#kirigiri scaring the shit out of everyone she meets more like hello}

[prompt-master]

Whisked Away

Everyone was getting settled for bed at the moment. They hadn't managed to find a proper safe shelter, instead they found an overpass to sleep under. While the rest of the survivors were cleaning and setting up their shelter to be as safe and homely as possible, Byakuya was doing one last survey of their surroundings to make sure everyone would be safe. If an emergency broke out they could always try and get Syo out, but why even risk what can be avoided? Not only that but… 

Makoto had been sick lately. It had started with a small fever that Kyoko theorized was just his exhaustion catching up to him. But even after being able to rest often the fever only grew. Her theory changed, now she thought that there was a possibility of infection from the dumpster that she'd missed in the heat of the moment. The logistics didn't matter much to Byakuya though, the damage had already been done and soon they had to carry a feverish and concussed Makoto wherever they went.  

Byakuya a few weeks ago was still able to keep up the show that he wasn't bothered by the ailment, but now it was hard to keep his worry at bay. Not when Makoto's fever had started to cause him to be delirious.

Byakuya pulled himself from his thoughts, after seeing no sign of danger whatsoever he decided to bring himself back to their shelter. He'd managed to find some more food, and even a little manga he thought Hagakure would enjoy.  At least his venture wasn't for nothing. 

He stepped under the overpass, seeing everyone hunched over. That was strange. He was expecting them to be settling down by now. Then again, these commoners had quite possibly the strangest behavior he'd ever seen. Maybe this was how plebeians talked to each other. 

He opted to ask a question that had been on his mind, "How is he?" 

He expected the answer to be the same as always. "Not better". But instead he was greeted by Kyoko lifting her head and meeting his gaze with one of….

Pure worry. 

Byakuya nearly stepped back at such an open display of emotion. "What's wrong?" 

There was a pause. Now that he noticed everyone looked scared or worried. Yasuhiro was going through their supplies while a pot of water boiled over the fire. 

"Answer me, dammit, what's the problem?"

"Naegi hasn't stopped throwing up." 

What? 

"What? What do you mean?" 

"He-h-he can't hold anything down" Aoi sniffled, her shoulders were shaking in worry but he could tell she was trying to stay strong. "He's been throwing up the entire time you were g-gone…"

"But that would be…" 

Toko was fidgeting badly, looking like she wanted to curl into a ball as her hands pulled and tugged harshly at every joint one by one, "h-h-h-he...h-he threw up w-water too…" 

Byakuya felt cold. 

"That can't be allowed right now!" 

"We know Togamichi! But he can't keep ANYTHING down we've tried even just a few sips and nothing works!" 

He allowed himself to pace inward to be a part of the group. So he could finally get a good view of everything. He could see Makoto lying propped up against a large chunk of broken car, and he looked...awful. His face was scrunched up, the ordeal of constant throwing up had made his stomach and body burn. His face was free of all color, making his fever stand out strong. He was trembling badly, so badly it looked like an unnatural jitter. Kyoko was kneeling in front of him with a hand on his face, trying to keep his head up. Every time she tried to pull her hand back his head wobbled forward or to the sides, unable to muster up the energy to do it himself. His breathing sounded almost wheezy from how out of breath he was. Each breath was sharp and thin. 

 "Naegi" Byakuya spoke before he could stop himself, "can you hear me?" 

No response. 

Kyoko shook her head, "I think all the sudden vomiting put a minor shock on his system. He's been in and out of an unresponsive state." 

Shit. 

"What do we do?" 

The worry in her eyes was suffocating. Byakuya felt as though he was standing in a dry sauna, water bleeding out of the air and leaving nothing but cracked skin and an uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

"He needs to be hydrated." Byakuya found himself saying without really thinking.

Kyoko had a hand over Makoto's chest, feeling the racing pace it had taken. It felt like it could give out any second now. "We can't. He won't keep it down. If we had an IV maybe but…" Kyoko took a shaky deep breath,  "we need to lower the fever."

Byakuya kneeled down by the two, now even closer he could see the lack of sweat on Makoto's face. Painfully dry. Painfully hot. "Take off his hoodie."

She nodded, beginning to pull the zipper. Byakuya put his hand to Makoto's neck. He wanted to hiss and pull away. That sort of heat….Makoto's brain had to be bubbling up crudely at such high temperatures. Soon all that would be left would be a charred black sludge. He could feel the rapid pace of his heart beat, without even trying to find his pulse point. Yet for all the speedy thumping it had there was hardly any pressure in the beats. His heart barely had anything to give. 

"Naegi" he said, as Kyoko finished stripping off the rest of his hoodie. "Naegi you need to wake up right this instant." 

Nothing. His mouth was slightly parted. And strangely enough his eyes seemed to be active behind his eyelids. Fluttering around irregularly. It...startled Byakuya in ways he didn't want to admit. 

He heard a snotty sobbing cry, oh...that's right the others are. He had completely forgotten. Aoi's cries were choked, "i-is he going to die!?" she had said between hiccups, but no one had an answer for her. Or rather...they had their suspicions, but not the will to voice the possibility. 

A strange burnt leathery material was placed onto Makoto's head. Wait...no...that was skin. The ruined hands of Kirigiri Kyoko. Byakuya looked up at her, hoping to ask with his eyes only. For Kyoko to take off her gloves so suddenly..

"My hands are always a low temperature" she said, her bottom lip wavered, "the damage is so bad that they are never a human temperature...I thought that maybe it would help…" 

Makoto's eyes fluttered again. The whites of his eyes flickered between the eyelids until his pupils rolled down into the picture. The fluttering of his eyelids didn't stop, but now he seemed to be drifting his attention around. Byakuya's own heart was rabbit paced as he wondered if Makoto could even see anything. 

Kyoko's voice cracked, "Is he responsive?"

Byakuya shifted the hand still cradled in the crook of Makoto's neck. He lifted his head up slightly, watching as Makoto went from staring behind him to staring directly at him. 

"......n…..nmm…"

Makoto felt like someone was jamming a burning piece of metal into his stomach. The pain was so twisting and seering that he couldn’t even bear to cry. He could do nothing but experience the strange flashes of hot and cold, unable to move with the dried up pain inside of him. He may have not been able to move, but the pain in his stomach was well alive. It was a wiggling squirming thing that you could never get used to. It was like a worm that travelled too far into the street after rainfall. A lost and helpless little thing, rolling around until the soles of a shoe grinded down without a passing thought. No...that was too merciful. This pain was much slower, it was more like a worm caught by a fisherman. His stomach was a worm gutted for bait by a child, held at end to end and pulled until the center flesh tore. Hardly even usable after death, left down onto the table until brown sludge gushed from its slimy husk of a body with the slightest bit of pressure. How he wished he could cry. 

Maybe if he could manage to fall back unconscious he wouldn’t have to feel the twisting of the fisherman’s knife tearing into him. Maybe if he closed his eyes he wouldn’t see her hands shaking over the hilt as he lay limp in the shower. He could never forget how she looked at him, her eyes an untold madness of fury and fear. He couldn't handle it, he had to pry his eyes away. He could barely see past the fluttering of his eyelids as he tried to look up at the sky. That dull red peeking behind blackened clouds. It was supposed to be a reminder of the world’s state, but looking at it right now it almost seemed like Heaven. It felt like someone could reach her hand out and whisk him away to a better world. It was the polar opposite to the complete suffering he couldn’t escape. Was all this pain he felt what she felt? Is that why this was happening to him? If he could bear the burden of her death...would he get to feel peace? And then...well then he would get to see all his friends again, right? That made sense. It had to make sense. The sky was so close, such a comforting red. 

Makoto lifted his hand - how long had that been there? He’d completely forgotten - and tried to reach for Sayaka’s hand. For everyone’s hand. Instead of a warm embrace something rippled and cold wrapped around his palm. What was that? It held his hand with a gentle cradle, he could let his arm go loose and let it do the work for him. He trusted this strange embrace, but it wasn’t the one he’d expected.

“M’zno?” Why was the world made of spirals? He felt sick. 

“...No Naegi, it’s not Maizono. It’s Kirigiri, do you remember where you are?”

“...Hi Kiri”

“Hello Naegi.”

“This is a waste of time, what good is this doing?”

“Shush, he’s barely even aware.”

“Indulging his delirium will not make his fever go down.”

“I know that.”

Byakuya crossed his arms as if that would somehow protect him from his uselessness. He refused to accept this. They couldn't just watch. They were no longer those same trapped students helpless to the horrors around them. They could do something now. He just...needed to figure out what. 

“Hi T’gmi” his voice was cracked and soft from the lack of moisture. It must have been torture, not even being able to swallow anymore. Despite that, he still sounded happy to recognize one of his good friends. 

“.....tch, Hello Naegi.”

He didn’t like how Kyoko looked. Holding his outstretched hand with a calm, solemn expression. Kneeling by his side without the rush of adrenaline all the other survivors had. It was the look of someone who had already given up. 

“Do something.” Byakuya hissed. Kyoko didn’t move. “He needs help.”

“He needs comfort,” Kyoko whispered, “he needs rest,” Sayaka said. 

Kyoko tried to lay Makoto down more comfortably, using his balled up hoodie as a makeshift pillow. She smoothed his hair out of his face. If she would lose him soon then at least she got to touch him with her bare hands before he went. He was still looking up at the sky, fingers just barely flexing like he was trying to take hold. She squeezed his hand, heart aching at how little he seemed to recognize. 

“Kirigiri-”

“I just want to be by his side.” she said, “if he doesn't make it...I want to at least be there for him.”

“So you’re giving up.”

She rubbed her thumb in circles on the back on Makoto’s hand as he whimpered miserably, “No, but I don’t want him to be alone either.”

Byakuya turned to the others, barking out orders to search again for something - anything - that could help. Painkillers, fever reducers, survivors, cold clean water. He needed them to search every nook and cranny of this god forsaken world. His last moments spent with Makoto would not be like this. 

Kyoko squeezed his hand again, “Naegi, if you can hear me, can you please squeeze back?”

It was weak...but the fingers curled up. 

She smiled, “Good. You’re doing a great job. One squeeze for yes, two for no ok?” 

One squeeze, he still looked at the sky. Sayaka watched him, but she said nothing. Why didn’t she look happy to see him?

“Are you in pain?”

One squeeze. That was exactly why he wanted Sayaka to whisk him away. This was the moment he’d been waiting for. He’d been dealing with the retribution of allowing her murder to happen this entire time, surely she would take him with her?

“Ask him if he can talk.” 

Two squeezes. Sayaka didn’t look angry. She didn’t look scared. So why had she pulled her hand away, why was she looking at Kyoko instead? Why did she look so sad?

“Is this ok?” Kyoko asked, pressing a kiss to his hand. It wasn’t much, but he seemed more relaxed now. And any bit of comfort right now was worth the world to her. Byakuya came back and held Makoto’s other, dismissively staring at the ground. “...Does this really help?” he asked.

Makoto gave one squeeze to both questions. He felt exhausted through his pain, his energy seeping away with each and every breath. It was nice, he had to admit, to know that whether he died or not he wouldn't do it alone. He somehow felt safer, even when he was so unsure about his own fate. He would fall back into an unresponsive state soon, having to trust his friends to take care of them as well as they had been. Something about the way Sayaka looked at him made him feel the slightest glimmer of hope again. Maybe instead...maybe it would be Kyoko and Byakuya who would whisk him away. 

[thestarshiphope]

So one thing I'm scared to ask but... I wonder how much of what Rantaro said was true. We all know Kokichi is a liar but... what if all this time Rantaro was the leader of Red Rain?

*In a half-ruined mansion just outside of Matsumoto, Rantaro sits in front of a table full of computers*

I’m telling you, there’s gotta be a way!

Is the air clear over Niigata?

Nope, looks like there’s still a ton of meteorites.

There’s…if you follow the old monorail line, you might be able to get here in time.

Rantaro-

Quit using that tone! You can make it! I know you can!

But, I-

*The door creaks behind him*

Huh?

*He grabs a pistol*

Who’s there? What’re you doing in my house?

It’s just us! Don’t shoot!

…Akamatsu?

Good to see you again, Amami.

Your front door’s missing, by the way.

Friends of yours?

Y-yeah…they were part of Project Gofer too.

Man, you guys scared the crap outta me. Sorry about that.

It’s alright, we understand.

Whoa…she’s hot.

Emi, knock it off.

O-oh, um…thanks? Heheh…

You must be some of Amami’s sisters, huh? Nice to meet you all!

Thanks. Name’s Reiko.

Emi.

H-hello...I’m Yuk-kari.

Serious question time: what the hell are you three doing out here? You should be getting to a bunker or something.

We came looking for you.

We decided: we’re all going back to Project Gofer.

Wasn’t an easy decision, but we realized we weren’t thinkin��� straight. We didn’t wanna leave our families behind, but we didn’t think about what they wanted for us.

And they want us to get the hell off this planet as soon as possible!

...

Listen, I know what we said before. We all agreed on it. But...

If you don’t believe us, you can just ask Kirigiri-san about it.

Asking a dead detective? Yeah, sure, that’ll give me the answers I need.

She’s alive.

...what?

I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true. Kirigiri Kyoko is alive. She’s the one who’s been organizing us, getting us all back to Project Gofer. She wants to help us survive.

...

If that’s true, you should all get going.

Rantaro-

I...I’m not getting on that ship. I refuse.

Rantaro...

Rantaro...you can’t keep doing this to yourself.

And why the hell not? You know what I did.

What you...did?

That doesn’t mean you have to die for any of it.

So I’m just supposed to keep on living after we lost her? After all those people died?

No. I don’t. I don’t...I should’ve done something. It’s my fault Hanako-

Stop saying that! It’s not your fault!

I’m the reason she was out there! If I hadn’t have gone off like an idiot, she wouldn’t have...our family wouldn’t have...

...how...how can you say it isn’t my fault?

What...happened?

Something from a few years ago.

Our baby sister, Hananko, she got lost during a trip to Vietnam. We...never saw her again.

And it’s my fault. I wanted to go exploring, so I snuck out. Hanako wanted to come too, so I took her...and we got separated. I tried to look for, we’ve all spent years looking for her!

And...it looks like we’re never gonna find her.

Onii-chan...

*Kaito pats Rantaro on the shoulder*

...

...

I lost my orphanage.

You...what?

I wasn’t there. Red Rain came...they killed all the kids.

Oh my god...

Maki Roll, that wasn’t-

I know.

Being sad isn’t gonna bring them back. I know that. 

...

I should’ve killed him.

Just put a bullet in his goddamn head.

Killed who?

...

Don’t freak out...but I need to show you guys something. There’s a reason why I was able to get to you all before Red Rain did.

...I joined them.

*He shows everyone his tattoo*

Whoa...really?

You...

Amami...

So you were a double agent the whole time?

Someone had to get in there and learn their secrets.

You wouldn’t imagine the kind of stuff they make you do as an initiate. I’ll spare you the details.

He saw some nasty shit up close, and he had to make sure nobody knew he was really Amami Rantaro.

I was so close, y’know. To that Father guy. I could’ve killed him. I could’ve stopped them right then and there, and then-

And then someone would’ve taken his place.

You can’t destroy a cult that easily.

Amami-kun...you shouldn’t have to blame yourself for everything they did. I think we all feel like there’s more we could’ve done. For ourselves, our families, other people...and we can’t now.

But we can’t let the guilt weigh on us. Not when we’re this close to getting everyone back together.

If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even have had this opportunity. Thanks to you, a lot of people are going to survive. And I really want you to come with us. You might blame yourself for everything that happened, but did you ever ask anyone else what they think?

She’s right. I never blamed you for any of it.

I forgave you a long time ago, bro.

You’re still my onii-chan. I’m not mad you.

But...I...

...I...

Listen...we’re gonna try to meet up with you guys. What’s your destination? 

We’re headin’ here. I’ll send you the coordinates.

We’re gonna try and give you a proper send-off.

But Rantaro...if we can’t get there in time, promise us you’ll go with them.

...

Rantaro, if you die, I’m gonna kill you.

...alright. I’ll go.

But you all better get here, got it?

You know it.

I only promise to try.

See you when we see you, Rantaro!

Then we’ll see you girls then!

O-oh, um...Akamatsu, right?

Yeah?

Uhh...sorry about that comment. I just got kinda-

Th-that’s alright.

Y-you’re pretty cute yourself.

...

Now you just gave her more reasons to make it there.

Mission accomplished!

Now, let’s hurry!