homralings | After the Memory (Eric + Kusanagi)

After the Memory (Eric + Kusanagi)

[ Eric stared into space, barely focusing on the bar's counter as he heard a clock ticking somewhere.

Just two days after Mikoto's passing...or was it three? Eric couldn't tell sonce he hasn't really slept since then. Which was ine of the reasons why he volunteered tonight to watch over Anna and the bar. Fujishima offered to stay as well but after Eric snapped at him for babying him, he managed to be alone. He felt bad for that and would apologize the next time he saw the other but his mind was just in a fog.

He closed his eyes to doze but sprang them back open as flashes of what happened thay day came back. The uneasiness of watching himself do something he had no control over made his skin crawl. As well as the other patches of memories he was sure weren't from his own head. But he kept quiet. He didn't think anyone saw him being taken control of by the Colourless King and with everything that happen, he didn't want to worry anyone for it.

He vaguely heard the clock chime to 4am and sighed. Just a little longer and he would be through. ]

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Mmm...

[ He's got his eyes closed trying to rest them and waking up feeling better in just a short while. But his eyes were so heavy it was hard to open them after awhile. ]

[Izumo chuckles softly, looking away and moving around and trying not to make too much noise.

Eric's finally gotten some sleep, and for now, Izumo will leave him there.

He glances a look at the time, realizing it's still early to start cooking, so he figures he'd grab a blanket from one of the closets and carefully drapes it around Eric, making sure not to wake him.]

[ Eric can't help himself and falls asleep almost soon after his eyes are closed.

A while after the blanket get's place on it, Eric begins to frown, twitching a bit in his sleep. Soon after a whine. Then he starts yelling.

He bolts up, still screaming and due to the blanket, stumbles onto the floor. He tries to shake off the blanket that has become tangled onto him. A stream of 'No's' comes out in spaces. ]

[That has Izumo hurrying in after he went to check up on Anna, convincing her to go back to sleep after she woke up for a bit.

When he sees Eric on the floor, he goes over to him, whispering for him to calm down and helping him become untangled from the blanket.]

Eric, relax. 's just a dream. [Or to be more precise, a nightmare, but first things first-]

[ After Kusanagi says that Eric snapped out of it. His screaming stopped, and his whole body becomes rigid as he freezes. his breathing the only thing that was moving his body in ragged breaths. ]

[The barkeep stays beside him, watching him in case he has a relapse. He doesn't ask what the nightmare was about, only waiting until Eric decides to tell him. For now, he'll remain as a silent support for him to lean on if needed.]

[ When there was enough calm in his system, Eric finally got his bearings back. He was in th ebar he must've fallen asleep, Kusanagi was beside him, he hoped he hadn't woken up Anna.

Kusanagi was beside him...

He saw what happened

He stared at him, eyes wide and frozen as he tried to figure out what to do. Tell him, don't tell him. He can help, he can never help. Through all the thoughts one came through the loudest.

Run, run away.

He shook his head, grabbing the blanket and throwing it onto Kusanagi for some kind of distraction before he just bolted for the bar door, opening it and slamming it shut, picking a random direction and running. ]

[That.

That was a surprise, and a cause for worry.

Yanking the blanket off of him, he stares after Eric, unsure whether he should chase him down or stay put. But a glance to the side has him seeing Anna, the young girl giving a brief nod before she disappears upstairs.

With a sigh, Izumo leaves the blanket over the chair and walks to the bar's entrance. He's never been the type to chase people down, not unless it's a cause for emergency, but Anna's concerned and so is he.

Right now, he needs to find where Eric has run off to.]

[ Eric ran and he ran and only stopped when he felt his lungs burning enough for a coughing fit. He looked around, he was in some sort of park, Totsuka brought him here the day he joined Homra... The ache in his chest started from his heart instead of his lungs this time.

He tugged on his hair, trying to calm down, trying to get everything out of his head. ]

I don't want to see it anymore...just stop.

[ He held his head as he sat down on a bench, curling up into a ball. No one was in the park at this hour so he was all alone and he wanted it that way. ]

[It took a bit for Izumo to find him. He's called Kamamoto to come by the bar to keep an eye on the place when he went out, simply walking until he finds Eric.

Only to find him curled up on the bench.

Izumo comes close, but not quite. He leans against a tree as he lights another cigarette, watching Eric from a relatively safe distance.

It's obvious Eric wanted to be alone. For now, Izumo will give him that, but he doesn't want to risk leaving Eric out in the open in his current state either.]

[ He stays like that for a long time, trying to calm down and get the images out of his head. He just wanted to be left alone.

Finally, he gets calm enough to come out of his ball, lifting his head out and staring ahead blankly into space. Except he saw something out of the corner of his eye...He jumps, almost ready to spring back up and start running again. How did Kusanagi find him so quickly??? He does put his feet on the ground, standing up awkwardly, watching, waiting for anything of what he might do. ]

[When Eric finally notices him, he blows out a ring of smoke before flashing him a smile.]

Relax, 's just me. Sit down.

[ He shakes his head. Run runrunrunstaynorunyouhavetostay ]

Okay, don't sit, but don't run.

Ya don't need ta tell me what your nightmare was about, but I just wanna talk t'ya.

[ He stares at him, still debating whether to continue running or not. But at the mention he doesn't have to talk he close his mouth tightly, watching and waiting for whatever Kusanagi was going to say. ]

[Dropping the cigarette, Izumo steps on it and he looks at the sky, seeing it starting to change colors as dawn starts to rise over the horizon.]

I've had nightmares, too. Some o'em bad enough ta keep me awake. [He keeps his eyes on the horizon even as he tucks his hands into his pockets.] One o'the nightmares I recall vividly is seeing Mikoto burning in his own flames, and I could nothing ta stop it.

[ Hearing that sounded horrible. To watch a friend burn like that. And they had to watch didin't they?

But he shakes his head. That was a nightmare, but this was different. ]

...I killed Totsuka-san

[Ah, he finally got Eric to start talking. Good.]

Really now? [Izumo watches him closely.] Was it really ya or didja think it was?

It was me...because I saw what happened after...after he was lying on the ground.

[ It was at the point of view of the Colourless King, not from the camera. Although that could be argued because he saw the camera scene so many times. ]

And I remember...shooting Anna. It was at the school, I saw her through something and...glass broke...

[ He never heard of that before but it felt real enough that he had actually tried to kill Anna that he felt sick to his stomach. ]

And from stabbing the Blue King...it was me but not me. I just walked where the debris was falling even though I didn't want to...

[Izumo listens to him talk, trying to connect everything together.

It was slowly starting to make sense.

Eric's been possessed by the Colorless King because Izumo was there when one of the Blues shot at Anna, tried to shoot at him.

He hums.]

's not ya. Everything ya saw, it wasn't ya who did all o' that. Y'know that.

[ He knows he didn't do it, he knows that the memories aren't his, but they flash as livid as his own. ]

It feels like...it was me. I could feel his emotions and thoughts and it was like wearing a second skin.

[ He shivers at remembering how he felt when his body was taken over, like he was watching himself through a screen. ]

There's others too, memories that aren't mine. But they feel like they are...I don't want to see them anymore.

[A soft hum before Izumo finally decides to get closer, slow enough so he doesn't freak Eric out again.

He doesn't want the younger man to go sprinting.]

's not easy ta forget something like that; all ya can really do is simply move on. [Which...is easier said than done, but...] 's hard in the beginning, but talking ta someone usually helps.

[ He lets Kusanagi come closer, he's too tired to run anymore ]

I don't...don't want to feel happy for killing Totsuka-san again...

[ That alone made him sick in the stomach, that made him feel guilty and want to never talk about it. ]

[As he finally gets closer, Izumo places a hand on top of Eric's head.

There's nothing he could really say to help make Eric feel better. This isn't a situation he's used to dealing with.

How does one get over being possessed?] Then don't feel happy 'bout it. Remember the other times ya were happy instead. Focus on the memories ya made with Totsuka.

[ Focus on the memories he had made with Totsuka...huh?

Being taught how to cook, Totsuka singing, going on about his crazy hobbies, him helping Eric no matter what time or for what. Saying his motto over and over again.

He smiles, it's small and sad and it brings a bit of tears to his eyes because he misses him so much. But he smiles just a little, it's better then thinking of him bloody and on the ground. ]

I'll try...

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