We're Gonna Jump The Moon

“You… do know.” And yet she still stopped to ask if he was okay.

“It’s my fault! Mine!” Takashi has been upset before, here, and has even been forced to swear in his mothers native tongue, but never has his temperament brought her crude accent to the surface as well. “I fucked up! I really fucked up! I could have gone with you, like I was supposed to! Like I- promised!” He took a few shallow breaths and continued. “I’m not okay! How dare you ask me that?! You’re the one who’s dead! Tsukiko bashed your skull in, after I sent you to her. I should have known something was wrong. With the riddle. I- I- am sorry. I’m sorry, I was so stupid. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I hate that word, Hiroya-! *cough!* *cough!” 

Takashi choked on his tears, and when he was done coughing his voice seemed to have returned to normal, but his expression of guilt was the same. 

“...it’s aight. Chill.”

Okay, she should probably say more than that.

“I mean- don’t- please don’t be so upset...Koiwai-kun... it’s- uh... you didn’t even do anything, bro. I shoulda known better on my own, I think.... thought the whole thing was... kinda fishy. You mighta got hurt too if you got all the way outta bed an’ your jammies and shit just to come walk with me. That’s why I got all... gnarly bashed up or whatever... I guess. Thing was meant for some dummy to fall for, not you. Really... no biggie...”

That was a lot of talking, especially for Moe in particular. She didn’t oten talk this much, and while it wasn’t exactly tiring for the program it surely didn’t sit right with her. She paused for a while to sort of breathe, in even and repeated patterns, and then softened her voice a bit when she spoke up again. 

The squiggle of emotions that was Kaoru found herself in the Morpheus lounge that afternoon. It had been quiet the task to work her way down the dark hall that lead to the VR chair. Several times panic threatened to seize her and she continually pressed herself against the wall when she had to sort out her breathing.

But Kaoru was determined to sit down in this chair.

She wasn’t exactly sure why. Some part of her was avoiding the kids who were still alive. Two of them in particular. One didn’t deserve Kaoru bogging her down and the other had managed to nearly permanently wiggle her way under Kaoru’s skin. At the same time, Kaoru didn’t want to be alone right now. Her thoughts and emotions were a massive horrendous tangle in her mind and she needed to talk to someone before the flood gates of emotion burst open again. She didn’t need to talk about anything in specific… Just something to distract her.

And if she did snap here well… These kids were dead. So she wasn’t really talking to them… Right?

Nervously (the damn room was so dim!) Kaoru sat down in the VR chair and pulled the visor over her eyes. How did this work exactly? Did she chose who to speak to? Or did someone just show up?

Honestly, Kaoru had been hoping to speak with Moe. She still felt guilt over Nanase’s death so seeing him was not going to help her emotional state. Osamu, that is, Hikaru still scared her. And Tsukiko wasn’t someone she had ever interacted with before.. And she had killed Moe.

Moe on the other hand… Moe had been kind to her. Maybe… Maybe seeing her again would help…

“...Hayashi-san??”  A greeting for a greeting, but hers was far more surprised than confused or nervous. In fact, it was surprisingly jolty for something out of her mouth. Her chill demeanor returned quickly but she still hardly expected to see Kaoru of all people here.

"I-Ito-kun? Is that you?"

 The corpse and the vision had its differences, but it did not sway the fact Moe Ito was dead. Dead by the hand of one of her students. But this time.. she’d share that sentimental fluctuation to a lesser extent, for she was notified of what was to come.   If only she had the power to manipulate what was on the screen, reach through and bring her back to this depressive state of existence. But the reality of that just seemed to crush her.

“Hey... woah. It’s fine... you, uh- everyone needs sleep, yo... no biggie. What are you talking about, though?” She had to assume, of course, that it had to do with the events following her death, but she didnt seem to actually know any of what had happened during that time. How could she, after all? It was so hard to hear things underwater.

“Yeah, hey, nothin’ to be all messed up about. Heh. You didn’t do anything. It’s really nice to see you... actually... sup? Uhhhh, oh, wait.... good question... though.”

“No. You can’t! And I can’t change what I think about you or her or anything right now. I am severely emotionally compromised. And while that is not a problem by itself. I’m letting it get the better of me. I am only human. It will pass and soon I won’t care anymore. But that will only happen if I leave! There’s no benefit to this arrangement! None at all!”

She shouldn’t have brought the hat here, certainly. If she was in a more logical state of mind she shouldn’t have taken it at all. Surely the fact they were both wearing what was ostensibly a single hat would have been able to make a point to this VR-Moe, if the VR was capable of complex thought. 

“Hey- wait, don’t.. leave me alone- You’re joking, right Yukiko-san?”

“You’ll come ba-zck- right-- zzhh-rrr-”

“…yes.. I’m not feeling… well, all things considered…”

He’s… so confused… what is he seeing—? She’s actually… responding…? So this wasn’t just… pre-recorded…? Then what was this…? Now that he thinks about it… he remembers hearing about Moe coming here frequently in the trial. It was to… see Hikaru…? The murderer?

“Ito-san… I’m… I’m sorry…. you didn’t deserve what happened to you…. and — fate… Tsukiko brought up fate and alternative paths and other nonsensical garbage like it was a justification… and I’m… sorry, because that doesn’t justify anything. You didn’t deserve this.”

“Huh- woah.... Hideki-bro... chill out. If you can, I mean. Heh. Ts...Tsukiko? Is that who did it...? Dang...I don’t even remember seeing her.”

“You think she can see the future?? That’s- I mean, I guess it was bad here- but that’s kind of cool...!”

“If you feel like her, then…that’s only because you’re programmed that way. It’s not like you could actually be her just because that thought it was funny. She was a person. You’re a machine.”

What she should have done is left immediately after her outburst. Disconnected and not wasted any time on trying to explain anything, because it wouldn’t help, because it wouldn’t transfer, it was just wasting her own time. Just because it looked like a person didn’t mean it was. She knew that. Or at least she should have. Feeling abruptly suffocated she did adjust the visor slightly, but only to tug the hat back on over her head. If she kept picking at it for much longer she might wreck it.

"....you’re right. That makes sense. Sorry.”

As Yukiko moved and put on her hat- her hat now, not Moe’s, her face once again lit up. Woah. That.... was hers! Her virtual fingers flicked up to the hem of the hat on her own head and tugged it around a bit, as if verifying that it was still there. It of course was.

“..I... don’t think that’s true. I’m telling you what I- I mean she- I mean I  would... really want to say to you. What I do want to say to you.... uh. I guess I can’t prove it or nothin’ though. I don’t think I’d... like to know that you, uh, thought that... though.”

“You…think…you feel sad. That’s the best you can come up with.” The rage that had been boiling over all night finally exploded out of her like a volcanic eruption. Under safer circumstances she might have torn the visor off and started attacking the chair itself, but if all she had to work with was not physical damage, then shouting was the next best thing. “You’re the one who’s dead here! You were murdered for no reason! And you don’t know! Because you’re not even her!”

“And—I even told her before that this was a stupid idea. If she’d listened to me maybe she wouldn’t have found anything and she wouldn’t be dead. I don’t even know why I bothered. With all of this. You were just going to say everything I didn’t want to hear and, I don’t know. Prove to me that she was completely dead and there was no way to get anything back from that.”

Maybe she was just too tired to keep up an extended tirade, but after only a minute of screeching her voice dropped back into its usual register.

“P... Please don’t get so mad.... I mean... you can do whatever you want, sorry. I am me- I mean, maybe I’m not her but- I mean I think I’m- I f-feel like-”

“This is just confusing, sorry. Sorry... I- she didn’t mean to... avoid you or anything. She just wanted to... I thought it would be... impressive if...”

“Oh, right, sorry… sorry. ‘Night.” “Noh lright. yorr forry. Th night.” “Not alright. Your folly. That night. I’m not alright! It was your folly! You-!”

“Haaaahhhn… haaahn.. haaahn… haaahn. Haaaaaw-haaaaaah.”

Nevermind, Takashi still hated sleep.

——————————————————————————————————

Takashi sat himself down in the VR chair at the ungodly hour of who the hell cares? Day and night were artificial in this place. Anyways, Takashi hated this machine. The entire first murder centered around it, and just like the images that served as the first motive, these people weren’t real. They were dead, Anything said or done with them had no impact on they’re life, because they no longer had one. Takashi wasn’t even sure how close the resemblance would be to the original, or up to what point it’s memories would be, if it carried any. Takashi pulled the visor over his vision, and braced himself for the unknown.

“………Huh?”

Unholy, is what this was. She was all too real, but the hat he knew was in the possession of Yukiko now, and the eyes, as authentic as they looked, could belong to anyone. They were the last thing he paid attention too while dragging her corpse out of the-

“Koiwai-san... hey. You came to see me..! I’m feeling...” There was a short pause as she considered the rest of the sentence, and only after did her face change.

The end of the hall is dimly lit, but that’s only because of the room at the end that contained candles and… incense? The main attraction, however, was the chair in the center. It looked like the chairs seen in the first motive, with a few differences. Haah, what is this? I thought those chairs were gone…. what, is this going to show me my “dream” again….?

….

With that, he apprehensively sits on the chair, pulling the visor over his head, to see….

…Moe… Ito…? At first, he doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to be seeing. Why was… Ito… here—? He was genuinely surprised when she began to speak, as if she had never died in the first place.

This can’t… this can’t be real. There’s no way…. this has to be a prerecorded message or something… Moe was… he could have sworn she was…-!

“...yeah. That’s me. I think. Hey Hideki-kun, I mean... coffee bro. You look.. pretty... messed up?”

“...You don’t know about it...? This thing is... awesome... I used to come here all the time to talk to Hikaru-kun. It’s... pretty neat...?”

There was nothing wrong with anger, so long as it didn’t get in the way of important things. This wasn’t important at all.

“This isn’t about me. …But…you never saw who did it?” Unbidden, she straightened up slightly. Maybe it was better that Moe hadn’t suffered overmuch. Maybe it was once again the machine telling her what she wanted to hear. It wasn’t as if it mattered now. She was dead and gone. And Yukiko was only getting angrier and angrier. “You got whacked over the head with a weight. And drowned. That sounds like a something. No, I wasn’t there. I did see your body get dragged out of the pond, though. You were a mess. I didn’t stick around.”

“I guess it was... kind of inevitable. I can’t swim....”

“Not—a riddle,” she said forcefully. “Not okay.” She was going to need a minute to compose her voice again. Not that this thing cared. There was nothing wrong with anger. Maybe later she’d go back to her room and punch her own stupid wall until she inevitably got exhausted thirty seconds in and had to lay down. She already felt vaguely like melting into the ground, after all the stupid running around she’d done that morning with Shou.

“....well... yeah. Guess you’re not gonna talk about you, huh. That’s cool... I think I am though, yeah. Kinda... lame...”

“...not that I really remember it happening...? I was at the lake... waiting... and... suddenly I just hurt really bad.... everywhere. I must have fallen asleep because the last thing I can think of is having a really... wicked dream... it was pretty nice. Uh.”

She still felt exhausted, maybe dead on her feet, but after the trial there was only one place to go.

“…Ito-shi.” She didn’t know why, but her voice had that inescapable disappointed tone, between the static and the one visible eye and the lukewarmness of her introduction. There was no way to pretend. This wasn’t Moe and there was no reason to waste time with it if that was the case. She slowly sagged back into the chair, and might have slid to the ground if she could.

“...hey! Yukiko- I mean, heh, Tsuji-san.... that’s a good question. A... trick question? Is this a riddle...?”