All That Bloodshed

Chapter 8: broken and bluepart

Notes:

WARNING* sexual assault scene in this chapter. Skip the italics bit if you don't want to read that.

Before he even really knew it, enough time had passed that medical staff suggested that the 25 survivors that were awake and on the mend meet up for some sort of group therapy. Ryouhei wasn't really paying all that much attention. He just knew that he had to go — it would be a chance to see everyone again and he couldn't lose this. He couldn't miss the chance to have all his people back with him.

Hajime thought it was a bad idea, that because he'd reacted so poorly last time he was in a group setting that it'd only set him further back. Ryouhei reminded him that he'd always done better when he saw his friends than people he didn't know. Eventually, it was apparently their father's influence that got his brother to lay off. He knew that his father was worried too, but so far, he was making good on his promise to actually support Ryouhei now.

He didn't know how to feel about it, but for now, he was just grateful.

It was to be held in some larger group room that the hospital kept for purposes like this. Ryouhei was surprised that it seemed to be a more common occurrence than he expected. The number of survivors was devastatingly small, but that was just from Shibuya Crossing. Reportedly, other affected areas had been sent to different hospitals. These were the 25 patients whose hearts had stopped.

These were the 25 Borderland survivors.

Ryouhei was... antsy. He itched to go, to see everyone. And yet he was also unspeakably anxious. He'd seen them individually — Chishiya, Usagi, Kuina, Ann, even Heiya — but he still hadn't seen Aguni or any of the other survivors. He had no idea who made up the other 17 survivors. Had he seen any of them? Somehow, had he managed to not run into them at any of the games he played in?

He dreaded seeing Niragi.

Hospital staff said that all 25 survivors would be there. That even the more injured ones like Aguni, Ann, and Niragi would make it. Ryouhei didn't know how he'd react upon seeing it for the first time since waking up back in the real world.

He worried he would freak out again.

Still, he couldn't help but anxiously await seeing Chishiya.

He still wasn't sure that the conversation he'd overheard had actually happened. His father hadn't mentioned it, and it wasn't like he'd seen Chishiya since either. It could have all been a bizarre dream and he'd never be able to know. It burned a little. He didn't want to think about it anymore though. He had more than enough to worry about.

Like if he'd be able to speak or not.

He'd been fidgety all morning when a nurse came to get him. She was one he'd seen before, but not one he saw often enough to have ever learned her name. She was brisk, but she didn't coddle him as she led him down the hallways to the room this supposed group therapy was supposed to be held in.

He made it to the room under his own power, his steps more sure than he was expecting. He was weaker than he'd like, but he knew from experience that that would fade with time. He was worse off than when he'd begun the games in the Borderlands, but he had no doubt that he could work his way toward a state that he could feel safe with.

He was tired when he arrived at the room. Thankfully, he was one of the first to arrive, and he quickly made his way to the corner of the far side of the room. There was a loose circle of chairs, and he made an effort to keep his sights on the door. He was supposed to be safe but... if he could get the seat with the best shot to the outside as well as the most defensible well then... He would certainly take that option.