INBOX (labyrinthum)

[amperor]

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"Sanada Akihiko"
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me playing through december like. MY POOR BOYS

[amperor]

I'm glad I'm not stuck in it anymore.

[ He lowers his hand back to the ground, giving Ken a break. He doesn't really want to talk about what it was like. It was eerily similar to the focus he got before a match, shutting out everything other than the upcoming fight. Instead of being a point of pride, though, it'd been about infecting others.

He doesn't know if he succeeded in dragging anyone else away and was only stopped at Ken. Specific memories are hard, and he doesn't want to look too closely at them yet. ]

Crrawwwlliinnnggg in my skkiiinnnn

[whatsamada]

[At first, Ken didn't say anything and let the silence do the talking. He knew that his teammate was from the future and that he was no longer holding back on anything. Meanwhile here Ken was, still trying to figure out how to move on with his life.

And yet, it feels like he should say something...]

May I ask something, Sanada-san? What happens in the future? After Aragaki-san's death, what happens?

[amperor]

[ Akihiko is silent, at first. If Ken looks at him, he'll see that his brows are drawn down, his lips pressed tightly together - a pensive look that he's likely seen on Sanada before. Finally, he speaks. ]

The Kirijo group covered it up - all anyone else knows is that Shinji was at the wrong place at the wrong time in Port Island and died as a result of his wounds. They held a memorial service at Gekkoukan the next day.

[ A memorial service that Akihiko avoided, but attended later. ]

I realized all my strength and training had meant nothing to protecting the people most important to me. That I had to do better going forward, and end the dark hour.

I asked.... Shinji, and my sister, to watch over us.

[ Perhaps Akihiko's problems weren't what Ken was asking about, but he shares it anyways. ]

You ran away from the dorm the day of his memorial. Spent the night out on the streets, and I found you at Port Island the next day. I told you the dead were never coming back; that it was your choice to rot and fade away, or that you could move forward for the people we'd lost. I walked away to wait you out.

[ It's similar to the conversation they had here. A little more harsh, perhaps, which is why Akihiko admits that he'd walked away after the conversation. ]

I don't know exactly what decision you made, but you came back to the dorms with me, and your persona had changed, just like mine had. Everyone was worried when we arrived, but you were allowed to stay with SEES. We spent a lot more time together - training, studying. You even showed me and Minato how to make coffee.

Before we fought the last Shadow... we both visited Port Island again. You said you wanted to live a life you could tell Shinji about and be proud of.

[ He exhales. ]

I don't know if you want to hear the rest of it. It's not good. But if you want, I'll tell you. You're owed that much.

[whatsamada]

[As he listens to Akihiko, all he could do was sit in silence as he awaited for him to finish. There were so many things running through his mind but he dare not interrupt his senpai. Of course, Mitsuru managed to find a way to cover everything up. Normal people don't know about the Dark Hour nor did they really understand who Takaya is.

Gripping his hand, it only made him more upset that he allowed this to happen. And yet, the more he listened on, the more he realized what his resolve was. In the end, Akihiko was right. The dead aren't coming back and there was no way for him to fix what he had done.

With his grip loosening a bit, he gave out a sigh of relief. He knew why he wanted to come back to SEES, he had nowhere else to go. Not only that, if Akihiko was willing to accept him, it probably meant that the rest would too right? And that he was ready to move on. He didn't say anything but there was a small smile on his face knowing that everything was going to be okay.]

...Yes, I would like to. I'm glad that everything worked itself out in the end.

[Or at least, that's what he thought...]

[amperor]

[ Ken says that and Akihiko grimaces a little. ]

We defeated the last shadow on November third, and thought we'd stopped the Dark Hour. Ikutsuki took Aigis to the lab for repairs, [ And it's telling, that he doesn't call him Ikutsuki-san, ] and we had a small party on the fourth with Kirijo-san, Mitsuru's father, to disband SEES.

The Dark Hour still happened, though. We geared up and went to Tartarus and Ikutsuki was there, with Aigis. It was...

[ Despite his attempt to relate this calmly, he looks upset. ]

He said we hadn't gotten rid of the Dark Hour. Destroying all the Arcana Shadows was never meant to end it; it brought about something called the Fall instead. Sounded like the same kind of end of the world shit Mitsuru's grandfather had been trying to do. He'd been lying to us the entire time, including about Takeba's father.

He made Aigis capture us and tie us up. Kirijo-san tried to stop Ikutsuki and they both shot each other. Ikutsuki tried to make Aigis execute us, but she resisted him and freed us instead. Then Ikutsuki just... walked backwards off of Tartarus.

[ He drags a hand down his face. ]

The last I saw of Mitsuru was her going with Aigis back to Kirijo Corp.

[ He stops there. Again, conflicted feelings rise; had they ever been doing the right thing in the first place? ]