Yamada, Mamoru (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thestudyof) wrote2022-02-22 07:56 pm
thestudyof) wrote2022-02-22 07:56 pm
[Story/Post]
Mamoru hated doctors, honestly.
Well, it was less of a “hate” and more a dislike of the process of going to see one— the anxiety that was made palatable from the unknown of a situation, or perhaps from knowing that something is wrong, and need a “professional” to confirm it.
Of course, he actively knew he had other options when it came to this. Labrys made that fairly clear to him before, not that he needed the reminder. For his case, just seeing Failnaught and letting him take a look would give him all the answers he needed.
But he didn’t want to. More and more, Mamoru felt aggravated by Failnaught, despite having never met him personally. Maybe it was the obvious projecting he was doing about the situation. Maybe it was his avoidance. Maybe it was how Labrys felt obligated to put herself into the middle of things to even get anywhere. Maybe it was the reminder that he was no longer normal, by any case, but the one person who could’ve helped had kept his distance, not even trying to look—
Okay, his thoughts were getting mixed up again. That was something else he had to keep a watch out for. Sometimes, his mind would start to spiral with things he didn’t actually know, and it irritated him more. But this is why he was seeing this doctor.
So he could tell if something was actually causing this, that was physical, or if he was just going crazy.
Which is why he ended up at this clinic in some ritzy area outside of the main city. “Kaikori”, it was called. Apparently owned by some rich woman whose name sounded more familiar than he’d like, himself, and looking almost like a picturesque winter wonderland. If that wonderland had luminous plantlife and crystals around.
Mamoru himself decided to do what he did best as an adult, and ignore the oddities of his surroundings, realizing he had no right to complain or be picky about it, and come in for his scheduled appointment. Which, thankfully, a white-haired individual was already there, waiting for him, pushing up their glasses while wearing a clean lab coat.
“You’re Yamada, correct?” The person wrote something down on a schedule they had out. “I’m Samasu, Souha. I ask that you refer to me with my given name to avoid future confusion.”
Right, there were apparently a lot of people around with that surname… “Fine, Souha-sensei. And yes, I’m Yamada. Yamada, Mamoru. I was recommended to you for my… peculiar issues. I think I went over it briefly, on the phone.”
“Right, but let’s pretend that the one taking the notes wasn’t me, for a moment.” Souha wrote something down, before guiding Mamoru into an examination room. “You have an issue that you can’t explain by normal means, correct?”
Mamoru nodded, and after gathering his thoughts again, he started to speak. “I don’t really know how to put this lightly, but I might be possessed in some way.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m a doctor, not an exorcist.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I’m not looking for an exorcist in this case.” Mamoru sighed, not bringing up that there was already someone jumping to do that, anyway. “No, I want more… confirmation, I guess.” He put a hand to his chest, where he had before felt pain— back when he had summoned that Number that he attempted to reconstruct. He had ignored it then, as he did best, but…
“Some years ago, I was in an incident, where I was taken control by an object. An artifact that I had helped excavate. I caused some trouble with it, but in the aftermath, the artifact had shattered, and I was ‘freed’ from the influence… or so I thought. More and more evidence has mounted that I might not be as ‘freed’ as I thought, and may have amplified abilities I already have, along with causing… other issues.”
Souha’s mouth twitched. “Let’s start with the basics. Can you tell me first what abilities you have, that have been amplified?”
“Psychic Duelist abilities.”
“Oh, that thing with the cards and making them real, right?”
Mamoru seemed amused by the simplistic response, given this doctor’s specialty. “Yes, that. I was always considered to be a somewhat ‘strong’ psychic, but after the incident, the abilities enhanced over time. I got to the point where it started to interfere with my work, with the Real Solid Vision system and AI testing. The AIs themselves ended up… Taking on a realistic life of their own, to the point where those connected to the 12 Dimensions were able to confirm accuracies and connection to memories of my tests.”
Mamoru took a moment to think about what to say next, to try to describe it. “Recently, as well, I was forced to have to use my abilities to trap… an assaulter, in my testing room. I was able to make the Action Field real enough to make it into a closed space.”
Souha didn’t even blink. “I’m guessing it has to do with that event with the oddly colored fire and ‘monsters’ appearing from nowhere, right? I heard about it briefly, and that’s the only recent ‘strange’ event I can think of.”
“Yes, that’s the one. Though I wasn’t outside to see the monsters.” Mamoru hung his head, imagining the trouble likely called by the person who tried to claim his name…
“I don’t think I have to say this, but normal Psychic Duelists can’t usually make things so… realistically solid or manifested, to the point where you can say they’re ‘alive’. I wasn’t able to do it, before the incident, at any rate.”
“Right, which is why you want me to somehow confirm whether or not you’re still… possessed?”
“Well, I don’t want a ‘somehow’. I have a way you can likely confirm one of my horrifying fears.” Mamoru said that lightly, trying to block out the actual fear he does have about the situation.
“The incident I mentioned, where the artifact was shattered. I have reason to believe that central parts of that artifact ended up inside of me, and might be fueling the problem.” He pointed to his chest. “Specifically, here. Near my heart.”
Souha quirked up an eyebrow. “With a situation like that, you’d have probably gotten x-rays already, you know.”
“You’d be surprised at what gets ignored when a potential criminal gets brought in. Especially one that looked mostly unharmed.” Mamoru shrugged a little. “But one of the side-effects of this possession was that my deck was transformed from Ruin/Demise Rituals into Burning Abyss. And I got this card, too.”
He pulled out the blank card he kept in a case to itself. He didn’t like leaving it lying around, anyway, and it felt relevant to the situation, anyway.
Souha leaned in closely to look at the card, but hesitated to touch it. “It seems… off.”
“‘Off’ is the word for it. I was able to reconstruct it using LDS technology. It’s a Numbers card. An over-hundred one.”
Souha stared a moment, before making an “oh” expression, before pulling out a card too. ‘Number 7: Lucky Straight.’ “One of these, then?”
A vague thought formed in the back of Mamoru’s head, something about a jester of whims— but he pushed it out. No disassociating right now, please. “Yes, but I guess the over-hundred ones are meant to be… Special, in a way? To the race that my possessor is from. They’re more like… the other half of their soul, I guess.” He didn’t know why he knew that specifically, but he filed it away to ‘Labrys probably told him at some point.’
“Mmmhm. And for the uninitiated, how is it relevant to you thinking there’s something near your heart?”
“I’ve had pain, there.”
“Pain? Like a heart attack?”
“No, not like a heart attack. Just… a pain, like something was trying to move. That only seemed to happen if I used the card, or spent too long trying to mess around with it.
Since it’s supposed to be the other half of this one’s ‘soul’, I think there’s something physical in me acting as the conduit. The vessel for my possessor.”
Souha grimaced a little, putting down their notes. “Alright. So from what I understand, you’ll want me to confirm whether or not something is inside of you, yes? And… take it out?”
Mamoru shook his head. “No, you don’t need to commit to taking it out. I just… want to know if it’s there or not. So I can make my options on what to do next.
Quite frankly, either it being there or not, one of my most valid options is me going to punch someone, but I’d probably feel better know for certain.”
Souha looked him over, taking stock of his build. “You might want to work out a bit more if you plan on that.”
“Funny, I think my therapist told me the same thing.”
Souha stood up. It was striking just how small they seemed to him, and strangely youthful, but this was the first doctor who was taking him wholly at face-value instead of balking at the idea of ordering a lab test like that on some supernatural whim…
“Well, I can do that for you. Examine you, that is. I can even do the x-rays here, if need be, along with a full physical to make sure there aren’t any other issues we need to be worried about. But…”
“But? There’s a but?”
“Well, honestly, you seem like the type who’d probably not want to hear the truth of the matter. I know that supernatural events like these can be… frightening to confront. Especially with possession, or things that can’t be explained by normal means. I’m half-way assuming you usually got issues when it came to Psychic Duelist powers at all.”
This wasn’t false. It had been ultimately blamed on his psychic abilities for why he got possessed and went on a ‘rampage’ in the first place, after all. And maybe for a good amount of time… he had been spiteful of that fact, and wanted to ignore anything connected to that.
But he couldn’t afford to ignore it now. Not when people with his old face were coming around and causing trouble… He didn’t even fully know if Tarou was going to actually stop in his attempts, he needed to be aware of himself, especially for Akira’s sake. So he didn’t get dragged more into this than necessary, having issues like this popping up.
“I’m ready to know. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t find merit in it. So do what you might need to do, even if it involves cutting me open to check.”
“No need to be dramatic, we can keep this very non-invasive.” Souha went to a filing cabinet and pulled out some papers, handing them over with a pen.
“Fill these out so you can be on record, along with agreement and release forms, before we continue with any procedures.”
Mamoru almost found it soothing that even when dealing with potentially ghosts and other supernatural nonsense… he still had to deal with the realities of legal release forms and contracts.
He just hoped that after all of this, it’d give him some peace of mind.
[Post]
I have metal inside of me.
Well, it was less of a “hate” and more a dislike of the process of going to see one— the anxiety that was made palatable from the unknown of a situation, or perhaps from knowing that something is wrong, and need a “professional” to confirm it.
Of course, he actively knew he had other options when it came to this. Labrys made that fairly clear to him before, not that he needed the reminder. For his case, just seeing Failnaught and letting him take a look would give him all the answers he needed.
But he didn’t want to. More and more, Mamoru felt aggravated by Failnaught, despite having never met him personally. Maybe it was the obvious projecting he was doing about the situation. Maybe it was his avoidance. Maybe it was how Labrys felt obligated to put herself into the middle of things to even get anywhere. Maybe it was the reminder that he was no longer normal, by any case, but the one person who could’ve helped had kept his distance, not even trying to look—
Okay, his thoughts were getting mixed up again. That was something else he had to keep a watch out for. Sometimes, his mind would start to spiral with things he didn’t actually know, and it irritated him more. But this is why he was seeing this doctor.
So he could tell if something was actually causing this, that was physical, or if he was just going crazy.
Which is why he ended up at this clinic in some ritzy area outside of the main city. “Kaikori”, it was called. Apparently owned by some rich woman whose name sounded more familiar than he’d like, himself, and looking almost like a picturesque winter wonderland. If that wonderland had luminous plantlife and crystals around.
Mamoru himself decided to do what he did best as an adult, and ignore the oddities of his surroundings, realizing he had no right to complain or be picky about it, and come in for his scheduled appointment. Which, thankfully, a white-haired individual was already there, waiting for him, pushing up their glasses while wearing a clean lab coat.
“You’re Yamada, correct?” The person wrote something down on a schedule they had out. “I’m Samasu, Souha. I ask that you refer to me with my given name to avoid future confusion.”
Right, there were apparently a lot of people around with that surname… “Fine, Souha-sensei. And yes, I’m Yamada. Yamada, Mamoru. I was recommended to you for my… peculiar issues. I think I went over it briefly, on the phone.”
“Right, but let’s pretend that the one taking the notes wasn’t me, for a moment.” Souha wrote something down, before guiding Mamoru into an examination room. “You have an issue that you can’t explain by normal means, correct?”
Mamoru nodded, and after gathering his thoughts again, he started to speak. “I don’t really know how to put this lightly, but I might be possessed in some way.”
“I’ll have you know, I’m a doctor, not an exorcist.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I’m not looking for an exorcist in this case.” Mamoru sighed, not bringing up that there was already someone jumping to do that, anyway. “No, I want more… confirmation, I guess.” He put a hand to his chest, where he had before felt pain— back when he had summoned that Number that he attempted to reconstruct. He had ignored it then, as he did best, but…
“Some years ago, I was in an incident, where I was taken control by an object. An artifact that I had helped excavate. I caused some trouble with it, but in the aftermath, the artifact had shattered, and I was ‘freed’ from the influence… or so I thought. More and more evidence has mounted that I might not be as ‘freed’ as I thought, and may have amplified abilities I already have, along with causing… other issues.”
Souha’s mouth twitched. “Let’s start with the basics. Can you tell me first what abilities you have, that have been amplified?”
“Psychic Duelist abilities.”
“Oh, that thing with the cards and making them real, right?”
Mamoru seemed amused by the simplistic response, given this doctor’s specialty. “Yes, that. I was always considered to be a somewhat ‘strong’ psychic, but after the incident, the abilities enhanced over time. I got to the point where it started to interfere with my work, with the Real Solid Vision system and AI testing. The AIs themselves ended up… Taking on a realistic life of their own, to the point where those connected to the 12 Dimensions were able to confirm accuracies and connection to memories of my tests.”
Mamoru took a moment to think about what to say next, to try to describe it. “Recently, as well, I was forced to have to use my abilities to trap… an assaulter, in my testing room. I was able to make the Action Field real enough to make it into a closed space.”
Souha didn’t even blink. “I’m guessing it has to do with that event with the oddly colored fire and ‘monsters’ appearing from nowhere, right? I heard about it briefly, and that’s the only recent ‘strange’ event I can think of.”
“Yes, that’s the one. Though I wasn’t outside to see the monsters.” Mamoru hung his head, imagining the trouble likely called by the person who tried to claim his name…
“I don’t think I have to say this, but normal Psychic Duelists can’t usually make things so… realistically solid or manifested, to the point where you can say they’re ‘alive’. I wasn’t able to do it, before the incident, at any rate.”
“Right, which is why you want me to somehow confirm whether or not you’re still… possessed?”
“Well, I don’t want a ‘somehow’. I have a way you can likely confirm one of my horrifying fears.” Mamoru said that lightly, trying to block out the actual fear he does have about the situation.
“The incident I mentioned, where the artifact was shattered. I have reason to believe that central parts of that artifact ended up inside of me, and might be fueling the problem.” He pointed to his chest. “Specifically, here. Near my heart.”
Souha quirked up an eyebrow. “With a situation like that, you’d have probably gotten x-rays already, you know.”
“You’d be surprised at what gets ignored when a potential criminal gets brought in. Especially one that looked mostly unharmed.” Mamoru shrugged a little. “But one of the side-effects of this possession was that my deck was transformed from Ruin/Demise Rituals into Burning Abyss. And I got this card, too.”
He pulled out the blank card he kept in a case to itself. He didn’t like leaving it lying around, anyway, and it felt relevant to the situation, anyway.
Souha leaned in closely to look at the card, but hesitated to touch it. “It seems… off.”
“‘Off’ is the word for it. I was able to reconstruct it using LDS technology. It’s a Numbers card. An over-hundred one.”
Souha stared a moment, before making an “oh” expression, before pulling out a card too. ‘Number 7: Lucky Straight.’ “One of these, then?”
A vague thought formed in the back of Mamoru’s head, something about a jester of whims— but he pushed it out. No disassociating right now, please. “Yes, but I guess the over-hundred ones are meant to be… Special, in a way? To the race that my possessor is from. They’re more like… the other half of their soul, I guess.” He didn’t know why he knew that specifically, but he filed it away to ‘Labrys probably told him at some point.’
“Mmmhm. And for the uninitiated, how is it relevant to you thinking there’s something near your heart?”
“I’ve had pain, there.”
“Pain? Like a heart attack?”
“No, not like a heart attack. Just… a pain, like something was trying to move. That only seemed to happen if I used the card, or spent too long trying to mess around with it.
Since it’s supposed to be the other half of this one’s ‘soul’, I think there’s something physical in me acting as the conduit. The vessel for my possessor.”
Souha grimaced a little, putting down their notes. “Alright. So from what I understand, you’ll want me to confirm whether or not something is inside of you, yes? And… take it out?”
Mamoru shook his head. “No, you don’t need to commit to taking it out. I just… want to know if it’s there or not. So I can make my options on what to do next.
Quite frankly, either it being there or not, one of my most valid options is me going to punch someone, but I’d probably feel better know for certain.”
Souha looked him over, taking stock of his build. “You might want to work out a bit more if you plan on that.”
“Funny, I think my therapist told me the same thing.”
Souha stood up. It was striking just how small they seemed to him, and strangely youthful, but this was the first doctor who was taking him wholly at face-value instead of balking at the idea of ordering a lab test like that on some supernatural whim…
“Well, I can do that for you. Examine you, that is. I can even do the x-rays here, if need be, along with a full physical to make sure there aren’t any other issues we need to be worried about. But…”
“But? There’s a but?”
“Well, honestly, you seem like the type who’d probably not want to hear the truth of the matter. I know that supernatural events like these can be… frightening to confront. Especially with possession, or things that can’t be explained by normal means. I’m half-way assuming you usually got issues when it came to Psychic Duelist powers at all.”
This wasn’t false. It had been ultimately blamed on his psychic abilities for why he got possessed and went on a ‘rampage’ in the first place, after all. And maybe for a good amount of time… he had been spiteful of that fact, and wanted to ignore anything connected to that.
But he couldn’t afford to ignore it now. Not when people with his old face were coming around and causing trouble… He didn’t even fully know if Tarou was going to actually stop in his attempts, he needed to be aware of himself, especially for Akira’s sake. So he didn’t get dragged more into this than necessary, having issues like this popping up.
“I’m ready to know. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t find merit in it. So do what you might need to do, even if it involves cutting me open to check.”
“No need to be dramatic, we can keep this very non-invasive.” Souha went to a filing cabinet and pulled out some papers, handing them over with a pen.
“Fill these out so you can be on record, along with agreement and release forms, before we continue with any procedures.”
Mamoru almost found it soothing that even when dealing with potentially ghosts and other supernatural nonsense… he still had to deal with the realities of legal release forms and contracts.
He just hoped that after all of this, it’d give him some peace of mind.
[Post]
I have metal inside of me.