LOCKED TO blazingspirit

[diamondo]

[He doesn't remember much about his execution.

Oh sure, he remembers the lead-up to it; he remembers how the others looked on as he was led away and sure, he remembers Ishimaru's screams. He doesn't remember the death cage nor does he remember the sudden pain before it was all over.

It made waking up here incredibly confusing.

"Here" must be some sort of afterlife, but Mondo hasn't been able to figure out what it is, exactly. It's obviously not heaven (he's killed two people, he doesn't belong in heaven), but it doesn't seem to be hell either. Things are monotonous, yes, but they're not bad.

That leaves the option of purgatory, which Mondo is more or less fine with. It's better than spending an eternity suffering. It's probably not right for him to stay here instead of moving on to hell, but he doesn't know how or when that will happen. He's content to leave it at that for the time being.

This place is a rather large city - half of it is full of native English speakers, whom Mondo tends to avoid (his English is atrocious, after all), the other half is full of Japanese speakers. The city itself doesn't seem to be anywhere Mondo has ever seen, but it's large and spread out, with plenty to explore and do. Mondo hasn't seen everything there is to see though; he's only been here for a few weeks, and he knew if he wanted to make ends meet, he'd need a job first. Exploring could wait.

It's convenient that there's a carpenter's shop just down the road from the apartment Mondo woke up in. It might not technically be his, but he's been staying there until he can afford to properly rent it out. No one has complained so far, so he figures it's fine for the time being. The carpenter works him to the bone and he's never been so exhausted in his life when he comes home, but it's a good kind of exhaustion that means he's doing something productive. He can't make up for what he's done in the past, but he can help out here.

He's off work for the day, lounging around in what serves as the living room of his apartment, flipping through the newspaper. The dates here are all screwed up - it's almost winter here and he knows he'll have to put some money away toward buying proper winter clothes. That's only a minor concern though, because he has much bigger things to worry about.

In a city this large, it's possible that he's just missed seeing the others. He hasn't been looking very hard, admittedly. He's not sure what to say to them when he does see them. "Sorry" simply won't cut it for Fujisaki. He doesn't really want to see Kuwata, Enoshima, or Maizono either. He's sure it's only a matter of time before one of them finds him, or before someone else shows up here.

All he can do is hope that it won't be Ishimaru.]

Comments

[blazingspirit]

[Not exactly, it's just really awkward...

Either way, though, he smirks a bit, reaching out to slap Mondo on the back with the hand that's not currently holding a bag full of random assorted shit he's brought over.]

Well, you can relax then, yeah? Keep it up and you're gonna sprain something!

[diamondo]

[He'll laugh at that, reaching out to gently shove Ishida in return.]

Am not! C'mon, you know me better than that! It takes a hell of a lot more than that to injure me!

[He finally moves to throw an arm around Ishida's shoulders, squeezing tightly for a moment before letting up, though he doesn't let go.]

I missed you, kyoudai.

[It's said affectionately though; he's obviously not mad.]

[blazingspirit]

[Ishida doesn't hesitate in looping an arm around Mondo's waist, leaning into that hug a bit.]

I missed you too!

[...]

I'm glad you wanted me back here.

[diamondo]

'Course I did! You're my brother and nothing's ever gonna change that!

[His grin falters a bit there though, and he adds on to that after a moment of pause.]

...I probably should've come to you earlier. I just... wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure if you'd even want to talk to me.

[blazingspirit]

[He just shrugs a bit at that.]

I was pissed off; I probably wouldn't have if you'd showed up sooner.

[He hesitates for a moment.]

Look, I shouldn't have brought the fucking voting into it; I stand by the point of it but that was really fuckin' low.

[diamondo]

It's alright. It's probably for the best that I know.

[He reaches up to mess with Ishida's hair without thinking about it.]

I'm really fucking sorry about all that. Not just what I said here, but about all the shit in the trial. You tried so fucking hard for me. It... it's not really something I know what to do with, y'know? It means a lot to me, that you'd give your life for mine. And I'm sorry I didn't think about it that way; I guess I just got so caught up in being alone after my brother died, I couldn't think of it in any other way.

[That hair-playing is at least keeping him calm while he talks.]

[blazingspirit]

...If I couldn't save you, I at least wanted to die with you. I think that's what it was at the time.

[Again, the words are strangely detached-seeming; statements, nothing else.]

I don't regret it, kyoudai - I don't regret doing any of that shit. It hurt like fuck, but I'm not sorry.

[diamondo]

[Mondo moves to properly hug Ishida then, still playing with his hair. He's not going to let go any time soon.]

I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I know I did, and if I could take it back, I fucking would.

[If he could take back everything he'd done that had hurt Ishida and Ishimaru, he would. They don't deserve this.]

I'm glad you didn't die with me. I wish you would've gotten out of there alive, but... but it doesn't matter now. We're together again.

[blazingspirit]

[He rather unceremoniously just drops what he was holding at that before turning to return that embrace properly; his grip is tight, fierce, and he nuzzles up against Mondo easily.]

Yeah, of course we are! Don't worry about me and what happened - I'm fine as long as I have you, remember?

[diamondo]

[His grip tightens in response and Mondo leans into that nuzzling, returning it after a moment.]

Yeah, 'course. You'll always have me, no matter what. I promise. I'll never leave you, kyoudai.

[blazingspirit]

[That just gets him to twitch a little in response to that.]

...yeah. Yeah, I know. I...shit, I'm fucking sorry for leaving like that.

[diamondo]

It's alright. You were really upset; I said a lot of shit that fucking hurt you. I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad to have you home.

[He continues running his hand through Ishida's hair, hoping to calm him down some.]

[blazingspirit]

Y-Yeah, well, it's good to be home with you!

[...tsun.]

[diamondo]

[S-So cute...]

I'm glad!

[Now just let him go silent and hug on you forever. He's just. really relieved that Ishida's home, okay. Part of him was still kind of worried that Ishida wouldn' come home.]

[blazingspirit]

[Yeah, well, you can just have some more nuzzling then.]

Everything's going to be okay from now on. I mean it!

[diamondo]

[Good! You're getting that returned immediately, alright.]

Yeah, I know it is! We won't be arguing about that shit anymore at least!

[blazingspirit]

Good to know!

[...although, uh.]

...hey, were you outside the shop a few days ago? You didn't come inside, but apparently you were standing around out there for a while, yeah?

[diamondo]

[...he was really hoping you hadn't noticed that...]

Y-Yeah, I was. I just wanted to make sure you were still working there, y'know? I didn't know what had happened to you.

[blazingspirit]

Huh. I was still pretty pissed off, so I wouldn't have wanted to talk too much. I was just wondering what the hell you were doing there.

[diamondo]

Well, I'm glad I didn't go in, then! I didn't really know what to say anyway.

[blazingspirit]

...you were that worried, though?

[diamondo]

'Course I was. I mean, I didn't know where you went or what had happened to you and I was... kinda freaking out about it, to be honest. I'm not sure where I would've looked if you hadn't been there.

[blazingspirit]

...Hey.

[That's just going to get more nuzzling, okay.]

It's okay, kyoudai. I...got somewhere to stay the first night I was out; I wasn't even out there for too long. And I'm not stupid; if I really couldn't manage you would have known about it.

[diamondo]

Yeah, yeah. I know you're not stupid; you definitely would've figured something out. I just can't help but be worried, y'know? You're my brother.

[The nuzzling is nice though! He's quick to return that, holding Ishida even tighter.]

[blazingspirit]

...Y-Yeah, well, maybe I'll...I don't know, call that shop you're working at or something next time. Just to let you know that I haven't died.

...again.

[..............]

...Can we even...fucking die here, or...?