semi-closed 🔪 sometimes it's better to lose than compromise

[pitfight]

Who ⬤ Nishitani and various
What ⬤ It's trauma time! (event nsfw)
When ⬤ THE BLOOD RAIN BABY
Where ⬤ various
Content Warnings ⬤ TRAUMA!! BLOOD!! GORE!! VIOLENCE!! PTSD!! SEX!! BODY HORROR? This is a nsfw post for event stuff, so be warned

if you would like to tag into this/want a starter, hmu at bussy!

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ANDY / the cursed night

[pitfight]

[ They've grown used to the sound of breakfast being made early in the morning. Usually Nishitani, up and about, singing poorly and letting Bastard in from his nightly rolls-- it's domestic, familiar. Easy. A studio apartment with a shitty futon mattress tossed on the floor of the living room. ]

[ When Nishitani wakes up in his own room, with a door, Andy at his side-- the sun is bouncing in through a window, and the sounds of movement a floor below them-- laughter, of a young woman, and the stern tones of an older man. He looks down at himself. He only has his arm inked in, the rest of his body is free of the tattoos he suffered so long for-- ]

[ Yawning, stretching, Nishitani rolls back over. He's 15, the shrill creek of cicada's out his window mean it's summer-- which means he's sleeping for a while longer. ]

RYOUMA / the cursed night

[pitfight]

[ Getting split up from Andy is a fucking nightmare. He's making his way to some place safe to try and regroup, collecting random fucking people losing their minds on his way. At this point Nishitani probably looks about as bad as most of their nightmares so it's a fucking miracle they even listen to him. ]

[ Speaking of. ]

Hey! Stay right there, idiot, I'm coming up! [ A man, on one of the exposed flight of stairs leading up into a random assortment of businesses. Nishitani's missing his jacket at this point but he's got a busted up cigarette pinched between his lips and that's going to get him through his night, somehow. ]

[medicative]

[she doesn't know where she is anymore. it's dark, it's colder - the bloody rain that stains her skin has long since dried, since she's stumbling through somewhere else, and it is so, so quiet. these aren't the streets she knows, the buildings she knows - things are empty, and cold, and silent, decaying slowly. like Hakagemachi, except this isn't that crumbling town, not entirely. it's things she knows and things she does not. broken windows, open doors.

but even Hibiki is silent. there are no wings on her back to reassure her. the mask at her waist has gone cold, and it feels like it hurts in her chest. a pain of phantoms, when her soul was so accustomed to another presence there. alone, with no way out...she'd almost take someone trying to kill her at this point, to avoid the fear that she's fallen away like everything else did in that city. was this what it was like, to lose your body, to be swept away in the current?

she can't save anyone here. no one can see her, so no one sees the despair that creeps into her veins, or hears the broken sound she makes when she realizes that she could walk and walk and there would probably be that endless expanse of nothing. nothing beautiful or salvageable. just her, left to wither away as befits someone who runs from their crimes. time twists in on itself, and she has no clue how long she's been here - all of the medicine she had made, she had given to other people in worse states, thinking she could make it back. but it feels so real that for a while, she forgets about curses, and weeps. this is the new world, after all.

exhausted, she sits down against one of the decaying buildings, letting her head hang forward. hell had finally caught up to her, then. she can only pray that wherever the others are, they're safe - that they forget about her, to be happier.]

[pitfight]

[ Hell opening up wasn't exactly something Nishitani was prepared for. He would've drunk more if he knew something like this would happen-- but that's besides the point. He's collecting his people, and Emily is missing. The immediate downpour of blood rain had set off virtually everyone at the beach party, and if not the rain, then the crippling hallucinations took care of the rest. Nishitani's suit is stained completely red, his hair matted to his head, and the cigarette he's smoking a coal in the night. What a fucking time. ]

[ He shoots a text off to Emily-- and hears a response, dull in the rain but obviously a response. One more to make sure, and Nishitani's scowering the alleys and doorstops for Emily-- praying she's still got her phone on her-- and when he finds her, he pulls off his jacket and draws it over her, where she sits to keep the worst of the rain off her. ] Look what the cat finally spat up!

[medicative]

[it's clear why she isn't answering her phone when he's close enough to see her, gone white under the blood that's fallen on her, eyes only half open and vacant. it's like she isn't even awake, and when he touches her, there's a brief glimpse - like an image laid over the world - of what she sees. that sheer desolation, a silence that cuts through the rainfall enough to make one's ears ring.

a bubble that's trapped her mind. she's not here, but there.]

[pitfight]

[ Alright, well, that's less great. At least her phone lead him here, and now he can take care of the situation. His jacket might not be the normal, pristine condition he regularly keeps it in, but he folds it over Emily's shoulders regardless, the extra weight and heat should get her physically grounded. Next is the hard part. ]

You better not scold me when you wake up... [ Nishitani kneels down and picks her up carefully. He's taking her some place out of this rain, then he can try and get her back to reality. ]

[medicative]

[she's lighter than she looks - it helps when your skeleton is hollow - and that illusion persists around him as he carries her. not enough to block his view, just enough to show what she still sees.

on her end, something's changed - for some reason, she doesn't feel so cold. not as much, like the atmosphere is blocked around her for some reason, and she curls up where she is, to cling to that sensation. and a faint, faint sound in a rhythmic pattern - one she wants to keep listening to, since it's not nothing. it's enough to hold onto, to steady her breath by, and it seems to grow louder the longer she listens.

she's silent, unmoving as he carries her, seemingly unaware of her surroundings or of moving at all. wherever he's going, she's not complaining, nor giving any input. she's more like a doll that happens to be breathing, ignorant of the rain, the world.

until they pass the doorway to shelter, and Nishitani will see the illusion drift away to leave his vision unclouded, feel her shift in his arms. there's hope yet.]

[pitfight]

[ The door to a small soup shop gets kicked in to get them both out of the rain, and Nishitani sits Emily down on one of the tables, leaning over to check her eyes when he sees that she's responding, however faint. He didn't expect her to snap back so easily, but he's not going to fucking complain. ] You finally with us, Emikko?

[medicative]

[he says her name, and her eyes snap into focus - but the look within them is utter terror, empty and seeing beyond him instead of where she is. there's a second where she sees whatever's in her mind's eye, and then she jerks up to sitting, nearly smacking his head on the way up, reaching out to clutch at his shirt

she's trembling, and as her free hand goes to bring the jacket closer, her grip is tight, white knuckled, before she blinks and remembers to breathe. where...is she? she's in Jigokucho, and the person before her is...]

...Nishitani?

[low, quiet. as if she can't actually believe it.]

[killtime]

[ She’s slow to stir. It wasn’t like that before - she hardly ever slept before all this, and even if she did, it was the restless and shallow sleep of a woman who knew her nightmares were waiting for her. But, crammed together on that shitty futon with him, some nights she sleeps now. Quiet, dreamless sleep. And it takes her a few moments to swim to the surface of her unconsciousness, unsure why it feels vaguely like something is off as the world settles into her awareness. Is that the sound of laughter?

Andy sits up, all tousled hair and bleary eyes as she squints into the sunlight peaking in from the window. Her vision adjusts. And it hits her suddenly.

This isn’t her shithole apartment in hell. This isn’t any place she recognizes. And when she turns sharply to look for Nishitani at her side, he’s - ]

Fuck!

[ Startled, she jerks away, hissing the curse out under her breath. Is she dreaming? Is that…? The tattoo on his arm is familiar. He’s familiar. But that’s not… Andy pinches her own arm. Hard. Nothing happens except a sharp pain. ]

What the fuck.

[pitfight]

That's right. Glad to see me? [ Nishitani pulls away to dodge her snapping forward, but goes forward when she clutches at his shirt, paws at the jacket around her shoulders. Considering what shape everyone has been in during this rain, he's not overly surprised by her actions. ]

[medicative]

I...how did you find me?

[there had been no one for miles. no sign of life at all, and now here they are. if she keeps touching him, she knows he's right there in front of her, that he's not disappearing. and right now, that is what she needs after being rattled right down to her soul.]

[pitfight]

By making a couple right turns. [ Nishitani never put much belief into fate. He crafted his own road with his own two hands and what junk he could pull up along the way. When he turned down the road Emily had been on, he'd done it because he wanted to. He chased down the sound of her ringtone because he wanted to-- and that matters more than destiny, shouldn't it? ] But I got you now, baby.

[medicative]

[it shouldn't be such a relief, but it is. I got you now. a lifeline in the dark, while her youkai is still woozy, and a presence there to hold onto. perhaps he expects it, how she leans forward into him, hand loosening on his jacket and her arms coming to embrace him.]

...Thank you.

[she means it with all her heart, since he's the only steady thing around she can sense.]

[pitfight]

[ Normally, Nishitani would try and cop a feel with how she's grabbing onto him, but with them both covered in blood and all the shit coming down-- he puts himself behind, puts family forward. Take care of the ones who take care of you. Emily is that-- Emily takes care of all of them, and that makes her indispensable. ] Thank me when I get you back to your boy.

[pitfight]

Keep it down or the old man'll figure out you're here. [ Nishitani grumbles, rolling onto his side so his back is facing Andy. He hasn't even opened up his eyes. He never does with the girls he brings home-- especially when they're stupid enough to fall asleep after the hook up is over. ] You'll have to leave through the window.

[medicative]

[something in her wants to protest that she can thank him whenever she likes - they'll somehow manage to get out of here, even if she's out of medicine, if they stay with each other. and maybe it's because she truly is grateful, that he feels like one thing she can trust, but she yields to one impulse in her system. she'd be an utter liar to say she hadn't thought about it before now, but she would lie all the same.

when she raises her head and kisses him, it's not some desperate burst of passion, nor overly shy. rather, it's simpler than that - an act of gratitude, because she wants to. a token to keep with him, no more and no less.]

[killtime]

[ The look on her face goes from bewildered to annoyed, then exasperated. Alright, she gets it — this is probably some cursed hell bullshit, because it would obviously be too much to ask for her to just fall asleep and wake up in the same fucking reality. Also? Fuck going through the window.

Instead, Andy irritably hauls herself to her feet, rummaging around a little as she helps herself to the half-sleeping teenager's clothes — gods forbid she confronts any of this with her tits out — then pointedly opens the door and starts heading downstairs to find out what the ever-living fuck is going on around here. ]

[pitfight]

Hey-- wait! [ Nishitani bolts upright when Andy goes for the door, spurred to movement even if it means jumping to his feet ass naked and grabbing onto this chicks wrist. ] The fuck do you think you're doing?

[killtime]

[ There’s a fleeting glimpse of the centuries-old warrior queen in her when he catches her wrist and she turns to look at him, stormy and imperious - but then she just exhales, dragging one hand down her face with a disgruntled little noise. ]

The fuck does it look like I’m doing? I’m trying to figure out what the hell is happening. [ Her eyebrows pinch. ] You clearly don’t know shit. You don’t even remember me, do you?

[pitfight]

[ Unlike the Nishitani she knows now, the Nishitani here is different. When she glares at him-- he lets go of her wrist and takes an involuntary step back. ] You're just some bitch.

[killtime]

[ It surprises her a little - how easily he lets go - but as she looks at him now, she supposes it shouldn’t really surprise her at all. The kid is a long way off from the man he’ll be in a few decades. Even if they do have the same damn foul mouth.

Dryly, with a pointed little look: ]

You’re lucky I’m your bitch, or I would’ve taken that personally. [ She nods in the direction of the door. ] Who’s downstairs?

[pitfight]

No one special. [ Petulant, a teenager who doesn't want to have the life he has here clash with the life he has out in public. The people downstairs are two of the most important people to Nishitani, but still, for looks, he brushes them off. ]

[ The dream shifts, the home cracks. Nishitani doesn't respond, as if this might be normal, but for an outsider looking in-- the dream shifts, sticky, like tar, to either prove Nishitani right or prove Nishitani wrong. ]

[killtime]

[ Enma’s balls - she hates this curse shit. Is she the only one concerned with the house fucking cracking? Apparently so. Gods. ]

Fuck this. [ She’s turning to leave again - but then she hesitates, turns back around, grabs Nishitani by the arm and pulls him along with her as she makes a second attempt to go downstairs. ] We’re getting the hell out of here.

[pitfight]

H-hey! Let go of me! [ He's naked, and in his mind, his uncle and Sara-nee are still downstairs. He struggles against her-- but when they make it to the bottom floor, there's an inch of blood on the floor waiting for them, an old man face down with a gunshot in his back; a young girl, tied up, with the side of her head caved in. ]

[ The dream shifts again, Nishitani is dressed, still young, rushing over to them both. ] Wait! Wait! I said wait! Give them back!