[closed]

[covenantal]

Who: Yu Narukami (covenantal) and a bunch of people who are coming to visit him in the hospital and also after.
When: OOC: wheneva, this is forward-dated anyway ; IC: 4/7 - 4/8 or 4/9 or so
Where: The hospital, and then probably Yu and Yosuke's apartment.
What: After this fiasco, Yu winds up in the hospital from blood loss. While recovering, he has a few friendly visitors, one not-so-friendly visitor, and a lot of important conversations.
Rating/Warning: S for Sad.

---

[ at the hospital ]

[ It takes a solid day for Yu to wake up.

Blood loss ravages a body pretty badly. When he does finally come to, he's disoriented and dizzy and badly fatigued. The wound that lost him all that blood is no less troublesome, wrapped up now in swathes of bandages hidden beneath the hospital gown he's been put in. Even on the 7th, he spends a lot of time dozing.

But he does try to stay awake as much as he can. There's a lot to think about. All of his failures. The deaths. The injuries. What he could have done right. And what he failed to do. The losses of Link and Minato are shackled to his heart, twin albatrosses that bear him forcefully down. He knows he needs to face this - what he's done.

So he'll stir himself for visitors. Or you can stir him, if you like. Or just ask Yosuke - who won't be leaving his partner's side for love or money, pretty much. ]

[ at the apartment ]

[ His own healing spells, and an assist from Korra, let Yu get out of the hospital much earlier than he otherwise would have been able to depart. And once he's able, he practically flees. Like Yosuke, he almost desperately wants time alone to decompress.

Not that he'll hide from the world, either. He'll keep forcing himself, keep pushing, if that's what it takes to make amends. He's still drawn and tired and a little woozy on his feet, but significantly better than he was the day prior. Anyone who seeks him out here will at least have a much better chance of finding him awake - and also of getting the chance to speak to him alone. ]

Comments

hospital; forward tagging to IC 4/7ish~ - sorry for the tl;dr orz

[belfire]

[Kazuya actually found Yu by pure accident.

He'd been hunting for the guy ever since the Jungle Investigation Team came back without Minato. He'd heard how they practically crawled back in, heavily injured and the like, with mentions of things like "death", and Kazuya had just Known. Minato hadn't turned up back at the apartment. He hadn't sent them a text. He hadn't been at the hospital.

It was pretty clear what had happened.

So Kazuya sent the supposed leader of the expedition a polite text about it. Or, who he presumed it to be - honestly, he wasn't sure he had the right guy, but he had to know. But no reply came for his text, so he sent more, more and more, with increasing fury embedded in the words, until he decided to launch a full scale search for the bastard.

A search that ended rather quickly, really. Yu was not at his apartment. So Kazuya checked to see if he was one of the dying (injured) at the hospital - he was. Looking like he'd been shoved through a meat grinder at that. Good. If he had escaped unscathed, Kazuya was fairly certain he would've torn his face off with his fingernails alone. Right now was... the very thin line between himself and Bel was very blurred, and the thought that Minato, dying, like Ket, in that stupid jungle, because of this stranger, was... was...!

...

...in any case. He found him. Dozing in his hospital bed. Kazuya didn't immediately wake him, opting to stare silently for a long, heavy moment, with Bel's quiet, disturbing murmurings of "crush his windpipe right now", and "smother him with a pillow, it'll look natural", slithering through his brain. Kazuya ignored it - furious he may be, but he wasn't going to descend to committing murder out of impulsive revenge. And yet...

Kazuya reached out, slowly, his hand hovering-

-Only to jab Yu hard in the ribs]

You. Wake up.

[covenantal]

[ Well. The jab has the intended effect of waking him up, at least. He hasn't been sleeping well anyway, so he's easy to rouse as it is. Pain lances through his whole frame from that jab and he wakes up choking, curling instinctively and lifting a hand as if to ward off some unseen attacker. Sorry, Kaz, he's pretty disoriented. It takes him a bleary moment or two to get his bearings, his breathing a bit pained, but soon enough he uncurls again and relaxes, leaning back against his pillows. The hospital bed is tilted, keeping him upright enough to talk, and Yu watches Kaz with serious eyes.

It occurs to him to wonder where Yosuke is, though. Heh. The one moment his friend steps away for a small thing, probably, is the moment someone unhappy with him turns up. It'd figure, right? ]

I'm up. What did you want to talk about?

[belfire]

[Kazuya watched the display silently, letting his hand hover in the space between them. There was... a momentary twinge of guilt at Yu's show of pain, but he stubbornly ignored it. He wasn't going to be swayed. He was going to get answers, he was going to do it calmly, he was not going to devolve into pettiness or vindication, but he wasn't going to let pity make him hesitate either. Firm yet merciful. Yes. That's the approach he'll take. He'll remain nice and calm... nice and calm...

He took another deep breath]

Minato. [His voice was... quiet] He went on your expedition. He hasn't come back. I have also heard some disturbing rumours that suggest he is dead. Where is he.

For Dipper

[covenantal]

[ He's been awake for a few hours - and dealing with visitors of ... various dispositions - when Dipper starts to come to. Yu watches him with concern from across the ward, but won't do much right away. There's not much he can do, really, in bed as he is, with Yosuke at his side keeping an eye on him. (Especially once he told Yosuke the story about Kaz.) He decides to just let the hospital staff tend to Dipper and give his friend space for a while, but he knows they need to talk.

It only takes him an hour or two of Dipper looking restless and unhappy for him to decide this talk needs to happen sooner rather than later. With a quiet word to Yosuke, he wins permission, albeit grudging, to talk to Dipper alone. Getting out of bed is no small feat (and requires some help), but eventually he's able to make his way over to Dipper's bedside, leaning on his IV pole as he goes before taking a seat in the chair beside Dipper's bed. His smile is very tired, but he tries. ]

Hey. Good to see you're up.

here we gooooooooo

[cryptologic]

[ The merciful haze of a long sleep doesn't linger long enough on Dipper's consciousness once he comes to in the hospital. His senses sharpen all too quickly, a mind numb from pain and exhaustion and medicine jumpstarting with a logjam of thoughts that needed to be processed. They run over him like waves, and as he tries to sit upright, his right arm is met with painful, stiff protests from his shoulder.

His skin prickles as he reaches inside the collar of his hospital gown with his left hand, tracing the neatly tied bandages gingerly with his fingers. And like bright lights in a storm, it starts to come back to him. The hallucinations. The monster. The fight. The death.

Not his, but it should have been.

Dipper remains uncharacteristically still, aside from his tossing and turning, as he presses against the coils of guilt and failure that threaten to suffocate him. He knew Yu would come over to talk to him eventually, and Dipper had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. For as small as he already felt, if he had a magic crystal to shrink even smaller and disappear, he would have used it in a heartbeat.

He glances up towards Yu when he shuffles over, but he only makes it to the IV Yu is leaning on before Dipper's eyes drop back to his hands - one resting in a sling, the other anxiously pulling on the threads of a blanket. He can't meet Yu's eyes.

After all, Yu was only in the hospital because of Dipper's mistakes. He shouldn't even be here; his close presence brings that reminder. Why couldn't Yu just leave him alone?

A long moment passes before Dipper answers in a voice that is both heavy and soft. ]

...I figured I might've been overdoing it on sleeping in. [ It's a poor attempt at humor, but saying anything else feels too threatening. ]

we're not ready

[covenantal]

You need the rest. [ His voice is gentle. ] We all do.

[ For obvious reasons.

His eyes search Dipper's face, especially as his friend won't meet his eyes. He knows why. Thinks he can guess that Dipper probably doesn't want to talk to him right now. All the more reason to have this conversation, then. Dipper needs to hear this. More than anything, Dipper needs to express his feelings, before they turn into nasty snarls of darkness he can't escape from. Yu knows from that darkness. Has seen it too many times to let it pass in someone he cares about. ]

I'm just glad you're alright. [ His voice dips into sad softness, his eyes hooding. ] We're truly in debt to Arisato-san.

[ It's the gentlest yet most direct way he can think of to start broaching the topic. ]

For Yosuke

[covenantal]

[ By the time he and Yosuke manage to leave the hospital together on the 8th, Yu can't get out of that place fast enough. As much as he's committed to seeing through what he's done - and talking to everyone who wants to approach him, for however long they need to speak to him - the place was starting to feel claustrophobic. And no matter how good his intentions, he's beginning to feel overwhelmed. With Korra's help, and enough of his own energy returned to spare a healing spell on himself, he's well enough to go home far earlier than should probably be allowed. Which is to say, he's still hurt, weak, and woozy on his feet, but well enough to return to the apartment he and Yosuke share.

He was, in fact, rather insistent on the matter.

It's not like him to avoid people. And he won't refuse any visitors that come by. He won't refuse anyone who seeks him out. But something about the solace of the apartment, even the illusion that he can be alone with his best friend, soothes him slightly.

Still...

Still.

At some point late in the afternoon, Yosuke may notice something is very amiss. Honestly, he probably has seen it all along. In the stiff set of Yu's shoulders, in the way he just kept refusing to relax or let his guard down at all, even for a second. In the constant tightness around his eyes. In the way he just hasn't smiled at all, except when others needed him to. But at this specific point, he stops in the middle of their sparse living room. Just stops, standing there for no real reason, staring down at his hands.

He's thinking, you see. About the sound Minato's bones made as they were snapping.

For the first time, Yu has to press a hand over his mouth, fighting down the urge to physically retch. ]

[cpt_ressentiment]

[ Yosuke is so glad to be out of the hospital, he would be jumping for joy, if certain other things weren't weighing on his mind, so much that the thought of doing any jumping at all makes him want to curl up in a corner for the rest of forever instead. He's still a little hurt - nowhere near as much as some of the others (obviously...), but more than anything he's just... restless. Sleep-deprived. Completely uneasy, totally not in a right state of mind. ... Guilty. Yeah, that's the one. Guilty. Very guilty. But there's so much for him to see to right now, that it... it has to wait. He's convinced himself.

And where does he plan to start seeing to things? Well, what matters most: his partner.

Yosuke would be blind and stupid not to notice how hard Yu is pushing himself, how high-strung and on-edge he's been this whole time. It... makes sense. Sure it does. He knows that. But he doesn't have to like it, and he doesn't. So he goes out of his way to try and get him to stop, to breathe, to take a minute to just... not, because he knows that sometimes, that's all you can manage.

At this specific point, though...

It's like he feels that there's something wrong before he can fully look up from where he's sitting on the floor, and when he catches that sudden motion, he's immediately on his feet and making his way over. ]

Whoa, whoa. Hey. Partner. What...?

[ He doesn't even stop, he's just immediately putting a hand on Yu's shoulder, trying to get him to look at him and come back to reality out of whatever it is that just made this happen.

Please say something, Yu... ]

[covenantal]

[ That Yu doesn't immediately respond is probably alarming enough. But the whites of his eyes are visible around his irises, making him look a little wild-eyed, a little ... suddenly not in control of himself. Despite that, he shakes his head without removing his hand, trying to maintain the illusion for himself that he's still alright. Still in control. Because he has to be. Because he wasn't in the jungle. Because he failed everyone. Because he owes them this. He owes them all this. He owes them himself. Because he failed to give them all of himself when they needed him and it killed his friends. ]

It's--

[ Bones snapping. Minato's, and Link's. What if they weren't in a world that magically revived the dead? They'd be gone forever, all because of his mistakes. His mistakes. The burden weighs ten tons and he's drowning.

Yu squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head again. With a massive effort he manages to shove his emotions down, and when he opens his eyes again the impending breakdown is gone. But he looks gray, and Yosuke will be able to see all the signs no one else would be able to pick up on: how drawn he is, the dullness of his eyes, the defeated slope of his shoulders. Everything about him is such a far cry from his normal self-assured, easy confidence. He seems broken. He can't even stand straight. ]

I'm alright, [ he lies. Because he has to. ]

hospital 4/7 yooooo

[zerotohiro]

[Truthfully, hospitals made him uneasy. He's spent a fair amount of time in them growing up just thanks to being an inventor and also being a kid who's too smart for his own good, but it never became a favorite place or anything. He's been to Cerealia's hospital once to visit Terra so he knows his way around enough to wander in and find his way to the room Yu and Dipper are in.

The first day he had come by, both of his friends were still asleep and healing and he only stayed for a short moment to assess them and assure himself they wouldn't necessarily die in the hospital. The second day, the 7th, he comes back and this time he is Prepared. He's Baymax-less right now and he's armor-less, dressed down in his usual shorts and hoodie combination. He doesn't anticipate them being awake still and so his approach is almost cautious and quiet as he pokes his head into the room and spots Yosuke still there.]

Man...did you even leave last night? [It's a light tease but his face is fairly solemn. He knows he wouldn't leave if this were Tadashi or one of his other friends.] Any improvements?

yoha broha ♥

[cpt_ressentiment]

[ Yosuke's been there. Of course he has. He's not leaving unless someone blatantly kicks him out so they can run this, that, or the other test for whatever reason - and even then, he's right back in, refusing to leave his partner's side.

He's actually about to fall asleep in the chair (since he honestly hasn't done a lot of that sleep thing, truth be told), but when he hears Hiro's voice from the door, he looks up, and cracks a small smile, weak as it may be. ]

Heh. Actually? No. Sure didn't. [ He shakes his head, still trying to smile. He appreciates the understanding, as unspoken as it is. ]

Yeah, he's getting better. They said he'd be out soon. Maybe tomorrow, if everything keeps going okay. How about you? How're you holding up?

[ He's been so worried about everyone - literally everyone involved, but especially his friends - that he's not about to let Hiro get away without answering, too. ]

[zerotohiro]

[He should have brought something. Food. Comics. Something to take Yosuke's mind off of being heightened and worried and making sure he's taking care of himself...but that's more of a Tadashi thing than a Hiro thing and they both know it. He hadn't thought about it at all until he walked into the room just then. Still, he can see that Yosuke's drifting a little and he closes the door behind him as he approaches, dragging a spare chair up next to him. He's comfortable enough with the guy to do so.]

That's definitely something. Let's just hope everything keeps being okay and they can both leave soon. [He debates ignoring the question entirely because this really isn't about him.] I'm fine, Yosuke. Bruised from hitting the ground a couple of times, but fine. [He pauses, looking back at Dipper who's asleep a few beds over, and then back at Yu.] More fine when he actually wakes up. I thought about bringing Baymax to scan him, too, but he needed to be somewhere else.

[Things he's not saying: he needed to be with Tadashi to give Hiro one less thing to worry about.] I forget how much hospitals suck. Tomorrow probably can't come fast enough for you guys.

Apartment, whenever Yu gets home.

[faithfulflame]

[Rei had felt when Yu entered the colony almost before he'd stepped inside the walls. Sensing people she cared about was an easy thing, once you knew what to look for...and given that Hiro, Tadashi, and Hiccup had also joined in she was more alert now than she had been since arriving in the colony.

While he'd been in the hospital, she'd left well enough alone. Information on how it'd gone had come from Tadashi, and Rei was content to leave Yu be for a while. Until eventually he made his way back home, of course. Then she did head that way, unannounced but bearing the usual token gifts.

In the early evening, Yu will catch a knock at his door, and the sounds of repeated tapping, like fingernails on the metal door...]

[covenantal]

[ He tells Yosuke he'll get it despite his continues feelings of weakness. If anyone's coming to see the two of them right now, he wants to be the one to field the visit. He's the one who owes everyone answers, after all. Yosuke didn't lead people into the jungle to die.

So it's Yu who pulls open the door, and when he sees who it is, his expression actually exhibits a little relief in his tired smile. He looks something of a fright - still exhausted, paper-pale and drawn with dark circles under his eyes. But he's stalwart to the last. ]

Hino-san.

[ He dips his head and steps back to let her in. ]

It's good to see you.

[faithfulflame]

[Stalwart to the last of course, she'd expect no less. Bowing her own head graciously, she sweeps past him and into the furnitureless apartment. It had the basics, hopefully, beds and a table...but that wasn't her focus.]

Just call me Rei-san, Yu-kun, Hino-san is a bit too formal, I feel.

[They've known each other a month now and nearly suffocated together, he can damn well use her first name. She sucks in a quick breath, and exhales slow and steady, practically radiating calm in spite of how on edge she felt.]

And I am glad to see you in once piece. You look like you haven't slept since you got back.

[Offering the basket, she gives him a strained, weak little smile]

I brought you both more food. I figure you need something that isn't take out or hospital food.

apartment; forward dated to 4/9, maybe 4/10 or so i don't fucking know.

[dereban]

[ Word gets by rather quickly in Cerealia. Or rather, when you're Inaba Himeko and you end up keeping an eye of who goes in and out of the colony by keeping track of whose CEREVices are online and offline? It's not hard to tell that things are happening. She's not stupid, after all, and good insight... and don't forget hacking, since Inaba knows all too well that hacking into the system can easily give away someone's name and address. Basic stuff.

She usually doesn't bother.

There's no need to interfere. But she did visit the hospital (for personal reasons) a few days prior, and heard whispers and murmurs around from the various aliens and robots around, but decides not to press. If they came back from there, they need time. She's not going to press; she knows better than to.

Even if it may be unexpected, she's coming to visit. These things are best done in person, after all. Besides, even if she did cheat to find the location of Yu's apartment - is she sorry? not really? - at least, she's not that much of an asshole to just barge in. Plus, she's brought gifts of boxed cookies...

That should do, right?

Might as well knock on the door several times, straightening herself out. Just act natural, Inaba Himeko. Pretend this is a newspaper interview, and you'll be fine. ]

4/9 ought to be fine.

[covenantal]

[ He'd been expecting visitors yesterday. Another visitor today is a bit of a surprise. The girl Yu opens the door to see, however, is a welcome surprise, and he's had precious few of those in the past week or so. After a moment to blink, Yu's expression folds into a barely-there fond smile and he steps back to let her in. ]

Inaba-san. It's good to see you. Come in.

[dereban]

Sorry for the intrusion.

[ She says the usual greeting as she walks inside, clicking her heels as her gaze peers throughout the room. ]

Oh, yeah, do I need to take off my shoes? I'm never sure. I also brought cookies, if you want some. I didn't make them, though.

Hospital, 4/7 IC

[moribound]

[With the conversation with Dipper done there's just one person left for Minato to talk to.

Narukami-san... He's more somber now, having left Dipper's side to sit by Yu's bed while he's still sleeping and deciding that waking him up would probably be too much of a shock. So he waits, absently playing with his hands while thinking of what he should say.

This is something he believes he can do better than others could if only because he's faced this situation only recently, losing a friend and blaming himself for it for days. It's not a matter of whether that is self-destructive or not, or to please himself being able to help.

Yu's a friend and a fellow Wild Card, and Minato knows how hard he would have found it in himself to let go of guilt if placed in the same situation.

I hope you wake up soon...there's a lot for us to talk about.]

[covenantal]

[ His dreams have been dark, colored in reds and greens and drab maroons. The color of blood on leaves and churned up mud. It's one of many reasons he's been sleeping so restlessly, so poorly. If his high-strung mind would let him rest, his subconscious would wake him anyway with visions of what he saw out there in the jungle. Would replay what he heard, remind him of what he felt and saw and smelled. That sharp, metallic tang of death and bleeding.

It doesn't take him long to wake. Maybe somehow he senses Minato's there. Maybe his own constant sense of guilt just won't let him sleep. Maybe his dreams wake him. Whatever it is, his eyes flutter open and focus on Minato almost immediately.

He doesn't jump, or react much at all. Yu pulls in a ragged breath, his chest jumping, one of his hands curling in the blankets. ]

A--

[ His voice hitches in his throat. It feels strange, to call him Arisato-san. His heart is doing something awful, contracting and thumping against his ribcage in a terrible sympathy he can't understand. ]

... Arisato-san.

4/8

[72hr]

[According to Yosuke, Yu is in this hospital, still recovering.

As Link trudges up the stairs towards the correct room, his mind is weighed down, as if he were still in that jungle breathing its oppressive air. Everything that happened to Link himself, was his own fault. And everything that happened to everybody else - Dipper running off, Minato dying, and so many being injured - all of that was his fault, too.

What's worse - having people feel sorry for you, or feeling sorry for yourself?

At the door to Yu's room, Link stops and stares at the door knob. This is going to be an apology. He'll make sure of it.]

Mr. Yu?

[He peeks into the room through the small space between the door frame and the door, his hand still on the knob. Maybe he's asleep. Link will go away if he's tired.]

hospital; 4/7

[fittedgloves]

[ Kyouko gives Yu time to rest, waiting a day or so before she finally decides to visit him in the hospital. it's only fair that she visits him after he organized everything and invited her along. While she knows he'll be fine in the hands of CERES, she's still concerned nonetheless and she decides that it's better to see him in person than waiting until he gets out.

By the time she finally makes it to his room, she finds him sleeping and decides that she might as well wait until he wakes up, and she takes a seat near his bed. ]

[covenantal]

[ Other people are in and out of the ward during the day; he shares it with Dipper, and they both have visitors, a steady stream of concerned friends to see the both of them. Yosuke is a constant shadow by Yu's bedside, and he's nearby now, talking to another well-wisher.

Yu's been sleeping lightly. Perhaps to be expected, with all that there is to trouble him. But he also is having a hard time letting himself rest. He can't, when he knows there are so many people coming to see him. He wants to be here for them, no matter how much sleep his body is demanding.

It's why he doesn't sleep for long once Kyoko takes a seat. It's only a few minutes before he stirs, his eyes blinking open. It takes him a moment or two before he orients himself, but his gaze settles on her before too long. ]

Kirigiri-san.

[ He shifts a little. His bed is tilted, so he doesn't have to do anything really to sit up, thankfully. ]

It's good to see you.

[ She'd been the only non-fighter in the group not to be massively wounded during that final battle, a fact for which he's still quietly grateful. No one had escaped the trip entirely unscathed, but she hadn't been maimed or killed. ]

Hospital; For Yu

[braavado]

[After the raid on the research tower, Korra's been spending some more time at the hospital to practice her healing, and it's just pure luck that she even finds Yu and the others in their rooms.

She sits up in her chair beside his bed when she notices him stirring.]

Careful. [Korra puts a hand on the blanket covering him, lips pressed together in a thin line with worry.] Don't move around too much, okay? You really took a beating--whatever you were doing.

[covenantal]

[ He'll wince and hiss as he wakes, having reacted to an unfamiliar presence by starting - which, of course, tugged sharply at his wound. But once he wakes up a little more he starts to recognize who it is. ]

... it's Korra, isn't it? [ They'd only met once before, but he remembers her. ] ... it's a long story. [ To put it lightly. ]