[Somehow, Kazuya ended up at Hyoubu's apartment rather than his own after his "meeting" with Yu.
It was sort of strange - after departing from the hospital window, Kazuya simply started walking aimlessly. He didn't really want to go back to the apartment - he knew he'd just sit around and do nothing waiting for Minny to come back. He didn't really want to do that. He'd find it... disconcerting. It was weird, you'd think knowing your friends would return from death would be a comfort, rather than something distressing, but having Ket come back from that, perfectly fine, and imagining Minato coming back from being eaten alive, perfectly fine, it... didn't mesh. Well. At all.
So he walked. Aimlessly. Until he ended up standing at Hyou-Kyou's front door. Huh. He's never come in through this way before.
"Ah. Him. The snoop."
Probably a bad idea. He forgot that Bel hated Hyou-Kyou's guts.
He half-turned away. Hesitated. Turned back. Bel said nothing, merely waiting with something like malicious anticipation. It was a disturbing feeling, to have the demon go from some background entity to something almost physically looming over him. He felt like he could see something in the corner of his eye, or feel a presence hunched over him, almost suffocatingly. Nothing was ever there when he looked though. Why was he even like this now? The change was alarming-
"Because you desire me to be here, Abel. A subconscious one, but a desire all the same..."
Kazuya hurriedly knocked on the door before Bel could continue, very loudly, concentrating on how the noise thrummed in the air and how his knuckles stung. Bel didn't continue, seemed to retreat in fact. Good. Okay. Let's go with that]
[ He'd had some misgivings when Minato announced his plan to go exploring ("haven't you had enough of the great outdoors?"), but he believes in giving kids their freedom (unless that kid is Ket), and Minato always seemed like the sensible one, so in the end he hadn't worried about it too much.
In any case, he's enjoying a well deserved and relaxing day off, which means no pants. Fortunately for everyone, he does pull on a yukata when he hears a knock on the door, and sticks his head outside. ]
Did you run out of food again?
[ Which is obviously the only reason this kid would be visiting him, right? ]
[Kazuya didn't answer immediately, because his mind had suddenly gone inexplicably blank. Not due to Bel being a jerk, but because he had the sudden, awful realisation that Hyoubu didn't know about Minny's current deadness. Did Kazuya really want to be the bearer of bad news? No. Not at all. Considering how Hyoubu reacted when Ket died, he didn't want to be saddled with the job of stopping the esper smashing into Yu's hospital room out of misguided anger.
...
Would he do that, though? It wasn't as if Yu was directly to blame. It wasn't as if he ate Minny himself, and Ket's circumstances were diff-
"You're staring like an idiot."
Ah. He was]
Uh, something- yeah, sort of. [He stumbled over his words slightly, and he linked his fingers together, gently digging his fingernails into his knuckles. The minor sting of pain helped him focus] Yes, you see...
[...]
Minny's kicked the bucket. [He released his hands, planting them on his hips and shrugging his shoulders in faux-casualness] Deader than a doornail, and resting in the intestinal tract of a monster, according to Yu-Yu. So. Yeah.
["Do you think you're fooling anyone with that display, Abel?"]
Sorry to, uh, bring the bad news. [There was a roughness to Kazuya's voice, and he stared very hard at Hyoubu's doorframe, taking in all the details he could to drown out Bel's increasingly unwanted commentary] Thought you should know as soon as, instead of, y'know, hearing it on the street, or whatever.
[ Kaz's mind had been a blank before, but now it's a open book. Not only Kaz, but... that something else that he'd felt that day in the jungle, when he'd healed the boy. He's sufficiently surprised by this, that it takes him a moment to process the content of Kaz's thoughts.
...
Ah.
It's differernt from when Ket died. He'd seen the boy's corpse, still stupidly smiling, and there was a Normal miscreant to blame. Hearing about it second hand.... Kaz's feelings matter more to him, particularly newly laid out before him like this. So he's better able to intellectualize things: "death" in this place isn't permanent. It's more like Player I game over.
That said, being eaten sounds gruesome. Ugh, these idiot kids. ]
Thanks for telling me.
[ He opens the door a little wider and stands aside. ]
[Kazuya's gaze snapped from the doorframe to Hyoubu, looking briefly alarmed. Both...?
"Hrrrrnn..."
Bel's growl rumbled to the far edges of Kazuya's skull, like someone had jammed a pneumatic drill in the very centre of his brain. The discomfort of it was enough to jolt him out of his half-panicked staring, and he lowered his gaze again, staring at Hyoubu's feet. How did he...? He knew he could read minds, but didn't Bel-
"I am not wasting my time protecting your every thought, even if I detest spies."
Right]
I... are you sure?
[You know. Demon possessed. Said demon awake and very much radiating utter hatred in Hyoubu's direction. Are you really sure?? Even Kazuya was a little frightened of himself at this point, and he knew for a fact that Bel couldn't do anything he didn't want it to]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
IC: 4/7ish time
[Somehow, Kazuya ended up at Hyoubu's apartment rather than his own after his "meeting" with Yu.
It was sort of strange - after departing from the hospital window, Kazuya simply started walking aimlessly. He didn't really want to go back to the apartment - he knew he'd just sit around and do nothing waiting for Minny to come back. He didn't really want to do that. He'd find it... disconcerting. It was weird, you'd think knowing your friends would return from death would be a comfort, rather than something distressing, but having Ket come back from that, perfectly fine, and imagining Minato coming back from being eaten alive, perfectly fine, it... didn't mesh. Well. At all.
So he walked. Aimlessly. Until he ended up standing at Hyou-Kyou's front door. Huh. He's never come in through this way before.
"Ah. Him. The snoop."
Probably a bad idea. He forgot that Bel hated Hyou-Kyou's guts.
He half-turned away. Hesitated. Turned back. Bel said nothing, merely waiting with something like malicious anticipation. It was a disturbing feeling, to have the demon go from some background entity to something almost physically looming over him. He felt like he could see something in the corner of his eye, or feel a presence hunched over him, almost suffocatingly. Nothing was ever there when he looked though. Why was he even like this now? The change was alarming-
"Because you desire me to be here, Abel. A subconscious one, but a desire all the same..."
Kazuya hurriedly knocked on the door before Bel could continue, very loudly, concentrating on how the noise thrummed in the air and how his knuckles stung. Bel didn't continue, seemed to retreat in fact. Good. Okay. Let's go with that]
Hey! Hyou-Kyou! You in here!?
1/2
In any case, he's enjoying a well deserved and relaxing day off, which means no pants. Fortunately for everyone, he does pull on a yukata when he hears a knock on the door, and sticks his head outside. ]
Did you run out of food again?
[ Which is obviously the only reason this kid would be visiting him, right? ]
no subject
Okay, Kaz feels very, very different. And the look on his face... ]
Did something happen?
no subject
[Kazuya didn't answer immediately, because his mind had suddenly gone inexplicably blank. Not due to Bel being a jerk, but because he had the sudden, awful realisation that Hyoubu didn't know about Minny's current deadness. Did Kazuya really want to be the bearer of bad news? No. Not at all. Considering how Hyoubu reacted when Ket died, he didn't want to be saddled with the job of stopping the esper smashing into Yu's hospital room out of misguided anger.
...
Would he do that, though? It wasn't as if Yu was directly to blame. It wasn't as if he ate Minny himself, and Ket's circumstances were diff-
"You're staring like an idiot."
Ah. He was]
Uh, something- yeah, sort of. [He stumbled over his words slightly, and he linked his fingers together, gently digging his fingernails into his knuckles. The minor sting of pain helped him focus] Yes, you see...
[...]
Minny's kicked the bucket. [He released his hands, planting them on his hips and shrugging his shoulders in faux-casualness] Deader than a doornail, and resting in the intestinal tract of a monster, according to Yu-Yu. So. Yeah.
["Do you think you're fooling anyone with that display, Abel?"]
Sorry to, uh, bring the bad news. [There was a roughness to Kazuya's voice, and he stared very hard at Hyoubu's doorframe, taking in all the details he could to drown out Bel's increasingly unwanted commentary] Thought you should know as soon as, instead of, y'know, hearing it on the street, or whatever.
no subject
...
Ah.
It's differernt from when Ket died. He'd seen the boy's corpse, still stupidly smiling, and there was a Normal miscreant to blame. Hearing about it second hand.... Kaz's feelings matter more to him, particularly newly laid out before him like this. So he's better able to intellectualize things: "death" in this place isn't permanent. It's more like Player I game over.
That said, being eaten sounds gruesome. Ugh, these idiot kids. ]
Thanks for telling me.
[ He opens the door a little wider and stands aside. ]
Come in. Both of you.
no subject
"Hrrrrnn..."
Bel's growl rumbled to the far edges of Kazuya's skull, like someone had jammed a pneumatic drill in the very centre of his brain. The discomfort of it was enough to jolt him out of his half-panicked staring, and he lowered his gaze again, staring at Hyoubu's feet. How did he...? He knew he could read minds, but didn't Bel-
"I am not wasting my time protecting your every thought, even if I detest spies."
Right]
I... are you sure?
[You know. Demon possessed. Said demon awake and very much radiating utter hatred in Hyoubu's direction. Are you really sure?? Even Kazuya was a little frightened of himself at this point, and he knew for a fact that Bel couldn't do anything he didn't want it to]