Forging Ahead (Osamu Oboro x vampire07)

She sat there in silence as her hand was on her stomach of the scars that were somewhat faded but still there. Though she was taken back by him pulling her into his arms then apologized for him being an ass. With him releasing her she looked up at him when he said he'd protect her by helping her fight these demons but she may not weild him like a true weapon. Speechless by whats happening she looked at him seeing he was serious about this.

"Of course. I'll help you find out more abotu you but please...Give me a name to call you by. I don't want to yell for Guy then every men in the area to look at me." She said with a slight laugh with her smiling at him. "If you like I can train with you to find out what else you can do."
 
When asked about what to call him, he decided that it would be the name he choose for himself, Forge. It fit because he could only remember the steel forge clearly in the infinite void that was his mind, and the fact was he could create weapons from his body.

He smiled in return and said, "Just call me 'Forge'. A fitting name in my opinion, seeing as I can only remember a steel forge, which I find rather odd." He then replied to her about training, "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot"

Just then, his stomach growled. He chuckled nervously, "That food wouldn't happen to still be on the bedside table in the room I was sleeping in, would it?"
 
She heard his stomach growling and smiled with her trying to hide it with her hand. "Um yes it is. Its bit of fruit and chicken. I didn't know what you liked." She said with her standing up but found herself being closer to him as she saw he was inches away from her body. Blushing a crimsion red she darted from him and walked to her dresser. "Its still there" She said in a awkward voice which showed she put herself in a situation that made her uncomfortable.

She pulled her drawer out and grabbed shotrs and a tank top with a sports bra. "Roger, left you some clothes. If they don't fit I can alter them for you." She said with her looking over her shoulder at him. She wasn't going to get undressed in front of him. The last time she was naked it was with Jack. The perv walked in on her and had her sneaker hit in right between his eyes. She and Forge had suffer but she had to be his pillar atleast to find facts about him then she could disappear if she had to, to just get away. Like when she found Forge in the Desert with her returning.
 
Forge saw that Aiko was uncomfortable, so he left. He found the plate of food in his room and, even though the chicken had grown cold, devoured it ravenously. Setting the plate and empty pitcher back on the table, Forge then proceeded to change out of his ragged clothes and into the clothes Roger had left. The dark blue pants fit rather well, baggy but not so much that they would fall down. But the long-sleeved shirt was too tight around the sleeves; his arms felt like they were wearing straitjackets.

Forge then decided that the sleeves were unnecessary, and ripped them off. He looked in the mirror again and noticed something out of the ordinary; a small oddly-shaped mark at the base of neck, right below his jugular. He tried to get a closer look, but it was too small for him to see, and its position on his neck made it awkward to try and get a better look at.

He then walked back to Aiko's room. It was weird; he couldn't remember his own specific memories save for the forge, but his knowledge of social norms hadn't disappeared at all. He stood to one side of the ajar door and knocked on it, "Aiko? Are you decent? There's something I want you to see."
 
When he left she shut her door but it swung open slightly. There she slipped from her clotes and there she stood in her bikini cut panties as she looked at the scars on her belly. She gulped with her running her hand over the markings to remind herself its real and to move on. Smiling weakly as she got dressed in her gym shorts then pulled her tops on when she heard a knock. "Yeah?" She walked to ehr door and pulled it open to see he torn the shirt up to his liking.

"Told you if it didn't fit I can fix it, Forge." She teased him with her standing at her door as her room was destroyed so it would be days for it be fixed. "Is everything ok?"
 
"The shirt fit fine, it was just the sleeves were too tight. I don't know, maybe one of the things I can't remember is I don't like sleeves hehehe." Forge replied jokingly. He then cleared his throat and craned his neck so that the mark on his neck was visible to Aiko "But more to the point, there's this weird mark on my neck. And no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get a clear picture of it."

The weird thing was, the mark, or at least its placement, resonated with Forge. It felt important, but it was a subtle importance, more like a feeling that was nagging the back of his brain, trying to get his attention. Still, with no memories of his past, he had no way of knowing what the mark truly meant.
 
Aiko moved forward and placed her hands on his shoulders as she got a clsoer look at it. "I never seen it before. Maybe a mark of the person who did this to you?" She said to him as she was close enough to have her breasts presing into his chest but her attention was on his neck. "Weird though but I can see it so you're not going nuts." She teased him with her backing away from him. "Not sure where we can find info on that mark. Perhaps with rest you can remember bit more maybe a clue to your orgins."
 
Forge sighed; it didn't hurt to try, but he knew in the back of his head that she wouldn't be able to help him with the mark. This was all so aggravating; Forge felt as if the answers he sought were right in front of him but he was too blind to see it. He scratched his head, ruffling the thick brown unkempt mop on top of his head.

Forge then looked into Aiko's room; it was destroyed beyond recognition. That Kisha must have been pretty strong to do this much damage so easily. The large gaping hole in the side of the house presented a huge security risk. He then asked "So...Where are you gonna sleep tonight? Seeing as your room's become something of a disaster area, I doubt it would be wise to sleep in here tonight."
 
"I can sleep on the couch." She said as she grabbed her blankets and pillows. "The couch is a fold out bed. Thankfully." She said laughing softly. Though she moved by him touching his chest. "Go to sleep. Got a big day tomorrow Forge." She said with her heading down stairs but once she was in the living room she tore the couch apart then pulled the bed out of it. Aiko tossed her pillows on it with her thick blanket. There she nestled up under her blanket. If a Kisha came through her room it'd have to get through Forge first.
 
Forge heard Aiko go downstairs and then proceeded to go to the guest bedroom she had provided for him. He got into bed, but couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. His mind was buzzing with so many questions; he tried telling himself that the answers would come with time, but that calm his mind any.

Eventually, Forge felt sleep creep up on him. His eyes began to close, and he was almost asleep when he heard a raspy voice, "Hehehehe. Is little Forge lost and confused? What a cute name you chose for yourself" Forge jumped out of his bed and faced away from it; his eyes were scanning the entire room. Seeing nothing, he then felt a tap on his shoulder. Forge spun around to see......himself? No, it wasn't him, at least not exactly. This doppelganger had all the same physical features as Forge did, but its skin was a sickly gray shade and covered in the red-lightning bolt shaped marks Forge had seen before. and his eyes were bright red.

Forge then felt something heavy in his left hand; he looked down to see it was something similar to a sledgehammer. Again it felt like the handle was literally attached to his hand. He picked it up; it was fairly heavy, even for Forge. "Who are you?" he demanded, raising the weapon in front of him as if he was getting ready to strike

Forge's double simply laughed , "You really think that's going to hurt me? Haven't you figured it out yet? I'm you" Forge simply stood there with a disbelieving look on his face, "You can't be me." The stranger simply sighed heavily, "Fine, I'm not really you, but I am a part of you." "LIAR!" Forge roared as he swung the hammer. The stranger just sat there as it passed right through him and connected with the bedside lamp, shattering it. Forge's double laughed, then said calmly, "Told you it wouldn't hurt me"

Forge was getting mad, "Tell me, just who or what are you?" "I told you, I'm a part of you. A much darker, more sinister part of you. You have a great power, which I might add comes from my existence" it replied. The stranger then said with a smile, "You know nothing about me, but I know everything about you. Your true name, your past, everything. I can play you like a fiddle and you can't do a damn thing to stop me."

Forge clenched his fists, "I ain't no one's fiddle. You're going to tell me what you know, and you're going to do it now." The stranger then got up off the bed and placed his hands on each side of Forge's head. He then smiled, and screamed as his eyes went bright white. Forge then started screaming with him, as nightmarish images began forming his head, going through his head like a fast-moving river. Images of people getting ripped apart, children being strangled, people screaming as they were tortured, hideous disfigured creatures charging at him while howling.

The stranger then severed the contact, and Forge collapsed onto his back, sweating profusely, his pupils hyper-contracted, and feeling his heart beating a million miles a minute; he honestly thought it was trying to jump out of his chest and run off. Forge's mind was shot; the images kept replaying in his head, causing him to hold his head in apparent agony as his breathing was quick and short. The stranger then stood over Forge and grinned as he looked Forge square in the eye, "You'll find what I want you to know, when I want you to know it. Take care now" And with that Forge's double disappeared, leaving the real Forge to lie on the floor, trying to get the horrifying images out of his head.

(Just so you know, the stranger wasn't actually a physical being. It was a projection of Forge's mind. If Aiko did hear anything, she would hear only Forge himself. Oh and MAJOR CLUE ALERT!!!!!! :p)
 
Aiko was deep in sleep when she heard Forge screaming. Groaning as she sat up then heard him hitting the floor. She jumped out of the bed and rushed upstairs to see him lying on the floor. "FORGE!" She cried out as she came down kneeling beside him with her hand on his chest. There she could feel his heart racing. Unable to think of what to do to slow his heart down she took his right hand an dplaced it over her own.

It was known if you felt someone's heart you own heart will try to beat in rythm. Aiko leaned in with ehr whispering in his ear as she kept his hand over her heart. "Forge, can' you hear me.....You need to relax. You had a nightmare." She tried to calm him down as her right hand moved to brush his hair from his face. "Coem on Forge...Its not real." Little did she know what he saw was actually apart of his past.
 
Forge still laid on the ground, his eyes wide with fear. The images, they felt so real and they were all he could see. The bloodcurdling screams resonated in his ears; it was as if the people and creatures he saw were right next to him. He then felt someone touch his chest and whisper in his ear; it was a soothing voice, one that was so familiar. His right hand then felt a heartbeat, one that was much calmer. Slowly the images began to fade until he saw only Aiko's face over him.

His breathing and heart rate slowly came back down; except now he was breathing deeply and heavily. His senses came back to him slowly. His body was drenched in sweat, and his eyes still wide open, looking all over the room to find the stranger. "What the hell.........was that? Some......kind of...........vision?" he said between exasperated breaths as he turned his head back and forth, looking for his double.

(Sorry about taking so long to respond. Had to help my stepdad do some repairs and install a new dishwasher in one the tenant's apartments.)
 
Aiko sat there as she lured him back from his dream state back to reality. Once he calmed down she smiled at him though the smile faded with him looking around in fear. "Forge, are you sure it wasn't a nightmare?" She said with her struggling to help him to his bed but she ended up falling next to him in his bed. "I need to start working out." She said with a smile trying to get him to smile atleast to put this visions behind him.

Sitting up she looked at him as she was curious about his "nightmare" but she didn't want to tear open fresh wounds. "Forge, do you need to talk about it?" She asked with her sitting next to him on his bed.

(Its cool, I was about to pass out)
 
Forge was uncertain Aiko would understand; still, it couldn't hurt if she was willing to listen. He took a deep breath, sat up and told her without looking at her, his eyes staring into the bedspread, "I don't really know what to say about what I saw, except that it seemed so real. The only thing I can say for certain was that before that nightmarish vision happened I saw.....me. Except it wasn't me, it claimed to be a part of me. A darker part. It claimed I knew nothing about him, yet he knew everything about me. He said he had all the answers I was looking for. And when I demanded he give me what he knew, he did something to induce those visions."

Forge then sighed heavily, "But that's all I know. After that he just......disappeared." He then smiled and looked at Aiko, "Aiko, thank you. For everything."
 
She sat there listening to him as she heard everyone had their dark sides in them. Though when he mentioned he had seen his double self she was taken back by this bit of news. Now this didn't sound like a nightmare. Sitting there to see him smile at her it took her awhile to register he was actually smiling.

"Forge, everyone has a dark side to them. Example, I have one it may not be as agressive as yours." She said to him with her getting to her feet looking at him with him thanking her. "Its not a problem." She said with her cupping his cheek tenderly with her looking into his dark eyes. "Need anything you know where to find me." She said with her starting to walk away.
 
Forge watched as she walked out the door. He wanted to stop her and have her stay here, but he also felt that wouldn't be fair to her. He had been enough of a burden on her, he didn't want to make it harder on her. So he sighed and tried to fall back asleep, but simply couldn't. He laid there, his eyes open, his mind a muddled mess of recent events. First, the weapon-forming, now he had this 'second self' to deal with. Forge wondered what it all meant.

Then, the voice came alive, What a lovely young lady. Aren't you the lucky one. Her soul looks absolutely delicious, hehehe Forge jumped out of bed again, looking for where his body double was. Well, aren't you jumpy. Don't worry, I won't appearing in front of you anymore. Forge clenched his fists and said very quietly, "Just who the hell are you?" The voice let out a heavy sigh, "Haven't we been through this already? I'm your darker half, the rage, sadness, despair, and everything negative about you. That is who I am; the living embodiment to all your inner darkness. That woman, Aiko, seems to care about you. Hmmm, I wonder. If my memory serves me right, she said she was a meister. How deliciously coincidental. I haven't eaten a meister's soul in a long, long time."

It was his darker half's comment that made Forge realize that his inner darkness was a Kisha. Well, that was just perfect; not only was he a soul eater, but so was the thing living inside him. He then responded icily in the same whisper of a voice, "If you so much as touch Aiko, I'll break you." The voice then let out a laugh, Don't you remember? You tried that already, and you ended up breaking poor Aiko's lamp. Such a naughty thing to do, seeing as she basically welcomed you with open arms. Forge grimaced, "That was only because you appeared out of nowhere."

This made the voice laugh even harder, Oh, you and your pathetic human rationality. And by the way, did you really think Aiko believed you? She thinks you're nuts, insane, perhaps even dangerous. Maybe tomorrow I'll show her just how dangerous we can be. Oh and don't tell her about this little conversation we had, or I kill her." "I'll stop you from doing anything to her" Forge responded bravely. At that, Forge felt something slap his face. He looked and saw that his hand had risen against his will. 'What the..." Forge started to say before his hand punched him hard in the nose, causing it to bruise up. Forge put his free hand to his nose as the voice said Now do you understand? When I said I could play you like a fiddle, I meant it. Now breathe not a word, or she dies. And with that Forge felt the demon vanish from his conscience.

Forge just sat there, trying to decide what to do. If he told Aiko, she would die. If he didn't tell Aiko, there was a small chance she could live because Forge could just run away. But then it hit him; if he ran Aiko would be defenseless against any future Kisha attacks. And Forge wouldn't able to live with himself if that happened. So Forge decided to keep it a secret for now and stayed awake the entire night until morning.

(By the way, Aiko couldn't hear any of this. Forge was talking in whispers and the Kisha had created a small barrier around Forge to block out all sounds)
 
Aiko didn't hear what was going on as she went into her kitchen and fixed her somthing to eat. She enjoyed her midnight snack then went to bed. When morning came she had slept in for abit but when she woke she headed upstairs forgetting Forge was there. There was one bathroom so they had to share. There with her walking up the stairs she stripped off her shirt then stood next to the bathroom down slipping her shorts down. She felt like she was hit by a train when she woke up.

"A nice shower would do..." She said softly as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door having the water going. Since she lived alone for awhile she got use to stripping on her way to grab a shower and nothing else.
 
Forge just sat in his bed; dark circles had formed under his now bloodshot eyes and the bruise from where he had gotten punched had grown, making his nose have a dark-blue color all around. He gave a small grunt as he got up and went to the bathroom; he was so tired that he didn't even hear the water running in it. It was only when he opened the door that he realized someone was in there. "Shit!" he muttered under his breath, his body now frozen in place.
 
Aiko stood there behind the clear shower curtain as she was washing her hair. She glanced over at him but froze then her arm went over her chest and her hand went to cover her womanhood. "Forge!" She cried out as she forgot he was here. Though she noticed he got a bruise on his face. "What happened to you?" she asked with her pushing the curtain aside but turned her body so he couldn't see her breasts and womanhood.

She was concerned as she noticed the bloodshot eyes and the dark circles. He didn't fall back to sleep. Was the nightmare worse than she thought? Quickly she finished getting washed then wrapped a towel around her form as she got out of the shower. He seen her nude form but she was still trying to be modest. Aiko walked up to him in her wet towel as she gently touched his cheek. "Forge, did you get any sleep?"
 
Forge was surprised; he thought for sure she'd slap the shit out of him for walking in on her. He had only come in here to wash his face, and hopefully try to hide the bruising somehow. Even though it was a bit late, he turned from Aiko so that his back was facing her. Remembering the words of the Kisha within him, he simply responded after a small pause, "No I didn't, and it's nothing. Nothing at all." He then walked out of the bathroom, pausing only to say in a dejected tone, "Sorry, Aiko. Didn't mean to walk in on you." He walked downstairs and used the kitchen sink to wash his face. He hoped Aiko wouldn't push it further, but had a feeling that she was a persistent type of woman; one who wouldn't let up until she found out what she wanted to know.
 
"Hold on!" She reached out to grab him by his jeans but he moved out of her reach. She glared after him determined to learn how he got the bruise. She left the bathroom and got to her room and grabbed fresh clothes. She changed in her closet then she moved quickly downstairs to see him at her kitchen sink.

"Forge..." she called to him in a cold steady tone. "I know the look of stress so sit!" She snapped at him with her pointing at the kitchen table. She was thinking he didn't sleep last night and ran into the door with him trying to get to sleep. "I need to put ice on that bruise. If you wanted me to sleep next to you last night then why didn't you?" she said as there were times she had nightmaers and she'd sleep next to Jack. Aiko grabbed a ziploc bag and placed ice in it then wrapped it up in a towel. "That nightmare you had wasn't real so you shouldn't be so stressed about it." She told him what she was thinking.
 
Forge jumped slightly when she addressed him so harshly; he sat down at the table and accepted the ice pack. He then heaved a sigh and replied dejectedly, " I've burdened you with enough of my problems. It wouldn't be fair to put even more on you. That's the reason I didn't ask you to sleep next to me." He then told a flat-out lie, but hoped that she would be convinced, "As for the bruise on my nose, I rolled in my sleep and bashed it on the floor. I feared it might bleed, so I stayed awake to make sure I didn't get blood on the covers. I was just trying to be considerate."

Forge then heard the Kisha say in his head, "Very well done, my little Forge. So good to see you keeping your end of the deal. Keep this up and I might consider not eating her soul. Though that is very unlikely" and with that the Kisha vanished again. Forge kept his face expressionless, so as not to draw any more attention to himself and potentially expose the Kisha within him. Though he knew this would only bring more trouble on him from Aiko.
 
Aiko smiled as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. 'Next time ask. You're helping me to remember?" She said to him with her resting her head on his own though patted his shoulder with her walking to the fridge. There she opeend it and looked through it. She bent down further seein gbiscuit dough and eggs with bacon. Smilnig as she took the items out then placed htem on the counter.

'Forge, like it or not I see us as partners in this...You're helping me as I help find out about your past. When I accepted that deal I also accepted the possible burdens you'd give me. Also you may have thought about the burdens I put on you."
 
Forge was now confused; what burdens was she talking about? Defending her from Kisha attacks and and anything else that might seek to bring her harm? That was something Forge could handle, after all she did save his ass from certain death. The way he saw it, he was her servant, indebted to her. Forge just shook his head, "While I see where you're coming from, Aiko, I don't see it that way. I see it as me being indebted to you for life. You saved my dying ass from the unforgiving harshness of the desert sun. The fact that you agreed to help me was just further proof of concept of your kindness, not a duty to be kind. It is not my place to burden you with my problems. You can however, place as much burden on me as you wish, I will carry it all."
 
She was starting to cook with him he saved his ass from the Desert. "You've forgetten the Kisha in my bedroom ?" She reminded him of that as she fried up the eggs and bacon with the biscuits going. "We;d have to go see the Reaper or Death to talk to him. Let him know we're partners atleast. "She told him as she kept her back to him as she pulled plates out and grabbed what she could eat.

"I thought a simple breakfast would be nice atleast." She said with her pointing to the eggs, bacon and biscuits. Slowly she walked to the table and sat there and began to eat. He did worry her seeing he had no memory at all and he seemed stressed out.
 
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