Gardens of a Lifetime

WE MISS YOU TOO, RANDOM ANON!!!

-Chula

So I also made a playlist for MG! A song for every PC, and an overall theme! I’ve been working on this since the game started

A bonus!!!

Thanks for playing/following Melancholic Gardens!!

tw: Implied Suicidal thoughts

“Well, the world isn’t… too bad right now, but since ya guys have been broadcasting… riots have broke out. A lot of ‘em. They were the worst when a victim showed up. Oh, and when Aiko lost their thumbs, that was a big one too. But, it’s alllll over the country. Korea’s been even worse, though… someone’s armed the rioters over there. Real bloody. After Jae-Ha and Ki-Tae died, they, uh… the population’s gone down a lot.”

“Mercs, too. Mercs have been hired. Particularly by Senchamoto. They died down after Senchamoto-san herself passed, but they raided a lot of people they thought were… capable of such a situation. To the point of invadin’ government offices fer information. France had a few altercations, but not that much. Stemmed from some celebrity talk about Bellerose-san. We’re hurtin’ a bit, and if ya guys were out in the open… ya’d probably be assassinated. Or worse, ya might… well. Hurt yerselves.”

“The most… well, important part is that, if anything happened to ya, things could get worse. Country’s made it pretty clear it idolizes ya kids, and if anyone hurt ya more, well… might as well send the place to a full-out war. Things are tense, but not beyond fixin’. Just gotta… figure out who actually set it all up, and send that info to a public face fer them to take it down. Ya know, a hero. Us, well… we’re far from heroes. Wouldn’t calm down anything if we came out ourselves, not that we’d want the attention.”

There’s a long pause, almost a bit like mourning. Maybe some self-deprecation in there, too. Kayo sighs, running her fingers through her own hair and shaking it up a bit.

“We’re almost there, though. Already bought ya clothes and food and whatever. There’s enough rooms fer… well I’d say two per room, but we’ll put Hamanaka-san in one fer themself. There’s enough fer that. Yoshino-san, too. And ya guys can call fer one of us whenever, even if it’s just to talk, I suppose.”

The van pulls into a dirt road, shaking your head around a bit. But shortly after, it stops completely. The doors are still locked.

You have to wait for a few minutes, as Anon unlocks  ridiculous amount of locks. (including a fingerprint pad. Goodness gracious.) But eventually, you are permitted to exit the van. While most of you file out in an orderly fashion, Aiko attempts another break for it, prompting Naomi to squeeze the trigger and send another jolt of electricity through the medium’s body. “C’mon, I said please and everything.” With a sigh, Kayo scoops them up, walking to the door which Anon had opened.

The ride was filled with some chatter, partly amongst you all, but mostly between the three who had come to your rescue. You have already realized that the windows in the back were too tinted for you to tell where you were going, so you were in the dark. On a lot of things. It seems intention that the windows were darkened, too.

In the back area with you sits Naomi and Yuri, the latter of which has fallen asleep deeply. Naomi seems to be a bit salty over Kayo being in the front seat with Anon, though. During some of the chatter, you have picked up that he formally goes by Anon, and that Oni was some sort of silly nickname Kayo had given him. The flirting between the two isn’t terribly subtle, either.

After enough time passes, Kayo turns around to you all. “So. I should probably explain why we’re takin’ ya somewhere more secluded.”

The suggestion is met with a nod from Ren, who had been staring at the window beside him, despite the inability to see through it. “It’s clear that you want to protect us from whatever’s out there, but maybe there’s more to it than that, so yes; clarity would be appreciated.”

Riku sat up a bit again, listening attentively, though they seemed content to let Ren do the talking.

Ren pauses for a moment at the realization, but doesn’t fight the events. "... Could you tell us more about yourselves? It'd be nice to know who we're talking to. For example, you were students at Hope's Peak Academy, judging by your relation to Fujioka-san. What were your talents?"

“Eh? Ahh, haven’t told ya yet, huh. I was the SHSL Private Investigator. Still do that today. Naoms here,” Kayo points to her sister with a wide grin. “She was our good luck. Yer year didn’t have a raffle student. Heard the raffle student declined enrollment. Aaaaand Oni, here,” She bumps him with her elbow lovingly. “Was an Enigma. That’s his talent. He’s an enigma.” She places her hand on his briefly, but just for a fleeting moment, as to not distract the driver.

Anon gives a slight smirk. “Did I just hear you say WAS an Enigma? Do you want me to turn this car around?”

Naomi sighs dramatically. “You ARE an enigma. NOBODY knows ANYTHING about you… DEFINITELY not the lady wearing your ring.”

Tw: Implied suicidal thoughts

"... Where exactly are we going?" Ren asks.

Kayo cocks her head to you all during idle state and replies.

“... Still better to not tell ya everythin’ yet, but we’re trying to make you guys more or less… invisible fer awhile. Hide ya. But… Hmmm. Well. We need to keep an eye on yer… mental stability fer awhile.”

Aiko had been silent for a while, mostly shaking from the effects of being tasered and weeping quietly from the pain, but finally they pulled their head up, glaring at the others, both their classmates and their elders.

“Y-yeah, I’m sure you have our best interests at heart after f-f***ing that,” this time, they narrowed their gaze on their classmates. “This is kidnapping. I don’t want to be here, you can’t make me stay. Y-you’re no worse than her if you make me stay. Or is that what you want? You sadists, do you just want to watch me squirm, to watch me suffer? Then you really are no different than her,”

Kayo openly laughs. “Pffft… Suffer? Really, kid? Ya got quite the imagination. Ya see, That’s exactly why we’re takin’ ya guys in. Mentality like that. Ya can’t trust anyone anymore… so! Therapy. We’re gonna give ya therapy. … Won’t deny kidnapping ya, though. That’s kind of an accurate statement. I’m not lettin’ ya throw yer life away, and without the kidnappin’, that’s exactly what ya’d do. That or gettin’ yerself assassinated, which would just set off riots. Kid. This is fer yer own good as much as it is fer the country.” She’s not even taking Aiko’s insults the slightest bit seriously, is she?

“Got a good friend named Yuuma. Pretty skilled at readin’ emotions and knowing what’s holding a person down. Ya guys will be in contact with him through webcam calls. I trust him, but still… we’d rather keep this location known by as little people as possible.” She finishes the thought. 

“So more or less, we’d like to keep ya somewhere safe and unknown to anyone but us. And well, I can’t let ya leave on good conscience.” She doesn’t pause, if even a single moment is stopped for a breath, she’d hear protests and she knew it. “Yer going to be under our protection. With minimal contact outside. I’ll get ya in contact with yer sister, of course, Kondou. Already found her. Wasn’t hard.” She chuckles softly. Riku, who had tensed, relaxes again slightly at the assurance and leans against Campana once more.

During the stall, Campana speaks up.

"HEY. Uhm." That comes out louder than she intended, yikes. "I've got somethin'. To say. Yeah... Please say something I may start cryin'."

“We’re listening.” Riku responds.

"Oookay that sounds borderline terrifying aha… So, uhm. My name may not actually be Campana...?" Before Campy can finish, Riku interrupts flatly.

“Yeah I think we got that when Monokuma called you Hannah Drevlin."

She composes herself, before giving a nervous grin. "Figured- THAT FUCKER. HE STOLE MY SPOTLIGHT?"

Riku sighs. "...You should probably pay more attention to things."

"Yeah, I actually discovered that name during my investigation." Ren lets out a short, weak laugh.

"..." Hannah looks upwards, her smile fading slightly. "Hey. We'll still all be together, right? You guys won't leave, r-right?" She gives a nervous grin. "Sorry, didn't mean to dampen t'mood."

Riku hesitates before responding. "I need to find my sister, but you're welcome to come with me. I'd... I'd like that, actually."

"With us," Seki interjects. "You already know I'll go anywhere you go, don't you?" He gives them a cheeky smile, even though he knows they can't see it. Riku can’t see it, but they can hear it in his voice, and they offer Seki a small, tired, but genuine smile in return.

Yuri speaks in the voice of a broken man. “I’d… I’d like to join you as well if you’d allow it. I’d… like to discuss some things with Keiko.”

Once everyone has piled into the van, Aiko restrained and tossed in, Anon begins fiddling with some machinery and checking through the glove box and… just doing some sort of strange routine before actually starting the car. Including checking underneath it.

“Hey, I’ve been following this checklist literally every time I’ve gotten into a vehicle for how long? I haven’t died yet, have I?” Anon sighs. “You used to think my paranoia was sexy.” The rainbow haired man shoots Kayo a cheeky grin before looking behind him to Yuri.

“Hey, tree hugger, toss me your phone.” Once Yuri complies, Anon opens up the back removing the SIM, battery, and Memory card before taking a screwdriver after it to get to the internal components. With a smug grin, he looks to Kayo. “Yup. Bugged… probably intended to track us back to the hidey-hole. And you said I was wasting time and money on the jammer.” Getting back out of the vehicle, he speaks to Kayo. “Could you grab him one of the burners from the glove box. I’m going to get rid of this thing.”

With all the celebrations and minimal questions, the field lowers down into a dirt road paved by use. Maybe this was… the back entrance to the Gardens? You’d expect the main entrance to have a parking lot. A black van sits right where the road levels out, and the nameless man pulls out a set of keys from his vest.

"So what's the plan for keeping us 'safe' exactly? Because I need to find my sister." Riku asks as they near the van.

This time, the nameless man answers. "That information is best discussed NOT in public."

"...Fair point."

Seki leans over to Riku and makes an attempt to whisper into their ear. "I'm sure everything'll be fine. These people are with Yuri after all, we can trust them."

He unlocks the van manually and ushers everyone inside. Before anyone could properly load in, however, Aiko once more takes off in a sprint, this time not trying for the gardens, but anywhere else that may be away from the group.

“Shit… NAOMI!” Kayo shouts, chasing Aiko down. With seemingly minimal effort the younger of the Mori sisters sprints past Kayo, and is gaining ground on Aiko. “Hey! Stop!” She calls out in vain. Well luckily she’d come prepared for such an occasion. While running she produces what appears to be a small handgun with a yellow tip from her coat pocket. Once within range, she points the device at Aiko, index finger running along the side of the barrel, and pulls the trigger with her middle finger, the action looking easy as she did so. Two prongs launch from the cap lodging themselves fairly deeply in Aiko’s back, sending them unceremoniously to the ground. “Sorry… I know it hurts, but… we can’t risk anyone not being with the group. Please just cooperate.”

You all begin rushing down the fields, the nameless man keeping an eye towards the skies as you move. Naomi and Kayo equally keep watch in other directions, but the sense of urgency is pushing you forward.

Campana does a quick cartwheel and promptly lifts Riku up onto her back, speeding the movement along. Seki tags behind her, a little freaked that someone just upped and grabbed Riku in a blur, but relaxed as soon as he knew who she was. Campana doesn't actually care about asking questions so she just sidles up to Ren and pulls him into a really tight side hug.

"HEY! You're both my friends. You too!" She pointed at Seki. She was practically squishing her cheek into Ren's at this point. "Also, if you ignore my BOMB ASS cartwheels again I'll bop you on the butt." She let him go, planting a smooch on his cheek and charging ahead, babbling excitedly to Riku about ALLLL the things she was going to do when they got out of here.

Ren awkwardly looks away from Campana with a slight blush as their cheeks touch. And especially after the kiss. He lifts a hand to his cheek and watches Campana as she leaves, with a bewildered expression. He awkwardly mumbles, "Sorry?" Campana likely doesn't hear given the volume and the distance. "I have to ask... Have any of you heard of Project Koschei?" He asks, turning his attention to Kayo.

Kayo, not even batting an eyelid over the running, glances backwards to Ren and nods. “I was watchin’ the streams. We all were. Well… us three, anyway. That was my first time hearing about it, but a name is a big lead I can take and run. Dunno much now, but given a bit of time, I’d have a better answer. Got SOME ideas about what’s happenin’, and I do have some… heavy information. Can’t tell ya everythin’. Ya’d be in even more danger than ya already are.”

Ren nods. "I understand. If possible, though, I'd like to learn more in the future. I'd also like to help in any way I can. I need to get to the bottom of this."

The trip takes roughly 45 minutes, with the weaving and winding, and the low speeds on the tram.

You get a good view of the outdoors. There’s… a lot out here, for sure. A couple of shot down helicopters, for one. Both seem to be burnt to a crisp, presumably with people on it. You can vaguely see the insignia of a news station on one… the other? Who knows.

There’s a lot of dead bodies around, riddled with bullet wounds. Most of them seem older, and quite a lot wearing uniforms of some sort.

Before you can get a closer look at the stench of death, you notice… three standing figures, fully alive, and heading straight towards the group. Two.. exceptionally short adult women who look as if they could be related, and one taller man with…. Rainbow-dyed hair, apparently. Both look to be about Yuri’s age.

The taller of the two women walks forward and gives Yuri a firm hug.

“Damn it, ya…. ya…. ya had me so fuckin’ worried, ya shit.”

Yuri weakly returns the hug. “I’m… sorry.” Yuri takes a shaky breath. “They… Daisuke’s dead Kayo… They killed him. He died trying to save me." Seki gasps at the mention of his name, but soon remembers there are more Daisukes in the world than him. "It’s my fault… I…” Yuri buries his face in Kayo’s shoulder… It wasn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last.

Kayo frowns and places a hand on Yuri’s head, scruffling the hair around a little. “... I know. Tried to stop him. Word gets to me fast, ya know. But he… was insistent. He cared about ya more than any of us.” She breathes in, letting Yuri cry before glancing to the students.

“I’m Kayo Mori, one of Yuri’s old classmates. Called the three of us once he managed to charge his phone… still had it, fer some reason. We’re here to help.”

The shortest of the three speaks up.

"Heya! I'm Naomi Mori, Kayo's sister. I… know that things aren’t okay right now… I know that it feels like they never will be again, but… I promise things get better. We’re here to get you somewhere safe… and while I’m not particularly sure what I can do to help… I’m here for you… We all are.”

The taller man offers a hurried sentence, ushering you to follow.

“And my name isn’t important, but we should REALLY get out of here.”

“So what you can't talk and move at the same time?" Riku quips.

"Yuri,

I don't know if this will get to you, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. It's my fault you're in this situation. I designed the defense system installed at the gardens. I never expected them to be used like this.

I've decided I have to do something... I can't just sit back and watch people die because of my creation... I can't let you suffer in there any longer.

I fully aware of just how stupid this is, I know how unlikely I am to succeed, but I'm the only person who knows how to deactivate these things. 'Sometimes the smart thing isn't necessarily the right thing.' Didn't you tell me that?

Thank you. For standing by me when no one else would, for being my friend, for everything. Thank you.

With hope I'll see you soon,

The further along the trail you drove, the more densely packed the weapons are together. Even later, you actually see a few broken, on a post snapped in half and beat to the ground. Much much further down the line, you even see the occasional body, of some poor fellow who managed to break through the further than the others.

Yuri’s eyes widen as he sees one of the bodies leaned against an anti-air cannon. “No…No no no… Daisuke?!” He grabs Ren’s arm, causing the cart to swerve suddenly. “Pull over. NOW!”

Before the tram had even come to a complete stop, Yuri stumbles out, and towards the dark-haired man. “Please no… Please don’t be dead. Please…” Yuri falls to his knees beside the corpse. Checking its vitals… It’s definitely dead. Had been for a while.

He grabs the body by the shoulder and flips it over to get a good look at its face. “Daisuke… Why? Why were you even here?!” Yuri’s eyes move to the man’s hands. A note?

With tearful eyes, Yuri pries it loose from his friend’s hands, reading it immediately. He places a hand on Daisuke’s. “Forgive me…” After a few moments, he rejoins the students, handing the note off as he takes his seat beside Ren. “His name… was Oshiro Daisuke… And he was my friend… And now… he’s gone. And it’s my fault…”

Ren places a hand on Yuri's shoulder for a moment. "I'm sorry for your loss. Right now, though, we have to keep moving."

At this point, the silence was replaced by confused clucking as Ripper was set on the floor. It was odd to see Aiko rise to their feet suddenly, especially since they had been following the crowd pretty faithfully. But then, in a quick movement, Aiko threw themself from the tram, tumbling to the ground and dashing off towards the gardens.

Riku, blind, can't see what happened, but says in a deadpan tone. "...Aiko just tried to run didn't they." As if confirming this, Ripper clucks and flaps into their waiting arms. Now Riku is holding on to two soft fluffy girls.

Ren stops the Tram and covers his face with both hands in frustration, waiting patiently for their return.

Thankfully, Seki had been keeping a very close eye on Aiko, given that they had absolutely zero trust in the latter. He already raised an eyebrow when Aiko raised to their feet, and immediately hollered after them when they lept off the tram: "HAMALA- FUCK!"

With his already too loud of a voice he screamed at Ren to stop the tram before jumping off himself, not bothering to wait for a reply. He didn't trust Aiko, and that shorty was definitely up to no good. If there was a time to make himself useful it was now.

It took a while, but Seki eventually managed to catch the feisty medium. They definitely didn't make their trek back to the tram very easy either.

Ren’s pretty much a walking corpse. He’s all slumped and his eyes are glazed over. Tomo's sword is sheathed. His subconscious attempts at dusting himself of glitter show no success. Upon arriving at the tram, Ren takes a second to look over everyone thoughtfully and sighs. "I'll drive. You should settle down, Fujioka-san. Just give me directions and I'll handle the rest." His voice didn't betray his exhaustion whatsoever.

“Thank you, Araki-san.” Yuri tiredly nods his thanks. “You’re certain you’ll be okay?”

Yuri's question is met with a hesitant, solemn nod. "Yes. I'm a qualified driver and I don't seem to be doing as poorly as everyone else." Ren lifts his right hand over his face and removes his eyepatch. Having access to both of his eyes would be best if he’s to drive. "No need to worry," he said reassuringly.

With everyone piled into the tram, Ren presses the gas pedal and away they went. Occasionally you hear Yuri offering a direction. “Take a left here.”

Riku speaks up, with Campana tiredly snuggled beside them.

"Fujioka-san, do you know where my sister could be? Or how to find her?"

“She said that if you weren’t able to make contact beforehand, she’d meet you on… the anniversary of the day you got your tattoos, at the place you mourned your mother.”

As you continue down, the further and further you go, you notice… weapons. Large gatling guns and missile launchers, sticking high up from the ground, aimed in the air. They don’t move to point to the tram, though… so they seem to be deactivated now.

Ren turns around quickly to check and see if Riku’s asleep. Once he’s confirmed they aren’t, he comments on the weaponry.

"There's a large number of weapons out here. That relates to what we discussed earlier, about the external resistance, huh, Riku?"

Riku shrugs.

Your heavy feet trudge up the stairs, the dirty smell of the place filling your thoughts once again. Hopefully it would be the last time you smelled it. Step. Step. Step.

Six. Six were left, 6/20. A 30% survival rate. The faces you had once known, had entered the school with… so many of them were gone. 14 lost voices now. 14 that didn’t deserve to be locked here… outside of maybe Roxxy herself. She had wanted that much, right? Your breaths grow heavier in your throat as you approach The surface.

Light filters in from the exit, a gradient of humanity greeting you with life. Clunk. Clack. Crunch. Your foot hits the snow, a familiar feeling filling your body. Yet, this time, it felt detached. Different. Almost like it was hard to believe, right? Apparently, the gentle light of the sun revealed how long the trial had gone.

Angling yourself to face the gazebo, you see a very, very, very tired Yuri, holding a blue rose in his hand. There’s a vague, tired smile of pride decorating his features, as he looks at you with a soft glow to his aura.

You all gather around him, wondering how the rest of this was going to work. You see a tram that presumably held more cars than it has at the moment. Just one, with a total of about 8 seats available, excluding the driver’s seat and shotgun. So.. 10, total? There would be a few empty spots. Where did he even find that? Somewhere in the maze?

Yuri’s heart skips a beat when the first of the students stepped within view, though relief writes itself across his face as the others appear behind them. “You’re all okay!” A tired, but genuine smile creeps across his lips. “Where’s Roxxy, was she…?” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. They knew what he was asking.

There’s a prolonged silence among you all. Yuri quietly looks to the glitter you’re all covered in.

"Yeah she was the Arch Nemesis. Emphasis on was." Riku responds with a deadened tone.

Ren gives a curt nod and follows it up.