January 17 – Day 36
'What did I do wrong…?'
Chitose just opened her eyes for the first time that day, and already that one thought is now swirling inside her head in full force. At this point it's already been a few weeks that have passed ever since she received that dreaded news, yet it's still the most constant thing that appears within her mind every now and then, and the one that she still couldn't find an answer to up to this day. What did she really do wrong? Why is she hated so much? Why did everyone just abandon her like she's nothing?
'Was I not good enough…?'
She slowly closed her eyes, feeling the tears about to break out again. But before they could do so she raised an arm and dragged it across of her face, as if to preemptively wipe them. By now it's already a reflex action from how repetitive it's been.
'Was I not useful enough? Was I really just a horrible person…?'
Chitose turned to the other side of the bed, away from the general direction of the window. In these three weeks she's been finding the light of the sun – especially the early morning sun, to be extremely (and strangely) irritating, in contrast to darkness – in which she found much more welcoming. At least there, no one can see her and she won't be a bother to anyone with her pathetic existence.
'Am I really just better off dead…?'
A tear escaped from her left eye, fully remembering all the verbal trashing she received from her so-called friends and co-workers. She could clearly remember their vindictive smiles, their contempt, their absolute hatred of her, everything. All that could only mean one thing: yes. She is, indeed, better off dead – Everyone is clearly more pleased when she's not around, and they're enjoying their lives more so than ever. She's really just a bother, nothing more. A waste of oxygen, a waste of space, a waste of a human being, an easily forgotten speck of garbage. The world is a whole lot better without her.
'Why am I still here…?'
Chitose slowly pulled up her blanket to cover up to her neck. It's just the start of the day and she's already feeling too tired – Too tired to move, too tired to eat, too tired to do literally anything. She felt hungry for a brief moment, but she just ignored it. She's not in the mood for eating, no matter how evident it is that she's been losing weight in the last three weeks that she's here. If anything, food is better off in some other person's mouth, and most certainly not for a pathetic worthless trash like her.
'Now what…?'
Her mind wandered off a bit to the MLA, or rather what remained of it in her already-fragmented (and still fragmenting) memory, before shifting towards Shoowaysha Publishing a few moments later. She has spent her entire life between the two, just alternating in a constant loop so much that she doesn't even really have anything outside of it. Her entire self is just that: MLA and Journalism, over and over again and over again like clockwork. But now? There's no more MLA for her, not even Shoowaysha. She's reduced to nothing, a perfect encapsulation of her current state – a useless empty husk.
It's almost strange that she's still not rotting alone in some landfill by now.
'What's even the point…?'
Chitose wiped her eyes as her thoughts spun in a spiral, once more mentally questioning herself what and where did she went wrong, and why does everything despise her so much, and why did no one ever told her anything. She asked it all, repeating almost several times. Why is her entire existence just nothing but one colossal joke where the only punchline is her?
'Why…?'
Chitose slowly raised up a hand once more with the very few ounces of energy left within her, and then placed it on her face. The swollen lumps and bruises are long since gone, but the memory of Hawks bashing her face in with a baseball bat is still there. She could very well still remember the moment of impact, the pain, the blurred vision, the shattered bones, everything. The entirety of it literally came in out of nowhere just right after the reveal that she's an irrelevant nobody whom everyone loathed so much, as if just to complete the joke.
'…'
Chitose suddenly felt a sharp sting of pain on her midsection. She's hungry. As usual she just ignored it - and indeed the feeling disappeared a few moments later. But however, it then returned again. And this time no matter how much she ignored it, it just kept coming back, as if pushing her to ingest something now.
Irritated at herself, she then tried to sit up, only to eventually cup her face in her hands. She just doesn't want to eat anything at all…
Chitose slowly turned her head to a nearby table to her right, her gaze landing upon a tray of half-eaten food that's now moldy all over. She's slightly surprised that it's still somehow there, even though usually Lady Nagant's house crew would normally take them out every night.
But perhaps what's more surprising is the digital clock just next to it, specifically the time it's displaying. Apparently it's already around 10 in the morning.
Breakfast – that would on average arrive at approximately 7 in the morning, somehow didn't arrive for some reason.
'…?'
Chitose's nose suddenly picked up something. The scent is quite faint and barely there, yet it somehow triggered the still-present pain in her stomach to intensify even further. She's finding herself hungrier by every passing moment. The fact that she barely ate anything last night certainly didn't help.
'…?'
It smelled like seafood, specifically grilled seafood, one that's pumped to the brim with a load of various spices, herbs, garlic…
Amidst her overall tiredness and unwillingness to move from the bed she's on, she could feel her mouth starting to water. Whatever's being cooked outside is definitely far more interesting than the usual high-end restaurant food given to her every day.
'I'm hungry…'
Chitose turned to her left, letting her feet dangle off the bed as she did one last wipe of her still-teary eyes. Her gaze eventually set upon her arms afterwards, which are now completely devoid of any scars that should have been all over them. She never knew how it happened, nor why, but she just woke up one time last week to find them suddenly all gone, alongside her other injuries and their related-pains, as if her body just suddenly made a rapid recovery in her sleep.
Quickly brushing off the thoughts, finding them not worthy to think over, she then turned her attention to one of the two doors in her current lavish and spacious room, specifically at the one that leads outside. She's never really gotten beyond that door for about three weeks now, and still there's that strong nagging feeling in her head that she should just stay here and never to show her face outside ever again. However, her hunger is compelling her to move.
Maybe she could just peek outside? And maybe if there's nearby food she can get it and get inside again? Maybe?
'Let's just get this over with…'
Chitose planted her feet firm onto the tiled floor and, pushing herself up through her tiredness, managed to eventually stand. She then took a single step, finding her clothes a little too short as well as too tight in some particular areas. It's really uncomfortable, and it's been like this since the start of her stay here, as if what she's being given to wear all this time are just Nagant's clothes. But still, she pushed through, wobbling over to the closed door before immediately taking a peek through the sides. And indeed, in the nearby table, just a few meters away in front, are three dishes of grilled squid-
"The country's doomed! What the hell?! Are they seriously going to turn the PLF's own four-month wait into their own preparation period? This is just pure insanity. I can't believe I actually lived this long to witness it."
Chitose recognized the voice. It's Nagant's. The additional Russian mumblings after it made it even more obvious on who it came from.
"Full-scale conversion. Even Hawks didn't like it at all. Imagine that… When even that guy disagrees with the big boss's plans, you know it's some real screwed-up mess."
The second voice is slightly familiar. She's been hearing it since the start of the year - mostly just conversing with Nagant about random topics. She made multiple guesses as to who it could be, but eventually just assumed it's just Nagant's assistant or whatever the Rifle heroine called him once – the one that strangely looks like Stain.
"You know what? I'm actually starting to side with those damn idiotic PLF for once. Pfft, might as well start chanting. Too bad I forgot the official chant, but it's kinda catchy though…"
Chitose listened some more as Nagant continued to speak. The heroine seemed upset, judging by her tone and the way she pronounced the 'PLF' with more force. She could feel her own innate curiosity rising upon the matter, but one sharp sting of pain from her stomach instantly set her back on target:
The grilled squid on the table up front.
She paused a bit to think on what she could do to acquire it. One thing that quickly came to her mind is that she could probably just open the door, walk out and grab the food, and then go back in. Just like that. Simple and straight to the point. She might be spotted along the way, but it wouldn't matter much. Although she'd rather prefer not being seen at all, or else she might get another earful of Nagant's passive-aggressiveness, which has been the heroine's main attitude towards her ever since two weeks ago; and happening almost everytime if ever she's the one who delivers the tray of food to her room.
Nagant just somehow absurdly despises her presence. She makes it very clear, and not even hiding an ounce of it.
…
Taking a nervous gulp, Chitose slowly opened the door and carefully peeked out of it.
"You're sprinkling too many spices. That thing costs a fortune, you know? And in these impending dark times, I'd rather save up my stuff. Stop being wasteful!"
"Nagant, this thing's just given to you. What 'saving' crap are you talking about?"
"Well yeah that's just a gift to me but that doesn't change the fact that it still costed a fortune on the guy who bought it. But I had to admit, it does smell nice, huh?"
"I told you I have potential in the realm of cooking! This long bumpy tongue of mine is really working wonders, yeah? Oh by the way, about this tongue, would you like me to tell you all about-"
"NO."
Chitose could see both Nagant - who's in a white dressing gown, and visibly doesn't have any crutches nor casts anymore, and Stain, who's wearing an oversized bright blue Hawaiian shirt. Both seem to be just standing some distance away at what seems to be the kitchen, and facing whatever they're cooking in the counter at the moment. She continued observing them for a bit, and seeing that they seem to be not about to look behind them any time soon, she figured that this is the perfect chance. Wasting not a single second, Chitose then silently went out, grabbed the plate of grilled squid on the nearby table, and quickly went back inside.
It's a complete success. She managed to do it all without getting caught-
?
Chitose went blank for a bit, only now realizing that she forgot to pick up the nearby fork that's placed near the plate. But no matter, she figured that this will have to do. She'd rather not come back out there again.
Taking the grilled squid in one hand, noticing that it's quite cool already, she went to take a bite. Now it could just be her overall hunger speaking, but she found it simply delicious, and certainly far better than anything she's ever had in this household. For once, her sad depressive thoughts disappeared.
But only for a moment.
Within a few seconds her mind set itself back again into reality: Where there is only her, alone in a dark room, abandoned by everyone she ever knew, and sitting on the floor eating grilled squid with her hand. Absolutely pathetic.
In a way the entire scene reminded her of her childhood days: She remembered eating alone a lot at school, all the way to her university years. People and children just naturally tend to be weary of other people with destructive (and lethal) Quirks, and of course someone who's also horrendously ugly – and she most certainly fit the description of both, which ultimately led to a lot of isolation, rejection, to outright mockery and dismission. But on the bright side (as she thought), she still technically did well in academics, and stayed relatively hopeful all throughout, thinking that things might eventually get better someday…
…
But as it turned out, life never did get any better. That someday never happened.
…
In the end she never really amounted to anything. She never really accomplished anything. No one really cared about her at all. A truly useless existence.
Chitose felt her appetite rapidly leave her. She didn't even get to take a second bite out of her food. 'Useless…' Her eyes started to water once more as the same wave of depressive thoughts are beginning to cycle yet again. 'Useless-'
There's a sudden series of knocks form the door behind, startling her and making her almost drop her plate. She then turned around and faced the door, nervousness rapidly flooding her systems, but quickly receding upon noticing that the knocks aren't as heavy as the ones Nagant normally does – they're significantly lighter and calmer. Quickly wiping off any evidence of tears, she then placed the grilled squid on a relatively hidden area on a nearby wooden table (one that won't be seen from the direction of the doorway), before reaching over and grabbing onto the doorknob. She deliberately took a while to open it to pretend that she's just woken up.
Outside is Nagant's assistant – the one who looks exactly like Stain. He's holding a spatula in one hand and looked quite surprised.
"Oh hey-uh Miss Kizuki! I actually didn't really expect that you'll come up to answer… but I guess this is fine too." The man then cleared his throat. "Alright, so since we're already here anyway, first thing's first, let me confirm to you that, yes, the man in front of you right now, me, is no other than the Hero Killer himself. Yes, the Stain, in the flesh, the one and only. That's me." He then glanced something to his right before turning back to Chitose once more. "Now you might be wondering, why am I speaking like this? Why am I wearing this stupid outfit? And why am I even right here in front of you instead of being Tartarus like what they said in TV back then?" Stain glanced to his right again. "Well technically it's a very long story, but let's just not talk about that."
Chitose just stood on where she is, feeling confused and barely making any direct eye contact with him.
"What I just need to say is that-uh… Nezu – the mouse-dog-bear-animal-thing from UA, is going to be visiting here in a few minutes to check up on you and stuff like that. Of course he'd rather prefer that you would actually be outside of your room for once and uh…" Stain's voice trailed off as his glance went down towards Chitose's arms. "You seem to be a little thin… Hey Nagant?" He turned to his right again. "Why is Curious looking rather frail?" he asked before stepping a bit away from the doorway as if making some space.
"Whatever the reason it's not my problem." A series of light tapping footsteps gradually became louder and louder, until Nagant arrived in the scene, with her left hand holding onto a phone. She's still wearing her dressing gown. But perhaps the most distinct thing about her now is that she's (seemingly effortlessly) one-handedly carrying a huge gray-colored rifle case - one that's almost as long as she is tall. "Hmmph, good to see that you finally decided to check on the outside world for once. Well that's quite an achievement…" the heroine sarcastically said to Chitose, coupled with a few mutterings in Russian, before facing towards Stain a few moments later upon noticing that he's staring at what she's currently carrying. "What are you looking at?" she asked him.
"You're bringing Viktor? Why? What did the guy tell you?" Stain asked, gesturing towards the phone Nagant is holding as he moved away to lean on a nearby table (with the plates now gone). He's still holding onto his spatula. "Is it serious?"
"Not really, but I just want to be sure." Nagant pulled the massive rifle case she's holding closer to her, in a manner as if she's very protective of it. "But anyways, you go ahead and wait for me at the airstrip. I'm going to need a few minutes here first, I have something very important to tell to my freeloader over here," she added, gesturing towards Chitose.
"Whatever you say. By the way can I use your jeep?"
"Alright fine, you may use my jeep."
"How about I just use the jet ski instead?"
"Fine you can just use the jet ski."
"Can I-"
"Stain?" Nagant made a face that could only be described as exaggerated annoyance, before launching an entire barrage of Russian sentences upon him, in which the man simply just shrugged off before gleefully walking away to the kitchen ad placing his spatula in the sink. "Give me a few moments, okay? This'll just be quick!" she added, still in an irritated tone.
"Uh huh sure." Stain waved as he now walked away to the front door and exited, closing it shortly afterwards.
Chitose, meanwhile, mentally prepared herself. She knew that what's about to happen next with Nagant is guaranteed not going to be good - they're always never good. But, strangely, instead of just receiving whatever verbal trashing she's expecting already, she noticed that Nagant is just staring out the nearby window, seemingly just focused on Stain as he walked outside towards a group of parked off-road jeep-like vehicles.
He then eventually hopped onto the biggest one and wasted no time driving through open gates after a deliberate loud revving.
"You just had to pick the biggest one… I just had that cleaned-up yesterday…"
Chitose heard Nagant's incredibly-annoyed response, coupled with a facepalm and a few mutterings in Russian, before turning towards her.
"Alright Kizuki, this is just going to be quick. I'm about to leave in a few minutes and I just want to tell you a few things… a few very important things…" The Rifle heroine kept securely holding onto her rifle case. "Nezu will be arriving here shortly to check up on you and have a chat, and some other things like that, anyways you get the idea. He'll also be asking you if you're being treated well here… And when that happens, I want you to tell him that yes, you're being treated very well here and I'm being nice to you, got it?"
Chitose stayed still as she stood on the doorway, scared of answering and making any eye contact with Nagant.
"I mean, come on… You're literally freeloading here while being a useless bum. You're not contributing to anything at all and yet here I am lending you a lavish room and giving you five-star gourmet meals every single god-damned day. For short I'm literally supporting your sorry ass. And that is literally being nice, right? That's why when Nezu asks you about it, you simply tell him I'm being nice, hmmm? Got it?"
Nagant quickly scoffed afterwards and rolled her eyes, her expression quickly changing into that of a dismissive smug look. Raising the hand that's still holding up a phone, she extended her middle finger and mockingly poked Chitose's forehead with it.
"Did you get everything I said, dumbass? Or do I need to explain everything all over again? Well technically I can understand if you didn't comprehend a thing and I had to go over, considering how the brains of villains like you are extremely defective by default and are only capable of thinking in blacks and whites. But anyways, here's the question again: did you understand what you 're supposed to do?"
Chitose, who's trembling all over, unable to make any eye contact, and trying hard not to burst into tears, did the best she can and let out a terrified nod.
"Good. I'll be back in a few hours…" Nagant slowly turned around. But before she could walk off, she turned back again. "Kizuki… if Nezu ever tells me that you told him that you're not being treated nicely here…" She leaned in ever closer and further narrowed her eyes upon Chitose, like an apex predator upon cornered prey. "You're going to spend the entire afternoon putting your face back together, understand?"
The blue-skinned young woman once more mustered up all her courage and let out another weak nod.
And with that, Lady Nagant walked off. In a matter of a few minutes, she's completely out of sight, having driven off in one of her huge off-road vehicles.
…
Chitose, meanwhile, is still at the doorway to her room. The trembling of her legs still hasn't stopped. Soon enough she found herself balling her fists – desperately holding back on the impending outburst of tears as a thousand thoughts swirl around her head. 'Yes I get it I'm worthless… I'm pathetic… I'm weak… You don't need to rub it in... I know it… I know it… I know it… I KNOW!'
Hurriedly wiping off a single tear that escaped, Chitose then stumbled over to the nearby kitchen and immediately turned on the faucet and began splashing her face, especially at the area around her eyes, to get rid of any traces that could potentially make Nezu wonder if something's wrong and make the resulting scenario very hard to lie in. She knew full well of what's going to happen if she ever complained in any way.
But on the other hand, considering that Nezu and Nagant could most likely just be collaborating on some sick joke…
Chitose wouldn't be too surprised if that turned out to be the case. In fact she's already expecting it happen: Nezu would just force her to admit something or just 'figure it out' on his own so that Nagant would have more excuses to hate her even more. For all that's happened today so far, she could almost visualize it…
'Why is this all happening to me…?'
Chitose felt tears just continuously flow out as she desperately wash her face and remove evidence of it from ever happening, all while she could still feel her legs trembling. She knew what's about to happen. It's there, looming over. It's right behind her. She knows it…
'Why…?'
Chitose splashed water on her face one last time before abruptly standing up and turning around. She could feel herself getting dizzy, her vision blurring every few moments, perhaps from the combined might of hunger, depression, and nervousness, among other things. Her heart is now pounding so hard it's already painful, her blood rushing through her veins at unbelievable speed. She's dreading what could happen next as she waits for Nezu in this eerily quiet lavish household that supposedly belongs to Lady Nagant, situated in her private island.
'I'm trapped here…'
She took one step forward, and another, and another one. She almost fell but she managed to lean onto a nearby wall. Upon steadying herself, she pushed forth once more, and another, until she finally reached the table where she got her plate of grilled squid earlier, in which she managed to pull out a chair under it and sit down.
But as she did so, the depressive thoughts went back again in full force.
'Our Grand Commander is too busy ignoring your lack of presence here, do try not to disturb him, yes? In fact, we're all having quite a grand time here with your total absence. Everything is just so much better, and I certainly agree on every aspect on it! No seriously Curious, everything is much more pleasant without you here. You are the purest definition of the word – dead weight.'
The memory of Skeptic's words randomly came up in her head. It's almost unbelievable to her that she can still somehow remember it, right down to the last word, and yet she can.
Almost instantaneously she felt her eyes starting to water again. But although this time she successfully managed to suppress it. It won't be long unti Nezu arrives and she'd rather look normal.
"I don't like her, she's annoying."
"She deserved to die."
"I just can't stand Curious."
"I'm glad she's gone."
There were more memories randomly popping up in her mind, as if she's randomly remembering all the MLA said about her, every single one of them. One by one they appear and then fade quickly, as if just mocking the absolute patheticness of her current state.
'…'
Chitose looked down and cupped her face in her hands, trying to ignore the thoughts as best she can. But amidst that, another thought came up in her mind:
'Maybe they're right… maybe I am just a hateable person… a truly pathetic nobody who deserved nothing…'
That one thought stood out from everything. It made her think…
If everyone hates her, starting from her childhood all the way up to now…
Then maybe… just maybe… wouldn't that mean the only problem there is her?
Maybe people are just isolating and demeaning her and treating her like disposable garbage because that's just what she really is? Maybe she's really just a nobody who deserves nothing? On top of being a hateable person?
In the end she is part of a terrorist organization after all.
Maybe she really just deserves all this punishment-
?!
Chitose suddenly heard a series of small knocks coming from the wooden door up front, startling her. Almost immediately she wiped her eyes to get any traces of tears out, before placing her hands on her lap. It can't be mistaken, those small taps could only be Nezu.
And as expected, when the door eventually opened, the first thing she saw is a small white paw, waving about as if to appear as harmless as possible.
"Good morning, Miss Kizuki!" the principal of UA stepped into the house. He then had a good look around, randomly uttering out praises here and there on the overall interior, before eventually turning his attention back to her. "You know, I didn't expect you to be finally out of your room, but that's good nonetheless. It's been three weeks!" Nezu walked closer towards the table and climbed one of the chairs to have a good look at the young woman. "I'm glad to see Recovery Girl managed to completely patch you up… although you're now looking rather thin…"
Chitose could feel her nervousness rising higher and higher. She knew a sick joke is about to come up any second now…
"You know, times like these I should've brought a few tea bags with me…" Nezu made a joking facepalm and a few chuckles, looking as if he's trying to lighten up the mood. "You seem to be trembling, Miss Kizuki, are you still scared of another assassination attempt? Hah! Worry not!" Nezu chuckled again as he raised a paw and moved them around. "That's physically and metaphorically impossible! We are currently in the most secure, well technically the second, most secure area in the entire country! Fade your fears away, you're completely safe here.."
Chitose stayed still, keeping her gaze down as her fingers are now digging into her lap in sheer nervousness. Sweat rapidly formed upon her forehead. The sick joke is coming. She's going to be in big trouble afterwards.
"Are you still worried about your old comrades coming to get you?" Nezu asked again, his tone a whole lot lighter. But as he's about to continue, he then abruptly stopped and just let out a soft laugh. "Ah, I remember the time when I toured the National Museum of Nature and Science at Tokyo around 5 years ago... Our guide is a heteromorph, and I fully remember how he has a fairly audible ticker as well. But coming from you, it's quite odd, considering that women don't really manifest serious physical mutations, both external and internal, unlike men." Nezu took a quick glance at Kizuki's chest, and back again to her face. "It's definitely out of the ordinary, but hey, people can be different! I mean, I'm literally a talking animal! Quirks really make the world a more colorful and vibrant place, don't you think?"
Chitose kept silent, still averting her gaze but now trembling even further. The fact that her heart is hammering so hard at a point that it's now faintly externally audible for Nezu to easily hear – which is even more pronounced considering the quiet house they're currently in - is just making things more unsettling, and if anything it's just causing it thrash around inside her chest even harder.
She felt extremely vulnerable.
"Ah so are you still worried about us coming in to imprison you? Well I guess it's quite understandable for a former villain to not trust heroes easily these days, the two are normally opposing factions after all…" Nezu shrugged, but still keeping everything in a light tone. "But do know this: if we want to imprison you, then we should have done that long ago, right? And yet we didn't."
Chitose did a quick glance at Nezu, and then back to her lap again.
"Oh, that reminds me… speaking of prisons… Do you know that Tartarus itself is now pretty much already abandoned and non-functional at this point? It's quite a trivia, right?" Nezu turned around and faced the front door. "Things aren't what they used to be back then. Prisons are mostly irrelevant these days. There's now this new much more effective and efficient system that can deal with things far better than anything conventional heroes had ever done before…" his voice trailed off.
Chitose immediately found it very odd how Nezu would just randomly speak something about Tartarus, not to mention his very odd way of saying it – as if he's intending to pique her interest. And indeed she got a bit curious about it, but still, she's far too scared and nervous to actually speak.
"Hmm? I can feel you're getting curious as to what I just said…" Nezu continued as he turned back to Kizuki again. "And to that I will answer, yes, what you heard from me just about now is completely true. Tartarus, the high-security prison everyone knew, is long since abandoned – almost a decade ago even. Not everyone knows of that yet. I'm sure that journalist inside of you is now very interested, right?"
Chitose stayed silent. But while she doesn't want anything to do with either journalism nor reporting anymore, considering what her co-workers at Shoowaysha have said about her, still she found her curiosity about it continuing to rise.
"It's a very long story. But for short, Tartarus isn't really that needed anymore. Villains aren't the same as back then. Heroes aren't the same as back then either. We have achieved a perfect balance, and that balance has no need anymore for high-security prisons like Tartarus." Nezu chuckled again, in a very light manner as usual. "Oh and about Tartarus? Do you know that, starting from around over a week ago, not only there's some random minor hacking attempts to it, but there's also now suddenly a purple humanoid gloop monster there? It's made entirely of slime that dissolves clothes, except left socks, in which it just somehow wants to steal before running away like a child with his candy! It's actually quite ridiculous and hilarious! But well actually, if you ask me as to what it really is, it's probably just some kid's Summon-Type Quirk that somehow manifested there." Nezu looked directly at Kizuki's eyes. "But still, even though it's just mostly harmless – albeit a bit embarrassing if you get hit, it's still giving us quite a tough time. In fact that monster is why both Nagant and Stain actually left just this morning, unless they already told you about it?"
Chitose just kept silent, too afraid to respond with anything. But although she's definitely getting even more curious about the Tartarus situation, she also couldn't help but wonder as to why is Nezu even talking to her about such things. Why does he keep saying weird things about Tartarus? Is it even true or just a joke?
"Ah, your curiosity is surfacing, Miss Kizuki. I can tell by your facial expressions! You're also now trembling far less. Good, good! You shouldn't really stress yourself too much, it's not good for your health." Nezu chuckled again, keeping his voice light. "So you might be wondering, why am I telling you these things? Well for starters that's because I, or technically we, want you to join our group, and I think transparency is a good way to establish rapport." The principal then nodded, all while still keeping a warm smile on his face. "And yes, what's going on at Tartarus is really true. It's a bit surprising, but true. I did not utter a single lie."
Chitose kept her mouth shut, and her gaze downward.
"So many things have changed outside the public eye. Entire systems have been re-written with very few people even noticing. It's almost shocking, to say at least." Nezu paused a bit. "In the next few days we'll try to drip-feed you some more information regarding it. Try not to get too shocked, okay? And no, in case you're wondering, you're not going to jail. You are innocent. Alright, now with all that said, let me ask: how's your stay with our lovely Lady Nagant so far?"
Chitose felt her nervousness suddenly skyrocket, sweat rapidly forming up on her forehead as she looked down. There it is, the question. The sick joke is about to commence. She clasped her hands on her lap, preparing for the inevitable.
"You suddenly look very nervous, Miss Kizuki. Is there something I need to know about anything here? Just so you know, we are fully aware that Nagant initially hesitated in housing you, so I can understand if there are any problems. May I ask you if there's any?"
Chitose, nervousness reaching peak levels, tried to shake her head. But what came out of it is barely a shake.
"Miss Kizuki… is there something wrong?"
Chitose tried to shake her head again, fearing the worst that's about to happen.
"Hmmm… Miss Kizuki just so you know, you won't get assassinated here by your former comrades! I promise!" Nezu chuckled, as usual in a manner to lighten up the mood. "No need to be scared to answer! This is not a trap. You can say what you want! It's safe here, you're in Lady Nagant's heavily-defended private island and all! In fact if ever there's someone who dared to lay a hand on you, you can trust us that we'll deal with that person quickly." The principal then rubbed his paws for a bit, as if thinking of an idea, a warm smile on his face the entire time. "Oh! Maybe you're not too comfortable with me yet? Okay that's fine… maybe it's just wrong for me to suddenly barge in and tell stories to you."
Chitose, still trembling, is now quite unsure if whether the sick prank is still there seeing now that Nezu got off the chair and seems to be already walking towards the exit. 'He thought I'm just scared of another assassination?'
"Alright Miss Kizuki? I'll give you some space for a while. Do relax, keep calm, eat more, and get your blood pressure low. Oh and by the way, do you need some extra funds or anything? While I do know that Nagant already provides for everything you need here and all but… would you like to?"
Chitose nervously shook her head.
"Okay I guess maybe I'm just creeping you out. You know what? I'm leaving now." Nezu was about to turn around but instead just swiveled back to her again. "Well actually… we're going to have a Tartarus parade in about four days from now, and I think you'd really like to see our majestic Tartarus robots rolling down the street. I hereby respectfully invite you there. Don't worry, we'll be providing your transportation."
Chitose felt quite confused. Not only she couldn't feel anymore the impending sick joke she's fully expecting just a while ago, but now Nezu is once again 'inviting' her to an event, at the same time he also strangely emphasized the word 'Tartarus' two times even though just earlier he said that it's already non-functional…
It's certainly strange. A bit too strange…
"I'm looking forward to seeing you there, Miss Kizuki! See ya!" Nezu waved a small white paw to Chitose before turning around and walking away to the front door, closing it upon leaving. After one last goodbye from him from outside the house (visible through the open window), the principal eventually fully left the scene, finally leaving the young woman alone.
Chitose, on the other hand, just stayed still where she is. For the first few minutes of Nezu leaving she found herself suddenly on full alert if ever the sick joke would ever come up.
It didn't.
Even after almost half an hour had already passed, it just didn't arrive anymore despite her expectations. But while it's indeed a relief, Chitose found it still hard to breathe as she stood up, making her clutch her chest. She then paused again and went still, as if waiting for something. But after just a few moments she eventually decided to just stumble back to her room, eat the now-cold grilled squid on her table, and lay on the bed once more.
The entire encounter had been nerve-wracking, and she could feel her heart still thrashing around inside her chest and just won't slow down yet.
Turning around and getting herself comfortable, Chitose soon found herself staring at the ceiling. In a brief moment, her thoughts went to the odd conversation with Nezu just earlier.
'I'm being invited to a Tartarus parade… now what…?'
She's about to think about whether that's the sick joke that's about to befall her but she immediately fell asleep. Her mind is now too tired from all stress and depression to be able to process anything any further.
…