[ closed ]

[thisloveisjustice]

WHO: Tatsuo Kihara, Cleo Ritter, Goro Majima, Derek Matthews, Grell Sutcliffe
WHERE: Utsuki Dojo + Tatsuo's apartment
WHEN: Sunday, Jan 14, mid-afternoon
WHAT: Tatsuo gets a physical regain he's been expecting, but it doesn't go how he thought it would
WARNINGS: blood, language, mention of gun violence

Comments

cleo, majima, & derek

[thisloveisjustice]

After his physical therapist finally gave him the okay to go back to doing karate in December, Tatsuo has started spending more of his free time at the dojo. He missed his previous chance to test for his 3rd dan after the whole shoulder thing, but he's determined to take the test at the end of spring. In a way, he doesn't really mind. The last half of last year, his mind wasn't completely in his own studies, so getting a little extra time to work on things is okay.

"Thanks for sparing with me, you two. I have really needed the practice."

Tatsuo gives Majima and Cleo a grin as he pulls on his jacket. Between the two of them, he felt he got a pretty decent work out. Couple more months and he should no longer feel like he's been slacking. He can still feel it, the twelve weeks he had to take off to let his shoulder heal. But he'll get there. And fighting Retrospec created monsters and memory figments is not the same as practicing an ancient art. Even if it does get his adrineline pumping a bit faster.

He glances at his phone, then out the front window of the dojo.

"No sign of Derek yet."

He's arranged to meet up with Derek to swap memory stories, something they've been meaning to do since mid-December but somehow never got around to doing. But Tatsuo has a few hours before he needs to come back to the dojo for Fight Club Weapons Practice, so they finally hammered out the time.

[sotenbori]

Majima laughs, pulling on that hideous snakeskin jacket he got back from the network. He's not wearing a shirt underneath because shirts are for squares and people who aren't trying to show off all the ink on their body. And, also, people who aren't going through serious existential crises. But fighting always makes him happy and he's happy to help out with Tatsuo. He's gotten a better grip on that whole super strength thing, now, too, so he feels less likely to accidentally snap people in half which is a definite plus.

"Maybe a little, but you're gettin' way better," always so kind, right? But he's gotta tease Tatsuo at least a little, even if he's older. Besides, Tatsuo's always been the better trained of the two of them. They all know who is the best in this group. "Is he usually late?"

[cattack]

Cleo lets out a breath of laughter. The guilt for what she did to his shoulder was overwhelming, but at least she could laugh and joke as she helped Tatsuo recover. She, on the other hand, was pulling on and zipping up her leather jacket- Her motorcycle wasn't too far away.

"Of course." She shook her head with a smile. "Rather, I should thank you for helping me figure out how to spar right with this." She flicked her tail around to nudge him in the back.

"Derek? I don't usually wait for him, myself... But I can't imagine him as the punctual type." It was a light burn, but he wasn't there, so she could indulge herself, right?

[thisloveisjustice]

"Oh no, he's not late yet at all. He actually tends to run a bit early. I half expected him to already be here."

Tatsuo is still not quite used to Majima and his crusade against all shirts, but he's getting there. That snakeskin jacket though? No... he's probably never going to get used to that jacket.

"It's going to be really interesting, seeing what all you can do with it," he says, reaching back to gently poke Cleo's tail. If she even lets him.

[blondferret]

[Derek has just pulled up at the dojo. Turning off the car, Derek leans his head back against the seat and sighs. He REALLY didn't want to have this talk with Tatsuo. But he knew that he needed to talk to someone and he and Tatsuo had been needing to catch up and compare memories. However, his fight with Matt over a week ago really ruined Derek's self confidence in his ability to maintain friendships. Sighing again, Derek gets out of his car and makes his way into the dojo.

When he enters to dojo, he calls out for Tatsuo.]

Tatsuo, mate, you ready to go?

[sotenbori]

"Guess ya didn't have ta wait long," which is good, although Majima feels a little out of place among Tatsuo's friends. They'd definitely lived very different lives after growing up, but at least fighting at the dojo is still the great universal balancer, even among people growing tails and ditching shirts.

"Have fun on your date," he teases gently, gathering up his stuff so he can head out, too.

[cattack]

"Then, I'll leave as well..." She let Tatsuo, of course, though she swatted back at his hand with her tail as he poked.

And then she stopped dead. "Wait a moment. Date?"

[blondferret]

[Derek hears Majima's comment and leans against the door frame of the room. Shaking his head he lets out a drawl.]

Sorry, he's not my type.

[Derek looks at Tatsuo impatiently.]

Are we going or not mate?

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo rolls his eyes at Majima and Cleo.

"Cute. No, we're going to swap stories. Even brought my journal with..."

It feels like someone punches him in the stomach. Except neither Majima nor Cleo nor Derek moved.

For a moment he's confused. That had felt like a nice solid punch. Did someone get the ability to turn invisible? Is someone dicking around?

But then the hot searing sensation blossoms in his stomach.

"Oh."

He's felt this before. Or he remembers feeling this before. In Rainbow Land. Someone was aiming a gun at Tacchan and he'd lept up to shield him.

And then he'd been shot.

"Oh..."

Tatsuo goes pale and suddenly crumples to the ground, as underneath his jacket, a red spot starts soaking through his shirt.

[sotenbori]

It's hard to miss what happens, when Tatsuo is talking through it like this. Majima runs to his side immediately, gets down on the ground next to him. The blood is obvious, soaking through his shirt quickly. Retrospec, it's gotta be some stupid retrospec thing, but they need to something quickly.

"Shit -- " he pulls off his jacket, which really isn't conducive the way a nice cotton shirt/jacket would be but tries to help by applying pressure. He looks up at the other two, "Call someone."

[cattack]

"Tatsuo!" Cleo shouts in alarm, spinning around. She hadn't heard anything- Was that a gunshot? But her ears hadn't heard anything! There was no way a sniper could get a shot in this city from far enough away that she couldn't hear... And in the first place, why would anyone try to snipe Tatsuo? Maybe it was magic?

Magic. That's right. Magic. She could-

She grabs Majima's arm, practically hurling him off of Tatsuo, throwing his jacket at him, before jamming both of her hands onto Tatsuo, palms to his wound. And from under her hands, a small, green glow emanates, a soft light contrasting the deep red.

"One of you get his shirt off, direct contact will help!" She can't explain- Her brain is stuck on Tatsuo's state, she's in a panic and not sure what else to do.

[blondferret]

[Derek rushes forward when he sees Tatsuo suddenly go down.]

TATSUO!

[He balks at sudden appearance of blood. No, this can't be happening. Why is everything being taken away from him? First his girlfriend leaves him, his fight with Matt, and now Tatsuo? NO! This was not going to happen! Hearing Cleo's plea he takes out his pocket knife and starts ripping Tatsuo's t-shirt down the middle to get it open.]

We need to get him to a hospital!

[Derek starts to reach for his cell phone.]

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo's hand shoots up to grab Derek's wrist.

"No!"

His voice is stronger than he thought it would be.

"Not the hospital! A police report would be opened. We have no way to explain this."

With the lack of a bullet hole in the dojo window, suspicion would fall on the three other people in the room. Never mind the angle would be all wrong.

Tatsuo's hand drops a moment later as the shock starts to set in.

"Grell. Call Grell."

cleo, majima, derek, grell

[thisloveisjustice]

This isn't how Tatsuo had thought it would go. He thought he'd wake up one morning with a new scar on his stomach. He'd heard of that happening to other Retrospec users. BAM! New scar. So he hadn't really worried about it.

Maybe he should have.

Maybe he wouldn't be in this situation if he had. How many people had he told that Ryuuzkaki got shot? Hitori. Goro. Matt. How had he missed telling Derek and Cleo? Tatsuo struggles to string his thoughts together, trying to stay awake, because he's scared he might not wake back up if he closes his eyes.

The only thing really keeping him from passing out completely is the feel of Cleo's hand pressed against his stomach. So he focuses on that and the weird feeling that surrounds it. He can tell she's doing something, he's just not sure what.

[cattack]

Blood.

The blood wells up between her fingers, even as the pale glow emanates from her palm. She didn't know what was going on. He got shot? Was there a shooter? Her mind races in a million directions. She needs to go find the shooter. She needs to stay here and help Tatsuo. She needs to- She needs to-

She needs to focus, and focus is what she doesn't have. She presses her palm to the wound, pouring all of her magic, the magic she could barely use and didn't understand, trying to remember how to use those incredible healing spells from her visions.

"Tatsuo, please, stay with us." She whispers to him. If he loses consciousness, with this much blood...

[blondferret]

[Derek's hands are shaking as he is driving the car. So much blood. He doesn't understand how this happened, but he can't let his friend die. NO! HE WAS NOT LOOSING SOMEONE ELSE! Thankfully they are just going to Tatsuo's apartment, so Derek can go on autopilot and not think about where to go. Derek looks at Cleo through the rear view mirror.]

Cleo, how is he doing back there?

[sotenbori]

Cleo's healing, Derek is driving, and Majima's along for the ride and trying to be calm somehow. He'd seen people shot in his memories, of course. And Tatsuo had told him about it. In some ways they were clearly from similar worlds, but that was an ironic statement to make about a cop and a yakuza.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get Grell an' she'll fix ya right up. 's jus'...'s jus' a scratch."

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo stares up at the roof of Derek's car. He's definitely getting blood on the seat and floor... he'll have to remember to pay for the cleaning. All things considered, he's about... 75% certain he'll survive this. Ryuuzaki had staggered through a fun house and beaten up a guy after getting shot, after getting first aid. How had that happened anyway? Who gave him the first aid? 'Tacchan' didn't seem like the sort to carry around a first aid kit. So who had it been?

There are still so many things he doesn't know about that night.

"Doing my best..."

His voice is a little weak, but he's clinging to consciousness as hard as he can.

[cattack]

"I don't know!" Cleo snaps at Derek, a bit angrier than intended. The constant attempt to heal was exhausting her, sapping her patience as well as her magic power. "I- I don't know how to do this! It's nothing like my visions- The only vision I've seen that explained anything said I should be punching him to use magic!"

Which explained nothing, but even so, she presses her hand to the wound, trying to ignore the blood covering her hand.

"Tatsuo, just- Just stay with us, please. You'll be all right. You have to make third dan still, don't you?"

[blondferret]

[Derek turns into the apartment complex and parks in the closest parking spot to the door (yes, handicap access, but he doesn't give a shit at this moment). Turning off the car, he quickly starts to scramble out of it.]

GORO YOU GET TATSUO, I'LL GET THE DOOR! THE ELEVATOR IS DOWN THE HALL!

[Derek runs to the door of the apartmeNT building and starts fumbling around with his keys. Finding the key he shoves it in an turns.]

Thank god...

[He opens the door and yells to Majima.]

GORO HURRY!

[sotenbori]

It's a smart division of labor, at least. Majima's more than strong enough to carry Tatsuo. He tries to keep Cleo close, though he's well aware of the necessity of time here, too. Cleo, and whatever powers she's gotten back, seem to be their best bet here.

"I got him, we're comin'."

[thisloveisjustice]

Tatsuo hisses at being moved. Whatever Cleo is doing with her magic is keeping some of the pain at bay, but not all of it. For a moment, he almost blacks out, but he sucks in a breath and fights against the pain.

"Utsuki-sensei will be disappointed if I don't..."

[cattack]

The panic hasn't subsided yet, and some part in the back of Cleo's mind wonders how long she can keep this up before she burns out. The adrenaline, she's not sure, but the magic...

"I can't keep this up for much longer." Her breathing is slightly labored as she rushes with Majima. "This magic- In the visions, it was so much stronger than this..." She's cursing at herself in her head. Why is it stronger there? Why can't she use that power when Tatsuo needs her? But she has to focus. "Tell Grell- Magic kept him from bleeding out, but I've got almost nothing left."

The light from her palms was dimming.

[erythristic]

"I suggest you quit shrieking. Unless you want someone to call the actual police."

A voice cuts through the air, clear and direct, and Grell shuts the door to her car, a heavy black bag under her arm. Her look is serious, and she takes long strides to reach them, eyes zeroing in on Tatsuo.

"Someone tell me the exact details that you know. And Majima, I know it's unnecessary to say, but try to keep him as steady as you can."

[blondferret]

[Derek leads the way to the elevator and furiously pushes the "up" button. He tries to stay calm but he voice is starting to shake.]

I don't know. One moment he was fine and the next he was falling over with a wound to his abdomen.

[The elevator dings and Derek rushes in and holds down the "open" button before pushing the "5th floor" button.]

Tatsuo hang in there. We're almost there.