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Post by misa on Mar 9, 2008 12:41:07 GMT
Misa had been going strong through the maze, she always found them relatively straight forward, this was somethign she knew she could actually do, and true she'd gotten swept up in the race. The knowledge she was ahead had given her an extra surge of undiscovered energy and she'd raced ahead. For a while she'd been able to hear Arihant directly on the other side of the wall next to her, he had sounded like he was moving insanely quickly, but she'd tuned out and focused on her own path pretty sharpish when she thought he was catching up.
Left, Right, No - Dead end, back. Left again, Ri-Thump.
What the hell was that?
Misa froze where she was, breathing heavily, listening.
Something was not right. It only took her a few seconds to work out what it was. Arihant wasn't moving. She freaked out for a second, what had happened?
Laying out a hand on the nearest wall Misa felt across the surface of the maze, Arihant couldn't have made that sound on his own. Sure enough, she felt a break in the wall not ten metres away- How on earth...
Then she heard him set off again, his pace much slower this time; was he hurt?
"Arihant?" Misa called, completely bewildered.
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Post by Arihant on Mar 9, 2008 12:54:04 GMT
Yup, he was making a complete fool of himself, clearly.
Let's see, so far - he'd been very rude to her, to begin with, by going up the wall without her (although she had managed, somehow - maybe she had powers too... Well, that was stupid, of course she did, but maybe she was... like him?), he'd cheated several times in the maze, he'd run directly into a thick stone wall, he'd somehow contrived to break said stone wall - and how was he going to explain that? - and now he'd managed to act strangely enough to merit Misa stopping and asking after him.
It probably sounded like he was injured, he realised. After all, it wouldn't be humanly possible for her to not have heard that sound - even if she had been deaf, she'd have been bound to feel the huge vibrations that had resulted after the deafening crack - and he was moving a lot slower, now. Her voice did sound concerned, now that he thought of it.
OK, there was no way he'd be able to get out of explaining this without owning up to his powers - unless, of course, this sort of thing was normal herre - he didn't know - and really, the kindest thing to do would be to put her at ease. Anything else would just be unfair. Listen - she'd even stopped.
He had stopped moving while he deliberated for a moment, but then decided that that was it. He wasn't racing anymore. It was far too dangerous for Misa.
He vaulted himself up onto one of the walls and perched on top, searching for where she was. He knew it would be better for them to be able to see each other while he explained himself; if he wanted to sound credible at all it was absolutely necessary.
He found her quickly - she was much closer than he supposed. "I'm... I'm all right, don't worry. I just... ran into something, that's all."
Well, that was a cr@ppy explanation, but he was far too tired to think of anything else. At least it was true.
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Post by misa on Mar 10, 2008 19:06:26 GMT
Misa breathed again as Arihant hoped over the wall she had her palm pressed against. He jumped down next to her and Misa took an involuntary step back.
"I'm... I'm all right, don't worry. I just... ran into something, that's all."
She took another step. She suddenly found herself realising how ludicrous the entire situation was.
It was one in the morning - at least. She was standing, in the floor of the training room with someone she'd barely known fourty-five minutes. A someone who was now telling her they had run into a stone wall, broken it, and were fine.
She was frightened; she couldn't help it. She hadn't even considered what his powers might be. Maybe that was one of them; extreme strength. She was forced to rethink her earlier decisions to believe in him and his story.
Perhaps he was a fantastic spy; their secret weapon. Only now did she realise how easy it would be for him to snap her neck. If stone couldn't hurt him...then what would she be able to do to stop him doing just so?
She felt far more vulnerable than she had just standing in the middle of the room, while he was a completely unknown variable. Come to think of it he was still totally unknown. Arihant probably wasn't even his real name.
Get a grip! Her mind exclaimed and Misa realised she had just been standing there looking at him.
"Are you sure?" She said. Give him a chance, a chance to explain.
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Post by Arihant on Mar 11, 2008 21:21:56 GMT
For a moment Arihant genuinely believed that he was going to throw up. What else could it be? He felt something rising at the back of his neck and sticking in his throat, and suddenly he felt nauseous, and his eyes blurred over-
Then his brain registered what his body had a few seconds before, and he knew why he felt the way she did. He could tell what that emotion on her face was. It shouldn't have taken so long - the staring, widened eyes, the ashen face, the drawing back - it could only have been one thing.
Fear.
He was scaring her. She was frightened because of him. Because of what he was.
And the worst thing was that he knew it was right. He knew that she should be this scared of him. He was a monster. A murderer. How many people was it he'd killed now, anyway?
Five. Five. As if he even needed to count. As if he couldn't remember the faces that floated in front of him every time he closed his eyes. As if he couldn't remember their eyes - so innocent, so happy-
Then contorted in pain. He was a monster. He should have never been born. It was right that Misa was afraid of him.
He looked at her for a moment, stricken and yet apologetic, but soon became alarmed at the memories that were resurfacing quickly. His eyes closed tightly, and his breath became laboured and quick, and he couldn't make himself say anything, he just couldn't, not while he could see them, hear them, feel them, and feel what he had done.
He was a monster. The world would be better off if he- if he just-
At least he'd be cured soon. He hoped. He hoped. How could he know? It was almost too good to be true - no, scratch that, it was too good to be true. And even if he was, that didn't mean that he'd be redeemed - he couldn't be redeemed. He was so flawed, so wrong, so -
So godd*mn evil.
"Yes," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes still squeezed shut. "Yes, I'm sure."
He pushed the faces away, as he'd wished he'd had the strength to do earlier, with Kira. It wouldn't do to have the entire school thinking of him as some kind of freak. If they did, then they'd notice when he went, and that wasn't what he wanted.
He just wanted to get away from - well, from everything, but... but mostly from himself.
He opened his eyes and looked down at her. He couldn't explain... After all, what was there to explain? If he told her the truth, it would only scare her more.
"I think... I think maybe I should go back to bed," he said quietly.
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Post by misa on Mar 17, 2008 12:36:54 GMT
She watched as he shut his eyes for a few moments. He looked vulnerable. But she refused to let that fool her again. Appearances could be very misleading. He looked clean cut enough, but for all she knew he could have murdered his granny with a hammer. And as for closing his eyes? It clearly proved he wasn't afraid of her; he didn't see her as any sort of threat. What was going on? "I think... I think maybe I should go back to bed," he said finally. Misa sighed. This wasn't how she had planned to spend her night. "I'm-I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that, She said, the resignation heavy in her voice.
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Post by Arihant on Mar 17, 2008 12:59:37 GMT
His eyebrows arched in surprise.
This didn't really make sense, now, did it? A second ago she was acting terrified of him. As if he was going to... to hit her, hurt her somehow, as if he wouldn't feel guilty for doing that.
And now - she was... what? Bored? He couldn't tell, but her voice had suddenly become a lot lower and kind of... toneless. And her words - her words didn't really fit in with horror or fear or anything like that-
She wasn't letting him go. What did that mean? Did she... did she not want him to go, or did she feel like she had to keep him here?
Did she think he would- would-
He couldn't even finish that thought. It was obvious what was going on, when he thought about it. She thought he was- he didn't know, a threat? Something like that. She thought he would hurt people.
He wished he could honestly say that she was wrong.
"Um... OK?" he said, not really knowing what he should do. What could he possibly do to show that he wasn't a threat after... after that?
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Post by misa on Mar 22, 2008 12:11:00 GMT
"You-" Misa took a deep breath and a step forward again; she couldn't let him think she was intimidated. The deep breath was a mistake. It set her head spinning, black spots splashed across her vision, Tyuosa vibrated angrily. The world tilted cruelly on its axis as her foot landed and she lost her balance completely, falling against the wall.
Perhaps she had over exerted herself a little bit...
What on earth was she meant to do now? Was he going to take advantage of the situation and try to leave? Was he going to kill her first? It would be easier now than ever. She could barely blame him if he did, she had been so careless. She just hoped it wouldn't be too painful, she was such a coward...
She could barely breathe anyway, her chest felt so constricted, how had she allowed herself to just begin to fall to pieces like this?
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Post by Arihant on Mar 24, 2008 10:04:30 GMT
Oh dear Lord... Arihant really had no idea whatsoever of what was happening, now. Before, he'd thought he understood, but this- Well, this made no bloody sense at all. A few seconds ago, Misa had been concerned about him - and understandably so, seeing as he'd just run into a hefty stone wall. Then, she'd been afraid, which had also been more than understandable, considering What He Was and the fact that she really had no idea who he was, either. But now... She'd just collapsed, for God's sake! What did he do about something like that? What could he do? Arihant was well-aware of the unfortunate side of his character that made... well, gave him a tendency towards a... Was there a term for it? He didn't know, he liked to call it "empathetic hypochondriacy" but he had a feeling that it was more commonly known as "being panicky". "Misa?" he asked, crouching down beside her. What could he do? He couldn't even check for a pulse, he was so useless... "Misa - oh God - Misa, can you hear me? Are you all right?" How could he help her at all if he couldn't touch her?
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Post by misa on Apr 13, 2008 11:09:06 GMT
Misa gritted her teeth against the hideously loud throbbing in her head. Seconds had passed, he had made no move to finish her off or to run away. Which could only meant he really was who he said he was. She was such an idiot. Was she ever going to make a good first impression on someone? Misa doubted it. Finally he moved toward her, "Misa?" He asked softly, the concern in his voice just embarrassed her further. His voice was right by her ear, "Misa - oh God - Misa, can you hear me? Are you all right?" At least he didn't try to touch her. She may have slapped if he had - that would be if she had the energy to do so. It wasn't that she was mad at him for caring; she was mad at herself. Mad that this issue was taking control of her life and what was worse was she had just let it. She had stopped sleeping, stopped taking proper care of herself. She wouldn't be in this situation if she had just been smarter. It was so ridiculous. It needed to end. "I'm fine." She muttered, trying, in vain to pull herself to her feet. "Sorry, I'm just a little...off colour at the moment," it was sort of ironic - her eyes had changed properly in days now, instead remaining black. "I'll...I'll be okay in a second."
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Post by Arihant on Apr 14, 2008 17:36:46 GMT
He watched her stumbling attempts to right herself, and another pang of concern washed over him. This couldn't be good. She must have been... he didn't know, sick, or something. Arihant was no doctor, but he knew that sudden collapses like that couldn't just be a result of being 'off colour.' When someone fell like that for no reason, there was something seriously wrong. And yet... Well. He barely knew her. He could hardly ask her. He could hardly do anything to help. Nothing major, anyway. But he had to do something. "Are you sure?" he said, sure his words must sound horrendously stupid when combined with his lack of movement. She was still struggling. A second later, he continued. "Like maybe... maybe you should go and see the Nurse or... or something. - Sorry, I don't know what... the correct procedure for that is here. "I mean, if you want to, that is." He knew that some people were touchy about that kind of thing. Bhadraksh had been. He always said those exact words, at a matter of fact - I'm not sick. I'm just off-colour at the moment. He felt a tug at his tenuous control of the memories, but managed to keep himself together. And Misa... Well, he assumed the kind of girl who did assault courses in the middle of the night wasn't the sort to be lenient about fitness.
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Post by misa on Apr 17, 2008 17:16:11 GMT
She could feel his eyes on her as she struggled to force the twirling world into a submissive stillness. God dammit, just stay still for one second! Her element paid no heed and continued its nauseating little dance, colours weaving where they shouldn't have been. How ironic - she was getting so weak she couldn't even control her element. Even with all the extra help she had from Tyuosa who, if he'd been an actual person, would have slapped her in the face by now. Instead he was doing all he could, vibrating angrily, more intensely than she'd felt in a long time. Arihant made another concerned comment she couldn't even hear through the blood drumming in her ears. She hazarded a guess that he'd most likely suggested something logical, he seemed like a logical sort of person. "Really, I just...I need to go to bed, that's all." Misa said, attempting to keep her voice light as a shiver like a mild electric shock passed through her entire body.
No. No, way in hell was that going to happen. Not now. Madeleine had already seen one of her attacks and that was too much. If Arihant saw she had a feeling she would just leave. If she had the opportunity. It was taking her longer each time to recover. Like the morning after her little 'discussion' with Madeleine. It had been incredibly early (or extremely late, depending on whether the person considering it actually knew prior of the existence of a five in the morning) and she'd been going to the library. She'd never made it there. Caught completely unaware, she'd passed out and not woken up until a few hours later. It had taken all day for the aftershocks to stop.
Misa felt completely still, willing her body to just relax. A few moments passed. Nothing. She breathed again, not keeping up the fight anymore. Lose this battle; win the war. Or something like that. Resigning herself, Misa sighed,
"Arihant, I'm sorry to ask, but would you be able to help me up?"God, how weak and useless was she?
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Post by Arihant on Apr 18, 2008 12:55:31 GMT
This was terrible. Arihant... he didn't know what it was, but he had horrible issues with seeing people sick. Seeing them weak. He became overpowered with a heady urge to fix them - make them better, just stop the pain for once. He hadn't always been like that, but over the past four years... He wanted to help Misa. But what did it matter what he wanted to do? Chances were, he'd just end up hurting her more. But still. He would try. He was stupid that way. "I - Of course, here..." He came slightly closer, then had to stop. First problem - how to help her up without her touching him. It wouldn't have been so much of a problem if he'd prepared for coming here tonight, but, fool that he was, he hadn't thought that he'd run into anyone else out here. He was just wearing a shirt - long sleeved, of course, but his neck was still exposed. So putting her arm around his shoulders was out. OK, so put her arm around your waist instead. He did so, then took put his arm under her left, and hoisted her up. She was lighter than he'd expected - or maybe he was just more powerful than he'd expected, he didn't know. He didn't let go straight away. She was too shaky. He doubted she'd be able to support herself properly, and he was hardly going to just let her fall. "Do you want me to help you back to your room?"
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Post by misa on Apr 20, 2008 18:48:35 GMT
As he carefully lifted her to her feet, Misa only felt worse. She'd been so awful, doubting him like that. And now he was trying to help her, probably knowing full well that a second ago she'd assumed the worst of him. She felt so weak, so helpless...If his arms weren't there to support her, she was going to fall over again. The thought pissed her off. She'd never leaned on anyone for anything, she'd never needed supporting in any sense of the word. Misa had always sorted herself out. But it wasn't as though she could just turn round and say, Thanks, but you can just leave me here now. I know what I said, but honestly, it isn't in my nature to ask for help so I'd much prefer to be left collapsed the the freaking floor of the training room? Speaking of which...she was going to need to return the room to its original state. And that was going to take some energy. Some energy she didn't really have. "Do you want me to help you back to your room?" God, how bad did he have to make her feel? How nice did he have to be? "Um, ma-maybe if we cou-could get out of the floor first..."She couldn't even hold her sentences together, it took to much effort.
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Post by Arihant on Apr 20, 2008 19:35:32 GMT
God, it was painful seeing her like that. And it wasn't specific to her, it was anyone. He couldn't stand it. He made himself smile. That was one of the first rules when dealing with a casualty, wasn't it? If you acted like something was very wrong - which it clearly was here - then chances were, they'd panic. And while Misa didn't look like the panicking sort... Well, he didn't want to risk it. "That's a good idea - hold on." He didn't like using his powers, but this really was a time that called for it. He gripped her more securely, making sure that she wouldn't be jostled too much by what he was about to do. Then, he jumped back up onto the wall. There wasn't any way to do that gently, especially considering the amount of straining he had to do to keep her head out of reach of his neck. At least she was smaller than him. If she was the same height, he didn't know what he could have done. He paused for a second, considering how to get across the tops of the walls to the floor nearby. He could have done it easily himself, but Misa would be thrown around a lot if he jumped from wall to wall holding her like this. He glanced over at her. There was no way she was getting out of there herself, looking like that. But he had a feeling she wouldn't like this. "I'm sorry, Misa, I have to..." He trailed off, and swung one arm under her legs, lifting her up. Now it would be safer. He ran swiftly over the walls, and within seconds he was back at the side. He let her go, letting her semi-stand up for herself (he still held on to her with one arm, because she was still probably unable to stand up for herself.) And now he felt really embarassed about lifting her like that. "I... Um, sorry, I- I... hope that didn't hurt, or... or anything..."
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Post by misa on Apr 20, 2008 19:56:43 GMT
"That's a good idea - hold on." Oh look, he was smiling at her. For some reason it made her feel better. It was completely ludicrous (he was probably only smiling to stop her taking a panic attack or something) but it made her aware of something she hadn't even realised she'd been feeling. Scared. She was actually afraid of what was happening to her. It may have been manifesting itself as internal anger, but really she was just a scared little girl. She gave a little gasp as without her even registering the fact that he'd warned her to, 'Hold on,' they were suddenly not on the ground anymore. She tightened her grip on his arms as best she could. And then they were on solid ground again. This was getting terribly confusing. It seemed as though they were standing on top of the wall, but...no, that wasn't possible, was it? Maybe she'd done something funny to her brain...it certainly seemed a lot hazier. "I'm sorry, Misa, I have to..." If she'd been feeling like a little girl before, she felt like a three year old now as he swept her up into his arms. They were moving again and she really didn't want to know how or where so she turned her head into his chest and waited until she was sure they'd stopped before looking around.
They were out of the maze. Arihant had a hold on one of her arms, but he'd set her down and was mumbling an apology. "No it's...fine, really. Thank you," She said breathlessly. Then she surveyed what she was going to have to fix. "Oh dear..."
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