TRAINWRECK AU MASTER POST

[didnteventry]

[FOR THIS THING YEAH.]

Comments

[didnteventry]

[Well, this is great. Ever since Kariya become head of the house, things have been... he's not sure. In some ways they've actually been a lot better. In others, they've been so much worse. At least before nothing was actually directly coming after him. At least before, Shinji was halfway normal.

Now it's been a few years, and everything's falling apart even more than Byakuya ever thought it would. He's not sure what to do beyond continue to drink. While he's drunk, the horrors lose their edge. And if he drinks enough now, just at sunset, he'll be passed out cold before the priest shows up to consort with Kariya. He hates listening to that.

So here he is, carrying a bottle of whiskey from the kitchen towards his room. Only there's a strange sound in the study -- no one's supposed to be home, so who's rooting around in the books? Nervously, he pokes his head in to see.]

[fairdevil]

[Kirei took the liberty of letting himself in quietly -- you could do such things when you have a house key, and knowing that Kariya trusted him enough to give him one hasn't quite lost its novelty yet. He's sitting at the desk, casually flipping through the books, intent on entertaining himself until Kariya appeared. But as chance would have it, he wasn't the only one home at the moment.

He chuckles when he hears the door open and speaks without so much as looking up.]

So I'm not alone. I hope the noise didn't startle you. My intent was to keep to myself until Kariya returned home.

[didnteventry]

[It's only the fact that he reflexively hugs it that keeps him from dropping his booze. Kirei scares him almost as much as that Servant thing did, and his reaction of fear is blatant. He hasn't started the real drinking yet at this point -- the constant buzz he keeps most of the time he's awake is there, but for him that's practically sober. Fortunately, that means he doesn't lose it enough to run or scream just at the sight of the man.

Still, he backs away, going to close the door. Just don't look. Just pretend he's not here, and it'll be okay.]

Y-You do that.

[apriori]

[Climbing through your window.

Even though Kirei has a key.

He likes to keep you guys on your toes, ok, don't judge]

[didnteventry]

[ I would be very offended and unnerved by this

but instead I am passed out drunk on my desk. ]

[apriori]

[Byakuya.

Byakuya plz. Sometimes you make this too easy.

He grabs the bottle nearby. And upends it over Byakuya's head]

oh god help me

[disenfranchised]

[ you would think that growing up in this situation would make it easier to stomach over the years, but that simply wasn't true. to be born matou was to never know normalcy. to be so far detached from any semblance of regularity that one wouldn't even know it well enough to crave it. rather, this compound was a breeding ground for madness in all forms. perhaps it was because of this that no one seemed to possess any understanding for the other household members? or maybe they just couldn't be bothered. everyone's special quirks were just that. little psychosis snowflakes.

shinji matou held patience for no one. ]

I'm trying to study -- !!

[didnteventry]

You always are.

[It was definitely true that no one in their combined household was any good at respecting the wishes of anyone else in the household. Kariya tried most of the time, but at the end of the day everyone there was too preoccupied with their own issues (and Issues) to be really considerate.

Maybe studying was important. Failing at school wouldn't suit someone from a prestigious household, after all. Shinji less than others, thanks to his ambition. But Byakuya was tired and irritated, the Kotomines were over, and the kitchen was empty, so he wasn't the least bit sorry to bother his son.]

Your friend's here and we're going to get groceries, so too bad.

[apriori]

[He drapes his arms over Shinji's shoulders, first one, then the other. The idea of personal space and consideration was mostly lost on him -- Shirou does as he wishes, simply because he doesn't understand any other method of functioning.]

And there's nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a break, right?

[Translation: pay attention to me]

[didnteventry]

[Normal people take their 12 year olds out on Sundays. Even with a weird kid, it's possible that doing "normal" things will be good for them. It can't hurt to at least try, and Byakuya ought to leave the house once in awhile.

Or so Kariya said.

Byakuya thinks it's pretty stupid that Kariya tries to tell him about parenting when he isn't a parent, even if he does like kids a lot more than Byakuya himself does. It's especially stupid that he tries to say optimistic things when it's Kariya's fault that Kirei & Shirou are always around making Shinji even worse than he started out. But it's Kariya's money that pays Byakuya's self-medication, so with some pressure he's agreed to make an effort at "normal".

And thus, somehow he and Shinji have ended up at the zoo.]

Do you even like animals?

[disenfranchised]

[ this did seem like a suspiciously normal outing. except for the part that he was out of the house with his father, which is something that very seldom happened. shinji idly wonders if the house is being fumigated or if uncle kariya has kicked them out and now they're homeless. maybe it would be easier to break the news in the bird exhibit. either way, they were both out of their comfort zone though shinji had a pretty keen poker face on at the moment.

armed with binoculars, a pencil and notebook there was no telling if he was drawing or writing, but this wasn't an excursion meant for pure recreation. no, it was better if things actually had a point. so long as he kept an open mind, anything could make him stronger.

shinji doesn't really pay any attention to the other kids and their parents, walking hand in hand and hugging. as he walks alongside byakuya more like a business partner or direct supervisor he shoots him a sidelong glance. ]

I don't know why they don't just jump over the fence and eat everyone.
It's obvious they have the capabilities, but no ambition.

[didnteventry]

They're probably getting tastier food staying in there.

[His voice is barely above a mumble, and he squints in the bright daylight as he looks up at a sign post. He hasn't been to the zoo very often. Excursions were still few when Shinji was very small, and Byakuya may as well have been invisible all through his own childhood. He doesn't know his way around, and he's a little nervous that they'll get lost and end up in trouble.]

Why risk getting killed when you can hang around in a comfortable zoo?

[canofworms]

[It's coming up on sunrise by the time Kirei leaves, the very picture of a model priest going in to make sure his church is in proper order for his lambs. The slaughter he leaves behind in the Matou house where it belongs.

Kariya's half-dozing on the couch, sprawled out -- Kirei's quite solicitously left an extra frock, probably because there's blood somewhere on it, masked by the smell of spilled wine -- he's not sure he could move if he wanted to. It's one of those days that are relieving and infuriating at once, because he needs them as much as he regrets them afterward.

Well, his body's doing most of the regretting; his mind is clear (as clear as bleary morning thoughts are, anyway). He probably won't be going anywhere today. There's a certain dark satisfaction, though, in knowing that the blood on the frock isn't his.]

[didnteventry]

[As usual on nights like that, not even drink can get Byakuya to sleep. Those nights -- the ones where Kirei is brimming with glee and Kariya is tense with barely contained rage -- are just too dangerous to face wasted. Generally he puts the bottle away after dinner when it's like that, retreats to his room (or some unused corner of the mansion if he's feeling like testing Kirei's attention span), and tries not to see or hear anything.

Sometimes, silence is enough to save him. Not sleeping is a small price to pay on those nights in exchange for being in one piece. Other times there's enough space in the hectic evening for Kirei to come find him, and the next day he's both exhausted, sore, and hoarse from crying and screaming.

The first two years of it, he would try to take out his pain and fear and frustration on his little brother, even (or especially) when he was already tired and beaten down. But one night some few months back something cracked, and he'd tearfully confessed that he was tired -- of struggling, of fighting, of lashing out and hating himself for it in the morning. It hurt to be abused, it hurt worse to know that he always came out of encounters with Kirei ten times more injured than Kariya ever seemed to, but it hurt most to have been left behind all those years ago. He'd said that at least, despite everything, Kariya was here now, and Byakuya spent too much energy hating Kirei to waste any hating the brother that let him mooch in a fancy house.

So now there's a shaky, distant peace between the two. It's that peace that allows him to feel safe in limping into the room now in the dim pre-dawn light. There's a well-stocked first aid kit in his trembling hands, and he sits heavily on the floor next to the couch with a sigh.]

...I'll give that one a seven. Could've been worse.

[canofworms]

[There's a quiet laugh from above him, without any real mirth in it. It's been a long time since Kariya's laughed from the heart -- it occurs to him some days to question whether it's still around.]

Optimistic of you. [There's a rustle as Kariya forces himself up and the frock slides down; he's bare from the waist up, covered in shallow slashes that look a little too patterned to be entirely haphazard. He wouldn't be surprised if Kirei had started trying to prolong his own enjoyment in new ways. The man likes wine far too much for a priest.] You... patched yourself up already?

[This part is always the most awkward, even on the days when Kariya is the only one needing bandages. Even now, he's not sure whether the new, tentative peace is better or worse: he can be a little concerned now without backlash, but...

When Kirei expands his targets, it always undoes half the work of the night -- he knows it, knows Kariya will come after him sooner next time because there's no way he'll sit back. He knows all about the viciousness of cycles, and refuses to let them break him; Kirei is a very dangerous creature, though. Kariya's not much of a beast tamer, let's say. He can only draw lines in the sand and push back when or if Kirei crosses them.]

[partyintheback]

[So there's this whole Fifth Grail War thing going on or w/e.

IT'S PRETTY INTERESTING but right now he's a little more concerned about his stupid Servant being low on mana and how long it's going to take to regenerate. LAME.

So yeah he's just gonna chill in his room while Gil's off being Gil somewhere and call Lancer mentally.]

[erank]

[Well he WAS holed up in the courtyard, trying to rest and recover. Alas, Kirei's company isn't conducive to either pursuit. So, for the moment, he attempts to ignore that.]

somehow this is comment 200

[partyintheback]

[So it's almost time for that Grail War thing. Kirei can feel it coming, and he is quite excited.

Excited enough that he's forgotten to be home for dinner, distracted by his preparations. WHAT DO SHIROU?]

Re: somehow this is comment 200

[apriori]

[He knows Kirei's been anticipating the War and, as his son, Shirou has every intention of fighting for his father's sake. It is, perhaps, his greatest purpose in life at this point, and even he feels the joyous anticipation in his father's small, wordless smiles.

That doesn't interrupt his routine, though - a creature of habit, Kotomine Shirou still wakes up to train and exercise in the morning, still goes to classes, still helps clean up the school grounds, and still dutifully returns home (wherever home might be that week) to make dinner.

He can't understand why Kirei hasn't done likewise today, and as time wears on, the irritation turns to a sort of anxiety, and before long he's stashed dinner in the oven and headed out to the front steps of the church with a broom to sweep nervously and await Kirei's return.]

GOOD END. (???????)

[disenfranchised]

[ it's warm. what a nice feeling.

it's been some time since the fifth war ended. some time since uncle kariya had passed away. after that, shinji found the house to be even more exhausting than usual. without kariya, that room went unregulated but not uninhabited. it was full of stragglers, still subsisting off excess prana. maybe even consuming one another for the sake of living longer.

thinking about it made shinji want to vomit.
sometimes he did.

it would only be a matter of time before they became more aggressive, wouldn't it? they would begin to actively seek out a new source. they had never needed to before, under the command of zouken or kariya they'd always been taken care of. shinji, for the most part, had chosen to pretend they didn't exist. getting stuck on that path of thought only resulted in the sort of freak outs that required copious amounts of nicotine, and shirou wasn't the most reliable errand boy when stock was low.

today had started out on a relatively positive note.
shirou had woken him up to breakfast and shinji had seen him off to another one of his part-time jobs.
he had even managed to open a window or two, with the intent of attempting some cleaning. it was just as he had located the broom that he also found it.

how the fuck did it get out of the basement.

how long has it been since kariya has passed?
are they finally getting restless?

are there more of these little bastards out here?
oh, fuck no.


shinji drops everything
but grabs the cigarettes.





there was only one logical thing to do in this sort of situation.
standing several yards away from the matou compound, shinji quietly watches it all burn down, cigarette butts littered around his feet. ]

GOOD END!!!!

[apriori]

[The day after Kariya's funeral, Shirou had a mind to ask about the worms. He wanted to go inside and stomp on every last worm. He wanted to feel their bodies pop underneath his heel, and after several long hours spent fixating on how satisfying that sensation would be, he shelved the idea.

It would feel too good. It was something Kotomine Shirou would have done without second thought.

He didn't ask.

Instead, he cleaned around the door, gaze pointed down, or up, or to the side as he vacuumed, as though looking at it for too long would call forth the things that, doubtless, were still inside.

Sometimes, for just a moment, Shinji would seem nervous, would glance anxiously to the door, would suddenly declare he needed to go outside for a cigarette. Shirou would always frown, always consider asking, always decide that those were Shinji's demons to confront.

Now it occurs to him that, maybe, he should have done something sooner.

The first warning was the smoke, a black, billowing cloud that he could see in the distance as he walked home. Then there was the soot and the smell, hanging in the air as he drew closer. He broke into a run, then, assuming a fire, assuming trouble, not even thinking that he would end up sprinting straight up the street and to the Matou house.]

Shinji! What happened?! Are you hurt?!

[didnteventry]

[Well this is. Lovely.

Somehow, Byakuya's nightmare has become a very vivid and lucid one. As sometimes happens, he's stuck in a small room, dim and bare with no visible door and only the sound of worms crawling on the other side of the wall.

This isn't new. What's new is turning around to see Shinji in the room with him.]

...Shinji?

[disenfranchised]

[ there's a series of emotion stewing behind shinji's eyes currently -- confusion; apprehension; disorientation. he'd thought he was asleep and in a lot of ways, it still feels like it. but his dreams usually weren't set up like this, and they certainly weren't so lucid feeling. somehow, the byakuya standing in front of him feels genuine, though. not how he usually appeared in shinji's dreams. ]

Dad... ?
What's going on?

[ he surveys the room. man, it's creepy.
the atmosphere feels thick enough to choke on; heavy enough to crush him. ]

[osananajimi]

[ byakuya had told her that things were how they are because of shinji. because of kotomine. that's what he said, right? so if those things didn't exist anymore, then he could feel better. maybe, then he would let her in and allow her to take care of him. she can't exist like this much longer, after all. with a father who won't allow his daughter to care for him and treat him as a proper daughter should. it wasn't right. she had to fix it. it was up to her.

in retrospect, she probably should have expected him to scream as much as he did. using one of kotomine's knives from the kitchen she stabbed him in the chest a good thirty-six times or so. until his pupils stopped moving and until he stopped bleeding out and it wasn't as much fun anymore. this was a business venture, anyhow. this was what needed to get done. just like any other household chore.

ah. the front of her is covered in blood, from splatters on her face and arms to giant soaked stains on her dress. she walks down the hallway, looking for other responsible parties to deal with. it wouldn't make sense to get cleaned up only to make a mess again. ]

[didnteventry]

[Byakuya can't sleep through that kind of screaming even at his drunkest, and he is not in fact particularly inebriated this evening. It took a bit to wake him up though, and longer for him to decide to come downstairs. Shinji screaming isn't too unusual, with Shirou. But something just feels wrong. Call it parent's intuition, but he has a gut feeling that things are not as they usually are and he needs to check it out.

He comes around the corner, and at first thinks that Makoto is a ghost. His reaction, therefore, is to shriek and stumble backwards.

When he sees what it really is, his legs go out from under him entirely.]

W-What the hell?!