Mitsuru Kirijo 08/ 05
I read "And Then There Were None" by "resonant aura" again, and decided to try my hand at a bad ending. Won't reach the level of bleak there, as Canon's bad ending is based in oblivion, so lots of missing pieces and hesitance
There is a child in her dorm.
Mitsuru is watching him enjoy an episode of Featherman while eating his breakfast.
He looks comfortable sitting there. Practiced, like it is a part of his routine. But this is a high school dorm.
Why is there a child living in a highschool dorm?
Mitsuru can not recall, but something at the back of her mind tells her that there is a reason. She just must have forgotten it.
But maybe Akihiko hasn't.
Mitsuru has few people she calls close friends. She does well enough at businesslike professionalism, but it leaves her with little practice at casual settings
Akihiko has been her friend since middle school, ever since she surprised herself by going out of her way to befriend him. She can not say in retrospect what inspired her to do that, but she can't regret it.
Akihiko can be just as socially awkward as she can, and maybe that's why they get along so well. Shinjiro despaired of their collective lack of social skills, but was friends with them anyways. He followed them to make sure they didn't get into too much trouble (doing what?), and fondly called them his idiots.
Together, the three of them went from middle school to highschool. They should be graduating together.
Shinjiro would have pointed out that he could not have graduated anyways, as he dropped out of school when he was badly dealing with some personal issues? A medical issue? Akihiko pushed too hard, and Mitsuru didn't push hard enough, and Shinjiro left.
Mitsuru can not quite remember why he (left)dropped out? She has been forgetting a lot of things as of late.
Akihiko has been grieving Shinjiro, and Mitsuru has been supporting him in his grief up until her father died (a gun pointed in his direction while she is helpless, helpless)… no, he died, died of.. died of a medical issue? That feels wrong to say, though it must be true. (Mitsuru watched him die, powerless to intervene)
Ever since her father died, she has been drowning in her grief. Her councilor says that depression can make people forgetful.
Mitsuru isn't sure. The child in the dorm feels like something she should have remembered. He might even live here. There is a door with an unfamiliar name, that is very lived in.
She knocks on Akihiko's door, and doesn't wait for him to invite her in.
"Akihiko, why is there a child living in the dorm?" She demands.
"I think… he has something to do with Shinji?" Akihiko answers hesitantly, which makes sense. Shinji is still a sore topic.
"What does the kid have to do with Shinji?"
"He felt responsible."
Something slides into place. "Is that… one of the reasons why he left. He felt responsible?"
Responsible for what?
(A broken coffin late at night, and a lot of screaming)
"I don't remember." Akihiko admits. "You already agreed to it. "
"Yes, I suppose I must have?" Mitsuru muses. "Did I also agree to the dog?"
"His owner was dead. "
"A dog and a child. I suppose I am the only one who hasn't brought a stray back to the dorm."
"Not true." Akihiko argues. "You brought us."
They are orphans who might not have otherwise been able to go to highschool. Mitsuru realizes with some alarm that she is also an orphan.
It's a fact still hard to reconcile. Her father is dead. She is the leader of the Kirijo company.
"I should write my speech." She realizes abruptly.
"Does it really matter?" Akihiko asks.
Mitsuru frowns. "I suppose not."
Akihiko smiles. "You still want to write something, don't you? I can help, if you like?"
Akihiko has been helping her with a lot of things since her father died. Still, one more thing couldn't hurt.
"Thank you. Want to go out for dinner to celebrate graduating with me. I was going to go with my father, but.." her throat closes up, and she feels like crying. "I never did cancel the reservation. "
"I'll go." Akihiko tells her softly. "But we should finish this first."
She runs into Yamagishi in the dorms.
"Do you ever feel like you forgot something?" She asks. "Something really important?"
Yamagishi smiles at her.
"All the time." Mitsuru answers.
"I feel like whatever important thing I forgot is world -ending. It's probably my anxiety talking, but it's been bugging me all week."
"If you forgot about it, it's probably not that important."
Yamagishi shrugs.
"Probably. Does it ever feel like this year can only be remembered through the reflection of a situation mirror, and someone shattered it?"
That doesn't even make sense, but somehow Mitsuru understands what she means.
"There's so much missing."
"I feel hollow with the loss. But I didn't even lose anything… Oh, don't mind me Sempai, I suppose graduation day is making me think of all the things that will be different next year. I'm in a strange mood."
Mitsuru is in a strange mood herself, but she has to go, or she will be late.
Somehow she makes it through her speech without crying, but she feels shattered.
The world feels off kilter, in a way that suggests something is about to go badly wrong.
But she is the one off kilter. Her father is dead, and the axis of her world is forever changed.
She goes to find Akihiko, and hopes that now that she has graduated, she can adjust and put some things to rest.
She finds him with Yamagishi.
"I know we are celebrating later, but want to get a headstart and celebrate with some beef bowls?"
Anything sounds good right now.
"Yes." She tells him. "Do you want to come too, Yamagishi?"
"It wouldn't be right to intrude."
"You wouldn't be." Akihiko insists. "Come on."
They never make it to the restaurant.
For more bad ending fics, I also recommend "the monsters at the end of the world, by Stealth Noodle"