The Black Dirge [Sci-fi]

[yamikuronue]

'Exactly' Shinigami thinks to herself, with a slight smirk.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Kimiko showers quietly, wincing in silence as the hot water reminds her body of all the pain she has endured. All those scars, old and new, and the soreness of her muscles, all of it reminded her that she was very much alive. She stared at her arm as the ink was washed away... hopefully she had committed their names to memory, otherwise it would be incredibly awkward talking to them anymore. The red scar on her belly pulsated, hurting the most, but that pain was nothing new to her...

[accalia]

Zee finishes showering relatively quickly and dresses in yet another skin tight ships suit.  She then sits on on one drier parts of the benches to wait for Kimiko to finish showering.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

The exhausted girl shows no signs of finishing as of yet, but does seem to still be active, quietly scrubbing away at her skin. Scrubbing, scrubbing, and scrubbing some more. She felt so... dirty, still, and just kept scrubbing. It was bothering her, like there was dirt underneath her skin. Her father's words surfaced in her mind, 'you're always sick because you're so filthy," and she kept scrubbing, and scrubbing... it hurt, and she was shaking, but she kept scrubbing until she was quietly sobbing. She sunk to the floor, but still kept scrubbing. 'I'm filth,' she thought, her arm bleeding from the skin having been scrubbed away. Somewhere else in her mind, she prayed that someone would help her...

Trauma is hard to recover from, regardless of how long it's been. She thought she would be okay... but now she knew why she wasn't usually allowed to bathe alone... she had completely forgotten...

[Rednaxela]

Kenji was a sort who took somewhat longer showers though, he knew others weren't used to showers so long. He also would have expected Kimiko to have followed Zee out of here... and didn't hear a sound of any slipping and falling but... just in case...

From his shower, Kenji looks toward the curtain and calls out, "You okay there Kimiko?"

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

She wanted to answer with a no, but her throat was so tight that she couldn't. She was so scared that her damaged self would be found out, but at the same time, she wanted help so badly. She curled up in the shower, shivering despite the hot water, and continued to quietly sob. She hurt all over. Her scars. Her arm, with the blood welling to the surface and washing away. And especially her mind. She felt paralyzed...

[accalia]

Zee looks up when there's no reply. That's not right.

"Kimiko? Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

[Rednaxela]

Kenji turns off the water to his shower, was just about done anyway, and walks closer to the curtain, waiting to hear if Zee's call gets any response. This seems... concerning.

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Again, silence. She curls up tighter, as though trying to hide, and bites her knee, trying to keep quiet. 'Kimiko, where are you hiding,' an angry voice echoed in her mind, a black silhouette getting closer, an empty beer bottle in its grasp. She shut her eyes tightly, hugging her legs painfully, her mind racing in panic.

[accalia]

Zee frowns and makes some hand gestures indicating that she wants Shinigami and Kenji to leave. The fewer people that are around the better for this.

"Kimiko? Could you say my name please? Just my name." Zee's tone is low and neutral, even as she is shooing the others out of the room.

[Rednaxela]

Kenji sighs quietly and glances to Zee with a look of concern on their face, before nodding and exiting as Zee indicated. Hm... concerning indeed...

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

Aside from the sound of the falling water, no sound comes from behind the curtains. There's no response from Kimiko. Something is definitely wrong.

[accalia]

Zee frowns and puts a hand on the curtain separating her and Kimiko.

"Kimiko, I'm going to come in. Is that okay?"

[Hitoshirenu Shourai]

The poor girl was doing so well earlier... but now she's silent for some unknown reason. Was she alright? Did she pass out or something? Maybe all that stress finally caught up with her. Wait... what's that metallic smell? It's very familiar. Is it... blood?

Kimiko bites down harder on her leg, now a steady trickle of blood coming from her knee. She wants to call out for help, but instead she quietly whimpers.

[accalia]

Zee noticed the blood smell, and now with that whimper.... she's going into the breach on this.

Zee opens the curtain, and moves inside the cubicle, reaching down to touch the tightly curled form of Kimiko.

"..." Zee opens her mouth to speak, but can't decide what to say so closes her mouth once more.