlier in the week--he only notes the absence in his own class after the fact, which he marks down without really thinking too much on it beyond mild disapproval at first. It's only until after school hours that he hears of the actual incident in the first place, really, one of the English teachers lamenting to a colleague about an Alan Sharpe who had never actually returned to her classroom after leaving it, forcing her to put in a note on the incident to the office and turn in the textbooks and school bag he'd left behind. That was...a bit more unusual. Aizawa doesn't say anything in the lounge, but he does leave Cutter an inquiring text later that evening.

The text is never replied to, though, and the school day after that is another absence too. Aizawa gives it until a third day to send another text, decidedly more irate than the last one on account of being ignored--but, go figure, that one's ignored too. By the time the fifth day of absence rolls around, Aizawa decides that texting probably isn't going to actually get anything in the way of results.

And it's technically none of his business, and his students' problems are generally their own--but the memory of last month still sort of hangs over his head in a way that's very difficult to shake. Too many strange things have happened--too many people went missing very abruptly, around that time. He could give it some time and wonder on it some more, or he could take it into his own hands and get an answer of some kind in short order.

Aizawa chooses the latter.

So here he is now, on a Friday afternoon, standing in front of Cutter's door. The first couple knocks don't earn anything in the way of a response, sure, but Aizawa is too tired (and frankly too concerned) to have gone to this trouble of coming out here and giving up that easily. He knocks again, a bit harder this time, his tone flat and expectant when he raises his voice afterwards.]

Sharpe, you're either home or you're missing at this point, so I'm here to get a confirmation one way or another. If I don't get an answer I'm going to have to start placing calls, and I'd really rather not do that. I'm sure you'd rather I didn't do that either.

[Iwai is just leaving his shop when someone runs right into him. He sort of recognizes this kid from the icon on the app. And he...is that blood? Shit, he can't tell but if there is trouble then...

Tch. He clucks his tongue then just opens the door.]

Get inside, kid. I'll lock up and you can hide in here until the streets clear out a bit.

[It just...seems the least he can do.]

"It's about Retrospec! It's important! This can't wait!"

[There was far more emotion in her voice than there would be normally, or rather, more genuine emotion. She had been bracing herself for this, she wasn't letting him simply slip away from her grasp. One way or another, she would get into Cutter's house, even if she had to break her way in. Which, wasn't a good idea she probably shouldn't do that. But she needed to get in there. She didn't particularly care if he was sick at all, hell, she wouldn't particularly mind getting sick.

She just needed to see Cutter. She just needed to make sure he knew the truth.]

Maggie-

[His thoughts are leaking around him once more, dripping down like black-tar-like soup and even going as far as to run out between the threshold and the door. But... Cutter thinks he knows the different sounds of Maggie's voice by now. He can tell distressed and fake happy from her being genuinely at ease, and while he hopes that there'll be a chance to learn even more about her-- right now she sounds both somehow off and not okay. Is Maggie the kind of woman who goes high-pitched with her voice when she's seriously alarmed? He can't remember her having done that before, but she has always acted as if she were okay during their bunker adventure.

Not to mention that retrospec being involved is always spelling trouble.]

Ahhhh, screw this...

[Why is he even brooding over this when he knows the answer already. She has come all the way here to tell him something in person, like hell he's going to turn her away, even though he wants to. After another long moment he licks his lips and clears his throat, raising his voice from a self-directed murmur to a volume she should hear on the other side of the door as well.]

Alright. I'm going to open the door, but you can't stay for long!

[Without waiting for an answer he turns the key over and unlocks the door before he shuffles further down in his room to pick up a scarf and wind it tightly around the lower part of his face. Cutter cannot hide the white of his eyes being still more pink than white thanks to burst blood vessels in there or the way his eyes seem to have lost a lot of their dark brown color to the point where they turned light brown with striking crimson red flecks in them, but at least he can cover up the ruin of his mouth.]

Edited 2017-09-11 18:46 (UTC)

[Mary was quite worried when Cutter had suddenly bolted out of class, and while most people hadn't seemed to notice the trickle of blood on his lips, she certainly had. That was worrisome, and not just because of the red trail he'd dribbled on his way out. That meant one of two things. Either someone knew something she didn't, or it was one of the changes or powers that people kept talking about on the Retrospec network. The kind of thing that the 'sleepers' didn't pick up on.

It also meant, that in all likelihood, Cutter didn't have anyone to check in on him that would believe something was wrong. So she decided to be that person.

It wasn't hard to get his address from the office, under the excuse that she was going to be taking some homework by that was a little time sensitive. So, the sound on the door is her fist rapping hard against the wood.]

Cutter. It's Mary. Please come to the door! I have something that I need to give you.

[Cutter is first convinced that he ran into a wall until Iwai addresses him and that is something walls clearly don't do.]

What-

[His confused protest is cut off by another fit of coughs and when he regains his bearings he isn't on the street anymore. Which is strange and should really, really alarm him but he is still too horrified and confused about what's wrong with his body to scrape up the care to be concerned about his other affairs as well. Did somebody find out about his 'family's business?

He squints against the shop's light and the tears in his eyes before he finally manages an accusatory]

I don't think that I know you? What's this place?

[At least it should sound accusatory. Like Cutter still has some semblance of control of what is going on. In reality he only ends up sounding exhausted and confused.]

[Five days after his changes kicked off in such an unfortunate spectacular way Cutter feels like chewed up and spit back out twice in rapid succession. His desire for people has entered a steady absolute negative that even overcomes his secret desire to have his existence acknowledged by others. The mess with his teeth has left him with a nagging carving to eat that started up after the first half a day, but each time he tries he ends up losing his appetite and feeling sick instead two bites in.

At least the pain behind his eyes has abated after the first three days - the whites in his eyes are finally white again, some red veins aside. There are crimson flecks in his irises that he thinks have frown bigger and bigger since he first noticed them, but without any knowledge about whether or not eyes can bruise Cutter has no way to tell whether they are just the aftereffects of some more burst blood vessels or if he is seriously starting to develop some albino eyes.

Seriously, at this point he will be happy with anything as long as he can still use them when this all is over.

His teeth are an entirely different bag of misery, one that has left him crying and shouting and even debating whether to call for help or - god beware - even his parents several times over the last days. In the end his fear has won each time, forcing him to curl up like an injured animal and grousing at whoever won't accept his state of self-inflicted quarantine.

Cutter hasn't been able to keep proper count on it thanks to his initial state of shock, but his rough estimation is that he has lost 30 of his teeth by now, if not even a little more. There is exactly one molar left to help him chew and that one last solace is a treacherous one as well. Cutter can feel it move subtly beneath the administrations of his tongue, which has made his mode tank even harder than the constant drooling he can't seem to switch off anymore. Talking has also become something he didn't like to do, hating the way it ends up too wet and with a slurred pronunciation nowadays. It wasn't that bad at first, but the more teeth he lost the more he realized he had taken them and their uses for granted.]

C'homin'-!

[His scarf has seen a lot of use recently, so Cutter knows exactly where he has left it as he moves to pick it up and wrap it around his mouth before he gets to opening the door. Casting Aizawa a brief tired glance he turns around and moves for him to come inside. He has read the texts, so he has an inkling what this visit is about.]

Come inside and close the door. ...please.

[Remembering his manners he walks over to his small couch and curls up on it, dragging his legs close to his chest. The black circles beneath his eyes make for an easy excuse when he leans his head against the backrest and subtly brushes some drool into his scarf. The taste of his own blood in his mouth is becoming a constant irritant.]

Shit-! Marry?! What are you---?? [There are several small clangs and bangs from the other side of the door as he tries to figure out what to do and stumbles over the blanket he has wrapped himself in in the process.

The following trip to the floor knocks another one of his teeth loose and he curses under his breath.]

This really isn't a good time, Mary!

[Cutter curses none too gentle when he gets caught and can't rip himself free right away.]

What do you think you-

[His thoughts stutter to a hold when he recognizes her and the words in his thought bubbles turn into a new shade of panic, this time begging not to look and not to find him out. It's scary enough that this is happening to him. He doesn't want her to look at him like a monster on top of it!]

I- Nobody! Nobody did do this, I just suddenly started spitting out my teeth and blood...-!

[Fuck, that was more honest than planned but he needs her to understand what's going on before things gets worse! He needs her to let him go and get out of the crowd!]

Please! I have no clue if this is Retrospec or I got some sort of disease, I need to get away from here before I pass it on to somebody else!

[A harsh cough interrupts him and he hunches in on himself painfully, way too aware that other people - people who he knows have never come into contact with Retrospec's app - are stopping and staring at them.

Hopefully it's just a memory-based change. But other people are noticing and he hasn't ever heard about it being this painful for anybody else, what if... what if... He whines when his brain helpfully supplies him with scenes from various zombie flicks he has seen and points out that having a temporary zombie epidemic wouldn't be too out of it for this place.]

You're that kid I met on the app. The one with the hot and cold friend.

[And if he's not well he's still a kid who needs his help and that's all that he damn well cares about. Iwai really doesn't need much of a reason to help a kid in distress out. Especially if it looks like he's been crying and has blood on him. If he needs to get him to a hospital than he'll figure that out in a moment.

Right now he just locks his shop door.]

Unstoppable. It's my shop.

[And it's got all kinds of airsoft and paintball supplies in it. Iwai figures he may have to clean up later but for now he just waves the kid to follow him to the back.]

You hurt?

[And if not then who the hell does that blood belong to?]

...? I... so many people, I talked to so many through it without giving a ...care.

[He sputters and shakes his head, trying hard to get his thoughts back into a working order (or at least form sentences without sounding like Yoda). During it his eyes land on the fake guns and for a moment Cutter tenses. His stance shifts from a scared fight or flight response into a clear ready to fight and survive before he spots the parts no real gun has and the rest of the merchandise and confusion takes over once more.]

I think I need a minute to think...

[Somebody who could hit pause and rewind on the world as a whole as well would be nice, but Cutter suspects he won't get that luxury. So he just stalls for time as he forces himself to be calm and take stock of the situation. So: this guy is on Retrospec, so he's most likely no enemy. Who did he mention Shouto to? Several people since the guy is such a good example, but it ought to have been recently... Wrecking his head he frowns and shakes his head.]

I think there was somebody I mentioned him to, but I didn't keep the details. [Should he apologize? He feels like he should apologize. But how many people really comment on some giant forum post and expect to be remembered the first time? Won't he look pathetic apologizing for something like that? He doesn't know this guy, but he doesn't want to look any more weak in his eyes.]

Yes. No. Nobody hurt me, it's- [He breaks off to press his palm in front of his mouth, coughing again.] Ffffffuk, it just started like that in the middle of class, it feels like something's knockin' my teeth out from the inside-!

It's fine.

[He doesn't care that he's not been remembered. All those people? Hell he only remembers because he's a paranoid asshole who works hard to remember people to keep his own ass safe.

Iwai frowns at the mention of his mouth. That would explain where the blood is coming from if it's his teeth.]

There's a bathroom that has a mirror. You can take a look and get cleaned up. I can get you something for the pain. Probably have something in the back here...

[Doesn't he usually keep that stuff in the first aid kit? He thinks so anyway. It's not like he needs it a lot. But even just a little something should help the kid out at this point.]

No one's gonna come in so you're fine in here.

Cutter, I'm here with homework.

[That's not a lie, but she isn't going to leave off the real reason.]

And I really thought it'd be important to check on you. Since...well, I don't know if anyone else noticed anything was wrong in class. This is one of those things you warned me about, right?

[She walks in, feeling awkward for intruding but even so she doesn't really have any other plans. But then again, she didn't have a plan for what she was doing once she got in anyways. She sees him scuffling away just barely and she follows because she doesn't see what else she should do, chasing after him in pursuit until it's just the two of them alone in his room, her standing behind him as he grabs his scarf in her smaller form, and she freezes there, her mind racing with places to go from here.]

"...What do you need that for?"

[She has so much more to tell him and yet that's not what gets said. Just a simple, childish even, question. What does he need the scarf for? She chides herself internally over it as she stands there, and all she does is just giggle at her own stupidity.

[What is she even doing anymore with herself? She really doesn't know.]

[Despite his state Cutter manages to give him a grateful smile.]

Thanks. That's ...very nice. And helpful. I'll owe you one for it.

[Cutter's favors don't weight lightly. He might not have remembered Iwai before, but now he is going to and he will help him out anytime with anything short of rape or murder. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he heads for the bathroom and grimaces when he sees himself in the mirror.]

Holy...! I didn't realize that it's THAT much blood!

[He's sort of amazed at it, if it weren't for the pain behind his eyes and in his jaw and that it's still him bleeding as if he had taken a trip to the butcher.

Cutter takes his time assessing the damage. First he washes his face with some hasty splashes of water, then he inspects his eyes. The pinkish hue of them is scary, but they seem to be fine aside from some burst veins -- messy and not nice, but nothing he hasn't dealt with in lesser forms before. You can't do martial arts without getting hit in the face a couple of times.

Then he opens his mouth wide to inspect his teeth and the results there are a lot less satisfying. One of his incisors is gone, as well as two teeth next to his right canines. The flesh they left behind is raw and bloody. Thin red lines trace the lower edges of several of his other teeth. Cutter hopes it's just the blood from the already existing holes that got there and not a sign that he is going to lose them as well.

The back of his throat still itches, but with a chance to wash out his mouth the worst of it seems to be gone. He feels utterly miserable and beaten, but the panic that was tinting his thoughts is receding into a calmer greyish flow that is mostly occupied with how to progress from now on.]

[Cutter's place is dark with the curtains drawn over the windows, but it still exudes an air of a place well-kept. Most discarded clothes seem to be in or around the laundry basket, and with the exception of paper tissues, towels and several items that were used indiscriminately as bowls there aren't any stray items standing or lying around either.

There are no pictures on the walls or flowers, but a calendar has been pinned above his writing desk and scribbled onto extensively -- school dates, due times for homework and appointments and quick notes for meeting with people, right next to some notes keeping track of his bigger finances that hint that Cutter isn't fastidious but still dedicated to keep atop the important parts of living on his own. Several sticky notes mark Retrospec-relevant events.

A shut laptop sits on his desk, some school books and other material next to it. There is a small stereo system but no tv - he's using the computer for that - and the books spread around seem to be mostly for advanced study subjects, with a single adventure thriller titled "Tattoo" in between.

A first aid kit is lying on top of his bed, it's contents spilled haphazardly.

Cutter sighs at her question and her seeming light mood. Isn't this supposed to be something serious about their past lives or whatever Retrospec is?]

It's so that I ambush and eat you better late o- What the hell did you do??

[His annoyance goes straight out the window when he turns around and sees her standing behind him like ....like that. Like a little sister, except he has never had one, but he is pretty sure that's just like how they do it. Curious. Giggly. Getting you into trouble while making you worry about them as well.

God damn it Maggie!]

Homework... Seriously?! [Here he lies, enacting the part of a victim in some global epidemic tale and she's knocking on his door bringing him homework! The world truly is a cruel place!

Cutter pushes himself up with a groan and wipes the wetness from his mouth before he grimaces and opens it to pull the lost tooth out. It's bloody from the hole it left in his mouth, but otherwise looks perfectly fine. Definitely not like something that should just fall out like that.]

Mary...

[She has a point and he figures she deserves to be answered. So he rolls onto his back, tooth clenched in his fist, and answers her through the door from his place on the floor.]

I have no clue what it is, but it isn't funny! When I left class I was spitting blood and crying bloody tears!

"Nothing. Retrospec did this to me."

[She says it with a mock cheerful tone and a smile, but its one she drops quickly. He likely can see through any facades she puts up. So there is no point in maintaining a facade that serves no purposes, except perhaps habit.

[Even so, her eyes widen as she sees his eyes. His eyes which are now pink. Which is, incredibly concerning to her, to say the least. She doesn't know what to do, but her heart is, for once, actually running ahead of her mind as before she knows what she's doing she closes the distance between the two of them, softly putting a hand to his cheek to move his head down to get a closer look. And for once in a very rare moment in her life, she visibly cringes. Not out of any sort of secondhand embarrassment or anything, but just because his eyes are something she feels bad for him about.

[Which only serves to make her feel more off put about all of this than she already is. It's then she notices the color changes in them, and, aloud, she voices half-formed thoughts far more eloquently than she would have thought.]

"Your eyes. Was, that Retrospec too?"

[She needed to regain her composure, she realized. Close her eyes, forge a smile, lie. Whatever... this was wasn't how things were supposed to be with her and it just felt so wrong on so many levels and yet also it felt like she needed to do this. Like she couldn't lie to him lest... something immaterial and vague would be at risk. The thoughts appear above her head, one bubble flickering back and forth between various lines.

"This is wrong/I need to do something/What am I doing here/I should just leave/I'm sorry."

[It's flickering too fast for any of them to be read without careful observation.]

[Don't even start, Cutter. If he can imagine her, fists on hips, glaring at the door? That's totally what she is doing...]

Did I say it was funny? Nobody else seemed to notice. Except those of us with Retrospec. I've been told that only we'll make sense of that kind of weirdness...and I was concerned.

[She's actually pretty serious about this. She is that Mom-Friend.]

Do you have people who can look after you? That will actually notice what's going on?

[A minute of hesitation.]

Yes. Sure.

[He knows some but haha, of course he hasn't told anybody and is instead going to try and weather through this alone if he can.]

Okay...

[This is...definitely not sounding like he's fine. He's definitely a stupid boy though, always thinking with the hair on his chest.]

That's good, I'm glad you have someone to take care of you.

[A beat.]

I do need you to open the door. I was told I needed to leave this homework, since you missed today.

[Cutter tenses under her touch and makes a noise like a scared animal, but he doesn't pull away and lets her inspect him instead. His thoughts are silent but tinted with a shade of shame at how his own self-pity had taken over any care he had felt for others. That he should still be feeling toward her, out of all people.

Why is it that Maggie keeps treating him with trust and kindness and he never manages anything but egoism in return? That's so not fair to her and he doesn't want to be a person like that!

He nods his head in silent agreement and denial both at once.]

Hell if I know. But it's something that's... happening for sure. You should see the rest of it.

[He smiles self-ironically before he realizes that he just invited her to ask about exactly those things and he flinches, grimacing into his scarf. His thoughts are a lot more eloquent than hers and read a single word: shit!]

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III.

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streets --> timeskip to home after? i want to play both haha

3; let's say this is around 9/15 probably

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III, let's say the 11th

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sounds awesome to me! :3

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