And the World Shall Forget You

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld instinctively took a half-step back as the person that answered the door turned out to be not the person he expected. Gestahl was large and foreboding enough to make most nervous on even normal days; Eld really hoped he didn't blame him for what happened to Akizetsumei--he might have trained a little in martial arts, but it would hardly matter against someone of his stature. He imagined it would take some kind of superhuman to best Gestahl of Terra in a fight...

"Y-Yeah. I-Is Toushikyo around? I'd like to talk to him. If that's not, umm, too much trouble."

The only good thought that could come to his mind right now was that hopefully with her father around Akizetsumei would cheer up a little.

[Nayt]

"Toushikyo?" Gestahl asked. "Hmn."

He half-turned around to check behind him, and upon not seeing Toushikyo in the main room, glanced upstairs. It seemed his son's door was shut.

"I'll go get him."

And with that, Gestahl turned away from the door and made for the stairs. As he began his ascent, someone else in the house noticed him. There was a woman standing in the kitchen, hand washing a plate. She had dark red hair and though she was in her mid-forties, she didn't look a day over thirty five. She was thin and shapely in all the right areas, and easily the woman of every boy in town's childhood fantasies. She was amongst the trifecta of mothers that school age boys drooled over: Mrs. Vaerbond, Mrs. Tsukimono, and Mrs. Katalyna. Mrs. Takamine would've been a fourth member of the unofficial group, but she was a woman of faith. Even to a school boy that made her untouchable even with one's eyes.

Katalyna tilted her head confusedly at Eld, and upon recognizing him, set the plate by the sink and left the kitchen. She turned to Akizets on the couch, nudged her shoulder gently, and said something to her too soft to hear from the door. Akizets barely opened her eyes to look up at her mother, but soon shut them and turned on the couch, showing her back to the door.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld smiled at Katalyna of Terra. As if to enforce some cosmic balance, where her husband was quite terrifying to those that didn't know him well, she practically exuded warmth and comfort. (Incidentally, Eld had never been one much to fantasize about significantly older women. Given that his options were the mother of a girl he was sleeping with, the mother of a girl he currently had a crush on, and his own mother, it's probably for the best.)

He hadn't even seen Akizetsumei until her mother walked over to her, and by then his impulse to hide was rather too late. She saw him, and her reaction was as disheartening as it was expected.

Biting his lip, he slunk from the doorway slightly. As much as he wanted to ask her how she was feeling, as much as he wished he could do something to cheer her up, it seemed that it was impossible for now. Whether she was haunted or simply under the weather, she clearly didn't want to see him.

[Nayt]

At her daughter's reaction, Katalyna frowned. She nudged Akizetsumei's shoulder again and said something to her, at which Akizets replied. They exchanged dialogue for a little bit, and after a moment, Akizets sat up just a bit. She still didn't look over at Eld, but she looked up at her mother and said something forlorn in sincerity. Just before she laid her head back down, it looked like she was about ready to cry. Katalyna tried to comfort the girl by rubbing her shoulder, but Akizets shrugged her off and curled up into a ball.

Katalyna smiled back to Eld in spite of her daughter and apologetically shrugged her shoulders, as if to say she tried, but her hands were bound pretty tight on this matter. Eldridge Tsukimono was a nice boy; he had good parents and a great upbringing, and Katalyna only wished the best for him. It was just a shame her daughter was treating him this way.

Gestahl started back down the stairs, passing Eld a nod as he reached the bottom. He took a seat nearby Akizetsumei, who seemed mostly unresponsive. Toushikyo opened the door of his room and glanced down the interior balcony, regarding Eld with a look of distrust. He was dressed much like his father-- slacks and a t-shirt, both probably thrown on as he prepared to head downstairs. Toushikyo started downstairs at a methodical pace and did not stop until he stood in the front doorway, effectively blocking Eld from coming in if he ever had the urge to begin with.

Though he didn't say a word, Toushikyo fully expected Eld to say what he wanted to say up front and skip the niceties. It was better that way, always.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld simply looked down forlornly in response to Katalyna's shrug. He could understand Akizetsumei's reaction perfectly well, and he couldn't blame her for not wanting to see him, no matter how much he may have wanted to see her.

He was also vaguely hurt by the amount of hostility Toushikyo exuded. While he certainly could understand why he might be upset with him, that he seemed to actually consider him a threat of some kind was a little much.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I was busy yesterday, and I'll be gone for at least a few days starting tonight, and I wanted to speak with you before I leave." But here, in the doorway of the house where his younger sister lay in the room just beyond him, wasn't the place to speak. "Let's take a walk." He nodded his head towards Akizetsumei, lest he miss exactly why Eld wasn't immediately getting to the point like he desired.

But then again, that would probably give him a good idea what he wanted to talk about anyway.

[Nayt]

Toushikyo half glanced back at Akizetsumei. He nodded in agreement. He may have been regarding Eld with mild hostility, but it seemed less of a personal attack and more of a defense-- that Toushikyo still didn't want Eld around his little sister just yet. Toushikyo stepped down the first step and pulled the door shut behind him. He was barefoot, but that didn't seem to bother him, even after he took a step down upon the grass. He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood by Eld's side; the second Eld started to walk, he would, too.

Either the feel of grass and rocks against the bottom of his feet didn't bother him, or he didn't bother to feel it, but Toushikyo walked just fine. He was as uninhibited as a person in shoes.

"You want to know about Akizetsumei," Toushikyo said outright.

It didn't take a genius to figure out Eld's reason for wanting to speak with Toushikyo. Eld was obviously emotionally invested in Akizetsumei. She was down in the dumps, and he was in the right to want to know why. Or at least, it was understandable if he felt he were right in demanding to know.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld started them off; Toushikyo seemed to let up a little once they were aware from his house. It made him wonder just how sensitive Akizetsumei was right now; the way her brother acted, it was though even seeing him at all was going to cause her a lot harm.

"Yeah." There was no sense in denying it. "You know what happened to her." He'd already suspected as much, and the way he was acting now all but confirmed it. Kyo definitely knew what happened to her, or at the very least had a much better idea than Eld did right now.

[Nayt]

"An inkling, yes," he replied.

Where they were walking, he hadn't the slightest clue. Toushikyo wasn't even paying attention. He was walking by Eld's side, and with this coming conversation being the only thing of significant importance this evening, it was the only thing he could justify paying close attention to.

All the rest, he was hard pressed to care . . .

"First, tell me what you know."

It was also clear to Toushikyo that Eld had done some level of research into this matter. He thought the matter to be strange enough to investigate within Akizetsumei's family, after all. Chances are he'd done much more homework than that. Perhaps even visited that grave site.

[Zach Kaiser]

"What I know isn't much. I mostly just have guesses." While Eld had learned quite a bit over the last couple of days, much of it could only be taken on faith; only his own experience in disturbing the graveyard led any credibility to what he'd read.

"That graveyard isn't normal. The name I found is "Graveyard of Memories." When Akizetsumei touched those fans, she disturbed...something. A spirit perhaps." He paused as though to gauge what Toushikyo thought of this before continuing.

"It...haunted her. Or still is, maybe. The fans were put back, so maybe she's fine now--or getting better, at least. I don't know why it was different for her than it was for me when I moved something--I didn't faint, I wasn't show anything disturbing. I just felt guilty, like I if I didn't put them back I was doing something terrible..." he trailed off.

He hesitated before speaking about what else he'd found, but decided he had no reason to be dishonest with Toushikyo. If he was at all unfriendly with him, it was only because he was looking out for his sister. "I also found some other interesting things. How relevant they are is in question, and I don't think I can believe it all. But it involved those who disturb Graveyard of Memories being..."forgotten by the world." And something about triggering a Repeat."

And that was about it: a theory that was the best he could come up with given the information he had, and a lot of hard to swallow references to something that could be comparable to the end of the world, given the tone.

[Nayt]

"Then you know all I know," Toushikyo replied frankly.

There was something different about him. For all intents and purposes, he should have seemed more . . . surprised. Eld had done an astounding amount of research, but Toushikyo did not react to it, not even in the slightest-- neither vocally or visibly.

"About the Repeat and Terratic Amnesia, I've no more clues than you. But . . ."

Toushikyo paused when he heard a crunch. They were crossing a town street, but they weren't going into town. They weren't walking too far from Toushikyo's house at all, in fact. Rather, they were walking a full circle and were almost a quarter of the way through by then.

". . . the haunting, as you call it, is just a dream," Toushikyo continued after his brief pause, "A waking nightmare that follows you until you, yourself, can fight through to that which you wish to wake you. Unwanted influence does little more than worsen your symptoms. Worsens the nightmare."

"That's why she is home," he concluded, "Because she is still dreaming. And that is why you cannot see her."

[Zach Kaiser]

"So...you're saying that I can't help her so long as she doesn't want my help, huh?" That was...depressing. This entire time he'd been hoping he could somehow find a cure for her condition, but Toushikyo was saying that for now, at least there was nothing he could do.

If there was something he could do, though, he would do it in an instant. Which is why Eld decided to go against what he'd initially decided and tell Toushikyo his plan. "I'll be up near the graveyard for the next few days. If things change...if there's anything I can do to help...come get me. It doesn't matter if I'm in the middle of something, I'll do whatever I can."

Eld didn't make promises lightly, so when he did, one knew he could be counted on to keep it.

[Nayt]

"Why?" Toushikyo asked.

It was . . . a strange question, to be sure, but by the way his expression didn't change even in the slightest, it appeared he was absolutely serious about this. Even stranger, though, was the way he asked. He was toneless, as if somehow Eld's promise was lost on him-- or perhaps he comprehended it, but found trouble ascertaining its sincerity for one reason or the other.

"What is my sister to you, really?"

His question was sincere even if it was carried on the backside of a monotonous and cold tone of voice. At least, it probably was . . .

They were arching back towards Toushikyo's house, now. They hadn't walked too far, and Toushikyo was starting to lead on-- unconsciously so. His feet were taking him back even if his mind chose not to care.

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was rather taken aback by the question; in a conversation about possibly mystical forces, a question about a relationship was unexpected. Which didn't make it any less of a fair question at this juncture.

"I...I'm not sure," he replied, staring at his feet as he kicked a small rock. It was clearly something that had been bothering him as well, even if he usually tried to put it out of his mind. "It hardly seems to matter right now, given that she won't even see me."

He stopped, and closed his eyes for a moment. No, that wasn't true. There was an answer, one he'd been avoiding for a while now. But he couldn't fool himself any longer, and that meant he couldn't fool Toushikyo either.

His eyes reopened, and he glanced upward with an almost guilty expression on his face, which was turning red. "I think...I have feelings for her."

[Nayt]

Toushikyo was silent for the duration of Eld's contemplation, but he did not stop for him. Rather, he continued to walk, with or without Eld. He wound up several yards ahead by the time Eld started to focus again.

"I see," was all Toushikyo said.

It was almost cold, the way he reacted. Now it seemed less of a concern for his sister and more of an obligatory question, something he cared little about, but asked simply because he knew he should ask it.

But . . . with Eld looking down at the ground, and Toushikyo several yards in front of him . . .

Eld would see something disturbing on the ground: a trailing shade of red. Droplets lay behind them, scattered across the ground, with some even resembling the shape of a whole footprint. And ahead, the splotches continued, all the way up to a source: Toushikyo's foot. A lifting of his left foot was all that was necessary to see the damaged and bloody underside. At some point, he must have stepped upon broken glass, as three shards jutted harshly into his skin-- large shards, too, pushed deeper with each step he took.

He took another step and didn't even wince in pain.

[Zach Kaiser]

...That's it? Eld was a little confused; he'd expected to get more of a reaction than that. Like, at the very least a threat of violence for breaking her heart or doing untoward things to her or something, especially with the protective way he'd been acting before. He'd even been bracing for a punch.

But there was nothing; it was like he didn't even care. Surely this would be important when Akizetsumei recovered. And then a thought occurred to him. What if it's an "if" and not a "when?"

Before he could expand on that thought he noticed something. There was blood on the ground, fresh blood, and he only needed to look a little further up to find its source: Toushikyo's foot, which had glass shards embedded in it.

"K-Kyo! Y-Your foot!" He rushed forward and quickly grabbed Kyo's arm, putting it around his shoulders so that he could support his weight. There was no way he should have been able to walk on it, after all.