( Closed ) - a situation involving exposure to danger

[tuishou]

Who: Yuri, Hakkai, Neji
When: July 3
Where: Ixtab's temple
What: Hakkai's a time bomb. Yuri's got the self-preservation instincts of a lump of mud. Neji sees it as a game of chicken; the other two see it as...?


✖✖ [The Heavens were being generous. There were hiccups, sure. Running any... agency, he supposes, as large as this was bound to be anything but a smooth ride, but that didn't take away the fact that there were attempts to make this forced business a little more enjoyable. The summer heat was still hellish (there's no other way around it), the fires certainly didn't make anybody relax, and the vacations were just ways to cover their eyes with wool but hey. With everything falling apart around him (them), there was the truly uplifting news of

birds. Everywhere. _{(Don't laugh; that's rude.)}

Flocking this way and that, and breathing life into the damn noose forest that was unfortunate enough to adorn the surrounding area of Ixtab's temple. Bird-watching was as good a way to let his mind wander as any, and Neji's not about to protest living creatures with brains suddenly taking up residence in this place. With an irritable click of his tongue, he shifts from where he's resting against a tree, himself. There's a figure he can see approaching the temple, but he knows it by now-- a messenger. There to nag anyone who'll bother to let them in about proper dress and attire for a ceremony Neji hasn't yet learned much about. He watches the messenger leave when nobody answers.

On weekdays, Yuri had... school, or something. She was taking classes. On weekdays, Hakkai had a school. Or something. And Neji was left seeming like the one without his life in order.

But it's Sunday. And with a heavy sigh he gets down from where he'd perched and enters his home with little ceremony. It's quiet. The pool of water and its trickle could be soothing. It only makes him hurry up the stairs to where the bedrooms are and he swears, he really does, that he had all the mind to slip into his room and let the day pass without him. But-- whatever it is-- there was a small. Noise. From the inside of where he knows Hakkai's gone and claimed as his own. And it kind of rushes at him, y'know. Feels like some invisible rein turns his head towards it and the cut of the bit only turns him surly (because he'd been so calm before). There was a voice taunting him, and that voice was wrong, but it was saying he was running from... from something. Something that had to be done, had to have been done ages ago. Neji's hand is pushing open Hakkai's door the next instant, because to hell with that, he doesn't shy away from confrontation. He doesn't--

it's the quiet that needs to be broken. Everybody in this temple was too damn calm this Sunday. Why? They really-] Are you busy? [Asks the boy, the air of impatience practically palpable. That's really about as far as he's masterminded this encounter--

is the frown telling? Sorry.]

Comments

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai's staring into the small mirror he's propped up on top of his dresser, with a pair of scissors in hand, and he looks up in surprise as Neji walks in. He sets the scissors down.]

Ah... not particularly, no.

[After all, he didn't need to trim his bangs, and he already knew that he was going to end up deciding against trimming the straggling-below-his-collar hair in the back.

He tossed another glance at the mirror. It was eerie, how much the haircut made him resemble Tenpou... ears and youkai markings, of course, aside. Perhaps there was no escaping one's past, in the end. He tips the mirror forward, leaving it facedown on the dresser, and returns his gaze to Neji, eyebrows flicking up towards his neatly cut bangs. That's quite a frown. And Neji does not frequently invade Hakkai's room.]

Can I help you with something, Neji?

[tuishou]

[He can't piece together what what happening, or about to happen. He just notes that the scissors are down and he waits for Hakkai's full attention before deciding to continue. Not so much for the pretense of being a stickler for politeness but because the bravado has all but lept out of him as suddenly as it'd come on.

That, by no account, means he's hesitant.] We need to talk.

[Mentally, he corrects himself.

They need to change. But first his brows furrow a bit, and his question is genuine.] Where's Ixtab-sama?

[reformedsinner]

Yes, I suppose we do, don't we.

[He turns, putting his back to his dresser, and crosses his arms as he considers Neji.] I'm not sure where Yuri is.

[A moment's pause, and, delicately, his eyebrows arch up just a little higher.]

Is this supposed to be a group conversation?

[tuishou]

[Back. He takes it back. He wants that surge of bravado back.

He really wants to punch that face. Instead he'll scoff- not a nice sound but they both know, he'll assume, that this won't be a conversation that will strain itself on niceness.] I know what I'm going to say; if she's here or not doesn't matter to me. [Could the lie be any more obvious? Anyway, he's not the one falling on the defensive so soon- he's not the one turning his body into a barrier against the unknown. He steps into the room fully, closes the door behind him only because Hakkai's crossed his arms and Neji needs the balance. That's what he tells himself, anyway. He shakes his head to... rid the thought? remember it? His voice is a drawl of sorts, if a Hyuuga ever drawled.]

She trusts us too much to be useful here. [Which he supposed could be unfair but he's not

it's not wrong and on he charges.] Or rather, I believe she's too attached to you. She's dismissed everything you've done to her but I won't.

[reformedsinner]

[It's really not wrong. Hakkai's expression goes blank for a few seconds. So that's what they're talking about, then.

It's only been a matter of time. Neji isn't stupid, and he's not as willing to let Hakkai's problems go as Yuri is.]

You're talking about my blight, I assume.

[His arms are still crossed, and, after a moment, deliberately, he raises his eyebrows again.]

Or is there something else I haven't noticed?

[tuishou]

If there is anything else, you should hope I never find out what it is. [He's too emotional- despite him knowing he must keep a level head. He wouldn't have addressed the hypothetical otherwise, wouldn't have wasted a breath in such a robotic sounding threat. Neji isn't in a rush to fill the silence yet, though, and he shifts his weight for the sake of having something to do.

It is not, he'd argue, a nervous gesture-- not anymore than Hakkai's stonewall of an expression is. Neji's frown has smoothed into a casual... downturn of his lips. Whatever.

He... lets the silence stretch, actually. There's something boiling in the pit of his stomach that's making it difficult to put the so very fucking obvious into words. And he'd rather wait than stutter or trail off or do any other foolish thing so his eyes just fixate on the other for a moment, as cold as the fire in his throat isn't.] Yes, Hakkai. The blight.

[reformedsinner]

It's under control. [His lips twist, briefly, in something that's not a smile any more than Neji's expression is a frown. It's not under control, because he still can't purify himself of the guilt, the fear, and the grief that are poisoning him and poisoning Yuri through him.

Neji is absolutely correct, and he's not saying anything to Hakkai that Hakkai hasn't said to Yuri. The silence stretches, again, for only a few seconds after that painfully obvious lie, before Hakkai's smile turns harder.]

Did she ever tell you what I said to her when I woke up here? -- If you didn't hear, that is. I'm afraid it was a little loud.

[tuishou]

[The man doesn't care for his life any more than Yuri cares for hers. Neji starts at the realization with a growl. This was a game now? There was no importance to the severity of the situation because Hakkai knew he'd lost sight of-- whatever outcome he'd first wanted? Confusion floods him long enough to twist his thoughts.

He should have caught the guy outside. Then he could punch him.

'If you did hear', 'loud'-] No. [Of course, there's no law holding him back and if Hakkai's head cracks the wall, that could always be repaired.

If he orders for those lips to quit mocking this, will they keep shut? It's not something Neji wants right now, the half-step forward signaling outright concern (or distrust). It's like he could hold Yuri back from whatever it is that'd come from Hakkai's mouth-- he'd given them space and they'd done everything wrong with it. Gods, he dreads this. And he hates the man in front despite having never... planned to. He should probably ask what it was.] I can't imagine it being anything stemming from consideration.

[reformedsinner]

I begged her to release me. I've hurt all of my gods, Neji, from the day I arrived here.

[The very day. It's startling to realize how true it is: there have been times when he's done better, and times when he's done worse, but he's stung them all, and he's never fully been able to cleanse himself of guilt.

It's a personal failing, he supposes. Some of the shinki here seem to have no such problem believing in their own righteousness. Hakkai's arms are still crossed, but his chin dips slightly, letting his gaze slide down and away from Neji's face.]

... She refused.

[He finds himself almost wanting to go on, to throw his failures in Neji's face: not stopping Elsa, not watching Gojyo, not caring with Ni -- but even enumerating them silently singes him with the familiar heat of guilt, and he flinches, instead, and turns his thoughts away from the past.]

May I ask you a favor, Neji? As her exemplar?

[tuishou]

[--what a martyr.] Then stop.

[It's out an instant after Hakkai draws a breath so there's no doubt it's reflexive as any... heartfelt snarl ought to be. Sure. He'd never wondered how many gods Hakkai has gone through (it seems like a horribly callous way to address it, but excuse him for not caring exactly how he addresses Hakkai's plight), has tuned out any mention if he's ever been in range of hearing because it does not in any way tie in to the suffering he is causing now.

And no. No, he won't allow his presence to be demoted to being less worthy of address than furniture or the floor-- something in this temple had to live with certainty of value. What a headache. What a clown. Neji isn't idiot enough to close the distance between himself and Hakkai entirely but he's stepped near enough for the space to be

uncomfortable. In this room.

Hakkai's gone and flinched.

The next one will earn a hit.] What can I possibly do for you? [--slow, deliberate. Hakkai knew the tone well, yes? Something (someone) was about to blow up.]

[reformedsinner]

[Hakkai had flinched at his own guilt, but Neji stepping into his personal space, shoulders squared and deliberate threat in his tone and his glare, doesn't earn the slightest gesture of concern.

It is, after all, only himself that Neji's threatening. Hakkai looks back up -- well, down to meet his gaze: he has easily five centimeters on Neji, and with the younger man insisting on closing the distance that way, it's hard for the difference in their heights not to be embarrassingly obvious. He wonders idly if Neji plans to hit him. If he does, Hakkai supposes, he'll allow it.]

I'm not doing this for fun.

[If he knew how to stop, he would have. If he could wash away his own guilt, he would have: he would have for Elsa, for Gojyo, for Yuri, and even (though he'd struck the man himself) for Ni.

He smiles ironically. Instead, here he is, suggesting a very traditional atonement indeed.]

If I can't control it -- if I threaten her life -- please kill me?

[tuishou]

['Not for fun' but Neji hadn't said that was it. He searches Hakkai's face with a mixture of disbelief and indignation, chin rising a hair of a fraction in a half-challenge for Hakkai to go on and explain himself then but then the jackass called up the smile and the] Enough-

[The favor which may as well have been a spit to his face and in turn Neji finds his hackles rise _{not that he has 'em} and his left fist (when did his hand ball into a fist?) swing to the side of Hakkai's face.

Incidentally, that's not quite where he'd been aiming but Neji realizes only too late what a foreign sensation it is to him to throw a punch and anyway he's far too enraged to care about form. He feels the hit connect and that's damn-all that he cares of, only that's a lie because his insides are burning with everything he hasn't said that he'd told himself he would. There has to be one person in this room with more control over themselves than animals, and Neji shouts his rage to prove it.] You idiot! Do you think I'd need your permission?

[If there's one of them here to protect Yuri--] Your problems aren't important enough to have to pay for them with her life! [And why the hell did Hakkai even say that-] She loves you too much to even scold you but you just keep hurting her. You even know you're doing it. [And that's the worst of it, isn't it? That he knows and refuses to change but he might and.] So learn to control yourself, Hakkai.

[Fucking please.]

[reformedsinner]

[Neji's punch is to his blind side, and Hakkai knows it's coming, waits for it, but still isn't exactly ready to move with the blow when it hits. His head rocks to the side, and he works his jaw: ah, he'll have a bruise, he thinks. There's a faint tang of blood in his mouth where his sharp canine caught his lip.

He turns his head back towards Neji, expression still mild, although his yellow left eye is dark with suppressed emotion.]

I don't think you need my permission. I'm asking you to ease my mind.

[Loves. He crushes down the rush of helpless rage that follows on that thought, and closes both his eyes for a moment as he raises one hand to the tender spot on his right cheek. For a blow he hadn't been ready for, from a fighter, it's nowhere near as serious as it could be.]

You should work on your left hook, Neji, and I promise you that I'll try not to need that mercy.

[He opens his eyes. His hand falls back to his side.]

It is surprisingly difficult to control a heart.

And a little while later...

[onerous]

[The pool that serves as centerpiece to her shrine has always been peaceful to Yuri, though today the tension is still thick, spoiling it all.

It's not Neji's fault. It is, she knows, mostly her own. Still, she's glad to find he is there, where she'd asked him to be and somehow... Somehow it doesn't make her feel better. Neji is going to be angry with her, and he has every right to be. Her actions surely don't make sense to him-- but then, they hardly made sense to her too. Trying to explain it all would only muddle things further and make her look more like an idiot to someone as pragmatic as Neji.

She's not looking forward to this. But she's not running away, so surely that counts for something, right?]

...Neji. [She doesn't know what to say. She doesn't think anything short of releasing Hakkai is going to help anything here, but she has to try.]

[tuishou]

[He rises. He'd heard her footsteps this time, and he knows the rhythm and weight under the sound to know it isn't someone he despises coming up behind him. He turns from where he'd been facing the pool, he wipes any excess wetness off his left hand on the leg of his pants and there's a funny purple mark on his third knuckle- a nice bruise to go along with the other guy's. He should have swung with his right hand.

Neji bows. It's not an apology for having shoved her earlier. It's low and, he thinks, very reminiscent of those first days before he knew her.] Ixtab-sama. [Dry. Not meant to be unkind, but maybe he can show to absurdity of it all with how he says things, instead of just hoping that saying them is enough. Names, for instance. He's impatient. She knows his name. He knows hers. He waits for the very-important-matter to discuss to be brought up and it isn't. Not yet.

He's not surprised.

Finally, he straightens. There's a strand of hair that's freed itself from the tie and which rests annoyingly by his right ear and eye. For his vision's sake, he tilts his head (curiously, but not because of curiosity).]

I take it he's feeling better after you've reassured him he's got nothing to lose.

[onerous]

[She closes her eyes a moment and pauses, as if Neji's words were a physical blow instead of just words. And while Yuri had grown used to Neji's brand of formality, it hadn't been this bad in a long time.

Were they back at square one all over again?

She takes a breath and walks to the steps that begin to lead in, pausing on the first one to stare at the water as it ripples over her bare feet from the disturbance she's caused to it.]

No, not as such. ['Your god is an idiot,' she wants to tell him, but surely he already knows as much.] That bruise you gave will stick around for a while, I think. I'm sure that'll be as good a reminder as anything. [To... not fuck up anymore, or something. There's no reprimand to be found there either for punching Hakkai (he deserves it once in a while, probably, she thinks).

Yuri falls quiet a moment and then sighs wearily.] ...I know you want an explanation, or something. I just... Don't know how to start or what to say. Ad I don't think anything I say will help much either, but...

[She's quiet again, struggling to put everything into words that might actually make sense.] Neji, you're my exemplar. You're my first shinki and the one person I trust more than anyone in this world. You're special to me. [So why won't you listen to me, she's sure Neji's thinking something along those lines then.] But, before you came here, and even during the time you'd disappeared [yeah don't think she didn't remember that too] Hakkai was there. He's the first person I spoke to when I came here and the one who helped me out the most. He taught me almost everything I know, so he's got a different, but equally special, place in my heart. It's not that easy to just cut and run like you want me to.

[tuishou]

[Like a physical blow, instead of just words.] Don't insult me as well, Ixtab-sama. I'm not a child and I'm not jealous of him.

[She had had no need to spell out their relationships to him. There's a wave of dread as she reassures Neji that there was a portion of his afterlife he'd missed, but that was quickly smothered and dragged far from the forefront of his thoughts. His brows furrow, thin and knit together tightly and Neji thinks it helps with this new headache. She trusted him and she wasn't lying-- he'd refuse to believe anything else. She knew, then, that he'd said nothing wrong, he'd said no lie.

Hakkai was a danger but he was special. He'd been the 'good shinki' from the beginning. Neji knew that, too. Hearts were difficult things to change, control, what-have-you--

gods, he knew that too. Had had it up to here with that fact.

He's staring very intently at her... feet, actually. At the ripples that die and pulse back to life at the smallest sway and movement.] You've never let your responsibilities slide simply because they are not 'easy'. You only don't 'cut and run' because you care more for him than you do for yourself.

[onerous]

I was just... [Trying to reassure him? She doesn't know. Another misstep. Nothing is ever easy with Neji, she can never, ever, be sure she's saying the right thing. Maybe she never can and god it really is like those first few weeks all over again.

She wonders if that's a bit of a compliment in there.]

Well. [Yeah. That too, she supposes. She closes her eyes again and takes a step and then another deeper in. The water hits at thighs now, the material of her shorts beginning to absorb it and grow wet. Just this little bit already opens her abilities more, everything growing into a focus so sharp it almost aches. She's painfully aware of every beam of light that filters through, the sound of the water as it laps against her skin and the stairs and the sides of the pool.

A deep breath.]

I'm... scared. [It's not an easy thing to admit, and she knows it's just going to sound so stupid--] I'm afraid of being alone, more than anything. And with this role I see people die every day. I don't want to watch Hakkai die too. I know this is hurting me, I know that, but if it keeps him from killing himself, then...

[Then she'll bear the pain of it, like she does everyone else.] I don't want to lose anyone else. Yes, even at th cost of my own health.

[tuishou]

Then you sacrifice not only yourself, showing your fear of losing him is greater than your will to adapt to a life without him feeding you nonsense, but you also sacrifice the lives of the people who pray to you to be just in your judgement. [She was bearing her soul to him, he guesses.

He oughta take it easy.

But that's the problem--] I know you don't care for your own health. It's difficult for you to care even about your own life. But I would have liked to think you'd take your title more seriously by now, that you wouldn't have been so influenced by his arrogance. [Pot. Kettle. Neji's stomach aches with... something. How disgusting and he can't say he's not, currently, disgusted by her. There's a rush of panic at the very thought that Neji swallows down.

What a mess.] Your fate is greater than you think you are, Yuri-sama. You can't throw it away because Hakkai refuses to help himself. He doesn't care about what he does so long as you continue to look at him with pity and forgiveness and you won't have to worry about seeing him die because he'll kill you first.

[onerous]

[She turns in surprise, the water sloshing at the movement, sounding too loud in the stunned silence that follows.

'Do you want to leave?' The question is on the tip of her tongue, but again it's fear that holds her back. She doesn't want to hear his answer, not when she could feel the disgust and the panic that follows.

Again she wishes she could actually cry instead of just looking like she's about to, because a purging cry would feel much better than this bottling it up she seems to only be capable of doing.] My fate. [Hakkai doesn't care? Her fingers twitch, remembering the look on his face and the way he'd gripped her hand. Neji is wrong, but there's no way Yuri can say that without him getting more angry and there's no way to force him to understand that, not when it doesn't look like it.

If she only had Neji's view of things, she wouldn't believe her either.

Instead she closes her eyes and turns away again, not knowing how to address it.] You've completely lost all trust in me, huh... I guess I don't blame you. [She stares at the water a moment and imagines just sinking under it and not resurfacing for a while. Or maybe ever. Fuck.

A deep breath, a slow exhale.]

He won't. I trust in him, and I trust in myself, enough to know it won't happen. I'm sorry you can't see it that way too, but I can't expect you to. I wouldn't either.

I... know of how to get rid of this blight, but it requires his cooperation too. It isn't so bad right now that it'll kill either of us [At least, she's pretty sure it won't] but I won't let it spread much further either. [That at least she can say with conviction. It is reaching a point she's going to have to force Hakkai's hand on this, she thinks.

(Too bad Chikusa's the one who's going to end up doing it for her)

Yuri bows her head and shakes it slowly.] Because...You're right. [And he is. She can't sacrifice herself and her followers who depend on her for one person, but there has to be a way to save both.] I've become rather pathetic and disgraceful, huh...? [A humorless 'ha,' but she straightens a little.] Please have a little more faith in me to make this right, to try one more time before I give up.

...I'm sorry, Neji. I promised you once I would be a god you wouldn't be ashamed to say you served, but I haven't lived up to that at all. I'll do better.

[tuishou]

[If he pushes her in, would she even fight to resurface? Neji hates to think the deviation is the only time their minds have aligned since-- a while ago. But Yuri's staring at the open water and Neji can't think it's because she's contemplating anything else. The cold hand grips his heart again. He realizes, belatedly, how sore his shoulders and neck feel.

All that barking up a tree and

nothing. Of course it was infuriating. This was all beginning to feel like some elaborate tease, a taunt. What, exactly, wasn't he understanding? He squares his jaw again, his teeth clink again at the tiny, forceful movement. Dread mixes with fear mixes with hopelessness-- he didn't trust her. No.] You're an idiot.

[Is it not supposed to hurt? There's another silence and do they think he doesn't appreciate the relative peace of it- do they really think he's that dense, oblivious?

Does he really think they'll spare a minute to force their actions to line up with those beautiful, loyal words they've created for each other? No, maybe not anymore.] You don't need to give up [there was enough of that going around] you need to start fighting. [For herself, not by herself. He doubts the selflessly selfish will hear it right. He doubts it will help anything at all. But at least he won't run, and that has got to count for something.

There is no follow up. There won't be one. She will do better. She promises. Hakkai will try. (And he's supposed to think their efforts are equal?) He'll kill Hakkai, he thinks. Looking at Yuri with frustration ebbing away into numbness, it's the first certain thought he's had in-- however long. She was right. He won't trust her.

Is it really that bad? (He asks, meanwhile the obvious stares him in the face.) There is no sigh of defeat, no slump of his shoulders, nothing laced in his words but fact.] There was a messenger here earlier. They want to fit you into a dress. It's what they told me last time they came.

[onerous]

[She has no right to feel disappointed, but she feels the stab of it in her heart anyhow. She has to believe that things will get better, that their relationship will be prepared somehow.

He doesn't trust her, and she doesn't blame him for it, but it still hurts. Hopefully time and action will see her regaining it, once he sees... What? Sees it working out for the better, or...something?

God.]

A dress?

[Is that how it's going to be now? Pretending nothing's happened now, just moving on? Ironic how that's all she'd wanted before, and now that she has it it makes her uneasy. Maybe because she knows how unreal it all is.

She walks into the water more now, letting it up to mid-stomach before she begins to remove her clothing. Most of the blight is hidden under her hair anyhow, but she can wipe away anything that's cropped up between Neji and Hakkai's confrontation.]

Why... Oh. [She remembers the date suddenly and hums thoughtfully.] Tanabata. The day Orihime and Hikoboshi are finally able to reunite for the day. It's a romantic sort of holiday, I suppose... I hope it doesn't rain. [She's quiet a moment, rubbing some of the purified water onto her skin. It makes her feel better still, at least.] Maybe you should look for someone special too, Neji.

[tuishou]

[She falls for the back-and-forth with some discomfort, Neji notes. He hates feeling somewhat satisfied with it. The whiplash of topics is absurd and yet... happening. As she wades deeper into the pool he idly recalls the last time they'd converged here with some sort of purpose. --she'd fallen like a rock to the pool's bottom after he had sustained her over the water. Something new brings him back to the present.

His eyes widen and in the same instant that he realizes what she's doing he wonders if he should turn away. There's something horridly calm about the previous rage now, the weight inside him shifting and stifling. --but Yuri is comfortable. He supposes. He swallows down-- whatever, the mild warmth, the mild anticipation of something. He forces his attention back to... oh. He snorts his derision for her suggestion.] I don't even know who Orihime and Hikoboshi are. [He knows so little of this world, the dates, the festivals... names, countries, technologies. Expectations, he supposes.

'Someone special'. As if he didn't have Yuri and her being and her movements etched into very young memory. He didn't even need the full sight, you know. He could find her sore spots only by how she seems to lament moving... well, whatever places Neji figures ought to hurt.] 'Tanabata'. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not one for romance, Yuri-sama.

[He thinks to mention the birds--

but no. They can stay as 'his' for now.] Do you need help? [No malice or intent of... no, none of that.]

[onerous]

[Neji's presence isn't something she thinks much of, but not in a bad way. She knows he's there, of course, but it doesn't bother her to let him see her; despite all the misgivings, she's comfortable with him in this situation. Far more than she would be with Hakkai, at least, as is that a victory for Neji or another lose?]

They're lovers who share a rather tragic romance. [He didn't ask, but Yuri will tell a summary of the story anyhow, especially since she's sure they're going to end up meeting the deities in question at some point or another, maybe.] Orihime used to weave a beautiful cloth for her father, but it left her without a social life. Her father took pity on her and introduced her to Hikoboshi. The two fell so in love that they ended up neglecting their duties and her father grew angry and tore them apart. He put up a barrier-- the Milky Way-- to keep them from seeing each other.

Orihime cried so much that her father agreed to let them see each other once a year as long as she kept weaving. The first time they were to meet again, she couldn't make it across the river and the birds agreed to use their wings as a bridge. They say if it rains, the birds can't come so they have to wait another year to see each other.

[Tragically beautiful, or something. And at least he's calling her 'Yuri-sama' and not 'Ixtab-sama' so she'll take it as a good sign. Or a decent one, at least. She half-turns to look at him, wondering if he's asking because he actually wants to help or because he simply feels obligated to. Would it be better to reject the offer and let him go do--whatever it is he wants to do right now, or would he simply take it as another slight? Would asking for help make him resent her more for forcing him to go through with it?

She hates, right now, that she can't really tell. Again, it's like being back to when they first met and every step was a potential landmine.]

Please. Grab the cloth for me? [It's easier to scrub it off that way, and it leaves things open. It gives him something to do without having to be forced into actually washing some of it off of her if he was uncomfortable helping her that way, unless he, you know, wanted to.]

[tuishou]

That's it? [With a sour taste in his mouth and a noise of chagrin, Neji's once again slapped by the reality, he guesses, that he has no understanding of... anything, at the moment.

Lazy children were supposed to be tragic?

Now he also has an answer to a question he hadn't wanted to ask. The birds would all likely leave after the deed and then what would he have to look forward to? Mutual destruction. A tragedy-in-waiting. Anyway, he turns to search for and fetch the cloth and it's like the seconds are going by with downtrodden leisure because it certainly aren't his movements which are sluggish-- but everything definitely feels like it is. Sounds seem muted... but it's a quiet home restored to its normalcy, isn't it? Neji tries not to think of what brand of moronic normalcy he's now gone and began to enable. He re-ties his ponytail up high. Wash cloth in hand, and without much thought, he wades into the pool. The water feels frighteningly cold and Neji has no doubts that, this time, it is just him. (It's summer, for fuck's sake.) He dips the thing into the water once he's gone and reached Yuri and he keeps his sights on it instead of on the drops of water rolling down her body. He is, still, y'know-- repulsed by her. At this proximity, Neji tells himself it must be the blight and instinct simply telling him to back away.

So he reaches a hand to the back of her neck whether there's protest or not. (After all, 'what's the worst that can happen' seems to be a frame of mind Yuri relishes.) He parts the hair to one side and brings the now-wet cloth to where the purple sins congregate. And he simply. Presses. It's not meant to be hard pressure. Neji Hyuuga does, however, have a heavy hand and this was supposed to have a meaning

he is not nonexistent. Not to her. He shouldn't be.]