route_1065 | They moved forward and my heart died

Entry tags:

They moved forward and my heart died

Who: Mondo Oowada (

diamondo); Kiyotaka Ishimaru (

ardent)
Where: Ecruteak City
When: Evening of 9/29
Summary: The Dangans are now two down, what with the recent disappearances of Fujisaki and Asahina; out of the two of them in Ecruteak City, one of them knows, the other doesn't. It's time to remedy that, apparently. Possible spoilers for Dangan Ronpa.
Rating: PG-13? I'll change it as is appropriate.
Log:

[It's been two days since Ishimaru had received the text from Naegi; he's spent as much of that time by himself as possible. It isn't that he doesn't want to speak to Mondo about it; it's more that he isn't entirely sure how, and if he's going to be entirely honest, part of him is hoping that through some miracle, it won't be necessary to say anything at all. Somewhere in the back of his mind he'd prepared for this as a possibility, and he's grateful for that bit of mental strength, at the very least; it's kept him more or less together, if a bit withdrawn. But just the same, he's thrown himself into work and studying and sitting by the device whenever he's alone in the hotel, checking and double-checking Fujisaki's number every so often as though to make sure that message (Gear ID Not Found) keeps coming back to him, as though making sure it's not a mistake of some sort, as though maybe if he does it enough, he'll see that he's transposed numbers somehow or he's hitting the wrong ID in the registry or maybe he can just will Fujisaki back into goddamn existence because it makes about as much sense as anything else does.

But in the end, no matter what people say about this world, this isn't a game or a story or one of those anime shows that Yamada loves so much; obviously, none of it works, and two days after he received the news about Fujisaki, Asahina's line goes silent as well.

He hasn't cried over it, which he supposes is a good thing; granted, he hasn't felt much about it at all, which is decidedly less of a good thing, but surely that's got to be better than the possible alternative, and he's not letting it get to him too badly at this point. Tonight he's studying, and waiting in the hotel room for Mondo to return; his Munna is currently camped out on the bed (poor thing doesn't sleep much, all things considered, and he can't say that he blames her), and he's got the Litwick out for company for the time being. He imagines Aiko will return when Mondo does.

He resists the urge to check the device again; it's going to be a long evening.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Mondo's been working for the most part, not because he's upset, but rather because he wants to make some money before they head out to Blackthorn. Mondo has noticed that there's something different about Ishimaru over the past few days, but he hasn't been able to figure out what it is. He intends to find out.

So when he returns home from work that evening (with Aiko following him, of course) he starts talking immediately.]

Hey, kyoudai? Is something up?

[He throws his bag down on his side of the bed and takes a seat, staring at Ishimaru intently.]

You've been acting kinda weird lately.

[Ishimaru looks up when Mondo enters; he smiles a bit at Aiko, who's quick to return to him and hover somewhere over his shoulder - touching her has always been a bit of a weird experience (she likes to go incorporeal at the last possible moment), but this time she lets him, and it provides a welcome distraction from looking at his brother.

Just the same, Mondo's words are sobering, and it's evident in the way his expression becomes more subdued almost instantly; his words aren't nearly as forceful as they usually are, though the blunted tone he usually takes hasn't really softened any.]

Ah, have I? I didn't mean to, it's just that...

[Ishimaru glances over at him then; he's never been one for lying and especially not about important things, but for a brief moment, he can see where people would be tempted by it.]

...I received a message from Naegi-kun a little while ago. He's fine, as are Kirigiri-kun and Togami-kun, but it seems that something happened.

Something happened?

[What could have happened? Mondo's blood runs cold. He can't quite manage words for a moment while he tries to process that.]

What the hell happened?

[That moment of hesitation bothers him; he tries to keep from mirroring it, making himself push forward as directly as possible - he would really prefer that things not get miscommunicated, this is too important for that.]

We've lost contact with two of our classmates; any attempts to call or text them just gets an error message, saying that their Gear ID can't be found. It's the same sort of thing I experienced with Dorumon-kun.

[He takes a deep breath before continuing.]

Asahina-kun and Fujisaki-kun have been sent home.

[Mondo is silent for a long time, trying to figure out how to take that. He doesn't feel anything for a moment, partly because he's still trying to process it, partly because he simply can't believe it. Asahina and Fujisaki have been sent home? That's not possible. At least, not for Fujisaki. There's nothing for him back home. He can't have been sent back home, right?]

That's not... Are you sure?

[He shakes his head. That's not possible. It can't have happened. If Fujisaki's gone home, that means that he's...

He's dead. And Mondo killed him.]

No way...

[He can feel a cold shock coursing through his system; he shakes his head a bit, though it's more to clear it than to indicate a negative answer.]

I'm sure - Naegi-kun and I are both sure, I checked as soon as he told me.

I...I'm sorry, kyoudai.

But that's not--! That's not possible! Asahina can go back, sure, but Fujisaki can't! There's nothing back home! It's not possible for him to go home!

[He shakes his head again in disbelief. He's upset, obviously, but he's not mad at Ishimaru. If anything, he's already figured it all out and he's mad at himself. It's his fault that Fujisaki dies, and even though he hasn't done anything yet, he still has to blame himself for what happened.

Mondo closes his eyes and clenches his fists on his knees.]

That's all that happened? No one else's gone home?

[He doesn't want to be surprised by any more bad news and it's difficult enough for him to accept this.]

Not to my knowledge!

[Ishimaru hesitates once that's out there, however; he isn't sure what he'd expected out of Mondo and he isn't entirely sure what's happening, but he's reasonably certain that it isn't good and he has no way to gauge the severity of it.

He knows Mondo has promised to stop lying to him; just the same, he can't be sure he'll get an honest answer if he asks him what's wrong now. He knows that he should try, at least, and if something goes badly later because he didn't put forth the effort he won't forgive himself, but just the same...

He stands up eventually, making his way over to join Mondo where he's sitting on the bed; this involves jostling Mitsuyo a bit, but she resettles eventually - though not before fixing Ishimaru with a look better suited for a kicked puppy. He doesn't pay her much mind for the time being, though, instead reaching out to lay a hand on Mondo's shoulder. His grip is quick to tighten, though he forces himself to relax a bit once he realizes.]

Are you going to be all right?

[Mondo glances sideways at Ishimaru, a bit surprised by his friend's sudden movement to join him. He leans into Ishimaru's touch though, but doesn't return it right away.]

...Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just a lot to take in, y'know?

[He has to be fine. He can't allow this to get him down, despite how badly it's threatening to do that. He finally moves to half-hug Ishimaru, gripping his friend's shoulder.]

I'll be fine.

[Maybe if he repeats it enough, it'll be true.]

I know you will, kyoudai! We all will, eventually.

[That touch goes a good way toward calming him down, some of the tension leaving him so quickly that it's visible; he isn't quite relaxed, but at the same time, he does seem to have been put at ease a bit.]

But I'm here for you anyway, all right?

[It's good to see Ishimaru calm down a bit and Mondo tightens his grip on his friend's shoulder. He has to be okay; if not for his sake, then for Ishimaru's. They need to work on taking Team Rocket down. He can't fall into despair here.]

Yeah, 'course! I'm glad you are, 'cause you know how I get sometimes.

[He offers a weak smile at that, almost like he's joking. He's not.]

[For a moment he's tempted to agree with him, but he manages to stop himself; that's one of those things that he shouldn't flat-out agree with, isn't it? At the same time, he can't just leave it, either...]

...It's all right that you get like that once in a while - I don't think badly of you for it.

...I'm glad to hear that.

[It wasn't something he knew he needed to hear, but now that it's out there, he finds himself relieved. Mondo's tempted to tighten his grip on Ishimaru again, but he doesn't really want to seem too clingy. He finally lets go.]

I really appreciate it. I'm still working through everything, I guess. It'll be awhile before I'm able to move past it, I think. I just try to take things one day at a time, y'know?

Yes, of course! But you also aren't alone here and you don't have to work through it by yourself - you have the others here with you, and you'll always have me!

[He pauses for a moment before shaking off any hesitation that may have been tempted to crop up; he's getting riled, but it's in a way that's more determined than angry.]

Even if you decide that this isn't something you can talk to me about in the end, you still have the rest of us - we're here to help each other, kyoudai, and that includes you. So don't worry about asking us, all right?

[That's... a really inspiring speech, Ishimaru...]

Th-Thank you! I know I have you guys and I'll come to you when I need help! I'm not gonna keep any secrets from you any longer, kyoudai. If something's up, I'll tell you, okay?

[He pauses after that's out there, and finally adds something else, sounding a bit sheepish.]

...I guess I'm kinda beating myself up over what happened to Fujisaki. I know it hasn't happened yet for me, but it will happen if I ever go home and... I just don't like thinking about it. Fujisaki didn't deserve that shit and now that he's gone home... it feels like I'm responsible for it, y'know?

[Hey, it's what he's here for.]

Naegi-kun told me that if Johto doesn't bring him back, then we will - and I believe him about that. We're going to find a way to do it, and then it'll be okay.

Yeah. Yeah! We'll bring him back and everything'll be okay!!

[Well that certainly seems to have fired him up.]

We'll bring Asahina back too! And the others!

[Well, maybe not Enoshima, he's not sure what to do about her.]

Of course we will - the plan hasn't changed, kyoudai, we're going to save them all!

[Speaking of fired up, goodness. Another hotel that's going to hate them.]

Yeah!!

[Mondo reaches out to ruffle Ishimaru's hair. He's much calmer than he was initially and things seem to be sorting themselves out. He's still upset about losing Fujisaki and Asahina, but they have a plan. He can focus on that plan.]

I guess we should keep in closer contact with everyone to make sure this kinda thing doesn't happen to anyone else.

[...welcome to how Ishimaru gets through life, Mondo. For the most part, it's good! Until it's suddenly really not good, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. (Assuming we don't just look at said bridge and decide to burn it first.)]

The others' signals were still active as of this afternoon, and Naegi-kun will let me know if anything happens to Kirigiri-kun or Togami-kun...somehow I think we'll hear about it if something happens to Kuwata-kun or Hagakure-kun, knowing how those two are!

[#TACT]

That really only leaves Celes-kun as an outlier, I think.

Well, yeah, but I'll try to keep in closer contact with Hagakure and Leon, just in case.

[It'll at least feel like he's doing something...]

Yeah. What do you wanna do about her? I can try to keep in contact with her if you don't wanna deal with her.

That's a good idea, actually - you'll probably get along with Kuwata-kun more than I will, at any rate!

[To put it lightly.]

As for Celes-kun, it may be a moot point soon anyway; Naegi-kun wants to meet with us in Goldenrod City soon, and I think that would likely be for the best!

[...]

I...would like to see everyone again. In person.

Yeah, we seem to do alright together.

[And it's not because they're both murderers!!!]

Oh, really? Yeah, it'd be good to have everyone in one place again. We can always head up to Blackthorn later!

[You know, he actually wasn't going to go there, because for once in his miserable life it occurred to him before he started that that might be a bad thing to point out, but...]

Well, I also have to wonder whether we really want to be up north in the middle of winter...

Ah, that's...! That's a really good point...!

[Mondo frowns, pondering that over for a bit. The hot springs will still be there after winter's over, so they can wait!]

I guess we'll just hang around in Goldenrod and train until it's warmer?

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