#(But yeah this would be a -great- time for Shinobu to check in on Sonia)

[more-than-a-princess]

But there was a need to thank her, no matter how difficult it was to say the words. The Future Foundation was meant to acclimate them back into society after the conclusion of the simulation: their personal welfare was not at the forefront of their concerns, particularly when it was self-imposed harm to such welfare, even more when it was due to a broken heart and personal desires. It was even difficult to admit thanks in general for such a thing, particularly when she was in such a pathetic state. But it was necessary, something she felt compelled to do. Not like she'd ever have a clear conscience for the duration of her life, anyway: Sonia couldn't explain it, and she was too tired and in pain to try.

"But I need to-" She rasped, just as Mikan entered the room with several medications, a glass of water, and a relieved look that she was awake. A sentiment Sonia didn't share: while her friend assured Yaguchi that she was fine, checked the monitor and explained that Sonia's stay would be less than pleasant, Sonia only whimpered in response. Already her head was pounding, her stomach churning, and she desperately wanted to vomit before going back to sleep. Except there was nothing in her stomach to rid herself of, and the sleeping medicine she'd been given had worn off. The lights, the cloying smell of saltwater, concern that she didn't deserve: even the beeping of the vital signs monitor made her head throb and belly ache. She might as well have swallowed knives, something she was sure the taste of rum or vodka could rectify: it could help with it all, and leave her in a state of nothingness. Where she could feel nothing at all: not quite dead but close to it, where every thought and sense was dulled to a simple state of existence. Waiting for it all to have been just a dream, something that would never come.

Sonia heaved at both of their negative responses. It's like they wanted her to fucking suffer: did they have no idea how painful this was? How every sense was far too alive, how everything in the room and the island and her life was so goddamn intolerable? No matter how much she tried, there was nothing she could rid her body of in order to cope with the unbearable pain: she curled up into a fetal position instead, shutting out the people and the room and the light. All of it, into a darkness of her own making. She could blame Junko all she liked, but this...this was her fault. His desertion in the end, how nothing she said or did could open his heart again...her fault.

"Tea, then. Please." She uttered through gritted teeth. Maybe caffeine would be a temporary balm, though she was in no danger of caffeine withdrawal: just alcohol.

"A-after you take your medicine! You can have your tea and go back to resting," Mikan assured her, before easing Sonia into a sitting position and handing her the cup of pills with an annoyed grunt from the former Princess. But she helped her bring the glass of water to her lips before allowing her patient to settle back into her bed. "I think it might better if you make Sonia-san her tea and then get some rest too," She whispered to Shinobu, "She will be grumpy and irritable due to the pain and there's not much we can do besides give her medication and have her wait it out. I can call your room from here there's any changes to her health."

Sonia accepted the tea with little fanfare, choosing to drink it before pulling a blanket up and over her head to help block out the light. And with Mikan kindly turning off the lights in her room and closing the curtains, it left her in a preferable state of darkness and solitude. Enough that she was able to drift off to sleep until she heard the scraping of metal rings on the curtain rod, shoving them open before the blanket over her head was pulled aside with equal force. Tired blue eyes met a familiar pair of lapis blue eyes, hidden behind silver-rimmed frames and his usual state of disapproval. Wonderful, the last person on Jabberwock Island she needed to see, Gundam notwithstanding.

"Wake up," Byakuya Togami greeted her with an order. As he usually did, though it was often along the lines of 'sit down' and 'stop drinking from that flask when I'm talking to you.' "You missed our meeting this morning."

"There were some complications in reaching your office," She replied, a tiredness in her tone that couldn't entirely be attributed to the withdrawal and the stitches. "I stepped in glass."

"Which is your own fault," He pointed out. Usually their form of part-therapy session, part-future guidance counseling had a desk between them to keep them apart. So Togami could remind her precisely who was in charge of allowing her to stay as long as she'd had. And when she'd be dismissed from Jabberwock Island, to take her place on the Novoselic Throne and fulfill her promises to the Future Foundation and the World. And that patience, without the desk and without a willing Gundham Tanaka, was now wearing thin. "Does it not occur to you, Sonia Nevermind, that there are people here, people in Novoselic, people around the world who are depending on you to rectify the many mistakes you've made and provide some actual leadership?"

"Every day of my life," She grumbled, easing herself into a seated position. In her sleep, Mikan must have changed the bandages: they were tighter and stiffer than before. She rubbed at her tired eyes, hoping it would diminish the glare he shot her. It didn't.

"And yet you've chosen to turn your back on all of it, when they need you, in favor of waiting for Gundham Tanaka to wake up, decide he's hopelessly in love with you and sail off to Europe by your side," Byakuya huffed, not making an effort to hide his disgust. "And instead of realizing what a completely idiotic plan that is and preparing for your own departure, you act like an irresponsible child. Living in squalor and drinking in excess. It's almost as if you want the little respect you have, that your family name still brings, to be entirely lost so you can be a leech to everyone on this island. It isn't as if you contribute anything of use here-"

"Oh shut the FUCK up, you arrogant prick!" Sonia spat, without thinking and without any patience or sense of decorum left. Not while her head felt so heavy and hot, while she shivered beneath the blanket. Somehow she took a nap with medication and managed to feel worse in the end: she deserved it. "You do not have a goddamned clue what it is like to be responsible for a mass genocide, for destroying everything you ever loved in your life because you listened to one insane bitch who killed your best friend in front of you and promised to take the pain away! No, you only know what it is like to be loved, to be the fucking hero alongside Makoto Naegi and his bullshit hope for a future where we are wanted and accepted back into society! You and I know fucking well that will never happen where you want to send me!"

"And if you want to even begin making amends to the catastrophe you caused, you will do it and without complaint!" He seethed in return. "You are procrastinating, wallowing in your own self-imposed misery instead of being the Queen of Novoselic that you are. Waiting for Gundham Tanaka to give you his approval and companionship before deciding to help the very people whose lives you destroyed! You are pathetic, Sonia Nevermind, and I can't believe that once I saw us as equals. Maybe the only person at Hope's Peak Academy who was worth befriending back then."

"I appreciate the words of encouragement," She replied dully. Between her arrival at Hope's Peak years ago and the hospital bed she currently occupied, Sonia had learned something of the language of sarcasm. "Maybe it would be prudent to let my foot heal enough to put on proper shoes and then we may discuss my extradition home. Whether it is made of stone or sand, a prison is a prison regardless."

Outside, Mikan held Sonia's next dose of medication, shaking. She'd stood by Sonia's door, resisting the urge to clamp her hands over her ears: she didn't do well with yelling, and even after contacting Miss Kirigiri for assistance, she couldn't bring herself to enter Sonia's room alone. Even if it was time for her next dose of medication, Byakuya Togami was utterly frightening in Sonia Nevermind's company. He was imposing to begin with, but the former Ultimate Princess was perhaps the only Remnant of Despair in his charge who didn't agree to his every order. Instead, she had the power to challenge him, a title and wealth that he could respect, if only she fulfilled her directions without protest.

Sitting at Sonia's side, it had been a struggle to stay awake. They'd worked through the night, and now committed to being awake for her should she need them, there had been no time for sleep. Instead, Shinobu sat with her book, eyelids heavy, head occasionally drooping forward before she caught and straightened herself. If something happened, if Sonia awoke and Miss Tsumiki wasn't there, if something was amiss, if something was wrong, she might need help. She might need Shinobu. What a nice thing to be, needed.

But hours passed without Sonia stirring from her rest - something Shinobu knew was for the best, even if it made her continued presence there more and more useless as the clock ticked onward. When Miss Tsumiki inquired about the tea, Shinobu had simply drunk the cold beverage herself, hoping that a small shock of caffeine, even if not in her preferred form, would help keep her eyes open. For Miss Tsumiki, only a fresh, hot cup, with the additives prepared as she liked, would do. Between Miss Tsumiki and Shinobu herself, it was clear who deserved a cold cup prepared for someone else, and who deserved the care of a personally-prepared drink.

"Mm," Shinobu answered, a gentle nod that nearly turned into another lurch as the weight of exhaustion crashed against her neck and shoulders. She really was so tired, wasn't she? Of most things that could be called 'living,' and all that came with them. Anzu was yelling at her, as usual, so typical and expected as to not even warrant a response. At least her fractured cognition had captured her persistence well enough - they'd already made an agreement, but it was rather like Anzu to want more, to badger and twist and try and squeeze more blood from the stone that was their promise.

Not that Shinobu had any intent of accelerating the accepted timeline. For now, her focus needed to be with Sonia, and what came after that was for the future Shinobu Yaguchi to contend with. "There's really no need to thank me, Miss Nevermind." Personal feelings aside, was she not only doing her job? It would be difficult to say otherwise, so hopefully there would be no tedious conversations with certain other Future Foundation members. "I was worried about you, and once I saw the state you were in, there was no possible way that I could have left you alone."

Perhaps she would have said more, had Miss Tsumiki not made her appearance, and thus reminding Shinobu of the difference in their roles. "Good morning, Miss Tsumiki. I hope you're well this morning." Miss Tsumiki, and the other remnants, were Sonia's support and her care, while the Future Foundation administrators were the ones responsible, in the end, for her recovery and her reintegration back into society. Shinobu Yaguchi was just a helpful ghost setting its affairs in order so as to pass on with no regrets or unfinished business.

"Mm." Shinobu nodded first at Miss Tsumiki's suggestion that she could make Sonia another cup, and then at Sonia's lack of interest in anything in her stomach. "The offer stands, though, Miss Nevermind. If you change your mind, I'd be happy to make a cup of tea for you." I remember how you like it, and I won't make mistakes. I can be reliable for at least that much. For a moment, they thought about asking Sonia directly if she would like them to stay - for now, of course, and for the days to come, being in that they fully intended to stay at the hospital as much as their work allowed. But no, she decided, she'd simply come along and leave if asked.

As Miss Tsumiki explained how the days to come would work for Sonia, and how her recovery might proceed, Shinobu found herself fading - both into the background, as befitting her status, and towards sleep. Again, she lightly shook her head and patted her cheeks, forcing wakefulness upon herself. No resting, upon laurels or otherwise. "Mm, I agree with Miss Tsumiki." It was what she'd decided for herself already, after all, with how she'd managed her detox. A gradual lowering, or attempting to medicate with what had made her sick already, would only prolong the effects.

"I don't believe you should be drinking in your current state, Miss Nevermind." Even if the opportunities to step upon glass or destroy something were far fewer here, it was something Shinobu couldn't abide. "Miss Tsumiki has informed me that it might be quite difficult, as far as recoveries go, but more alcohol seems to me not to be the answer." They kept their tone of voice soft, not wanting to seem as though they were chastising her. "Of course, Miss Tsumiki will be here to assist you in any way she can, I'm sure, and I intend to stay for the duration, as well. If there's something else I can do for you, you need only ask."

[kiboutomirai]

Everything was going fantastic.

Chisa hummed as she finished hanging the last garland from the doorway, finishing off the trim. Everything was exactly where it should be, decorations everywhere, the tree, the presents… and there were a lot of presents! She had a lot of people to buy for, after all! It had taken three nights between her and Kyousuke to wrap them all, though she did attribute part of that to the fact that Kyousuke was a total perfectionist and would spend twice as long on one gift than she did.

It had eventually taken until Juuzou came and assured him that he was in fact overthinking, and with the three of them combined they managed to finish without taking a whole week. Chisa wasn’t sure she would be able to take that long, anyway! Surely the children would have figured something out by then, and she was adamant that these kinds of things be a total surprise!

“… Chisa,” Kyousuke looked up at her from where he stood on ground level. Chisa herself was standing on the stepstool still, having finished her door trim. “Juuzou says we should start plating the food now, before the first guests arrive.”

“Ah! Of course!” She grinned and hopped down, unable to help the big grin that went across her face. “Do you think the kids want to help?”

Before she could even answer, a familiar smaller redhead came skipping into the living room. “Mom! Look!” She held up a wreath, which had been lovingly decorated with all kinds of little ornaments and tinsel. The most important contribution though were the little paper cutouts of their family, the six of them.

Chisa grinned. “Wow! That looks fantastic, Ayaka! Let’s put it up~” She took the wreath and hung it on the back of the front door. Once it was secured she lifted the girl up into a hug. “What an artist I have!”

“She gets it from you,” Kyousuke said with a faint smile. Chisa grinned in his direction.

“Let’s start setting up, shall we~?”

It wasn’t long before guests started arriving, and the festivities truly began. Chisa was grateful that their house was relatively big, though in hindsight maybe it would have been a better idea to ask someone like Hiyoko or Nagito to host, with their mansions. Then again, this kind of intimate atmosphere was better for this kind of party, wasn’t it?

The first ones to arrive were the Nanamis, of course. They arrived well before anyone else, enough time to help with preparations. Chisa gladly let Mikan help with some cleaning and the remainder of the cooking (she couldn’t keep Juuzou cooped up in the kitchen forever). She even showed her the wreath that Ayaka had made, though of course that led to lots of happy tears. Or at least, Chisa hoped they were happy.

Others started to trickle in, and soon enough Chisa had a full house on her hands. She was pretty sure an entire food tray alone was devoured entirely by Kagami… though she did see them feeding carrots to Ryouta, so maybe it wasn’t entirely their fault. She had to steer Peko away from the kitchen more than once, trying to reassure her that she really didn’t need any help and that Peko was a guest in her house. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Nagito bringing Kibou over, but at least the dog was well-behaved and she didn’t think anyone was allergic.

“Chisa!” She jumped at the sound of her name, but turned to see Juuzou beckoning her into the kitchen. Shaking off her initial surprise, she happily went in.

“Whatcha need, Juuzou?”

“I’ve got a problem.”

She blinked, tilting her head a little. “… A problem?”

He nodded and opened one of the cupboards. She knelt down a bit to look inside, and when she realized what was there she couldn’t help but giggle.

Inside the cupboards were two small purple-haired bodies, curled up around each other and snoring softly.

“How cute!”

“Chisa, I need to get to those pans if you want me to bake anything else.”

“But Juuzou, they look so peaceful!”

“Chisa…”

“Don’t worry about it~” She hopped up and ruffled his hair, stretching up on her toes to do so. “You shouldn’t let yourself be cooped up in here, anyway! Go have fun with Satou-chan.” She skipped out of the kitchen, off to see how everyone else was doing.

Hajime, Fuyuhiko, and Kazuichi were chatting over glasses of wine (or… was that orange juice? Did he bring his own orange juice to her party?), Nagito was sitting nearby with Izuru, Maki, and Kibou… Peko of course wasn’t far away from Fuyuhiko. Natsumi plopped down next to Nagito of all people; Chisa wondered when they got close. Satou was in the process of dragging Juuzou out of the kitchen to socialize (Chisa couldn’t help but grin a little at that). She was glad to see that Hisako-chan was no longer hovering around Kyousuke… she wasn’t sure what they were talking about but Kyousuke had that “I’m teaching you important life lessons” expression on. Hiyoko seemed to be bragging to whoever would listen about her perfect wife and daughter (said wife was more than a little flustered). She wasn’t entirely sure what was going on with Sonia, Akane, Nekomaru, Teruteru, and Gundam over by the snack table but she wasn’t entirely sure she would understand even if she asked.

She hummed and went down the hall, peeking into one of the reading rooms, and was unsurprised to find Mikan, Chiaki, Kumiko, Hikaru, Ryouta, and Chihiro in there. She wondered, if too many introverts chose the same hiding space would it no longer be a safe space for them?

“Enjoying the party~?” She asked, tilting her head with a big smile.

“A-Ah! Y-Yes, of course!”

“It’s lovely, sensei.” Chiaki gave a faint smile, squeezing Mikan’s hand gently. Chisa was glad to see that they weren’t too overwhelmed right now.

“Are you going to go check on the children?” Chihiro asked, looking up with a smile. Ryouta seemed like he wanted to know the answer too, so Chisa gave them both a grin.

“That’s my next stop!”

“Good… let us know how things are going.” She nodded, understanding. Kumiko and Hikaru seemed to be completely tuned out, Kumiko on her GameGirl and Hikaru leaning over to watch, so she skipped out to head towards the playroom where the other children were probably all hanging out.

“Nyooooooommmmmm!!”

Chisa paused in her step, and approximately three seconds later a pair of children ran right past her. “Ah… there goes Asuka-chan and Shinobu-chan…”

The next children to zoom past were Daisuke and Hisako, apparently Daisuke has convinced Hisako to ride on his back as he ran around after the two girls. She tossed a “be careful, Daisuke-kun!” after them, but she wasn’t entirely sure he heard them. But he was the big brother, so surely he would be responsible, right?

Once she was reasonably certain no more children were going to barrel her over, she peeked into the playroom. It seemed that Ibuki was content to spend time with the children, and she was currently reading some colorful-looking book with Mimi. Akihiko and Harumi were nearby, chatting with Iren and Kieran. She took a moment to admire Iren’s festive outfit—he really was kind of extravagant when it came to fashion!

“Everyone doing okay~?”

“Yup! Ibuki is doing super great! And Mimi-chan too!”

“… We’re doing all right,” was Akihiko’s contribution.

“Glad to hear it!” Chisa ducked out of the room and hummed, already starting to plan her next step.

“All right everyone! Gather around, I have gifts for you~”

“Ah… you didn’t have to get us anything, Yukizome…” Hajime blinked, rubbing his neck.

Chisa just gave him a grin. “Call me Chisa! And of course I did! You’re my precious students, after all!” Even after all these years, despite having multiple classes since then, she could never quite forget her first class.

“Here you go, Chisa.” Juuzou finished pushing out the large box she had set aside. “I still don’t know how you managed to put all these together…”

“Never question a wife’s methods~” She giggled and started opening it, revealing what was inside—a bunch of candy and sweets trays, one for each family who attended. The first one she pulled out was decorated with pink and purple ribbons, which she handed enthusiastically to Mikan.

“F-For us…?”

“Of course! I even made sure there’s some healthier options in there too~” She gave Mikan a knowing wink, patting her head as she started to cry again. She started dishing out trays to everyone else—some of them bigger or smaller of course depending on how many people were in the families. Once they were all passed out she sat back and enjoyed their reactions. Several of the children wanted brownies right now, the parents admiring her handiwork.

“… Thank you, sensei!” Nagito gave her a bright smile, kicking off a whirlwind of thank yous and compliments. In fact, Chisa started to feel a little overwhelmed, feeling her face heating up under all the attention. Once she started to recover though she returned the smile.

“You’re all very welcome! It’s my pleasure!”

“… Good job, Chisa,” came a quieter voice by her side, and she looked up to see Kyousuke smiling down at her. Something about that made her blush go twice as bright.

“Yeah, good job.” Juuzou joined in too, resting his chin on Kyousuke’s shoulder. Chisa couldn’t help but grin as she stood up and pulled the both of them into a hug.

“Happy holidays, everyone~”