#between this & the instant ad playing loudly that I can’t even find to mute when I open the app

[kurokoros]

Limbic Resonance

Title: Limbic Resonance Part Two: Yukino

Rated: T (later chapters may be rated M for violence and sexual situations

Summary: Seven people. Seven cities across the globe. They are no longer just them. Sense8!AU

Characters (in this chapter): Yukino, Natsu, Cobra

Pairings (All): Nalu, Kinabra, StingXYukinoXRogue; eventual others

Word Count: ~2.5K

AN: A very happy birthday to @not-just-any-fangirl! Maci’s a babe and I hope she has a very lovely rest of the day <3 She knew this was coming, but hopefully what’s inside will surprise her just a little ;)

Notes: I’ve made a few changes with Sense8 lore. Instead of everyone being born on the same day, people of the same cluster are a group of people who were supposed to meet in life, but were prevented from doing so. (On FF I’ll make a list of how everyone would have met!)

Also on FF. Please reblog this if you read it!

                                  Tokyo, Japan | July 11 | 2:00:00PM

Yukino hums to herself, sighing softly as she takes another sip of lukewarm coffee. Her nose wrinkles at the cooling liquid, knowing she should heat it up, but feeling too jittery to do just about anything at the moment. Her mind has been all over the place in the last few days, Yukino confused by the strange things that have been happening. At first it was only the dreams, but those quickly turned into phantom sensations, wisps of voices that weren’t there. She thought it was just the lack of sleep getting to her, but not she isn’t sure. It’s all just so confusing.

Shaking her head, Yukino turns back to the stack of photographs lying in front of her, eyes narrowing in thought as she flips between them. Her nails tap against the counter, lips pursed as she scrutinizes them, searching for a decent picture of Sorano and Macbeth for the scrapbook she’s making for their upcoming wedding. It won’t be for several months now, but Yukino likes to get a head start on everything.

Frankly, she can’t afford to shove everything to the last minute. Between Sting and Rogue she gets distracted enough as is. Though, Sting is the one mostly to blame in that department. Rogue is generally the more helpful of the two of them, offering assistance in looking through photographs and helping her to scout out locations for her work.

She’s always loved photography, ever since she was a little girl, and she’s proud to say she achieved her dream. Yukino has her boys to thank for that. She never would have started her own business without Sting’s nagging and Rogue’s quiet assurance. They were probably more determined to officially start the business than she herself. And she loves them for that; Yukino doesn’t know how she lucked out on finding the two of them.

Yukino smiles fondly, taking another sip of coffee as she hears Sting snoring away in the bedroom, sill asleep even after noon. At this rate, she doubts he’ll be awake in time for lunch, though Yukino figures Rogue will get him up, one way or another. Besides, Sting never has been one to pass up food. She’s sure that as soon as he smells whatever Rogue’s making, he’ll be awake in an instance.

A picture of Sorano and Macbeth on their first date catches her eye, and Yukino giggles as she sees how awkward they look. They were barely seventeen when they met, and neither of them were quite sure how to talk to each other. Sorano has always been loud where Macbeth is quiet, and in the beginning they fumbled.

Yukino snapped the photo of them on a whim, Sorano with her arms locked around Macbeth’s neck, theirs in turn hovering just above Sorano’s waist, unsure whether they were allowed to hold her or not. The photo was taken when Macbeth was dropping her sister off, the pair of them kissing goodnight.

Yukino decides that one’s definitely being added to the scrapbook.

She giggles, shifting it to the smaller pile to her right, deciding that Sorano will definitely enjoy that one. As much as Yukino loves her sister, she’ll also take any opportunity to embarrass her, and as sweet as that picture is, it’s definitely an awkward one. Sorano will hate it and Yukino thinks it’s absolutely perfect.

Her thoughts continue to drift, her fingers drumming against the countertop as she gets lost in the smell of whatever Rogue is making in the other room. Yukino takes a deep breath, eyes slipping shut as she releases a content sigh. A lullaby drifts through her thoughts, Yukino humming it absentmindedly as she thinks about the strange things that have been happening.

She keeps seeing cats wherever she goes. A trio of them. At first she thought they were only Frosch and Lector, Sting and Rogue’s cats, but upon seeing them again she realized they weren’t the family pets. The gray one comes most often, and Yukino nearly screamed when she first saw it sitting on the kitchen counter, but when she blinked it was gone. There’s a white cat that she’s seen napping on the bed at least twice, and a black cat with torn ears that hissed at her when she stepped into the bathroom this morning.

They’re always gone in an instant, only there for a moment before disappearing entirely, and at first she thought it was merely a trick of the light. She’s been tired lately, more so than usual. Her nightmares have been keeping her awake, and sometimes her mind plays little tricks on her. But something is telling her it’s not that. There’s something else going on, something strange, and Yukino is determined to find out what.

A meow catches her attention, the soft trill coming from the floor to her left, and Yukino turns, half expecting it to be one of the strange cats she’s been seeing lately. her head snaps around, a paw batting at her bare leg, and Yukino tenses, only relaxing when she realizes it’s only Frosch sitting on the floor at her feet.

Yukino softens as she stares at the kitten, Frosch making a soft sound as he continues to bat at her leg, wanting attention. With a laugh, Yukino complies, scooping Frosch into her arms and allowing the kitten to cuddle up against her as she works. Frosch nestles against her, curling up against her chest and forcing Yukino to hold him up, but she doesn’t mind.

Her fingers stroke along Frosch’s spine, and he begins to purr, the vibrations echoing through Yukino and making her sigh. She cuddles him up against her, wondering where Lector might be. She figures he’s still sleeping with Sting, the cat about as lazy as his owner.

Going back to her pictures, Yukino snorts upon seeing one of the pictures from when she and Sorano went to Europe, the pair of them in London. It was a fun trip, and Yukino would love to go there again someday, maybe with Sting and Rogue.

She thinks they’d both like that, especially Sting. She’ll have to ask them about it later, they’ve been due for a vacation anyway. Maybe she can ask Sorano to come too, if she’s feeling up for it. It’s a bit harder for her sister to just leave the country these days, given her job. She isn’t freelance like Yukino, so that makes things a bit harder.

With a sigh, Yukino goes back to her photographs, flicking through them absently as she plays with Frosch’s ears, the kitten purring loudly when she scratches beneath his chin. He sneezes when she pokes his nose, twitching, and Yukino has to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Yukino sorts through her photos for several long minutes, forgetting about the time until she hears a loud thumping noise. It startles her slightly, Yukino’s head snapping up. Frowning, she glances around the room, looking to see if maybe Lector snuck into her office while she wasn’t looking, however the cat is nowhere in sight. She shrugs, sure that it’s only one of the boys doing something, and goes back to her work.

There’s bang, this time louder but oddly muted at the same time. Yukino flinches at the odd sound, and this time Frosch looks up as well. Standing on his back legs, the cat peers over her shoulder, a trilling sound leaving him a moment before he hops to the floor. Yukino watches as he pads towards the center of the room, tail swishing around happily. An odd feeling stirs in her chest when he flops onto the floor, staring at the blank wall and making a low, happy sound.

What in the world is going on? Her chest squeezes slightly, Yukino not liking the way Frosch is staring at nothing. It’s unnerving, really. She’s heard that cats are more perceptive than people, able to see things that humans can’t: ghosts, spirits, things that Yukino would never realize are there. A flash of terror strikes her, but she shoves it down, figuring that she’s overreacting. There’s nothing there, only a wall.

Frosch has always been a bit odd anyway. Rogue found the kitten when he was only a few weeks old, battered and bruised. Yukino doesn’t know for sure what happened, Rogue only giving her a flippant response, mumbling something about a couple of kids. There was a small fracture to Frosch’s skull, and Yukino knows he was hurt badly, but in a selfish way she’s glad Rogue never told her the full story. She doesn’t think she could stomach it.

The banging starts up again, louder, closer, and Yukino jumps up from her chair as she suddenly hears it right behind her. She stumbles forward a step, whirling around with wide eyes, and glances around wildly, unable to find the source of the noise. It rings in her ears, loud and making its own rhythm. There’s a pattern to it, but Yukino doesn’t recognize it in the slightest.

Natsu pounds on the bag swinging in front of him, fists beating across it ruthlessly. The music echoes through his limbs, drowning out the silence of the empty gym. His bangs fall into his eyes, but Natsu doesn’t pause to shove them back as he continues throwing punches, anger swelling through him as the sun only just begins to rise.

Yukino spins in a slow circle, eyes narrowing as she tries to pinpoint the origin of the sound. The off-white walls blur together as she twists around, and she stops when she sees Frosch still sitting on the floor, simply staring at the wall. A thud echoes through the room, followed by two others in rapid succession.

Frosch peers at her over his shoulder, meowing softly.

Natsu shoves at the bag violently, sweat dripping down the bridge of his nose before falling to the floor. He shakes himself, wetting his lips, and tries to ignore the sweat sticking to his skin and dripping into his eyes. For a moment he feels eyes on him, but doesn’t bother to look. It’s likely Macao coming to call him back inside.

A smaller part of him hopes that it might be Lucy.

Frosch turns back to the wall, and Yukino shivers as he begins to trill, head tilting to one side as his tail flicks around behind him. Slowly, she creeps up behind him, keeping her eyes locked on the wall, searching for anything that might be strange, but she sees nothing but the pale paint Sting helped her put up only two weeks ago. She pauses beside Frosch, trying to see what he’s so fascinated by, but Yukino just doesn’t know what it could be.

The chain makes a loud creaking sound, barely audible over the pounding of his music, and Natsu pauses before striking the bag again, checking to make sure the chain will hold. His thoughts begin to wander as he throws another punch, Natsu thinking about Lucy again. He hasn’t seen her since that first day, and a part of him thinks it was a dream or a product of too many blows to the head.

Romeo and Macao couldn’t see her. She was never there, never real.

Yukino takes another step forward, hesitating as she edges passed Frosch. The cat doesn’t acknowledge her, only continues to stare at the wall, and Yukino sucks in a deep breath, determined to figure out what’s going on. She takes another step, steeling herself, and bites her lip.

Tentatively, she reaches for the wall, fingers outstretched as she edges closer.

A frustrated sound rips from Natsu, and his fist slams against the bag once more. The chain rattles, snapping loudly, and Natsu throws himself backwards as it drops to the floor, rolling slightly. He sneers at it, striking it with his foot, and swears under his breath. His hands come up to cover his eyes, Natsu running his hand through his hair slowly as a headache forms behind his eyes.

Her fingertips press against the wall, the paint cool against her skin, and Yukino frowns. While she wasn’t expecting anything amazing to happen, exactly, she certainly thought that it wouldn’t simply be nothing. Shaking her head and sighing, Yukino realizes she’s being silly. Frosch is simply a strange cat who does odd things occasionally. That’s simply how he is. It’s nothing to get worked up over.

She huffs slightly, realizing how silly it all is. As if she should really trust the notions of a tiny cat. Sting would have a good laugh at her expense if he heard about this.

Frosch suddenly yowls.

Groaning, Natsu drops his hands back to his sides, wishing he know what to do about everything that’s been happening. Slowly, he turns back to the bag on the floor, crouching down with a sigh. He grabs for it, yanking it towards him with a curse, and props the heavy bag against his side. Macao is going to kill him for breaking it, but Natsu is finding that he simply doesn’t give a damn anymore.

Yukino flinches, whipping around in terror as Frosch suddenly bolts from the room, peeling down the hall and disappearing from sight. She moves to follow him, wondering what scared the cat, but Yukino freezes when her gaze locks on the doorframe, a tall figure standing in the empty space.

She screams.

Natsu’s head snaps up, a loud shriek splitting the air. He yanks out his headphones, scrambling to his feet, and turns in a fast circle, trying to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. There’s no source, however, the sound seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. It echoes around the room, piercing, and something in Natsu’s chest twists violently as the scream curls through him.

“Lucy?” he breathes, panic welling inside him.

Her breath catches, the man unfamiliar, and he seems just as surprised to see her standing there. He shoves his hair away from his face, and Yukino’s gaze flicks to the tattoo of a snake creeping up the side of his throat. His mouth moves, sneering something, but she can’t make out the words. Rage flashes in his eyes, and Yukino can’t even begin to breathe as he suddenly pulls out a gun.

Throwing herself backwards, Yukino slams into the wall just as the gun goes off.

A bang crackles through the air and the screaming cuts off abruptly. Natsu chokes on Lucy’s name, unable to breathe. He stumbles backwards, nearly tripping over the punching bag on the floor, and something inside him snaps.

The figure disappears as quickly as it came, and Yukino gasps as she leans against the wall, head dropping back to rest against the surface behind her. She hears the sudden scrambling of feet across the floor, and a clatter as something is knocked over. She still plastered against the wall as Rogue bursts into the room, a spatula in hand. Sting is only a step behind him, half-awake and with a vicious, wild look in his eyes.

But there’s no one there.