If you were none of these (13/?)
anonymous
May 16 2011, 06:36:53 UTC
He calls Souji right after Adachi drives away from Chie’s living room. Chie’s mother brings over chips, which is nice, but not very filling. He’s tempted to ask for steak, but Chie’s right there and might crack his head open if he does.
“Hey, partner,” Yosuke says when Souji picks up.
“Hi,” Souji says. He sounds polite, which is weird, because Souji’s never… stiff around him. “I’m busy right now. Can I call you back?”
“Sure,” Yosuke says. He hangs up and looks at Chie.
“What’s going on?” she says. “That call ended fast.”
Yosuke does some calculations. No way that Adachi can get from his house to Souji’s in five minutes. Not unless there’s a special police helicopter or something.
The weird thing is, Yosuke always knew this day would happen. It kind of has to. There’s no way they can keep eating people and not get caught eventually. He always imagined he’d be caught in mid-bite in some seedy alleyway, but this works, too. They can rally the troops and then… and then what?
“Think we’ve just been busted,” he says. “They have detectives talking to Souji. Call Yukiko-san and make sure that she’s all right. I’ll get Kanji and Rise-chan.”
Chie whips out her phone so fast that she actually drops it. When she bends down, Yosuke notes that her shirt doesn’t fit her anymore. He can see the space between her boobs. Not that he cares. He calls up Kanji, who doesn’t answer. Rise does.
“Hi, Yosuke-senpai!” she says, all bubbly and cheery.
“Hey,” he says, trying to channel Souji. “Has anyone come to visit you?”
“Just Dojima-san earlier this morning, to ask if I’m okay again,” Rise says. “Why?”
“Me and Souji got slammed with detectives,” Yosuke says. “Kanji’s not answering his cell, and I’m still waiting to hear if Chie’s got a hold on Yukiko-san yet.” Judging by the way Chie’s gripping her phone, probably not. Damn. “Listen, you live in the shopping district, right? Can you see Kanji’s place from your room?”
Something rattled on Rise’s end. The window blinds, maybe. Yosuke wound up drawing the curtains of Chie’s windows shut just in case. “Sorry, senpai,” Rise says. “I can stop by there, if you want.”
“No, don’t,” Yosuke says. “It means they don’t suspect you yet.” Shit. Chie’s shaking her head ‘no.’ Damn it. Who’s doing this to them? Has to be that Shirogane bastard. Yosuke’s going to find that skinny son of a gun and tear him from limb to limb. “Stay where you are,” he says. “I’ll call you later.”
“Yukiko’s not picking up,” Chie says. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve been fucking stung,” Yosuke says. “Shit.”
“Oh,” Chie says. She doesn’t look surprised, either; her head moves back a little, as though someone’s pushed her back with a finger. So he’s not the only one who thinks they either have to go down in a blaze of glory or do some mercy-killing. “So what do we do?”
The question isn’t what they would do next, but what they could do next. This is, Yosuke thinks, just a warning. Adachi and the other policemen will be back soon. Yosuke feels a little sweat break on his skin, unrelated to the heat and Chie’s stupid refusal to not turn on the air conditioning.
“Let’s go to Junes,” he says. “I bet the others will be there.” He wipes the sweat off of his forehead. “You should probably pack a bag.”
“What?” she says.
Yosuke looks around Chie’s house. “I don’t know if we’ll be coming back.”
Chie punches his shoulder. “Don’t be dumb, Yosuke. Of course we will.”
It’s annoying being called dumb by a girl who got a sixty on their last math test, but Chie’s always had that twisted optimism that they’ll someday go back to being normal people who never killed those ten or twelve people that one year way back when.
“Come on,” Yosuke says. “At least a change of underw-hey!” Holy shit, she nearly dented her own wall. Crazy girl.
“We’ll be back, okay?” Chie says, grabbing him by the ear. “Let’s go.”
If you were none of these (14/?)
anonymous
May 16 2011, 06:37:40 UTC
*
Yukiko’s at Junes, too. She’s sitting in the food court with Shirogane. Yosuke takes one look at the empty tables around them, the way Yukiko’s fanning herself with one of Junes’ plastic menus, and Shirogane’s annoyed expression, and knows that Shirogane’s here for the same reason Adachi was at Chie’s. Yukiko’s doing her proper young lady impression, where she floats away into her thoughts and stays there; the fog lifts when she sees Yosuke and Chie. Maybe just Chie.
“Yukiko-san,” Yosuke says. He tries to wink. “What’s up?”
“Naoto-kun and I were just having a conversation,” Yukiko says.
“Just doing my part,” Shirogane says. “It isn’t safe for girls these days to be out alone.”
“I can handle myself, though,” Yukiko says. She sounds as though she’s been saying that for at least the last hour. She stands, smiles prettily at Shirogane, the way that girls do when they want to take a guy and maul him in a back alley, and says to Chie, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
It takes a moment for Chie to catch on. “I’ll come with you,” she says. She and Yukiko take off. Yosuke takes Yukiko’s chair. Shirogane shifts, a little, in his chair; then he meets Yosuke’s eyes. It’s focused and really uncomfortable. Shirogane’s just lucky Yosuke’s really straight.
“What?” Yosuke says.
“Where were you last night from between the hours of six and ten o’clock?” he says.
“Dunno,” Yosuke says, but privately he thinks his balls just tried to shrink back into his body a bit. “Guess I was hanging out around Junes. Went to Souji’s place and had dinner-” Shit, did he really say that? Well, no helping it now. “-and then went back home. I already told Adachi-san the same thing.”
“So Adachi-san has reached you already,” says Shirogane.
“Yeah,” Yosuke says, and remembers what Adachi said about Shirogane’s theory. “Yeah, funny thing, huh.”
There are spots in Junes where the cameras don’t see anything and customers don’t go. That’s one way to take care of Shirogane. And of course, the other way is to push Shirogane into the TV-but then he’s no better than the killer. And he isn’t a killer. Or at least, he kills because he has to.
“Forgive us,” Shirogane says. “We’re conducting an investigation on the disappearance of Mitsuo Kubo.” Shirogane reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a photo of the fish face they ate yesterday. Yosuke wonders if Shirogane can see the moment of horrible hesitation that wells in him, then subsides. “He was actually going to help us in an investigation,” Shirogane says. “Says he had some information on the disappearance of a Takeru Suzuki.”
Yosuke feels a little shiver run up his spine. Takeru Suzuki had been one of their first-sacrifices, that’s what Souji calls them. It was the second time they ate at home; all the rest of their meals, they had taken in the city.
“So you guys are actually making some progress on that case?” Yosuke says. “Took you guys long enough. Do you know who’s killed Saki-senpai yet?”
“I’m afraid I cannot comment on on-going investigations,” Shirogane says. “But rest assured, we are making progress.”
Bullshit. If they were making progress, then none of this would be necessary: not jumping into the TV, not turning into these fucking monsters, not the part where they have to eat people to survive.
“Oh yeah?” says Yosuke. “If the police is making so much progress, then why are you spending so much time on a dead dog and banging on all of our houses?”
“Ah,” Shirogane says. “You would likely know more about it than I. Wouldn’t you say so, Hanamura-san?”
“What’s a dog matter to me?” Yosuke says. “I’m not an animal guy.”
“But your friend’s fingerprints were found on the collar of dog,” Shirogane says. “And the dog was found at the place where Kubo was supposed to meet with one of our detectives. It’s suspicious, isn’t it? Especially with the way you and your friends are always… conveniently showing up or leaving wherever we find a body.”
Yosuke’s phone rings. Yosuke blinks, and tries to not let anything show on his face.
If you were none of these (15/?)
anonymous
May 16 2011, 06:38:56 UTC
Chie’s behind Shirogane. She’s on the phone-is she the one calling him? Doesn’t look like it. His phone goes to voicemail, but she’s still there. She looks paler than normal. After a while, she hands the phone to Yukiko, who also looks drawn. More bad news, Yosuke guesses. Great. This day is great. Every day is great at your Junes. We’re staffed by cannibals. Fire sale prices!
“I would like it if you would submit yourself to voluntary questioning by the police,” Shirogane says.
Chie’s beckoning him. Yosuke for a moment wants to say, “Look, you want to deal with this guy?” but then Chie mouths something to him: Souji. TV. When that doesn’t get the job done, she mimes stuffing someone through a screen.
Yosuke swallows. Then he stands. Shirogane rises, as well.
“Yeah, right,” he says.
“I could easily bring you in on formal charges,” Shirogane says. “It would be easier for both of us if you came with me.”
Chie and Yukiko vanish into the store. He thinks they’re going to the bathroom again-what’s so great about the bathrooms, anyway?- but no, they’re headed for the elevators. He goes in after them, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to make sure that Shirogane is following him. The overhead lights aren’t as bright as the sun outside, and it takes Yosuke’s vision a second to adjust. There are people everywhere, all of them so-vulnerable. And then there are the giant plastic balls dyed in purple and green and orange and hell, it’s normal. Almost.
“Are you listening to me, Hanamura-san?” Shirogane says. He sounds testy. Good.
“Look, can’t we talk about it somewhere where we aren’t surrounded by people?” Yosuke says. Chie and Yukiko are already in the lobby. Yosuke steps through. Shirogane hesitates, just for a second, before stepping over the threshold himself.
“Are we sufficiently alone now, Hanamura-san?” Shirogane says.
Yosuke looks to the elevators, then to Chie; then to Yukiko. Chie looks away, to the parking lot, then up at the security cameras. Yukiko meets his gaze, steady and calm. It’s the look that tragic princesses give their bodyguards before they march up to the sacrificial podium or something. Yosuke knows the feeling.
At least this is an order from Souji. That makes it better. A little. Yukiko presses the elevator call button.
“Someone might come in if we stay here,” Yosuke says, and it’s almost like he’s not the one saying it. He puts his hand on Shirogane’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go up to the electronics department?”
Shirogane gives Yosuke a look. His hand drifts down to his belt, but there’s too much on the line for Yosuke to let Shirogane get the upper hand. Shirogane’s scrappy, for a skinny dude, and fights dirty, clawing at Yosuke’s face and trying to knee Yosuke in the groin; but then Chie joins in and bashes Shirogane with a kick to the head. Yosuke clamps a hand over Shirogane’s mouth. He and Chie haul Shirogane into the waiting elevator. Shirogane tries to bite. Whatever. Yosuke’s not afraid of him. Anyway, he isn’t afraid of Shirogane.
“We should do something about the tapes later, Yosuke-kun,” Yukiko says.
“No,” Yosuke says. “It’s a digital feed. Everything gets sent to a server over in Tokyo somewhere. Even if we destroy the cameras, they’re going to see it.”
“If they find out,” Chie says.
Yosuke smiles, sadly, down at Shirogane, who’s glaring up at Yosuke through his bangs and the brim of his hat. It’s not an ‘if’ anymore. Yukiko crosses her arms over her chest. Her mouth is a tight line. She hits the stop button on the elevator. The lights flicker momentarily, then stay strong.
“Come on, you guys,” Chie says. “It’ll be simple.” Shirogane growls, thrashes. Chie kicks him in the gut, and then laughs at it, her eyes wide. “We just-all we have to do is-” She trails off. Looks at Yukiko’s grim face, and gets even quieter.
If you were none of these (16/?)
anonymous
May 16 2011, 06:41:27 UTC
“They’ve taken Souji-kun and Kanji-kun to the station for questioning,” Yukiko says.
“Maybe they’ll understand if we just explain-”
“Yeah, sure,” Yosuke says. “‘Remember us? We killed some people and ate them, but we did it for a good cause!’ That’ll go well.”
“Like anything you do could go well,” Chie says.
“Grow up, won’t you?” Yosuke says. “This is it! We’re not going any farther than this. We’re going to take this guy”-he shakes Shirogane at this, who lets out an enraged snarl- “and throw him into the TV, and then we’re going to be on the run for the rest of our lives, eating people to get by! Goddamn it!” He tightens his grip on Shirogane’s mouth, and looks at Chie and Yukiko. Chie still looks hopeful, but Yukiko has a strained, tense look on her face, as though what he’s said struck home. Well, he’s right. No way around that.
“We can use Shirogane-san as a hostage,” Yukiko says. “One of theirs for one of ours.”
“They have Kanji-kun, too,” Chie says.
“Adachi-san,” says Yosuke. He’s never liked that guy, anyway.
“We don’t have enough people to subdue him,” Yukiko says. “And his movements will be irregular because of the… commotion we’ll be causing.” She tilts her head to the side, and then looks at Chie, who looks back, confused. Yosuke’s not sure what she’s talking about, either. Yukiko looks down at Shirogane, then sighs. “It’ll be easier,” she says, “if we take someone we know that Dojima-san cares about.”
((Hello again! Don't mind the cannibals. Or. ... you know. ... Sorry, Nanako.
Thank you for staying with me, even after all this time. ♥ ))
If you were none of these (17/?)
anonymous
May 29 2011, 07:07:28 UTC
give up. (4/the power remix)
In the morning, her big brother wakes up and comes downstairs and makes breakfast for her. It’s Sunday, and normally Dad would be home, but today Souji says Dad is investigating something and won’t be back for a while. He’s in a good mood. They’re having rice and pickled radishes and sausage patties for breakfast. Nanako thinks about pointing out that the sausage patties aren’t healthy and that they should be eating fish instead, but her big brother doesn’t look tired or upset today, and he wasn’t throwing up into the toilet again, so she eats her breakfast without complaints. The food is good as usual. She wishes Souji would make more vegetables.
After breakfast, her big brother goes to his room to do some homework. Nanako does the laundry. She knocks on Souji’s door around noon, and asks for his clothes. He tells her that he can wash his own clothes.
“No, you shouldn’t,” she says. “I should do it.”
Souji opens the door, and smiles down at her. “It’s all right, Nanako,” he says. “I really, really want to do my own laundry.”
“What are you hiding?” she says.
Souji’s smile doesn’t falter. “I’m not hiding anything, Nanako,” he says, and closes the door.
Nanako stomps her foot and says, “If you loved me, you’d let me do your laundry!”
Souji opens the door. He looks concerned, which is good, because she’s worried about him, too. Then he says, “All I have are socks and underwear to wash.”
“I can do that,” she says.
“No,” he says. “I’ll do it myself.”
“You’re going to waste water,” she says.
“It’s my underwear,” he says, and his cheeks are a little pink. He shuts the door, muttering, “It’ll be embarrassing.”
“You’re the embarrassing one!” she says to the door, and this time she hears a laugh on the other side of the door.
Her big brother can be mean sometimes. If he loved her, he would let her in. Nanako stares at the door. She knows she’s being a kid, but she wants to cry for a long time, anyway.
*
Dad calls while Nanako is thinking about eating lunch. Dad says all the usual things: that he’s sorry that it’s Sunday and he’s working, that he wants to be home, that he hopes she’s being safe. Then his voice gets all funny.
“Is Souji home?” he says.
“Yeah,” Nanako says. “Is he in trouble?”
“No, Nanako,” Dad says, and he’s lying to her, like all big people have been lying to her. “I just want to ask him some questions, that’s all.”
“What did he do?” Nanako says.
“I can’t tell you that,” Dad says, in the mortified, confused way that he has when he’s afraid to tell her something. “Why don’t you keep your big brother company? Make sure he stays in the house. Will you do that for me, Nanako?”
Nanako looks up the stairs, where she knows Souji is, and then at the phone receiver.
Just some questions, Dad says. Just some questions.
“When will you be back home?” she says.
“Soon,” he says. “I promise.”
“You promised,” she says, and her voice wavers. And she knows that he’s promised because he loves her, even if he can’t keep it. Not like her brother, who won’t promise things even if he’ll do things. Not like her brother, who’s in trouble and won’t tell her why. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Of course,” Dad says, and he sounds sad. “I love you, too.”
*
Around two o’clock, Souji steps out of his room all dressed up. His clothes don’t fit him that well anymore. He looks shabby.
“Are you going?” Nanako says.
“There’s something I need to take care of,” he says.
“But I’m not done with the laundry yet,” she says.
“Are you still going on about that?” Souji says, and he sounds so annoyed with her that she shrinks away because she’s sure that she’s done something wrong. But then she shakes her head. She’s not the one who’s done anything wrong, she tells herself. It’s Souji who’s being thickheaded about this, who won’t listen to reason or to her or to anyone.
“Why won’t you let me do it?” she says.
“I told you already,” Souji says. “There isn’t anything to wash.”
If you were none of these (18/?)
anonymous
May 29 2011, 07:08:23 UTC
Nanako’s so mad at him that she thinks she could cry. He’s being stupid. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. She’s supposed to ask for his dirty clothes and he’s supposed to give them to her and then they go in the wash and then she’ll hang them out to dry.
“I’m going to your room,” she says. Souji’s face hardens, but she’s determined to do this. She goes up the stairs, and Souji follows her, his footsteps heavy behind her.
“Don’t go in there, Nanako,” he says, and she almost doesn’t, because it sounds like a threat. But there’s no reason for him to hide things from her. She runs up the last few steps and flings the door open before Souji can reach her.
She planned to go straight for his hamper, but can’t move from the doorway. His room is dark with the curtains drawn. The TV is on. There’s a camera on his desk. His futon has been left out. It looks like he’s slashed it apart in his sleep. His walls have scratches in them, as though he’s been clawing them. Souji grabs her by the back of the neck, and she screams, because she’s afraid of the person who lives in here-and then Souji pulls her out of his bedroom.
“Why did you do that, Nanako?” he says.
“I wish I hadn’t,” she says. “I wish I never went in there.”
“I know,” Souji says.
“I wish you never came here!” she says, and runs into her room and shuts the door. She knows that she’s supposed to keep Souji in the house, but she doesn’t care anymore. She doesn’ care about any of it. Souji knocks on her door.
“Nanako,” he says.
She doesn’t answer. She goes to the corner of her room and curls up there. He enters, because she didn’t lock the door when she came in.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Hey, I’m going to make something for you. What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything,” she says.
“Cream puffs,” he says. “Do you like those?”
“No.”
“Cookies, then,” he says.
She doesn’t say anything. She hears Dad pulling into the driveway. Dad is going to ask questions and Souji is going to answer them and it’ll be okay again. Souji won’t be in trouble and he won’t be weird and everything will go away.
Souji’s phone rings. He answers it and steps away from Nanako and onto the stairwell. Nanako hears the front door open. Souji puts his phone in his pocket. He looks, in a single panicked motion, to his room. He ducks back in there. Nanako watches from her room. She sees something strange: Souji takes his notebooks and his camera and makes them disappear inside the TV. After Souji leaves, Nanako runs up to the TV in his room and puts her palm on the glass.
*
Chie isn’t talking to Yukiko. Chie doesn’t know if she ever wants to talk to Yukiko again, although she knows that she’s going to have to. Yosuke’s taken Naoto into the TV-oh god, they’re really doing this, she feels like throwing up in a paper bag-because he thinks the police are going to jump his ass if he goes anywhere near the Dojima’s house. Chie thinks he has a point. She and Yukiko, they’re-they’re Chie and Yukiko, familiar faces who definitely aren’t planning on kidnapping anyone. So even though Adachi’s sniffing her (not like that, ew, no), if anyone tries to make them get into a car, she can beat them up or make a fuss and they’ll have all of Inaba on their side in an instant.
If you were none of these (19/?)
anonymous
May 29 2011, 07:09:16 UTC
She wants to know what Yukiko’s plans are, if they’re going into the TV from the Dojima’s or if they’re going to-Yukiko can’t be planning to do that, no way. But it’s not like kidnapping’s good, either. She feels like she really is going to throw up, but she’s gotten pretty good at it, this whole vomiting into any open can or space, and when she catches her reflection in a window, winces, because she definitely looks it.
*
They go through the shopping district and residential districts. Chie watches out for anyone suspicious. She knows that Yukiko won’t notice. Yukiko’s always been slow to recognize danger and risk, even now. She tries to hide it so Yukiko won’t get mad at her, but Chie still has to watch out for Yukiko. They’re both going to move on from this. They’ll be fixed and cured and then everything will be okay again. Chie will do anything to make sure that happens. Anything. Even if it means never speaking to Yukiko again.
As they approach the Dojima house, Yukiko says, “Maybe you should be the one to pick her up. I’m not sure she likes me very much.”
Pick Nanako up-and then what? Toss her into a TV?
“Chie?” Yukiko says.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” Chie says.
“We won’t,” Yukiko says, but Yukiko sounds confused in a way that normal people shouldn’t. Chie’s chest feels tight.
“We’re going to,” Chie says. “What if she gets what we have?”
“She’s too young to have a Shadow,” Yukiko says.
“Teddie had one, and he was empty.”
There’s a beat.
Yukiko takes Chie’s hand, and squeezes it tentatively, as though she’s afraid Chie will shake her off. Chie squeezes back.
“Isn’t there somewhere else?” Chie says.
“You know that there can’t be anywhere else, Chie,” Yukiko says, and she sounds so tired that that Chie almost wants to give up. But then they’re on Souji’s street, halfway up the hill, and she knows she has to try.
“There has to be somewhere,” she says. “A back room in the Inn, or the mountains in the back of the Inn or…”
“We can’t,” Yukiko says, but it doesn’t have that same decisiveness that Souji’s ever had. But Souji is never going to forgive them. Maybe he will. She doesn’t know. Almost like Yukiko’s reading her mind-when did Yukiko learn how to do that?-she says, “This is for Souji-kun and Kanji-kun, Chie.”
That does it.
“Yeah,” Chie says. “I know.”
*
They write the note together, alternating strokes in hopes that it won’t look anyone’s handwriting. They fight, half-heartedly, about whose it looks more like. Chie wants it to look more like hers than Yukiko’s. Has to. Yukiko, at least, has to get out of this. She doesn’t want anything linking Yukiko back to this. They put it next to the front door and weigh it down with a rock. Then Chie rings the bell. Yukiko stands in the driveway, just out of the line of sight of anyone standing in the door.
Nanako answers the door a second later, half-hiding behind it. “Chie-chan?”
“Hi, Nanako-chan,” Chie says. She wonders if she looks as nauseous and exhausted and nervous as she feels. “Is Dojima-san home?”
“No,” she says.
“Can I come in?” Chie says.
“Big bro isn’t home.”
“I know, Nanako-chan,” Chie says, and she wants to hug her or apologize or… or something. “He’s at Junes.”
“With Daddy?” Nanako says.
“No.”
“Because big bro went with Daddy,” she says.
“Oh yeah?” Chie says. “Well, Souji-kun’s at Junes with Yosuke-kun, and they thought we should pick you up for a while, you know?”
Nanako doesn’t look like she believes her. It hurts.
“Come on,” Chie says, and hopes that she won’t have to force Nanako. She holds her hand out to Nanako.
“Where’s big bro?” she says. “He’s in trouble. Daddy is going to punish him.”
If you were none of these (20/?)
anonymous
May 29 2011, 07:13:48 UTC
“You’re lying.” The door begins to close. Chie sticks her foot in the gap before Nanako can shut. Nanako tries to slam it, but Chie steps in further.
“I’m not lying,” Chie says. She’s still holding her hand out. “Not if you come with me.”
*
(What is a cannibal, Nanako asked her big brother a few weeks ago.
Well, now she knows.)
*
Chie feels like a total creep. Nanako walks just ahead of both Chie and Yukiko, so at least Nanako thinks both of them are terrible people. Chie feels like throwing up again. Yukiko doesn’t look bothered, but this whole thing is Yukiko’s idea to begin with.
And that’s the thing. It was Yukiko’s idea. Not Yosuke’s, which-it would’ve been awful, but not so surprising. Yosuke’s been-changed by all of this, and Souji-maybe, maybe not. And as for Yukiko-
Chie’s just bullied a little girl into a TV, so if Yukiko’s changed, then at least Chie has changed with her.
((slow updates are slow. oh my god.
not saying anything's ending soon, since I don't want to jinx myself again. that being said: doot doot doot 11,000 words down, oh god.
I'll see you on the next update. you know. once I figure out how to be more horrible to everyone.))
Oh, geeze, sorry for vanishing like that without a word.
Um, I hate to invoke the writer's block excuse, because that's not what happened. I just got stuck and went on and wrote other stories to get unblocked and. ... forgot about this one.
... I'll. I'll update soon. Death and gloom for everyone!
If you were none of these (21/?)
anonymous
September 12 2011, 05:42:31 UTC
give up. (4/bite the bullet remix)
There are police cars pulled into the Junes parking lot in a furtive spot, and people with guns inside. There aren’t any shoppers inside. Chie holds onto Nanako’s hand, because Nanako won’t take Yukiko’s. They’re walking into a trap, but to go into a TV they’ve never been through, especially without Rise to guide them.
“Do you see anyone?” Yukiko says, trying to not move her head too much as they walk to the elevator. The security cameras seem to be trained on them. Maybe they are. Who knows if Shirogane’s relationship with the police is as bad as it seems. If it is, then they’ll be okay, but if not…
“I see someone looking at the dishes.”
Yukiko has her thinking look on. “Junes does have a nice silverware deal right now.”
Chie kind of feels like that’s beside the point. Silverware? Now?
“Don’t worry,” Yukiko says, and strokes Chie’s hair. They enter the elevator. “We have Nanako-chan.”
There’s a moment where Chie’s entire body stiffens, like it’s suddenly gotten cold, but her neck and the back of her head feel like they’re going to burst into flame. The door closes. Chie tries to pretend that there wasn’t a policeman with a walkie-talkie in the corner.
“This is crazy,” Chie says. “I mean, this is really crazy.”
“Are you sick?” Yukiko says, pressing the button to the second floor.
“What do you think?” Chie says. She gestures to Nanako, who doesn’t look happy with… well, any of this, and then she looks at the security camera, which caught the whole Shirogane thing.
“Maybe this really is the end,” Yukiko says.
“Don’t say that,” Chie says. “We’re definitely going to make it.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re so-” Chie feels the urge to grab Yukiko, shake, pull her into and-but there’s Nanako right there, and the elevator dings as they arrive. There’s Adachi in the electronics department, near the TVs. He’s waiting for them, leaning against a box with a long, hard smile.
“Hey, Satonaka-san,” he says. “Nanako-chan. Amagi-san.”
Nanako doesn’t look like she wants to be near Adachi anymore than she wants to be around Yukiko or Chie.
“What do you want?” Chie says.
“Haha,” Adachi says. “Just a quick conversation, that’s all.” He’s looking at them, like he’s considering something. Then he says, “Who thought it would’ve been you kids, huh.”
They’re going to have to get rid of Adachi, somehow. Chie feels her head get light.
“You don’t have to worry,” Adachi says. “I’ve come alone. Just me.”
“So what’s with all the officers?” Chie says.
“Well,” Adachi says. “They’re just there in case things get nasty. C’mon. We got the tapes. First Shirogane and now Dojima-san’s girl? You guys pull a mean game.”
Chie holds onto Nanako’s hand a little tighter. Yukiko steps forward.
“We haven’t done anything,” Yukiko says.
“Haha,” Adachi says. “Where are you girls going?”
“It isn’t any of your business,” says Yukiko says, all stiff and proper and with a hint of steel.
“Come on, Amagi-san, don’t resist it,” Adachi says. “You’re outnumbered.”
“Not here,” Chie says. She pushes Nanako forward to Yukiko. “And not right now.”
“Yeah?” Adachi says. “You know, I don’t even feel sorry for you anymore. Don’t make trouble.”
Yeah, whatever. She’s eaten. She feels fine. She jumps forward, and Adachi draws his gun-she kicks it out of his hand, and spin kicks his head. He staggers, falls forward, then grabs onto the edge of a TV and tosses it onto the ground. It breaks onto the ground with a smash.
“Don’t just stand there!” Chie says to Yukiko. “You have to get Nanako-chan to safety!”
If you were none of these (22/?)
anonymous
September 12 2011, 05:44:37 UTC
“Right,” Yukiko says, grabbing onto Nanako. Chie wants to say something else-maybe something like, ‘I’ll be there soon,’ but then Adachi grab her chest with his hands and twists. He’s mostly holding onto her uniform, but the pain still jolts her like a shock. She bashes her head against his nose, and like an idiot, hits him with her forehead. Even when he drops to the ground, she’s tempted to fall over and grab her head, too. She knees him in the face, and then hits him again-his head bends into her bones, and she pretends to not feel it.
She lets him fall. Yukiko is there to catch her when her legs go weak.
“Nanako-chan,” Chie says.
“I already put her in,” Yukiko says. It sounds a little surreal coming from her mouth. She looks down at Adachi, and then draws in a deep breath. “He’s still alive. I think.”
“Right,” Chie says. They don’t kill people unless it’s absolutely necessary, and even then, Souji’s the one who picks the targets-she doesn’t know how, and doesn’t want to know how. She’s relieved that Adachi’s still alive.
“We should get rid of him,” Yukiko says.
“But that’ll make us-”
“Murderers?”
Well, there’s that. “Cop-killers.”
“Are detectives cops?”
“Yukiko,” Chie says. She’s tired and doesn’t want to think like this.
“I’m sorry,” Yukiko says. “It’s just-” There’s a pop, and then Yukiko falls forward, clutching at her chest. There’s blood-Chie knows that smell too well-and then something hot splashes onto Chie’s skin. Adachi’s standing, gun still pointed at Yukiko; his face, bloody and broken, is livid. There’s another shot, and Chie feels something hot strike her shoulder. She grabs Yukiko and pulls her to their TV. There are a few more shots of the gun, which make Yukiko flinch, but the bullets miss their mark. Chie knocks over some other TVs to provide a screen. They make it to their TV without taking any more hits.
“You should go first,” Yukiko says.
“No, you should,” Chie says.
“You have to promise that you’ll come with me,” Yukiko says. “At the same time. No heroics, Chie. I can take whatever happens to me, but if something were to happen to you-”
“Okay,” Chie says, because she needs Yukiko to stop talking before the detective’s bullet ends up in her head. “I promise.”
“Okay,” Yukiko says. “Good.”
She has a pretty smile. Chie finds herself smiling back. They reach into the TV with their hands, and Chie knows she promised, but she has to make sure Yukiko makes it safely. The last thing she sees before everything goes black is Yukiko turning back to look at her, eyes wide and-
“Hey, partner,” Yosuke says when Souji picks up.
“Hi,” Souji says. He sounds polite, which is weird, because Souji’s never… stiff around him. “I’m busy right now. Can I call you back?”
“Sure,” Yosuke says. He hangs up and looks at Chie.
“What’s going on?” she says. “That call ended fast.”
Yosuke does some calculations. No way that Adachi can get from his house to Souji’s in five minutes. Not unless there’s a special police helicopter or something.
The weird thing is, Yosuke always knew this day would happen. It kind of has to. There’s no way they can keep eating people and not get caught eventually. He always imagined he’d be caught in mid-bite in some seedy alleyway, but this works, too. They can rally the troops and then… and then what?
“Think we’ve just been busted,” he says. “They have detectives talking to Souji. Call Yukiko-san and make sure that she’s all right. I’ll get Kanji and Rise-chan.”
Chie whips out her phone so fast that she actually drops it. When she bends down, Yosuke notes that her shirt doesn’t fit her anymore. He can see the space between her boobs. Not that he cares. He calls up Kanji, who doesn’t answer. Rise does.
“Hi, Yosuke-senpai!” she says, all bubbly and cheery.
“Hey,” he says, trying to channel Souji. “Has anyone come to visit you?”
“Just Dojima-san earlier this morning, to ask if I’m okay again,” Rise says. “Why?”
“Me and Souji got slammed with detectives,” Yosuke says. “Kanji’s not answering his cell, and I’m still waiting to hear if Chie’s got a hold on Yukiko-san yet.” Judging by the way Chie’s gripping her phone, probably not. Damn. “Listen, you live in the shopping district, right? Can you see Kanji’s place from your room?”
Something rattled on Rise’s end. The window blinds, maybe. Yosuke wound up drawing the curtains of Chie’s windows shut just in case. “Sorry, senpai,” Rise says. “I can stop by there, if you want.”
“No, don’t,” Yosuke says. “It means they don’t suspect you yet.” Shit. Chie’s shaking her head ‘no.’ Damn it. Who’s doing this to them? Has to be that Shirogane bastard. Yosuke’s going to find that skinny son of a gun and tear him from limb to limb. “Stay where you are,” he says. “I’ll call you later.”
“Yukiko’s not picking up,” Chie says. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve been fucking stung,” Yosuke says. “Shit.”
“Oh,” Chie says. She doesn’t look surprised, either; her head moves back a little, as though someone’s pushed her back with a finger. So he’s not the only one who thinks they either have to go down in a blaze of glory or do some mercy-killing. “So what do we do?”
The question isn’t what they would do next, but what they could do next. This is, Yosuke thinks, just a warning. Adachi and the other policemen will be back soon. Yosuke feels a little sweat break on his skin, unrelated to the heat and Chie’s stupid refusal to not turn on the air conditioning.
“Let’s go to Junes,” he says. “I bet the others will be there.” He wipes the sweat off of his forehead. “You should probably pack a bag.”
“What?” she says.
Yosuke looks around Chie’s house. “I don’t know if we’ll be coming back.”
Chie punches his shoulder. “Don’t be dumb, Yosuke. Of course we will.”
It’s annoying being called dumb by a girl who got a sixty on their last math test, but Chie’s always had that twisted optimism that they’ll someday go back to being normal people who never killed those ten or twelve people that one year way back when.
“Come on,” Yosuke says. “At least a change of underw-hey!” Holy shit, she nearly dented her own wall. Crazy girl.
“We’ll be back, okay?” Chie says, grabbing him by the ear. “Let’s go.”
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Yukiko’s at Junes, too. She’s sitting in the food court with Shirogane. Yosuke takes one look at the empty tables around them, the way Yukiko’s fanning herself with one of Junes’ plastic menus, and Shirogane’s annoyed expression, and knows that Shirogane’s here for the same reason Adachi was at Chie’s. Yukiko’s doing her proper young lady impression, where she floats away into her thoughts and stays there; the fog lifts when she sees Yosuke and Chie. Maybe just Chie.
“Yukiko-san,” Yosuke says. He tries to wink. “What’s up?”
“Naoto-kun and I were just having a conversation,” Yukiko says.
“Just doing my part,” Shirogane says. “It isn’t safe for girls these days to be out alone.”
“I can handle myself, though,” Yukiko says. She sounds as though she’s been saying that for at least the last hour. She stands, smiles prettily at Shirogane, the way that girls do when they want to take a guy and maul him in a back alley, and says to Chie, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
It takes a moment for Chie to catch on. “I’ll come with you,” she says. She and Yukiko take off. Yosuke takes Yukiko’s chair. Shirogane shifts, a little, in his chair; then he meets Yosuke’s eyes. It’s focused and really uncomfortable. Shirogane’s just lucky Yosuke’s really straight.
“What?” Yosuke says.
“Where were you last night from between the hours of six and ten o’clock?” he says.
“Dunno,” Yosuke says, but privately he thinks his balls just tried to shrink back into his body a bit. “Guess I was hanging out around Junes. Went to Souji’s place and had dinner-” Shit, did he really say that? Well, no helping it now. “-and then went back home. I already told Adachi-san the same thing.”
“So Adachi-san has reached you already,” says Shirogane.
“Yeah,” Yosuke says, and remembers what Adachi said about Shirogane’s theory. “Yeah, funny thing, huh.”
There are spots in Junes where the cameras don’t see anything and customers don’t go. That’s one way to take care of Shirogane. And of course, the other way is to push Shirogane into the TV-but then he’s no better than the killer. And he isn’t a killer. Or at least, he kills because he has to.
“Forgive us,” Shirogane says. “We’re conducting an investigation on the disappearance of Mitsuo Kubo.” Shirogane reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a photo of the fish face they ate yesterday. Yosuke wonders if Shirogane can see the moment of horrible hesitation that wells in him, then subsides. “He was actually going to help us in an investigation,” Shirogane says. “Says he had some information on the disappearance of a Takeru Suzuki.”
Yosuke feels a little shiver run up his spine. Takeru Suzuki had been one of their first-sacrifices, that’s what Souji calls them. It was the second time they ate at home; all the rest of their meals, they had taken in the city.
“So you guys are actually making some progress on that case?” Yosuke says. “Took you guys long enough. Do you know who’s killed Saki-senpai yet?”
“I’m afraid I cannot comment on on-going investigations,” Shirogane says. “But rest assured, we are making progress.”
Bullshit. If they were making progress, then none of this would be necessary: not jumping into the TV, not turning into these fucking monsters, not the part where they have to eat people to survive.
“Oh yeah?” says Yosuke. “If the police is making so much progress, then why are you spending so much time on a dead dog and banging on all of our houses?”
“Ah,” Shirogane says. “You would likely know more about it than I. Wouldn’t you say so, Hanamura-san?”
“What’s a dog matter to me?” Yosuke says. “I’m not an animal guy.”
“But your friend’s fingerprints were found on the collar of dog,” Shirogane says. “And the dog was found at the place where Kubo was supposed to meet with one of our detectives. It’s suspicious, isn’t it? Especially with the way you and your friends are always… conveniently showing up or leaving wherever we find a body.”
Yosuke’s phone rings. Yosuke blinks, and tries to not let anything show on his face.
“I should get that,” he says.
“It’s best that you don’t,” Shirogane says.
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“I would like it if you would submit yourself to voluntary questioning by the police,” Shirogane says.
Chie’s beckoning him. Yosuke for a moment wants to say, “Look, you want to deal with this guy?” but then Chie mouths something to him: Souji. TV. When that doesn’t get the job done, she mimes stuffing someone through a screen.
Yosuke swallows. Then he stands. Shirogane rises, as well.
“Yeah, right,” he says.
“I could easily bring you in on formal charges,” Shirogane says. “It would be easier for both of us if you came with me.”
Chie and Yukiko vanish into the store. He thinks they’re going to the bathroom again-what’s so great about the bathrooms, anyway?- but no, they’re headed for the elevators. He goes in after them, glancing over his shoulder every now and then to make sure that Shirogane is following him. The overhead lights aren’t as bright as the sun outside, and it takes Yosuke’s vision a second to adjust. There are people everywhere, all of them so-vulnerable. And then there are the giant plastic balls dyed in purple and green and orange and hell, it’s normal. Almost.
“Are you listening to me, Hanamura-san?” Shirogane says. He sounds testy. Good.
“Look, can’t we talk about it somewhere where we aren’t surrounded by people?” Yosuke says. Chie and Yukiko are already in the lobby. Yosuke steps through. Shirogane hesitates, just for a second, before stepping over the threshold himself.
“Are we sufficiently alone now, Hanamura-san?” Shirogane says.
Yosuke looks to the elevators, then to Chie; then to Yukiko. Chie looks away, to the parking lot, then up at the security cameras. Yukiko meets his gaze, steady and calm. It’s the look that tragic princesses give their bodyguards before they march up to the sacrificial podium or something. Yosuke knows the feeling.
At least this is an order from Souji. That makes it better. A little. Yukiko presses the elevator call button.
“Someone might come in if we stay here,” Yosuke says, and it’s almost like he’s not the one saying it. He puts his hand on Shirogane’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go up to the electronics department?”
Shirogane gives Yosuke a look. His hand drifts down to his belt, but there’s too much on the line for Yosuke to let Shirogane get the upper hand. Shirogane’s scrappy, for a skinny dude, and fights dirty, clawing at Yosuke’s face and trying to knee Yosuke in the groin; but then Chie joins in and bashes Shirogane with a kick to the head. Yosuke clamps a hand over Shirogane’s mouth. He and Chie haul Shirogane into the waiting elevator. Shirogane tries to bite. Whatever. Yosuke’s not afraid of him. Anyway, he isn’t afraid of Shirogane.
“We should do something about the tapes later, Yosuke-kun,” Yukiko says.
“No,” Yosuke says. “It’s a digital feed. Everything gets sent to a server over in Tokyo somewhere. Even if we destroy the cameras, they’re going to see it.”
“If they find out,” Chie says.
Yosuke smiles, sadly, down at Shirogane, who’s glaring up at Yosuke through his bangs and the brim of his hat. It’s not an ‘if’ anymore. Yukiko crosses her arms over her chest. Her mouth is a tight line. She hits the stop button on the elevator. The lights flicker momentarily, then stay strong.
“Come on, you guys,” Chie says. “It’ll be simple.” Shirogane growls, thrashes. Chie kicks him in the gut, and then laughs at it, her eyes wide. “We just-all we have to do is-” She trails off. Looks at Yukiko’s grim face, and gets even quieter.
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“Maybe they’ll understand if we just explain-”
“Yeah, sure,” Yosuke says. “‘Remember us? We killed some people and ate them, but we did it for a good cause!’ That’ll go well.”
“Like anything you do could go well,” Chie says.
“Grow up, won’t you?” Yosuke says. “This is it! We’re not going any farther than this. We’re going to take this guy”-he shakes Shirogane at this, who lets out an enraged snarl-
“and throw him into the TV, and then we’re going to be on the run for the rest of our lives, eating people to get by! Goddamn it!” He tightens his grip on Shirogane’s mouth, and looks at Chie and Yukiko. Chie still looks hopeful, but Yukiko has a strained, tense look on her face, as though what he’s said struck home. Well, he’s right. No way around that.
“We can use Shirogane-san as a hostage,” Yukiko says. “One of theirs for one of ours.”
“They have Kanji-kun, too,” Chie says.
“Adachi-san,” says Yosuke. He’s never liked that guy, anyway.
“We don’t have enough people to subdue him,” Yukiko says. “And his movements will be irregular because of the… commotion we’ll be causing.” She tilts her head to the side, and then looks at Chie, who looks back, confused. Yosuke’s not sure what she’s talking about, either. Yukiko looks down at Shirogane, then sighs. “It’ll be easier,” she says, “if we take someone we know that Dojima-san cares about.”
((Hello again! Don't mind the cannibals. Or. ... you know. ... Sorry, Nanako.
Thank you for staying with me, even after all this time. ♥ ))
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And thanks to you, writer!anon. This shit's off the chain! *F5*
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Never stop, anon!
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In the morning, her big brother wakes up and comes downstairs and makes breakfast for her. It’s Sunday, and normally Dad would be home, but today Souji says Dad is investigating something and won’t be back for a while. He’s in a good mood. They’re having rice and pickled radishes and sausage patties for breakfast. Nanako thinks about pointing out that the sausage patties aren’t healthy and that they should be eating fish instead, but her big brother doesn’t look tired or upset today, and he wasn’t throwing up into the toilet again, so she eats her breakfast without complaints. The food is good as usual. She wishes Souji would make more vegetables.
After breakfast, her big brother goes to his room to do some homework. Nanako does the laundry. She knocks on Souji’s door around noon, and asks for his clothes. He tells her that he can wash his own clothes.
“No, you shouldn’t,” she says. “I should do it.”
Souji opens the door, and smiles down at her. “It’s all right, Nanako,” he says. “I really, really want to do my own laundry.”
“What are you hiding?” she says.
Souji’s smile doesn’t falter. “I’m not hiding anything, Nanako,” he says, and closes the door.
Nanako stomps her foot and says, “If you loved me, you’d let me do your laundry!”
Souji opens the door. He looks concerned, which is good, because she’s worried about him, too. Then he says, “All I have are socks and underwear to wash.”
“I can do that,” she says.
“No,” he says. “I’ll do it myself.”
“You’re going to waste water,” she says.
“It’s my underwear,” he says, and his cheeks are a little pink. He shuts the door, muttering, “It’ll be embarrassing.”
“You’re the embarrassing one!” she says to the door, and this time she hears a laugh on the other side of the door.
Her big brother can be mean sometimes. If he loved her, he would let her in. Nanako stares at the door. She knows she’s being a kid, but she wants to cry for a long time, anyway.
*
Dad calls while Nanako is thinking about eating lunch. Dad says all the usual things: that he’s sorry that it’s Sunday and he’s working, that he wants to be home, that he hopes she’s being safe. Then his voice gets all funny.
“Is Souji home?” he says.
“Yeah,” Nanako says. “Is he in trouble?”
“No, Nanako,” Dad says, and he’s lying to her, like all big people have been lying to her. “I just want to ask him some questions, that’s all.”
“What did he do?” Nanako says.
“I can’t tell you that,” Dad says, in the mortified, confused way that he has when he’s afraid to tell her something. “Why don’t you keep your big brother company? Make sure he stays in the house. Will you do that for me, Nanako?”
Nanako looks up the stairs, where she knows Souji is, and then at the phone receiver.
Just some questions, Dad says. Just some questions.
“When will you be back home?” she says.
“Soon,” he says. “I promise.”
“You promised,” she says, and her voice wavers. And she knows that he’s promised because he loves her, even if he can’t keep it. Not like her brother, who won’t promise things even if he’ll do things. Not like her brother, who’s in trouble and won’t tell her why. “I love you, Daddy.”
“Of course,” Dad says, and he sounds sad. “I love you, too.”
*
Around two o’clock, Souji steps out of his room all dressed up. His clothes don’t fit him that well anymore. He looks shabby.
“Are you going?” Nanako says.
“There’s something I need to take care of,” he says.
“But I’m not done with the laundry yet,” she says.
“Are you still going on about that?” Souji says, and he sounds so annoyed with her that she shrinks away because she’s sure that she’s done something wrong. But then she shakes her head. She’s not the one who’s done anything wrong, she tells herself. It’s Souji who’s being thickheaded about this, who won’t listen to reason or to her or to anyone.
“Why won’t you let me do it?” she says.
“I told you already,” Souji says. “There isn’t anything to wash.”
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“I’m going to your room,” she says. Souji’s face hardens, but she’s determined to do this. She goes up the stairs, and Souji follows her, his footsteps heavy behind her.
“Don’t go in there, Nanako,” he says, and she almost doesn’t, because it sounds like a threat. But there’s no reason for him to hide things from her. She runs up the last few steps and flings the door open before Souji can reach her.
She planned to go straight for his hamper, but can’t move from the doorway. His room is dark with the curtains drawn. The TV is on. There’s a camera on his desk. His futon has been left out. It looks like he’s slashed it apart in his sleep. His walls have scratches in them, as though he’s been clawing them. Souji grabs her by the back of the neck, and she screams, because she’s afraid of the person who lives in here-and then Souji pulls her out of his bedroom.
“Why did you do that, Nanako?” he says.
“I wish I hadn’t,” she says. “I wish I never went in there.”
“I know,” Souji says.
“I wish you never came here!” she says, and runs into her room and shuts the door. She knows that she’s supposed to keep Souji in the house, but she doesn’t care anymore. She doesn’ care about any of it. Souji knocks on her door.
“Nanako,” he says.
She doesn’t answer. She goes to the corner of her room and curls up there. He enters, because she didn’t lock the door when she came in.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“It’s okay,” he says. “Hey, I’m going to make something for you. What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything,” she says.
“Cream puffs,” he says. “Do you like those?”
“No.”
“Cookies, then,” he says.
She doesn’t say anything. She hears Dad pulling into the driveway. Dad is going to ask questions and Souji is going to answer them and it’ll be okay again. Souji won’t be in trouble and he won’t be weird and everything will go away.
Souji’s phone rings. He answers it and steps away from Nanako and onto the stairwell. Nanako hears the front door open. Souji puts his phone in his pocket. He looks, in a single panicked motion, to his room. He ducks back in there. Nanako watches from her room. She sees something strange: Souji takes his notebooks and his camera and makes them disappear inside the TV. After Souji leaves, Nanako runs up to the TV in his room and puts her palm on the glass.
*
Chie isn’t talking to Yukiko. Chie doesn’t know if she ever wants to talk to Yukiko again, although she knows that she’s going to have to. Yosuke’s taken Naoto into the TV-oh god, they’re really doing this, she feels like throwing up in a paper bag-because he thinks the police are going to jump his ass if he goes anywhere near the Dojima’s house. Chie thinks he has a point. She and Yukiko, they’re-they’re Chie and Yukiko, familiar faces who definitely aren’t planning on kidnapping anyone. So even though Adachi’s sniffing her (not like that, ew, no), if anyone tries to make them get into a car, she can beat them up or make a fuss and they’ll have all of Inaba on their side in an instant.
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*
They go through the shopping district and residential districts. Chie watches out for anyone suspicious. She knows that Yukiko won’t notice. Yukiko’s always been slow to recognize danger and risk, even now. She tries to hide it so Yukiko won’t get mad at her, but Chie still has to watch out for Yukiko. They’re both going to move on from this. They’ll be fixed and cured and then everything will be okay again. Chie will do anything to make sure that happens. Anything. Even if it means never speaking to Yukiko again.
As they approach the Dojima house, Yukiko says, “Maybe you should be the one to pick her up. I’m not sure she likes me very much.”
Pick Nanako up-and then what? Toss her into a TV?
“Chie?” Yukiko says.
“I don’t want to hurt her,” Chie says.
“We won’t,” Yukiko says, but Yukiko sounds confused in a way that normal people shouldn’t. Chie’s chest feels tight.
“We’re going to,” Chie says. “What if she gets what we have?”
“She’s too young to have a Shadow,” Yukiko says.
“Teddie had one, and he was empty.”
There’s a beat.
Yukiko takes Chie’s hand, and squeezes it tentatively, as though she’s afraid Chie will shake her off. Chie squeezes back.
“Isn’t there somewhere else?” Chie says.
“You know that there can’t be anywhere else, Chie,” Yukiko says, and she sounds so tired that that Chie almost wants to give up. But then they’re on Souji’s street, halfway up the hill, and she knows she has to try.
“There has to be somewhere,” she says. “A back room in the Inn, or the mountains in the back of the Inn or…”
“We can’t,” Yukiko says, but it doesn’t have that same decisiveness that Souji’s ever had. But Souji is never going to forgive them. Maybe he will. She doesn’t know. Almost like Yukiko’s reading her mind-when did Yukiko learn how to do that?-she says, “This is for Souji-kun and Kanji-kun, Chie.”
That does it.
“Yeah,” Chie says. “I know.”
*
They write the note together, alternating strokes in hopes that it won’t look anyone’s handwriting. They fight, half-heartedly, about whose it looks more like. Chie wants it to look more like hers than Yukiko’s. Has to. Yukiko, at least, has to get out of this. She doesn’t want anything linking Yukiko back to this. They put it next to the front door and weigh it down with a rock. Then Chie rings the bell. Yukiko stands in the driveway, just out of the line of sight of anyone standing in the door.
Nanako answers the door a second later, half-hiding behind it. “Chie-chan?”
“Hi, Nanako-chan,” Chie says. She wonders if she looks as nauseous and exhausted and nervous as she feels. “Is Dojima-san home?”
“No,” she says.
“Can I come in?” Chie says.
“Big bro isn’t home.”
“I know, Nanako-chan,” Chie says, and she wants to hug her or apologize or… or something. “He’s at Junes.”
“With Daddy?” Nanako says.
“No.”
“Because big bro went with Daddy,” she says.
“Oh yeah?” Chie says. “Well, Souji-kun’s at Junes with Yosuke-kun, and they thought we should pick you up for a while, you know?”
Nanako doesn’t look like she believes her. It hurts.
“Come on,” Chie says, and hopes that she won’t have to force Nanako. She holds her hand out to Nanako.
“Where’s big bro?” she says. “He’s in trouble. Daddy is going to punish him.”
“Junes,” Chie says.
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“I’m not lying,” Chie says. She’s still holding her hand out. “Not if you come with me.”
*
(What is a cannibal, Nanako asked her big brother a few weeks ago.
Well, now she knows.)
*
Chie feels like a total creep. Nanako walks just ahead of both Chie and Yukiko, so at least Nanako thinks both of them are terrible people. Chie feels like throwing up again. Yukiko doesn’t look bothered, but this whole thing is Yukiko’s idea to begin with.
And that’s the thing. It was Yukiko’s idea. Not Yosuke’s, which-it would’ve been awful, but not so surprising. Yosuke’s been-changed by all of this, and Souji-maybe, maybe not. And as for Yukiko-
Chie’s just bullied a little girl into a TV, so if Yukiko’s changed, then at least Chie has changed with her.
((slow updates are slow. oh my god.
not saying anything's ending soon, since I don't want to jinx myself again. that being said: doot doot doot 11,000 words down, oh god.
I'll see you on the next update. you know. once I figure out how to be more horrible to everyone.))
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Which means you're doing your job and here I thought DDS couldn't make me cry anymore than it already did. /sob
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Um, I hate to invoke the writer's block excuse, because that's not what happened. I just got stuck and went on and wrote other stories to get unblocked and. ... forgot about this one.
... I'll. I'll update soon. Death and gloom for everyone!
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There are police cars pulled into the Junes parking lot in a furtive spot, and people with guns inside. There aren’t any shoppers inside. Chie holds onto Nanako’s hand, because Nanako won’t take Yukiko’s. They’re walking into a trap, but to go into a TV they’ve never been through, especially without Rise to guide them.
“Do you see anyone?” Yukiko says, trying to not move her head too much as they walk to the elevator. The security cameras seem to be trained on them. Maybe they are. Who knows if Shirogane’s relationship with the police is as bad as it seems. If it is, then they’ll be okay, but if not…
“I see someone looking at the dishes.”
Yukiko has her thinking look on. “Junes does have a nice silverware deal right now.”
Chie kind of feels like that’s beside the point. Silverware? Now?
“Don’t worry,” Yukiko says, and strokes Chie’s hair. They enter the elevator. “We have Nanako-chan.”
There’s a moment where Chie’s entire body stiffens, like it’s suddenly gotten cold, but her neck and the back of her head feel like they’re going to burst into flame. The door closes. Chie tries to pretend that there wasn’t a policeman with a walkie-talkie in the corner.
“This is crazy,” Chie says. “I mean, this is really crazy.”
“Are you sick?” Yukiko says, pressing the button to the second floor.
“What do you think?” Chie says. She gestures to Nanako, who doesn’t look happy with… well, any of this, and then she looks at the security camera, which caught the whole Shirogane thing.
“Maybe this really is the end,” Yukiko says.
“Don’t say that,” Chie says. “We’re definitely going to make it.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re so-” Chie feels the urge to grab Yukiko, shake, pull her into and-but there’s Nanako right there, and the elevator dings as they arrive. There’s Adachi in the electronics department, near the TVs. He’s waiting for them, leaning against a box with a long, hard smile.
“Hey, Satonaka-san,” he says. “Nanako-chan. Amagi-san.”
Nanako doesn’t look like she wants to be near Adachi anymore than she wants to be around Yukiko or Chie.
“What do you want?” Chie says.
“Haha,” Adachi says. “Just a quick conversation, that’s all.” He’s looking at them, like he’s considering something. Then he says, “Who thought it would’ve been you kids, huh.”
They’re going to have to get rid of Adachi, somehow. Chie feels her head get light.
“You don’t have to worry,” Adachi says. “I’ve come alone. Just me.”
“So what’s with all the officers?” Chie says.
“Well,” Adachi says. “They’re just there in case things get nasty. C’mon. We got the tapes. First Shirogane and now Dojima-san’s girl? You guys pull a mean game.”
Chie holds onto Nanako’s hand a little tighter. Yukiko steps forward.
“We haven’t done anything,” Yukiko says.
“Haha,” Adachi says. “Where are you girls going?”
“It isn’t any of your business,” says Yukiko says, all stiff and proper and with a hint of steel.
“Come on, Amagi-san, don’t resist it,” Adachi says. “You’re outnumbered.”
“Not here,” Chie says. She pushes Nanako forward to Yukiko. “And not right now.”
“Yeah?” Adachi says. “You know, I don’t even feel sorry for you anymore. Don’t make trouble.”
Yeah, whatever. She’s eaten. She feels fine. She jumps forward, and Adachi draws his gun-she kicks it out of his hand, and spin kicks his head. He staggers, falls forward, then grabs onto the edge of a TV and tosses it onto the ground. It breaks onto the ground with a smash.
“Don’t just stand there!” Chie says to Yukiko. “You have to get Nanako-chan to safety!”
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She lets him fall. Yukiko is there to catch her when her legs go weak.
“Nanako-chan,” Chie says.
“I already put her in,” Yukiko says. It sounds a little surreal coming from her mouth. She looks down at Adachi, and then draws in a deep breath. “He’s still alive. I think.”
“Right,” Chie says. They don’t kill people unless it’s absolutely necessary, and even then, Souji’s the one who picks the targets-she doesn’t know how, and doesn’t want to know how. She’s relieved that Adachi’s still alive.
“We should get rid of him,” Yukiko says.
“But that’ll make us-”
“Murderers?”
Well, there’s that. “Cop-killers.”
“Are detectives cops?”
“Yukiko,” Chie says. She’s tired and doesn’t want to think like this.
“I’m sorry,” Yukiko says. “It’s just-” There’s a pop, and then Yukiko falls forward, clutching at her chest. There’s blood-Chie knows that smell too well-and then something hot splashes onto Chie’s skin. Adachi’s standing, gun still pointed at Yukiko; his face, bloody and broken, is livid. There’s another shot, and Chie feels something hot strike her shoulder. She grabs Yukiko and pulls her to their TV. There are a few more shots of the gun, which make Yukiko flinch, but the bullets miss their mark. Chie knocks over some other TVs to provide a screen. They make it to their TV without taking any more hits.
“You should go first,” Yukiko says.
“No, you should,” Chie says.
“You have to promise that you’ll come with me,” Yukiko says. “At the same time. No heroics, Chie. I can take whatever happens to me, but if something were to happen to you-”
“Okay,” Chie says, because she needs Yukiko to stop talking before the detective’s bullet ends up in her head. “I promise.”
“Okay,” Yukiko says. “Good.”
She has a pretty smile. Chie finds herself smiling back. They reach into the TV with their hands, and Chie knows she promised, but she has to make sure Yukiko makes it safely. The last thing she sees before everything goes black is Yukiko turning back to look at her, eyes wide and-
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