A/N: I lied. There was no wholesome OkaKuri fic. Instead you get one final chapter to Overwritten before I go on a little bit of a hiatus in order to get acquainted with college. Also, I hope you guys enjoy some of the aesthetic changes I've made to the beginning of each chapter.
WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS TO CHAOS;CHILD. IF YOU INTEND ON READING THE VISUAL NOVEL AT ALL, THEN I SUGGEST HOLDING OFF ON THIS STORY UNTIL YOU DO SO. FROM HERE ON OUT, SCIADV WILL BE MORE INTERCONNECTED WITH THE STORY.
I hope you enjoy!
Date: ?
Divergence: 1.048596* (Steins Gate)
*Worldline shift in 2020 - Not the same exact worldline prior to shift.
Time until Overwrite: ERROR - NEGATIVE VALUE - CANNOT COMPUTE.
Okabe awoke with a groan. He was lying on his back with a soft carpeted floor below him. He saw the same ceiling that he usually woke up to nowadays, half of it being gray, and another half being red. He sat up and looked around, rubbing his eyes to get the crust out. His temples throbbed in pain, but everything else seemed fine. The fact that he could hear himself groaning meant that his hearing had returned, and he couldn't help being glad that he was able to escape from the terrible ringing in his ears.
He got up using the bed as a crutch. It was neatly made and he could tell it was Kurisu's work because of how clean everything looked. It was Kurisu's turn that morning so of course it was made.
Was it just a dream? Did I pass out on the floor the night before and have a vivid dream like that?
Thanks to the existence of multiple worldlines, there'd be occasions where Okabe's dreams were vivid recollections of the past in worldlines he had visited. He had an overwhelming feeling of suspicion as he recalled this dream. It very obviously was a dream that involved his present self because Daru had called him about the aftermath of Operation Vidar. Daru told him that Leskinen was dead, most likely killed by a man who was affiliated with the Committee. Did he just have a vivid guilt-dream that involved memories of the past?
The only way he can get his answer was to talk to Kurisu. He walked out the door, aware of the dull pain that lingered in his head. The world through Okabe's eyes seemed as if it were cast in a shadow. Everything felt darker to him and the more he thought about it, the more eerie everything felt. It was as if the entire world went still. He didn't hear the usual chirping of the birds or the stomps of people in the floors below him. He warily proceeded down the hall, the only sounds he could hear was his own heartbeat that was amplified by the pain in his head and the creaks of the wooden floor of the hall. His breathing stilled to a halt as he slowly made his way down the hall to suppress the noise made at his feet. He focused his hearing, trying to hear any sound that wasn't produced by him. No luck was found in doing so.
He got to the end of the hall and was about to enter the kitchen before he could finally hear it. A low hum over the sound of eggs cooking on a pan. Following the sound was the smell of cheese and eggs that invaded his nostrils. Relief flooded his body when he turned the corner. Kurisu was standing over at the stove, humming a tune that resembled Toryanse (Let Me Pass) as she cooked the usual breakfast. Okabe hadn't heard such a tune in forever - the last time he heard it was in Akihabara before it was enveloped in war 20 years prior.
He didn't want to scare her knowing what had happened years prior so he spoke up. "Toryanse, huh? Do we still use that for our crosswalks back in Japan?"
Kurisu never flinched, still humming the same song. Okabe's brow furrowed.
"Christina? Are you hard of hearing now that you've gotten older?"
That had to get a rise out of her. If she willfully ignored him the first time, there was no way she'd ignore him if he said her trigger-word with an added insult. In response, Kurisu stopped humming the song.
"Okarin, dear," her response lacked the life and spunk she usually had. "Your food is ready."
Her voice was monotonous, as if she were dead on the inside. Okabe remembered this type of characteristic well in people who were mentally scarred to the point that they were no longer themselves. He felt his heartbeat rise, making his head throb with more and more force.
"Kurisu?"
He walked up to get closer. He wanted to get to her quickly, but it felt like his legs were filled with lead.
Meanwhile, Kurisu had taken the pan off the stovetop and flipped the omelette. She was uncharacteristically inaccurate and the omelette broke on the edge of the pan, causing half its contents to spill out. The remains of the hot omelette spilled all over Kurisu's bare feet, but she didn't so much as move.
"Oh, it broke."
That was all that was uttered from her mouth. It was the same monotone voice that greeted him. There were no screams in pain, no frantic movement to try to get the hot material off her feet - there was nothing human about her reaction to the omelette spilling all over the floor.
"Kurisu!"
The lead seemingly disappeared from his legs as he lurched forward toward her. He grabbed a towel and dove down to wipe the insanely hot globs of egg and cheese off Kurisu's feet. He could feel stinging pain in his hands even though they were covered by the towel, yet Kurisu stood still as if she didn't feel the pain he could feel. She resumed humming the song as if nothing happened, pouring the other half of the omelette on a plate.
Her skin was blistered and bright red. At close glance, he could see that some of it melted away, exposing the muscles in her feet.
"Kurisu!"
He shot up from his spot and tried getting between her and the stove so that he could push her away from the rest of the hot stuff on the ground. She showed unnatural strength as he tried to force his way through. Her arms never so much as broke contact with the stove-top, and he never was able to face her.
"Kurisu! The flesh on your feet is necrotizing! We need to get you to a hospital, now!"
No matter how much he yelled in her ear, she never reacted to him. She kept her focus on the plate, not showing her face to him whatsoever. He grabbed her shoulder to try to shake her to attention.
"Kurisu!" he was getting desperate. "Listen to-!"
Her head snapped in his direction at an unnatural speed, cutting him off. He should have been happy, but all he could do was gasp in terror at the sight before him. He backed away, speechless.
Her eyes were missing. All that was visible was the gore and flesh that remained after having them seemingly gouged out of her sockets. A line of blood ran down from her eyes, a line that he didn't see before because her face was blocked until she faced him. Her beautiful, soft, violet eyes were no longer there. He suppressed a scream that seemed to be building in his throat when he first saw her face. This wasn't normal. He had never seen this before.
She flashed a crooked smile at him. Blood spilled out of her mouth as she opened it, revealing two rows of teeth that were stained dark red.
"Is that you, Okarin?" she asked, her monotone voice betraying the smile she had plastered on her face. "Aren't you hungry? Let's eat."
He looked at the plate she was serving, and instead of the omelette that he had seen earlier, there was a purple, viscuous mass that adorned it. He swore just earlier it was a broken omelette, but it seemed like his sight betrayed him.
He slowly guided his eyes down at the floor. Instead of the hot glob of egg and cheese was another part to the purple mass that was on the plate. He had to swallow vomit as the scent of iron hit his nose. There was blood all over the floor. He covered his mouth with his hand to suppress another scream, but even his hand was moist. He pulled it away from his face only to reveal more blood that had covered his entire palm. Whatever was in his stomach forced its way out of his throat and onto the floor from what he saw.
"W-what the hell is this?!"
Kurisu's head tilted almost 90 degrees in response to Okabe. "It's an omelette, silly."
The pain in his head got more intense. He winced in surprise to the sudden feeling and backed away from whatever the hell was facing him. His bloodied hand instinctively went up to his temple to try and soothe the pain, but all Okabe could think about was who was in front of him.
He was in total disbelief. He was shocked, apalled, and utterly mortified. The sights of war were ghastly in their own right, but he got used to it because that's just the way the world worked. This was something else. Something as cruel as this isn't supposed to happen in a peaceful worldline.
This is supposed to be Steins Gate! This is supposed to be a world where Kurisu and Mayuri could both live happily! So why, why am I seeing something that belongs on that other hellish worldline?! Why am I seeing Kurisu suffer a fate worse than soldiers and civilians who were caught in Tokyo's firebombing?! WHY THE FUCK IS THIS HAPPENING?!
He was interrupted by a dripping sound. Kurisu walked in his direction at a slow pace, plate in hand. With each step she took, more of her own blood spilled to the tan, tiled floor. None of the blood from her face fell, it came from another source. He was frozen in place, unable to move because of how terrified he was. His eyes wandered down to Kurisu's abdomen where her white blouse took on a sickly color of dark red - almost black. He snapped out of his shock.
"Kurisu, wait," he put force in his tone, trying to recover some semblance of rationality.
She stopped in her tracks. The dripping came from her abdomen and it never stopped. Okabe closed the distance, trying his best to not be too scared. He had to confirm. He had to see what was causing her bleeding. He had to confront the sight before him. He reached out his hand and carefully lifted up her blouse to try to expose her stomach.
"Heh, Okarin's a pervert," Kurisu commented in the same voice, but Okabe didn't listen.
Kurisu's blood clung to him. It was warm and the smell it emanated enveloped him. Okabe exposed her stomach, and as he did so, the pain in his head became almost insurmountable.
He screamed, backing away from the monster. There was no way this was Kurisu. He recognized the incision on her stomach. It was the type of incision one would make when performing a Cesarean Section. He finally recognized just what was on that plate that she tried handing to him - he recognized what was spread all across the tile floor of the kitchen.
Kurisu dropped the plate and rushed him at full speed. She grabbed his throat with both hands and pinned him against the wall, cutting off his breathing. The plate shattered on the floor, mixing in with the blood. What was left of her eyes looked directly into his, her smile becoming a menacing stare. Tears worked their way out of his eyes - a natural reaction when one had their airways forcefully closed.
"That wasn't nice Okarin," Kurisu's voice remained monotone. "Please don't do that again. It's embarassing for a lady to hear that reaction after you ogle her like that."She stabbed her hand into her own stomach before lifting it back up for Okabe to see. She was too strong. She was capable of lifting Okabe off his feet with just one hand. Blood covered her entire other hand. It was thick and the putrid iron stench was inescapable.
"Let me get your taste buds ready with some ketchup, dear," she said. "I know you love it."
Okabe was gasping for air, but when he realized what she was going to attempt, he slammed his mouth shut. He did his best to ignore the need for air as Kurisu rubbed her hand all over his mouth.
"Come on, Okarin," she said. "I know you want some."
She loosened her grip on his throat, but still kept him in place on the wall. He knew what she was pulling, but he couldn't fight the instinct to open his mouth and gasp for air. He got his wits about him and kicked her as hard as he could in her stomach to try to get her off of him.
Blood spurted out of Kurisu's mouth, landing in his as he gasped for air. She finally reacted properly to something and dropped him to the ground. She collapsed, clutching her stomach and trying to regain her breath.
Okabe closed his eyes. The pain in his head and his need for oxygen overwhelmed him for a second. The previously inescapable stench of iron changed to the pleasant smell that he was met with when he first entered the room. When he opened his eyes, all the gore that covered the entire kitchen was gone. The only remnant of the scene was the taste in Okabe's mouth. His eyes trailed to the floor where he saw Kurisu shaking uncontrollably.
"Kurisu?"
He could hear sobbing. Kurisu looked up to face him. Her gentle, violet eyes had returned. She was tear-stricken, and a look of horror and betrayal was all he could read out of her. Blood streamed from the corners of her mouth as she clenched her teeth from the pain she seemed to be in.
"H-How could you," her voice was hoarse. "Why?"
She coughed up more blood, still clutching her stomach.
"W-What?" Okabe was confused.
He blinked several times, feeling the lingering pain in his head, but the scene before him didn't change whatsoever. Eventually, blood that leaked from beneath her made a puddle around her.
Kurisu stifled a gasp as she tried crawling away from both Okabe and the puddle beneath her. However, no matter how hard she tried, a trail followed her.
"T-The baby..." Kurisu's eyes were wide.
She put her hand to her entrance, feeling more and more blood flow out. Her ragged breaths turned into sobs.
"K-Kurisu!" Okabe finally snapped out of his trance. "Oh my God, I'll call an ambulance!"
Okabe grabbed the phone on the wall and dialed 911, remembering that he was in America. All that he was met with was a dead tone on the other line. No matter how often he tried, he was unable to get a call off.
"Shit! Fine, I'll get you to the hospital myself!"
Okabe ran over to Kurisu to pick her up, but she screamed and insisted on crawling further away.
"Please, someone help me! I don't want to die!"
It was a frantic call for help. She was totally scared, and Okabe couldn't understand why. Did he do this to her? Was what he did to the zombie Kurisu he saw earlier just a filter over what actually happened?
The pain in his head intensified once more, forcing him to stop and close his eyes. He grit his teeth trying to fight back the pain.
He opened his eyes once more. Kurisu, who was once screaming for her life, now layed, lifeless, on the floor. Her violet eyes looked up at the ceiling, but they were doing so aimlessly. The light they were filled with had totally vanished. She was ashen.
"No," was all Okabe could say. "No, no, no, no, no, no."
He fell to the floor next to Kurisu. He placed her head on his lap as he caressed her cold face. All that Okabe could remember was the day he stabbed her. He caused this. He killed her. Again.
Tears fell from his eyes onto her face.
"Don't do this to me, Kurisu," he pleaded with her body. "Please. Wake up. I can't lose you again."
There was no response. Her dead eyes just looked straight past him. Okabe was just about ready to snap. He tried so hard, yet he was met with suffering once again. This was his punishment for circumventing the laws of time. The universe punished him once again, as it always has because of his foolish tendencies. Here he was, holding the body of the woman he loved, again. He let out a loud, guttural cry in anguish over what he had just done. At this point, all he could do was cry. There was no point in anything else anymore. Kurisu died because of him even though this wasn't supposed to be a Beta worldline. No matter where he was, the universe was always going to remind him of the sins he committed.
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
The voice of another man stopped him mid-shout. It was the same voice he heard before his dream ended. Okabe looked up from his spot and saw the same disheveled man that stood at the entrance of his bedroom earlier. Now, he blocked off the kitchen from the rest of his home.
"You know, Okabe-kun," he said. "I always took you for a man who was so madly in love, he'd never do anything to hurt his significant other even if she was trying to kill him. You've just given me quite a pleasant surprise!"
The man walked up to Okabe slowly with his hands in his pockets. His smile was as sinister as it was when he first saw him. He lifted his leg and kicked Okabe in the face. His foot connected with Okabe's nose, sending him flying back into the counter.
"You've put on quite a show," he said before looking down at Kurisu. "Don't you agree, Kurisu-kun?"
Okabe watched the man look down at Kurisu, unmoving, staring into her eyes. He watched Kurisu's head point upwards then downwards in quick succession. She nodded. Okabe's mind was at its breaking point. He just watched the lifeless body of the woman he loved make an action only someone who was alive could make.
"I honestly didn't think you'd be capable of killing her with one kick to the abdomen," he laughed. "You've got strong legs and your accuracy is amazing, Okabe-kun. Did you train in fighting while I was locked away?"
Okabe looked up at him, tears streaming down his eyes and blood pouring out his nose. "Who are you?"
The man dramatically clutched at his heart and fell to the ground with a short cry.
"You're cruel, Okabe-kun," he sighed. "I don't look that different, do I? You can't have forgotten your old Senpai."
Okabe could only assume that this was Wakui. He remembered this sort of response in his dream when he had asked Kurisu what Wakui was like.
Wakui smiled when he saw recognition flash across Okabe's face. "That's right, I knew you wouldn't forget."
A severe pain hit Okabe's head once more, making him lose consciousness for the briefest moment. When he re-awakened, he found that his legs were bound to a steel chair while his hands were tied to the chair's arms in a dimly lit room. The headache that plagued him the entire time he was previously conscious was noticeably absent. He was sat in front of a table with Wakui in a chair of his own on the other side. His smile was ever-present, and his eyes gleamed with the same exact intensity that they had when Okabe first laid eyes on him.
"You're something else, Okabe-kun," he said. "I was worried your mind wouldn't be able to handle a shared delusion, but you held up impressively well for someone who doesn't have Gigalomania."
Delusion? So everything that happened wasn't real?
"Where's Kurisu?" Okabe ignored whatever Wakui was saying and asked his question hoping for a good answer.
"Straight to the point, huh?" Wakui responded. "Well, I imagine you've studied Gigalomania using my brain, so I guess you wouldn't need explaining on any of those semantics."
Wakui leaned forward, placing his face inches away from Okabe.
"I've merely shown you a possibility of what could happen to her if you don't comply with me," he said in a low voice. "She's living comfortably back at your complex. I don't doubt she's trying to look for you. However, after I'm done doing what I need to with you, I'll be going after her next. As much as I would definitely enjoy having you kill her with your own hands like you did in our delusion, I find her more useful to the Committee alive."
Okabe felt a mixture of relief and fear flood his body.
"You'll be dying regardless, Okabe-kun," Wakui leaned back in his chair. "The Phoenix has been on the Committee's kill-list for several years and, while they only set me free to kill your old friend Leskinen, I intend on going above-and-beyond. First, you'll give me information about that resistance of yours so that I can share it with the Committee, then I'll kill you. I will become their favorite. I will be going to the New World."
"What makes you think I'm The Phoenix?" Okabe could only hope that he'd be able to talk himself out of such a situation.
"That stupid nickname of yours gave it away," Wakui said. "What was it - Houolin Kima? Ah, it doesn't matter. You were always anal about explaining the kanji of that name back in high school, and you, being the dimwitted idiot you are, used a codename that was one of the characters that made up that stupid name. Couple that with your actions against the Committee - most notably against me - and voila, you've been caught by the one person who could have possibly put the pieces of the puzzle together."
Okabe couldn't believe it. He was discovered because of his actions as a high schooler around someone who'd grow to be a member of the Committee of 300. The only comfort he could feel was in the fact that only Wakui knew his identity. He talked as if he wasn't keen on revealing the fact that he had captured Okabe, only because he'd possibly be ordered to execute him without being able to have his fun.
"I do intend on repaying you for the suffering you've caused me these past 20 years," Wakui slyly said. "However, as I've said before, your wife will live or die depending on how willing you are to reveal the whereabouts of the rest of your leader-friends in that group you call a resistance."
Wakui got up and pushed the table aside before sitting down once more. He crossed his arms and placed one leg over the other.
"The rules for this interrogation are simple," he explained it like it was a game. "You tell me everything you know, and I'll kill you painlessly. If you think about keeping an answer hidden, or if you try obfuscating the truth, I will add an element of pain to the mix. If you die from the pain before I have a chance to kill you, then I will go ahead and put your wife through this exact same process and kill her too."
Okabe grit his teeth in anger. "I swear, if you lay a finger on her..."
"You'll do what?" Wakui mocked him. "You're at my mercy now, Okabe-kun. If you comply, then your wife will continue to live a prosperous life with that brat in her stomach as a member of the Committee. I think that's generous enough considering what the both of you have put me through."
Wakui cleared his throat. "Now, let's begin. Let's start with Neidhardt. I'd like their real name and their whereabouts."
Takumi Nishijou.
"I don't know," Okabe tried lying.
"Now, that's no good, Okabe-kun," Wakui sighed. "You could have gone with any lie, but you chose that? It's not like I'm complaining. I was hoping you'd put up some struggle."
Wakui looked at Okabe with a gleeful smile, but he remained still. Okabe then felt a pulling sensation on his left forefinger followed by immediate stabbing pain. He looked down and saw that his nail had totally flown off from his finger, exposing the red flesh beneath it. He gasped in response to the extreme pain he felt, but it was nothing compared to what he's been put through on previous worldlines. The pain lingered, and he felt blood gush out each time his heart beat, but he remained quiet.
Wakui laughed. "Impressive! I'd have thought you'd scream at that! It's going to be so much fun breaking you, Okabe-kun."
He peered at Okabe over the rim of his glasses.
"As an added bonus to your struggle, I'll know when you lie. I've been specially trained by the Committee and I'm still good at detecting lies mind you, but you're making it too obvious right now. Anyway, we already know that Neidhardt is Nishijou Takumi-kun, we just don't know where he's gone. You failed the tutorial already, Okabe-kun, but you could rectify that. Where is he?"
He didn't know what to do. He was going to die regardless, but he had the choice of sacrificing Valkyrie or sacrificing Kurisu alongside with him. Over the past week, Okabe had learned everything there was to know about the leadership structure of Valkyrie, so there was no way he'd able to plead ignorance because of Reading Steiner. He tried thinking of what to say, but before long, he could feel a stabbing sensation in the same finger where his nail was ripped off. He looked over to his left to see a giant, beautifully terrifying sword placed just above his hand.
"While you wouldn't live long enough to see it grow back, I'd imagine you wouldn't want me to permanently damange your nail matrix, do you?"
The sight of the sword itself - not the pain he felt - prompted Okabe to speak. "He's in Shibuya!"
Okabe shut his eyes to avoid seeing such a weapon.
"Oh?"
"He moved back to Shibuya and stayed there once Japan was freed from the Committee's influence."
Okabe could feel the stabbing pain go away. He opened his eyes once more to see that the sword had disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
"You see how easy that is?" Wakui spread his arms. "As much as I would love to make you suffer, I'm a man of my word first and foremost. Just tell me everything truthfully and I can make your death easier than you deserve."
His voice went from boisterous to a low growl at the drop of a hat.
"Let's continue then, shall we?"
Wakui looked directly into Okabe's eyes.
"Tell me. Who and where is Salieri?"
A/N: I'm sorry, I made the wait for the next chapter worse than I would have if I left it at the cliffhanger in Chapter 14. But yeah, this will honestly be my last chapter for the next month and a half so that I can get situated for university. I hope I didn't make your guys' hearts stop too much when you saw Kurisu "die" as suddenly as she did, haha, but that's the nature of delusions - they're so vivid that you can't tell whether or not they're real. Anyway, this was your first taste at a totally hopeless chapter. It pained me to write something so negative, but it's something that must be done. I hope you can forgive me for making you wait! I promise that the chapter that awaits will be extra long just to compensate for the wait!
As always, thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a review! I'm always excited to hear your thoughts on how I'm directing the story so far! I promise I won't forget this fic! It will be finished! I appreciate everyone's support, it means a lot that I can entertain you all.
~Quil