route_1065 | The universe is shaped exactly like the earth -

Entry tags:

The universe is shaped exactly like the earth -

Who: Mondo Oowada (

diamondo); Kiyotaka Ishimaru (

ardent)
Where: Goldenrod Radio Tower
When: Evening of June 4th
Summary: Ishimaru has a three-day hole in his memory where ~~fourth wall~~ last weekend should be; he eventually decides to ask Mondo if he knows what happened, or if he's experiencing the same.
Rating: PG-13, because one of these kids has a filthy mouth (and at least one of the muns sucks at keeping her descriptions clean so that'll likely turn into a hideous disaster at some point).
Log:

As little as Ishimaru liked staying in the Radio Tower, with its underground corridors and lack of windows in places where windows ought to have been if the building were halfway normal and not a base of operations for some sort of criminal organization, there was one striking exception to the rule, one place he actually preferred over most other locations in the city, just because of the simplicity and the beauty of it - namely, the observation deck on the sixth floor, all glass and windows and a view that spreads for what feels forever, given the way things are constructed in this place.

He's been spending a lot of time up here lately; it tends to be quieter up here, after all, and he's had a lot of thoughts that he wants to be alone with. Sometimes he brings the makeshift study-cards he's been constructing to work on up here - he can't completely abandon his education, can he, even if time doesn't pass back home while he's here - but for the most part he's content to just remain near the windows, hands tight on the railing.

He's been doing a bit more of that over the last little while, primarily because the world appears to have lost its mind down there. Or perhaps he's losing his; it's a bit hard to say. But he can't deny the weird...shaking the landscape seems to do, the odd shifting into something distorted just out of his line of vision before snapping back once he finally looks at it fully, and it's making him feel odd and twitchy and yet he can't look away from it. He wonders when it started; he wonders how much else he's missed over the last several days.

He pulls his 'Gear out after a while; he frowns a bit at the message that pops up - apparently this place is still expecting everyone to play Pictionary to communicate anything - and after a moment he just pulls out the stylus and writes something, his handwriting small and ridiculously even. He's a bit disturbed when he realizes he's writing in that common language here rather than Japanese, but he tries not to think about it for too long.

The message is simple and straightforward, however.

If you aren't busy, I need to talk to you about something. Meet me on the sixth floor of the Tower in half an hour - please don't be late.

He sends it after a moment's deliberation, then goes back to those windows; he's not going anywhere.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mondo has been attempting to act like everything is normal. He's not sure what to do with the odd distortions on the edge of his vision or the fact that his friend went home and kind of went crazy. The eyeflames and the white hair are gone now, as is the weird personality mesh between Ishimaru's and Mondo's own. He's relieved that Ishimaru's acting normal again, but it's hard to figure out what to say about it, or if he should even mention it at all. He had finally decided to keep quiet about it, if only because he'd sound like a raving lunatic if he attempted to explain what had happened during those three days.

He's been out training today; he's getting better at these type matchups and figuring out what's good against what. The 'Gear goes off and he's quick to glance at it, recognizing the handwriting immediately, even though it's not in Japanese. That bothers him a bit, but he's quick to shrug it off and read the message.

Thirty minutes later and he's on the elevator up to the sixth floor, eyes shut and hands twitching against the handrail. He hates elevators now thanks to what happened in that school, and even a short ride like this is agitating. He's all too glad to step off the elevator and into the observatory. Whatever it is Ishimaru wants, it sounds important.

"Hey, aniki." He greets his friend, offering him a smile before going to stand beside him, looking out the window. "Wow, what a view!" He's only been up here once before, and he's still startled by how beautiful the world looks. Well, when it's not doing that weird distorting thing, that is. "So what's up?"

Ishimaru is actually mildly surprised that Mondo arrives on time; he'd expected to be waiting at least another ten minutes past that thirty he'd asked for. It's a good sort of surprise, definitely, and Mondo can have that smile returned.

"Good of you to be on time - I wouldn't want to have to start out by reprimanding you, after all!" Ishimaru's tone doesn't shift very far when he says it; either he's developing the driest sense of humor on the planet or he's completely serious, it's a bit difficult to tell which at this stage. (Although if we're all being honest with ourselves...well.) Either way, though, he's quick to go back to staring out the window, shifting a bit on the railing.

"I wanted to talk to you about last weekend - apparently it was a bit odd?" His words are slightly more careful than they usually are, but it's rather plain that they're more of a question than anything and he's trying really hard to sound casual about it.

Mondo laughs at that, realizing only after that's out there that Ishimaru was probably serious. Well, whatever, it's still amusing. There's no reason to be worried about being late or not here - not unless you're reporting to one of the superiors or something. Not that Mondo's seen much of them, but that's not really the point.

Ishimaru gets right down to business quickly and Mondo glances sideways at him, frowning a bit. Ishimaru is clearly trying to make this a casual conversation, but it's not really working.

"You don't remember?" He finally asks, gazing back out the window when something in the corner of his eye flickers. The frown deepens. "Yeah, it was pretty fucking odd. I mean, I had my bike back for starters, and you..."

He looks at Ishimaru again, trying to find a way to describe it. He finally settles on finishing lamely, "You really don't remember any of it?"

"Aniki, I really hope you weren't - "

...tearing around the countryside like a lunatic; but then Mondo's words actually seem to sink in and he's asking him again and Ishimaru really doesn't understand why (isn't it obvious that he doesn't remember? then what on earth...?) and he's suddenly very, very aware that he isn't understanding something vital.

He shifts. Twitches a little. Then just folds his arms and decides to press on with it and get it all over with. "No, I don't remember any of it! It doesn't seem to be the same for you, though, which I wasn't expecting!"

"I remember some of it, yeah. Other parts are really hazy, like it was a dream or something, only I don't think that's the case. It felt pretty fucking real." He tips his head a bit and returns his gaze to Ishimaru. "It's gonna sound crazy, but I promise everything I tell you is what happened. Or at least, what I remember happening.

"You went home at some point before I saw you. I don't really know how that works, but you were back here and you remembered things about this place, like Naegi and me, but it took you a little bit to actually remember 'em. You were... pretty fucking different. Your hair had gone white and you were... wearing my eyeliner and... look, I know this sounds fucking ridiculous, but your eyes were on fire."

He looks mildly disturbed at that, then presses on, "Anyway, you acted like a different person. You were calling yourself... Ishida. I bet you can guess where that name came from. Oh, you were cussing a fucking hell of a lot too, which was probably weirder than the eyeflames." A pause. Mondo runs a hand through the back of his hair.

"You said you became like that after I died. You... fused your spirit with mine, or something like that. You were very adamant about that - that we were one or something. It was pretty fucking weird. But you said that's what happened after I died so... I guess that means I go out first."

He looks quite disturbed at that, but he doesn't elaborate on it any. He can't bring himself to. He's starting to suspect that he didn't get killed as the next victim, but rather...

No. He won't allow himself to think like that. It's simply not possible.

For a moment he doesn't seem to know what to do with any of that; unfortunately, he doesn't seem to know what to do with his face, either - his expression's gone more than a bit odd.

"Well, it does sound very crazy, yes...but at the same time, I don't think you would lie to me about something like that - or at least, you would make it more believable, right?"

He kind of...titters a bit, for lack of a better term; this is clearly making him a bit nervous, but he's going to press through regardless.

"I don't remember going home at all, much less anything about you dying, though that doesn't surprise me any - "

He freezes abruptly once that's out there, however, for...many reasons - mercifully his brain seems to zero in on the one that would likely be less completely damning, though it still isn't the best. "N-Not that I'm saying you can't keep yourself from getting killed! It's just...well, it had to be one of us, right?!"

That is about when he realizes there is no good way to recover from that and just forces himself to quiet down, his grip tightening against that bar, his gaze intensely focused downward.

Mondo's expression goes cold at that, and for a moment, he really wants to snap back at Ishimaru, to tell him that he can take care of himself and he wouldn't be stupid enough to get himself killed. But that leaves only one other option and frankly, Mondo doesn't want to consider it.

He turns back to the window, forcing himself to calm down. It's much easier said than done, but after awhile the death-grip he has on the railing loosens and he can look back at Ishimaru without wanting to punch his face in. "It's alright," He might be saying that more to himself than to Ishimaru, "it's fine. Point is that's what I remember happening to you. I can't explain it any better than that, but if you don't remember it, maybe it wasn't you. Or maybe it was some other version of you? Fuck if I know."

Ishimaru swallows hard before nodding, still refusing to make eye contact at all. "It...it had to have been some other version - that's the only thing that makes sense! We're going to go back and fix everything, remember?"

He steps back, folding his arms again; he has no idea what to do with his hands, that much is obvious, and it isn't long before one of them has fluttered awkwardly back near his face, and he's quick to rest his chin on the heel of his hand.

"Everything is going to be all right, you'll see."

He glances at Ishimaru again and a wave of guilt washes over him. Ishimaru's afraid he's going to lash out, isn't he? He would never hurt his aniki (despite wanting to punch him a minute ago) and the fact that Ishimaru is worried about that really bothers him.

"Yeah. It'll be fine." He smiles and claps a hand to Ishimaru's shoulder reassuringly. "I mean, c'mon, there's no way that can actually happen, right? I mean, fuck, your-- his eyes were literally on fucking fire, there's no fucking way something that crazy could happen back home!"

There are a lot of ways that could have gone, really; strangely, however, it didn't seem to have occurred to him that Mondo might actually hit him. Ishimaru's concern was honestly more that Mondo would just decide that he didn't want to deal with this anymore - which is something that Ishimaru has gotten over in the past, true, though not without more than its share of tears, but that sort of thing has never come from someone that he could actually say, in all certainty, was his friend. He's immensely grateful that it hasn't happened now and that Mondo seems to be relaxing again, and he doesn't flinch away from that hand on his shoulder.

"Right - and even without that, I've never had any sort of episode like that! With the entire...different-personality business, I mean!"

This is completely avoiding the initial point and he knows it; if it really wasn't him and was just some bizarre alternate version, then why is he blanking out so hard when it comes to those three days? He knows he shouldn't just leave that alone; at the same time, how badly does he really want to know?

It's fine for now, surely.

"Yeah, that would just be weird!" Mondo agrees, nodding. He knows this isn't addressing the initial concern, that Ishimaru doesn't remember those three days, but he's not sure he really wants to talk about that. He squeezes Ishimaru's shoulder reassuringly before letting go, turning back to look out the window.

"It was pretty fucking weird anyway, so who knows, maybe it was just a dream or something?" It had certainly felt real, but if it was a dream, that would explain all the craziness that happened during those three days.

"Ah, maybe..." He shifts his gaze when Mondo does, returning to staring out the window; the scenery is actually looking kind of normal until he catches it, a slight jittering just at the edges of his vision.

Huh...

"Are you seeing that, aniki? Once in a while things go strange - is it doing that to you, too?"

It sounds something like a nonsequitur, but he's going somewhere with it, trust him.

"Huh? Yeah, where things just suddenly... change at the edges of your vision? That's what you're talking about, right?"

Mondo sounds relieved; he thought it was just his vision doing that, but if he's not the only one then that means that there's something wrong with the world not his vision. ...Which probably shouldn't be that much of a relief, now that he thinks about it.

"Yes, that!"

Honestly, he's not sure if he's more pleased or disturbed that it's happening to someone else; at least they're not both crazy, which is a good thing!

"I know you and Alice-san have said that we're in some sort of video game, but that isn't something that's physically possible - you yourself said you don't know how that would work." He tilts his head a bit. "If anything, though, this is making it look like we're in some sort of simulation..."

"Oh, yeah, that could be it! Though how did they get us out of Hope's Peak if it is a simulation?" Mondo wonders aloud, frowning a bit at the scenery. He notices it glitch again and he tries to ignore it. "Yeah, it would make sense if this was some sort of simulation..."

"How did we get into the situation in the academy to begin with? We just fainted and woke up to find that everything had changed; if it happened once, it can happen again!"

He's aware there are logical holes in the presented scenario large enough to drive a tank through; at the same time, the other options regarding what's going on are absolutely crazy. Not quite as crazy as this other personality of his that he didn't even know he had, with the flames and the white hair and the...creepy, but still, pretty crazy.

Mondo frowns at that. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he can see where that argument has holes. "Yeah, but at least we were all going to the school. This is a completely different world, aniki."

"Aniki, if it comes down to deciding whether I believe we're in some sort of simulated reality or we're in a completely different dimension, one of those makes much more logical sense than the other!"

"Well, yeah, but how do you explain all the people from other places? Or like that one guy you met who's from the past?"

"...Who's to say they all exist?"

He glances back out at the city for a moment; he really wishes it would stop twitching like that, it's making him strangely anxious.

"I'll keep an eye on a few of the ones I know; if they start experiencing differences as well, then that'll prove something, won't it?"

"Fuck, I hadn't thought of it like that..." Mondo really doesn't like that idea, that everything here could be some sort of program rather than an actual person. He wants to say that Ishimaru's thinking too in-depth about this, but now that he's had it pointed out to him, he can't stop seeing it.

"Yeah, I guess it will. Shit, this is crazy."

...Welcome to his life, Mondo...

"Yes, I know it is. We'll work it out in time, though - I'm sure of it! For now, just try to forget whatever happened this weekend; it was probably nothing, a result of whatever's happening now!"

"Yeah, that makes sense!" And quite frankly, he's glad to have an excuse to forget all about it. "We don't have to worry about that at all, then. Good, 'cause I'd hate to see that happen to you!" Especially as a result of his own death.

"It won't."

His words are surprisingly sharp at that; he'd been doing so well but now he's thinking about it, and the fact that this...thing Mondo had been speaking to remembered Naegi-kun and being here in general really doesn't sound promising.

His posture is tight when he continues; he'll have to see how well he can do with forgetting all of this himself.

"If all else fails, one of us can ask Naegi-kun about it, I suppose, though he's already been through so much..."

Mondo glances back over at Ishimaru. He's a bit surprised by how forceful Ishimaru sounds about that, but he nods anyway. "Yeah. I'm sure it won't." He's not sure at all.

"Maybe we should hold off on asking Naegi. I mean, we've asked him a hell of a lot already and I wouldn't be surprised if he just wanted to forget all about what happened in Hope's Peak, y'know?"

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