[OPEN] The end of the storm

[watermemory]

Who ⬤ The team members and ANYONE!
What ⬤ The mission was a success! Time to face the music from friends and family.
When ⬤ Just after the tower expedition
Where ⬤ Outside Kaigo no Bou, probably moving around
Content Warnings ⬤ References to violence and horror imagery


All at once, the rains cease.

The damage remains, both to the city and to her inhabitants, but reality reasserts itself, and the ill wind that's blown through Jigoku-cho has—for now—come to an end.

Emergency services have borne away the injured, including the Daitengu and the freed Enma, leaving a gaggle of people emerging into the night.


[This is an OPEN IC MINGLE. Go forth and icly rubberneck or speculate or collect your friends back home to get some rest or yell at said friends for taking risks without telling them they were chosen for this mission out of some misguided attempt to get them to not worry. Who would do something so stupid, anyway.]

Comments

[holeful]

[Watching Minato dent the watermelon.]

... Ah. I guess I sort of forgot home much time had passed since I couldn't really think that clearly for most of the blood rain.
[Not correct, he knew exactly how much time had passed, but he'd forgotten a little what the passage of time meant.]

[watermemory]

[ He leans against the outer walls of the building, hands covering his face, shoulders shaking. There might be a touch of hysteria there. It takes him a minute to calm down. ]

S-sorry, I'm not laughing at-- I don't think you're alone in that. [ He lowers his hands a bit, so his eyes are visible. ] It's clear now, right? Your mind, that is?

[ Sure, the rain's stopped and the aura from the tower feels clear, but who knows how any of this really works... ]

[holeful]

[Listen even if Minato was laughing at him he wouldn't care. He nods!! He's his usual chipper self, though he seems a bit tired.]

Aah. It wasn't as bad when I was inside, but the longer the rain went on, the more I was still affected even inside! So I'm really glad you guys fixed it.

[watermemory]

...yeah.

[ That kind of cuts any laughter off at the source. He'd hoped staying out of the rain would curb the effects, too, but that hope got dashed pretty conclusively, didn't it? Still, if Fukuda really has shrugged it off with the rains ceasing, then maybe a certain other person has...? ]

[ He manages to drag back a semblance of a smile, despite himself. ] Ah, but you don't look worse for the wear, and you thought of us enough to bring all this stuff. It must've been a terribly long walk here.

[holeful]

[Well, Fukuda does have a smattering of smaller bandages along with a much larger one on his forearm, but holistically he's doing well.]

Aah, well when Cain found me he banned me from going back outside! So I haven't been out in the rain as much as other people. But since I felt bad for not being much help, when I heard from Cain that you guys were coming back out I thought I could at least do this!

[watermemory]

[ Hey, so long as the forearm wound doesn't look new and doESN'T OBVIOUSLY LOOK LIKE A BITE, Fukuda being on his feet and (relatively) lucid is good enough. ]

You know Knightley?

[ Minato's not going to outright say something in the elevator seemed to really unsettle Cain, but... ]

If you want to repay him, maybe check up on him over the next few weeks? He's not injured, don't worry, but he seemed pretty drained... I only met him tonight, so I don't know if it'd be okay coming from me.

[holeful]

[It doesn't look like a bite, it looks like there might be a chunk of his arm missing but wrapped up it's impossible to tell.]

I do! We are work colleagues after all. But also, he's been very kind to me and we are friends now. I can definitely keep an eye on him.

[watermemory]

Right, you're both with... [ He's tired. ] I'm not surprised, he's a good guy. I don't think I'd be here if not for him.

[ He falters at that - that last scramble at the top of the tower is going to be weighing on his mind for some time. In the silence, the sound of ambulance sirens (that probably have been careening through the streets this whole time) filters in. ]

Eh, are you sure you don't want a doctor to look at that?

[holeful]

Someone already looked at it! It's just pretty deep so it's still not fully scabbed over. So I'm keeping the bandage on so it doesn't get infected.
[He seems oddly unconcered.]

But that makes you and me brothers, you know! Cain also saved be during all this! He's the one who found me out in the rain, injured.
[Brothers by way of both being saved by Cain. Apparently???]

[watermemory]

[ Wellll... Minato should have expected that, after the man's cavalier attitude when asked about his head wound. But he concedes that he probably knows best, when it comes to his own injuries. Right? ]

...b-brothers? [ What does that even mean, sir. ] I-I guess you could see it that way... I'd rather not make a habit of needing to be rescued, myself...

[ Ah, what the heck. Minato pushes himself off the wall, reaching a hand down to pick up one end of the net of random supplies Fukuda has been dragging. Except for the watermelon, which rolls out with a sad, gross, wet noise. ] C'mon, I'll help you get this stuff to the medics, anyway. They might appreciate it.

[holeful]

[That's agreement as far as Fukuda is concerned. Minato is his brother now "he doesn't know Minato's name" it's fine.]

Yeah! But are you hurt yourself? I know the people who were the worst hurt got taken away, but the rest of you...