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Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Mondo Oowada (

diamondo), Kiyotaka Ishimaru (

ardent), and Makoto Naegi (

superordinary)
Where: Goldenrod City
When: 5/6
Summary: Naegi finally makes it to Goldenrod and reunites with Ishimaru and Mondo. Discussions follow.
Rating: PG-13 for Mondo's foul mouth
Log:
[It was hard to believe they'd been here for two weeks. It was equally hard to believe that Naegi had walked for two weeks just to meet up with them. Mondo still wasn't able to accept the latter, but he was more than happy to meet up with Naegi again. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd kind of missed his classmates - even if he didn't really know them all that well. Naegi was here now though, and Mondo was eager to get going already. They're meeting up with Naegi for lunch, and probably to discuss what's been going on here in Johto and back at Hope's Peak, but Mondo can't say he really cares all that much. It'll just be good to see his classmate again.]

C'mon, hurry up already!

[He's already by the door and clearly impatient as hell, but he's still waiting for Ishimaru by the door. There's no sense in leaving without Ishimaru, and it's not like Mondo wants to be early for their meeting and look over-eager for it or anything. Totally not cool. ...Then again, he is showing up with Ishimaru, which means if they're not early they're doing something wrong, so...]

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[ Does this kid look like he's kidding, Mondo? ]

I'm all right, Ishimaru-kun. I haven't died. [ ...yet, that is. ]

[Well no, but one can hope!!]

That's good to hear. That you're not dead, not the other shit. Fuck, I can't believe so many of us...

[He trails off there, something suddenly occurring to him. He looks at Naegi, expression bordering on frantic before he manages to keep his mouth shut. Does he really want to know if he's dead? Does he really want to know?

He's not sure. The only thing he can do for now is avoid the topic. If he decides he wants to know later, he can always ask Naegi.]

...Shit, I'm sorry you had to go through all that. But you're still stuck in the school?

[That means there could be even more murders and trials. Mondo shudders again.]

Fuck.

[Ishimaru glances over at Mondo for a moment during that pause; there's no way the thought hasn't occurred to him, is there? His brother does tend to be a little on the dense side, but he has to have realized by now...

And then he's speaking again, and suddenly he's discussing it as it pertains to Naegi only, and...god.

All right. All right. He won't ask for now. He knows he'll have to ask eventually, but not. Not now. He still isn't sure he wants to know; if he makes the wrong choice, there isn't any taking it back.]

Y-You're still alive, Naegi-kun, and I'm...I'm relieved to know that, it's very important to me to know that, and when it comes to the rest...!

[...oh. Oh. He'd actually been doing a valiant job at not crying up until this point, but then his breathing catches unexpectedly and it hitches hard in his chest and everything kind of aches a bit, and then something behind his ribs feels like it cracks a little and there are the tears, and he's not even bothering to hide them or anything. Completely unashamed, because why shouldn't he be? It's...strangely good to let it out. Always has been.]

We'll find a way to bring them here with us...I promise you...!!

[ Naegi can't read Mondo's mind but he doesn't need when Mondo's expression makes it clear what he wants to ask him. The pit of his stomach clenches uncomfortably as he mentally braces himself for the question, thinking of different ways to answer it. He can't think of any good way to deliver the bad news and tell Mondo the truth, that he's going to die and that he is going to die as someone who killed another person. When the question doesn't hit him, he feels immensively relieved. That's one less thing to worry about, at least for the time being.

He doesn't feel surprised in the slightest when the tears start trickling down Ishimaru's face. Really, Naegi half expected him to start crying much sooner because crying is sort of Ishimaru's thing by now. It's not a pretty sight, but this also isn't a pretty conversational topic and Naegi doesn't judge him one bit. ]

We will... I swear. We'll find a way to save everyone. If this place can take us from the past or the future, then we can save those who have died...! We can save Kuwata-kun and Enoshima-san and Maizono-san...

[ His voice is a little shaky, but full of resolve and hope. Mondo and Ishimaru have already proved this to be possible just by being here. They can do this. They have to find a way to make this happen. ]

[It's truly inspiring to see Naegi so hopeful and Mondo grins, just as fired-up as Naegi is.]

Fuck yeah! We'll find some way to bring 'em all here! Surely someone's gotta know something about how this place brings people here!

[He reaches out to clap a hand to Ishimaru's shoulder. It's not a very comforting gesture, but he's trying.]

So c'mon, no more crying, alright? We'll do this together, aniki! The three of us!

[He jerks forward a bit at that hand at his shoulder, clearly not expecting it; dear god, aniki, you're going to give everyone at the table whiplash with those mood swings. However, while whether it's fortunate or not for Naegi and anyone else that may be eavesdropping (or just wondering what the hell the overemotional teens in the corner across the room are freaking out about) has yet to be seen, Ishimaru has always been fairly easily subdued when it comes to the waterworks if it's over something like this, and this seems to have startled him out of crying for the time being.]

A-Ah, of course...!

[He...rather obviously has no idea what's going on anymore, but dammit he is surrounded by shounen spirit for some odd reason and that is a good thing. Just. Let him take a swipe at his face with the heel of his hand because it's easier to do this if he can actually, y'know, see.]

We'll...we'll all work through this; Naegi-kun is right - this means that even -

[Whoa, whoa, breath threatening to catch again hang on - ...okay. Okay, no, he has this. Tears are gone, everyone, false alarm.]

...even those who have gone before us - we have a responsibility to them as well! We can give them a second chance!

[ Naegi's face brightens into a grin and he feels a warmth in his chest, presumably thanks to the shounen spirit. ]

We can, and we will. As long as we work together. Let's all do our best, okay?

[Of course! The magma in our souls burns with a mighty flame and all that. ~~Just who in the hell do you think we are?~~]

Excellent! With enough teamwork and dedication, we'll unlock the secrets of this place, I'm sure of it!!

[That certainly does seem to have perked Ishimaru up a good amount, though, the tears seemingly forgotten for now; he seems to be pretty content returning to his status as the resident pep squad leader for Team Shounen, and when he returns his attention to Naegi, it's clear that he's still incredibly pleased with how the conversation is working out.]

I'm happy to have gotten to see you again today, Naegi-kun - it really is good that you're here with us!

Thanks, Ishimaru-kun. I'm really glad to be here. I'm going to stay in Goldenrod for a while, so let's hang out when we can. [ He can never have enough Free Time events, and he wants to get to know them better now that he has the chance to. ]

...By the way, we've discovered some things inside the school. I'd like to talk about those, if you don't mind.

Edited 2013-05-07 19:46 (UTC)

That sounds great!

[He'd offer to let Naegi stay with them, but he doubts Team Rocket would like that. Sorry, bro.]

What did you discover? I don't mind talking about 'em.

[It can't be that bad, right?]

Whatever it is you've found may be useful to us eventually, so don't leave out anything! It's possible we'll be able to work out more here, given that we're away from Hope's Peak for the time being - we can approach it with clear heads!

All right. [ He nods. ] I found two photos lying around. Monobear took them almost immediately, but I managed to get a good look.

You were in one of them, Oowada-kun. You, Kuwata-kun and Fujisaki-san... and it seemed like you were having a good time since all three of you were smiling. You were standing in what looked like one of the classrooms, but the windows in the background weren't covered by steel plates.

I--? What? But that doesn't make sense! I've never set foot inside that school before, and I hadn't met Kuwata or Fujisaki before! How is that possible?

[He's more confused than angered but the volume is certainly back again. Mondo doesn't believe Naegi is lying, but he wishes he had that picture.]

The fuck is that supposed to mean? Maybe it was... I dunno, Photoshopped or something?

It's possible, but I can't think of a reason why the mastermind would do that... The second picture was similar to the first one, except Yamada-kun, Celes-san and Maizono-san were in it instead.

And if it was more of the same, I'm guessing that they seemed to know each other as well...?

[Huh.]

Where did you find these pictures? Locked areas of the school?

Um, I think I found the first one near the art room. It's on the third floor... The other one was found in the faculty room on the fourth floor.

I've got no idea what to make of those so... what else did you discover?

[The pictures bother him, but there must be some way to explain them. From the sound of it, Naegi has more he wants to share.]

[Ishimaru twitches a bit at the mentions of the third and fourth floor, and he does shoot Mondo a bit of an awkward glance for a moment; there's something he's going to have to ask Naegi about later, but he isn't going to bring it up in front of Mondo if it hasn't already occurred to him.

It doesn't seem to have; he'll let it go for now.]

Y-Yes, was there anything else? Again, don't leave anything out, if you can.

I found another thing linked to you, Oowada-kun. The fifth floor has a garden, and I came across a pickaxe in the shed. They handle had "Crazy Diamonds" carved on it... isn't that the name of your gang?

You found my pickaxe?

[YES HE BROUGHT A PICKAXE INTO THE SCHOOL, DEAL WITH IT]

Yeah, that's the name of my gang! Why would Monobear leave that fucking thing there-- oh fuck, no one was murdered with that, were they!?

[...he's a little slow, give him a moment and maybe he'll catch up to the rest of you.]

[And that's the point at which Ishimaru can't contain it anymore - were it not for the general constraints of the booth itself, he would have jumped up; as it is, his open palm hits the table rather sharply in a way clearly intended to put a stop to the questioning.

Naegi wouldn't have to ask about that if Mondo was present by the time they found the fifth floor.]

Naegi-kun! I...I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer me, truthfully, about whether I'm right or wrong - I hope that you can correct me, that I made some sort of error, but I need to know if the conclusion I've come to is correct or not.

Answer me truthfully! The students in the pictures you found...

[He twitches again, sharply, his hand forming a tight fist against the table; he takes a deep breath before trying again.]

With the obvious exceptions of Kuwata-kun and Maizono-kun...the students in the pictures...were they alive or dead, at the time that you found them?

[ Naegi nearly jumps when Ishimaru hits the table, and then it dawns on him that maybe asking about the pickaxe wasn't such a good idea after all. This is now officially one of those times where he wishes he had an "Undo" button for his mouth. ]

... They were dead.

[Mondo looks from Naegi to Ishimaru and back again. No. There's simply no way. He bursts out laughing, though the sound isn't anywhere near humorous.]

You're fucking kidding me, right? There's no fucking way anyone in that fucking school could've killed me. Except maybe Oogami, but I don't think she'd kill anyone.

[The alternative - that he was executed - doesn't even occur to him.]

There's no fucking way. I'm not fucking dead.

[Ah, there's the anger! He clenches his fists on the table, glaring down at them rather than at Naegi. He wants to lash out, to hit something, but he's not in a place where he can do that and contrary to popular belief, he can control himself. Sometimes. Rarely. Look, the point is that he won't be punching Naegi in the face.]

What the fuck even happened!? How the fuck did I--?

[Does he really want to know? He didn't want to know whether he was alive or dead because some small part of him genuinely thought that he would be killed. That part was right. The anger vanishes as quickly as it came and Mondo slumps back into his seat.]

...I don't wanna know, actually. Alright, so at some point I die. Fucking great. When we go back I'll just be really fucking careful, I guess.

[Naegi's words don't even sink in right away; Mondo's reaction is too quick for that, and that laughter manages to frighten him more than any other reaction Mondo could have had.

He barely manages to keep himself from interjecting, from snapping at Mondo to shut up, and about the only thing stopping him is the full knowledge that Mondo has every right to be angry about this. He was just told about his death, this understandable, this is understandable and about the only thing that wouldn't be understandable right now would be socking Naegi in the face.

So he supposes he should be grateful when Mondo does not, in fact, sock Naegi in the face.

Small blessings. Small, small blessings.

And then everything hits him and he's suddenly gone very pale, and when he reaches out to lay a hand on Mondo's arm it's shaking quite a bit, and it's taking just about all his willpower to not let the tears start up again. Crying is more or less his thing, yes, Naegi wasn't wrong about that, but he wouldn't have gotten anywhere if that was his default response to everything, now, would he?

He'll do it when he's alone; he knows he will. But for now, he bites back the reaction.]

...Relax, aniki. We...we haven't experienced it yet, maybe it can still be changed.

[He doesn't want to think about what that would imply for Naegi, as he is here; he doesn't particularly want to try to get his head around the timey-wimey whatnot that this world is running on. And besides, there are further questions to be asked. One more, at least.]

Naegi-kun. I don't want to know any of the circumstances if it's...bad, but am I still with you and the others? Or have I...?

[He can't finish it; he sort of hates himself for not being able to finish it. But surely the idea is conveyed enough.]

[ Naegi feels like a Super High-School Level Ginormous Prick. He shrinks back in the seat like a frightened animal when Mondo laughs, curling his fingers around the edges of his seat, almost as though he's keeping himself from running away by doing so. He half expects Mondo to punch him in the face right there and now, and a part of him feels he actually deserves it for not thinking things all the way through.

He opens his mouth to tell Mondo the truth, but immediately closes it shut when he tells him he doesn't want to know. And really, Naegi doesn't mind; it's considerably easier not having to explain the why and the how. ]

I hope it can... [ His voice is sullen, and he tugs at the collar of his hoodie nervously. He manages to look Ishimaru in the eye, the question lingering in the air for a second before he shakes his head. ]

I'm sorry, Ishimaru-kun.