Stuff and tha'

Rei was drowsy when she awoke. The first thing she noticed was the binding of her hands and feet, the second was the duct tape over her mouth and the fact that her glasses were gone.

With a grunt, she managed to rock herself onto her side. Great, she thought to herself sarcastically, mission accomplished.

It was too dark to make out even the most blurred of things, adding onto her frustrations. So she was left to wriggle and squirm in hopes of finding a solution to escape her binds.

That solution came in the form of the bastard wizard appearing.

"Hello, hello!~☆" Mikado chirped, the red of his mask glowing in the darkness, "How's my favorite guest doing?~☆"

Rei grunted and glared at him, hoping he could feel the hatred in her gaze.

His mask morphed into a pout as he got closer. "So meaan! And here I wanted to let you go and meet everyone!"

She squinted at him and did her best to wriggle until she was right-side-up. For a moment, she tried to open her mouth to respond-- only to be reminded of the tape on her face. What a bother.

He snapped his fingers and her binds came undone-- the duct tape did not go with them, however, much to her disappointment. Then, he paused and stared at her. "Was that a smart move...? Eh, who cares, I can just knock you out."

As if on cue, Rei became light-headed. And then she fell back and her head hit the floor.

--

When she awoke, she was sat in front of a group of strangers; her glasses were messily perched on her face, her hair had flyaways, and the duct tape was gone. Her wrists were still sore from being bound, but not sore enough that couldn't lift them or her hands whatsoever.

Carefully, she adjusted her glasses and patted her hair down. Then, she focused on those in front of her; A woman with hair sharing the color with Kinji's, a woman with hair a softer shade than Kizuna's, and...

She froze and stared at Yuki-- at least, someone resembling Yuki. things about him were wrong. He had a cowlick, his skin was paler, his eyes were more vibrant. For a moment, she'd forgotten all about what she'd known of Utsuro, just to focus on the fact that this could not really be Yuki.

But, deep down, she already knew that it was.

"Finally awake?" Another voice dryly spoke-- it came from a greasy-haired man nearby, and it was followed by a puff of smoke. Gross.

Rei took a moment to gather her thoughts; eventually, however, she managed to rise to her feet and dust herself off. "Yes. I am. My apologies that you had to see me in such a state."

The pink-haired woman scoffed and looked off to the side. "it was Sannoji's fault, anyways..."

A brunette with a tablet piped up as she tapped at the screen of her device. "Can you tell us your name."

Rei's ginger curls bounced as she flicked them away with her hand. "Rei Mekaru, former ultimate professor. You are?"

The brunette looked up blankly before offering her hand out awkwardly. "Kokoro Mitsume. Ultimate psychologist."

The professor nodded her head in acknowledgement and shook the other's hand before focusing on the others. "Where did that damned wizard go. I'd like to give him a piece of my mind."

The white-haired woman in front of her glanced around before focusing her brown eyes on Rei. Something about her felt so... familiar. In a sense that it made Rei's head hurt. Those brown eyes were warm, full of care, and the same cocoa color as...

She winced and brought a hand to her head, much to the other's visible confusion. "Are you okay?" Her voice... it, too, was only a bit different.

But that couldn't be possible, because Akane Taira was dead. This was not Akane Taira.

"Nevermind that." Rei murmured, forcing her vision to focus on the other. "Who are you?"

Yuki-- or who Rei perceived to be Yuki-- stared at her with a rather nervous expression before glancing to the albino. It was like a silent question; We don't know if we can trust her, are you really going to introduce yourself?

The white-haired woman shrugged and sheepishly smiled. "Sora."

Rei waved her hand for the other to continue, but she didn't; so Rei used her words. "Sora.... what? What's your talent? Your full name?"

The pinkette piped up before Sora could answer. "She's got amnesia. She doesn't remember either."

"Sora's probably not even my actual name." The albino piped up, the sheepish grin still on her face, "it's just the only thing I remembered when I woke up."

Rei's could feel her expression soften briefly before she forced it to harden agan.

"I see. That is... good to know, I suppose." her gaze fell over the rest, examining each cautiously; one famous face, Emma Magorobi, while the rest were unfamiliar; ranging from a short brunette to a tall red-head, the hairstyles and haircolors were all different from each other. It'd take a while to get introduced to all of them-- and she didn't have that time to spare.

"...Um..." Yuki finally spoke, his voice softer than she'd remembered it being. "...Your companion......"

The pinkette next to Sora shot him a look, but he pressed on.

"...I'm sorry about what happened to him?"

Rei froze and stared at him, her palms beginning to shake. "Teruya?" Her voice strained out, "What do you mean? What happened to him?"

Kokoro tapped at her tablet again, adjusted her circular glasses, and stared at the ginger with a blank expression. "Sannoji set him on fire. The only thing that remained were ashes, when it went out."

A breath caught in Rei's throat, forcing her to stumbled back and sit down. "I..."

Her voice was strangled and painful. Without a second thought about how embarrassing and shameful it was, she removed her glasses from her face and covered her eyes with a hand. "...Please give me some space."

Thankfully, the entire group shuffled out; allowing Rei to weep softly. She was never all that close with Teruya. She didn't even know if they were "friends."

But they'd survived a twisted game together, alongside Tsurugi. The three of them only had each other. And he was the only person who dared to prevent the foundation from crumbling.

Rei Mekaru must truly be cursed; everything important around her wilted, withered, and died. Just like everything else wrong in her life, this was her fault, because she was just as incompetent as everyone else.