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Continuing The Tour; Med <3
Topic Started: Jun 15 2008, 08:56 PM (532 Views)
Saki
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Master Saki QuizGirl!

The rain was going to come down, that much was evident; but when and where was unknown. Gabriel figured she could show Takumi as much of outside as she could fit in before it finally did decide to pour. So she started with the one place she spent most of her time at: the lake. Gabriel wasn't quite sure how she always ended up here, but whenever she was here something seemed to happen to her or around her. In fact, this was the place where she discovered her second power and simultaneously saved someone from drowning. It was the place where she realized she had compassion...which helped her believe that she wasn't the vacant shell her aunt told her she was.

Shaking these thoughts from her mind she stopped a little bit away from the edge of the water and turned to face Takumi. Gabriel was still confused over what she had just watched happen in the lunch room. What exactly had Takumi changed into? Was there a way for him to walk but not be fully...well...changed? Gabriel had never felt as curious as she did now; but she didn't want to talk about it if it was a sensitive subject. The only conclusion she could draw so far was that she had successfully healed his arm;at least, she thought so because he hadn't been rubbing it.

Looking up at the ever darkening sky she laced her fingers together behind her back before starting, "Since it's really beginning to look like rain I'll try and be quick. Between all of the outdoor areas I would say that this is the most peaceful...for the most part..." Feeling the wind pick up slightly due to the oncoming storm Gabriel gently tugged her sweater closed and buttoned it up slightly.

"Takumi?" she questioned slowly while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "How exactly...I mean, what exactly...allowed you to do that back in the cafeteria...?" Gabriel's brow crinkled slightly with the confusion that she felt; but once she realized the bold and prying nature of her question she turned away from him to stare at the water. "I'm sorry for prying it's none of my business...."
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Medivh
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[ *  *  * ]
"I'm not really sure on the specifics of everything to be honest." Takumi replied, fishing in his backpack and pulling out the belt he was wearing earlier. "It's a piece of tech that regulates the power-flow between all my cybernetic components, allowing me to walk for as long as I have the belt on and it's active."

He ran a hand along the cool, smooth surface of the buckle. He momentarily remembered how he got it...that wonderful fight in the rain against that man....Stag Crimson...He didn't seem to be a Shocker agent, but he didn't seem to be completely against them either...what was he, really?

"The armor comes as a part of the cybernetic parts I was given." he continued, looking out at the water as well. "Most of the cybernetic enhancements in my body are designed for attack. The armor makes up for that weakness by providing multiple layers of defense. One is physical defense against weapons. The other is a personal defense of protecting my identity. The general idea, as Shocker troops would tell you, is that all who see their solders' faces must die."

Takumi sighed a bit, still looking at the water, the realization of the magnitude of his chosen task.....a worldwide organization that didn't exactly work within the confines of the law. Lots of troops, lots of resources, lots of brainpower behind this group, and here he was: one lone reject. Takumi smiled at the thought, enjoying how deliciously dramatic the entire thing was....it was so absurdly old school! A lone man's quest for justice....sure, it wasn't anything new around AHS, but it was still interesting when one thought about it.

"and your question isn't really prying...." Takumi said, thinking about it. "It's kind of nice to explain this to someone."
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Saki
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Gabriel glanced away from the water to look at the belt he had pulled out. It was the same one he had put on earlier just before his...well, transformation of sorts. She had a hunch that the power was coming from there; but how exactly did it work? If the belt was what made him able to walk then why wouldn't he wear it all the time? Maybe it was the armor? Gabriel wanted to ask him, but since he didn't seem completely sure about it she let it go.

"Of course, there is no way someone would send out that much power without adding an even stronger defense to go with it..." she spoke her thoughts while staring down at the belt. Everything seemed to tie back to Shocker, the people who had captured him and changed him into what he is now. How is it, even now, Takumi can just smile and be content after all that has happened to him? Gabriel thought to her self while turning back to face the water. Moving her hands in front of her she stared at the water in deep thought.

Without even thinking about her words, Gabriel began speaking: "How do you do that Takumi? Just..." slowly she started taking a few steps forward, closer to the water. "...even after everything you've been through, everything you are going through now... you're just..." shaking her head she clasped her hands tightly in front of her. Maybe she just wasn't meant to change back... Blinking slightly she realized what she was going to say and tried to act as though she hadn't said any of it.

"So what do you think of the lake Takumi?" she asked while staring down into the water. Quickly she tried to block the confusion from her eyes, the less emotion the better off she would be; at least, that's what she thought.

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Medivh
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"It's certainly nicer than the Lunchroom." Takumi replied, watching Gabriel as she fought with what she wanted to say. He had a fair idea of what she really wanted to ask, since he asked himself that same thing on occasion. Yes, he'd had a black period after what happened...wandering around in a slump, viewing himself as a monster or a reject. It was a nice little case of depression. How he'd gotten over it, he really didn't know. He just remembered one day finally working it out....finding that one piece of the puzzle that made everything make sense.

"You mean....how do I remain happy, even after everything?" Takumi asked, rolling down next to her at the water's edge.

".....I had a darker period, after what happened." he continued, looking out at the lake. "It's such a huge change....not being able to stand on two feet anymore. Some people don't mind because they were born with this...or they did something wrong, and they feel like this is penance for their transgressions. But...I never felt that I did anything wrong enough to deserve this. I used to just mope around my home, in a slump. My sadness translated into hatred for everything. I hated that I needed help to get out of bed in the morning. I hated my parents for constantly helping and being around when all I wanted was to be alone to figure things out. I hated school and my classmates for the same reason.....they were all always so noisy, screwing around without a care in the world. They gave me superficial sympathy for a few days and then I was quickly forgotten...."

Takumi sighed, his face reflecting the unpleasantness in remembering such bitter times again.

"After awhile the anger became less as I adjusted to my new life. I still didn't like it, but what could I do about it? The doctors told me that to try and operate would be useless and would probably result in my death. Instead of being angry.....I became indifferent." He continued, watching people along the beach enjoy themselves. "Well, indifferent except when I went to the theater....I wasn't angry then....I was mostly miserable because the one thing I liked to do more than anything else was denied to me because I couldn't walk. The anguish of it is....difficult to describe."

Takumi smiled a bit, as the sun broke the clouds for a moment, trying to clear up the rainclouds....

"Then I learned....this is Bouken."
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Saki
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Gabriel should have known that Takumi could guess what she had left unsaid. He seemed to understand her better than she understood herself most of the time. How he could put what she wanted to say so easily into words she would never know, but part of her was almost... glad...that he could do it. Even now, just being around Takumi was somewhat healing to her depressed nature. Having someone who could almost understand what she was trying to feel made her want to feel again. If Takumi could do it then why couldn't she? What was holding her back?! After all he had been through he was still a great person... but how?

As he spoke she turned to face him, to give him her full attention. It seemed their situations were almost the complete opposite, yet the feelings were exactly the same. While Takumi's parents fussed over him and became slightly over baring, Gabriel's family shunned her and pushed her away. When everyone showed Takumi pity they shunned Gabriel without a second thought. But even though the situations were different, the pain and reality of it all was almost exactly the same. The only differences? Takumi had managed to put a lot of it behind him and he still had a family to go back to. Her only difference being that she could still walk.

Slowly she moved down to sit on her knees next to his chair, still not quite sure what she wanted to say. Gripping her dress in her hands she looked up at him with a look of true confusion and pain in her eyes. For the first time, in a very long time, it went unmasked and completely unchecked. The feeling had struck her so hard and so fast that she had been unable to block it; but now that it was showing it was a little harder to push back.

"...I-I wish...I wish that I could heal you Takumi." shaking her head slightly she stared back down at her hands, squeezing her eyes shut to hide the emotion she could feel rising up in her. It was strong enough to cause her tp stammer during her regular speech; something that hasn't happened since the 'incidents' began. Everything in her was trying to force it away, a natural reaction she had acquired over the years. A few more minutes and she would be back to the way she was. 'Good as new.'

"I don't know everything about you...b-but I know enough to say that you are the strongest p-person I know..." Opening her eyes slowly she stared down at the grass while clenching and unclenching the fabric of her dress. "You could have stayed like that: depressed, bitter, or you could have been empty..." she took a deep breath in, "...like me...but you didn't..." Tilting her head back slowly she glanced at the small ray of sunshine that managed to break through the clouds. For a moment a feeling completely opposite of pain passed through her eyes and body before slowly dissolving away with everything else.
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Medivh
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[ *  *  * ]
Takumi watched as he saw Gabriel break down, effectively in front of him. It pained him to see her this way. She deserved to be happy. For a smile to never leave her face. She was in a place far removed from the people who hated her. Such a wonderous and insane place to be, away from the pain of hatred and fear of the rest of the world.

Takumi thought for a bit as she finished talking....He let the silence stretch between them for a few moments before he started fidgeting....

After roughly thirty seconds, Takumi had sat down next to her on the grass, his wheelchair next to them. His shoulders brushed hers as he settled himself on the grass. He didn't speak, but simply looked out at the lake, being there for her to do as she wished. Wether it was to collapse and cry into his lap, or simply to lay her head on his shoulder and look out over the lake.

"Nobody knows who I really am
I never felt this empty before
And if I ever need someone to come along,
Who's gonna comfort me, and keep me strong?

We are all rowing the boat of fate
The waves keep on coming and we can't escape
But if we ever get lost on our way
The waves would guide you through another day..."

Takumi wasn't sure why he was singing....he recognized the song, though. He'd heard a woman in a park singing it. It had been during his darker period, before he'd figured everything out. Whenever he heard it, it gave him some form of peace. Perhaps that was why he sung it now. Again had the strange feeling crept in, the feeling between two people who had shared so much in such a short time. He felt more comfortable with it now for some reason, though.
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Saki
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Gabriel felt utterly confused. Ever since she tripped over Takumi in the hall it had become increasingly harder and harder to maintain the way she held herself. How is it this one person could chip away at the emotional roadblock she had so carefully built? Somehow...as strange as it sounded... she felt connected to him in a way. Not so much as she knew what he was thinking or anything close to that, she just felt like he understood. Even now, she was grateful that he wasn't trying to coax the emotions out of her; she just didn't feel ready to let the wall down. There was too much too let out all at once...but maybe if she let it out little by little it wouldn't be so bad? Then another thought crossed her mind:

After Gabriel finally did start to let everything out, would Takumi still be there? If she took his words to heart and started to change, what would he do? By now she actually considered him as a...friend, a person she hadn't had for a very long time; but what if he didn't see her as a friend? This led her back to her earlier thoughts about Takumi; after all, she was still showing him around. With his personality he could make friends in no time, friends who weren't holding back their emotions. So why would he continue to try and...well, fix her?

Gabriel's body gave a great sigh as her posture seemed to relax and lean slightly against his shoulder. She wasn't exactly sure when he had moved next to her but her body seemed to realize it before her mind did. She was careful to keep her body weight from shifting to that side, the last thing she wanted was to push him over. Staring back down at the grass she tried to focus on the sound of the water hoping to hear anything but the pounding of her own thoughts. Then Takumi started to sing...

Blinking slightly she glanced over at him as he sang. She wasn't sure what had inspired him to do so but it certainly was comforting to her. Suddenly she found herself relaxing and slowly closing her eyes. Focusing on the sound of his voice she rested her forhead gently on the edge of his shoulder. Gabriel mindlessly began to trace patterns into the grass on either side of her folded legs. "I'm sorry..." she started softly before lifting her head off his shoulder to stare back down at the grass. "Your voice is lovely Takumi." she whispered with a small nod.
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Medivh
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[ *  *  * ]
"There's no need to be sorry..." Takumi smiled. "I'm your friend, there's no need to apologize to me."

He smiled a bit more, enjoying the peace and privacy of this time. It wasn't at all what he had expected when he first came here. He had expected insanity, destruction, and drama. True, he had yet to be disappointed on the insanity front, but he didn't expect to really have a quiet moment. He expected to have to deal with people wanting to spar or fight over stupid things, like him talking to their girlfriends or something. Then again, Takumi reflected, such a thing was a decidedly american habit. Silly americans, so insecure about their relationships.

"Actually, Gabriel, I should be thanking you...." Takumi said, looking out over the lake. "I never expected to get moments like this when I first came here. I expected everything to be crazy and insane and stressful from the moment I set foot on campus. I didn't expect peaceful moments like this." he finished, vocalizing what he had been thinking. He felt like he should tell her the good she'd done for him. She deserved it, he felt. To see and understand that she'd made positive differences in someone's life, even if only for a day....
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Saki
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"I'm your friend, there's no need to apologize to me."

Well, that was one of her thoughts laid to rest. Takumi really did consider her to be a friend afterall, and just knowing that made some of the darkness fade from her mind. It had been...well, years since she last had an actual friend. Plus with what she had already talked to him about she had already felt Takumi to be a good friend. He wasn't just the only person to notice her, he was the only who took the time to talk to her and try to understand her.

Nodding her head she stared back down into the grass, watching her finger trace various shapes into the grass of it's own accord. Gabriel had no idea what they meant but it seemed to help her relax and put her emotional walls back up with ease. She knew she should be trying to slowly take them down but... it still hurt too much for that. Takumi's voice once again caused her to look up at him with a small glimmer of surprise lurking in her eyes.

"Thank me?" she questioned while folding her hands in her lap. Had she done something for him without even knowing it? Well, Gabriel did tend to avoid the more 'active' areas of the campus. She tended to navigate toward the more peaceful places of the campus, not wanting a negetive interaction with anyone. "I thought almost the exact same thing, so I spent a lot of my time in my dorm. But then when they were renevating I had to find other places to occupy my time..." she said with a small nod while staring over at him.

Plip. Plip. Plip. Ripples started to sprout out sporradically across the lake's glassy surface until finally the sky seemed to open up and drop water out by the bucket fulls! Gasping softly she could already feel herself being soaked completely though, "Goodness, I guess the weather couldn't wait any longer... not even with the sun out!" she called out over the cries of the other students nearby who were currently gathering their things and running for shelter. "We should go before we get sick..." she said while pushing herself to stand up and taking his hand to help him.
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