✿ Ninth Bud [strange scribbles/voice]

[seiriald]

[With a frustrated sigh, Kaori abandons the poor attempt at communication by scratching the surface of the pen across the whole page, eventually ripping it out. It was stupid to think that just because she was able to write perfectly fine a week ago, she would be able to for a while now that she was back to normal. Things didn't work that way.

So much for trying to be anonymous about this and avoiding talking to people more than she has to, but she still wanted answers to her question anyway. Pausing for a deep breath, she dives right in.]

Is anyone out there lucky enough to have their brother or sister here?

Comments

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[And then she suddenly starts speeding up, moving closely along the right side of the community building, breath beginning to quicken just a little. She hadn't been this close to this place since it happened, after all, and the feeling of suddenly losing control of her body was all too vivid in her mind.

Which is why she's beginning to shake uncontrollably.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

Kaori? [He speeds up too, following after her closely with worry clear in the tone of his voice. Something is wrong..... She's acting strange.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[She's made her way past the building, several yards away from it when she abruptly stops and stands still, eyes staring blankly without seeing to the uninhabited forest. He hadn't even been close by and yet he still managed to grab hold of her, forcing him further into that forest.

Had no one really heard her cry out for help that night, when that man had decided to use her for his own personal vendetta against someone she still cares for as strongly to this day?]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

Kaori? What's wrong......? [cautiously, he reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder, trying not to startle her.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[Despite all of Frey's effort, that touch of his hand on her shoulder is enough to make her jump furiously and make the shaking start all over again, this time without even bothering to try and put a stop to it.]

This... this is where he decided to use me...

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

[use her?

The words send a chill of fear and then a sharp rush of rage through him, but he tries to stay calm to try and talk to her. His voice is soft in an attempt to calm her, but he can't keep how upset he is from showing.] who, Kaori? What happened?

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

I wasn't even doing anything, just walking and then suddenly... [It seems she couldn't quite hear Frey as those questions began to stir again. Why did it have to be her? While she doesn't regret being Vash's friend, why did it have to be her?]

Maybe nobody heard or saw because of the rain...?

Re: [Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

.......Kaori.....? [Can she not hear him? gritting his teeth, he listens to her words, still trying to see if there's any recognition of his voice at all.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[Gasping, Kaori looks back to Frey, though the look in her eyes convey just how emotional she's becoming as she remembers that night. ]

I'm sorry...

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

[Finally, eye contact. That relieves his worry, a little.] There is no need to apologize. Just try to keep yourself in the now, alright?

What happened, exactly? Who did this?

[Where can I find them so they never do it again?]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

... Legato... [When had she ever spoken his name out loud?] He... he wanted to hurt Vash, but he didn't do anything... Then one day I guess he decided he... was tired of acting good anymore...

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

....Vash? [The man with the squirt guns....?]

So he hurt you instead? [....He tries to keep a hold of his rage at the thought. It wasn't the time or place to be angry. It would just upset Kaori.

He'd find a way to make the man pay.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

He said he was tired of waiting... he wanted to hurt Mister Vash, and... and the best way to do that was to use someone Vash cares about...

Because of me, Vash had to hurt a lot...

Re: [Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

It wasn't your fault, Kaori.... [He reaches out slowly, hoping to hug her but not wanting to startle her.]

It was this Legato's. no one should hurt you like he did.

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[Kaori doesn't notice the gesture, not right now anyway. She's a little too caught up in trying to stay in the present and trying to remember all that Legato had said. The terror had been enough to distract her, and the pain afterward made it nearly impossible.]

He was talking about fate, if Vash had managed to change something that happened in their world, I guess... And he must've answered wrong, because... because he really started to make it hurt.

I couldn't control my own body, Freyjadour! [That feeling of violation is what's bringing the tears out now.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

[Frey decides to take the chance and wrap his arms around her, pulling her close as she cries. If she lets him, he'll be making soothing noises as he pets her hair.] It wasn't your fault... No one should ever have to go through that.

[no control..... what had he done?]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[Kaori clings on tightly to him, doing her best to try not to flinch as her body recalls the sensations of being twisted in ways that would deliberately cause pain, of blood vessels bursting and veins about to tear. That was nothing in comparison to what she had heard, though. How could she ever forget hearing Vash forced to break down and abandon his ideals so that he could get her away from Legato alive?]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

[he'll continue to hold onto her, noticing her trouble but not letting go either.

He's not going anywhere, and she needs to know that.]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

[It seems like a long while before she tries to speak again, and even though the tears will have died down they have been replaced with a certain numbness, a mechanism to help her deliver the information she still had about that night. She couldn't allow for herself to drown in those emotions, so better to shut them away for the time being.]

He spoke to Wolfwood, too, so that he would also be forced to hurt Vash... I don't know what happened between them, but... he dislocated my shoulder first. Funny how dislocation hurts more than a broken bone, right?

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

He....[Hadn't her arm been injured back when they first met....?]

Has he contacted you since then?

[could he do this again?]

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

I don't know... Vash said that he tries to fool people, so maybe I have, maybe I haven't. [She doesn't realize that she has an indirect alliance with him due to connections they both share, and similar sentiments.]

Vash said that just because he got to me once doesn't mean he'll do it again.

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

[But it didn't mean he'd leave her alone, either. Frey didn't want to risk that. But there was only so much time he could keep an eye on her, and she lived alon-......]

....Kaori. What would you say to moving in with me? At the house.

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

Moving in? [Hadn't they just discussed this a few days ago?]

But why? There's already a lot of people there...

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[falenandawn]

As I told you before, your room is still set up.

And besides, it's safer then living on your own.

[Forwarddating to the 14thish]

[seiriald]

I can live on my own... [Usually.]