Bonjour besties je suis revenu
Shuu and Bunny are back in this chapter so le français has returned besties and no I will not be providing translations for all of you uncultured swine reading this.
No, seriously. I'm sorry, but adding translations hurts my soul, and you know what? I want you all to be confused. Suffer. This is polyglot manspreading, get used to it feckers.
Also there is gore in this chapter (try and act surprised pls). It's not on the level of being consumed by household pets, there's just blood and like…jelly.
Shuu also bullies Lyra pretty heavily, which isn't unusual, but it gets a bit ed-related. I can't tag it bc it's just one line, but it happens pretty soon after Lyra appears, so just a heads up for anyone who might be sensitive to that kinda stuff.
Also, tw for Lyra being unnecessarily mean to Bunny.
Relax and unwind. Enjoy the chapter.
--
Bunny is shivering.
They don't seem to be cold, they're just shivering; teeth clacking together with each gyration of their body, creating a soft melody of chatter. Almost like a cicada.
Tsukiyama tends to them softly, washing the blood from their body, brushing it from their hair.
The amount of blood on Bunny seems to have doubled or tripled or quadrupled. Tsukiyama has to keep draining and refilling the bathtub to ensure the water is water, not blood with a bit of water.
He manages to clean most of Bunny's head wounds, but Bunny doesn't stop bleeding. Blood pumps out at an extraordinary rate, paired with a pink gel that congeals the bloody bath water, forming a thick pellet of sludge in the bath.
Head injuries bleed far too much, don't they? Tsukiyama is thinking to himself.
So much blood, so much drama, and for what? It's quite admirable. It's almost as if the inside of the head has decided that since it gets so little time exposed, it will make sure everyone knows when it is exposed. There's definitely a more sciency explanation of that, but I don't really care. I think head flesh is just dramatic, and why shouldn't it be?
Bunny doesn't seem to notice their open head or strange gel, they just stare at nothing with wide eyes, blinking the blood out of them occasionally. They gnaw on their lips and hug their knees into their chest.
"Je ne voulais pas lui faire de mal," Bunny says, shaking. They haven't spoken a word of Japanese since leaving their bedroom.
"Oh, Bunny," Tsukiyama smiles at them, "Ce n'est pas grave si vous l'avez fait."
"Non, non, non! Je ne voulais pas lui faire de mal! je ne voulais pas lui faire de mal!"
"Vous dites cela, mais ce n'est pas grave si vous l'avez fait. Vraiment. Vous n'avez pas d'ennuis."
"Je ne voulais pas lui faire de mal!"
"OK, Bunny. Si c'est ce que vous dites," Tsukiyama sighs, stroking their hair, "Tsk! Vous êtes contrarié maintenant. Ce n'est pas bien."
Bunny bites their bottom lip, chin resting on their knees as blood continues to dribble down their face.
"Oh, mon dieu, comment dramatique. Cela n'arrêtera pas de saigner, n'est-ce pas?"
Bunny mumbles something, letting Tsukiyama wipe the blood and wash their hair.
"Ou-est mon papa?" Bunny asks, as he brushes their hair.
"Hm? Oh. T'inquiète pas. Il est en bas."
"Et mon autre père?"
"Errr…Il est parti, n'est-ce pas?"
"Non. Il est ici, bien-sûr!"
"Non, mon chéri, il n'est ici pas."
"Il est, il est," Bunny shakes their head, frowning.
Tsukiyama sighs. He's about to tell Bunny more when he notices Lyra hovering in the doorway.
Urgh, not Lyra! Hasn't Bunny suffered enough tonight? He wonders.
"What do you want?" He snaps.
"Um," Lyra looks to the floor, trembling, "Um, Pasha told me to uh…Um."
"Spit it out already!"
"Um. Ok…He told me to, uh, come and uh, help you…Um…Look after Bunny."
"As if," Tsukiyama scoffs, "You're about as useful as a chocolate teapot in here."
"But he said—"
"I don't care. You're useless here, why don't you just go do something you can do? Vomiting, maybe, you seem quite good at that."
Lyra looks down, "…I-I—"
Bunny gasps, "C'est tellement méchant! Pauvre Lyra!"
"Oh, Bunny," Tsukiyama looks at Bunny, his voice softening, "Je plaisantais juste!"
"I brought towels," Lyra says, "And clothes."
Tsukiyama stares at her, "Well? Give them here then."
Lyra hesitates, approaching. Her eyes avoid Bunny, as if looking at them will cause her to turn to stone.
Tsukiyama snatches everything from Lyra, "Urgh!" He cries, "These aren't heated, Lyra!"
"…N-No, they're not."
"Do you want Bunny to freeze to death? Good lord!"
It wouldn't be the worst thing.
"Well…What do you want me to do?" Lyra asks, "I don't think there are any heated—"
"I don't know, Lyra, maybe try heating them?"
"…Uh. How?"
"Je suis fatigué," Bunny says, suddenly.
Tsukiyama goes all gooey again, "Je sais, ma chérie, je sais."
He looks back to Lyra, "Hurry up! Bunny's exhausted!"
"But I don't know—"
"God, you're so useless! I'll just have to use these cold, regular towels then."
"…Yeah."
"Oh, these are so stiff. They'll probably scrape most of Little Bunny's skin off," Tsukiyama sighs, "As if they haven't been through enough pain today."
"…" Lyra stares at him, watching as he makes a fuss of the towels. Bunny doesn't seem to care - they're eating their hair and staring at nothing.
Lyra stays in the bathroom. As much as she hates being in here, it's better than out there. Whenever she considers leaving, she finds herself reminded of the bloodbath in the hall, deciding to stay in the bathroom.
There's an awkward air now that she's here, with Bunny and Tsukiyama both talking in French. She wonders what they're saying about her.
The awkwardness only gets worse when Bunny asks Lyra a question - in French.
"Um," Lyra says, "Sorry, I—" She glances at Tsukiyama, "I don't speak French."
"You didn't have to tell me that," Tsukiyama scoffs, looking her up and down, "Bunny. Comme c'est malheureux. Lyra ne parle pas français."
"Non? Oh…OK," Bunny looks a bit deflated.
Tsukiyama shakes his head, "Now Bunny's upset again," He sighs, "Oh, well, I suppose not everyone has the capacity to be as cultured as us."
"I-I speak three languages, actually," Lyra says, digging her nails into her palms, "I speak English, and Gaelic also, actually."
"Ok, and? Do you want a gold star?" He smirks, "Or perhaps a lollipop?"
"I-I—No…Okay, well…How many languages do you speak, Tsukiyama?"
"Cinq."
"Five?"
"Yes, well done!" He smiles, though not in a warm or friendly way, "That's what that means! Gold star for Lyra! I'm a polyglot, Lyra, do you know what that word means? It's quite a long word, isn't it? Would you like me to write it down for you?"
"No, I know what it means. What about Bunny? How many can Bunny speak?"
"More than you."
"That's not what I—"
"Bunny," Tsukiyama sighs, "Combien de langues avez-vous?"
"Huh?" Bunny is still eating their hair, "Langues?"
"Oui," He looks to Lyra, "You shouldn't make me ask them questions like this when they're so upset, you know."
"Isn't it good a thing to distract them?"
"…Well, I—"
"Je pense que…" Bunny says, "Je pense que je parle huit, peut-être neuf."
"Neuf? Vraiment?"
Bunny nods.
"Well…C'est très impressionnant! Tu es très intelligente!"
"Oui. Je suis un scientifique."
"Did you catch that Lyra? Neuf. That's a lot more than you."
"…Is it more than you?"
"Oh, you don't know what it means—Hah! No gold star for you, Lyra."
"…"
"It's nine, dear. Write it down."
"Nine? But how do they—"
"They're very intelligent, unlike some people."
"…Aren't you very intelligent, Mr Tsukiyama? Why don't you speak nine languages?"
"I could learn more if I wanted to."
"Why don't you want to?"
"Because I—Oh, shut up, Lyra. You're distracting me."
"Hey, uh…Bunny. Um, how do you speak so many—"
"Don't address them! You fool! Don't do that!"
"I was just—"
"I'll ask them things," He says, turning to Bunny, "Can't you see I'm getting them out of the bath right now? Give me a towel!"
Lyra complies, waiting to hear the answer to the question. She doesn't really care, but this conversation is a distraction from everything outside.
Tsukiyama wraps Bunny in a towel, so only their head is visible. Lyra feels an uncomfortable quivering - Bunny looks very babyish, yet those openings in their head are still there. She has to look away.
Tsukiyama finally asks Bunny, "Comment parlez-vous autant de langues?"
"Mes pères, et je suis gallois."
"Tes pères? Bien-sûr."
"Et beaucoup de yoga."
"Bien-sûr," Tsukiyama smiles, looking back to Lyra, "Did you catch that? Looking at you, I can take a gander."
"Um. Something about yoga, maybe."
"Yes. They say it's from their fathers, and they're Welsh."
"Huh? Oh, that makes sense…I think a lot of Welsh people are bilingual, or…they used to be."
"I know that, and Bunny's fathers are Russian and…I don't know what the other one was. Greek-Welsh, I think."
"That's only four though."
"Five. Yoga uses sanskrit."
"Still four left."
"True. Bunny?"
The conversation is oddly fun, considering how awful it would usually be. It's a distraction. That's all Lyra needs right now - a distraction. She can go home soon. If she keeps talking about other things and ignores the bloodbath, she will get to go home soon.
Because of this, Lyra finds herself clinging to Tsukiyama slightly, much to their disgust.
"I'm trying to get Bunny dressed, stop watching," He says, multiple times. When he's dressing Bunny's head wounds, he says, "Stop staring, Lyra. You're throwing me off."
"Should you be doing that?" Lyra isn't staring. Looking at Bunny's openings would cause her to be sick again - a reminder of what's outside the bathroom.
"I don't see why I shouldn't. It's not like it's hard."
"But Pasha's a nurse—"
"He said I could."
Lyra doubts that, but the quicker Bunny's head is covered up the better. Tsukiyama is maybe too quick, but Lyra doesn't really care.
When Tsukiyama is done, he says, "Lyra. I'm taking Bunny to their bedroom now. Go and check to see how slippery the hall is."
"…But—There's blood out there—"
"Exactly."
He practically shoves Lyra out into the hall. She lets out a cry, gasping, her heart pounding as she glances at the hall - nothing.
"It's…clear," She says, feeling great relief, "No blood."
This must mean I can go home soon. Not much longer. Soon. Home.
Lyra follows Tsukiyama into Bunny's bedroom, trying not to become dizzied by the pinkness of the room.
The room too has been cleared of blood. Pasha is there, laying Bunny's bed for them.
"Oh, Bunny, sweetheart," He smiles, "Are you alright? How are they?"
"They're fine. I took very good care of them," Tsukiyama beams, "They're only speaking French at the moment though."
Pasha nods, "That's fine. They—," He trails off, "Tsukiyama…"
"Yes?"
"…Why is Bunny's head bandaged?"
"Because it needed bandaging."
"And what did I tell you not to do?"
"What? You can't expect me to leave them—"
"I gave you one job, Tsukiyama. I specifically said not to bandage their head!"
"What was I meant to do? Besides, it's not like I did a bad job."
"Thankfully, no, you didn't," Pasha says, looking at Bunny with sad eyes.
Bunny has gone quiet since entering their bedroom. They're almost glued to Tsukiyama - a duckling with its mother.
"Bunny likes it," Tsukiyama says.
"I don't—" Pasha sighs, "Just…I need to finish up some things downstairs," Pasha glances at Lyra, "Lyra, are you ok?"
"Can I go home now?" Lyra asks.
"Home? Uh—"
"I want to go home."
"…Wait until everything's sorted, then I'll send you home."
"Why?"
"Just so—" Pasha trails off, as Imakita calls out for him. He smiles at Lyra, "It won't be long now. I promise."
"I want to go home."
"I know. I just need you to do one thing for me, ok?"
"What?"
He pauses, "Imakita needs Tsukiyama for something downstairs."
"What?"
"We just need some extra help with cleaning downstairs. It'll be five minutes—"
"Absolutely not. Lyra can do that."
"I can't—I won't! I—"
"Lyra can't. It's five minutes, Tsukiyama. You could time it. It's just the last bit of cleaning…And help bathing the animals—"
"I will do no such thing! Bunny needs me. Not Lyra. Me."
"Believe me, I get that, but Lyra can't do it. So could you please—"
"No."
"Tsukiyama, please—"
"They're not my animals, and Lyra hasn't done anything tonight at all! I've been up here, slaving away, taking care of Bunny, and Lyra's just been vomiting and crying the whole time. Why should I—"
"I know, but if Lyra does it and throws up everywhere, then—"
"There are three of you downstairs. You don't need me, surely."
"It'll be a lot quicker if you're there, especially with the animals."
"I'm not doing that. You can't make me."
"No, I can't…But Imakita will."
"She will do nothing of the sort."
"I wouldn't test that."
Tsukiyama does test that, because of course he does. When Imakita inevitably comes up to yell at everyone, she drags Tsukiyama quite literally - kicking and screaming.
Or rather, kicking, screaming, biting and threatening to sue.
Lyra can't help but think the whole thing was quite unnecessary. It's only upsetting Bunny, who is crying again, mumbling something about Tsukiyama.
But who cares about Bunny, anyway? Not me. I don't care. I don't.
Lyra doesn't care. She absolutely doesn't care that Bunny is upset because of Tsukiyama. Lyra doesn't feel for Bunny anymore. She feels sorry for herself, that's all.
Now that Tsukiyama's gone, Lyra can't create distractions. She's forced into being present.
It's just her, Bunny, and the increasingly fantastical idea of going home.
--
I kinda don't like this one but whatevah!
We're on the homestretch of murderville lads. Soon we'll into my favourite subjects - romantic cannibalism, violent meditation, philosophy, jackalopes and clubbing. Stick with me bros I promise we are going on a spiritual journey.
In regards to what I said last time in social media, turns out I just needed to realise some really hard truths. It was really hard to accept them, and I'm still struggling. That's kinda why this took so long to come out, I've just had a really hard few weeks, but I'm coping with it, and I'm glad I came to realise those things! I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself a bit, and I'm pretty hopeful for my future again!
So yeah. I'm not doing so hot, but I know I'm gonna be okay, and hopefully better than I was before!
I know I've been a total mess recently, but thanks to everyone who's been so supportive and kind! Y'all are so sweet!
So. Um. Yeah! That's abt all I have to say for today!
I do have a new thing out. It's not a fic, it's basically an OC book. All the info about all of my OCs will be there. There are only two entries atm, but I'll add more! It's only on Wattpad, AO3 & Tumblr, so I'm sorry of you use , I just can't risk it due to TOS.
I have also changed my Instagram & Tumblr username to @ghostalope!
So. That's it. Fr this time. I hope you all have a wonderful day, please stay safe, remember to eat ur water, drink ur veggies, and forfeit all physical possession to the holy wolpertinger down below.
I'm out.