estoria | [open]

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Who: abe no "i'm so gloomy now" sousei & all of you people
When: IC: 1/21-23 || OOC: 6/17-20ish WHENEVER
Where: Various, catch him wherever suits!
What: What do you do when your partner's gone missing? Do dumb things and check on all of his adopted children, naturally.
Rating/Warning: None!

a. open - around the shopping district;

[At first, he didn't really think anything was wrong. Tenka going missing was naturally concerning, but he could've been at work, or the like. But as the day drags on and he doesn't show up, Sousei actually picks up his phone to call him.

User not Registered.

That's...that's very bad. Don't mind Sousei just standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring down at the CereVice in his hand.

At least, until he snaps back into action, turns abruptly, and starts going in the other direction. Too bad he didn't look where he was going first, hopefully his abrupt stop and equally abrupt direction change didn't cause any traffic jams.

Otherwise he can be found poking his head into shops and through alleyways and possibly even opening up and peering into trash cans. What does he think he's going to find there? Who knows. He has to give it a try, though. Even if he does look ridiculous with a trash can lid held over his head.]

b. open - gym;

[And as it drifts into the next day with still no Tenka, Sousei has to admit what he very much doesn't want to--namely that Tenka's gone, and they have no idea if he'll come back or anything. The city has only just started to run properly again after that entire ghost scare; still, it's hard to really appreciate that when it's becoming starkly obvious that everything is not quite right now.

Which is why he can be found in the gym even before his shift begins, practicing. It's good to practice. It's a good way to stay fit, and sharp, which is necessary after that entire fiasco.

Of course, he may be taking this a little too far, as the time drags on into hours and his breathing comes in short, sharp pants. He should probably take a break, but it doesn't seem like it's all too likely right now.]

c. semi-open: to tenka's close cr/people he adopted/etc;

[If Tenka knew you or was trying to take care of you or wanted to help you in some way or was even just amused by you, chances are he told Sousei. And now, as it edges into the third and four and fifth day and still no sign of Tenka coming back, he has to admit that that's probably the case. It had taken Soramaru two weeks to come back, so it isn't as though there isn't hope--but even so, he can't leave this for two weeks.

So he goes to perform his Not Fun Dad duties (which, for the record, he never signed up for). So if Tenka knew your address, he'll be awkwardly knocking on your door, or if he otherwise sees you around the city, he'll be approaching.

Awkwardly.

Sorry if you've never met him before, but he has a Duty to perform, and that duty is looking out for Tenka's gigantic swarm of adoptees and making sure they're all okay after that entire ViViD and technological fiasco.]

Excuse me.

[Don't mind him. He's just a little more Awkward than Tenka--and he's a little tired, though it's hard to tell from his face.]

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[He...understands what she's looking for, he really does. He doesn't want to pull all of her hope from her, because hope is important. But he is also the sort of person who would rather have the entire situation laid out in front of him, no matter how painful.

So he'll grant her the same courtesy.]

He has disappeared, like many people before. Attempting to contact his device gets the same message as any of the others.

[A breath, and it's audible, as soft as it is. This is...harder than he expected, somehow. But maybe that's because he'd truly believed Tenka when he said he wouldn't be disappearing again.

And yet here they are again.]

Naturally, I intend to continue to look for him. [....... but. And more softly--] ...Though the others who have disappeared like this have yet to be found.

[She moves to sit against the back of the couch, misses, and sits heavily on the floor instead. She doesn't move, hands still clutched in front of her and eyes unseeing at a fixed point. ]

Oh.

[She feels like she should, well, feel. But she doesn't. There's a numbness that settles over her and into her very bones, and deep under it a sense of betrayal. But the anger doesn't come, not yet. Oh she'll rage for sure. Her apartment will be turned upside down, mirrors smashed and glasses broken against walls and floors. But for now she can't feel it touch her as her eyes well with tears that fall silently. She can't even muster the energy to cry properly.]

But, promised... They cannot send him away. He cannot leave, I... [Someone stop the world spinning she wants to get off.]

[Slowly, he crouches next to her on the floor, meeting her eyes. He knows what's going through her head--it's not as though he didn't feel the same sort of emptiness when he'd realized (ten years, no, never again) but right now, there's someone in front of him who needs help, and so his voice is stern.]

Oona. I need you to focus.

[On him. On his eyes. On his voice.]

He is not here right now. That does not mean he is gone forever. He may yet return [but not remember anything] or we may yet find him. [in who knows what state?]

Do not give up hope.

[Focus, he says, and it sounds so simple. She blinks slowly and steadies her gaze on him, trying to bring everything back from the hazy cloud she seems to have found herself in.

His words sound good to her, but unease still twists. She knows, she's seen, that sometimes people never return, or they return different from how they left.

Focus. Do not give up hope. Focus. Do not give up hope.

It's a mantra now, but she's not sure how much of it she believes and how much is just going through the motions in the hope that doing it enough times will make it true.

Slowly she reaches out and curls her fingers into his sleeve, a compromise between her desire for physical contact and his distaste for it.]

...Where have you looked already?

[She's focusing on something concrete, and as far as Sousei is concerned, that's good. He's not the best at comfort in any way, really, but he can try to support her in whatever way she finds it necessary to cope.

If she wants to help him search, even knowing just like him that they won't find anything, then that's fine.

They can search together.

And they can deal with things later, when they find nothing.]

I have already searched the Entertainment District. [After all, that's where Tenka had worked--though Sousei remembers him talking about wanting to open a new bar somewhere less noisy.

So many empty dreams, really. Tenka was surprisingly good at that.]

I haven't searched the others as thoroughly. [He has searched them, of course, but he's trying to give Oona something to do here too.]

[She takes a deep breath, a thread of memory winding through her cloud of grief and she suddenly looks at Sousei much more sharply than before.

But if anything happens to me, I need you to take care of Sousei.

I'd appreciate it if you remind him that I'm always going to come back, one way or another.

Her brow furrows and she looks away, trying to blink away tears again.] ...Tenka said... [She swallows, wondering why it's so hard] He's going to come back. Talked before, a little. If something happened, said to tell you he would be back. Somehow.

And, I will not leave you. Will stay by your side, will look after you. Promised...

[There were many things he was expecting, but that was not one of them. Tenka had talked about this before, huh... Asshole. How dare he put this on Oona's shoulders as if it should be her problem.

Sousei frowns in response, tightly, but none of the irritation is directed at Oona.]

Is that so.

[He shakes his head once, taking in a slow breath, and letting it out equally slowly.]

Regardless, that will not be necessary, Oona. I am fine.

[She gives his sleeve and aggressive little shake as if to reprimand him for saying that.]

Stupid! We are family. It is the job of family to look out for each other. How is it different from promising to protect Tenka together?

[Since, you know, she and Sousei made that promise together to look after him too.]

You are... You are my family, if Tenka is not-- [here] So, will protect you too.

[He's being scolded by Oona....what a world he lives in. Still, even so, he shakes his head simply. This is one of those things he'll be as stubborn as can be about--and he sure is a hard-headed person.]

... I am aware of that. [That they're family. That they have to stand together if they're going to handle Tenka being gone. But even so...]

Do not concern yourself with this, regardless of whatever thoughts of protection he put in your head.

[You know it's bad when Oona is the one scolding you. And two can play this stubborn game. BATTLE OF THE WILLS. She sets her jaw defiantly]

Stupid! You are so stupid! You think I will break promise to Tenka? Do you think I am that sort of person? Do not insult me.

You can not ask me to help you protect people like Tenka, or think you can protect me, without anything of the same. Do not be so selfish.

[Is that really called being selfish tho... Whatever, Oona's sure he knows what she means]

[It's really bad, 150% Bad. All capital letters.

So now Oona stares at him defiantly, and he frowns slightly in response. No, he doesn't want her to break her promise to Tenka, but--]

It was not fair of him to ask you to do that. His selfishness is not something that you need to take so seriously.

[But she's going to anyway...even Sousei can tell that much.

He sighs softly.]

I don't need protection, Oona.

Does not matter if you need it. You have it.

[She shakes her head, but then she smiles] If it is so awful to you, then just hope you never need it called on.

But, it is not selfishness. What is wrong with wanting your loved ones protected? Is not selfish.

It is selfishness.

[That answer comes immediately and sharply, but he's not angry with Oona and it's pretty obvious. Rather...this topic is a sore point. It's something that gets under his skin, because this is twice now that Tenka has promised to be there, to help him accomplish something, and then has gone and left it to other people.

"You've never really cared about the people you've left behind, have you?"

This time isn't Tenka's fault, and yet--]

If he was so concerned with taking care of me, he should have remained to do so himself rather than leaving it as your responsibility.

[Oona goes quiet for a moment, staring at Sousei with a thoughtful look. She feels, in that moment, she understands Sousei better than she ever did before. Her eyes lower and her fingers curl tighter into his sleeve, wishing she could give into the urge to just pull him into her arms and hold him close; but he wouldn't find that comforting at all, probably, she knows that much.]

Tenka is... truly awful, is he not. He tells lies, does he not. [Deep down Oona wanted to believe Tenka would never lie to her, but even with the promises she knows it's probably not true. She's not so naive anymore to believe it; it's human nature, after all.]

He has hurt all of us, but he hurt you most. Why do we forgive people like that... [It's a question, but not one she actually expects an answer to and she shakes her head quietly.]

[There's really no need to confirm her questions, when he knows she's already come to her own conclusions. Rather, Sousei simply sighs, and he can feel the curl of her fingers in his sleeve, but he still does not know how to properly initiate any sort of physical affection to comfort her.

He'll really never know how, he thinks. He simply missed out on too much of that as a child to ever be comfortable with it now.

Tenka has hurt him the most, huh...? Well. He can't deny that, but at the same time, he's never really questioned why he forgives Tenka.]

He is my partner. He is family to you. [and to Sousei too, of course.] We forgive those who are important to us, when they ask for our forgiveness.

[and he would do it again, if Tenka showed up tomorrow, with a stupid comment as if he'd been there all along.]

Will he ask?

[She can't say outright if she'll easily forgive him or not, mostly because she doesn't want to lie. Deep down she thinks she will, because it's Tenka and she loves him dearly, but it hurts. It hurts to feel like this, and hurts even more to see others who were surely suffering just as much or more.

...Still, it's also not entirely Tenka's fault. Oona doubts he vanished like this on purpose, so with that in mind it makes it easier. Better to place blame on this world and the people in charge.

Oona shakes her head.] Stupid aniki... We will have to--What do they say? 'Make him pay'? Because, we will see him again. We will.

[It's a good question, and Sousei doesn't know the answer. Will Tenka ask for forgiveness...? He hasn't yet, but admittedly, Sousei wouldn't want it after this one. He knows that Tenka wouldn't have left them if he'd had any choice in the matter.

But the first one... it still smarts. Even knowing all of the reasons that Tenka did it, even understanding better why he left the Yamainu, he hasn't asked for forgiveness.

It's funny.]

"Make him pay", Oona? That sounds a little more revenge-driven than you would like. [...] I would hope.

Though perhaps a punch or two would not be out of line.

Am often driven by revenge. Some days, is only thing to keep me going. [There's an amused look on her face, but how much of that is actually...true....]

Do not take betrayal lightly. Even if it is unintentional, even if accident... Can not allow him to go unpunished. [Again she's only half-joking. On one hand, yes, it wasn't his fault exactly. But on the other hand, she can't let Tenka go on thinking that it's okay either.

But she laughs anyway] Will think of something. Even if only a punch or two.

[But Oona quiets again,the topic of forgiveness circling back in her mind.] Think, Tenka is kind to expect people to forgive him without prompting. Is true, for we love him too much and allow it. But, one day,it will not work so easily... Wonder what he will do then...

[You know...with what he knows about her past, he would not be surprised if that is the truth, and it makes him think...though for now, she's remaining lighthearted, and so he won't drag the mood back down.

They can't handle more heavy topics right now, he thinks.]

He will likely accept that punishment, so do so while he is. [Because goodness knows Tenka can be a dick about it otherwise, and tackle you, or headlock you or-- or that might just be to Sousei, huh...]

But as to that... rather, I do not believe Tenka expects forgiveness at all, so perhaps that is why he is afraid to ask.

[Tenka has always had self-worth issues, hasn't he? It's a gentle correction, though; she has no way of knowing, when Tenka is so...Tenka about things.]

Still, I will not offer it until I am asked for it. [that's Sousei's one, stubborn conviction.]

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