2023-08-27: Wake Up
- Log: 2023-08-27: Wake Up
- Cast: Yuta Hibiki
- Where: Tsutsujidai: Junk Shop Aya
- Date: U.C. 0097 08 27
- Summary: Yuta Hibiki, finally, wakes up.
It's been a full day since Gridman left. Yuta has continued to sleep. Outside, the sky is overcast.
Settled on Aya's couch, beneath a blanket printed with snowflakes, Yuta Hibiki dreams. Shining silver armor and trusted comrades. It's only a dream, right? This hero of dreams... It didn't really happen to him, right?
After all, Yuta Hibiki is a normal guy. There's nothing remarkable about him. He never could've survived this sort of adventurous life. And besides that, nobody would ever ask it of him. A real hero should be someone who chases the Light. It could only have been a dream.
But dreams are things you wake up from.
All at once, consciousness returns. Blue eyes open. They blink, once. "W--where..?" Yuta sits up, the blanket falling to his lap. He looks around, blearily. "Rikka's shop?"
Yuta experiences a moment of groggy peace, and then everything hits him.
It was all real.
Pitching forward, Yuta grasps the sides of his head. It was all real. It was all real. The memories strain against his awareness until he feels his head will crack apart. It's too much to take in all. Yuta chokes, suddenly unable to breathe. Three things echo loudly against the sea of memory overwhelming him.
Yuta Hibiki played host to Gridman for nearly two years.
Yuta Hibiki was not asked if he wished to serve as Gridman's host.
And, worst of all, as he takes in these memories--
Yuta Hibiki was not missed.
"I -- I've got to go." Yuta stutters, to whoever is in the room with him.
Stumbling to his feet, the young man makes his way to the door. As he wrenches it open, Yuta takes a moment to gape at the sight before him.
Snow. It's snowing in Tsutsujidai. It never /snows/ in Tsutsujidai, it's always sunny! It's always summer! ...but those memories aren't real. It's like getting punched in the gut, again. One more loud realization drumming against his psyche.
Yuta Hibiki was never real.
Tears blurring his vision, Yuta pushes away from the door frame. He doesn't know what to do. But his mind is too loud, and if he doesn't /move/, he's going to break. Without purpose, he runs out into the street and toward the city.