harmonize_rpg | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Taue & Sekimiya
WHAT: Counselling.
WHERE: Sekimiya's office.
WHEN: Monday following Miyume's tragic passing.

He didn't like the girl -- but that didn't matter. Not one bit. It was perhaps the most despondant Shinichiro Taue to date that arrived at the office of Sekimiya, not even dressed in the school uniform, but whatever he'd managed to find in his closet that day.

He needed to be here. Needed someone to talk to - and fuck if he'd pour his soul out to Mirai, his roommate. Considering Mirai's connection to the deceased, that might have gone even worse than this.

Taue heaved a deep breath, and knocked, thrice. "Taue here," he called, voice firm.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Please, come in."

The diminutive woman met him at the door and ushered him inside quickly. Even she couldn't hide her exhaustion, though she was perhaps doing a better job of it than the rest of the adults.

"Make yourself comfortable."

Taue nodded, gracelessly, walking into the room and almost sinking down into the chair nearest her desk.

"It's been a bad few days," Taue admitted -- and a quick glance at her seemed to confirm the same of the adults, as well. "I don't even know where to begin, but I had to talk to someone."

"Faced with something like this, it's only natural."

She settled into her own chair, a fairly short distance remaining between them, and rested her arms in her lap, regarding him with some concern.

"Even when it's someone you're not close to. Death is a difficult thing to face."

"...I was holding her."

The words spilled out as if waiting for a cue to do so, and Taue shook his head, eyes falling to the tile floor as he spoke.

"I was holding her in my arms, and then she got out of them, and...and then she disappeared," he managed to get out, looking back up at the adult with a faraway look in his eyes. "Poof!"

It took another few moments before he continued, voice raising, almost hysterical.

"And I didn't even have to do anything! Everyone else took care of it! I didn't even have to use George to heal -- how the Hell can I even heal anyone to begin with? It's...it's all crazy! But it's real! She's dead! She couldn't be dead if it wasn't real!"

"Even if everything seemed unreal, it is, sadly, real. And just understanding and accepting that is an important first step."

Sekimiya's voice was kind but firm, and the way she ended left the floor open for Taue, who no doubt had more to let out.

"I know it's real."

The four words came simply, with a shake of his head. Leaning forward, Taue placed both of his hands on Sekimiya's desk. The knuckles were soon white from exertion.

"It's too real. I didn't like this when I thought you all had the answers. Now..."

Now, it was a clusterfuck in the making. No one seemed to have anything resembling confidence, the adults included.

"Never dealt with anything like this. Worst I've had to deal with is the dirtsheets leaking rumored marriage plans and a bunch of protest groups outside TaueCorp."

His words were clipped. Hurt-sounding, as if disgusted at himself for his own relatively easy upbringing as the entire ludicrous situation. He'd never expected himself to fold like a cheap suit in the face of adversity.

This, though, was something beyond the pale.

"Taue-san, there is nothing that could come close to preparing you for this."

It was blunt, but there was a hint of something that might have been regret or contrition there was well.

"Some naturally cope well with adversity. Others don't. Now that you know how you react, the next step is to work on it. Try to consciously control it.

"There's no shame in what happened unless you let it go without learning from it."

Taue shook his head. "I didn't even have to DO anything," he spat, in disgust with himself. "Not even throw up one of those heals -- still can't believe that actually WORKS, by the way."

He closed his eyes again, trembling for a few moments, trying to force the darker thoughts out of his mind and failing. Utterly.

"Is this how it's going to go," he asked, when he opened his eyes. "We get picked off one by one? Unless we know what the Hell's happening, we're just lambs to the slaughter, aren't we?"

Taue's usual confident exterior was utterly gone, replaced by a more justifiable fear. He was a teenager - with some odd phenomenal power - but a teenager nonetheless.

"Not necessarily," she replied, perhaps unexpectedly. "It may not have had anything to do with the shinmen at all."

Sekimiya fixed Taue with a steady gaze. "It's true that we've never seen something quite like this, but in prior incidents, Shadows didn't discriminate between those with the shinmen and those without. If these entities are anything like Shadows, her mental state may have had more to do with it.

"If that's the case, you're no more at risk than anyone else. And we know enough to keep others from making the same mistake. But we need you -- all of you -- to step up."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only