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]

I didn't think you would - and besides, you'd better not!!

[He falls back into frustrated silence after that, however; he's not expressing himself very well, but he isn't sure how to say what it is he wants.

So for now he'll just. Settle for tightening his grip on Mondo's hand, okay.]

[diamondo]

[He tightens his grip in return.]

'Course I won't. Everything'll be fine, Ishida. Okay?

[blazingspirit]

...If you say so.

[It's not terribly genuine, but at least he isn't arguing the point. Not now, anyway.]

I was here last night, but they wouldn't let me in to see you. Probably for the best; I didn't exactly make a great first impression on security.

[diamondo]

What did you do?

[Oh man, that doesn't sound good...]

[blazingspirit]

I was a bit pissed off and I might have hit the wall a few times!

[...]

And then some guy from security tried to make me sit down!

[...]

And then I might have hit the guy from security, and I might have gotten sedated!!

[diamondo]

You got sedated? Fuck, Ishida, there wasn't any reason for any of that! You know I'm not gonna die to a little knife wound!

[He tightens his grip on Ishida's hand again though, a look of concern on his face.]

But you're alright?

[blazingspirit]

Actually, no, at the time I didn't know that!!

[...ohhhh boy. He can feel the tears starting up; he doesn't really bother to hide them.]

I had one of those motherfuckers from the carpentry shop come to tell me that you were in the fucking hospital with severe knife injuries and they didn't know if you were going to make it or not, I got pretty much no information on how you were doing and hell, even now you're telling me flat-out that you were fucking left for dead!! But of course, I can't be fucking worried about you, can I?! I should fucking know better, right?!

[diamondo]

[Mondo flinches at that. Alright, so apparently the injury was as bad as he first thought. He squeezes Ishida's hand again, though he's pretty sure nothing he can do now will calm Ishida down.]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're allowed to be worried, it's alright. I'm okay now. This sorta shit's not gonna happen again. Everything'll be fine.

[They're hollow words, but they're all he can offer Ishida.]

[blazingspirit]

[Nothing indeed; his grip tightens again against Mondo's hand, but even despite that he's shaking, and the tears don't look like they're going to stop anytime soon.]

I'm going to find whoever did this, and I'm going to fuck them up - no one is going to take you from me.

[diamondo]

'Course they won't, but there's no need for you to get involved with those bastards! Like I said, there was a lot of 'em! I don't want you getting hurt, Ishida. So promise me - promise me - you won't try to go after 'em, okay?

[blazingspirit]

[He flinches a bit at that, but at least his grip seems to loosen up somewhat; it takes him a moment, but eventually he shakes his head.]

You know I won't get hurt.

[diamondo]

I don't know that! Look what they did to me, and I spent practically my entire fucking life fighting! I don't want you going after those bastards! I won't see you get hurt on my behalf!!

[blazingspirit]

And?! What am I supposed to do, then?! I can't just do nothing!

[diamondo]

You can stay here with me! You can help me get better! That's what we should be focusing on, not getting revenge!

[blazingspirit]

[Something about that hurts; he flinches again, more sharply this time, and it takes him a long time to resume eye contact.]

...You...You know I'm not going to just leave you.

[diamondo]

[He doesn't mean to hurt Ishida, but he doesn't want Ishida going after those punks either. He tightens his grip on Ishida's hand a bit at those words.]

Yeah. Yeah, I know you wouldn't. I just don't wanna see you get hurt, okay?

[blazingspirit]

...I won't. Don't worry about me.

[diamondo]

Good.

[Mondo smiles then, gently squeezing Ishida's hand.]

You know I always will, right? You mean so much to me, after all!

[blazingspirit]

[Ishida hesitates at that, but he nods eventually.]

Yeah. Yeah, I know.

[...]

You know I'm gonna stay with you, right? I'll help you. I just...

[He trails off, frustrated; he shakes his head after a moment, not trusting himself to not start crying again.]

[diamondo]

'Course I know that! Don't worry about it, okay? I didn't think you wouldn't, y'know? It's alright. I'll be fine!

[He's trying to be supportive...]

[blazingspirit]

...Yeah, of course. And that's what matters to me. I just...don't...

[...mnnngh.]

I don't like feeling like there isn't anything I can do about it.

[diamondo]

...I know. I hate feeling like there's nothing we can do. But we're not going up against those guys again. I don't wanna see you get hurt, and I don't wanna get hurt again either.

[blazingspirit]

...Yeah.

[For a moment that's all he offers, and clearly he's still sullen as hell about it; he leans forward eventually, though, reaching out to mess with Mondo's hair a bit.]

You're really gonna be okay, though?

[diamondo]

[Mondo smiles at that, leaning into Ishida's touch.]

Yeah. I'm gonna be just fine!

[blazingspirit]

Good. I...I'm glad to hear it!

[He keeps playing with Mondo's hair; the gesture seems to be going a long way toward relaxing him, along with Mondo's reaction to it.]

I love you so fuckin' much.