IT'S TRUE

[concretejungles]

[When Mikado didn't immediately show up to see him in the hospital once he was conscious, Kida was surprised and hurt. When he didn't show up for the first week, he was worried. When he didn't answer his phone, that worry turned into fear. Now, seven weeks and two days since he woke up and another two months since he was hospitalized in the first place, all without a sign of Mikado, Kida's just... sad. Lonely. Guilty. Obviously it's his fault, right? Because of what he did, Mikado's done with him. Because he wasn't obedient enough, loving enough, trusting enough -- he wasn't good enough in any parameter. It's been a long time coming, right? Once Mikado was rid of him for a few days, it must have been a huge relief. His life must be infinitely better without that burden on him all the time.

So when he's released from the hospital, Kida's already decided. He won't ask for anything else. He'll go and get his things so Mikado won't have to look at them (erase any sign he was ever there, if he can), and then he'll disappear. What does it matter if he has nowhere to go? No one deserves to deal with him, so it's better that way. He's not sure if he'll try to continue living or not, but if he doesn't he'll definitely make sure to go far away first, or arrange it so he'll never be found (or at least never identified). He doesn't want Mikado to feel guilty (not that he has any reason to).

He's determined not to do anything to make it harder on Mikado. He's determined not to cry, or fuss, or anything that would be inconvenient. The only trouble he'll ever give Mikado again is the trouble of seeing him long enough to empty his presence from the apartment. He shows up carrying a plastic bag full of hospital take-homes and an empty cardboard box, face set in a gentle smile that doesn't even touch his eyes, and knocks.]

Comments

[digitalemperor]

[Mikado had spent Kida's time recovering reflecting on his own actions. Kida'd called him a self-righteous thug once, and Mikado had protested. It was clear now, that Kida was right. Was very right. And Mikado was nothing more than that. An animal, maybe.]

[He hadn't had the heart to see Kida in the hospital. Convinced his childhood friend was better off without seeing him while he recovered, better off in every way. He visited the hospital a few times, asked after Kida's condition, and left each time without going close to the room Kida was recovering in.]

[He'd also examined his position in the underworld. He was feared and respected and he hated it. He didn't want to be what he was. He disgusted himself. So in the last few weeks he'd pulled back from it, tried to disengage a little more every day.]

[He was fucked up in the head. He was angry all the time, he had violent urges. He disgusted himself and others still disgusted him. He'd lost a little weight, forgetting to eat. But mostly he just hated the way he'd betrayed someone who trusted him. Betrayed... repeatedly.]

[So he wasn't exactly expecting Kida at the door, even though he should have been. He stood in the doorway after opening it, staring at Kida in shock, not really processing everything at first (though it all filtered in; the empty smile, the box, the too peaceful aura when Kida should be nervous and skittish).]

....M-Masaomi...?

[concretejungles]

Hey, Mikado...

[He is nervous. He's pretty sure he'll never not be nervous again in his life. Even if he lived forever, that core of fear might never fade. But it's his center now, and he can operate with it in place. He just makes it the background and makes this false pleasantness his front.

It's okay. He knows what he's going to do, finally. Once he's disappeared it'll all be fine.]

Is it okay if I get my stuff?

[digitalemperor]

[He's had months to calm down from anger, to come to grips with murdering someone in his own home. If coming to grips with it is possible--he often wakes up in the night and has to throw up from dreaming of it. There's new plaster and tatami over the bloodstains.]

[Even if it's been months he lived with Kida long enough to recognize this calm, sort of. He carefully steps out of Kida's way, silently inviting him in even as he tries to think of what the hell to do. What can he even say....?]



...Ah. Where will you go?

[concretejungles]

Mm, who knows?

[He says it dismissively as he heads for the little set of drawers he'd stuffed full of his clothes and things. Even now he stays close to the wall, taking up as little space as possible. That's a habit he can't break yet. Trying to be quiet, trying to stay out of the way where he won't be noticed. Even before he changed, that was a skill he could use.

He just hopes he can draw on all the ones he's put aside since then.]

I'm streetwise, right? Maybe I'll go become a yakuza boss.

[digitalemperor]

[Closes the door after Masaomi, and then kind of leans back against it to watch the other boy, arms crossed, blinking a little owlishly at the... Joke? Was that a joke? It was a really bad joke.]

...Masaomi...

...It's really obvious when you're planning something stupid, you know?

[concretejungles]

Please don't try to stop me.

[There's no point in arguing that he's not doing anything. Mikado knows his every flinch and fidget far too well. All he can do is try to make it a clean break.

He continues putting his things in the box, as if the whole scene is completely casual.]

[digitalemperor]

[I don't have the right to stop you, is what Mikado doesn't say. Doesn't really need to. But he puts his hand over his face and thinks, mind racing, panicked and feeling sick, nauseous.]

...You were right, about me. I was... I am... You were right.

[concretejungles]

I know.

[ He wouldn't have said it otherwise. But he's also sure that everything ever said about himself is true too.]

That doesn't change anything.

[digitalemperor]

Maybe not.

[Quiet a moment, eyes downcast.]

...But that's not all I am either. I don't... Care how hollow it is, after everything, but... I don't want you hurt.

[concretejungles]

Then you can be happy that I'm done hurting.

[It could be said sharply, but it's not. It just sounds tired and resigned.]

I'll kill anybody else that tries. And if I want to kill myself, I'll do that too.

[digitalemperor]

No.

[Slightly sharp on his end, mostly from alarm. Masaomi doesn't need to kill anyone. Shouldn't. Can't. And himself, that's out of the question.]

[concretejungles]

[He can't hide the way he flinches at that tone. It's just reflex to curl and brace himself at this point.

Give him a moment to jump start his brain. Til then he goes silent as if waiting.]

[digitalemperor]

[Looks away at Kida's flinch, hugging himself.]

....Killing yourself... No matter what, that's not okay. You're too good... You're too good a person, Masaomi, whatever shit you think you're... You've always been.

That's why... Killing someone else is out of the question too. You're not someone who needs that on top of everything else.

[concretejungles]

Killing someone else wouldn't hurt.

[He can say that easily. He's always had the ability to be ruthless, but something else has snapped inside him, finally.]

It would feel good. Maybe I'll hunt all of them down before I die.

[digitalemperor]

Masaomi...

[He's not sure how to take that. Kida seems so... so convinced. Is he bluffing...? Mikado wants to think he is.]

You're not that person.

[concretejungles]

Well I can't be who I used to be and I don't like who I've been lately. I'll never be good enough, so I might as well give up trying.

[digitalemperor]

Good enough for what? According to who? You'll always be good enough.... Better, even.

[concretejungles]

...Sorry. I can't believe that.

[It's a flat rejection. He's giving all he's got to keep himself sounding disinterested, but he's pulling it off. Internally, however, he wants to scream. This is a subject he doesn't want to address with Mikado now.

Meanwhile, he's emptied his drawers and is now going around the apartment finding anything that has a trace of him. If it seems like it could have a memory attached, he's taking it, even if it wasn't his to begin with. The mug he always drank tea from. The spoon he chipped by throwing it during an argument. The star-shaped decals he'd stuck to the window "because this place is so small and boring". There are happy memories like that here, just as much as there are painful ones. But he's packing it all away.

Knowing that his life here with Mikado all fits into one cardboard box is somehow both relieving and incredibly upsetting.]

[digitalemperor]

...You have places you could go.

[concretejungles]

Do I?

[He certainly can't think of any.]

[digitalemperor]

You could...

[Go where? Where could Kida go? Mikado scrubs at his face, tired and stressed.]

Masaomi, please.

[concretejungles]

[shakes his head, dropping the his toothbrush into the box and starting to close it]

I already decided. If you don't want me to go, then...

[a pause, biting his lip. if he continues he's going to lose his cool facade, but...]

[digitalemperor]

What...? Why the... Why the hell would I want you to go?

[concretejungles]

I just kept making everything worse. It must've hurt, having to come home to something so frustrating. But since I can't return to the person that'd make you smile, I'm not going to make you deal with it anymore. It was probably a lot easier when I wasn't here, right? That's why you left me alone all this time...

[forces his fists to unclench so he can pick his box up, avoiding looking at Mikado at all]

[digitalemperor]

N-no... No that'... I thought, after what happened... You wouldn't want to see me. I wouldn't help.

[Takes a deep breath.] You never... You didn't do anything wrong. [Locking someone up in a bathroom for a week after attacking them with a knife is actually pretty wrong, Mikado.]

I'm the one who betrayed you.