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[Well, Mondo's seen a lot of strange things during his time here in Johto, but this was kind of the last thing he was expecting for some reason. Despite it making perfect sense. Of course Daiya would make a grand entrance, showing up on the closest thing to a motorcycle this world has. Of course he would.

That said, it takes Mondo several minutes to come out of the initial shock of seeing his brother alive again, but when he does--]

Aniki!!

[Jeez, Mondo, you think they heard you over in Kanto?]

[AW SHIT.

AWWWWW SHIT IS IT

IT IS!!!!

As soon as Daiya sees his little brother, he stands up on the Steelix's head and grins, waving obnoxiously. Somehow he manages to be smooth even as he slides his way down the joints of the Steelix's body, grabbing onto one of the protruding spines and swinging down to the ground.]

Didn't expect to see you here, little man! You gonna come here and give your aniki a hug, or are you just gonna stand there catching flies?

[Mondo doesn't need to be told twice. He throws his arms around Daiya immediately, latching on hard. Good luck getting him to let go, man.]

I'd heard they could bring the dead back here but--! But I never thought--!! I mean, I should've, yeah, but--!! But you're here now! You're here!

[Don't mind him, he's completely overjoyed, okay.]

[Awwww baby bro. Daiya hugs back with just as much enthusiasm, clutching his kid brother close in an overwhelmingly manly display of affection.

He doesn't even mind Mondo babbling about bringing people back from the dead, since it's not like he doesn't know what happened or anything.

And it beats finding out that Mondo died, anyway.]

Man, I have missed the shit out of you. What the fuck have you been up to? How long have you been here?

[The questions at least get him to settle a bit so he's not practically humming with enthusiasm. It gives him some direction, at least!]

I've been here about seven months, I think. This world's pretty great once you get used to it!

Seven months, huh?

So you know your way around pretty well.

[Gonna show off for your aniki, kid?]

Yeah, 'course I do!

[You bet he is-- oh wait, actually...]

Ah, but first I've gotta tell you what happened back home! I've got some really good news and some uh... really bad news. I got accepted into Hope's Peak!

[He grins, expecting Daiya to be pleased with him for that. If it wasn't for Daiya, he wouldn't have stayed in school to begin with.]

Super High School Level Gang Leader, that's the title they gave me!

[Daiya crosses his arms and shifts his weight when Mondo says he's going to give him the rundown on what happened back home after, you know, he died, his expression interested.

When Mondo told him that he got accepted to Hope's Peak - of course Daiya had heard about Hope's Peak Academy, who hadn't heard of Hope's Peak Academy? But when he'd worked his ass off so that Mondo could stay in school, he hadn't expected that to come of it!]

Holy fuck, kid, that's the best fucking news I've ever heard! I'm proud of you, little man, you did good!

[He's gonna grin and throw his arm around his brother's shoulders, affectionately bumping Mondo's jaw with the knuckles of his opposite hand.]

Of course you're the Super High School Level Gang Leader! What else would they call the Leader of the Crazy Diamonds?

I figured you'd be proud! I fucking worked my ass off to make up for slacking off early on in school, but I never thought I'd get accepted to Hope's Peak!

[His grin fades though and he glances away, not trying to struggle out of Daiya's grip any.]

But... some shit happened on the first day of school. See, I entered the school and all, but I guess I passed out or something...? Anyway, I woke up and ran into my classmates, but it turns out we were locked inside the school somehow.

[He pauses, trying to figure out how to word it. He knows this is going to hurt, but he needs to tell Daiya what happened.]

One of the other students locked us in and... she did something to our memories. We were in that school for awhile before, but she took our memories away. So I'm... actually twenty now, not eighteen. Ah, but I would've turned eighteen here so...

[He frowns. Hang on, he's confused himself.]

A-Anyway, we were locked in the school with no escape. The girl in charge was using a stuffed bear to communicate with us so we wouldn't know who she was. She told us that the only way to get out... was to kill someone and get away with it.

[He glances up at Daiya to judge his brother's reaction to the first piece of bad news.]

[Daiya's grin fades to a look of concern when his brother's expression changes. He doesn't let go of his brother, and in fact his fingers dig into Mondo's shoulder in solidarity and comfort. Whatever it is, Daiya can read his brother's hesitation well enough to know that Mondo needs to continue, whatever it is he has to say.

So he listens. In solemn silence, he listens, never once breaking the contact with his brother.

At first, he doesn't know what to say. How to react. At the news that his little brother was trapped in a situation like that, his first reaction is to be furious. At the girl who locked them in and mocked them with a stuffed bear.

Who ordered them to kill someone if they wanted to escape.

He catches Mondo's eye, but for once he's the one who looks away, who hides his expression under his pompadour.]

20, huh?

Sounds like I owe you your coming of age drink.

[Which is also his tough, manly way of saying 'sounds like you need one, after all you've been through.'

The more he thinks about it, the more he doesn't want to hear the end of this story. If Mondo needs to tell it, he'll listen. But he knows Mondo better than anyone else in the world. Knows his body language inside and out, even if five years separate them now (making them, ironically, the same age). Mondo has something else to tell. And with a lead-in like that, there's only two places the story can go from there.]

Yeah. I could use it after all the shit I've been through.

[He laughs, but it doesn't sound very genuine. It doesn't take long for that serious expression to return and for Mondo to glance away. This is the most difficult part of the story, but it's something he needs to tell Daiya. He can't have his brother thinking that he's a good person, now can he?]

One of the guys killed one of the girls. He was found out and executed. Then...

[His voice catches and Mondo glances downwards so his pompadour is covering his expression, just like Daiya is doing.]

...I got in a fight with one of the kids. He said something that really pissed me off and I... I lost my temper and... I guess I killed him. Time works pretty weirdly here so it hasn't happened for me yet, but he told me and... and I don't think there's anything I can do to stop it when I go back. S-So I'm gonna... I'm gonna kill him.

[Mondo's voice catches again and he clears his throat.]

From... what I've heard... I don't get away with it. I'm kinda glad about that. I mean, I'm not glad that I get executed or anything! But I wouldn't wanna get away with it either, y'know?

[He falls silent, still staring down at the ground. He startles a bit when he realizes that he's crying and moves to swipe at his eyes as discreetly as possible.]

Fuck, I'm... I'm so sorry, aniki. I shouldn't have lost control, I shouldn't have ever killed anyone like that--! I'm... fuck, I'm a horrible person! I already got you killed and then I-- I--!

[He can't bring himself to finish. Mondo's shoulders shake as he tries to control his tears.]

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