hugtopia_logs | happy birthday to u

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happy birthday to u

♥ Who: sad rawna kids, maybe less sad other people
♥ Where: rawna’s house
♥ When: 7/4-7/8
♥ What: canon update party
♥ Rating: prolly pg for intense worry

This was not how the afternoon was supposed to go.

It was really just supposed to be a little lounge in the afternoon. Kai had taken Bug out for a little romp in the sunshine, let the little guy stretch its… uh… rind? Get its roll on. Enjoy that one patch of grass for a while, a fruitbug needed some quality time outside sometimes, probably. Kai did at least. Playing with the orange eventually devolved into just sitting around for a bit as it rolled around, and that eventually led to laying back to watch the clouds roll by. Had there been any plans for dinner? Was the kind of idle thought that passed by. Maybe when all three of them were home, they could try making oyakodon or something together. That seemed like a good time.

When idle thoughts and lazy clouds became a nap, he didn’t know.

He didn’t wake up when Rawna’s priests came and picked him up. He didn’t wake up when Bug squeaked at them either, so he missed all the erratic circles it rolled around them as they went off to the temple.

It rolled all the way there, and all the way back, rolling around in obvious circles in the yard until someone it knew came home. Was it you? Yes? Well, better follow that fruit cuz there it went down the road to Rawna’s house.

The priests were kind of expecting them. Even with the mishaps that had happened, Rawna’s priests were familiar enough with this group to know that there was one pertinent reason Shinji or Kyoko would have shown up right now…. Even if they didn’t yet. Yes, their friend was this way. Yes, they could visit with him.

He didn’t wake up then, either.

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If Bug had waited just a little bit longer, there could have been a two-for-one friend deal; it's only a few minutes after Shinji and the orange head out on their jaunt that Kyoko arrives home from work. Not that she knows it, or that there's any evidence that anything is amiss.

True, usually Shinji at least is around at this time, even if Kaito isn't, but that's no immediate cause for concern. He's probably just off doing Shinji things! Making the rounds at various gardens! Maybe he and Kaito actually stole away for a rare date! Good! They should really do that more often!!

Ignoring the unhappy twist in her stomach, because it is bad and not supposed to exist, Kyoko heads to the kitchen, determined to sneak in some secret preparations. Cake Day is nigh, after all.

She's slicing orange peels--and silently apologizing to Bug--while sugar and water come to a boil on the stove when she feels a vibration in her pocket. Ah? Ah?? Huh? Oh--a message?

No, a call. That's a little unusual, coming from Shinji, but Kyoko doesn't think about it too much until that tiny voice is in her ear.

"... Yes?" Something in that voice has her stomach twisting in a wholly different way than before. "Did... something happen?"

Sharp as always, Kyoko. Though it probably just makes her guess all the more obvious when Shinji doesn't immediately respond to her question, his mouth just hanging open on his end while he tries to find some words to give her, but they simply keep slipping right through him without a sound.

He draws in a deep breath, hoping the action will at least keep some of what he wants to say from floating away from him.

"It's... a-at the temple," he manages after another moment. Some of those words still manage to slip from his grasp, but the message is still... kind of clear, he thinks. Clear enough that he doesn't think to press himself to fill in all those blanks. "Can you...?"

The silence makes the back of her neck prickle; this can't be a normal phone call. She's already reached over and turned off the stove when that heavy breath gets sucked in. As those shaky words come out, she's already striding out of the kitchen.

"What's at the temple?" Is he hurt? Have monsters from outside found their way into the city? Have the tensions among the natives suddenly heated up to a roaring boil? What would they do to a clear innocent like Shinji? "I'm coming right now!"

Thank goodness she had the peace of mind to turn the stove off. That could have been a pretty big disaster if she ended up as panicked as Shinji's feeling. Crisis averted, good job, Kyoko.

There is another disaster looming, though, on the other end of the phone. He's glad she was able to make sense of his request for her to come, but he's unsure about how well he'll be able to articulate this current problem. His throat tightens up again, but he still manages to squeak out an answer to her question.

"Kaito."

Now the worst they'll have to come home to is a dirty pan and an orange corpse, sweet. All clear to dedicate all her attention to the emergency at hand.

It's only more alarming when he doesn't manage to answer her question (he definitely didn't, right?). At the door now, Kyoko yanks her shoes on and leaves at a dash, eyes sharp for any chaos that might be lurking--if danger is at the temple, anywhere is probably fair game. "I'll call him!" It was only natural that Shinji would worry about him--she was pretty concerned now too. "We'll find him for sure! Just wait!"

And with that, she ended the call, the better to sprint to the temple--but not without sending a fresh call to Kaito.

Wow, what a happy little jingle coming from the yard. How weirdly timed.

How about that.

Kaito didn't pick up the phone.

A-ah? Ah. He did not make his message nice and clear. He is instead being left to stare at his communicator as the line goes dead, unsure if he has it in himself to try dialing Kyoko back or if that first attempt took enough out of him that he wouldn't be able to repeat it.

Kyoko got enough of the message, that's... that's probably the most he can really expect from himself right now. She'll be here soon enough, she'll see what's got him so rattled, and she'll... she'll probably be shaken up, too won't she?

For now, he's alone. With Kai's sleeping body. Which definitely isn't going to wake up, even as he reaches out and gingerly takes the other boy's hand in his own. Oh. No. He hates this more than he already thought he did. Having Kyoko on the call had saved him from the crushing feeling of silence and loneliness for a little bit, but now that he's back with the reality of the situation on full display... Kyoko, please get here quickly.

Kyoko had already launched into run as she pushed the call button, and was staring furiously down at the tablet as she sprinted out into the street--which as it turns out, is a great way to trip. Catching herself on her knees and one hand, she hisses--all that, and he still isn't picking up!

But stopping for just those few moments is enough time for that cute--familiar?--little ringtone to catch her attention. Staggering to her feet, she looks around for a moment, bewildered, and then gives up. There's no time to solve mysteries when Shinji needs her help.

Kaito gets about five more calls and a few texts (wherere are you???whartever's hapenning, Shinji's in trouble! AT the temple! Hurry up and come!!) in the time it takes Kyoko to run to Rawna's temple, where she's met by a much different mood than she'd expected. If the priests are wary of her, with her flushed face and sharp eyes and mussed skirt and dirty knees, they manage to keep it in check.

Her loud "Where is he!" is apparently expected, and answered immediately--this way, over there, go on. All right then. Good. Time to dash over to that room she's never been in before.

"Shinji?!" she calls before she even sees him. When she does, she slows to a stop at last, chest heaving. There are a few blinks as she struggles to take in the scene, face falling. "S-Shinji...?"

Despite Kyoko's thunderous entrance to the temple, something that very possibly could have been heard from the room where Kaito and Shinji are, the latter doesn't even really seem to register that there's anything happening outside. It's not until she she calls out to him a second time that he finally looks up from Kai's sleeping face.

Oh, good. She made it.

"Kyoko..."

Even through that crestfallen look on her face, there's a somewhat soothing feeling having someone else here, someone conscious and alert, brings to his nerves. It doesn't stop the hollow feeling in his limbs, in his stomach, but it does make him feel more solidly here. Like he doesn't have to continue convincing his legs to stay in one place instead of giving in to the urge to flee. Like maybe his breathing can finally even out a little.

"You're here."

The still, quiet of this scene she's rushed into is jarring; Kyoko can't quite piece it all together right away. For a few more moments she just stands there in the doorway, staring as her panting slows.

She'd been prepared for Shinji to be hurt, or terrified, and most likely alone. She simply wasn't ready for any of the things she was looking at right now.

When she breaks out of her stunned state, it's to rush over to the bedside, where she immediately freezes again.

So Kaito couldn't answer her calls because he was asleep. Oh. Oh. Oh. Okay.

"Shinji," she hears herself say, voice very low. "What... is this?"

What is it indeed? Shinji was certainly given some sort of explanation or reassurances by the priests after Bug brought him here, but what exactly those words may have been feels... distant. He can't quite grasp them through the fog that blanketed his thoughts the moment he saw Kai. Beyond what he can piece together himself through this shock, he's largely at a loss.

"He's... asleep." Not dead, thank goodness, but, "He isn't waking up."

As if to illustrate that point, Shinji carefully lifts the hand he has a hold of, unsurprisingly to no disturbance to the boy attached to it. He takes a very deliberate breath that shudders out of his body, and when he speaks up again, his throat feels unbelievably dry.

"I don't know what to do."

The longer she looks at Kaito, the harder it becomes to tear her eyes away, and the worse it feels. It doesn't even look like anything is particularly wrong with him, but he's just so unbearably still.

A less unnerved Kyoko might think to suggest a kiss to break the spell--and maybe that would even work, in a place like Havenwell. There have been stranger things. But as she stares and stares and stares at each slight rise and fall of the boy's chest, something slowly dawns on her.

This kind of thing... hasn't she heard about it before?

"K--" She speaks up abruptly again, after those long moments of silence. "... Keep holding his hand, I think. Make sure... he doesn't wake up alone. Right?"

Somewhere, deep in his mind, Shinji is also aware that this isn't some kind of rare phenomenon. It doesn't do enough to dispel his worries, but it's enough to keep him from sinking into a frenzied panic or falling apart completely.

His hand tightens slightly around Kai's, his mouth pulling to a thin, tight line as he nods at that last suggestion - that would be an absolutely awful outcome. He shouldn't wake up to nobody at his side, that would be the worst.

"I'll... right." That's a good plan. "Yeah." He can do that.

Was that truly a wise suggestion? Kyoko isn't ready to touch on the possibility, even in her mind, that something besides Kaito waking up could happen, but she can't avoid wondering how long it will be before he does. Advising Shinji to waste away at his bedside for months surely would not be the correct choice.

But it feels right. It's the only thing Kyoko can imagine doing herself, as her gaze lingers on that closed off face.

And there's nothing else she can say, either, no words of comfort she can will from her lips right now. She just hopes Shinji won't mind when she quietly shifts closer to him, curling a hand a lightly around the arm at his side.

Ahh, there we go. Just having her here was a relief, but having her right next to him, having her hand on him, that really gets through to him.

"Kyoko," he exhales, shoulders sagging as that breath takes some of his tension away. As though that tension was keeping him together, though, his voice becomes as shaky as his hands as a result. "Can you... can you stay, too?" Even if it's just for a while, "I don't... I don't know if I can trust myself to - to stay, if I'm alone."

Maybe when he gets his head on straight, he won't feel like immediately bolting the moment he's by himself, but for now, that company will help him keep himself accountable.

"I'll stay," the words spill out quickly, like an admission, though that wouldn't make sense. "I wanna stay. Even if you need to leave, I--I'll stay here with him." For Kaito's sake? For Shinji's? Kyoko is sure both of those have a part in it, but she knows it's all really for herself. Walking away right now is unfathomable.

But her hand squeezes a little tighter around Shinji's arm. "But... not yet. At least for a little while, don't go anywhere."

"I don't want to," not right now - and not at all. If it's left up to him, he wants to stay, even if he's not sure how much he could take of it on his own. "If you're here... I'll stay."

There's a little more to it than that, though, isn't there? Like this wouldn't be just for his own benefit, but if Kai were to wake up to the both of them waiting for him... "I know that... Kai would be happy if you were here, too." The two people he loves, waiting for him to return to them, wouldn't that be an ideal way to come back?

Of course, she hopes he'd be happy to see her. Kaito has made it abundantly clear that he likes having her around, so there's really no argument against that. Shinji is the most important, but having both of them be there will just make for an even warmer welcome back to the world of the conscious, right?

So it's settled. Kyoko lets her head dip a bit, not quite a nod, but a quiet agreement all the same. "Let's wait for him together."

Together. Perfect.

"Right," he agrees quietly, finally really registering the hand gripping his arm so tightly. He glances down at her hand before slowly moving his hand out toward her, palm up. This will be more comfortable for the both of them, right?

"Here."

That motion and that soft word draw her gaze down to the offered hand, and she blinks. She hadn't even been thinking about how tightly she was gripping him.

But at least it doesn't seem to be entirely unwelcome. With the tiniest of nods, Kyoko slips her hand down Shinji's arm to curl her hand around his. "... Thank you."

What the heck is she thanking him for? It doesn't seem like he's asking her to do anything she doesn't want, but isn't this just a kind of selfish request on his part? He doesn't have it in himself to really argue, however, only accept her company with as much grace as he can manage. She's being kind to him, and to Kai, so he just shakes his head very gently.

"Thank you, for staying." He needs this, he knows it. He'd never forgive himself if he succumbed to his own anxieties and just... left Kai like this. He didn't deserve that. And even knowing what he knows of Kai's feelings for her, there's no one that would have been more reassuring to have at his side under these circumstances.

"I'm glad you're here."

She's thanking you for holding her hand, you dingus.

It might not seem like it, with how insistent Kyoko can be about avoiding touch, but there are times when she really does need it. If this isn't one of them, what would be?

And, faint pangs of guilt aside, who could she want more to hold her hand right now than Shinji?

"That's my line," she counters softly. "If you weren't here, I don't know what I'd do."

Everyone here is dingus.

But with their powers combined, they can make one competent reaction to their current predicament. "Me neither." Having a warm hand squeezing his own back, knowing that he's not the only person feeling low and lost over Kai, it's endlessly reassuring.

"Do you think... it would help if you took his other hand...?"

Speed up the process, maybe? Or even just... give her some kind of extra reassurance?

Would that help? Kyoko blinks, and lifts her head with a frown. "I've never heard anything about that," she says slowly, "but... it would make sense, right?"

After everything else, what reason is there to believe the gods would be against putting someone into a coma until a touch quota is reached? Jeez... it would make more sense to target her for something like that.

So, stepping in closer to Kaito, she gingerly reaches across his slumbering body to take his other hand. Shinji's is squeezed tighter as she gently tugs it nearer, a tremble wracking her frame. Why won't he wake up.

Come on, Kaito, come on.

His own hand tightens around Kyoko's in return, anticipation for something, anything to happen as she takes a hold of Kai's hand. Would it take effect right away, or would they still have to wait? Is this even the correct solution? There are just... so many unknowns here, all he can really think to do is whatever feels plausible.

For a few long moments, his focus is fixed on Kai's face and he holds on to his breath. "Come on," he murmurs breathlessly. Please.

happy birthday to u

here we gooooo

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