L
Lillian
Guest
The World Comes Crashing Down...
A collab between Librathescales and Gero with a little assistance from Aras
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ayame Yukiteru
Team 3 Genin | Kumogakure
Ayame had a sort of smooth landing. When she touched the ground, she ended up on her bum rather than her feet, and the parachute landed on her. She sighed, pulling herself from under the huge piece of dark cloth, rolling it up and with a few folds, managing to fit it back into her bag. Chibi was huddled against her chest, whimpering and shivering. She sighed, petting the little white ball of fur as a way to hush, looking to her comrades and Sensei. No words left her mouth.
A collab between Librathescales and Gero with a little assistance from Aras
As the entire team had come back to Kumogakure, Ayame felt a little flutter in her chest. She wanted to thank Satoshi-sensei, but she couldn't quite think of how to do it. She tried thinking of something on the way back, but she had forgotten what she thought of... What was it again...
Aha!
"U-uhm, Satoshi-sensei?" She brought attention onto herself, "W-would you like to come to my house f-for dinner? I-I'd like to thank you..." She held a piece of paper in her hands, offering it to her sensei. Taking the piece of paper, Satoshi seemed to be surprised. Only for the expression to shift into a warm smile as he nodded towards her and told her that he would first head home to see how his family was before paying her a visit.
"Th-this is my address... Goodbye i'll see you later!" She then turned and ran off, though trembling, a smile was on her face. She actually did it! She invited someone over!
Some time later, she was at her front door, but something was strange.
The door was unlocked.
She stared at the knob, and was hesitant to open it; didn't she lock the door the other day?
Entering the home, her heart froze.
Someone she knew far too well was sitting on a chair with two cups of tea by him, another empty seat.
Her father.
"P... Papa..?" She was almost going to cry.
"What? Are you surprised to see your own father?" The man crossed his arms.
"W-well, it's just, you never sent a letter or-"
"Stop talking and sit down."
She instantly held her tongue, doing as told.
"I came to bloody congratulate you with your mission, and slaved over making tea." He growled.
"O-oh..." She grabbed the tea that was meant for her, taking a few sips.
They sat in silence as she was the only one drinking.
"..You did a good job with the tea..." She mumbled, setting the empty cup down. Her animals had gone off to rest during the silence.
The man didn't respond, seeming to rifle through his coat. She only sighed.
"Ayame..." He suddenly got up.
"Y-ye-" Suddenly she was slapped so hard she fell out of the chair. She hardly felt the slap for some reason. She hardly even felt her own body.
The man stood over her, a large grin on his face, having a large knife in one of his hands.
"Papa needs some money, and he'll need your insides for it? Okay?" He suddenly grabbed her hair, the girl's eyes widening.
"N-no... Please... No..." She cried, forcing her arms up to try to move the knife away.
"Daddy's gonna be nice and slow..." He only brought the knife closer to her stomach, though she tried hard to push it away.
"Please... Stop..." She found it rather hard to breathe, "What... Was... In that... Tea..?"
"Drugs, of course. Enough to slow you down... But not strong enough for you to fall asleep. I'd want you to feel every moment of this..."
Why was this happening? Her thoughts felt slow, even her voice was starting to sound slow...
And she just had her first mission too..
The knife was slow to drag across her stomach, she could feel the pain...
And then she felt her heart quicken.
Her grip on his arm tightened, and she spat in his face.
"W-what the hell?!" In the moment, She had gripped onto the blade of the knife, and ripped it out of his hand, even though bringing two deep cuts to hers.
"I hate you..." The words tumbled from her mouth as she had the knife in her bleeding hands. She didn't think any more. Grabbing the knife by the handle, she stabbed him in the stomach. She felt so hyper, so full of life all of a sudden, and this just made her better. She couldn't help but smile, smile brighter than the sun. She felt liquid hitting her face, but her thoughts were muddled by what she had consumed.
She didn't care, she did what she did in this moment of high.
He fell backwards in a few minutes, his stomach and chest covered with blood. She only continued the stabbing motion, such happiness falling over her.
But tears came from her eyes like waterfalls.
The stuff she felt coming on her, was all over her face, her clothes, and her hair. At some point, she stopped, falling backwards and hugging the knife. She felt like she did something great, like she brought world peace. She felt like she had just walked into a dream, and she was free.
But within reality, she was lying near a corpse, her face and upper body sprayed with blood, laughing and crying while twitching and holding the knife, drool coming from the side of her mouth.
Heading towards the address, Satoshi was quite in a good mood. The mission had gone well and it seemed that the genin were listening. Everything was just good. Reaching the address, the jounin halted as he noticed something odd. The door was slightly open or was he mistaken? Walking towards it, the man's pace slowed down to a halt in front of the entrance. Perhaps she had just forgotten to close it behind her? Knocking on the wood, Satoshi waited for a moment. No reply.
Frowning, the man knocked again. No reply.
He repeated it once more as his right hand then lowered to the knob.
"Ayame--"
It reeked. A familiar stench greeted Satoshi as an old friend from long ago. An annoying friend with a wide grin and open arms, making Satoshi to narrow his eyes. Using his sensory technique, he could only detect a pulse from one chakra signature. Opening the door wide, he slowly advanced further into the house as he kept a close eye on everything.
"Ayame." Satoshi repeated, slowly and still friendly. His thoughts were divided among panicked and dreadful thoughts. Slowly, he would open the door off the hallway into the living room. Slowly as he did so, the eyes of the veteran shinobi widened in shock. Even as he had seen various fields of battle. Fields littered with the dead, dying and wounded. Nothing could prepare the jounin mentally for what awaited him.
Staring at the genin, Satoshi glanced at the body. His gaze traveled back to the bloodied girl. Slowly, the jounin took a step froward as he closed the door behind him. "Ayame?" A smile moved over Satoshi's lips, though he tried to make it seem warm and friendly. It was however a rather nervous and panicked one as the man wasn't sure how he should proceed in this situation. "Hey..."
Ayame couldn't recognize the sound of her own name. She did hear something, but she couldn't quite move her head to tell where the sound was coming from. She saw something in her sight a little after she heard the noise.
"Huuuhh..?" She had stopped her laughter. Her breath was fast, her face flushed red in the places not covered in blood.
"Huuhh..?" She repeated. She couldn't make out what it was.
Keeping a healthy distance as he wasn't planning to get the knife away with force, Satoshi was pondering on using his camouflage technique to close in and yank the weapon away. It was however too risky. If she would hear him, then he would be probably dealing with a knife in his thigh or worse. Or who know what she would actually do? Not want to risk anything, Satoshi kept his hands up - to make it clear he wasn't armed or planning anything - while crouching slowly. "Satoshi." Not sure if he was even making sense, the man tried to consider to get some help. But leaving her behind...
Another noise? Her mind couldn't piece together the meaning. She felt like she was having another slow moment. She wasn't feeling the rush, the happiness, the pure peace she felt before. She didn't even feel like she was in a body any more. Her eyelids drooped; she felt like she was flying. She then slowly formed a smile on her face, slow laughs coming front her.
She then made several drawn out cooing noises, staring up at the ceiling. She made no indication that she was going to attack.
It seemed he wasn't going through her. Making a shadow clone, Satoshi would let the clone head to get some help. The police would need to be updated and warned what had transpired. Pity replaced the panick as Satoshi glanced at the corpse next to him. Lowering his arms to let them lean on his knees, Satoshi remained silent. He had such good hopes that he would be able to help Ayame to become a kunoichi, but more importantly : to be proud of who she is.
"Ayame. Hey." He tried it again, hoping to win her attention and perhaps convince her to hand over the knife.
Her attention was suddenly drawn to him, her eyes having a glassy look.
"Huh...?" She seemed to acknowledge his existence, her staring at him for a full five minutes, until she slowly rolled onto her belly, forcing herself to push up.
"Yuh... Yuhh.. Oooo..." She huffed as she got rather unsteadily to her knees. Her bloody, cut hands still held the knife.
"Diiiiddn'tI... I... I..." She trembled, her head hanging to the side, as if she was trying to process who was in front of her.
"Whauh?"
A huge wave of relief flooded over the mental state of the man, who managed to flash a smile. A tired and still nervous one. "It's all okay. May I?" Carefully and slowly to not startle her, the man stretched out his hand to her as he nodded towards the knife. "Or perhaps drop it? Please. I'll not let you be hurt, okay? Ayame?"
Her eyes suddenly widened when his hand reached out for her. She screamed, having the bloody knife swing down, missing his hand, but being deadly close, but nailed into the floor.
"Don't touch me!" She shouted, "Whyyyy did... Want... Orgains?" She panted, her expression suddenly drooping. She coughed, her head leaning down, retching and puking.
"You... Youcannathasdem..." She said through a heave, more of the puke coming from her mouth and splatting on the floor in front of her. She felt even more dizzy than she did before, which wasn't so helpful.
Satoshi froze. He was sure that he would be saying goodbye to his fingers. But she had missed by an inch. Glancing at the knife at the ground, Satoshi pulled his hand back. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He friendly stated, his voice getting a bit hoarse. Deciding to give her some space, Satoshi slowly raised himself up and took two large steps back. What should he do? He was glad that she had dropped the knife, but organs? Had she been hurt badly? Then he would need to get her to get some medical attention. Trying again after clearing his throat, Satoshi licked his lips. "Ayame. Are you hurt? Wounded?"
She couldn't properly make out what he was saying. It sounded slow and odd, so she only stared at him with the same expression.
"I don't wanna diieeee...." She huffed, trying to pull the knife from the ground. She released another scream, as if she were in pain as she pulled.
"I won't lehyouu take my organs out papa..." She pulled the knife again, releasing another pained scream, "I'll hurt you and hurt you until you can't hurt me any more..." There were tears in her eyes with the third pull as she screamed.
"Yh... Yh... You hate me... So why can't you just leave me alone?!" She screamed, pulling the knife from the ground and swinging it towards Satoshi.
The man remained on the outside calm, his eyes keeping watch of her movements. Clenching his right hand into a fist, his stomach already slight turned as he felt guilty by what he would do. If she would move towards him, he would disarm her and likely shove her back. It was just all that he could think off, yet he took a step back and felt pained as he wasn't sure what he could do to help the girl.
The knife missed, the girl screaming in anger.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" She cried, suddenly pointing the knife down onto herself.
"If having my organs can make you leave, then i'll cut all of them out and give them to you!" She cried, suddenly having a smile on her face, though she looked completely delusional, "I'll even do it slowly! Just like you wanted! Just to make you happy!" She laughed, moving the knife towards her own stomach, "Right? RIGHT? Don't you like hearing me scream?"
The eyes of Satoshi narrowed. He licked his lips again as he could feel the cold sweat forming and rolling down his back. He just didn't want to hurt her, but if he wasn't doing anything, was she going through it? If he would leave, was that really a better option? For a moment, Ayame wasn't standing in front of him. It was a brief moment that he could see his own daughter standing there, causing Satoshi to grow more pale than before. In a second, he just did it. The move that was always used with his sword, a rapid dash towards an opponent was now performed against his own student. Performing Iadõ, Satoshi's left hand was aimed to grab the girl by the shoulder as he wanted to grab the handle of the knife with his right hand.
Unable to process the quick movement, she couldn't raise the knife towards him in time, the blade ripped from her bloodied hands. Her shoulder felt hot, as if she were suffering a fever.
She breathed hard, beginning to cry once again, coughing and dry heaving. She spoke no words; she only sobbed loudly as she tried to pull his arm off her shoulder, though some of her blood got onto his arm from her bleeding hand's grip.
Lifting the knife, Satoshi would keep the knife out of her reach. Biting on his lower lip, he would try to distance himself from her, Satoshi would take three steps backwards. Glancing at the knife, he knew that it was probably a very bad idea. There was blood on him, but what if he hadn't taken the knife from her? He wasn't sure what was right or wrong to do as this had never been included in any kind of training he had been through. Glancing at the door, he hoped that the police would come soon. The longer this dragged on, the more he started to break down himself.
The girl reached after him for the knife, continuing her crying, until she straight up fell forward onto her face. She felt so tired, but her eyes wouldn't shut. She wanted to sleep, her mind begged her body for sleep, but nothing happened. Her body ignored her mind.
Watching the girl fall on her face, Satoshi's heart grew heavy. He was feeling conflicted. Where he wanted to pick her up, trying to comfort and bring her into a secure and healthy surrounding, the shouts had made it clear that physical touch could also bring forth aggression and anger up at the girl. Biting back the tears, he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up. Glancing at the knife, Satoshi would carefully throw the knife a bit away, while he would crouch. "Shhhh. Ayame. Shhhhh." He didn't touch her though, not wanting to cause any other violent outbursts.
The girl did not respond to her name, nor did she sound like she was listening. She slowly quieted down, the only thing heard in the home was her heavy breathing. It felt like death to her; she felt like her heart was slowing down, everything in her just stopping. She felt scared, she wanted to cry but she couldn't make any more tears.
Staying as well, Satoshi lowered his head as he let out a heavy sigh. He wanted to rub his eyes, not sure what to think or do about the situation. Hopefully help would arrive soon, cause he felt he was pretty much at his end at the moment. Hearing some sounds of boots running and some people calling out, Satoshi dropped on his butt. He felt wrecked to the point he could end up in crying as well. Luckily, help had arrived...
Ayame was completely silent on the ground, but conscious. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, only lie and listen.
Three people dressed in uniforms entered through the front door, with another, older and rounder man with a cigar between his teeth walked in, taking a glance around. His eyes locked on the body after a moment. "Quite a mess," he mumbled before looking over to the man. "I'll have to ask you both to come to the presinct for questioning."
Satoshi glanced up to the three as he blinked twice. "Yes, though," he raised his hands to make it clear that he was unarmed. Likely unneeded, but he didn't want to make the situation worse. Hopefully they had understood his shadow clone and got some professional help. "My student is... in a troubled state. She reacts violent on touch and I can't get through her." There was a certain panicked tone present in the man's voice.
Ayame heard more noise and footsteps, though in her weakened state she couldn't react very quickly. She slowly rose onto her knees, having issues with keeping herself balanced as she had nearly toppled over a couple times. She felt like she was dying, but she was still alive. Her head hung, having difficulty with raising it, she stared at the ground.
"Don't... Take my... Organs out... Please Papa..." She spoke in a weak tone, collapsing.
The man looked at the girl and back at him. "She seems... worn out," he said, puffing a bit of smoke. "It's best to have her kept under supervision than in a crime scene. We'd like you to help us understand what's going on as well."
"Understood." He said. Slightly irritated by the fact he was basically not able to do anything yet being her mentor, Satoshi kept his friendly tone up. "I must admit that she has said similar lines before. Being quite violent. Shall I carry her or..?" Not sure how to proceed, he would wait for the directions of the officers before doing anything.
"We'll take care of that," he said, giving a nod to the other policemen. "I'd like to hear about what happened while we're walking, however."
Visibly wavering if he should leave Ayame under the care of others, Satoshi would nod as he would follow the policeman who had clearly taken charge of the situation. "Okay." He tried to remain calm, but it still took him quite some self control to do so.
Starting to walk with a calm pace, the detective gave the man a long look as he kept moving. "So, once again, if you would... from the beginning."
"Yes, of course sir." He began to detail on the return of the squad at Kumogakure, not leaving out one detail. Telling the officer about the invitation of Ayame and how he had discovered the troublesome situation, the man's voice was a bit soft as he also was visibly exhausted. "And then I decided to send a shadow clone in order to get help. I managed to get the knife from her in order to prevent any... further harm."
____________________________________________________________________________
Having somewhat come out of her vegetable state, the girl had taken another blink. She was awake the entire time, but she wasn't functioning. She felt like something took a knock to her head, due to the pounding sensation.
"...Huh..?" She let out a gentle breath, slowly sitting up. She was rather sluggish as she got up, feeling like her entire body had turned to jelly while she was "sleeping".
She looked around through droopy eyes, seeming rather confused.
"Wh... Where am I?"
"Safe."
Satoshi had his arms crossed out front of his chest as he glanced sideways at Ayame. A ghost of smile moved over his lips as he however remained seated from some distance of Ayame. "Glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?" He asked her, sounding however somewhat cautious and worried.
"Like pudding..." She mildly complained, slowly lying back, "My head hurts, too..." She whined, but got a proper look at her hands.
"...Why are my hands bandaged?"
Remaining silent, Satoshi briefly looked away as he leaned with the back of his head against the wall behind him. "An accident happened. Don't worry." He replied. Glancing back at her, Satoshi asked her a question. "Perhaps you should lay down again. Take a rest if you don't feel well."
An accident? She would normally dismiss it, but she noticed a feeling inside of her; a cold and unnerving one that she couldn't ignore. She felt like something... Bad had happened, really bad... But she couldn't place what.
"I don't feel tired..." She said, though ironically she had shadows under her eyes, but she felt no exhaustion.
"What happened to me, Satoshi-sensei?"
Locking his eyes with hers, the man remained silent. An uneasy silence dawned in the room and Satoshi wanted to break it with speaking about something else. He rather didn't want to talk, again, about the situation he had been confronted with. "You cut your hands. That is what happened." The voice of the man was still calm, but it sounded more agigated. "Now, don't worry about it. It was an accident."
"...I don't remember cutting my hands." She cocked her head to the side. She noticed the slightly upset edge to his voice. Was something wrong?
"That's fine. It won't likely happen again." After a moment, the man would break his lock with his eyes as he stared out of the window. "You better rest. Certainly if you feel jelly." The man advised, again.
She frowned. He seemed to be avoiding something... Should she really be pressing about it? All she wanted to do was know what made her blank out.
"I don't feel tired." She repeated, "Are you sure it's just that I hurt my hands? I don't think you can lose consciousness from that..." She laughed, but she really was faking. She felt the coldness intensify, like something wanted to be said, but it was muted.
His eyes moved, making his look at her sideways again. "No." He stated. "An accident happened." Satoshi paused again as he was weighing his words and how to bring it. "There is an investigation going on. Earlier somebody had been stabbed to death." Locking his eyes again with Ayame, Satoshi started to trail off. "I'm sorry to say, but your father..."
Ayame stared at Satoshi with blank eyes as he spoke. She then blinked and rose an eyebrow when he finished, knowing what he meant.
"What are you talking about Satoshi-sensei?" She asked, "My father doesn't live anywhere near..." She trailed off when something poked at her thoughts. A dim memory.
"...My father visited me?" She carefully rubbed her head with the recollection of the memory. She was a little disoriented so it didn't seem she connected it to any events.
"But... You're saying he got killed today?"
"You ask me." The man replied after some time. "But rest out. It is a bit too soon to get worried or excite yourself yet." Satoshi advised her, flashing a smile towards her as he spoke further. "As you can see, I'll make sure that you'll not be bothered."
The girl stared at him with a rather puzzled look. He seemed to be in a hurry for her to go to sleep.
"...Is something the matter, Satoshi-sensei?" She asked, having a little frown on her face, "A-am I upsetting you?"
The question made Satoshi feel bad. His left hand went to his cheek, scratching the stubbled beard. "No, you're not." He friendly replied. "I'm just a bit tired. Y'know, just coming back from the mission. It always get me a bit irritated. All day being doing something and now sitting still. Doesn't work that well for me, heh." The man tried to chuckle in a confident manner, but end up in a cough.
Ayame absentmindely rubbed her bandaged hands. Well that makes sense, they did head back here for a whole day... That'd be enough to tire anyone out. She just felt a little strange with how he was behaving, but decided to leave it be. Moving down a little in the covers, she rested her head on the white pillow.
"...Well, i'm okay Satoshi-sensei..." She sighed, turning away from him, "Thank you for visiting me..." She said before trying to fall asleep.
"That's... okay. Get some rest, Ayame." Satoshi replied back. He decided to keep watch over the small girl, hoping that all would turn out for the better soon or later. But hopefully soon. Letting out a soft sigh, the man lowered his head a bit as he would continue his 'watch'.
She couldn't sleep, she knew that. She just faked it so that Satoshi wouldn't have to worry over her. She'll be okay enough to sleep properly again, right? Yeah.. Right now she just lied on her side and kept her eyes shut, no sense of unconsciousness coming for her.
Rubbing his neck, the man would throw a glance once in a while at the girl. Then back at the door, before then to stare out of the window. Nobody seemed to be eager to enter the room or somebody that had came yet for Ayame. Considering something, Satoshi rubbed his eyes as he would push the thought into the back of his mind and continue his silent watch.
Aha!
"U-uhm, Satoshi-sensei?" She brought attention onto herself, "W-would you like to come to my house f-for dinner? I-I'd like to thank you..." She held a piece of paper in her hands, offering it to her sensei. Taking the piece of paper, Satoshi seemed to be surprised. Only for the expression to shift into a warm smile as he nodded towards her and told her that he would first head home to see how his family was before paying her a visit.
"Th-this is my address... Goodbye i'll see you later!" She then turned and ran off, though trembling, a smile was on her face. She actually did it! She invited someone over!
Some time later, she was at her front door, but something was strange.
The door was unlocked.
She stared at the knob, and was hesitant to open it; didn't she lock the door the other day?
Entering the home, her heart froze.
Someone she knew far too well was sitting on a chair with two cups of tea by him, another empty seat.
Her father.
"P... Papa..?" She was almost going to cry.
"What? Are you surprised to see your own father?" The man crossed his arms.
"W-well, it's just, you never sent a letter or-"
"Stop talking and sit down."
She instantly held her tongue, doing as told.
"I came to bloody congratulate you with your mission, and slaved over making tea." He growled.
"O-oh..." She grabbed the tea that was meant for her, taking a few sips.
They sat in silence as she was the only one drinking.
"..You did a good job with the tea..." She mumbled, setting the empty cup down. Her animals had gone off to rest during the silence.
The man didn't respond, seeming to rifle through his coat. She only sighed.
"Ayame..." He suddenly got up.
"Y-ye-" Suddenly she was slapped so hard she fell out of the chair. She hardly felt the slap for some reason. She hardly even felt her own body.
The man stood over her, a large grin on his face, having a large knife in one of his hands.
"Papa needs some money, and he'll need your insides for it? Okay?" He suddenly grabbed her hair, the girl's eyes widening.
"N-no... Please... No..." She cried, forcing her arms up to try to move the knife away.
"Daddy's gonna be nice and slow..." He only brought the knife closer to her stomach, though she tried hard to push it away.
"Please... Stop..." She found it rather hard to breathe, "What... Was... In that... Tea..?"
"Drugs, of course. Enough to slow you down... But not strong enough for you to fall asleep. I'd want you to feel every moment of this..."
Why was this happening? Her thoughts felt slow, even her voice was starting to sound slow...
And she just had her first mission too..
The knife was slow to drag across her stomach, she could feel the pain...
And then she felt her heart quicken.
Her grip on his arm tightened, and she spat in his face.
"W-what the hell?!" In the moment, She had gripped onto the blade of the knife, and ripped it out of his hand, even though bringing two deep cuts to hers.
"I hate you..." The words tumbled from her mouth as she had the knife in her bleeding hands. She didn't think any more. Grabbing the knife by the handle, she stabbed him in the stomach. She felt so hyper, so full of life all of a sudden, and this just made her better. She couldn't help but smile, smile brighter than the sun. She felt liquid hitting her face, but her thoughts were muddled by what she had consumed.
She didn't care, she did what she did in this moment of high.
He fell backwards in a few minutes, his stomach and chest covered with blood. She only continued the stabbing motion, such happiness falling over her.
But tears came from her eyes like waterfalls.
The stuff she felt coming on her, was all over her face, her clothes, and her hair. At some point, she stopped, falling backwards and hugging the knife. She felt like she did something great, like she brought world peace. She felt like she had just walked into a dream, and she was free.
But within reality, she was lying near a corpse, her face and upper body sprayed with blood, laughing and crying while twitching and holding the knife, drool coming from the side of her mouth.
Heading towards the address, Satoshi was quite in a good mood. The mission had gone well and it seemed that the genin were listening. Everything was just good. Reaching the address, the jounin halted as he noticed something odd. The door was slightly open or was he mistaken? Walking towards it, the man's pace slowed down to a halt in front of the entrance. Perhaps she had just forgotten to close it behind her? Knocking on the wood, Satoshi waited for a moment. No reply.
Frowning, the man knocked again. No reply.
He repeated it once more as his right hand then lowered to the knob.
"Ayame--"
It reeked. A familiar stench greeted Satoshi as an old friend from long ago. An annoying friend with a wide grin and open arms, making Satoshi to narrow his eyes. Using his sensory technique, he could only detect a pulse from one chakra signature. Opening the door wide, he slowly advanced further into the house as he kept a close eye on everything.
"Ayame." Satoshi repeated, slowly and still friendly. His thoughts were divided among panicked and dreadful thoughts. Slowly, he would open the door off the hallway into the living room. Slowly as he did so, the eyes of the veteran shinobi widened in shock. Even as he had seen various fields of battle. Fields littered with the dead, dying and wounded. Nothing could prepare the jounin mentally for what awaited him.
Staring at the genin, Satoshi glanced at the body. His gaze traveled back to the bloodied girl. Slowly, the jounin took a step froward as he closed the door behind him. "Ayame?" A smile moved over Satoshi's lips, though he tried to make it seem warm and friendly. It was however a rather nervous and panicked one as the man wasn't sure how he should proceed in this situation. "Hey..."
Ayame couldn't recognize the sound of her own name. She did hear something, but she couldn't quite move her head to tell where the sound was coming from. She saw something in her sight a little after she heard the noise.
"Huuuhh..?" She had stopped her laughter. Her breath was fast, her face flushed red in the places not covered in blood.
"Huuhh..?" She repeated. She couldn't make out what it was.
Keeping a healthy distance as he wasn't planning to get the knife away with force, Satoshi was pondering on using his camouflage technique to close in and yank the weapon away. It was however too risky. If she would hear him, then he would be probably dealing with a knife in his thigh or worse. Or who know what she would actually do? Not want to risk anything, Satoshi kept his hands up - to make it clear he wasn't armed or planning anything - while crouching slowly. "Satoshi." Not sure if he was even making sense, the man tried to consider to get some help. But leaving her behind...
Another noise? Her mind couldn't piece together the meaning. She felt like she was having another slow moment. She wasn't feeling the rush, the happiness, the pure peace she felt before. She didn't even feel like she was in a body any more. Her eyelids drooped; she felt like she was flying. She then slowly formed a smile on her face, slow laughs coming front her.
She then made several drawn out cooing noises, staring up at the ceiling. She made no indication that she was going to attack.
It seemed he wasn't going through her. Making a shadow clone, Satoshi would let the clone head to get some help. The police would need to be updated and warned what had transpired. Pity replaced the panick as Satoshi glanced at the corpse next to him. Lowering his arms to let them lean on his knees, Satoshi remained silent. He had such good hopes that he would be able to help Ayame to become a kunoichi, but more importantly : to be proud of who she is.
"Ayame. Hey." He tried it again, hoping to win her attention and perhaps convince her to hand over the knife.
Her attention was suddenly drawn to him, her eyes having a glassy look.
"Huh...?" She seemed to acknowledge his existence, her staring at him for a full five minutes, until she slowly rolled onto her belly, forcing herself to push up.
"Yuh... Yuhh.. Oooo..." She huffed as she got rather unsteadily to her knees. Her bloody, cut hands still held the knife.
"Diiiiddn'tI... I... I..." She trembled, her head hanging to the side, as if she was trying to process who was in front of her.
"Whauh?"
A huge wave of relief flooded over the mental state of the man, who managed to flash a smile. A tired and still nervous one. "It's all okay. May I?" Carefully and slowly to not startle her, the man stretched out his hand to her as he nodded towards the knife. "Or perhaps drop it? Please. I'll not let you be hurt, okay? Ayame?"
Her eyes suddenly widened when his hand reached out for her. She screamed, having the bloody knife swing down, missing his hand, but being deadly close, but nailed into the floor.
"Don't touch me!" She shouted, "Whyyyy did... Want... Orgains?" She panted, her expression suddenly drooping. She coughed, her head leaning down, retching and puking.
"You... Youcannathasdem..." She said through a heave, more of the puke coming from her mouth and splatting on the floor in front of her. She felt even more dizzy than she did before, which wasn't so helpful.
Satoshi froze. He was sure that he would be saying goodbye to his fingers. But she had missed by an inch. Glancing at the knife at the ground, Satoshi pulled his hand back. "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." He friendly stated, his voice getting a bit hoarse. Deciding to give her some space, Satoshi slowly raised himself up and took two large steps back. What should he do? He was glad that she had dropped the knife, but organs? Had she been hurt badly? Then he would need to get her to get some medical attention. Trying again after clearing his throat, Satoshi licked his lips. "Ayame. Are you hurt? Wounded?"
She couldn't properly make out what he was saying. It sounded slow and odd, so she only stared at him with the same expression.
"I don't wanna diieeee...." She huffed, trying to pull the knife from the ground. She released another scream, as if she were in pain as she pulled.
"I won't lehyouu take my organs out papa..." She pulled the knife again, releasing another pained scream, "I'll hurt you and hurt you until you can't hurt me any more..." There were tears in her eyes with the third pull as she screamed.
"Yh... Yh... You hate me... So why can't you just leave me alone?!" She screamed, pulling the knife from the ground and swinging it towards Satoshi.
The man remained on the outside calm, his eyes keeping watch of her movements. Clenching his right hand into a fist, his stomach already slight turned as he felt guilty by what he would do. If she would move towards him, he would disarm her and likely shove her back. It was just all that he could think off, yet he took a step back and felt pained as he wasn't sure what he could do to help the girl.
The knife missed, the girl screaming in anger.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" She cried, suddenly pointing the knife down onto herself.
"If having my organs can make you leave, then i'll cut all of them out and give them to you!" She cried, suddenly having a smile on her face, though she looked completely delusional, "I'll even do it slowly! Just like you wanted! Just to make you happy!" She laughed, moving the knife towards her own stomach, "Right? RIGHT? Don't you like hearing me scream?"
The eyes of Satoshi narrowed. He licked his lips again as he could feel the cold sweat forming and rolling down his back. He just didn't want to hurt her, but if he wasn't doing anything, was she going through it? If he would leave, was that really a better option? For a moment, Ayame wasn't standing in front of him. It was a brief moment that he could see his own daughter standing there, causing Satoshi to grow more pale than before. In a second, he just did it. The move that was always used with his sword, a rapid dash towards an opponent was now performed against his own student. Performing Iadõ, Satoshi's left hand was aimed to grab the girl by the shoulder as he wanted to grab the handle of the knife with his right hand.
Unable to process the quick movement, she couldn't raise the knife towards him in time, the blade ripped from her bloodied hands. Her shoulder felt hot, as if she were suffering a fever.
She breathed hard, beginning to cry once again, coughing and dry heaving. She spoke no words; she only sobbed loudly as she tried to pull his arm off her shoulder, though some of her blood got onto his arm from her bleeding hand's grip.
Lifting the knife, Satoshi would keep the knife out of her reach. Biting on his lower lip, he would try to distance himself from her, Satoshi would take three steps backwards. Glancing at the knife, he knew that it was probably a very bad idea. There was blood on him, but what if he hadn't taken the knife from her? He wasn't sure what was right or wrong to do as this had never been included in any kind of training he had been through. Glancing at the door, he hoped that the police would come soon. The longer this dragged on, the more he started to break down himself.
The girl reached after him for the knife, continuing her crying, until she straight up fell forward onto her face. She felt so tired, but her eyes wouldn't shut. She wanted to sleep, her mind begged her body for sleep, but nothing happened. Her body ignored her mind.
Watching the girl fall on her face, Satoshi's heart grew heavy. He was feeling conflicted. Where he wanted to pick her up, trying to comfort and bring her into a secure and healthy surrounding, the shouts had made it clear that physical touch could also bring forth aggression and anger up at the girl. Biting back the tears, he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up. Glancing at the knife, Satoshi would carefully throw the knife a bit away, while he would crouch. "Shhhh. Ayame. Shhhhh." He didn't touch her though, not wanting to cause any other violent outbursts.
The girl did not respond to her name, nor did she sound like she was listening. She slowly quieted down, the only thing heard in the home was her heavy breathing. It felt like death to her; she felt like her heart was slowing down, everything in her just stopping. She felt scared, she wanted to cry but she couldn't make any more tears.
Staying as well, Satoshi lowered his head as he let out a heavy sigh. He wanted to rub his eyes, not sure what to think or do about the situation. Hopefully help would arrive soon, cause he felt he was pretty much at his end at the moment. Hearing some sounds of boots running and some people calling out, Satoshi dropped on his butt. He felt wrecked to the point he could end up in crying as well. Luckily, help had arrived...
Ayame was completely silent on the ground, but conscious. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, only lie and listen.
Three people dressed in uniforms entered through the front door, with another, older and rounder man with a cigar between his teeth walked in, taking a glance around. His eyes locked on the body after a moment. "Quite a mess," he mumbled before looking over to the man. "I'll have to ask you both to come to the presinct for questioning."
Satoshi glanced up to the three as he blinked twice. "Yes, though," he raised his hands to make it clear that he was unarmed. Likely unneeded, but he didn't want to make the situation worse. Hopefully they had understood his shadow clone and got some professional help. "My student is... in a troubled state. She reacts violent on touch and I can't get through her." There was a certain panicked tone present in the man's voice.
Ayame heard more noise and footsteps, though in her weakened state she couldn't react very quickly. She slowly rose onto her knees, having issues with keeping herself balanced as she had nearly toppled over a couple times. She felt like she was dying, but she was still alive. Her head hung, having difficulty with raising it, she stared at the ground.
"Don't... Take my... Organs out... Please Papa..." She spoke in a weak tone, collapsing.
The man looked at the girl and back at him. "She seems... worn out," he said, puffing a bit of smoke. "It's best to have her kept under supervision than in a crime scene. We'd like you to help us understand what's going on as well."
"Understood." He said. Slightly irritated by the fact he was basically not able to do anything yet being her mentor, Satoshi kept his friendly tone up. "I must admit that she has said similar lines before. Being quite violent. Shall I carry her or..?" Not sure how to proceed, he would wait for the directions of the officers before doing anything.
"We'll take care of that," he said, giving a nod to the other policemen. "I'd like to hear about what happened while we're walking, however."
Visibly wavering if he should leave Ayame under the care of others, Satoshi would nod as he would follow the policeman who had clearly taken charge of the situation. "Okay." He tried to remain calm, but it still took him quite some self control to do so.
Starting to walk with a calm pace, the detective gave the man a long look as he kept moving. "So, once again, if you would... from the beginning."
"Yes, of course sir." He began to detail on the return of the squad at Kumogakure, not leaving out one detail. Telling the officer about the invitation of Ayame and how he had discovered the troublesome situation, the man's voice was a bit soft as he also was visibly exhausted. "And then I decided to send a shadow clone in order to get help. I managed to get the knife from her in order to prevent any... further harm."
____________________________________________________________________________
Having somewhat come out of her vegetable state, the girl had taken another blink. She was awake the entire time, but she wasn't functioning. She felt like something took a knock to her head, due to the pounding sensation.
"...Huh..?" She let out a gentle breath, slowly sitting up. She was rather sluggish as she got up, feeling like her entire body had turned to jelly while she was "sleeping".
She looked around through droopy eyes, seeming rather confused.
"Wh... Where am I?"
"Safe."
Satoshi had his arms crossed out front of his chest as he glanced sideways at Ayame. A ghost of smile moved over his lips as he however remained seated from some distance of Ayame. "Glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?" He asked her, sounding however somewhat cautious and worried.
"Like pudding..." She mildly complained, slowly lying back, "My head hurts, too..." She whined, but got a proper look at her hands.
"...Why are my hands bandaged?"
Remaining silent, Satoshi briefly looked away as he leaned with the back of his head against the wall behind him. "An accident happened. Don't worry." He replied. Glancing back at her, Satoshi asked her a question. "Perhaps you should lay down again. Take a rest if you don't feel well."
An accident? She would normally dismiss it, but she noticed a feeling inside of her; a cold and unnerving one that she couldn't ignore. She felt like something... Bad had happened, really bad... But she couldn't place what.
"I don't feel tired..." She said, though ironically she had shadows under her eyes, but she felt no exhaustion.
"What happened to me, Satoshi-sensei?"
Locking his eyes with hers, the man remained silent. An uneasy silence dawned in the room and Satoshi wanted to break it with speaking about something else. He rather didn't want to talk, again, about the situation he had been confronted with. "You cut your hands. That is what happened." The voice of the man was still calm, but it sounded more agigated. "Now, don't worry about it. It was an accident."
"...I don't remember cutting my hands." She cocked her head to the side. She noticed the slightly upset edge to his voice. Was something wrong?
"That's fine. It won't likely happen again." After a moment, the man would break his lock with his eyes as he stared out of the window. "You better rest. Certainly if you feel jelly." The man advised, again.
She frowned. He seemed to be avoiding something... Should she really be pressing about it? All she wanted to do was know what made her blank out.
"I don't feel tired." She repeated, "Are you sure it's just that I hurt my hands? I don't think you can lose consciousness from that..." She laughed, but she really was faking. She felt the coldness intensify, like something wanted to be said, but it was muted.
His eyes moved, making his look at her sideways again. "No." He stated. "An accident happened." Satoshi paused again as he was weighing his words and how to bring it. "There is an investigation going on. Earlier somebody had been stabbed to death." Locking his eyes again with Ayame, Satoshi started to trail off. "I'm sorry to say, but your father..."
Ayame stared at Satoshi with blank eyes as he spoke. She then blinked and rose an eyebrow when he finished, knowing what he meant.
"What are you talking about Satoshi-sensei?" She asked, "My father doesn't live anywhere near..." She trailed off when something poked at her thoughts. A dim memory.
"...My father visited me?" She carefully rubbed her head with the recollection of the memory. She was a little disoriented so it didn't seem she connected it to any events.
"But... You're saying he got killed today?"
"You ask me." The man replied after some time. "But rest out. It is a bit too soon to get worried or excite yourself yet." Satoshi advised her, flashing a smile towards her as he spoke further. "As you can see, I'll make sure that you'll not be bothered."
The girl stared at him with a rather puzzled look. He seemed to be in a hurry for her to go to sleep.
"...Is something the matter, Satoshi-sensei?" She asked, having a little frown on her face, "A-am I upsetting you?"
The question made Satoshi feel bad. His left hand went to his cheek, scratching the stubbled beard. "No, you're not." He friendly replied. "I'm just a bit tired. Y'know, just coming back from the mission. It always get me a bit irritated. All day being doing something and now sitting still. Doesn't work that well for me, heh." The man tried to chuckle in a confident manner, but end up in a cough.
Ayame absentmindely rubbed her bandaged hands. Well that makes sense, they did head back here for a whole day... That'd be enough to tire anyone out. She just felt a little strange with how he was behaving, but decided to leave it be. Moving down a little in the covers, she rested her head on the white pillow.
"...Well, i'm okay Satoshi-sensei..." She sighed, turning away from him, "Thank you for visiting me..." She said before trying to fall asleep.
"That's... okay. Get some rest, Ayame." Satoshi replied back. He decided to keep watch over the small girl, hoping that all would turn out for the better soon or later. But hopefully soon. Letting out a soft sigh, the man lowered his head a bit as he would continue his 'watch'.
She couldn't sleep, she knew that. She just faked it so that Satoshi wouldn't have to worry over her. She'll be okay enough to sleep properly again, right? Yeah.. Right now she just lied on her side and kept her eyes shut, no sense of unconsciousness coming for her.
Rubbing his neck, the man would throw a glance once in a while at the girl. Then back at the door, before then to stare out of the window. Nobody seemed to be eager to enter the room or somebody that had came yet for Ayame. Considering something, Satoshi rubbed his eyes as he would push the thought into the back of his mind and continue his silent watch.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ayame Yukiteru
Team 3 Genin | Kumogakure
Ayame had a sort of smooth landing. When she touched the ground, she ended up on her bum rather than her feet, and the parachute landed on her. She sighed, pulling herself from under the huge piece of dark cloth, rolling it up and with a few folds, managing to fit it back into her bag. Chibi was huddled against her chest, whimpering and shivering. She sighed, petting the little white ball of fur as a way to hush, looking to her comrades and Sensei. No words left her mouth.
