I RETURN!
I was… confused, for a very long time, about what to do with this chapter. And also very busy adjusting to a new job, at that. But I hope it came out well. Enjoy!
The Future Foundation, Part Six
"Hinata-chan… Hinata-chan… Hinata-chan, what's the plan?"
Enoshima's last three words were in English, so Hinata had no idea what she was talking about. It couldn't be anything good, though. He groaned, but didn't pay her any more mind – he wasn't in the mood to get lectured by her again.
He was trying to cross the bottom floor of wherever-this-was and get back to the second floor stairway, but Enoshima had been just as hard to tote around as he'd expected. For one thing, he was chained to her in some very awkward places, and the chains themselves were difficult to carry. For another, she was a very unpredictable guest. She might be conciliatory for a second – and then suddenly she'd stop, and wouldn't budge until she'd said whatever inane thing was on her mind.
"I actually already know the plan," Enoshima said, during one of the stops. "I was just looking to get the rhyme down. Did you know there's a special kind of despair in wordplay? Don't you just groan inside whenever someone makes a pun? And an interlingual pun in a language you don't speak? It's the kind of thing that clears my acne and balances my checkbook. You know?"
Hinata didn't answer, and indeed had no plans to speak to her at all, not unless he had to. He pulled once on her chain, sharply, to signal her to move.
"Oh, look at you," Enoshima droned, in that slow, halting way she did sometimes. "Mister Big Tough Angry Boy, so beyond help that you're not going to acknowledge my puns, even if it means endangering your friends…"
He wanted to tell her to shut up, but he didn't want to break his silence, because that would mean letting her win. He knew exactly where he was going, and if she was going to try and tell him that he was the problem when she was only holding him back…
"If you think Nanami-chan knew where the exit was, don't you think she would have told you before you went wandering off?" Enoshima said. "Not that it matters, of course. I can tell you all about the exit, but only if you get down on your hands and knees and lick my shoes. Or… oh, you'd have to kiss my feet, wouldn't you. I just remembered I'm not wearing shoes…"
Hinata hoped his silence was enough of an answer to that as he started up the stairs. Even if there was no exit, he'd still find a way. He always had, and he always would.
"Oh, never mind," Enoshima said, as they approached the stairs. "I wouldn't want your lips there anyway, not unless you buy me dinner first. Of course, you do already have me tied up..."
This time, Hinata had to try hard not to respond, or just to bark at her to leave him alone. "You really aren't going to let me have any fun, are you?" she groaned. "Tell you what, Hinata-kun. It's a farce. There is no entrance or exit. There's only a conduit, a point where the digital signatures of your avatar get transmitted from one point to another without any of the pretense of a door that needs to be passed through. Doesn't that sound convenient? Isn't it perfect for a place that needs an entrance, but no exit? It's everywhere and nowhere, too. That's the important part. You can't actually find it unless you have the proper keys…"
Hinata had stopped listening to her around the point where she started talking about "digital signatures". Or at least, he'd tried, with varying levels of success.
"Ho', you still don't believe me," Enoshima said, her voice suddenly low and haughty. "No, no. At this point, you do, don't you? That this is a place where the laws of reality don't apply?"
He did. Of course he believed her. Something about this place was very wrong, had been from day one, and the only explanation he could think of was that they'd been taken somewhere else, and fallen through the cracks of reality somehow.
But if they had… Nanami had already admitted that she was the traitor. And he trusted Nanami, and relied on her about as much as he feared and hated Enoshima. If Nanami had anything to tell him about this world – and she might, now that he'd figured something out – then he wanted to hear it from her, and not anyone else. (Or, at least, he wanted to count on her patience in dealing with difficult people, if she still had any to spare.)
As he got closer to the landing he heard a strange, faint humming sound, one that sounded exactly like a pair of human voices filtered through a thick wall. This was alarming in and of itself, given that he'd left Nanami alone, but as he got closer the voices grew more distinct – and then he hit the second floor, and found that the door to her room was ajar.
"…can't say for sure where he's gone," the first voice said. Even from a distance, he could tell this was Nanami. "But he was very agitated, and he didn't seem to want to leave at first. He kept saying he had to, and before I knew it he was gone…"
"And what makes you think that his whereabouts are a priority? If he has any designs on interfering, then I'll deal with him when the time comes, and not at any time before."
This second voice… even distorted by distance, there was something about it that disturbed Hinata to his very core. Was it the roughness of what it was saying, or the cold, cruel tone?
"He's not a threat," Nanami said.
"You're naïve and underexposed, and you should have recognized that in yourself before you had any notion of trusting Hinata or anyone else," the second voice said. "You've never seen them as they really are."
"That's not who they are anymore."
"You've seen enough to know that you're willfully deluding yourself. I would have thought you were programmed better than that. The second chance they had was hard enough to arrange. They won't be getting a third."
The voice grew louder as Hinata came closer, and with every step he tried to tell himself that it wasn't as familiar as he knew it was. But as much as he wanted to deny it, and as much as he wanted to tell himself that there should be any other explanation…
He was still trying to justify himself when he turned the corner and opened the door wider, stepping in silently with Enoshima in tow.
"Hinata-kun…" Nanami's eyes went wide at the sight of him. She was still on the bed, and looked pretty shaken and pale on top of her injuries. But Hinata's attention was locked on the person seated at her side – a slender young man in a well-tailored black suit, looking very much like he didn't belong in the ridiculously gaudy chair.
Hinata supposed he should have been surprised to see Byakuya Togami. Or angry, or overjoyed, or something. But he felt nothing. Nothing at all. The only reaction he could get out of himself was a soft "oh" that he couldn't stop.
Was it because he found everything about him so familiar, even if it wasn't the Togami he'd known? His hair was a lighter shade of blond than the Impostor's had been, and his eyes a darker shade of blue, and the shape of his face was entirely different… but everything else was the same, apart, of course, from his size. But his posture, and his bearing, and the way he held his arms folded across his chest, and even the style and shape of his glasses… they were all exactly the same, as close to a perfect match as any human could get.
"You're…" Hinata's throat felt like sandpaper. "Are y –"
"You." Togami pushed himself up from the chair and stomped across the room, a disarmingly familiar look of rage in his eyes. But he wasn't looking at Hinata – he was looking at Enoshima, and he was getting angrier with every step.
If Enoshima was at all fazed by this behavior, she didn't show it. In fact, she brightened, and gave Togami a wide grin. "Heeeey, Togami-kun!" she said as he approached. "How's it been, long time no see! I'd reach out and hug ya, but as you can see I'm a little tied up…"
Togami did not answer her. Instead, he grabbed her round the head and pushed her against the nearest wall, yanking Hinata around by the arm as he went.
"Oh, you don't like that joke?" Enoshima said. "Should I make a different one?"
"I don't want to hear another word out of you unless I ask it," Togami said.
"That's a pretty foolhardy thing you just did," Enoshima said. "For all you know I could destroy you with a thought."
"Don't pretend I don't know your rules."
"That's fair," Enoshima said. "And even if I didn't have them, well, if I COULD destroy that fat oaf with a thought, we wouldn't have gotten to this point to begin with –"
"And you," Togami said, speaking over Enoshima as he turned to face Hinata. "What was the name of your previous school?"
"Huh-?!"
"Answer me," he growled. "What was the name of your previous school?"
Hinata gulped, and then answered the question, stumbling a bit over all the syllables. "Though I don't know why you need to know…"
"It's a security question," Nanami mumbled. "He wants to be sure you're really who you look like you are –"
"Where did you find this?" Togami interrupted. His words were slow and measured, in the most terrifying of ways. "And why have you brought it here?"
He was a little taller than the Impostor, Hinata noticed. It couldn't be by much, but he still felt like Togami towered over him in a way that the Impostor never had, even given the difference in their bulk. In a way the little difference was a comfort. It made him think of the person he'd known, the Super High School Level Impostor, as an independent human being again, for the first time in days.
He couldn't lose his composure, especially not now. "She was downstairs," he said. "In the Octagon. She was chained to the wall, and she said –"
"They completely overrode my systems," Enoshima interrupted. "Kicked me right out from under Alter Ego's nose! And then they stripped me of all my cute cosmetic applications and locked me up. Oh, but first they tried to kill me, of course. Think it might've been a lot less drama if they'd succeeded?"
Hinata could tell Togami was trying hard to keep his composure; he'd seen the Impostor do the same thing so many times. But his surprise was still unmistakable, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
"How?" he said. "How did they do it?"
"Ehhhhhhhhh." Enoshima shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't understand this mumbo-jumbo any better than you do."
"But that's… they couldn't." Togami furrowed his brow in anger. "Unless…"
"Unless, what?" Hinata gave both Enoshima and Togami curious looks. "What do you mean, 'overrode your systems'?"
"I mean exactly what I said, Hinata-kun," Enoshima said. "In more technical terms –"
"In more technical terms, you're wasting our time," Togami interrupted, tightening his grip on Enoshima. "I've established control and ensured the safety of Foundation personnel. I don't require anything else from you except arrival at the rendezvous point – and even that isn't strictly necessary."
He aimed this last remark directly at Hinata. Apparently he'd irritated Togami just enough in two sentences to make an enemy of him.
"You're still wasting time trying to hide what you did here," Enoshima said. "I already told him that Naegi-kun is going to flap his gums."
Togami tensed, clenching and unclenching his free fist. "That… will be Naegi's prerogative," he said. "Every moment we spend here is a moment we're letting that fool think they're still in control. According to the entry protocols, I was the last to arrive, and they probably already know I'm here. Whatever reason they had for goading us into coming here, our window for eliminating it is very short."
He grabbed Enoshima's chain out of Hinata's hand – with a lot more force than Hinata had expected – and looped it around his own. "We need to be in a position to execute the Override as soon as we have the opportunity," he said. "Nanami, get up. We need to get to the ruins as soon as possible."
A sharp pain seared through Hinata's arm as the rope that he'd tied around his wrist tightened around what was probably a vein. Togami had either not noticed or not cared, and while he spoke Hinata tried his best to undo the knots around his wrist. He was still struggling when Togami turned back to him. "Will we have to wait on you to finish?"
"No, it's –" Hinata winced as he undid the last loop, but his now-free hand moved immediately to the carabiner around his belt. He was about to try and tell Togami off for nearly cutting his circulation when he caught Nanami moving out of the corner of his eye. She was clutching at the multi-colored bedside table in an effort to steady herself as she got out of the bed.
Hinata tightened his grip on the carabiner. "Look – I know we're in a hurry, but Nanami can barely walk," he said, his voice dry and raspy. "There's no way she's going to get all the way to the ruins."
Togami stared blankly at Hinata, as though he'd just spoken another language, but this didn't stop him at all. "I mean, I'm not stopping you, but I can stay here with her," he said, moving to the side of the bed. "Or we can get her to the hospital, it's on the third island, I can show you where it –"
"I know where the hospital is," Togami said, enunciating every word with care and precision. "And we're not going there, as we have no need."
"No need?" Hinata gestured at Nanami, and then looked back just to make sure that he really was seeing a heavily injured girl struggling even to stand. "But –"
"There really is no need, Hinata-kun," Nanami said. "I have to go to the ruins."
"Wh – but – " Hinata could feel his heart breaking as he looked into Nanami's steady glance. "Nanami, really, you don't have to just do what this guy says."
"Hinata-kun…" Nanami looked meekly up at Togami, and then fell silent.
Togami gave Nanami only a cursory glance before he refocused on Hinata. "Am I really hearing this kind of nonsense from you?" he said. "Did you really come stomping in, with this in tow for me to deal with, and think that your decisions are informed on any level?"
"Togami-kun, please," Nanami said. "He couldn't have known who she was."
"That doesn't change anything. If you care about living that much, then let me tell you this. You're acting blindly against forces you barely understand, and you're not making any more progress in understanding them by acting out against me." Togami's eyes narrowed. "I am doing all that I can for the sake of a possible future. That is all the explanation I have to give in our limited span of time. Do you understand? If you do, then I shouldn't expect any more out of your mouth."
"No… I really don't understand," Hinata said. "But if it means keeping my friends safe…"
"It will only mean that if we get moving," Togami said. "I imagine you don't want to hold us back."
He eyed the carabiner at Hinata's waist, which Hinata still gripped tightly. For a second Hinata wanted to keep it on, just to spite Togami… but when he couldn't figure out just why he wanted to spite him so badly in the first place, a strange numbness washed over him, and he unhooked it from his belt loop.
"See? Now, that wasn't hard." He gave Enoshima's chain a sharp tug, and with only a minimum of mocking "Bark, bark!" noises Enoshima followed Togami to the door, which he opened and stepped through.
But Enoshima stopped and turned back in the doorway, standing still even as Togami drew her chain taut. "Well, that whole security-fastener deal didn't last long," she said. "This guy, Hinata-kun, I'm telling ya. He's kind of an asshole, isn't he?"
The chain pulled hard against Enoshima's wrists, causing her to stumble through the doorway. "Alright, alright!" she shouted, sounding quite a bit nastier than she had a second ago. "Don't rip my fucking arms off! I need those to stay tied to you!"
Hinata slipped over to Nanami's bedside after Enoshima had left, arriving just in time to offer his arm. Nanami took it, but didn't lean against him as she had before. This was alright, Hinata thought, though he had been looking forward to the scant comfort of having another human being close by. He was scared, and tired, and was willing to look for comfort wherever he could get it.
He pulled her forward, and they walked together out of the room, keeping a safe distance behind the other two. By the time they left Togami was already halfway down the next flight of stairs, while Enoshima followed at the greatest distance possible, humming to herself.
"Are you alright?" Hinata said.
"Yeah," Nanami said. "Yes, I'm alright."
"Good," Hinata said. "So…Togami."
"Yes."
"The real Togami."
"Yes."
"He's a member of the Future Foundation."
"He is." Nanami paused. "I'm sorry, Hinata-kun."
"It's alright," Hinata said. "I know you couldn't tell me."
"No," Nanami said. "Even if I could have…"
"Ah." Hinata felt a pang of betrayal, but buried it quickly. "I understand."
He lapsed into silence, but only because he didn't quite know what to say. He'd seen so much, and he had so much at stake, that as much as he wanted to question her more the notion struck him as completely and utterly irresponsible.
Togami and Enoshima had to be on the first floor by the time they reached the stairs, but Hinata could still hear Togami's footfalls, followed by the clanking of Enoshima's chains. He had to be looking for the exit, or otherwise already knew where it was. Either way, he didn't seem to be overly concerned with whether or not Hinata and Nanami were behind him.
An aching shudder ran through Hinata's body. He didn't want to say it, but he was beyond trying not to admit it to himself. He missed the Impostor. He missed them so much. And he would have given anything in that moment to have them guiding them all towards safety instead.
Hinata found himself thinking about the Impostor for a long, long time.
He supposed that they'd left the Fun House at some point, but somehow he couldn't remember the details. They'd definitely been heading for a pair of double doors at the end of a long hallway, doors he hadn't remembered seeing before – but he had no memory of passing through them, or of what was on the other side. He'd come out on the fourth island path with no sense of what he'd gone through to get there.
It felt…
At first it was simply a curious happenstance, as he could swear it had been perfectly sunny an hour ago. But as he went on, he realized just what it was didn't feel right – he'd never seen a single cloud in the sky in all the time he'd been on the island. He'd never even felt any change in the temperature, and yet here he was, shivering in short sleeves as a light wind brushed his shoulders.
As they passed the Mouse Castle, Hinata felt a few drops hit his skin. He was startled, to be sure, but he didn't pay it much mind until he felt them again, and then a few more times. He looked up at the sky, and then back at his feet, where wet spots had appeared on the pavement.
"Tut tut, it looks like rain," Enoshima started to say to herself. "Tut tut, it looks like rain…"
Togami said nothing. Hinata saw him press his hand to his forehead once or twice, likely to wipe away a raindrop, but he never broke his stride or even looked back at the group he was leading.
"It's not a normal thing, is it?" Enoshima said. "Rain, in… this part of the world?"
She looked back and scowled as she was met with more silence. "What's up with that, do you think?" she said. "Something big, perhaps? Something… powerful…?"
"Er…" Hinata furrowed his brow. He swore he'd learned something about this at some point, though he didn't know why he cared. "Tradewinds?"
"Don't talk to her, Hinata," Togami cut in. "You'll only encourage her behavior."
"Ahhhhhhh, just as sunny as ever, huh, Togami-chan?" Enoshima skipped a little closer to her captor, which had to be difficult given her chains. "Hey, remember when I told you about what was happening in the outside world, and you were so broken and distraught that –"
Togami gave Enoshima a blistering look, and to Hinata's surprise, Enoshima backed down. "I'm just making sure," she said with a smile.
Togami did not respond, and marched on as if Enoshima hadn't just tried to undermine him. It struck Hinata then that he had to be constantly vigilant around her – that she was dangerous, that she'd killed over half of Hinata's friends, that she truly had been the mastermind behind Monobear even though she looked like just a ditzy teenage girl trying to mess with their minds in no other way but with words.
Not that Togami seemed to have been affected – or if he had been, that he would have let it show. It was something Hinata was very familiar with, given his experience with the Impostor. In fact, the Impostor had gotten a lot of the details about Byakuya Togami's personality pretty spot-on, even though none of them had had the original to compare them to. They had a similar kind of leadership complex, for one thing, and an apparent need for control and submission. But, much like the weather, he was so much colder than the Impostor had been, and for the life of him Hinata couldn't figure out why.
Really, he'd never understood why anyone had to be unpleasant to anyone else if they didn't have any reason to be, especially not if it was just because they thought they were better than someone else. Even if this kid was some big-shot business guy, it wasn't like he was a celebrity or anything. Hinata certainly hadn't heard of him, anyway.
He felt a pang of guilt, as if it were his friend that he was insulting. He had to tell himself stiffly that it wasn't, and that for all he'd suffered he had no need to treat this guy with kid gloves. But at the same time… he wondered what benefit he could get from not always trying to be belligerent.
"Hey, uh… thanks."
Togami didn't respond. Nanami gave Hinata a curious look, which Hinata answered with a small nod. "For coming to get us," he continued. "You saved our lives."
"…Of course," Togami said, without stopping or breaking his stride.
Hinata could have asked him then why he had chosen not to appear for three days, not until after Owari had been killed… but before he could, Togami asserted himself. "Don't consider yourself safe yet," he said. "The Future Foundation would not have been called here without a reason for us to let down our guard. If we don't hurry to the rendezvous we'll lose what little advantage we have."
"I know," Hinata said. "We're hurrying."
As they approached the bridge to the central island, Hinata spoke again. "So… this rendezvous point," he said. "What is it? And what are we supposed to do when we get there?"
To Hinata's surprise Togami responded in a timely fashion. "Before we…arrived," he said, "we were able to construct a solution to this island's problem. It would allow you and your classmates to safely leave… and for the restoration of the proper balance of power in this environment."
A dead, scorching pit formed in the depths of Hinata's stomach. "What do you mean?" he said.
"I'm sure you've noticed how little this island's environment matches with your notion of reality," Togami said.
"No duh," Enoshima interrupted.
"I have no reason to destabilize you with precise explanations as of yet. I'll leave that to Naegi, and his bleeding heart and uncontrollably loose lips." He trailed off to a mumble at that last sentence, and then spoke up again. "I can assure you that we have a greater understanding of its inner workings, and the easiest removal of its… abnormalities."
"Abnormalities." Hinata furrowed his brow. "You mean the Impostor."
Togami stopped in his tracks, and for a second he was so still he didn't even appear to be breathing. Enoshima covered her mouth, but before he did, Hinata spotted a grin on her face. "They're not an object," he said. "They're not in control of their own actions, you have to know that. And if you're so determined to keep us all alive, then doesn't that include them? Or is there something else going on here?"
Nanami squeezed Hinata's hand, hard, and he mumbled a silent apology. Togami remained still for another agonizing moment, but when he turned back, he spoke through his teeth, and his eyes were blazing with fury.
"The only time I should be hearing you speak about the Impostor is in the context of the need to eliminate the threat they pose," he said. "Do you understand?"
Hinata could feel his insides shriveling under his skin. "Absolutely," he lied.
The rain had started to fall in earnest as Hagakure, Fukawa, Koizumi, and Kuzuryuu arrived at the third island hospital, carrying Saionji between them. She had been lapsing in and out of consciousness throughout the entire journey, though the rain had done a good job of keeping her at least semi-awake.
The scent of blood lingered heavily in the lobby as they entered, and as soon as Koizumi realized where it must have been coming from she rushed ahead to close the hospital room doors. Tsumiki's body was gone, of course, but three out of the four beds were still heavily soiled.
Hagakure and Fukawa waited until she was done to proceed to the remaining spare room. Koizumi had mostly closed off the rooms for Saionji's sake, but she couldn't help but notice that Fukawa was looking a little out of sorts, even after they'd closed the door. She retreated immediately to a nearby chair as soon as Saionji was situated on the bed, and covered her nose with her hands.
None of them had any medical training to speak of, and least of all any idea how to treat a head injury. Together, Kuzuryuu, Koizumi, and Hagakure figured that watching over her and keeping her stable was probably the best course of action – along with disinfecting and treating the rest of her wounds, which was within the sphere of their common knowledge.
Fukawa had recovered by the time they were finished stabilizing Saionji, but she still didn't seem to show any interest in Saionji's well-being. On the contrary, she asked if they were done yet, and when they answered her she said that they had to hurry to the "rendezvous point," which to Koizumi's knowledge she hadn't yet mentioned. "We've w-wasted enough time as it is," she said. "Y-you've gotten her under control now, so w-we don't need to stand around here…"
Koizumi wrinkled her nose. She'd gotten used to this strange contradiction in the Future Foundation's manner – that they were always willing to help but at the same time strangely callous about the active threats they faced. It hadn't stopped making her angry every time it happened, but every time she called them out on it they never seemed fazed. Hagakure would insist, as now he insisted, that Saionji was going to be fine, and that there was no need to worry. Fukawa always hushed him before he could explain why he'd made these ridiculous claims, and for some reason he'd always obey.
Still, Koizumi figured she'd better stay at Saionji's side. Knowing Saionji, she would likely not respond well to being handled by anyone else, and moving her was out of the question. Kuzuryuu wasn't anywhere near as attached to staying – maybe he figured there was strength in numbers, or maybe despite it all he preferred the company of unpredictable strangers to predictably awkward classmates.
Fukawa and Hagakure exchanged another awkward glance, and then, to Koizumi's surprise, Fukawa stepped forward. "W-we're not supposed to leave you alone once we've found you," she said. "I'll s-stay here." She paused. "To protect you."
Koizumi tried not to look too surprised. As much of an enigma as this woman was… well, she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Thank you, Touko-chan," she said in a flat voice.
Fukawa mumbled her response, and then moved to stand by Saionji's bedside. Hagakure and Kuzuryuu gave each other another awkward look, and then Kuzuryuu looked back at Koizumi, and asked if she could check where the others were. "Y'know," he said, "Just in case they need us. We don't know what where they went…"
Koizumi nodded in agreement, and felt her cheeks burn with shame. She'd been so focused on keeping Saionji alive that she hadn't even thought about Hinata and the others. Slowly, she pulled out her Electronic Student ID and navigated to the map, twitching as she feared what she might find.
To her relief all of her classmates' icons were available, at least the ones she knew to be alive. Hinata and Nanami were together on the fourth island path, moving quickly toward the central island. But Mioda was alone in the woods, and Souda was standing in front of the second island ruins, also alone.
This confused Koizumi and Kuzuryuu initially, but Fukawa quickly figured that Souda had no reason to just hang around there by himself. Someone else had to be there with him, one of their own. Kuzuryuu figured the same was the case for Hinata and Nanami – "Unless she's the one dragging him around," he added, while Hagakure and Fukawa give each other panicked looks.
They did only a bit of strategizing before they took off. Hagakure figured that they would run into Hinata and Nanami on the central island, plus "whoever they were with." Kuzuryuu tried to ask about who that would be, which didn't earn him a very clear answer, in Koizumi's opinion.
"Well, Naegi-chi's a pretty straightforward guy, so chances are he's at the ruins with Souda-chi," Hagakure said. "And Kirigiri-chi's also pretty straightforward, so she's not messing around for sure. And Asahina-chi's real fast, so maybe she ran to get Hinata-chi and Nanami-chi. And…"
Hagakure stopped at that point, and tapped his chin. "Well, uh… we oughta get goin', right? Faster we find the others, faster we can really help Saionji-chi!"
"And?" Kuzuryuu appeared to do some swift mental math. "Aren't there supposed to be six of you guys? Who's-"
"Don't worry about it!" Hagakure clamped a massive hand on Kuzuryuu's very small shoulder. "We'll, ah, tell you when you're older!"
"When I'm older?" Kuzuryuu started, and moved out of Hagakure's grip. "Wait, what?"
"Y-you're only going to ask too many questions if we tell you now," Fukawa muttered under her breath. "When y-you see Master, he'll put you in your place for sure…"
She said this so quietly that only Koizumi heard her; Kuzuryuu was still distracted by how Hagakure was handling the situation. They ran out the door then, leaving Koizumi and Saionji alone with Fukawa.
Saionji was sleeping soundly now, apparently stable, and no longer bleeding. Briefly Koizumi considered trying to wake her up, or at least brushing the hair away from her face a little bit. She settled for the latter, and then moved to sit in the chair that Fukawa had left, holding her head in her hands in much the same fashion.
She stayed there for a few minutes before she looked up, her head only a little bit clearer than before. Fukawa was still by Saionji's bedside, tapping her foot and looking down. Koizumi had a feeling that if she didn't initiate conversation, Fukawa would never step up to the task. And… if Koizumi was being honest with herself, she didn't want to leave relations with her saviors on this kind of unsteady footing, even if they were extremely strange.
"Ah… Touko-chan," she said.
"W-why are you calling me that?" Fukawa muttered.
"That's… I'm sorry, Fukawa-san." She didn't know if she should have realized that Fukawa had expected a more formal address. "I was just curious, since I heard you mention it earlier. Who's...Master? And why wouldn't Hagakure talk about him?"
In the short time that Kuzuryuu had spent in the hospital, the sky had darkened considerably, and the rain had grown more intense. His clothes were soaked through before he left the hospital property, and by the time they got to the third island bridge he had stripped off his sodden bandages best he could, leaving them in a misshapen trail behind him.
He knew Monomi would have given him a hard time for that, but Monomi was dead. And what did he care what she thought, whether she was alive or not?! No… he felt like scum for even thinking that. She'd never done anything wrong, beyond being annoying, and ineffective, and caring much too much…
He looked down at his hands as he ran across the bridge, flexing his fingers experimentally. His left hand moved only a bit stiffly, but his right shook with pain as he tried to open his palm. He grumbled, and shoved it in his pocket. He'd have the wrath of Tsumiki on him, too, if she hadn't gone and…
Well, if it meant the difference between life and death, he'd just have to keep his hands at the ready. He'd deal with the rest of his life once he was certain he was going to live it.
"Hey, Kuzuryuu-chi! Which way's the second island?"
Kuzuryuu grumbled and raced to catch up with Hagakure, who took off in the wrong direction before he'd stepped off the bridge. He righted his course and quickly overtook Kuzuryuu, somehow not slipping on the pavement even though all he appeared to be wearing on his feet was sandals.
In an ideal world Kuzuryuu would have pulled Hagakure aside and interrogated him as thoroughly as he would have liked, but the distance between the bridges was short and his brain was swirling. He kept his Electronic Student ID open in his hands and checked it frequently as he ran, just to see if Hinata or Nanami had moved. He saw no sign of them on the way to the second island bridge, nor did they appear to be in Jabberwock Park on a quick glance down the center path, but they were still both listed on the central island by the time he got to the bridge.
"Are they just… waiting around?" Kuzuryuu said to himself, and then turned back to Hagakure. "Hey," he said, not even caring that Hagakure might not appreciate being given orders. "You can go ahead to the rendezvous or whatever. I'm going to go around the island and find them. If it doesn't make any difference to you, I don't care whether it's dangerous."
"Well, yeah, but…" Hagakure paused, and then closed his mouth. Kuzuryuu hoped this was because he realized how ridiculous it would sound to say that he was afraid – but then Hagakure kept talking, just after a very long pause. "If I leave any of you guys alone Naegi-chi's gonna kick my ass."
From the way Hagakure was talking about this "Naegi", Kuzuryuu hoped that their boss (whom he pictured looking not unlike his father, possibly plus an eyepatch) was a little more competent than his underlings. "And…?"
"I'm not just being facetious, man! It's a real prediction I just had!" Hagakure thumped his fist against his chest. "There's at least a 30% chance that Naegi-chi will kick my ass for something I did!"
"A prediction…?" Kuzuryuu did not nearly have the time to pursue this thread of conversation. "Listen, asshole, your priorities are seriously messed up. M –"
"And would you look at that, I think I just figured out what he's gonna kick my ass for!" Hagakure laughed nervously, his eyes darting back and forth. "So, another spin around the island, eh? Not hard, not hard at all…"
Kuzuryuu didn't press the subject, and they took off in opposite directions. He didn't find any sign of Hinata or Nanami, and nor did Hagakure, as he found when they met up again. Their icons were still in place, so they couldn't be dead, but…
But they'd wasted enough time, and Kuzuryuu had to concede to that. The two of them left for the second island, where Souda's icon stood, hopefully actually marking where he was.
Naegi heard the rain starting as they moved through the woods, but the canopy kept the worst of it off of their heads until the worst got worse. The sound reminded him more of the rain sticks he'd made out of cardboard and rice in elementary school than they did of actual rain, and he found himself wondering if the New World Program's sound banks were drawn from real sounds, or if they were just sourced from their users' minds.
"Ah, Mioda-san," he said, and then repeated himself when he saw that Mioda-san had not all heard or paid any attention to him. "Mioda-san, we should find somewhere to take shelter. A-At least until the rain stops, and then –"
"De-nied!" Mioda-san leapt over a fallen branch, one that Naegi had to stop and stumble over as he followed behind. "Even if she wasn't in a hurry, Ibuki hasn't seen a good rain in weeks!"
"I… well, I guess that's not a problem...but how much farther do we need to go?" Naegi shook his head. "I really want to help you, Mioda-san. But…"
"But?" Mioda-san said, without looking back.
"But it's not safe to keep going this far away from the rendezvous point without really knowing that it's going to work," Naegi said. "This plan you said you have, I mean. If you're trying to surprise me, well… I appreciate it, but I think I'd rather just know, right now."
Mioda-san was silent for some time, but she still kept up her pace through the forest. A low rumble of thunder had begun in the distance, but it was so far off that Naegi couldn't tell what direction it was coming from.
"Weelllllll," she said after a few more rumbles of thunder, "The thing about that is, that makes Ibuki think that maybe Mako-chan thinks that Ibuki's lost her marbles."
Naegi felt his face burn red. "Mioda-san, I don't think –"
"But Ibuki knows that she can't just click her ruby red slippers together and wish and pray and make-believe and suddenly bring Byakuya-chan back," Mioda-san said. "But what she DOES know is that she can shock anything and anyone! She's the master of the element of surprise and at least a dozen others! So if she can't just get to Byakuya-chan's heart by talking, then she's going to run a giant robot right into where they least expect one and supercharge her surprising skills!"
Naegi's heart began to sink. "A… giant robot…"
"Yes-sir-ee, a giant robot!" Mioda-san stopped suddenly, and thrust her hand out in front of her. "Like that one, and also actually that one."
For a moment, Naegi was sure he was about to see an empty stretch of woods – and then he was kicking himself for ever doubting Mioda-san, because holy shit, there was a giant robot right in front of him. And it truly was giant, over ten feet tall by Naegi's guess.
He recognized it in an instant, of course: it was the Impostor's metal man, the one that they'd used to breach the seal on the Mouse Castle. The one that they'd built around – or was it from? – Gundam Tanaka.
His body was scraped and dented, and a section of the metal molding that made up his hair had been caved in by some unknown force. River-like raindrops were running down his body and seeping into his joints, no doubt causing otherwise preventable damage. But the bright yellow bulbs that had replaced his eyes were shining bright, and his entire body hummed with a force of life that Naegi could feel even from four or five meters away.
"Ibuki was running through the woods being a lot more pathetic than she is right now when suddenly she heard some big ol' steps, and saw this guy running through the woods too!" She placed her hands at her hips and grinned. "Of course she was scared at first, and like Ibuki said, real pathetic…"
"Wh – WHA –?!" Naegi interrupted, his jaw slammed open. "What is this?!"
"He's our ticket to victory, is what he is!" Mioda-san bounded over to the android's side, and knocked her hand against the side of his solid metal abs. "He may have broken into our only safe hiding place, and smashed Hiyoko-chan against the wall, and separated Ibuki from her friends – BUT Ibuki knows that he didn't do it because he wanted to, and Ibuki knows that he's willing and able to help!"
Mioda-san whirled round and leaned against the side of the robot's body, which sparked no response beyond a slight turn of the head. The dark-red scarf around his neck parted at its folds, and Naegi could swear that four sets of small, beady eyes were peeking out. "He doesn't talk much, or, at all. Very much the strong, silent type. But he and I talked enough to put our plan in place, and he's 100% behind it! Right, Gundam-chan?"
Tanaka's head turned, and definitely inclined before it righted itself again. "Plan? But…" Naegi narrowed his eyes. Whatever it was that Mioda-san had in mind, he now believed in it that much more, but he still had no idea what it was going to BE. "Are you going to…"
"Going to ride him to victory? Silly Mako-chan – of COURSE we are." Mioda-san grinned, and then, to Naegi's surprise, walked around the back of the robot and leaped onto him, wrapping her hands around his neck. He crouched in turn to receive her weight, his eyes shining with a renewed intensity.
"To the supermarket, Gundam-chan! And then to the rendezvous-whatever!" Mioda-san said. "Giddayup!"
It felt as though they had been on the central island for an age.
When Hinata had entered the island, the rain was only an annoyance, but by the time Jabberwock Park came into view it was falling in sheets. The wind howled directly in his face, and he did his best to try and shield Nanami with his arm. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm sorry…"
"I'm alright… Hinata-kun." Nanami shivered. "Really…"
"I can ask Togami if we can take shelter," Hinata said. "I mean, if you need it."
"They're trying to destabilize us," Nanami muttered. "If we want to help them… we have to keep going."
"Right… right." Hinata squinted, and kept looking ahead. The second island bridge was in view now, and he could even see the floating Monobear head out of the corner of his eye, bobbing up and down on the churning waves. Togami and Enoshima were still far ahead, still pushing through…
And then they stopped, abruptly, right at the entryway to the bridge. As Hinata watched, Togami raised his hand in front of the entryway, and then pushed, oddly, as if against an unseen force. Then he pushed again, harder that time, and with an angry grunt kicked at the empty air.
As Hinata and Nanami approached, Togami appeared to have given up on whatever he was doing. Enoshima was standing some distance back, grinning but remaining silent. "Er," Hinata said. "What's –"
"It's blocked," Togami said. "Impenetrable."
"Impenetrable…?" Hinata furrowed his brow, and tried to step forward, but Togami held up an arm.
"I've already established that we can't pass," he said. "There's no need to go at it like a fool."
"Right." Hinata grumbled, and looked down.
"They're trying to keep us out," Nanami said, speaking loudly in order to be heard over the rain. "Or, at least… that's what it looks like."
"They could be planning to fold us into origami paper cranes for all the control we have over what they want," Enoshima said, looking to the side and pulling at her hair. "They could strangle us, or suffocate us… or… or they could do nothing at all, and they could simply watch…"
Hinata shivered. Even after all this time, he knew what Enoshima was trying to do – she was trying to undermine them. Trying to make them fall into despair. Perhaps it was something she just did by instinct at this point. "We can't stop trying," he said. "Here, let me do it."
"I've already tried everything that you are going to try," Togami said. "It's not going to work."
"It's better than standing here twiddling my thumbs." Hinata pulled away from Nanami, but not before he made sure that she could stand up on her own. He expected Nanami to try and stop him, but to his surprise, she didn't – she simply nodded.
He turned to the entryway, and moved to roll up his sleeves, even though he had no sleeves and ended up just massaging his muscles a bit. "Alright," he said. "Here goes..."
He ran forward, towards the bridge…and then his senses slowed, as if suddenly he had been surrounded with an entire tub of water, instead of just the rain. His movements were blurry. His vision was swimming, and he could barely feel his feet, much less anything else.
But his hearing, apparently, was working perfectly, because he could hear a voice speaking through the haze, loud and clear.
"The wait is over," it said. "The rats came out of hiding, and the Future Foundation fell from the sky…"
"You," Togami muttered, and Hinata knew exactly who Togami was recognizing. The voice was still unplaceable, its tones still moving up and down the audible wavelength, but that was the only thing that made it recognizable, still. It did feel cold and authoritative, though. As though its speaker was someone who knew, or thought, that they had the definitive and final word on everything.
"And all it took was one death and several near-maimings," the Impostor said. "Are you proud of that? Are your senpai grateful for all your hard work? No… don't you see how angry they are? All that you did for them, and this is the thanks you get… your thanks for your failure, your thanks for standing up against despair without the possibility of making a dent…"
"You low and vile creature," Togami continued. "You knew what you were doing when you did it…"
"But that's nothing that matters anymore. The New Game is over. The conditions were met. What comes next isn't any kind of a game. We're all tired of games. We've been wasting the best of our youth on games…"
The Impostor's voice deepened and distorted in Hinata's mind, as though he were hearing it through some kind of digital filter, on top of everything. "But what we haven't tired of is the truth," they said. "And aren't you eager to learn what you've been missing…?"
Hinata must have passed out around that point, because that was the only way that he could explain what he was sure he remembered seeing. The trees around them were shuddering – no, they were cracking, and on a second glance he saw that it wasn't just the trees. It was everything, ground and sky and sea and empty space alike.
He turned to face the others, just to confirm that he wasn't the only one seeing this. Nanami was staring into the center of the spider-webbing cracks, surprised but unafraid, while Enoshima was grinning, as if the whole affair were some massive joke, and Togami… Togami stood with his brows furrowed, his expression fierce but unclear.
"Guys…" Hinata waited for a response, but none of them had moved an inch. But then he noticed that cracks had started to appear across their bodies, as well – cracks that they either had not noticed, or were unable to detect. On a split-second's pang of fear Hinata looked down at himself, and saw exactly what he'd expected – cracks forming up and across a body that he was unable to move.
Then the cracks shattered into nothing, and Hinata shattered with them.
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN DOO DO DO DO
- Carth
