yumemigaoka | THOU ART MAIDENLESS, AND THUS THOU ART ALONE

4: Stay O-Positive
⭐ Who: Open!
⭐ When: Feb. 21, morning
⭐ Where: Koubai General Hospital

Uggghh...

[After donating blood three times in three days as part of the local hospital's blood drive, Ango has earned ¥9000 in coupons for free curry... but at the moment, he can barely manage to swallow the free cookies and orange juice offered to volunteers. He's as pale and exhausted as a gothic novel heroine after a spicy run-in with the dark and brooding vampire hero, and he didn't even get laid.

Ango isn't just a ninja master of disguise in the Dream Sphere, of course. He used the DU's laminating machine to make a couple of fake IDs - enough to donate every day of Koubai General Hospital's Blood Drive and score enough coupons to eat like a king for the next week. Apparently you're only supposed to donate once every 8 weeks, but Ango did the math (admittedly not his strongest subject in school) and the average person can lose around two liters of blood without immediately dying... but he's barely halfway through the blood drive and he already feels half dead.]

Crap... I'm gonna be late for work...

[Sam...has only gone once. Today. She really can't afford to be sick. Not that you're actually supposed to give blood if you're sick. She does notice Ango, though, and she can't miss his struggles, so. Whether he lets her or not, she's gonna grab his elbow and wheel him over to a chair so he can sit down.]

You might wanna put your head between your knees. You do not look well, my dude. What'd you do?

[Not once does it cross her mind that he's trying hard to become a candidate for a blood transfusion...]

Ugh... Sam?

[Sam may not be a Saver in this world, but if she weren't a Dreamer she probably could have ended up training to become an EMT. Ango flops into a chair and actually does as he's told for once, and the horrible dizziness subsides.]

They're giving out coupons for free curry if you donate blood this week, so I figured I'd see how many times I could do it without dying... yeah, it turns out that's about three times. But I've got almost ¥10000 in curry cash now, so... totally worth it.

[Ango's blood has reached roughly the same gloopy consistency as curry sauce - maybe you really are what you eat?]

Yeah, it's me.

[Really, who else would it be? But her face is full of concern as Sam kneels by his chair, watching his face. She's not an EMT, but there are a couple reasons why she's got enough medical knowledge to get her in trouble. Girl Scouts, for one, though she'd...probably never admit it, now. And really, it's a testament to just how bad Ango really feels, that he actually listened. That in and of itself is troubling.]

I knew about the free curry--I was gonna... [But here is where her words die, as Ango freely admits to donating three times in basically less than a week, and Sam literally squawks in dismay.]

Holy hells, you could die, dude! You should just rest now--you probably shouldn't even be going to work...but if I said anything you'd probably just walk out of here AMA, anyway...

[Because he's stubborn. She got that, loud and clear. So Sam is not going to make the phlebotomists wise to Ango's predicament.]

Are you really that hard up for food? You gotta promise me you won't donate again for eight weeks. As it is I probably oughtta make a bunch of spinach calzones and give you some of them, spinach has iron in it. Anemia is not fun!

[She pauses for a moment.] I am gonna walk you to work, if you're intent on going.

Haha, you know how it is with money. Easy come, easy go...

[Maybe if Ango didn't immediately blow half of his paychecks on harebrained plots and impulse purchases, he'd have enough money for food... but while he's lucky that his slumlord landlord didn't immediatly terminate his lease after the suspicious fire back in November (only because Ango agreed not to report the lack of fire alarms), he's still on the hook for his share of the repair bill and his budget is even tighter than usual.]

Spinach calzones?

[He perks up a little at the prospect of food that isn't instant ramen. He's been secretly camped out in the DU basement for the past two months while the big gaping hole in his apartment ceiling gets fixed, so he's been living off snacks from 7-11... lemon-flavored chuuhais are probably enough to stave off scurvy, right?

How the hell did a loser like Ango luck into finding coworkers who care about him more than he cares about himself? It's awkward to have somebody look so genuinely concerned for his welfare, though, so he forces a reassuring laugh.]

I'd promise you my firstborn kid for some calzones! I don't think I've got another pint left in me, anyway.

[It's the last comment that makes Sam bark out a laugh, though she looks quite startled at the offer, to say the least.]

I promise you, I'm not enough of a witch to ask you for any future children. Nor shall I require your soul, either.

[She's being far too serious there, at the moment.]

Anyway, yeah, I can make you a special batch--meaning it's a batch made especially for you, and I won't have to grab Zeke by the face to keep him away from it. I didn't hear any complaints at the party I had, so they must be pretty okay as food goes. Though I have to admit, it's just a hobby. Ya know, in all my copious amounts of free time.

[Which is a joke, because really, Sam's days are just jam packed. Still...]

You feeling up to going to work, though, buddy? I mean, also, if you're that hard up, you can have my curry certificate, too. I can afford curry, it was just a nice gesture for me, you know?

Whew, that's a relief. Pretty sure I already promised my soul to some guy for half a pack of cigarettes. You don't have to go out of your way for me, but I wouldn't say no to some leftovers~ I'm a decent cook myself, but at the moment I'm lacking a kitchen...

[...And the rest of the apartment. But Ango's never really cared about having a place to call "home," anyway. As soon as he's in his room alone, he can feel the walls starting to close in.]

Anyway, if I skipped work every time I felt like something the cat dragged in, I'd probably never show up. And office pranks aren't gonna pull themselves, you know? I can't leave Zeke to manage DU morale on his own.

Only half a pack? Bruh! I don't smoke, but you definitely should've held out for the whole pack. And made sure they were your brand, right? I hope you did that, at least...

I'd offer to let you borrow my kitchen, but I dunno how my landlord would feel about strange guys coming over to my apartment. I already have a few, between my bandmates and the S.O., ya know. Still, I'll definitely make you at least one batch of calzones. And if you want my curry certificate, like I said. You can have it, no sweat.

[She pauses there for a moment, still looking concerned.] Are you doing okay? Really, if you need to take a day, I'm pretty sure Zeke could handle morale on his own.

I'll hold out for a better deal the next time I promise my soul to somebody. At this rate, when I die there's gonna be enough people fighting over me that I'll be able to sneak straight out of Hell.

[He cracks a smile at that. As tempting as a real kitchen is, he can't impose on Sam's kindness any more than he already has... he may be a good cook, but he always leaves a huge mess in his wake. And he's probably at least as sketchy-looking as her bandmates... wait, what's this about a S.O.?]

You're seeing somebody? Heh, guess I can't ask you out on a curry date, then~

[He's just joking - Sam's a little too young for him. But maybe he's been so focused on Ai for the past few months that he hasn't considered other possibilities... at least he can console himself with the fact that ~~stupid sexy~~ Zeke is definitely still single, too.]

I'll be fine! Haha, you know me, I'm basically a human cockroach - unkillable and totally trying to get into your kitchen.

Ha! Why not? Friendship dates are a thing, y'know. At least where I'm from. Besides, aren't I technically a little young for you?

[There's no 'technically'. Still, if he asked her out on a curry date--even if it ended up being dutch, or if she had to pay for it--Sam would go. He's an author! There's probably some wisdom to be had here! Or at least good song material.

And what Ango doesn't know won't hurt him. Right?]

I think you're at least a little bit higher on the proverbial evolutionary chain than a cockroach--though being equally hard to kill, well. That's probably a good thing. Maybe get that as a power?

[She can't help but wink at that.]

You feel a little better, so we can schlep our way to work? I'll...probably leave your calzones in the work fridge in a bag with your name on it, when I make them. [There's no 'if'.] They probably ought to stay refrigerated, though you should be able to heat them in the microwave, you know?

Right now I'm feeling positively ancient, so you're probably right...

[Apparently women are into vampires, but only in the "sexy debauched 800-year-old aristocrat" way, not the "bloodless shambling middle-aged corpse" way. Oh well, Sam's definitely too young for him anyway. While the "half your age plus seven" rule exceeds Ango's number of fingers and therefore his ability to calculate, his personal rule is to not date anyone younger than a really good bottle of whiskey.]

Huh, that wouldn't be a bad power... doesn't fit with my theming, though, and Zeke's already got the indestructibility power.

[...With Zeke's absolutely rancid bad luck, his indestructibility is probably the only way he manages to survive. Even though Ango has always thought of himself as a tough guy, the Dream Sphere granted him a far more support-oriented skill set. It would be nice to have some resistance to Hibiki's punches, though...]

The promise of homemade calzones is enough to revive me! I guess we'd better get to work before you end up being late.

You'll feel better eventually, Ango. This won't last, I promise. Especially if you get some actual nutrients into you.

[Because she can only speculate on what he's been eating, and it probably beats out Zeke's eating Spaghetti-O's straight from the can, if she's honest. But Sam is definitely not going to ask. Ango's ego, such as it is, might be able to take it. She's not sure her sanity can take that blow.]

Oh, Zeke! If he had the lockdown on powers, I'd be in trouble, because we both have electricity powers. Besides, we're Dreamers, right? It's like--if we can dream it, we can be it, right? Follow your heart. You're Ango, not Zeke, and you're fine just the way you are!

[Recent Disturbance aside. It wasn't as if she hadn't been there for part of it, after all. Sam would give him a punch in the shoulder, but Ango has already done himself enough lasting damage for the week--even if it'll get better, she doesn't need to compound it. She laughs a bit, then.]

We can take whatever time you need. I'm not late that often, and it'd be for a good reason, you know? If I catch any flack, I can handle it. Don't worry about me!

[Amane sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the other adults milling about the waiting room, clutching his bookbag to his chest as he scrolls mindlessly through his phone. Never mind the fact that he was definitely too young and too small to be eligible to donate blood, but wasn't it kind of early in the day...? Why wasn't he at school like the other kids his age? And while he doesn't look nearly as haggard as poor Ango did, he's definitely seems to have seen better days himself, if the dark circles under his eyes and the paler-than-usual complexion was any indication.

Which makes it all the more ironic when he turns his head the other man's way at the sound of his groan, his brow furrowed in morbid concern at the shambling corpse in front of him. It probably would have just been wiser to leave this wreck to his own devices, but Amane opens his mouth to say, against his better judgement:]

... you sure you should be leaving like that? You look like you crawled straight out of their morgue.

[SERIOUSLY. WHY ARE THEY LETTING YOU GO HOME LIKE THIS, ANGO???]

Edited (oop forgot a word!!) 2024-02-09 02:17 (UTC)

Yeah, well you look like you oughta be in school.

[Ango is normally in full support of truancy and general delinquency, but the brat is the last person he wants to see right now. What's Hanako - or whatever his real name is - doing in the hospital, anyway? He's probably got the kind of parents who drag him to the doctor for every little sniffle.]

All I've gotta do is make it to work, and then maybe Ai will nurse me back to health... you're looking pretty under the weather yourself, so maybe she'll dote on you a little too.

[Honestly, Ango was definitely the last person Amane had wanted to see right now himself, so the feeling was certainly mutual! It just figures, with the way his luck was shaping up as of late, that he'd run into the guy he wanted to punch the most when he didn't even have the strength to actually do it. (Never mind the fact that Amane could barely hit somebody when he was feeling normal, let alone in this horrendous, pained, overly fatigued state of his, but!! Even so!!) The absolutely piss poor state Ango was in had made him worried for a brief moment that he was actually ill, but upon closer inspection of the cookies and juice in his hands... it was clear he was just one of the many here for the blood drive, instead. But there was no way donating would make him that haggard, unless he was anemic or something...

He shoots the other man something of a Look when he mentions school, and it only intensifies when he casually throws in the subject of Ai on top of that. Amane had enough people poking into his personal business during that whole Nightmare fiasco, and he was feeling less than inclined about sharing any details about his life now, especially after that thing had finally up and disappeared. So instead, he pointedly ignores the comments aimed his way, his gaze returning back to his phone instead.]

... yeah, sure, good luck with that. She'd probably send you right back over here the moment she lays eyes upon you. I mean, if you don't go and pass out on the train first, anyway.

[On the other hand, Ai probably would fuss up a storm at the sight of Amane had he bothered to go visit her... but that's precisely why he hadn't. Valentine's was already over, but she had enough on her plate at the moment that something like this would just add more weight on top of things. No need to worry her over something that was probably going to be resolved with a new medication or extra bedrest... or so he hoped, anyway.]

Why push yourself, anyway? You never struck me as a guy with actual work ethic.

[Damn, for all of Hanako's outgoing, enthusiastic energy in the Dream Sphere, he sure is a sour little shit in the real world. Not that Ango is really surprised by that... he's spent the past thirty-odd years pretending to be more easygoing and confident than he really is, so he recognizes all of the worst parts of himself in the brat.]

Man, can't a guy enjoy a little fussing?

[The kid's right, though - he most likely would keel over on the train, and not for the first time. Back in Tokyo he used to pass out on the Yamanote loop line and ride in circles around the city for hours, a pretty apt metaphor for where his life was going back then.]

Why push myself? I dunno. Guilt, probably.

[Ango flops gracelessly into the nearest waiting room chair and leans his head back to look up at the harsh fluorescent lights. The brat's rotten mood must be as contagious as whatever strain of flu he's probably incubating.]

...A good friend of mine lost the fight against his nightmares, and there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it. I don't know if smashing Torments actually helps anybody who's struggling, but at least it feels like I'm doing something.

Edited 2024-02-14 06:39 (UTC)

[Honestly, could anyone blame him for being sour at the moment? The past two months has been a slowly accelerating series of aggravating events-- the failed Reverie search, the gnawing anxiety in the Dream Sphere, Crimson, that stupid Nightmare-- and his health going down with it didn't make it any easier. And actually... hadn't this all started because of Ango?? It was hard to summon any of that cheerful energy, even in this wrung out state of his, when all he wanted to do was push the old fart back towards whatever doctor drained him dry and tell them to take another pint of blood for good measure.

... but then, Ango just has to go and say that, withering some of that animosity within him. He hadn't investigated the other man's Disturbance as much as some of the others had while it was happening, but he had caught glimpses of stuff on his trek through that fake city. That cozy circle of friends, growing ever smaller... it was hard to tell at the time what had been picking them off, but now with this context on top of it...

He hated that they had that commonality between them. That guilt. Tsukasa never died, or fully disappeared for that matter, but the gnawing sense of responsibility was still the same; the drive to keep the Dream Sphere safe, so this sort of thing wouldn't need to happen again to others.

... not that he was going to tell Ango any of that, though. ~~Better leave it for his own Disturbance~~ Maybe it would have been appropriate to apologize for his loss, or at least acknowledge the vulnerability he just offered him, but instead, Amane just continues to scroll upon his phone, bangs obscuring his eyes as he's slouches over it.]

I'm sure missing a day of trying to start up an inappropriate work relationship with Ai-senpai or whatever you pass the time doing in the DU offices isn't going affect the Dream Sphere that much.

[Because, noble motive for Dreamerhood aside, this wasn't about that-- this was about him probably causing a train delay by passing out in the tracks and inconveniencing everyone's mornings because he couldn't well enough stay in the hospital when he was feeling like shit!!!]

Not that you're not gonna be much help over there anyway if you're in this state to begin with. It's one thing to give it your all as a Dreamer, but it's kinda pointless if you up and croak in the real world instead.

[To be honest, Ango never gave too much thought to why Hanako became a Dreamer. The explanation seems simple enough - every kid wants to be a Dreamer, right? Everyone who grows up watching anime magical girls and tokusatsu superheroes valiantly battle the forces of evil must secretly dream that one day, they too will awaken with power and a sense of purpose. The real fantasy of hero media isn't the magical powers or the cool costumes... it's the idea that one person can do something to change the world.

The worst part of being Hanako's age was the feeling of powerlessness. And it turns out that the worst part of being an adult is also the feeling of powerlessness.]

...It's not like there's a lot I can do on my own in the Dream Sphere, anyway.

[It's ironic - he's always seen himself as a fighter, but as a Dreamer, Ango doesn't have much in the way of offensive or defensive capability. He's only good for sneaking and support.]

So if one of my dumb jokes can get a laugh out of Ai, that's gotta count for something, right?

[He can't afford to get so wrapped up in his own shit that he doesn't notice what's going on with his friends. Not again.

...And something's definitely going on with the brat.]

You can laugh at how much of an idiot I am, too, if it makes you feel any better.

[It was bad enough dealing with all the limitations that came with being a kid-- the lack of money, the lack of freedom, pinned down with all the rules the adults had foisted upon him-- but it was especially frustrating when he couldn't even control his own body. Society was one thing, but to be held back by something most people took for granted...

At least whatever seemed to be going on with Ango was temporary. Amane could only wish he could get whatever was wrong with him fixed by just an IV infusion and some rest. He can't help but snort at Ango's words, however, eyes still focused on his phone in true teenager fashion.]

You sure are good at causing problems on your own, at least.

[THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK HERE..... although, really, it's not necessarily a bad thing, either. Problems could provide good distractions or inadvertent damage to his enemies, provided he used them wisely-- though so far, it just seemed to be providing massive headaches to the people he wound up in a team with.

The moment Ango mentions getting Ai to laugh, however, he finally looks up from his phone, sending the other man a flat look. Maybe he felt particularly touchy about her given his own circumstances right now, but:]

She's not going to be laughing much if she sees you looking like this, though. Seriously, I don't know what you did to yourself, but just treat this like the vacation you always said you wanted, and--

[Before he can finish his lecture, however, something seizes in his chest and catches in his throat, drawing his words up short. A hoarse cough overtakes him, doubling his slight frame over as it wracks his body, sending him wheezing and gasping for breath once it's through. Crap-- this is what he gets for expending so much energy trying to talk sense into this old fart. Bad enough Ango had to run into him here at the hospital, but to have the guy see him in a fit like this... he may as well have a neon sign over his head screaming SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YUGI AMANE at this point.]

[Ango doesn't pay much attention to the first few coughs (it's February, after all, and more than a handful of people at the DU main office have been sniffling into their sleeves for the past few weeks) but when the coughing turns to gasping and the kid looks like he's about to fall over, he scrambles out of his chair and hurries to steady Amane with a hand on his shoulder... although who's steadying who is debatable.]

Oi, oi, now you're spewing your kid germs all over the place...

[That's all it is, right? Middle schools are germ factories filled with snot-nosed kids, so it's no surprise that the brat has come down with a cold... his doting parents probably brought him to the hospital to have it checked out. That's all it is. If the brat looks paler and more worn out than the last time Ango saw him, then it's probably because he spent his day off from school playing video games instead of resting. That's all it is. Right?

...Odasaku used to cough like that when he was sick: wet, painful coughs that seemed to stick in his throat like his own body was trying to choke him. But that guy always had rotten health and was in and out of hospitals... the kid's just skipping class with a nasty case of bronchitis. Nothing to worry about. Not that Ango would be worrying about the brat, anyway.

But as much of a brat as Hanako is, he still seems like the type to wear a mask if he has something contagious, especially in a hospital waiting room...]

It's okay, just sit down and I'll...

[Do what, exactly? Even as a Saver, Ango's healing abilities are limited, and they're completely useless here... once again, somebody's struggling and there's not one fucking thing he can do about it.]

...I'll get you some water, okay? Hang in there for a sec.

THOU ART MAIDENLESS, AND THUS THOU ART ALONE

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