yogen | MISSION 2.C

...

( quickly his eyes look towards helena, a frown apparent from how quick she's starting to crumble from such uncertainties like death. she didn't know, and komaeda wasn't aware of her ability could kill them all in one fell swoop, and yet she doesn't seem proud of herself. )

You put them out of their misery.

( he speaks up, if they think about it, they were all covered in snow — glass, whatever it was, unmoving, unafraid until touched by their actions. komaeda could say this is because of his bad luck, that his existence brought upon this... and yet, he sighs as he places both hands on her shoulder. blood covers his fingers, but they're wiped clean on his coat that she wears as he nudges her in one direction, away from the dead creature. )

Besides, you told me yourself, you'd show me your hope... can it crumble as easily as the animals here, they had no choice, but you do.

( his voice is soft, barely above a whisper as he speaks to her. it's like he's up to something, he's aware that for her, something went wrong. even if it did, that is her own weight to carry until she uses it for something more useful, like taking such an uneventful scenario to turn into her hope that keeps her going forward. they're all sprayed with blood, it sticks to them like the cold, but it should drive most of them unless they want to be next. he speaks, aloud, wanting to look towards hinata, but he's on autopilot with natsume so they're just going to keep going — maybe step on a few animal guts along the way. )

We should keep moving, like you said, Sakasaki-kun and Hinata-kun are counting on you, and you'll be rewarded something good.

[Hinata is frozen, shivering and face pale as a sheet, as he takes in what just happened and clings to Natsume like a lifeline.

He hasn't seen this much blood since he woke up in the main hall on Jabberwock. Never seen the... the insides of anything at all.

Hinata fights back the nausea swirling through his gut, because- because they have to go, they cannot stay here or they'll freeze to death.

It's not a skill that he knows that he has, not with the memories that he has now. But Hinata is someone that can stay calm, even when it feels like there's a storm raging inside him. So even if it's only instinctual, he grasps at that feeling desperately.

Even if it's hard, even if his mind is whirling - he has to try to say it.]

Helena.

[His voice is gentle when he speaks.]

Even if... there might've been a better way to say it, Komaeda's right. [He shakes his head, even if she can't see it.] Whatever that was you did just now... Those animals must've been trapped in there, suffering for however long. Even if what happened was... [Awful. Looks awful, even if Hinata won't say that to her.] ...terrible, it's not your fault they died. You stopped them from hurting anymore.

[He isn't sure if it's the right thing to do. But Hinata shifts all of Natsume's weight to one side, and gently pats her arm with his free hand.]

...Let's get out of here, okay? We shouldn't stay here any longer.

[it's not the death, it's not the blood - it's the fact that something was only ever meant to help ended up causing so much harm. it wasn't her place to decide if something was miserable enough to die, and she might as well have had all that blood on her, cooling in the frost. panic wants to rise, wants to ask why.

but then there are hands on her shoulders, and even through the half frozen clothes she wears, their weight is a comfort. they're a reminder that she can control herself. all the anguish, the distress, can be handled for the moment. Hinata and Komaeda's touch anchors her back down, and Helena remembers to breathe again, around the lump in her throat. her eyes close, and something in her expression loses some of the tension.

we need to keep moving. it's a fact. she's not alone, she can't break from this, not when others need her to stay steady. maybe it isn't her fault, even though it's a tragedy. maybe they were hurting, and they aren't anymore. there's no certainty, no guarantee. but they don't have to stay here. they shouldn't. Helena will take their words as things to hold fast, at least to get through this.

she slowly nods after she takes another deep breath. the air pricks her lungs, and tastes of iron, but it's there. none of them can stay in this cold. Natsume can't be asleep for too long, or they'll have to worry.]

Okay. Let's go.

[whatever way they're going, she's going with them. the only clue they might have is all that splashing downstream that they heard, but she'll let someone else call the shots for a minute.]

( crying not how i had to play with friends because i promised to and in the meanwhile we m*rdered some innocent animaaaals

The sound of Helena's cane wakes him a little; his head is aching, his chest is aching, and it takes him some moments to come back into focus—but it's a sharp, painful experience when he does so. He remembers the river, he remembers struggling, he remembers someone grabbing his foot, arms around his middle... he can't remember much after that, but the panic suddenly rises back in his throat, and he almost starts to struggle in whomever's arms until he recognizes they're out of the water. He's fine.

They're fine. Harder to think with the chill settling in his bones, and surprisingly being with someone equally cold and wet is not helping, who would've thought... It's a little bit of a somber moment to interrupt, so he waits a few moments to collect his thoughts and calm himself down, half-listening to them comfort Helena; it's only after she's said they should go that he blearily opens his eyes, squints at Hinata (ah, okay, it's him, that's acceptable), and exhales softly.

He's lost so much time, even though he's sure it hasn't really been all too long. )

...I'm fine; I can WALK. ( And he's alive, cause for celebration but he's not going to focus on that right now. He has no intention of dying, after all. He'll just wiggle from Hinata's grasp and take a few steps away, making a face to himself. They saw him in a moment of weakness... ugh..... He feels like a child, small and pathetic.

He feels a little more like it too when he sees what, exactly, they were discussing; his eyes widen at the blood and the ... everything, everywhere, and just as quickly he schools his expression back to pointed neutrality as he looks ahead and away from it.

Natsume rubs his arms, glancing at the river. One of their original ideas had been to follow it, he guesses. ) That WAY?

( There are no cairns to make this decision easier, but... )

( so the whole kitchen faucet just fucking popped off and i'm drenched in water, but at least i have the experience of our character's current problem. i'm cold.

helena doesn't need komada for this anymore, he's taking a step back once she appears capable of moving on her own. that's what they needed, for her not to give up all because of a simple mishap — this is komaeda's life, after all. this is a chance for her to learn that things don't go as planned, but she can move on, use it to strengthen herself. it's a shame that she can't see what she did, to take in the reality of it, but the smell must be more than enough.

he hears natsume's voice, and he looks towards hinata (who is on autopilot since yama has to work) to see that the other has came to. he didn't miss much, but komaeda smiles regardless. )

Sakasaki-kun!! Good afternoon!

( he's happy to see him, or just to see him awake. he sighs afterwards though as they look towards the rover they need to follow. since natsume speaks, and helena can't see, komaeda reaches out one last time to direct her where to go just in case. he removes his hands again, and he grabs his hacking gun.....look... komaru been in enough water and this bitch works.... don't ask me what future foundation shit is made with, crack probably.

anyway, he's going to turn it on to see if those fireflies or whatever they were around, or going towards the direction natsume pointed out.

... )

[ There are no fireflies or whatever around them, neither upstream nor down. The ground is slick with ice near the riverbank as they follow it to the edge of the waterfall that drops a good fifty feet against a jagged cliff wall before crashing onto the rocks below, the water spluttering erratically over large boulders that don't seem like they belong.

And, looking further downstream where the water calms somewhat, they can see what those boulders used to be, far enough that they haven't toppled from the shockwave sent by Helena's cane.

Even further downstream is a bridge spanning riverbank to riverbank, and what looks like a body lying face down at the very center. ]

( Komaeda is such a mood-ruiner, why does he look so happy... Gross. Natsume's staying far from the riverbank's edge, single-mindedly moving parallel to it once everyone's all well and good. The waterfall is a grim thought when he reaches it, the fact they could've gone over... he has to be somewhat grateful to whoever helped him out, may a tree fall on him if one of those people was Komaeda, but that can be settled later.

Because more importantly, the erratic splashing is because of those boulders; and further down is what... they look similar, so it's possible they were in a similar state, right? He spends a good moment trying to figure out if there's something special behind them, like the cairns, but nothing his ~~chuunibyou~~ mind summons up sounds reasonable.

...The bridge is also interesting, similar gravity-defying make, and...

Okay.

Y'all do whatever you want, Natsume's gonna busy himself with finding a safe way down so we don't have to do something stupid, like push each other off of cliffs again. )

Mind your STEP. ( off-handedly said, he cares about like 10% of you )

( given the circumstances, where is the tree to fall on komaeda instead. anyway, everyone seems to be fine in their own way, so he'll take his own route to look over the scenery... the rocks, various of them propped up, and it reminds him of the one they have with them. he wonders if they could put them back as soon as they find themselves with the rest, or at least... fix it back proper. )

It's like ice skating! Have you done that before?

( he asks, looking towards natsume because komaeda sure hasn't, and he'll slide his shoes against the ice without a care in the world. he's minding his step if he never takes one, sliding is ever more efficient, but he does it for a few moments until he almost trips — catching the tail of natsume's shirt to keep himself from falling.

fingers dig into the fabric as he glances how far down they have to go, and then he looks towards helena. he reaches out to her instead, grabbing her arm as he pulls it to take the place of where komaeda gripped on natsume's attire. there, now the ice won't have her skating.

as for him, he'll take a few steps away from the group because he doesn't want his luck to do anything at the moment. it's all too messy here with the river, the rocks, the drop...

whisper... whisper... )

I wonder if I can just jump...

( can he jump? will his luck save him? the whole blue skadoo we can too dance then jump. )

[ Good news: he makes it down to the bottom in record time, miraculously missing smashing his head against any of the jagged rocks on the cliff wall or boulders at the bottom of the waterfall where the water is deep enough for him to sink and slow his fall before lifting him back up

Bad news: the splash topples some more of those balanced rocks, which causes a domino effect of waves that reach the bridge— it doesn't fully collapse, but a rock here and there does get dislodged, and anything more will absolutely sweep the entire thing away. also he lives ]

[another cliff, at the end of this ice. while holding onto Natsume is good to keep her footing, it's not going to help her get down, and this time it doesn't feel like just jumping is a good solution. she'd heard the splash, the change in the air, and out of the three of them, only one person is likely to throw himself over a strange ledge just to get to the bottom. and while she would try to get down on her own if there was no other option, there thankfully is - becoming a backpack on Hinata again.

really, she'll have to figure out some way to properly say thank you after all of this. he's going through so much. they all are, but since he's the only one with upper body strength it's a lot.

anyway, with the cliff dealt with, it means they can try to get Komaeda out of the river again - or at the least, to go investigate that bridge, if someone points it out. also that backpack full of rocks is probably caught on a boulder, if it becomes relevant again....washed down the waterfall.]

Don't run off like that, Nagito! Please!

[they've evaded death so much already, at least let them do it together as a group? she'll at least wait to make sure Natsume gets down fine before moving on.]

( crying ori are there just no safe ways down... whatever he'll find the safest among the jagged rocks and start down it, raising his voice so that he can talk to helena and hinata a little. )

I wouldn't worry about HIM, Little Bat. ( hi helena you have a nickname now. enjoy it. ) He's the type of person who wouldn't die even if he was KILLED--

( saying that, he (rolls dice) missings a rock and loses his footing. he's still wet and this place is cold and icy and he rolled poorly. he catches himself a few times, scraping his palms on the cliffside, but he can't manage to get a good enough grip.

and off he goes one time, not able to catch himself this time... but nms said koma will catch him )

( imagine if koma didn't catch him.

alright, but that's not what's happening here, he's managed to drop down and is... alive! he wonders why he's not dead, but that's every time he goes and tries to get himself killed. with hinata and helena making their way down, there's a visible grimace as he hears his name called — she really did say it that time, he forgot all about it, but he should at least speak up about it. )

...Ah? Adams-san, why do you continue to call me that?

( he doesn't understand that it's because he's won helena points, but he doesn't want them if they mean he's going through this. it's slightly uncomfortable, and only a few people call him that here — they shouldn't even call him that in general — so he wonders how he's supposed to explain while answering the riddle of why he doesn't like it. )

Komaeda works perfectly.

( he holds out his hands, almost in why me gesture — this man has had me cracking up — and he glances up for a moment to see — natsume dropping right down here he is, snuggly into his arms. between the weight and velocity of the drop causes komaeda to bend his knees, almost buckling under him, and his back forced forward. it's horrible for a sick man like him to be in this position, but hopefully natsume falling into komaeda's arms — i'm sorry for the mechanical one — doesn't hurt him much. at least he's bridal style. )

...

( with natsume like this, he stands up properly, trying to get himself comfortable as he takes a step forward. for once, he doesn't say anything since he thinks natsume wouldn't like it, but he spins first, allowing the other to get a good look to get a good look of their surroundings before continuing. ) Everything here looks unstable, I heard a few rocks splash into the water when I dropped. ( luckily the idol was caught before it happened a second time, or maybe that was just him hearing things. maybe he was the rock, but just by looking at them looks like they a breath away from falling over. )

[ PLEASE you guys could have gone around but it's fine it's fine, sometimes you see a sheer drop and you gotta jump

Anyways... here they are all alive at the bottom of the waterfall, tinged that familiar light light pink from the dead foxes upstream. The gorinto is carried away by the current, and gets caught at the bottom of the bridge, dislodging a rock, then another, and the bridge collapses and lodges like a dam, river spilling out on either side of it.

Bye-bye body. ]

( please if komaeda reaction drops natsume at the sight of seeing a dead body going down the water and books it can he get it WILL HE MAKE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT )

[ There is ice everywhere and he has to slip and fall twice but with the bridge collapsed, the flow of the water downstream is considerably slower so yeah... he can catch up. ]

( in the words of lonnie: fighting for my fucking life rn.

dead bodies are on the rage nowadays, so every time he thinks he has a good footing, he'll slip on the ice and down on his knees. up again, the same rotation, but he attempts to use his mechanical arm to keep him from falling face first — with everything it's been through, the impact causes something to snap, the fingers no longer working correctly — wires broken, too much water having gone through the case, and it's... unusable. just heavy weight attached to what's left of his organic limb, but he carries it along with him as he jumps forward loud splash into the water and ice. he's going to grab onto the body with his other arm, wrapping it around the waist of the dead body... oh god, i am so sorry, and pull it close to him. does he have to drink blood water, i'll make him drink blood water to ensure that body doesn't go anywhere!!! )

[ WHY IS THE BODY DEAD

Komaeda swallows blood water and manages to grab the presumably dead but actually alive body that may not be alive for much longer because the moment he touches it the body tears apart and bleeds out just like the other animals did: the front of the shirt soaks through with blood, hot on Komaeda's hands and legs as blood pours onto the ground and into the water. The body is limp, knees unable to support its own weight, but hands weakly grip whatever part of Komaeda's clothes they can find.

Their head remains bowed, but if Komaeda were to lift it up... It's a familiar face, but younger somehow, as if fresh out of middle school. ]

[ok so we're just gonna say that Helena was slower because of the ice and not because I wandered away to make dinner and came back to everyone screaming

anyway. if Komaeda can get the body out of the water or at least to shore, Helena's still wearing that green jacket, and something clicks with Komaeda shouting fuck, with the scent of blood again. enough times having to use whatever was on hand to try to keep her teammates together, to pull them off the ground before something worse happen. it won't be perfect - she's not Emily, she's not a doctor who'd know instantly what to do and how to do it fast, but they can try, and that's better than anything else.

the jacket comes off, and she's kneeling on the shore, putting it over the boy and pressing down firmly, trying to stem the flow of blood from even part of it.]

Don't go to sleep - whatever you do, stay awake!

[words she's heard shouted at her before, with deep wounds in her back and nothing to do but trust. in her head, she's praying - if God truly listens, then they need some kind of miracle. something greater than them surviving the fall, not being damaged themselves. some miracle that'll keep them together.]

( familiarity seems to eat away at him because that hungers, gnaw at his sanity, and mock him for his past mistakes. his mind is going through various thoughts that reel back to before, even he can't believe it, like this entire scenario they're enduring is right out a fairy tale.

with helena wrapping the body up in hopes that it can do something, to stall the bleeding, komaeda's lips purse into a straight line as he stares at the expression the other wears. it's sick and twisted, and something like this would happen to him because it's happened once, and he follows the same pattern as last time. he only has one arm, so he reaches out to search for the same hand that held onto him last time, like that's some sort of lifeline. )

You have to... you have people waiting for you.

( it hurts his head... it's almost like what a certain someone said... )

[ The boy grimaces when Helena puts pressure on the wound, but whatever keeps him awake. Her hands and the fabric sink deeper that it should against his side, and the blood is quick to soak through. His hands are ice cold in Komaeda's, a little warmer where they're coated with his own blood but bleeding out won't keep him warm forever.

"You put them out of their misery."
"You stopped them from hurting anymore."

Why should they not show him that same mercy? ]

[Hinata only glances at Komaeda while he's behind him ~~because Nimise said he can't look at him directly holds my head every day~~, a brief, startled thing. The way he's talking to the boy is...

...Does he know him?

But there's no time for that at all, as is quickly apparent as he approaches, watches the blood rapidly soaking through Komaeda's jacket. He's unfortunately had to see bodies before, but he's never watched someone die... It hits so much harder than the animals, as terrible as that had been, and the thought fills Hinata with dread... but he can't help thinking they don't have much time left.]

Hey... Try not to move too much, okay?

[His voice shakes, betraying his nerves as he kneels down to sit as close to the boy as he can without disturbing Helena or Komaeda. If his eyes are open, he'll try to meet his gaze.]

How... did this happen? Can you tell us what did this to you?

[He doesn't know if the boy has the strength. But he has to try and ask.

They have to stop killing everything here if they can.]

[ His eyes are open but unfocused, light brown rimmed red that don't even bother looking towards the sound of each voice that addresses him. But he opens his mouth as if in response, answer not given voice because what escapes is a groan of pain, breath shaking each time he forces his lungs to work.

...

... ]

...cold...

( in a state like this, their "survivor"'s barely hanging on, just like everything else here... so fragile to the touch that it just cracks and splatters red. komaeda watches the way his jacket soaks up the liquid, the green becoming a dark brown from the blotches, and if only that coat could see other use than this. he'll glance at where this younger version of someone familiar looks, notices how they see no one, but given the fact that they're brown and not yellow must be a good thing. he can keep some of his humanity. even as they speak, he doesn't look towards helena, hinata or natsume... everyone's in their own world, having their own concerns... )

...

( he doesn't say anything, all he's able to offer is his hand that's covered in red, and his body is already too cold to suffice as a heat source. he's younger than what komaeda knew him from, and he doesn't look back to remember that there's a cliff behind them. the supposed theory is that he fell off playing, and that the wolves ate him... there's no way that they're playing the wolves, right?

he's been through this once, like it's to prepare him for something he can't help, and his whole life has been instances like this that... watching someone die, it's common. turning his back on them to when there's nothing that can be done, and here is... where the other has to help themselves. he's aware of what he has at home, and if his will wins out for his survival, than good for him, but that's not how the story goes from what npc-kun had told him. an unhappy ending, who knows when a three year old will make their way out, he doubts they'll be found, but he also recalls that too. )

You're cold?

( he repeats it, giving it a moment, and they don't have to hear him at all. ) In September, I'll... give you something warm. ( rather than speaking to him, he only speaks at him, and he even decides to slowly dislodge his organic hand from the other's own. ) I can promise that, at least.

[ It's hard to listen, to think, when all the blood is draining from your body and the chill is so bitter you can't even feel it. What he can feel, though, is somebody letting go... letting him go, as if giving up on him, and the boy...

...

tries to sit up, but has no strength to do so, instead he tries to push Helena's hands away to roll over onto his side, not caring how pathetic it must look to have to be on all fours just to get himself to his feet, he has to get to his feet, he has to get up. Get up.

...

His body refuses to listen, all his will urging him up but he remains collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.

...

He looks up at Hinata, finally, gaze sliding over to the shock of red hair that is Natsume, to Helena who had tried so hard to hold him together when he couldn't do it himself, to the boy that lifted him up, took him by the hand...

... ]

...me... help me... I can't...

[there's so little they can do. even if they held him to themselves, it might not warm him like he needs, not like the warmth of life going through his veins. there is so little, but even like this, there is one more thing. one more thing Helena can do. his blood on her hands, but she shifts into a crouch, and takes his hand.]

We've got you.

[and into his other hand is pressed her cane. it's sturdy, it's solid. she can lend it for a little while. it may at least offer him what reliability it has, for the last moments, so he might feel stronger as he goes.

up they can get, careful as can be. there's something to lean on both ways. not giving up on him just yet, they can't. not until the very last breath is taken.]

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