I beg you, take from me your memory...

[keepsthefire]

Who: Rin and Dolorosa | Rin and OPEN
Where: In the plaza | At the Clinic
When: Thursday, 7/25
What: Rin is back from going home, but something is wrong
Style: Action

[Return, at the plaza - closed to Dolorosa]

[New arrivals wasn't an odd occurrence around this time, but among them, some one else was returning to the bubble after a short absence.

Soaking wet, in an ornate teal and gold jacket over his normal school uniform, Rin Okumura stood in the plaza in a strangely dazed state. Something was very... off about him, as though his mind had been forcibly checked out. He stared blankly, mouth moving slowly though no sound came out.

He finally took a step forward, but his knees buckled, no strength left in them. Collapsing to the ground, a hand reached forward towards something unseen.]

Usa... maro...

[A pained groan followed as he slumped on to the ground on his side, clutching at his head.]

[Later, at the clinic - Open to all]

["Vatheon". That's what he had been told the place was called. He had been there before, but he couldn't recall it. His mind wasn't entirely devoid of memories, but what was there was hazy. Faces were blurred, familiar but so distant. Names were a blank canvas. People from home were there, but even memories of them were muddled.

His head hurt. Badly. He couldn't do much more than sit and blink without everything pounding like a goddamn jackhammer. The only thing that was clear was a round face, blonde hair in bunny buns and red eyes. A smiling face telling him "Thank you, Rin!" in a happy voice. A demon, one he was trying to protect, not defeat...

He sat in the unfamiliar clinic bed, the teal and gold jacket folded in his lap, blue eyes downcast on it.]

Usamaro... what did you do? Why can't I remember...

Comments

[keepsthefire]

The people who apparently love me are hurtin' cause I can't even remember who they are. What good is that gonna do? That girl-- Maka was damn near in tears when all I did was apologize for not knowin' who she was.

[The soul might have a longer memory than he knows, but right now all he sees are a bunch of people who care enough to see if he's alright and he can't even put names to faces let alone understand what the connection is at all.

He's pissed. He's pissed at himself because he knows, knows that some how this is his fault and he's hurt other people that, as far as he can see, didn't deserve that kind of pain.]

I'm sorry... I don't wanna hurt anyone...

[symmetrophile]

What you've just said only proves that some part of you still knows how much Maka means to you.

I can't begin to imagine what it's like, coming into a world you don't know and a multitude of strangers already knowing your name.

[His own arrival came with a different sort of baggage.]

I insist.

[keepsthefire]

It's more frustrating, not knowing what I can even do about it.

[More aggravating still, not knowing what Usamaro actually did, and know that whatever it was he probably didn't mean to actually hurt anyone by his actions.

Rin's fingers uncurl from the ornate jacket, resting palms flat on the fabric.]

She said I could stay there anyway, so I guess I'm goin' there-- ... home whenever Yukio lets me go.

[symmetrophile]

I like your willingness to defer to your brother's discretion only marginally less than I like--[his boyfriend] --someone so important to me forgetting my name, but only one of these two matters is under our control.

[He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut in irritation as he said it.]

...But I suppose it can't be helped; I'll honor your decision.

[keepsthefire]

[That earned a flat stare right back, and a hint of annoyance that's really only tempered by an instinctual, deeply buried feeling that this person isn't some one Rin can normally stay angry with for long.]

He's a doctor. If there's one thing I trust him with more than anythin' it's that he actually knows how to help me when it comes to medical things.

[But that's all he'll say on it, letting out a sigh with a defeated slump of his shoulders]

I'll ask him if I can come home next time he comes in, okay?

[An intake of breath this time, deep in some odd sense of needing to calm down, and he took a longer look at Kid, desperately trying to recall... something.]

... are you Maka's boyfriend?

[Well it's a start...]

[symmetrophile]

[Being so concerned about her well-being, one should hope so. Kid nodded, and had this to add, lacking any subtle guile or eloquence on the matter at all:]

And yours, a fact I am hopeful you'll recall as time passes.

[Wow, don't hold back or anything.]

Although your disappearance couldn't be predicted or stopped by any means available to us, nevertheless, the symmetry of our mutual relationship has been broken. This is absolutely unacceptable.

[keepsthefire]

. . .






What?

[symmetrophile]

Your boyfriend. Of course, your relationship with Maka preceded ours, and mine with her respectively, but our mutual regard for one another has progressed well since its first inception.

[Hey by the way, Rin, you have a girlfriend, too. Kid is so great at catching people up to speed!]

[keepsthefire]

[... okay. That... explains a lot. Like. A lot. No wonder she was so upset. Some one she obviously cared about as more than just a friend completely forgot who she was. And she had lied... probably to save her own heart.

He couldn't blame her for that. At all. And something in him was aching with the realization.

But...]

How... does that even work... ?

[He's not in denial. He's not arguing it. All he can really muster is a bare semblance of confusion.]

[symmetrophile]

[Kid didn't deserve for this to go over as well as it had so far, not with his utter lack of persuasive subtlety. That disbelief was not accompanied by denial was more than Kid could have hoped for, and when he asked 'How', he snorts in amusement.]

Mutual affection, communication, and a desire for its perpetuation, I assume.

[Leaving the doorway, the reaper approached.]

Maka is heartbroken, but as usual, she's being brave. However, all is not lost. Perhaps your soul will whisper of what you've forgotten and remind you. We're here to stay, I'm afraid, and I have no intentions of giving up.

[keepsthefire]

[Rin probably didn't deserve to have things explained to him that he'd forgotten due to his stubbornness that Usamaro wasn't something to be feared or poorly treated, but here they were...]

... oh.

[There wasn't much he could say to that, though a sense of familiarity buried deep in his manipulated memories brought out a faint flush to his cheeks.]

I-- ... th... thanks. I guess.