Sleepless nights - set after Rhyperior Superior battle

[crazy_d_healing]

[Content Warnings: Responses may contain reference to major injuries, death and bombs, as well as spoilers for character canon. Please note if any of these should be minimized in responses. Thank you]

It has been days since he’d slept. He’d passed out a few times since the attack, but that didn’t count as sleeping; he could remember the doctors explaining as much when he’d ended up back in the hospital days after release, too exhausted to even sit up. A state of unconsciousness did not actually rest the mind or body, they had said. At least now he recognized when he was getting there... not that it made the act of sleeping any easier.

Falling asleep had been hard, every time his eyes shut he heard some imagined sound that sent chills up his spine. Explosions that couldn't have been real, or a faint click that had once heralded pain in so many forms. It was after a few times of this he felt a steady weight and warmth on his chest, and glanced down to see the Furfrou with his head settled there. The comfort and warmth from that was enough to lure his eyes to closing, slipping into sleep finally.

Until he woke up mid-scream, a terrified cry in the shape of his best friend's name strangled from his throat thick with tears. He stared at the world above him, clinging to his bed as if it would fly away without the hold, tears slowly working their way down the sides of his face to soak into his messy, unstyled hair. It took all of his strength to muffle his sobs under heavy breathing. The Furfrou was beside him, giving small cries and nosing his cheek gently, trying to comfort him, and after a moment he settled it.

Slowly he rolled over and got to his feet, reaching for his jacket on habit, and heading away. Normally at this point he would go look at Okuyasu's house, the feeling of it being lived in still enough to soothe the fears running riot on his mind. But there was no old, decrepit looking mansion that held his best friend here, there was no seeing him in the morning to share a laugh and a smile with... There was no reminder that his survival wasn't just a fever dream born of pain, blood loss and desperation. 

So he walked... he didn't have a goal, he just needed to move, maybe to run from his nightmare, maybe chasing the hope that whatever date had dropped him here would do the same for his best friend. As he walked he heard the soft steps of the pokemon walking beside him, and set his hand on its fluffy head. "Hey buddy... You've stuck around a lot... You looking to be my friend?" He asks, smiling softly. "You want a nickname? Cause if you're with me, you gotta have a cool name." He points out with some soft cheer. Letting his mind drift, he walks down to the beach and after setting his socks and shoes up on a dry area, with his pants rolled up, he steps out into the water a bit, to stand and watch it, as it reflects the night around him.

After a few moments he starts to cry, soft tears that he has no strength to stop, as he stands there in the moonlight, on the beach.

Comments

[fallers_npcs]

There's another pair of people on the beach, a few hours from the battle. Someone else who had been left behind after the battle and had been bombarded by the news of the event.

Quiet, solitude, anger boiling over and yet, he was still quietly fuming, his nails digging into his palm as a girl sat on the beach, watching the space where Aether Foundation used to be.

Noticing Josuke there, the girl got up and asked quietly, "Are you all right?"

[crazy_d_healing]

The teen was startled to hear another voice, and jumped a bit before turning to her. He brought a hand up to try and wipe away the tear tracks on his face, and hopefully make it look like he was just a bit tired or something. Not that he could stop how ready he was to just keep crying.

"Sorry... didn't mean to disturb you." He says, his tendency to take responsibility for inconveniences rising quickly to the surface. "I... am just a bit jumpy, after that fight." He admitted, swallowing thickly. "I'm sure I'm not the only one... dealing with stuff... after all of that." he added, trying not let his voice get strained by the tightness in his chest.

[snowlillie]

"Believe me, we get it," said Lillie softly. She glanced out towards the ocean where the gaping hole where Aether Foundation once was. "Our mother is missing again."

The tone of her voice implied this wasn't the first time it happened, but there was an edge to it. A helplessness that was laced with frustration.

"Gladion and I... we're going after her. But we don't know where to start looking. So we're going to join the Ultra Riders. We're already Ultra Guardians, but we're prepared to not return home until we return with our mother safe and sound."

[crazy_d_healing]

"I'm sorry." He says, voice soft, and expression matching. "That can't be easy..." He added, looking out to the same hole and feeling what it was like to have an empty spot inside that felt as big as that hole.

"What... can I do to help? I'm pretty new here, and aside from this guy following me around, I don't have any Pokemon..." at a small wave, the Furfrou gives a soft cry, and moves close to rest against his leg. "But I can fix things... and people. I'd be happy to help any way you need." he offers. Morioh, Alola, that didn't matter, what did was helping people, taking care of them. He'd vowed to follow in his grandfather's footsteps, and this... felt like what the old man would have done.

If it gave him something to focus on aside from the pain... something to do until he was too tired to dream too... that just was a benefit. There would be time when families weren't separated for him to cry over nightmares.

[luckydragonsfoot]

After the fight was over, things were...a bit of a mess. What with Aether disappearing the way it did, and the chaos that followed. Was Wicke caught in it? Was she at home? Either way the house he'd been staying at felt the emotional consequences, and taking a walk was the least he could do to try and alleviate that a bit. And then...

Is that- "...Jojo?" Oi... "J...Oii, Josuke..!" He's already heading for the beach, jogging with that ponyta beside him and the others of the 'farm' crowd. But he slows to a stop not far from the other, staring. "Oi...y' alrigh'..?"

[crazy_d_healing]

Hearing someone call out for him by name had him turning to look, his heart jumping a bit. It wasn't Okuyasu's voice, or even the particular way he said Josuke's name, but his aching heart had briefly imposed those sounds in place of his new friend's voice. Seeing the other was both a kindness and heartbreaking, if he was honest, but he didn't let the latter show, offering the best smile he could muster.

"Hey... Sorry. My head got a bit loud... after that fight and everything." he admits, trying to draw in a breath that would calm him, though it seems to catch on the lump in his throat. "I'd point out it's late and ask you what you're doing up... but... you've got every right to be down here..." he adds, trying to offer some levity to things, even if it didn't go far. A rough brush of his wrist over his eyes and cheeks knocked away the signs of tears, but more were already there, threatening to take their place.

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Heh, nah, I hear what y' sayin'," he replies easily, doing his level best not to draw any attention to those signs of nervousness. That's just not the cool thing to do to a bro. So the blond just shrugs, taking a seat on some dry sand. "Eh, I was jus' wanderin' honestly- gotta clear my head y'know?"

He breathes out a sigh, looking up at the stars for a bit.

"...Never thought I'd fight a gian' robot, y'know?" The offer of levity it seems, is twosided.

[crazy_d_healing]

"Yeah... Yeah, I get that." he says with a nod, moving back up the beach a bit to sit down next to his friend.

"That is something I haven't done before, I have to say." He admits, leaning back on his hands. "I... I was pretty worried about everyone." He knew he wasn't the only one shaken by the whole thing, he could hear it in his friends voice, that was why he'd kept quiet about his own thoughts and worries.

"You're alright, yeah?" he asks, checking to make sure he was alright, not willing to neglect his friend's well being.

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Yeah?" There's a pause, and then a nod. "...Y...yeah," he admits, voice a little shakier there. "'S weird y'know? Y'd figure, bein' able t' make it through ev'rythin' else would make it easier but...after 's all over," Katsuya continues, "It jus' feels like everythin's happenin' all over..."

...ah...

"Uh-" He rubs the back of his head. "...Tha' ain't 'xactly a helpful thing t' hear huh..." Hahhhhhh....

[crazy_d_healing]

"More than you think." He says, staring up at the sky a moment before offering Jou a small, crooked smile. "Truth is... it's nice to know, or be reminded... that I'm not the only one... who feels like I'm back 'then' or 'there'. That it's... it's normal, it's how these things go." He pauses a moment before turning so he's sitting, looking right at the other teen.

"Hey... uh... this might sound a bit crazy but... Think you'd be alright with me telling you? What happened, you know?" He asks, thinking about it a bit even as he talked, but kind of more just the words come out without over thinking them. "You don't have to say yes, of course... I don't want to drop it on you. I just... thinking about it... if someone knew... what happened, here... maybe they could... I guess, help remind me when I get into my head about it, that it's all okay?" He offers in explanation with a half shrug. "I'll listen to whatever you got too, this isn't a one way street thing... whatever you'd feel like sharing."

[luckydragonsfoot]

Katsuya can only nod, as Josuke speaks. "Yeah," he agrees quietly. "I dunno how t' put it, but somehow it helps... Hn?"

...What happened...

"Hahhh...man, I don' even know where t' begin on tha'," he laughs weakly, shaking his head. "Sorta feels like jus' abou' ev'rythin's had somethin' goin on since Highschool took off..." Where does he even start- hell, what can he even stand to share for that matter?

"But...yeah- I c'n lis'n, I figure. Maybe it'll make it easier t' know what t' say from there, ev'n," he jokes, albeit weakly.

Long post is long... enjoy those feels

[crazy_d_healing]

He nods and smiles a bit before considering how to start his own story... he didn't want to bore the other with the little details, meeting Jotaro and Koichi, learning about his dad, those... didn't exactly matter too much for the big fight. "So... I think I mentioned before, that where I come from, people without stands, can't see them, right?" He asked, the furfrou having realized he was settled in place and deciding to lay down with it's head on his lap, that he pet absentmindedly.

Behind him Crazy Diamond appeared, quiet and almost thoughtful looking, focused on a point just beyond Josuke himself, though not really staring at Katsuya either. "Well... that's kind of an important thing, because it means to a lot of people, what stands can do is like... magic. Unexplained. Something suddenly fixing, or disappearing from existence... from something they can't see. Most of us keep our activity as quiet as possible, just so we don't draw a lot of attention. But... in my hometown there was this guy who... he had a stand... and a really weird obsession."

"He... liked ladies hands, not just like pictures though... guy was a murderer." He shivers slightly at the thought. "Well, push came to shove and... I ended up in a serious fight with this guy, me and my best friend, Okyuasu... he's the one with the stand that erases things. The murderer, his stand could make bombs... one thing he touched could be turned into a bomb. We were fighting him when... when I accidentally let him get too close, I don't doubt that it would have taken me out, if Okuyasu hadn't redirected the attack.

But that erasing thing, when he uses it to erase the space between things, it draws them to him, because they are pulled toward where his stand is. The attack that should have hit me... hit him. It was pretty bad, and I was forced away from him, unable to fix him..." His voice shrank for a moment, throat tightening. "By the time I did get to him... he... he wouldn't wake up, even after I fixed him... The murderer had me on the run, but I couldn't leave him there... on his own. He had been alone so much... I couldn't do that to him, I didn't want him to be alone when he woke up.

Or that's what I told myself... by the time we were safe... I had to admit the truth... he was gone." He didn't bother to reach up and brush away the tear on his face, even knowing what he did, the memory hurt so much. "I'd failed... my best friend, someone that was... like a brother to me."

"At that point I just wanted the asshole that got him gone... I... I know I took risks I shouldn't have. I got hurt bad for it too. Had some big pieces of wood... stuck... thanks to an explosion. I finally got him cornered... thought I'd won... only to stumble. I was running out of strength and really thought I'd failed to protect everyone.

Then out of no where... he came back... just... stepped out, saved my ass with his cool stand powers and evened the odds again. I... I know he was dead... when I set him down in that house... I checked, everything, pulse, breathing... I checked for them and got nothing." He shook his head a little and smiled, though it was thin. "Kind of stupid, to get upset that he wasn't dead, but... I did. The rest of the fight is... a bit hazy for me. By then I was in a lot of pain, and lost a lot of blood." he admits, sighing. "I've heard the murderer actually died... by accident.

Thinking he hasn't and is just... out there, hiding among people again is one of the things that makes sleeping hard. But the other... is this idea that eats at me at times... that I just... hallucinated Okuyasu waking back up and still being there. He's been really good about letting me bug him to be sure he's really... real. But... I guess here... I just have to try and trust my memory." He says, finally looking up, his lower lip between his teeth as he chewed on it lightly.

[luckydragonsfoot]

Murderer.

He swallows through the silence, forcing himself to stay quiet as Josuke speaks. About the fight that they had- about the people who almost died.

The people who did die...

He swallows. "Somethin' like tha'... ...I don' think tha's fake," he eventually says, looking forward. "I..."

Heh. "...Y'know, 's weird, I guess...one 'f th' things I saw back home, ain' so differen'. I mean, th's guy...he wasn' some hand freak, sure, but he definitely killed. Killed th' guy who was his 'father', much as it sounds like he d'served it. ...An'... ...tried t' kill me, my friends... He really did kill th' doctor on th' ship, too.

"See by th' time we knew who it was, we were on a big ol' airship, righ' in th' middle 'f nowhere," he explains. "Th' one holdin th' tournamen', they were stuck w' their hands all tied. Cause th's guy, he was followin' the tournamen' rules. Wouldn't go after anyone 'f everyone played along, leas' mostly.

"...but if we turned aroun', what was gonna stop 'm from doin' it, righ'?"

He sighs. Swallows. "...after my fight w' him... ...they said I was clinic'lly dead. ...For tw'ny minutes," he adds stiffly, words practically caught in his throat. "...We did get th' guy later- went up in an 'xplosion, actually. But th' poin' is... ...Hell. Sometimes people die, an others don', even when things feel like they went th' same.

"But it sounds like at leas' th's guy... ...He want'd t' live. So he did... ...An' you didn' fail anymore than my friends failed me," he finishes, smiling quietly.