A Tangled Thread [Kyo, Igen]

[ForgottenMercyVeteran Member]

Thirteen officers visited. Eleven of which had needed treatment.

Well, he could at least report to Erika that his little project had turned out to be all to necessary after all. The exhausted pinkette thought to himself as he made his way tot he once place he had barely seen that day. The hospital.

It didn't take long to find who he was looking for, and he felt a slight knot in his stomach as he made his way to his friend's recovery room. He should have been here sooner. HE knew about Kyo's injuries, but well. Duties had gotten in the way of that. Not that Kyo was gonna be bothered in the slightest, but .. still. Some shard of cowardice in him still twisted, what if he hadn't made it through the day? A what-if that was useless now, but all the same, his stride was a bit brisk as he made his way to the threshold of the room and paused. The Nurse quietly informing Kyo that he had a visitor, before eventually stepping aside and letting Igen enter.

"Hey there."

[RawkGod of Love]

SAWACHIKA KYO

How terrible it all was. His father wounded, his mother in bed for the foreseeable future, and here he was, still grappling with the fact that he only had a single arm. So many lives had been lost, and so many of them those who mattered deeply to him. But even in hearing all of them, there was one that perhaps pierced his chest more than he would have liked.

She'd certainly deserved better than that kind of fate. They all had, but what he would have given to say a farewell on better terms.

"Hey."

Kyo looked to his friend as he entered, but his voice was far quieter than was typical of the Big Bowl of Sawachika. How could he be boisterous, after all, knowing how many had lost their lives? It simply wouldn't have been possible.

END POST | HEART OF STONE

[ForgottenMercyVeteran Member]

Igen's eyes traveled to the space where once one of Kyo's arms had been. But he knew the man well enough to know that it likely had nothing to do with his current state of mind. The Kyo he knew would not let something like loss of limb bother him like this. No.. something else had happened, and Igen's heart sped a little in worry as he wondered what might have happened. He was so busy with his duties that .. he had no idea what sort of casualties had occurred on the civillians. And frankly, he still wasn't even fully aware of the losses to their own forces. At some point, it had simply become a sea of names, and picking them out individually had become impossible.

Had someone died?
He furrowed his brows and for a moment wondered if it was Kasha.

But right now, he focused on his friend sitting infront of him. He stepped close and took a moment to look at the man's frame, searching for injury and furrowing his brows as he focused his reikaku, searching to see to it that there was no injury that had yet been tended to.

Something happened. It wasn't a question, it was a simple matter of fact. Igen and Kyo knew each other well enough to know when the other was feeling off. And for a moment, he pondered asking about who it was that was the issue. If someone was hurt. IF someone was dead. Missing? Had he run into one of the traitors? So many things could be wrong, but none of that felt right to address.

Perhaps it was selfish. But he'd seen to so much death and pain. Not just injuries, but those mourning the lost, or drowning in the confusion of just what it was they were to do now. But through it all, in this moment, finally seeing his friend. His oldest friend that yet still drew breath.

Igen had been keeping his composure all day.Keeping things up, staying focused, for the sake of his patients and his subordinates.
But that tension finally relaxed, and Igen grabbed Kyo's shoulder, pulling him into a half hug as Igen felt tears he had been holding in since the invasion suddenly flood his eyes as he clung to the Sawachika. As all those bundled up emotions in the core of his stomach that he'd been holding in came loose and flooded out. Fear. Rejection. Loss. Despair. And in their place he felt a slow swell of something that finally managed to break what remained of his composure.

Relief.

"I...I thought you were dead. I saw what... the reports about the Eighth.I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I .... I'm not hurting your arm am I?" His words came out in a whimper as tears ran down his face, well aware that this was probably jarring for Kyo to experience, but he couldn't help it. There was only one thing that was bleeding through his mind:

Kyo was still alive.

[RawkGod of Love]

SAWACHIKA KYO

Kyo hardly minded being supportive of a friend in a time such as this. If anything, it was preferable to simply sitting around here in the hospital, ruminating on his own feelings, wondering what it was he was even supposed to do for the Seireitei any time soon. He knew that, given some time, they would likely be able to replace his arm. But right now, it was hardly a high priority, and he would never demand that it be.

If he had both arms, he might have returned the embrace to offer his support, but the best he could do was make it clear through his body language that he had no particular intention of pushing Igen away from him.

"No, you're not hurting me. I wasn't present when the 8th Eighth suffered that attack."

He could have said that he wished he were, but that was a lie. He wished he could have done anything for those who had been there, but how could he?

"It almost seems like you've gone through more than me."

END POST | HEART OF STONE

[ForgottenMercyVeteran Member]

Igen thankfully didn't devolve TOO much into a blubbering mess. No snot or gross wailing like that. Once he felt Kyo lean slightly to support him, he foelt a shaky smile form on his features and he slowly composed himself again. Wiping his eyes and sitting upright rather than continuing to force Kyo to support his weight as he shook his head. "N-no. The folks back in my district didn't get hit. I know the Koizumi got hit, but Kasha wasn't hurt. I saw him on the summons reports from one of the First Officers, debriefing or something. So he's fine, you're alive. Rio was hurt, but she's...." He trailed for a moment and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh... alive. She's Acting Captain of the Sixth for the time being. I'm just...being a bit dramatic I guess....." He murmured very quietly, pushing his own feelings further down.

Yea, he definitely had not, so far as he knew, lost anyone. Though he did pause for a moment and look back up at Kyo, gently resting a hand on his shoulder. "Hows your family?" He asked hesitantly, not fond of potentially reopening a wound, but also the worry in his voice was clear. They were pretty much the closest thing he had to a family.

[RawkGod of Love]

SAWACHIKA KYO

The mention of the Koizumi gave Kyo no small mixed feelings, given his previous ruminations. He was of course glad that Kasha had survived, but at the same time, it reminded him of those ruminations he had already been wondering on.

"I'm glad to hear it. My family's alive, at least. Mother and father both took plenty of wounds, and mother especially will be recovering for a long while. Other than that, no major injuries. Mizu, too, is still alright."

Thinking on whether or not he should speak on the topic, he thought for a few moments, then allowed the words to leave his mouth quietly, as if he were guilty in saying them. None liked to mourn, but Kyo never minded it if only there was some sort of closure.

"...I had heard Asami did not survive."

It wasn't as if he had unresolved feelings toward her, as if he still yearned for the woman. Kyo was more mature than that, he understood that life could not go that way and had found happiness with someone else. But it didn't change that she was a woman who had been dear to him, either, that they had still been close even with that having ended.

END POST | HEART OF STONE

[ForgottenMercyVeteran Member]

Igen nodded slowly. Wincing a little as he thought about the states of the family. Injured... but they were sturdy. At the very least, he felt a bit glad that nobody had died, and a little sigh of relif escaped him as Kyo mentioned Miki. Sure, they hadn't dated in ages, but they were still friends, and he did check up on her now and then. Which is why when Kyo spat out that part about Asami, his eyes widened, and he went very still as he looked up at his friend.

"Kyo..." He reached up and gently put a hand on his friend's shoulder. And felt ....... a bit unsure of what to say. Igen wasn't exactly like a lot of guys, he always just...expressed his feelings. But Kyo was like... a GUY guy. And even if he couldn't hear it in his voice. He still remembered what had happened when they broke up. And he knew enough about WHY they had broken up to know that Kyo still likely deeply respected and cared for the other woman on some level.

He furrowed his brows a bit and then released the shoulder, looking around until he found Kyo's hand and promptly picked it up and held it firmly. "I'm sorry Kyo." He offered quietly. What ... more could he really say? Fora moment he did .. worry a little. Kyo was dating Lieutenant Morikawa after all. And she was pretty .... well..traditionally girly. So even just his manliness aside, he could only imagine that his friend might have feelings he felt he couldn't express openly? Or maybe Igen was just in his own head again. But all the same, he kept a firm hold of that hand.

"If theres anything I can do to help. If you or your family need.... I dunno. Help around the estate, or ...I don't know. Anything. You know I'm more than willing to help. And ... I know you aren't exactly a gushy guy like me.Heh.. but. If ...there's something you need to say. You can say it to me Kyo. You don't gotta keep it in your head. I mean... I know my head's practically spinning and I don't have it nearly as bad as you. So ...yknow. What's.... on your mind?" He asked with a sheepish smile. To try and get him to open up a little. Or at least to let him know that he COULD if he wanted to.

[RawkGod of Love]

SAWACHIKA KYO

Indeed, Kyo wasn't quite the same as Igen, but not in the sense that he ever felt a need to hide how he felt. The Sawachika may have been bastions of what it meant to be a man, but to be a man meant to live one's life with conviction. Expression of the self was hardly anything to be hidden away, but Kyo simply wasn't the sort to weep quite in the way others might have, feeling as he did.

"I simply wish that I'd been able to say a better goodbye to her. It might be foolish, selfish even. But it's a sudden thing, to lose someone who used to be your whole world."

His tone of voice was grim, but he still wasn't one to cry, and it was clear that he wasn't going to. That sort of sorrow would only have come from tragedy far beyond what he had suffered.

"The household doesn't need much help, I think. But, if you wish to come by during your time off duty, you're certainly always welcome in the Sawachika Estate."

END POST | HEART OF STONE

[ForgottenMercyVeteran Member]

Igen nodded slowly. He’d come close to finding himself in that very situation, thinking about the wounds Rio had sustained. She coupd gave died. He gently grasped Kyo’s hand a bit more tightly and he nodded in understanding.

”You can still say goodbye to her. I don’t know what… burial processions will be like. But considering her standing. You'll at least have that.” He offered quietly, in some small way a goodbye could be had, even if it wasn't the same, there was some semblance of closure to be had. Though he wasn’t sure if that'd improve the situation. How did one say goodbye to someone that they'd ... had such a relationship with?

He sighed and gently sat down in front of Kyo, rubbing at his eyes. “That…. Mh. Might be a good idea. I haven’t really rested since this all started. I’ve been working with recovery so I’m on Fortification Pills at the moment.” He noted and smiled sheepishly, they always got him so amped up that he'd hardly slept. As was indeed the point of such things, but even so it was a bit of a trip for his body to acclimate.

After a few quiet seconds, he closed his eyes and let out a little sigh.

”Rio cut things off…. I uh. Have been keeping myself on the clock since.” He confessed quietly, folding his hands in his lap as he let those narrow shoulders of his slump, his head hung slightly as he let his mind drift back to the conversation in her office.

[RawkGod of Love]

SAWACHIKA KYO

"I can. But I don't think it's really the same."

Kyo wasn't much of a spiritual man, really. Obviously, he understood the way that the world worked, and he by extension knew how the soul moved about, even if not the deeper intricacies of it. By extension, he knew that there was no real value in saying goodbye to a corpse.

"Mother would get out of her bed and beat you senseless if she heard that, you know. Father would probably just knock you unconscious. It's well and good to work around the clock, but people like us aren't the same as the captains. We can't operate at our best around the clock, and right now, I don't think the Seireitei can handle any mistakes."

The mention of Rio certainly gave him a little bit of pause, if only because it wasn't the sort of thing he would have expected to hear. Well, no. Maybe that wasn't true. He would have expected it based on what he knew of the relationship already, but in this particular environment was another matter entirely. He reached out to offer a supportive pat on the shoulder, though his expression wasn't quite uplifting.

"You don't need to deal with that now of all times. Go home, tell Miki that I sent you for a proper rest."

END POST | HEART OF STONE

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