Yasuhiro Hagakure (
crystalballer) wrote in
route_10652013-08-22 10:11 pm
Roughing It!
Who: Leon Kuwata (
struck_out) and Yasuhiro Hagakure (
crystalballer)
Where: from Route 29 to Violet City
When: starting 8/20, how quickly they get to Violet may vary
Summary: Leon and Hagakure's misadventures on the way to Violet City! This'll contain Dangan Ronpa spoilers.
Rating: PG-13 for Leon's foul mouth and discussion of death.
Where: from Route 29 to Violet City
When: starting 8/20, how quickly they get to Violet may vary
Summary: Leon and Hagakure's misadventures on the way to Violet City! This'll contain Dangan Ronpa spoilers.
Rating: PG-13 for Leon's foul mouth and discussion of death.

night of 8/20, somewhere in the middle of Route 29
Once it's all set up and they have a fire going with the help of Leon's Chimchar, Hagakure lays back in the grass to take a good look at the sky. It's absolutely beautiful tonight. Since there are no clouds to be seen, a sea of stars blankets the sky.]
Man...when you're locked up without seeing the outside for so long, you realize how easily a sight like this is taken for granted.
[He glances over in Leon's direction and is suddenly hit with a brilliant idea.]
Hey Kuwata-chi, have you ever had your fortune told?
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I like blue skies better, but star's are cool too.
[...a fortune? Leon glances at Hagakure's direction suspiciously.]
If you're asking me to get a reading from you, the answer's no. I'm not gonna pay a million yen for a damn reading. What do you think I am, stupid?
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So he gets somewhat excited when Leon actually engages in conversation this time, even though Leon's comment about his reading prices offends him.]
Hey man, the price is totally worth it when my predictions come true!
[Surprisingly, he ends up laughing it off. He props himself up with his arms and turns his gaze back at the starry sky.]
But nah, I was gonna ask if you wanted one on the house. For real, I'm not messing with you. It'll be completely free, dude.
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This ain't a trick is it? Like, I'm not gonna confess to anything I didn't do just so you can tell everyone else.
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Come on Kuwata-chi, have a little faith in me here. I have a client confidentiality policy, so I'm not gonna go tell everyone. It'll be just between you and me.
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No harm in trying, right?
So Leon sits up and faces Hagakure properly.]
...this better be good.
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He rises into a cross-legged position facing directly across from Leon.]
Okay, first off I'm gonna need your birthday. Month, day, year, the whole works. If you happen to know the specific time, that's even better, but I'm not gonna hold it against you if you don't know. And then of course, what you want to know about. You're allowed to ask for specific things with this kind of divination.
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...and I guess I wanna know what I need to do here. S'not like I wanna be a Pokemon Trainer but I don't know what else is there to do here.
[No more musicians, that's for sure.]
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All right. Just gimme a couple minutes, okay?
[With that, he takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and starts mumbling some sort of unintelligible chant. He stops to take a good look at the stars above every now and then before returning to his chanting. Since this is a different world, it's pretty difficult to get a proper reading of the stars right now, but eventually he is able to come up with something.
When he gets into the reading, he starts explaining about certain planets being in certain houses and areas of particular zodiac signs. It's probably difficult to understand for those not familiar with astrology, but he eventually gets into the more simple explanations.]
So what the stars are telling me is this: Some old wounds are gonna get opened and you're gonna want to try to patch them up because if you don't, it's only gonna make things worse for you. And what I mean by old wounds doesn't really have to do with what happened earlier today, but it kinda does at the same time. You've developed a fear of something you used to enjoy, and it's something that's gonna be really difficult to overcome if you try to face it alone.
[He realizes that sounds pretty bleak, but that's legitimately what he's getting from his reading.]
1/??
Ok, calm down Leon, don't panic. Panicking is bad, it's what made you pick bad life decisions before so let's just....try and do the Kirigiri thing, OK? Thinking.]
2/??
1. Picking up girls.
2. Dating girls.
3. Being cool.
4. Picking up even more girls.
5. Punk Rock?
6. Baseball? NAH. It's not like he actually wants to play baseball. Nope.So, going through this list...what are the odds that he's developed a fear of girls, being cool and punk rock? He spoke with a few girls on the Pokegear earlier and he didn't feel any fear at all. Being cool is part of who he is and he's definitely, definitely not scared of being cool because which moron is, and while he's definitely lost a bit of passion for being any sort of musician, it's not like he's going to freak out from listening to a bit of Sex Pistols, right?
Therefore, considering all the evidence and information...]
3/3
[He's...pretty confident of that, yeap.]
It's a good thing I don't really believe in all this fortune telling bullshit because man, that sounds like one shit reading anyway.
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He sighs and shakes his head. Well this is going to be a fun night.]
It's fine if you don't want to accept the reading since it's only a suggestion, but can you not call my work bullshit? 'cause it's not.
But seriously though, it'd be a good idea to face it because you're not gonna like the consequences if you don't.
[He seems genuinely worried, since he's had clients ignore his warnings before and it didn't end up pretty.]
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The future's what'cha make it to be. If you don't step in and take control of it yourself, then you're just gonna end up doing whatever anyone tells you to do. Where's the fun in listening to predictions, huh? That'd be like, taking orders from fate or something.
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You're talking to the Super High-School Level Fortune Teller. Of course I believe it is. It's as real as this world!
[... Okay maybe that wasn't the best comparison since he's not 100% sure this world is real.
But he gets serious for this second part, because it kind of hits home to him. He crosses his arms, glancing up at the sky.]
I do get that though. Near the end at Hope's Peak, I got a vision that I was better off staying in the school rather than going out to face the world and what could've happened to it. But that was the first time I ignored a vision. I decided my own path, and I ended up here. The Fates never could've predicted that, I'll tell you!
[He moves his focus back to Leon, the look on his face completely serious.]
That ended up being the best for me, but in this case Kuwata-chi, I really think it'd be best to listen to what the stars are saying. If you ignore it, I don't think you'll be able to get over it as easily, dude. It'll just make the impact worse.
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There's just one big problem with this prediction of yours: I'm not afraid of anything I like! I mean, I spoke to some girls on the network and nothing happened. And how the hell is punk rock supposed to scare me? All I've got to listen to here is this kiddy shit but there's no way that punk rock will ever make me afraid.
Look, all that stuff you told me about planets and stars...I don't give a fuck, not here and not back home, but we're in a Pokemon game. How do you even know that you're reading the right stuff?
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Yeah, I wondered that myself. The planets I'm used to reading are definitely really far away so my reading could be off...
[He sighs. This is going nowhere so even though he's annoyed by Leon completely brushing him off, he may as well end the subject right now.]
If you're sure you're okay, maybe you won't have to worry about anything then, Kuwata-chi.
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[Leon settles into a stony silence for a few minutes, but something Hagakure said bothers him, and Leon's always be one to speak his mind. A few cricket chirps later and eventually he poses a question.]
Hey. So, if you're fortune-telling gig doesn't work anymore...what are you gonna do here?
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[Seriously why would you even bring up the idea of that happening, Kuwata-chi.
As they sit in silence, Hagakure lets his mind wander to thoughts about his abilities in this world. Funny enough, Leon must have been thinking about it too because to Hagakure, that question comes out of left field. The expression on his face is one of those deer in the headlights ones. His heart even sinks a little bit because Leon just vocalized the the fear that had just planted itself in his mind.]
W-What do you mean? It's gonna work out just fine, dude! If this place has Psychic type Pokemon, then people are always gonna be seekin' out fortune tellers, right?
no subject
Calm down man! It ain't the end of the world. Though maybe you just have to relearn fortune-telling here then. Wonder if there's Pokemon card reading somewhere. Bet you'd be all over that, huh, Hagakure?
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[Hagakure tries to calm himself down a bit. It's okay if some methods of divination are rustier than others. He has plenty of backups. He just needs to drill that into his head.]
Yeah, at least for astromancy I'd have to learn the planets closer to this one. My other methods should still work okay. [And since Leon brought it up,] Like Tarot reading, yeah! It'd be awesome if they have that here too, dude.
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[He's still trying to play it cool, because it's not like he and Hagakure are friends, but once his positive feelings are out, their out and rolling.]
...tell me when you get your fortune-telling fixed huh? I didn't get a proper reading, 'cause your skills are broken or something, so you still owe me!
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[While he doesn't appreciate the claim that his skills are broken, Hagakure's glad to see Leon looking somewhat happy for the first time since they got here.]
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Maybe he wasn't as mad as he thought he was. At least at Hagakure. The initial flash of temper this morning had been on impulse, but now that he's had some time to think about it it had been an over-reaction. Hagakure may have voted to kill him, but Hagakure said he'd been scared right? Just like how he'd been scared himself when he stabbed Maizono.
He hadn't really been thinking then either.
...he was kinda tired. And thinking about all that had happened, and what it means for him and everyone else...that was tiring.
With an exaggerated yawn, he stretches his arms and sits up.]
I think I'm gonna go sleep. This travelling thing's tiring.
Make sure that snake thing of yours is inside it's ball. I don't want it to start yelling at us at some goddamn early hour in the morning.
Night Hagakure.
[And with that, he's going to retreat to his sleeping bag.]
no subject
Oh, turning in already, Kuwata-chi? All right then. I think I'll be up for a little while longer. And haha, don't worry, dude. I'll make sure. I don't wanna get up super early either.
[He'd almost forgotten about their (well, Ishimaru's) giant water dragon snoozing out in the field beside them. Who would've thought something that ferocious would be such a peaceful sleeper?
He gives a little wave as Leon heads off.]
G'night, dude. Catch you in the morning.
[With Leon tucked in, Hagakure stays up for a while, just gazing at the stars and pondering about what to do with himself in this world. He also wonders what sort of Pokemon he'll run across and end up with in the future. Oddly enough, he wasn't getting any telling visions about that topic.
Eventually the fire starts to die down to mere embers, and Hagakure decides to call it a night. He puts the Gyarados back in its ball and tucks it safely in his bag with his Elgyem's ball. He then ties back his monster of a hairdo into a manageable ponytail and crawls into his own sleeping bag. Sleep takes hold of him rather quickly; it's been a long day, after all.
What crazy things will tomorrow bring? They'll just have to find out!]
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It's sometime around twilight that Hagakure should be awaken with a loud scream and a crash, followed by uneven and heavy footsteps. Leon's flaming red hair is bright enough for Hagakure to find him crouched over the ground not too far from the campsite, fists curled so tight that Hagakure should be able to hear them pop. Leon's facing the ground but even if Hagakure can't see how terrified he is, he should hear the loud and deep gasps and breaths he's taking. Leon's shaking uncontrollably, teeth all a-chatter and he doesn't look like he's going to be stopping anytime soon.]
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K-Kuwata-chi!! Are you okay?!
[Finally he frees himself and stumbles to his feet in a panic. However, it doesn't take him long to find his classmate hunched over by the long-dead campfire.]
Kuwata-chi?
[He calls out, but when he doesn't get a response, he creeps closer to Leon. Eventually, he catches the sound of his heavy breathing, then sees the shaking. He frowns as the feeling of dread and concern begin building up in his system. Oh no, what's going on now?
He awkwardly leans over Leon to show his classmate that he's not alone.]
Kuwata-chi...what happened, man?
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It was only a dream. A terrifying nightmare, but it was still just a dream. So why the hell was his heart beating so fast? His whole body is just screaming at him to run, but his legs have folded and they refuse to move. And what is he even running from?
He can't think. He can't think at all. All he can feel? Is fear, fear coursing through his veins and flooding his entire system. And it's locking him in place.
The dream's over, but it looks like the nightmare hasn't ended.]
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Hagakure carefully places a hand on Leon's shoulder.]
C'mon man, talk to me here. What happened?
[He doesn't ask for Leon to calm down because he knows that's only going to rile him up more. While he's definitely worried, he doesn't want to make the situation worse. He just wants to get Leon talking so he can hopefully get him to feel okay.]
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[Hagakure's hand makes contact, but a split second later, Leon's already smacked it off his shoulder and shot Hagakure a wild, angry look. But it seems Hagakure's attempt seems to have somewhat...worked? Because despite what looked like a rejection, Leon's suddenly scrambling to his feet and running back towards the camp-site.
The shakes have lessened enough for him to scrabble through his backpack, and eventually he pulls out...a baseball bat.]
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But he did not expect the baseball bat coming out of nowhere. Before he can react to Leon running off, Hagakure's staring down the kid holding a bat with a crazed look in his eyes.
The only natural reaction is to freaking panic, right? Complete and utter fear has taken him over. It's exactly like his meeting with Sakura when he genuinely feared for his life. But he's not going to react the way he did then. He doesn't want to fight back. He could be getting the whole situation wrong.
Hagakure rises to his feet with his hands in front of him like the defensive stance is actually going to help him if Leon attacks.]
K-Kuwata-chi, put down the bat, okay? You're really freaking me out, dude!
[Seriously, didn't you just say you weren't going to take a bat to him hours ago?]
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Leon throws one at Hagakure, or rather at Hagakure's feet, before he takes a batter stance. His shakes have diminished into a slight tremble, and he's finally able to control himself enough to speak.]
Ha...Hagakure. T-throw it at, at m-m-me.
[His hands curl harder around the bat as a drop of sweat trickled down his brow; he feels far from fine, far from wanting to bat, but...he needs to test this. He needs to know if Hagakure's prediction is right.]
Throw the d-damn ball, Hagakure!
no subject
Are...are you sure about this dude? What's gotten into you?
[Why does he want to play baseball at a time like this? Isn't he supposed to hate baseball anyway? So why does he have a bat and baseball on him...
But, well...Leon seems pretty persistent about this, so after looking at the baseball in his hand, then back to Leon, he nods and throws the ball at his classmate with a decent amount of force put into it.]
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That's when Leon stepped up to the plate. Confident, cock-sure of his ability to bring this game home.
The pitcher's definitely uncomfortable with this change in batters, as he rightly should be. Leon flashed a grin at him; an irritating, shit-eating grin that he knew would rile up his opponent because it just dripped of confidence and arrogance. And the sweet thing was that there was no way he'd have that smirk wiped off his face. Leon Kuwata was born to play baseball; God had, for some reason, given him this legendary talent to not only play, but feel the game with every nerve, reflex and bone in his body.
Leon Kuwata felt confident of victory. And that was all he ever needed to win his games.
He got into position. Tapped the bat on the ground and did an experimental swing before he readied himself. But really, it's all just for show, he could hit any ball even with his eyes closed. Maybe he should try actually doing that today? Just to rub it into the opposing team's face? And it'd give people something to talk about too, how cool Leon Kuwata is that he can hit a homerun even without looking. Yeah, he could try that.
So Leon closed his eyes. And waited. He could hear his coach screaming at him from somewhere but he didn't care. If you wanted him to play the game, then you let him play it his way. He could almost imagine the look of shock on the batter's face, before it switched to a look of hope as the poor sap pulls his arm back and lobbed the ball at him hard and fast.
In baseball, it's all about the timing. And Leon knows this timing like the back of his hand. Even with his eyes closed he can see that ball flying closer and closer to him. It's an easy pitch; the guy should be ashamed that he ever underestimated Japan's Super All-Star player.
But just as he's about to swing, to make that golden hit that would launch his name into further fame and stardom, a voice emerges in the darkness.
"This time, I prepared a special punishment for Leon Kuwata, the Super High-school Level Baseball Player!!"
Immediately, his eyes opened with shock. And he's no longer at the stadium surrounded by dotting friends. Nor is he at the campsite with Hagakure.
No, he's somewhere far worse.
NONONONONONONONONO!!
"Let’s give it our best! It’s punishment time!"
And that's when everything fasts forwards itself, like a video gone on crazy rewind. And Leon, Leon remembers, no, relives, every moment of his last two days alive. His body locks itself; he can't move, can't speak, he's not even sure he's breathing. He's just...paralysed as his life crumbles to the ground again and he's being dragged by chains and tied up to the post and then that machines starting up and Monobears there dressed in a baseball outfit with a bat and grins at him with that same shit-eating grin he wore on his face everytime he wiped the floor with someone, that's when he sinks into nothing but utter and true despair.
The ball Hagakure throws at him whistles by Leon innocently, knocking into a tree and bouncing back onto the ground with a simple thud. The bat slips from his grasp and crashes to the ground as Leon Kuwata crashes out of the game, and out of his life. There's no scream, but there might as well be as his knees buckle and he falls to the ground, shaking all over and fingers dug hard into the earth. It's a terrible, silent scream that's echoed in the ultimate despair that's splashed all across his face. A terrible, terrible scream over a terrible, terrible realisation.
Hagakure was right.
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The worst part about it all is Hagakure's quickly able to figure out what caused this. His prediction had actually come true. This was the fear that Leon had acquired, and it showed itself in a terrible way. Even though Leon said he hates baseball, it's clearly still something important to him, and after what happened at Hope's Peak, all it can cause him is utter despair. For one of the few times in Hagakure's life, he wishes his prediction had been wrong.
He's seen that look on Leon's face before, too. Ishimaru was paralyzed with that expression for quite some time after Mondo's execution, and he never actually got better from it. He ended up becoming Ishida instead of getting better. What if that's going to happen to Leon?
No, that can't happen. Leon might not be the nicest kid or the easiest to get along with, and he did do a terrible thing before his death, but he still doesn't deserve this. It's what Hagakure's learned from surviving Hope's Peak and listening to what Naegi had said about the Mastermind being the true cause of all the horrible things that happened.
With that in mind, Hagakure immediately rushes over to Leon and kneels down in front of him. He practically shouts so Leon can hear him loud and clear.]
Ku-Kuwata-chi!! I know you're not okay right now, but at least say something! Stay with me, dude!!
[He tries to make himself sound composed but he's really not. He's scared out of his mind.]
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But somehow, just knowing that Hagakure was there...that helped a bit. It couldn't stop his heart from racing at a million miles an hour, but at least he wasn't alone to deal with this.
It takes around half a minute before Leon's calmed down enough to speak. And when he does, it's with ragged breath and a stutter.]
W-what the fuck...w-was t-t-that?
[Leon clamped his mouth shut and swallowed hard; maybe he shouldn't talk till he stopped shaking. He sat back down on the ground and clasped his hands around his knees hard, hoping, somehow, that he could stop with the jitters.
What the hell was wrong with him?]
no subject
Hagakure sighs, relieved that Leon isn't totally gone just yet. He wouldn't know what to do if he had to somehow get Leon to Violet in a state like that. But Leon's not out of the woods yet. He still has to get through what happened, and that could take a while. At least he's not alone for it.
To Leon's question, all Hagakure can do is bow his head from guilt.]
I think it was my prediction coming true, dude...
[He can't even bring himself to say, "I told you to listen." He wishes the prediction didn't come true at all because even if Leon did listen, it still wouldn't be an easy thing to deal with. But it looks like he's going to have to deal now, otherwise he's never going to get better.
He shifts to sit beside Leon, keeping his gaze to the ground. He's pretty sure Leon wouldn't want him to just sit and watch him like that.]
We can talk about that later though. Do you think you're gonna be okay for now? Not like, okay okay, but...y'know what I mean.
no subject
Just like his execution.
The thought chills him to the bone. It looks like he's going to be carrying something heavier than a guilty conscience and an angry outlook towards his former classmates.
Leon Kuwata, the Super High School Level Baseball Player...is afraid of baseball.
With a moan, he buries his head within his knees, despair returning in full force to haunt him. Even away from the school, he's not free from its influence.]
no subject
After sitting in silence with Leon for a minute, he tries the hand on Leon's back again.]
Sorry dude, I'm no good at this... But remember what I said earlier tonight. You don't gotta face it alone, okay?
no subject
Hagakure's support is a lifeline at this point. If he'd made this discovery by himself, there's no telling how badly he'd have flipped out. His Chimchar would've stayed in his Pokeball, unable to help his trainer. There would be no one else around either. It'd just be Leon with his nightmares and fears, all by himself in the darkness.
There's no answer from him. But he doesn't move to shake Hagakure off this time. All he wants at this moment, is to not be alone. Because then there'd be no one around but Monokuma's haunting laughter to keep him company.]
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When the sun begins to peek over the horizon, Hagakure can barely keep himself awake, and he's sure Leon must be very tired as well. That horrible event probably completely wiped them both out.
With a bit of persuasion, he's able to help Leon back to the sleeping bags to try to sleep just a little more so they won't be dead tired for their continued journey to Cherrygrove. He assures Leon that if the nightmares come back to just wake him up and they can sit it out again. He doesn't mind at all.
Finally, they are able to get back to sleep. With that long night out of the way and Leon's fears out in the open, hopefully things can go smoother from here on and they can work things out when Leon is ready to.]