I don't have much to really say this time around. I've said all I've wanted to say in the previous chapters' Authors Notes, so instead, let's just get into the chapter. You all know the drill by now. Let's go!
[-Opening Song: Gambling – By: Syudou-]
"Often I have sat and I have wondered about many things in my lifetime. But nothing has ever haunted me quite like That Girl. Even back then, I knew, deep in my soul, there was something profoundly wrong with her. Like I was staring at Evil given human flesh." – Diary Entry 0002, lunes 4 through 7, page 1.
[-Chapter 22: Reality is Often Cruel-]
Jolyne said nothing. She didn't even move so much as an inch. Dark green met emerald green, and at that moment, Jolyne knew—she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Monaca Towa was a monster. Just a child, but a monster all the same. Those eyes… Those eyes had seen more than any child should ever have to bare witness to.
Those soulless, heartless, emotionless eyes reflected nothing but suffering and damnation. Both experienced it through oppression and neglect, and as the direct cause of. All the while using that vapid, lifeless face as a mask.
And then there was The Flame of Frenzy that nestled in the back of her eyes. The haunting, treacherous glow of incoming insanity that had been the key root of all of her issues since the day she breathed air in this world.
Every single person who she had met who had Frenzy, in one way or another, died. Natsumi and Kokichi were the only real examples that she had to go off of, but they were pretty damn good examples. Both were driven to Madness for some reason or another. Natsumi through spite and jealousy, and Kokichi…. Well, she didn't know anything about him, but his anger was directed toward Hopes Peak seemingly, so maybe rejection.
However, those two shared one thing in common. They were teenagers. They had at least some cognitive ability to understand, on a fundamental level, that what they were doing was insane. Frenzy simply made it easier to do. How it did that, Jolyne didn't know. It probably had something to do with altering how the brain functioned.
Putting down those with Frenzy was easy because it wasn't as if she was killing literal children. Yes, teenagers were kids. But they were also mature-looking enough to allow her to ignore that fact. It also helped that she was a teenager as well.
But now, as she stared down Towa Monaca. As she looked into her eyes and saw the Frenzy looking back at her, as if taunting her, telling her that "Yes, I can play these games too, woman" and deliberately infecting a child to test her resolve. It meant that The Lord of Frenzied Flame was either watching her, or this just happened to be a massive coincidence.
[Jolyne. You have to kill her.]
She knew that. She knew she had to. But…. "No… No, I can't. I can't do it."
[Jolyne, you know full well what will happen if you do not. Those children who are with her, they will be victim to The Flame as well. Kotoko as well. You must kill her. Perhaps not now—you still have time. But sooner rather than later.]
"Isn't there some way I can cure her? Save her from The Flame?"
[There is a way, but you would not have the time nor resources to procure such a thing. Not to mention you are not strong enough to go to The Lands Between; because that would be where you would have to go. You are close, but not yet.]
Jolyne felt sick. A child. She would have to kill a literal child. She couldn't do that. She just couldn't. That was a step too far for her. Even if she knew that was what needed to be done, she couldn't bring herself to do such a thing.
If you had to do something that to many would be an unforgivable crime in order to secure a bright future for the world, would you do it?
She found it ironic that Kirigiri's words, not even from a few hours ago, were coming back to bite her now. It hadn't even been a day, and the world was seemingly testing her resolve. Why couldn't she just get one break. Just one. That's all she asked.
"Brooks-san? Is everything alright? You look scared?" Monaca said, tilting her head in the other direction, her expression unchanging. "Are you scared of Monaca? Is it Monaca's face?" She continued, pointing at herself, her expression just as blank as it had been when she first laid eyes on it.
Internally, she calmed herself. She couldn't allow for paranoia to get the best of her now. She was still jumped up on what had just happened, and her emotions were still all out of whack. She couldn't handle something like this right now.
"Later. I'll… I'll figure this out later…" Jolyne muttered.
"So… you're saying you'll help us?" The blue-haired boy asked as Jolyne's expression softened ever-so-slightly. Right. The other kids. She had been so caught about worrying about the girl with Frenzy inside her that she had neglected to remember the reason why Kotoko brought her here in the first place.
"Yes. I'll help you. If I helped Kotoko, I can't see a reason as to why I wouldn't help the rest of you. Indirectly or otherwise. We can all talk about this later if you want. Name a time and place and I'll be there. But right now, I need to clear my head," Jolyne said, before casting her eyes down on Monaca. "But before that, I need to talk to you. In private."
"Why?" Monaca asked innocently, as Jolyne's expression remained unchanged. Externally, she still looked sympathetic. Internally, however, an almost protective damn near maternal urge roared within her to do away with the threat that sat in that wheelchair. She kept herself together, of course.
"Well, you're the leader of this group of kids, right? You strike me as that, anyway. It's the job of the leader to tell someone who they are intending to trust the truths that those under them don't want to say. Right?" Jolyne said as Monaca hummed to herself, tapping her chin quizzically, before nodding.
"Monaca supposes that's right. Okay, Monaca will come with you. But Monaca's arms are tired. Can you push Monaca's wheelchair for her?" Monaca asked, as Jolyne was slowly starting to get sick of her talking in third person. Not that there was anything that she could do about it without potentially offending the kid.
With a silent acknowledgment, Jolyne walked around behind Monaca's wheelchair, and began to push. As she did, she shot Kotoko a glance and spoke. "You guys can hang out in my dorm if you want. It's getting dark and I doubt you'd want to stay out here when it starts to get cold."
"Okay! C'mon, guys! Towa-chan can join us later," Kotoko said as the group of three followed Kotoko into the building. As they did, Jolyne took Monaca away from the group. The two didn't speak a word to each other. Not until Jolyne took her far enough away from the dorm building so that no one could see or hear them without having to actively look for the two.
As soon as Jolyne made sure the coast was clear, she walked around to stand in front of Monaca, and scowled. "Stand up."
"Monaca is paralyzed. Monaca can't stand," Monaca said as Jolyne's scowl hardened.
"Liar. I saw your foot twitch earlier. If you were paralyzed, your neurons in your feet wouldn't be firing, and your foot wouldn't have twitched. Stand up," Jolyne insisted as Monaca's expression finally changed from the vapid blank look that it had been before into a frown. Sighing, Monaca looked from left to right, before standing up.
As soon as she stood up, she dusted herself off, before looking up at Jolyne and smiling. It was one of the most perverse smiles that Jolyne had ever had the discomfort of bearing witness to. The way her face contorted into one of what was seemingly malice and ill-intent made Jolyne's skin crawl, and it made her second guess her previous train of thought.
"You are very smart. Monaca likes that about you. You are the first person aside from Daddy and Big Brother to figure out that Monaca was faking her disability. But, Monaca has to ask, what does Brooks-san want with Monaca-chan now that they are alone?"
Jolyne felt her skin crawl, as Monaca's tone of voice turned from that of a normal child's, to one almost belonging to a demon. The way she spoke… it sounded like she was talking to a robot trying to be a human, and failing in every single major regard. Backed by that eerie glow in the back of her eyes that seemingly burned even brighter than before, as if responding to Monaca's emotions… It was almost as if it was The Frenzied Flame that was speaking to her and not Monaca.
But, even with that being a possibility, it wasn't as if this child was The Lord of Frenzied Flame. She was merely directly infected by her. Perhaps that made the flame that burned in her stronger. Or perhaps it was the same as the others? Jolyne didn't know nor did she care to know. All that she knew was that, even though the flame burned bright in her eyes, she could tell that there was still a child in there.
A child who, regardless of their appearance, had suffered.
This situation was awful. Beyond awful, even. But, just as Mono had said, there was some hope. If she could just get strong enough to actually delve into The Lands Between… Maybe there was a chance to save the kid.
Maybe, just maybe, she could cleanse her of The Frenzy.
Maybe, she wouldn't have to kill a child.
But for now, she had to use what she currently had in her arsenal to deal with her. She wasn't going to kill her—hell, she wasn't even going to hurt her. All Jolyne was banking on was hoping that Monaca had some reasoning left within her mind to come to some kind of bargain.
"All I want is to talk. Nothing more, nothing less," Jolyne said as Monaca's expression changed back to the vapid, emotionless expression from before, putting her hands behind her back as she began to rock back and forth.
"Oh. Monaca understands. Well then, what does Brooks-san want to say to Monaca?" Monaca questioned, mocking curiosity in her tone as Jolyne felt the urge to punch her. She didn't know why, but she wanted to. It was as if Monaca was trying to do everything in her power to make Jolyne hate her.
But why? It didn't make sense. Then again, she reasoned that anyone who had The Flame of Frenzy burning within them didn't need even a hint of rhyme or reason to do what they did. To act the way they wanted, heedless of consequences. It was Chaos in its purest form. Chaos without boundaries, unlike Loki's. Or, so she's been told.
Jolyne's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "I know what's in you. I can see it. You can't hide it from me, so cut the bullshit," Jolyne growled as Monaca let out what would otherwise be a cute laugh turned sinister as she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers, a small grin hiding behind her fingers as a dangerous gleam appeared in her eyes.
"Oh my! Nothing seems to get past you, does it Brooks-san?" Monaca mocked. "You can see the gift Big Sis Junko passed onto Monaca. Isn't it wonderful?"
"It's a blight on your soul," Jolyne hissed. "I feel sorry for you. But just because I feel sorry for you, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to try and protect the ones that are closest to me. The only thing that stops me from killing you is knowing that there is a way to fix you, and that I don't think I could genuinely live with myself if I killed a small child."
"But, technically, you already have, have you not? Monaca knows what you have done. You killed Big Brother Kokichi. You killed Big Sister Natsumi. You killed Big Sister Peko. The Flame unites us, so even if we do not know of each other, The Flame is like a bonding agent. So when one part falls off and withers away, it lets the bigger collective know that something is missing," Monaca retorted as Jolyne felt a disturbed sensation crawl up her spine.
The way she described it, it almost sounded like a hive mind. But… a hive mind that no one is truly aware of unless you've given into The Flame. It spread like a plague, acted like a hive mind, and the people surrounding it were all indoctrinated in as if it were some kind of cult…. It sounded like a Horror Movie, and it didn't help that she was facing down someone who, from how she spoke, must've known more about it then she was letting on.
And the way how she called these people her siblings… How she referred to Junko as a sibling… "She views them like family. To her, I've killed her family, which explains why she's so hostile toward me. Then again, I haven't exactly been pleasant either," Jolyne thought as she calmed herself.
"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Jolyne said as she uncrossed her arms, and allowed herself to relax slightly. It wasn't like she was talking to someone with overwhelming power. She was talking to a child—a potentially dangerous child, but a child all the same. "I'm going to mince words: Stay the fuck away from Kotoko and those other kids."
"Oh?" Monaca hummed, tapping her cheek playfully. "Why would Monaca do that?"
"Because they don't need your "gift". It's not a gift, it's a disease, and if there is one thing that I will not let you do, it's infect my sister or those who she calls friends."
"But Monaca is her friend, too."
Jolyne scowled. "You are not her friend. You never have been, and now that I know what you are, you never will be."
Monaca shrugged. "Oh well. That's too bad, then. Because it does not matter what you say. Monaca will show them Big Sis Junko's gift one way or another," As Monaca spoke, the smile on her face grew wider and wider, and her eyes glowed deeper and deeper with the orangish yellow hue growing bigger and bigger. "And one way or another, they will all fall for Big Sis Junko, and then we can all burn the world down together. As one, big, happy family!"
Faster than the blink of an eye, Jolyne snapped forward and grabbed Monaca by the throat, catching the little girl off guard as she raised her into the air. Choking sounds reverberated throughout the small hidden area behind the dorm building, as Jolyne slowly applied pressure.
Rage. Nothing but rage lurked behind her eyes. No one, and she meant no one, threatened her little sister. She didn't care if it was the Prime minister of Japan, or even The Emperor, no one threatened Kotoko. Not even jokingly.
"If I see you near Kotoko or any of her friends, so help me Satan, your meagre little God will not be able to save you," Jolyne bit out through a snarling visage as Monaca kicked at the air vigorously, her fingers clawing into Jolyne's skin, drawing blood as she tried to scream. But Jolyne was unmoving. She began to watch as the color began to fade from Monaca's face as it began being replaced with red slowly shifting to purple.
It was so… easy.
All she'd have to do was just… keep doing this.
She didn't want to admit before, but now it was plain as day. From the words that she spoke to the threats that she spat. Monaca was a walking time bomb and a danger to everyone around her, that much was obvious. But she was also weak. She could be dealt with right here, and right now. She couldn't fight back. She had no power.
She couldn't scream for help—not that anyone could help her.
Just a few more seconds. That was all it would take. A few more seconds and this threat would be dead. Gone. Disappeared. No longer a threat. Kotoko would not be in danger. Those other children wouldn't be, either.
Jolyne tilted her head, almost mocking Monaca in a sense. Suddenly all that bravado she had a few moments ago were gone, replaced by fear. Fear as tears built up in her eyes. Terror. Terror of her. Terror and fear of dying. Of being subjected to cruelty.
Gasping, choking sobs broke out of Monaca's mouth as she continued trying to claw at Jolyne's wrist. Her attempts were getting weaker and weaker. Her tears streaked down her cheeks, marring her face as her lips trembled.
Just a few more seconds.
Just a few more…
It wouldn't even be that long.
The life in her eyes slowly began to fade, and with it the Frenzy did as well. It's light dimming along with hers, mimicking her slowly dwindling attempts to get out of her grasp.
Just a couple more agonizing seconds.
All she had to do was ignore her pitiful cries and pleas for mercy.
All she had to do was ignore her begging for her father, brother, anyone to come save her… It was funny in a disturbing sense. She even dropped the speaking in third person bit, which…. That was strange. Why had she done that?
Whatever, it didn't matter. Jolyne didn't care.
All she had to do was…
Was….
Jolyne's right eye twitched, and then, she threw Monaca to the floor hard enough to make her bounce, tumble, and slam into a random tree. Monaca gasped and wheezed, as broken-up sobs and hitched breathes spewed from her, all intermixed with coughs and sputters as she trembled, teary eyes staring up at Jolyne as she loomed over her.
"Leave," Jolyne spat. "Leave, and never return. Heed my warning. Don't make me regret this." Jolyne's voice was cold, her eyes narrowed and her pupils thinned like a predatory honing in on prey.
Without saying a word, and with fear drenching her features, Monaca scrambled over to her Wheelchair, tripping over herself as her panicked breathes and sniffles rippled through the air. As soon as she got in her Wheelchair, she grabbed the wheels and started to flee as fast as she could. It wasn't fast, but it was the sentiment that counted.
As soon as she disappeared from view, Jolyne looked down at her hands, as a sudden feeling of disgust washed over her. "What… was that?" Jolyne questioned, a brief stint of worry washing over her as she looked in the direction to where Monaca fled. Swallowing, Jolyne shook her head.
What was she thinking? Why did she do that? It wasn't as like she was no longer in control of her actions, but it was more as if she stopped thinking and was only living in that moment. As if the only thing she was basing actions on was—
"Instinct… That was… instinct. A protective instinct, but instinct nonetheless…."
If you had to do something that to many would be an unforgivable crime in order to secure a bright future for the world, would you do it?
She was starting to second guess her answer. The same answer that she had only given not even over twelve hours ago. And all that had to happen was come face to face with some Madness infused, psychopathic child.
The fact that she could so easily go from saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite in a matter of hours disturbed her greatly.
"The kids… Think about the kids…." Jolyne instructed herself, trying to pull her thoughts away from what just happened. For the time being, Monaca was gone, and if she was smart she'd stay away from the other children. It would also give Jolyne time to try and help them without Monaca interfering. Teleporting back to her dorm apartment entrance, she collected herself, brushing a hand through her hair.
The door to her apartment was painted red, just like every other door in the hallway. Unlike the other doors, there was no nameplate, but that would change in the coming days according to the email that someone by the name of Koichi Kizakura had sent her. She opened the door, entering the apartment, and closing the door behind her.
Her dorm apartment was fairly similar to her old one. The main difference was that there was no kitchen, seeing as there was a massive cafeteria-esque room directly east of where everyone else slept and lived. In return for the lack of a kitchen, it gave her much more of a living room, about twice as big as her old apartment. It gave enough room for a larger couch and a loveseat, and the room came provided with a 55 inch flatscreen HD TV that was attached to the wall.
Underneath the TV was a shelf that was lined with various books, board games, and video games all of which were protected behind a sliding glass door that worked both as a display case and as a shelf. In the center of the living room there was a wool mat that had the academies logo etched into the design
The walls were painted a deep shade of burgundy, and the floors were made of dark brown hard wood. There was also a small bathroom tucked away into the corner behind a door, and much like her old apartment there wasn't a shower. But what there was was a community shower on the opposite side of the building, so at least she didn't have to shell out money to go to a bath house.
Sitting on the top of the shelf underneath the TV, there was a PlayStation 4, an Xbox One, and a Wii U. The Wii U was the device that was hooked up, and Kotoko, along with the other three kids, were playing Mario Kart 8—one of the games that came with the console. Hopes Peak provided all three with each dorm room, and frankly, it was unnecessary.
Not that she was complaining, mind you. It just went to show how much wealth this school had to where they could afford to do such a thing.
They all seemed to be having fun. They were smiling and laughing—the red-haired one was annoyed, probably because he was losing and Kotoko was making fun off because of it. Meanwhile, Hajime was standing in the corner, watching with his arms crossed with the hint of a smile on his face.
The first to notice her presence was the red-haired one, who seemed to flinch upon the door being slammed shut. Notably none of the other children had that reaction, which told her a little about the kid's home life. His face even flashed a tinge of fear and uncertainty, until he saw Jolyne, and that expression was replaced with one of semi-relief and neutrality.
"Yo! She's back," the red-haired boy said as he put down his controller, prompting Kotoko to pause the game as everyone turned to look at her. "Where's Monaca?" The red-haired boy questioned as Jolyne breathed out a quick sigh. Time to lie her way out of a bad situation. She just hoped none of them were smart enough to notice.
"She had to go. She wanted me to apologize on her behalf for ditching you all, but she had important business to attend to," Jolyne said as she watched each of their faces. Annoyance on the red-heads, understanding on the blue-haired ones, and sadness lingered in the eyes of the one wearing the mask.
"That makes sense. Towa-san never usually has free time anymore. Her father's been working her to the bone…" The blue-haired boy said, his expression one of frustration before his shoulders sagged. "It can't be helped," he continued before he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "But, Brooks-san, why did you want to talk to Monaca alone?"
She couldn't tell him the truth—not entirely anyway—so instead she told a half truth. "I know I don't have the right to say this, seeing as I don't know her and all, but I got a really bad feeling about her. That there's something off about her and not in the healthy kind of way. I didn't want her around Kotoko. End of story. I told her as such and while she seemed sad, she understood."
"You drove Towa-san away?" The red-haired boy said with what sounded like offence. "But I thought you said you were going to help us!"
"I never said I wasn't going to help Monaca," Jolyne interjected. "I simply don't want her around Kotoko. That's all. I can work with her issues separately from all of you."
"Why not help all of us at the same time?" the boy in the mask questioned, his tone of voice surprisingly dull and slow sounding as Jolyne pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked over to Hajime, as if to ask for some help, only for him to shrug in response to her silent plea. That was when she got an idea.
"Before she left, she told me to help you all first, and to help her last. Said that your guys' problems would be easier to solve and quicker than her problem. I didn't get a chance to retort before she left, so I'm gonna do what she asks in return for her staying away from Kotoko," Jolyne answered as the blue-haired boy seemed to remain unconvinced, but didn't say anything.
"Ya, that sounds like Monaca to me," the red-haired boy said as he threw his arms up in a shrug. "Eh, what can ya do." As he said that, Jolyne felt a wave of relief wash over her. They bought it. Good. Now all she needed to do was convince them to stay away from Monaca. But that could wait for later.
It was evident to her, based on the blue-haired boy's expression, that while they appeared to believe her, they might still be skeptical. So for her to then turn around and ask them to steer clear of Monaca… they might assume that something is wrong and try and poke even more holes into her words.
Most people tended to assume that children, due to their ages, were quite stupid. That they couldn't understand certain things due to their age. And while in many cases that was true, there were some children who could easily notice smaller deceptions and ruses.
While she wasn't concerned about the red-haired boy or the boy in the mask finding out her lies, it was the blue-haired boy that she knew she'd need to watch out for. Behind that child-like face and the youthful disposition that he carried, his eyes reflected a level of intelligence that betrayed his age. A modern day Einstein.
Speaking of him, he looked down at something on his wrist—probably a watch—and sighed. "It's almost 6:30. Our parents won't be happy if we're late to coming home," the blue-haired boy said as the red-haired boy and the boy in the mask reluctantly agreed. The blue-haired turned to face Jolyne, and bowed curtly. "Thank you for letting us stay at your house."
"You're welcome here any time you need," Jolyne replied as, when the boy straightened his posture, the makings a smile took up his visage before being promptly reverted into a neutral gaze.
One by one, the group of boys left Jolyne's dorm, and as soon as they did, and after a few moments of making sure that they were gone, Hajime turned to look at Jolyne as his arms dropped to his sides, all the while he leaned against the wall. "Alright, so what's the real reason why you want Kotoko away from this Monaca girl?"
"Huh?" Kotoko blurted out, confusion taking up her visage. "Wait, you lied?! Why!" Kotoko exclaimed as Jolyne's face twisted into an expression of seriousness that Hajime had only ever seen once before.
"One word: Frenzy."
"Frenzy?" Hajime breathed out, his face going pale. "That Monaca girl has Frenzy?"
"Yes, but hopefully I don't have to do the unthinkable. There should be a way to cure her, according to that woman who saved you back at the café," Jolyne replied as Kotoko was, once again, left confused.
"Frenzy? Do the unthinkable? C'mon stop leaving me in the dark! What's going on?! What's wrong with Towa-chan?!" Kotoko exclaimed once more, her confusion giving way to frustration as she pouted.
"Now's a better time then any," Jolyne reasoned as she walked over to the loveseat adjacent to the couch as Kotoko turned to face her, an expectant sheen behind her eyes with a frown plastered on her face. For a moment, Jolyne was hesitant, and she didn't know why. She knew that it was important to tell Kotoko about this, especially with how close to home it now was in the form of Monaca. She had no reason to be hesitant to tell her, and so, she pushed the unnecessary caution to the winds.
"Kotoko. Monaca is dangerous. So, until further notice, you are to stay as far away from her as possible. That includes when she's with your other friends. Do you understand?" Jolyne said as Kotoko recoiled as she looked at Jolyne as if she had stepped on her favorite dress.
"What?! But, Towa-chan isn't dangerous!" Kotoko said, disbelief written all over her face. "She's a little weird, and she's the exact opposite of adorbs, but she's not dangerous! She can barely hurt a fly!"
Jolyne leaned forward, interlocking her fingers together as she met Kotoko's eyes with her own, her eyebrows furrowing as she continued. "Monaca is diseased. She is infected with something called Frenzy. It is extremely contagious, but I don't know how it transfers from one host to another. All I know is that anyone who is infected by it slowly goes insane, until nothing remains of their previous self, replaced only by a mindless brute who will stop at nothing to spread that infection to other people."
"That's—"
"I know," Jolyne cut Kotoko off, her tone of voice and expression never wavering. "It sounds unbelievable. But it's the truth," Jolyne continued, pausing for a second as Kotoko looked upset, her eyes squinting as she looked away. Jolyne leaned forward, placing a hand on her shoulder as Kotoko glanced back at her.
"I know that these people mean something to you, and believe me, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they'll be saved from whatever awful situation they find themselves in. But, at the same time, you are my main priority, and so is your safety. So, please, keep your distance from them. Once I build enough trust between the others and myself, I'll tell them the same thing. Or, maybe, you can warn them if you get the chance."
As Jolyne sad that, she removed her hand from Kotoko's shoulder. When she did, Kotoko drew her lips into a firm line, her jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed as she processed what Jolyne said.
There was a long stretch of silence that proceeded the conversation, a growing sense of discomfort lingering in the air as, finally, after a few minutes of the continued silence, Kotoko finally spoke.
"Fine. I trust you, so I'll believe you. But only if you double pinky promise that you'll fix Towa-chan. I might not like her, but…" Kotoko waivered as she rubbed her left arm, a glimmer of discomfort lingering in her eyes. "She's suffering. I can tell… Her older brother is a creep, just like my mother was. A-And… Six months ago, a strange girl approached our group, and I… I didn't like her, so I stayed away. But Monaca was desperate. One day, she went with the strange girl somewhere, and then she came back… changed. She spoke weirdly and… I don't know. She moved and acted differently. As if she couldn't sit still for even a second. It was totally not adorbs—not that she was before that, but…! You know what I mean!"
"Ah, she has a crush on Monaca…" Jolyne noted, the faint blush on Kotoko's face giving it away. That explained why she acted the way she did when Jolyne told her to stay away. It also contextualized her use of "friend" back when she mentioned her. That, and the suffix of "chan" indicated that they were closer to one another the others were.
That only made what she had done earlier even worse. If Kotoko found out… "She would hate me… Fuck." Jolyne pushed that thought aside as she nodded. "I promise I'll save her, Kotoko. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. The whole nine-yards," Jolyne said as Kotoko smiled.
Before the conversation could continue, a pop-up appeared in the corner of her vision that indicated that she gained 45 reputation with Kotoko. That was the first time that she gained any reputation with Kotoko, which, she supposed made sense. Saving her was something anyone with a heart would do. But going out of ones way to save others on their behalf, now that was something worthy of gaining a reputation.
After that, another pop up appeared, and this time, it wasn't a quest notification or anything related to a quest. Instead it was a direct message from Makaria. It was coordinates. Coordinates that she could teleport to.
"God, can't I have at least the rest of the day to relax? Being pulled around like a stretch toy isn't exactly what I need right about now!" Jolyne complained internally, before leaning back into the loveseat, massaging her forehead with her pointer and middling fingers, an exasturbated sigh breaking past her lips as she glanced over to Hajime. "Mind sticking around just a little bit longer? I never did get to go on that walk."
"Be my guest. It's not like I have anything important I need to do right now," Hajime replied earnestly as Jolyne shot up from the loveseat and made her way towards the door. As she left, she glanced back over at Kotoko, flashing her a smile which was reciprocated in kind, before she exited the apartment.
As she made her way down the hall and back toward the stairs, a part of her considered just teleporting—it would be quick and it wasn't as if there was any downsides. Except…
Jolyne opened her profile page, then looked down at her funds, and frowned. "I'm broke…" Jolyne thought as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. Granted, she still had 11,000 yen to her name, but the price for the teleport was 10,000 due to it being all the way out in Osaka.
Even if her current apartment was being paid for by Kirigiri-san due to it being on campus, and even though she had already informed her previous landlord that she was no longer living her old apartment, she still had to pay 160,000 in damages due to her old apartment thanks to the bastards who kidnapped Kotoko not knowing how to use a door.
So, until she got enough money to pay off the damage deposit, she needed to save her money. Thankfully, it wasn't as if she needed to walk. As she stepped outside of the building for the second time in the same hour, her eyes flashed a deep emerald green, before a pair of leathery wings burst out from her back, tearing through the fabric of her shirt as pieces of it scattered to the floor.
Jolyne looked over her shoulders as an embarrassed flush invaded her face. "Hehe… oops… I thought they'd just magically appear over my back. I didn't think they actually came out of my back…. Oh well," Jolyne muttered, scratching the side of her face. Shaking the feeling off, Jolyne leapt upward with as much force as she could put into the jump without damaging the surrounding area, as she took off into the sky.
As soon as she got into the air, flight became almost second nature. She didn't even have to think about how to fly, what to do to keep altitude steady, nor did she have to register how to use her wings in the first place. "Perks of being a system user," Jolyne thought wistfully, as she followed her mini-map.
Unbeknownst to her, however, someone had seen her take off. Someone with light gray-green eyes, unkempt white hair, and sickly pale skin, dressed in a dark green zipper-coat with an intricate pattern on the left sleeve and bleeding into the front, underneath which was a white low collar shirt and a pair of black pants and shoes. Said individuals eyes widened as far as they could go before causing damage to his face, as his jaw dropped before he quickly covered his mouth.
He had heard that a new Ultimate had shown up, and had been meaning to speak to her. To figure out what it was her Talent was. He had asked Hinata-kun, his new classmate, where to find her in the class group chat, to which he had mentioned that she lived in the complex much like everyone else.
He had been seconds away from approaching her to talk, when suddenly wings burst from her back and she went flying. At first, he thought it was his brain tumor making him see things again, but then he felt the gust of wind hit him like a truck, and he knew for a fact that nothing his disease could fake making him see or smell could do anything like that.
He had no idea what it was that he had seen, but one thing he knew for sure was this:
Nagito was interested.
[-To Be Continued-]
[-Outro Song: Paradisus-Paradoxum – By: Myth & Roid-]
Before anyone asks, while Nagito is making his appearance outside of being mentioned by others for the first time here, he won't be entirely relevant until the second book. I am merely setting him up for his later importance. Just thought I would put that here, especially as there are only three chapters left, two if you're not counting the epilogue.
Anyway, time for my response to reviews/comments.
(Qoutev) Sunky Addict: Well, Chinatsu has always been stubborn, so this is nothing new. As for any mentions of foreshadowing, it's more world building than anything else.
(Ao3) Aiden: Why do I get the distinct feeling that I should be scared of that? Anyways, Idk about Nothing Stopping Me Now but I defo agree with Scars to Your Beautiful for the ending bit of the last chapter. Personally, I had KEEP UP by Odetari playing while I was writing the fight between Jolyne and Chinatsu.
(Ao3) void_boi1: I mean, you're close? Not entirely, but you've got the right idea. Also, yeah, Jolyne is like, REALLY close to crashing out. She arguably did in this chapter so….
Anyway, that's all from me for now. I might take a break or two from writing just to gather my thoughts a little bit since we're heading into the climax and I really don't want to botch it. So, until next time! The Finale of Book One is on the horizon. See you then, peace out!