route_1065 | (no subject)

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...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.

[Ishimaru knows he should feel something at that - upset or alarmed or angry or...really, abject terror would be more of an understandable reaction than what he ends up feeling; he's aware of a sudden sense of coldness flooding through his system and then there is, quite suddenly, nothing. He's vaguely aware of some things - he can still feel the fabric of his brother's sleeve where his fingers are closed around it, and Naegi is in front of him...somewhere and his free hand has kind of gone slack against the table even though he doesn't really remember deciding to do that - but for a long moment his mind seems to quite simply lock up and he doesn't feel anything for so long that it starts to scare him.

And when the tendrils of fear kick in, that's about when he seems to snap back and he's suddenly very aware that he's staring at the table like it's the most fascinating thing he's ever seen, and it's taking him a bit too long to answer, and even though he's tensing up something terrible it's better than that odd bout of...whatever that was just now.]

D-Don't be sorry - I'm sure you wouldn't have...n-no, there's nothing for you to be sorry for.

[He's still looking at the table like it holds the answers to literally all the quandaries of the universe, only they're etched one on top of another and he's having difficult making them out; after a moment, however, he's able to return his gaze to Naegi - he's clearly still feeling shaky as hell, and he seems unsure of what he should be experiencing. Would crying be appropriate? He's not sure. Anger, maybe. Hadn't he just considered that justifiable for his brother? But there's nothing to direct it to - ]

I meant what I said, I don't want to know anything too specific; I may ask about it later, but for now...

[Hesitation.]

For...for now, we should take this as a good sign - that the others can be brought here with no memories of what happened to them. Right? The three we know of won't have had to go through any of that! If it can work in this way for us, it can work for the others as well, can't it?!

[Really, that sounds more desperate than anything, but he's trying.]

[Mondo doesn't say anything at first. He can't think of anything to say. His brother is dead. He too feels the same numbness but his is through disbelief. Out of everyone, he would have imagined Ishimaru living the longest. He moves to rest a hand on Ishimaru's, tightening his grip almost immediately. The fact that Ishimaru isn't crying scares him on some level.]

Yeah. Yeah, of course, aniki. We'll bring them all here and no one'll have to worry about that shit, alright!?

[He knows he's being a bit too loud, but he can't quite control his volume.]

Maybe if I had done something... It could've been prevented...

[ If things had happened a bit differently, then maybe it wouldn't have happened. Maybe if Naegi hadn't taken the broken Ishimaru to see Alter Ego, he wouldn't have transformed into Ishida and then he wouldn't have cared about the note that had been sent to him by Celes and Yamada. A broken shell of a hall monitor would've been better than a dead one. ]

We'll save everyone. No one has to die. Everyone will be safe here.

Naegi-kun!

[Ishimaru's voice is sharp, and he's getting pretty loud again; despite that, however, there's nothing cruel or biting behind his words. If anything, the usual sense of authority is creeping back in.

There are no words for how much he's going to cry over this later. No words whatsoever. But for now, he pulls his hand away from Mondo's - he does glance at him for a moment because he appreciates the...attempt at comforting, but still - and he resettles himself such that he's sitting up properly again, posture perhaps a bit too straight, as it always is.]

You're going to stop talking like that about yourself! It's like you're saying - we're going to save everyone! No one has to die! And even if we're gone back in the school, we're here now, and the only thing to do is keep pressing onward!

But I don't want to hear any of that sort of talk, understood? We may not be within any sort of school for the time being, but you're still my classmate and I will write you up for it!

Yeah, for once I've gotta agree with aniki. You probably did everything you could at the time, and hindsight's always twenty-twenty or whatever! So don't you fucking dare blame yourself!

[He leans back in the seat, offering Naegi a lop-sided grin.]

Don't worry, okay? We'll bring everyone here and sort everything out then, alright?

Y-yes, of course! [ He still feels some guilt over what he didn't do and what he could've done, but Ishimaru's and Mondo's words are enough to pull him out of those thoughts. He even manages to return Mondo's grin with a small one of his own. ]

You're both absolutely right.

[Well! Now that nothing is beautiful and everything hurts...]

All right, then! In that case, for now it would be best for us to focus on -

[...doing what we...came here...for.

................................um.]

...Did we order anything, because somehow I don't think we did.

[ ..................... ]

...No, we didn't. [ Cue a growling noise from his stomach that sounds a lot like a dying whale. ]

[Mondo laughs at that; this time it's genuine.]

Ah, yeah, that's right! We kinda forgot all about that! You guys know what you want?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only