[open] Life is but a fleeting dream, an illusion

[notbunaga]

WHO: Aki and you!
WHERE: Apprassage, outside of her apartment building.
WHEN: 21/06, early enough in the daytime.
WHAT:

It turns out you can't just humiliate gangsters without them coming back for revenge. The first year she decides to take the day off for her birthday, her apartment is the target of an arson attack, which just so happens to coincide with the date of the honnoji incident for a particularly important memory regain. What a coincidence!

WARNINGS: There will be a memory regain down the line in a planned thread with Sakura (gudaguda) that will deal with suicide, but I will warn for it in the header of the tag too once it happens.

Also this is a hell of a long read under the cut...be prepared.

[Honestly, if she didn't know better she'd have assumed this was all planned against her.

The weather isn't too bad today. The sky is still missing, but she's greeted by warmth when she wakes up and a fairly pleasant breeze through her window. Souji's sleeping soundly at the foot of her bed...and most importantly, she doesn't have work today, so she's slept in to the point it's almost the afternoon.

Usually her birthday was just another day, not one she'd bother doing something like taking a day off for, but this year things were different. Retrospec may be a nuisance, but she can't deny it's put her in contact with more people than she'd ever have been with before. It's gotten her closer to some people and, in one case, even pushed her into a relationship beyond just friendship. She was smiling a lot more lately. Things really weren't bad.

Of course, speaking of friends, most of them are likely working, or busy, so she won't have to deal with visitors for a little while. It's the perfect opportunity to lounge around her place for a little while and just goof off. She grabs herself some breakfast, takes a spot on her couch and fires up her console. A few hours of games before socialising sounds like the best way to spend her alone time.

But after some time, there's an unexpected knock at the door. It seemed a little too early for visitors yet, but school was out for the summer, wasn't it? It could be Yuuko...well, no matter. She stands up from the couch and walks to her door to answer; it's a familiar face who barges his way in and closes the door behind him, but it isn't a welcome one.]

...you're...

Yeah, I'm glad to see you remember me! And this!

[He flashes his hand, bandaged still, a mark on his pride to be driven off by someone he shouldn't be fought off by, let alone intimidated as he was. Her eyes search the room for her sword, but it's not within reach. As it stands she's completely cornered.

But she can tell there's still an imbalance here. He might be the bigger and stronger one of the two, but he hasn't laid a hand yet or tried to even strike her. In fact, he's keeping his distance from the look of things.]

You're too soft, girl. You were an idiot to let me go...because I'm not gonna let you survive after what you did to me.

[She can't even remember why she let him go; she'd actually been all set to kill him when it happened, but whatever convinced her otherwise is completely gone from her head. But that hardly matters now anyway. He walks over and grabs her by the arm, dragging Aki to her bathroom and all but throwing her to the floor inside. The door closes soon after, and from the outside he blocks the door so she can't get out. After that, it's hard for her to tell what he's doing out there, honestly. There's the heavy sound of his footsteps, sure, then he leaves...

...she hears Souji barking first, and it isn't long before smoke starts creeping in through the cracks in the door. The fear sets in at that point and she realises she has to get out of here, no matter what. If there's one thing she's thankful for in her crappy apartment, it's that the doors aren't too well made; she picks up a metal stool she keeps in her bathroom and, after a few attempts, manages to break through the door. But the fire's more evident now, and against every instance she's heard you should just get out and not worry about your stuff, she still navigates her way through everything to pick up her sword, her wallet, and to make sure Souji gets out. She makes her way out and down the building noticing other people on her floor have already abandoned the place (nice of them to check on her, really) and once she's outside at last, the relief in her chest almost makes her a little light headed. ...or is that the smoke? She can't even tell.

But the emergency services are prompt. After it's all over, there's talk of the fact it's nothing short of a miracle that only one apartment was badly damaged, while the apartments either side of that one didn't suffer nearly as much. But as glad as she is noone is hurt, it's really of no us to her, knowing that one apartment was her apartment.

If anyone's come by to check on the situation, she's sat off to the side having already been checked on by the paramedics, a blanket draped over her shoulders and a glass of water in her hands. From the look of things she's hardly touched it though, just staring into it wistfully...she moved her three years ago and built her life she had now from the ground up, starting with absolutely nothing. Having it all taken away in what feels like an instant...she hasn't really processed that yet.]

...it's all gone.

[Her dog is at her side, apparently playing with a human skull cast in gold, but dogs are simple creatures like that.]

Comments

for sakura

[notbunaga]

[It's strange to think that only one day prior, Sakura was the one who came to her, seeking comfort after a particularly traumatic memory. Now the roles have been reversed as Aki stands at her front door, both her clothing and skin stained by the smoke from the blaze and carrying nothing but her sword and the golden skull tucked beneath her arm. Souji's stood at her side as well, wondering why they're still outside when they've been out here a good few minutes already.

...it's mostly because after yesterday she doesn't want to burden Sakura with anything, but...

Despite that, she knocks on her front door and ignores her hesitation.]

[gudaguda]

Coming!

[ There's the sound of upbeat Jpop music being turned down, of general lively activity in Sakura's apartment before she skitters over to the door like an excited dog. She ordered more costume materials off the internet in preparation for the con, these must be these arriving -- ]

A... Aki?!

[ Her face goes from exuberant to concerned in a matter of seconds the moment she opens the door. Aki looks terrible! ]

[notbunaga]

Uh...hey.

[Souji wastes no time and runs in between Sakura's legs, into the apartment.

Meanwhile, she's trying to play this off casually...as if that's possible at this point.]

Can I come in?

[gudaguda]

Of course you can...

[ She opens her legs a bit more so that Souji can run through and lets Aki through the door. Once she's through, she closes the door behind her and sprints to her computer where she turns off her music. ]

Take a seat. Tea?

[ Before Aki can even reply, Sakura's darting off to the kitchen to boil the kettle. ]

[notbunaga]

Green, if you have it.

[She'd never say no to some tea...

But she'd feel weird sitting down, if only because she might stain Sakura's furniture. She decides against it and follows her into the kitchen area instead.]

...there was a fire in my apartment building.

It was mostly my place that took the brunt of the damage. ...it's all gone. All my stuff, my clothes...all I have left is everything I brought with me here.

[gudaguda]

[ Sakura stays silent as the kettle boils, taking in Aki's words. It takes her a while to say anything, by which point she's pouring it into a teapot and getting the cups ready. ]

That's horrible.

[ She brings the teapot and cups over on a tray, setting it down on the dining table. ]

I'm sorry Aki. Do you have anywhere to stay?

[notbunaga]

...well, about that.

[She takes the cup in her hands and just holds it for now. The warmth is nice and soothing, honestly.]

Considering Yuuko still lives with her dad, I'd rather not have to ask him if I can stay there.

[And Anya is sixteen and lives with her mom. She doesn't care how accommodating they are that isn't happening.

She doesn't remember Yato but he's a homeless stray dog anyway.

Ranmaru is off the network, so she's no intention of staying with someone who doesn't have retrospec.

And everyone else isn't close enough for her to ask.

So...]

...I thought maybe I could stay here for a few days, while I find a new place? It won't be for long and I don't take up a lot of space.

[she's small get it]

[gudaguda]

Oh...

[ Sakura looks so sad at the fact that Aki doesn't have anywhere to live. It suddenly hits her that Aki would have lost everything in that fire - her manga, her computer, her impressive streaming rig... ]

That's fine. You can stay as long as you want.

[ Her eyes gaze over to where Souji is finally snoozing near the door, finding himself settled on a pile of blankets. ]

I don't have dog food though...

[goen]

[ Yato doesn't pay much mind to the sirens blaring from behind. He just keeps walking, watching with detached interest as cars hurry aside to make room for the fire truck and ambulance that eventually come. And then they're gone, blazing down the street. The cars swerve back across the road and everyone goes back to driving to work or the grocery market or home. Yato stops thinking about it.

Until he comes across the same fire truck and ambulance again all too soon, stopped by a familiar apartment building. A familiar face huddled under a blanket nearby. Stunned, Yato's eyes automatically drift to the dark gray smear risen on the wall from one of the apartment windows. He doesn't have to count the rooms to know it's Aki's.

He runs and practically falls to his knees in front of her, only dimly registering Souji playing with the strange golden skull nearby. ]

Aki! What happened?

1/2

[notbunaga]

[Well her first reaction is to startle because of him suddenly approaching her; the glass in her hand drops (held low enough that thankfully, it doesn't shatter) and immediately her hands, now free, reach for Hasebe.]

[notbunaga]

Yato...!

[She doesn't even get to draw the sword from its sheath before she sees him, settling down immediately. Aki lays the sword back down to where it was and takes a deep breath, coming out as a sigh.]

Jesus, don't scare me like that. [She's not usually this jumpy. Not at all.] There...was a fire. My apartment's totally busted. Whole place is gone.

[goen]

[ The spilled water soaks into his pants, but it's fine... He tenses as she reaches for her sword, and stays tense even after she puts it back down. He reaches over to lift the blanket enough for him to see if there are any apparent injuries hidden underneath. Dimly, he registers her words: all her possessions gone. Her home, gone. But for the moment he's more concerned for Aki herself, and at least Souji seems to be in good health. ]

Are you okay?

[ A typical question, but one that needs to be asked... What she says is calm enough, but her reactions worry him. ]

[notbunaga]

Fine.

[It's short and to the point. It avoids anything unnecessary.

Unnecessary being that...she remembers their conversation, when he asked if leading that guy to her apartment to begin with was selfish. It was clearly a concern of his.

How much worse would he feel if he knew he was indirectly responsible for getting her involved in this...?]

[goen]

[ Too short. Too pointed. He frowns and drops the edge of her blanket, still kneeling before her. ]

You're not fine. Come on.

[ He rights the fallen glass before turning to sit next to her. He leans on his legs, looking sideways at her. ]

What happened?

[notbunaga]

My apartment's gone. What more do you want from me? Souji's fine, I'm fine.

Everything's fine, Yato.

[She can't even tell him to stop, because then he'd want to know why.]

[goen]

[ Something is definitely up. That was some aggressive insistence on fineness. But it could be that she's tired of being asked if she's okay when she's clearly not, and stress and sadness can turn a person irritable.

Time for a different tack. ]

What... caused the fire?

[ Not as personal a question. Maybe she'll have an easier time answering it. ]

[notbunaga]

Don't know.

[There it is again...

Truth be told if she weren't tired, upset and...honestly, there's even a small, subconscious part of her that blames him for this that doesn't want him to get off easy like this. It's practically yelling at her to yell at him for bringing all of this onto her. That's a contributing factor to her, instead of coming up with a good cover like she usually would, being cagey and suspicious. She's fighting off the urge to say some terrible things she knows she'd regret.]

[belligerentwarrior]

For now.

[Someone plops down next to her. One of the firefighters, it looks like, though she's removed most of her turnout gear.]

The things can be replaced. Anyone talk to you about housing, yet?

[notbunaga]

I'm fine. I have someone I can stay with while I find a new place.

[Well, okay, so she hasn't asked Sakura about it yet, but she's absolutely certain she won't turn her down.]

I just...never thought something like this would happen. I think I'm still a little...

[Shook.

But she doesn't finish the thought.]

[belligerentwarrior]

Glad to hear it. If for some reason things don't work out, the city's got programs for things like this.

[She curiously eyes the... skullthing that the dog's playing with, but her tone doesn't change.]

You wanna talk about what happened? I'm not law enforcement or anything, so you don't have to.

[notbunaga]

It's fine. I already told the cops what happened...I figured I should.

[It wasn't just an accident or anything, after all, and she'd sleep a lot better knowing the guy behind it was apprehended. She can't just go taking justice into her own hands, even if that comes a lot easier these days.]

This guy was trying to hurt my friend...old gang member or something? I drove him off at the time and he came back to try and get revenge.

He actually locked me in my bathroom before he lit the place up, but the doors in this building are really shitty...[A beat, then she adds-] thankfully.

[It's more a joke than anything else...at the same time, it is the reason she's alive.]

[belligerentwarrior]

No shit? [A gang member... broke into her house to lock her up and burn her with it? Freya tries not to let her face settle into something too somber, but that's as serious as it gets.]

Got a good head on your shoulders. Lotta people would be too scared to think of that. Think this guy's gonna come back.

[notbunaga]

[...ah. The compliment catches her off guard a little, so she just looks away, nodding.]

Honestly, I don't doubt it.

[Only...]

...but if he shows up while I'm staying with my girlfriend, I'm not gonna let him do something like this again.

[belligerentwarrior]

[She frowns. That's a tough call to make. Freya wants to advise against going to town vs a friggin' gang, but at the same time, if someone showed up to torch one of her friends' places...]

...Just keep your wits about you. Won't ask you not to fight for yours, but it's too easy to land yourself in a whole different kind of trouble that way.

[notbunaga]

...I get that, but it's kind of a catch 22, isn't it?

If he shows up again I'll have to defend myself anyway. If I do defend myself, someone's probably going to retaliate.

I just have to hope the cops around here do their job I guess.

[or that one of her friends cuts off his hands because yato is...yato........]