That Nostalgic Summer Rain (Bleach/Kara no Kyoukai)

[X] The door creaking open, as Tatsuki returned with help.

As Fujino heard the door opening, she tilted her head upwards. It meant nothing to her, but it would show whoever was entering that she was paying attention.

Hopefully, it was Tatsuki, or whoever she had found to help. It shouldn't be anyone else, but Fujino had to entertain the possibility, at least, that someone else could have stumbled into the building.

"I'm back." Tatsuki said, confirming her identity. "You okay, Fujino?"

"I'm still conscious." Fujino replied. "Misaya's still unconscious."

"Good." Tatsuki continued. "I got the big guy from Urahara's place. He's here to help."

"Tsukabishi?" Fujino asked.

The voice of the man in question replied. "That's me, yes."

His footsteps sounded out as he crossed the room, approaching Fujino. "Arisawa told me you were stabbed."

"That is what happened." Asagami confirmed. "With a shard of glass."

"That complicates things." The man replied. "If it had just been a knife, I could heal your wound for you. Since it was glass, however, there is a chance that some of it may have broken off into the wound. In that case, healing you without removing them would cause more problems."

"How hard would it be to check the wound?" Fujino asked.

"It would be possible, but it would be difficult." Tsukabishi explained. "There are supernatural abilities that allow for analysing things, and I can use that ability to search your wound for glass shards, but usage on other people complicates the process, and a false negative isn't impossible. There are alternatives, however."

Taking a moment of silence to think, Tsukabishi continued. "I could prepare a spell that would undo the wound by reversing the series of events that caused it. That would ensure the wound was clean and clean your clothing in the process. It would be painful, however, and you would be exhausted in the process. It is not a swift progress, either. If there was more than one wound, it would take to long to be an actual option."

Pain was no issue for Fujino. She wouldn't feel anything, anyway.

"How long would it take? Fujino asked.

"Perhaps an hour." Tsukabishi thought aloud. "I wouldn't need to be here for the entire process, however, so I could ensure that Ouji is taken somewhere secure while you rest here for the process."

"Then go ahead, please." Fujino asked.

"Are you entirely sure?" Tsukabishi asked. "You would feel the pain of the wound for the duration of the healing process. It won't be something you can stop once it begins, either. Are you okay with that?"

"I am." Fujino nodded.

"If you are sure, then." Tsukabishi accepted the answer. "Could you move your hand away from the wound, please?"

Fujino did so, and a moment later, briefly felt his fingertips trace the cut on her stomach. It lingered momentarily, as Tsukabishi muttered something, before he pulled away.

"It will take a moment to begin properly." Tsukabishi explained. "But the process has begun."

"Thank you." Fujino responded. "You have been of great assistance. I apologise for asking so much of you."

"It is no trouble." Tsukabishi replied. "You have been working to resolve the incident with the Ouji and her familiars. I owe you something, at least, for ensuring that she didn't harm anyone. And even if you had not come, I would have been involved in this situation eventually. A mage with access to the resources that Ouji had is not something that can be ignored, let alone when the mage in question is in such a state."

Fujino turned her head towards where Ouji was still laying against the wall, to signify her shifting attention.

"You said you were going to take her somewhere secure?" Fujino asked.

"To the store, I believe would be best." Tsukabishi replied. "I would be able to monitor her there, and you know where it is. When your wound has healed, you may come to the store to see if she has awoken, if you wish."

"Thank you." Fujino replied. "Are you sure you can keep her secure?"

"She does not seem to be in a position to be much of a threat to anyone but herself, from what Arisawa has told me." Tsukabishi replied. "It would not take much to ensure she doesn't go anywhere, or try to harm anyone."

Fujino smiled, softly.

"I should be off, then." Tsukabishi noted, as he moved towards Ouji. "Oh, Asagami, keep in mind. This healing spell is a draining one. I would recommend that, once you have healed, you find something to eat. You will still be exhausted, but it will help."

Asagami nodded. "Thank you." She repeated.

"Farewell, then." Tsukabishi noted. "Arisawa, I assume you will want to stay by Asagami's side?"

Tatsuki didn't respond, but Fujino could gather she had responded nonverbally, somehow.

"Goodbye." Fujino waved her hand slightly, in the direction of the door.

"I will see you later." Tsukabishi replied. As he finished talking, the door shut.

There was silence for some time, followed by Tatsuki's footsteps approaching Asagami.

"You alright?" Tatsuki asked. There was a brief thud, as she leaned back into the wall, and slid down to sit next to Fujino. "Cut hurting much?"

"I'm fine." Fujino replied. A true statement, though one that would make it sound like she was okay with the pain, rather than not feeling it. But then, Tatsuki had seen Fujino be stabbed and not realise it for some time. Would she be asking about that now? Fujino didn't want to say it if she didn't have to, but given what had happened, she didn't know if she could conceal it anymore if Tatsuki asked about it. How was Fujino supposed to explain not noticing when she got stabbed?

"What about what Ouji said?" Tatsuki asked. "That weighing on you at all?"

Fujjino frowned. "What do you mean?"

It was obvious where this was going, Fujino felt. There was only one thing Misaya had said that would be worth following up, and it was the other conversation Fujino didn't want to have. Perhaps if she acted like she had no idea what Tatsuki was talking about, Tatsuki would stop thinking about it.

But that was only wishful thinking, wasn't it?

"It seemed like Ouji's words were bothering you." Tatsuki replied. "The stuff about... Y'know."

Fujino didn't reply, and she heard Tatsuki shift against the wall uncomfortably after a moment. It was naive to think staying quiet would prevent Tatsuki from wondering about it, but the point remained. Asagami Fujino did not, if she had any choice in the matter, want to admit to murder.

"You did go quiet while she was talking about it." Tatsuki continued. "I dunno what actually happened or anything, and I'm not gonna trust someone who was specifically trying to make you sound as bad as possible. But, like, if there was some kind of accident she was trying to pin on you or something and it's bothering you, I don't mind listening to any details. If it'd make you feel better."

Fujino almost laughed, at that. Some kind of accident? Was Tatsuki just determined to see the best in her?

Still, at this point, Fujino didn't think she could stay silent anymore. Tatsuki knew too much at this point already, and if her denial involved giving Fujino more praise than she deserved, then Fujino wouldn't be able to accept it.

"I've told you before, Tatsuki." Fujino replied. "I'm not a good person."

Tatsuki didn't reply, not right away. For a split second, before Fujino had spoken, it had sounded like she was about to say something. Now, however, those words died on her tongue.

"Everything Ouji said was true." Fujino admitted. "I killed six people within the span of a week. I spent most of that time hunting another person, and before I was hospitalised, had done my best to murder a woman for trying to stop me. Misaya didn't need to make me sound bad, and I don't need you acting like I'm worth sympathy because of it."

Tatsuki was speechless, apparently. Whatever reactions she had beyond that were lost on the blind girl.

The longer the silence reigned, the more Fujino began to regret simply telling Tatsuki that she was a murderer. It's one thing to hear it from someone like Ouji, but it was another for Fujino to just say it.

"I am not a good person." Fujino admitted. She had already spoken, so she may as well continue now. Perhaps it would help if Tatsuki understood, a little better. "I do regret it. Within those few days, I was too focused on my hunt that I didn't stop to think. I didn't realise how much of a monster I am until I was stopped. The fact that I was allowed to live after that is an injustice."

"That's..." Tatsuki began, trailing off immediately.

"It's what?" Fujino asked. "Monstrous? Incomprehensible?"

"...You said before, didn't you?" Tatsuki asked. "That the reason you got involved in the supernatural even when you didn't want to was because you wanted to feel like it wasn't wrong for you to exist?"

Fujino frowned. That was not the reaction she had expected.

"Then there's nothing to worry about." Tatsuki decided. "You feel bad about it and you're trying to be better. No point holding it against you."

What?

"Tatsuki?" Fujino asked. "Did you hit your head, at some point?"

"I suppose it does sound kinda dumb." Tatsuki admitted. "But... Well, I like you, and even if you say you've killed people, I've only heard about it. So I want to keep liking you. Does that make any sense?"

No, it did not. Fujino could understand Risu wouldn't care, Fujino had talked that girl down from suicide. But Fujino hadn't done anything as meaningful for Tatsuki. So why would she just brush it off like that?

"I'm sure there's more to it anyway." Tatsuki continued. "That, or you're really not the same person you were. I don't see you just killing people for the sake of it."

"That's because you don't know me as well as you think you do." Fujino replied. "I enjoyed it, Tatsuki. I killed six people and hunted a seventh because I enjoyed holding power over them. I tried to kill an eighth and even when she held a knife to my throat, I was smiling. Asagami Fujino is a monster."

"So what changed, then?" Tatsuki asked. "You said you didn't realise how much of a monster you were being, right? People don't decide murder is bad just on a whim. What changed?"

Fujino bit her lip. Why was Tatsuki making this so difficult? Why was she being so understanding? Why wouldn't she just accept that Fujino was a bad person?

That thought lingered for a moment, before a question dawned on Fujino.

Why did she want Tatsuki to think she was a bad person?

It didn't feel right, that Tatsuki was listening to all of this, and acting like she didn't care. But why was Fujino so determined to reject all sympathy? Why was Tatsuki's acceptance rubbing her the wrong way?

Ah, perhaps it was obvious. Arisawa Tatsuki had learnt of Fujino's worst secrets under the worst circumstances Fujino could imagine, and Asagami Fujino was a creature so determined to keep her secrets and appear normal that once upon a time, it had seemed perfectly logical to hunt down and murder a man, and it had not even crossed her mind that her motivation was a monstrous one such as self-satisfaction.

Tatsuki's acceptance was provoking this reaction because Fujino hated that someone like her could be accepted.

Sighing, Fujino laid back against the wall, tilting her head upwards to face the roof.

"My apologies, Tatsuki." Fujino said softly. "Allow me to explain properly."

Tatsuki didn't reply right away, and Fujino took that silence as her cue to continue.

"I don't want excuses or rationalisations for what I did." Fujino explained. "But I still overreacted. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Tatsuki replied. "It's... This seems like a complicated issue. One that bothers you a lot. Me dismissing it probably was upsetting, sorry."

"Don't apologise." Fujino responded. "You're not the problem. I just don't want to try to excuse what I did."

Pushing back against the wall to force herself upward again, Fujino began her proper explanation.

"If I hadn't made excuses for myself then, I could have stopped a lot earlier than I did." Fujino explained. "I killed four people on the first night. Out of everything, that would be the one that could have been forgiven. I was almost stabbed. I thought I had been. But in the aftermath, counting the bodies and realising that there was a survivor, I made excuses. I told myself that I wasn't murderous, I simply needed to silence someone. I needed to find the one man who had survived and kill him to protect myself, I thought."

Looking towards Tatsuki, Fujino continued. "I killed another man the next night. He was a friend of the one survivor, he might have known where to find him. I killed him as painfully as I could to extract that information, and then told myself it was necessary."

A bitter laugh slipped from Fujino's lips. "The next time I killed someone, I didn't even tell myself anything. I crossed the road without looking, heard the truck coming, and then instead of running out of the way, I killed the driver. Then I moved on, and I didn't stop to think about it until after I had been stopped."

"And I didn't even stop myself." Asagami concluded. "If I hadn't been stopped, if that woman hadn't held a blade to my throat and then asked while I was smiling, I never would have realised what kind of monster I was. I would have kept killing, and then I would have found more reasons to continue."

"...I really don't know what to say." Tatsuki replied. "It's... A little unbelievable, you know? It's hard to picture you the type. But... What I said before, I think it still stands. I think you're a good person, Fujino. Even with all that, I can't stop thinking of you as a good person."

Asagami closed her eyes. It made sense, she supposed. Her story must have seemed ridiculous. It was no surprise that someone would put more weight in what they've seen of a person over what they've heard.

"I guess it's kinda dumb, trusting someone because they listened to you complain about your life once." Tatsuki continued. "But I'm going to trust you anyway. And if you don't want any excuses, I won't make any. I'll just trust the Fujino I know."

"Thank you, I suppose." Fujino smiled.

The two girls fell into silence for a moment, and Asagami mused for a moment that she wasn't sure what else to say now.

How do you follow up a conversation like that? You can't exactly go from talking about your sins to discussing the weather, could you?

Though, considering it a moment longer, the shift in the seriousness in topic would be less awkward then mere silence.

"Is it still raining, outside?" Fujino asked.

Tatsuki didn't reply right away, presumably as surprised by the shift in topic.

"...Yeah. Still raining out." Tatsuki confirmed.

"That's nice." Fujino continued, trying to think of how to turn the topic into enough of a conversation to take Tatsuki's mind off the earlier, heavier topic. "I have pleasant memories of the rain. It's comforting."

"...Huh." Tatsuki noted. "That's different, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?" Fujino asked.

"It's just the opposite for me." Tatsuki replied. "I... Well, you saw already that I don't take it well when my friends don't tell me about stuff I could help with. When I was a kid, a friend of mine lost a family member. He kinda shut down a bit after that, and I could never figure out how to cheer him up. It was raining a lot then too, so the rain just kinda reminds me of the time. Makes me feel kinda powerless, you know?"

Fujino looked away. "I see. I apologise for bringing it up, then."

"No, you didn't know." Tatsuki replied. "Though now I'm curious. Is there a reason you like the rain, or is it just a natural fondness?"


Fujino almost gave a response to that, but hesitated.

Somehow, even now, the fact that she couldn't feel pain was something she didn't really want to divulge. It was such a stupid thing, after Tatsuki had found out so much already. But that insensitivity to pain was still something strange about Asagami Fujino, and just sharing it went against every instinct and experience she had.

It felt rude, to hear Tatsuki's explanation on hating the rain, a reason tied to her past, without responding in kind. And yet, it was still in the nature of Asagami Fujino to keep secrets.

Looking away from Tatsuki, Asagami tried to ignore the sense of guilt that began to gnaw at her.

"Natural fondness, I suppose." She lied. "Maybe a half-forgotten happy memory."

Tatsuki didn't respond vocally, and Fujino joined her in silence. It was still somewhat awkward, but at the very least, the last thing they had talked about wasn't about how Asagami was a murderer. The fact that the two girls had such different opinions on the rain was a better thought to linger on, even if Tatsuki's memory of the rain was tied to something painful.

It was almost funny, Fujino thought to herself. The two of them had very little in common, and their opinion on the rain was just one difference. Arisawa Tatsuki was a girl who got involved with the supernatural with little prompting, and had wanted to involve herself more when she realised her friends had been involved without telling her. Asagami Fujino was a girl who had never wanted to be anything more than normal, but had gotten involved in the supernatural anyway to assuage her guilt at her continued existence. Arisawa Tatsuki was a straightforward person, while Asagami Fujino was secretive.

Arisawa Tatsuki thought that Asagami Fujino was a good person, which was something Fujino would never do herself.

And yet, despite all the differences, the two had managed to enjoy each other's presence. It wasn't something Fujino would expect, if it hadn't already happened.

It was nice, Fujino mused. And as upset as she had been at the moment, the fact that Tatsuki was willing to stay by Asagami even after finding out her darker secrets was nice as well.

Even if Asagami was too much of a monster to ever deserve it, the fact that someone could know so much about Fujino and still stay by her side was comforting.

Smiling to herself, Fujino leaned back against the wall, and waited for her wound to heal.

"...You know." Tatsuki said suddenly. "Something occurs to me."

"Hm?" Fujino queried.

"Didn't Ouji say she had one last fairy going around?" She asked. "In the graveyard? Maybe we should take care of that before someone walks by and gets hurt by it."

"Oh." Fujino remembered, now. Misaya had said that, hadn't she? "I suppose I should take care of that-"

[X] "-Once my wound heals."
[X] "-After seeing if Misaya is okay, in Urahara's store."