No clock stood in the rooms of participants, as that absence supposedly promoted unease, which then promoted hysteria, which then made for an excellent show. However, despite the lack of timepiece, Antithesis was sure that an hour past midnight overlooked the surface world. Tyrant's arrival had shaken him deeply, and that shaking now prevented him from sleeping. The acceptable point of sleep was nearly three hours ago—he just couldn't get Tyrant out of his head.

After being introduced, he was escorted away. Not once did Tyrant look at him with a sense of familiarity, whether it involved hatred or concern. Not even an awkward smile. Just stone-faced severity.

What could he possibly have done to get in here? After all, Antithesis only left the island a week ago. What was his reason for being here? They'd said that they didn't want him due to his notoriety; so why take him now? What had changed?

Something banged overhead.

Antithesis looked up.

It banged again.

He slowly sat up in bed.

A third bang, this one loudest. The vent above swung open, and out fell a person. Or, rather, a tyrant.

Tyrant sat up and rubbed his head. "Fuck, that hurt," he mumbled.

Antithesis practically charged toward him before cracking the back of his hand across Tyrant's face. Tyrant fell back, but before he could hit the floor, Antithesis grabbed him by the shirt and brought his face close.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Antithesis hissed. Though viciously, he also spoke quietly; someone may hear, and they both may be forced to fight each other if that was true.

"Hello to you, too, bitch," Tyrant mumbled. "Hitting me in the face right after I fell from the fucking ceiling—what kind of savage are you and how can I handle that savage dick of yours?"

"Shut the fuck up," he hissed. "Why are you here, Souichi?"

"Don't say that fucking name!" He pushed Antithesis away and sat up at a respectable distance. "Well, Tetsuhiro, I'm not here out of the goodness of my heart. I got arrested in West."

Antithesis stared, seemingly unfazed.

Tyrant elaborated, "I may or may not have beat the shit out of a police officer because he called me indecent. And I may have ejaculated on his face."

"And you were in West because…?"

Tyrant sighed. "I guess I should probably just start from the beginning. You know my name, right?"

"I've heard of it. Your family's big in science, right?"

"Yeah, we are. I was supposed to overtake, but I got bored and decided to go into looking like the gayest of badasses instead. Then I met Ulterior and shit went downhill real quick. Anyway, reason for being there in the modern times is because of a promise I made awhile ago. After the first time I almost got put in here, I went back to my family and promised to visit them once a month. I actually went already this month, but...well, I was feeling a bit of conflict…"

Antithesis stared at him, not angrily but in awe. He'd gone to West, possibly the most hostile location for someone like him, and it was all for Antithesis.

His eyes widened.

"What?" Tyrant asked.

"Why here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you come here to reunite? Tyrant, assuming all goes well, we'll still have to kill each other in the end!"

"I know. Well...I don't know, I was kinda rash in my thinking, and I was a little high, too…"

"Tyrant…" Antithesis let his voice fade and blinked. Was he...was Tyrant…suicidal? And he wanted Antithesis to be the one who killed him?

"I'm not suicidal or anything," he assured with a chuckle. "I just...wanted to be sure...you know...that we'd be together…"

In a sickening way, he was sweet in his thinking. Antithesis wanted to hug him.

"So...you don't hate your family?" Antithesis asked. Though he already knew the reality ahead, he couldn't bear the thought of it anymore. At least, not for the time being.

"No. We were actually a really close family. Loving, too." He paused, then sighed, defeated, and added, "You...you heard my name, right?"

Antithesis nodded. "Tatsumi—big in science, right?"

"Agriculture, particularly. I was supposed to carry shit on, but I got bored of studying bacteria. So I dragged my ass about until I ended up here. Yours is shitty, right?"

"Little bit," Antithesis mumbled. "Strict, more like. Conservative, too. So, naturally, me being gay was frowned upon. I got caught fucking someone, and after something just short of a fistfight, I got kicked out of home. I was...nineteen then. And I'm twenty-three now. Life's been beautiful since."

"Twenty-three? Fuck, I thought you were older than me."

"You're twenty-five, right?"

"Mmm-hmm. Twenty-six in about a month and a half."

"When's your birthday?"

"August 2nd. You?"

"July 5th."

"Fuck, that's in a week."

"Yeah. I usually don't celebrate, though. No good memories of my birthday."

"Ours were always nice. Normal parties and shit. I usually just drink a lot on my birthday. Fucked a lot, too. Though I don't desire the latter anymore."

"You don't wanna fuck me?"

"No, I meant other people. Shut up."

Antithesis chuckled softly. Perhaps staying here wouldn't be that bad after all…

No, who was he kidding? He was going to die here!