Dark Awakening

Nathanael - Takada's Apartment, Tokyo

"Kyo? Kyo-chan?!"
Kyosuke opened his eyes gradually, stirred by the muffled voice behind the door; the desperate grip he had on the sheets suddenly loosened.
"Mm... What...?" he drowsily muttered.
"You overslept-- Didn't you set your alarm last night? I tried to wake you twice, already! It's almost eight!" The voice faded in and out, as though its origin was hurrying about erratically.
Kyosuke buried his cheek into the pillow and exhaled. "Is that so." He said, dryly.
"Kyo," the voice on the other side cried desperately, "don't do this to me, please!
"Look, I've got to go, or I miss my bus. Can you sort yourself out and get to school on time?"
The door slammed as Yuko left.

Kyo sighed, pushing himself out of the comforting hold of the bed. The cold air rushed into the pocket of warmth he had made of the covers, and he pulled the blankets over his lap to retain a little heat. He quickly rubbed at his blurry eyes, and checked the digital clock. It read to be exactly 7:50. If he hurried, he could probably catch his school bus.

The trip was an hour-long torment that took him somewhere fairly close to Shinjuku. Under normal circumstances, Kyosuke would then decide whether to enter school, or wander off to do his own thing. Usually the latter.

He dragged himself out of bed at a leisurely pace, and opened the wardrobe. He pulled out his school uniform, clean and crisp and freshly washed and just glowing with the joy of indoctrination.
He scowled at it, and put it back.
He found, and changed into a pair of black bondage pants and a black sweater. Then he crawled into the bathroom to clean himself up.
After that, he spent a good twenty minutes staring into the mirror, just reflecting on the night before.

He felt like he'd forgotten something important, but he wasn't sure what.

After it began to wear thin, he wandered through the doors and slumped directly in front of the small TV in the main room. He muted it, and sat, watching the pictures flashing in front of him. He cupped his chin in his hand, and gazed, vegetabilised.

So much for school, today.

Gabriel - Junko's Apartment, Tokyo

"Kaori-chan, I'm heading for school... Kaori? KAORI!"

Junko Shimazaki, a first year at Fujimi School, Senior department, glared down at the
groggy mass that was her younger sister. The girl, addressed as Kaori, meekly batted a
hand at her sister's head. "Mou... 'Nee-chan... go 'way... I was sleepin'.. besides, your up
too early..." Kaori muttered before rolling over and promptly falling back asleep.

"Hn. Fine... but if your late, it's not my fault." Junko then rushed out of the small, cluttered
room, and headed for the front door. She picked up her black bag from atop the coffee
table in the family room, glancing back at her sister's door, hesitantly sliding on her shoes
and heading out the door. She looked back in, just to check if Kaori had miraculously
gotten up, to no avail. She yelled a brief 'Itekimasu!' before closing the door behind her
and heading for Nerima.

She slowed her pace a bit, blinking thoughtfully. Your up too early... She normally
wasn't up this early, but her peaceful slumber had been greatly disturbed. She'd had a
terrible dream. Junko stopped taking a moment to collect her thoughts, she closed her
eyes. She could hear the clash of steel, mixed with cries of pain; She could her someone
chanting in a language that she didn't recognize; She could her wire clenching, and then
the graphic images flowed back to her from her memories.

It was a man... he was clutching something-- no, someone. And he was crying. Then she
saw a woman suspended in midair, her body surrounded by wire, blood dripping
melodiously down onto the ground from the silver threads. Below the figure lay six black
pieces of cloth each laid out in a different position, pointing in a different direction. And
slowly they began to twist as if invisible hands were wringing them. And then they lay flat
once more, although this time.. they were wings.

Junko sighed, coming back from her thoughts. Her sad brown eyes blinked a couple of
times before she shook her head and laughed half-heartedly. "I'm being stupid. It was only
a dream. It's almost as stupid as that dream I had about Kaori trying to kill me with
mattresses." She burst out laughing for a moment before she looked at her watch. 7:15 it
read.

"Well... I'll have just enough time to do some laps in the pool... Off to school I go!" And
she took off running for the Nerima line.

Nathanael - Shinjuku Station

Kyosuke shakily stepped off of the train and onto Shinjuku station.
He had been fine for half of the trip... but then he started feeling very strange. It wasn't just physical oddness, but very much a psychological feeling, also.

Either way, it wasn't working well with the alcohol he had recently consumed.

He urgently shoved his way through the tidal surges of people; after the long trip, he was anxious to either get to fresh air or a bathroom, quickly.

But everything seemed to be working against him. Not just the streams of people, but...

He stopped somewhat suddenly as a dizzy wave hit him. For a moment...

... wings, engulfed in fire, and... someone laughing...

His legs gave way beneath him, and he stumbled forward.

It was fortunate he saw a bench at that moment, cosily pushed against the far wall.
Blushing with embarrassment, he slowly got up and made his way to it.

If he'd had any idea of how unwell he was today, he probably wouldn't have made the trip. As it was, he'd made it for lack of anything better to do. Daytime television was tolerable for only so long.

As he sat, he buried his head in his hands. This was a stupid idea.

Gabriel

"Damnit, how did I get lost?" Junko growled slightly as she propped herself up against the
cement wall of the Shinjuku platform.

She mutter her mistake again in a hushed tone. "I just fell asleep and missed my stop that's
all..." She sighed in defeat, the image of that damned Tochomae sign burned into her
memory. "There's no way I can get to Nerima now... damn."

Her form sagged, her eyes closing momentarily before she heard a few girls hushed
conversation. Their soft toned 'Did you see that?'s and 'Do ya' think he was drunk?'s
piquing her interest as her eyes focused on the form of a teenage boy, scrambling his way
to one of the benches that lined the far wall.

She blinked, hesitating slightly before making her way over to him, tilting her head
to the right as she stopped in front of him. The boy had buried his face in his hands, so
Junko really couldn't get a good look at him but, body language spoke volumes and right
now his body language was screaming 'I feel like I'm gonna puke!'

"Anou... are you alright?" She paused, waiting from some reaction. "You don't look so
good."

Nathanael

Unsure it was he who was being talked to, Kyosuke glanced up. From the corner of his eye, he saw a girl standing not too far from him; as he suspected, she was looking at him.

His guts did a waltz.

Under general circumstances, he'd probably tell her something awfully offensive, and walk off. As it was, he was drained, and he was sick, and he really wasn't up for pissing anyone off. Plus, she seemed mostly harmless.

Mostly... in the sense that seeing her made him feel deeply unnerved.

He was more screwed up than he thought.

"Yeah... I'm fine, I guess." he mumbled lamely.

He folded his hands and turned to get a decent look at her.

For a second, the horrifying thought that she was a trendy teenybopper entered his mind. They were Shinjuku's vermin.
But she didn't look like a trendy teenybopper to him; her eyes spoke of a great deal of intelligence.
But it was always hard to tell with the school uniform - they didn't allow for 'trendy' accessories.

Speaking of which...

"Hey... shouldn't you be in school? It's..."
He checked his wristwatch. It read 4:00 AM. A blatant case of battery-death.
"... erm... almost school's starting time.."

Gabriel

A single eyebrow arched at his scrutinizing glance.

She sighed slightly as his question rang in her ears, and promptly sat herself down on the bench, imitating the stance he'd taken earlier, cupping her head in both hands.

"I fell asleep on the train and missed my stop..." Junko pushed herself back, her head hanging over the back of the bench. "What about you? We must be close in age... so shouldn't you be in school?" She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

Why did this boy feel... familiar?

Nathanael

Kyosuke shrugged nonchalantly.

After a pause, he added, "I didn't feel like it.
"Looking back now, I'm glad. It hasn't been a good day, today."

Concentration was becoming difficult. He didn't know if he was in for another surge of nausea, or otherwise.
If he was, he prayed it didn't happen like the last time.

That vision... frightened him.

"If you're..." he paused, hesitant, "Is there no way you can get picked up or anything?"
Kyosuke glanced about and felt his pocket, where his wallet resided. He was hoping to get a drink or twelve, but if she needed it for a payphone or something, he guessed he could...

He turned to her.

In fact, he was finding it tough not to look at her.
At the same time, he wasn't so much looking as... trying to recognise...
Not even her face, just... something...

Gabriel

She blinked, watching his movements, quickly focusing her vision on the cement pillar infront of them. "My dad's on a business trip and my mom is in Sakuragaoka." She sighed, glancing at him out of the side of her eyes. "And if your reaching from your wallet, don't bother. I have money." She smiled meekly. "I just suddenly don't feel like going to school."

She laughed softly. "So if you don't mind me asking, what happened back there? Got winded?" She blinked slightly. "Or did you go on a drinking binge like those gossipping vermin were whispering?" Junko tilted her head slightly, noting the group of school girls she'd been standing next to.

Follow a character? Nathanael, Gabriel