Finding the lost while loosing yourself

Tch, how disappointing. To think that something had gone right for once. To think that, even for a second, Masaru had someone they could trust fully. It was wishful thinking, but ultimately impossible.

Masaru started kicking rhythmically at the spokes of the podium, unsure of where else to direct their anger.

They were a fool for clinging to something not meant for them. They were never made to be happy. Even the few moments of joy in this death trap were fabricated; worlds simply constructed of 1s and 0s that still somehow managed to give Masaru some sort of security. 

They were never made to be happy.

Masaru glanced at the ground, struggling to keep themself together. Their kicks became angrier, full of rage directed at anything but the source. On the border of tears, they managed to get out a weak laugh. 

Of course. Of course this was how it was going to end. Masaru was going to be alone, tricked, left in the cold by forces that really couldn’t care otherwise. They should have seen it coming. They had been told all their life that they were nothing but a burden and didn’t deserve anything and it was always true. Yet they clung to something that wasn’t rightfully theirs.

It was funny to them simply because it wasn’t. It was sad and pitiful, just like their very existence. 

Why should they be upset? This was fake, everything in this place wasn’t real. No sense getting really upset over something that wasn’t real - It wasn’t even worth it to get upset over things that were real, either- It was weak to show emotion. 

“You can’t be serious… t-this can’t be happening…”

Weak. They needed to stop the flow of emotions threatening to overtake their whole being. They started putting some real weight into their swing until one of the pieces of wood broke and skittered across the floor. 

They stopped. They stopped kicking, they stopped laughing, they stopped everything they were doing. 

Reverting back to their usual numbed state was going to be impossible. If they couldn’t stop being emotional, they wouldn’t be anything at all. 

With a small huff, Masaru quietly sat down on the edge of the podium and faced away from the trial. None of them could see Masaru cry. The geocacher couldn’t look at their classmates. They couldn’t look at him anymore. 

If they couldn’t be numb, they decided that they would rather stop being all together. 

One could argue that smiles were a rare good nowadays, given how they were constantly thrown to one disaster after another. Witnessing so much death, betrayel and anger could do a number on you, that’s for sure. Although Grey wouldn’t admit it openly - not like that was necessary -, he was aware that all of this took a tremendous toll on him. If it weren’t for those who constantly helped him out, he honest to god wouldn’t know if he’d be even standing here anymore.

“Oh, really? Then Masaru-kun it is!”

If someone offered him first-name basis, then you could bet that he’d take you up on the offer.

He chuckled when Masaru made a comment about his hair - well, he could certainly see that he might look like a grapefruit with his hair. Grapefruit-haired boy - I can’t believe I just wrote that.

“Ahaha, that would’ve been an experience, but no. We found some hairspray cans in the inn we were staying in. My roots were already staring to show, so I thought to myself, ‘Might as well change my hair color’!”

“I assure you, it’s not because of an identity crisis or because I’m rebelling against something. I just like dyeing my hair, that’s all! And thank you, it’s always nice to hear that you didn’t screw up with the choice you made.”

He continued to smile, noting that Masaru looked good in his glasses. Hopefully, it wasn’t too blurry for them - he didn’t know what vision they had.

Next up was a question that he’d been hearing all too often… well, it was something you said all the time outside of this place, too, but here, it had always a more… heavier tone to it.

“Now I’m good! After all, everyone came back! You came back! How could I not feel good now?”

“Well, I can think of many reasons to not feel good. For one: the meteor men beg to differ, judging by the hole in the satellite picture. The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. The water's getting... warm so you might as well swim...”

They stopped the flow of nonsense and mumbled under their breath that they didn’t know what the last part of that is. Jeez, don’t commit unless you know what you’re getting into. 

“ANYWAY, I’m happy to see you guys too... especially you, Grey... You really know how to make me feel great... I guess that talent comes with having friends... SHSL Friend...right here...”

If there was a limit to how awkward a human being could be, they were approaching the threshold very quickly. 

They looked Grey up and down, becoming accustomed to the new hair color slowly but surely.

When the boy had fallen asleep, he had regressed to the point where he assumed when he woke up someone would be there for him. He was never in real danger, as much as he shouldn’t trust the world, for his best friend would always have his side. He would get yelled at maybe for dozing off in public places when he shouldn’t be and how he should really just learn to take care of himself, but in the end, he would be happy.

Kuukai Nikaidou was a spoiled, rich kid.

He always had been, he supposed, so when he woke up in yet another unfamiliar place, and there was no one there, Kuukai had never felt so scared in his life. He got up, but he felt his hand and shoe touch something: broken glass.

He looked around his surroundings in a daze, unsure exactly what was happening, but when he saw that he had woken up on the floor next to a broken mirror, the color drained from his face and he began to tremble. Nothing good came out of that sight— no, that was the epitome of bad luck. He was sure of it.

He had remembered vaguely hearing footsteps and… crying, was it? Was that the voice of Mystique? He felt as if he was having a headache coming on, and he wanted nothing more than to eat and drink and forget. He stumbled on over to the window in this room of cloud-like decor with golden accents and greenery growing all around the walls. He looked out, his body practically begging for fresh air as he looked out: first skyward and then down to the ground.

He had not the slightest clue of where he was still.

Taking a few steps back, he then entered into a mad dash out of the room and down the steps of the tower, wanting to find just anybody or anything, something to prove that he wasn’t alone and this wasn’t some kind of sick punishment for him for finding happiness when he shouldn’t have all his years, and he eventually let his feet do all the thinking, his mind a complete blur as he left the clearing and entered the forest instead, losing himself amongst the trees and the spirits.

When he heard footsteps, he turned harshly and fell down to the ground and into the earth. His heart was racing a mile a minute, and his face carried an expression of terror, looking towards the source of the steps with gawking eyes but not moving an inch out of fear for doing something wrong, and he simply waited for his mind to register anything at all other than that concept of the unknown.

“Wh… Who are you?!”

Thankfully, though this situation wasn’t good, it wasn’t something that rang alarm bells either. Just a super stressed out teen wandering the forest and screaming at the first shadowy figure. If Masaru wasn’t so used to this, they would have done more than flinch slightly. 

This was that... peacock guy. Right? Maybe. For being a detective, Masaru was really shitty at remembering things that didn’t affect them directly. After all, why would they remember real names of someone who they never became close to? They barely remembered the names of those who they actually had to talk to back home.

“I’m you... but stronger.”

Masa didn’t even bother to raise their voice above speaking level. Nice.

“Nah, dude. I’m just fuckin’ with you. It’s Kishibe. Don’t give yourself a heart attack.”

The geocacher took a couple steps closer to the panicked classmate, stepping over exposed roots with ease. They almost seemed happy? It was such an odd thing to see; yet not surprising since this was their element. 

It was a relief to see that none of the broken shards actually hurt them. That would’ve been bad luck; your friend gets revived and gets injured right away, because the light or… whatever brought them back didn’t have the decency to put them somewhere not on top of said shards.

“Aha, I’d prefer for the murder or arson part to stay out, to be honest…!”

He’d seen enough murder to last him a lifetime (which held true for everyone here, if we’re being honest). He didn’t know why Masaru was bringing up the arson part, but he simply left it at that comment.

Surprised that his glasses got pulled away, Grey blinked at the taller student. Then, he couldn’t help but chuckle - it brought him back to their first meeting, when they’d done something similar! Man, they’ve really been here for a long time, huh?

“You’re as good as ever! The stronger part is definitely true!”

“O-Oh, should I refer call you Crimson-kun? I mean, whatever you feel more comfortable with and all!”

“N-no.... Masaru is fine... I mentioned it because no one except my parents has ever called me that. Atleast, not since elementary school.”

They shrugged. It would suck if Grey stopped using their first name. It was... nice to hear, even if they didn’t know his real name.  

“What’s with the hair? You fall in a pit of grapes or something? Take a nice soak?”

The geocatcher reached out and ruffled his hair. At least it was still soft.

“I thought people did that during identity crisis... or to rebel... Whatever, I like it.”

Smooth.

Masaru put on Grey’s glasses and shoved their hands in their pockets. Wow, his vision wasn’t horrible. Well, what did they know. They had 20/10 vision, any internal comparison was essentially useless. 

Sorry Masaru, if Grey would be capable of picking up the hint that you feel uncomfortable with that sort of affection, he would’ve backed away and apologized, but alas. Joy > Logic.

Feeling their arms around his own body, Grey had to say that he felt… really comfortable at the moment. Heck, he could even fall asleep like that. It felt like as if he was actually… safe.

(What’s this weird feeling in his chest?)

(His heart was beating quite fast.)

“Ahahaha…! I’m so glad t-to hear that! Nobody will… harm you th-that way ever again. I promise, this time…! You will get out of here, I p-promise!”

When Masaru asked that they could get up, Grey nodded and finally let go - albeit a bit unwillingly, if he was completely honest, but good thing that it didn’t mirrored in his actions.

“I don’t think I got hurt. I would have felt it or something.” 

They glanced over at Grey, taking in his new hair and trying to reinforce the fact that they weren’t imagining this. That’s right, they were taller than Grey. The last time seeing Grey physically seemed like a lost memory. It was so... satisfying to see him again. Maybe it would be like this for the others? 

Regardless of logic, they turned around and showed Grey that they weren’t injured. 

“I’m back, stronger than ever. I can now continue my life of murder and arson thanks to this weird pitty magic.”

Completely monotone. 

The geocatcher turned around and gently pulled the glasses off of Grey’s face. 

“Oi, looks like Detective Crimson has their first mystery already. Who took your glasses? I bet it was some evil looking guy - a real burden on society - who likes to see high schoolers... not... see.... damnit.”

They looked at the ground. Wow, that one was fucked from the start. 

Why would you blame Masaru? For all they knew, they could be still dreaming and if they woke up, they would realize they were still dead - which they aren’t thankfully. At least Grey was immensely grateful that Masaru was back in action. He could barely contain his joy (and tears- as if, they’re already dripping down like mad).

Honestly, if anything, he shed more tears when he actually heard Masaru’s voice - when the geocacher actually opened their eyes and looked at him. There was no way that they couldn’t be alive; it was all too real.

Masaru went out of their way to wipe away the tears staining his cheeks. Grey blinked, his sight still blurry from all the tears, but a smile spread on his face. It was the brightest smile he’d had since… a long time. The smiles lately had been more forced than anything - genuine one’s had been only small and rare.

Without even thinking about it, his hand reached up to place it gently on top of theirs. Sure, the sleeve might be still there, but it didn’t change the fact that he could feel the wamrth coming from it.

“A… A corpse w-wouldn’t… feel so warm… o-or talk or…”

He never finished the sentence, because he just dived in to embrace Masaru in a tight hug, his head dugged in their shoulder.

“I… I’m so glad…! W… Welcome back, Masaru-kun, I… I-I missed you so much…!”

‘ I-I missed you so much…! ‘

Their eyes widened. He missed them? They didn’t doubt Grey, it was almost like something in Masaru’s mind wouldn’t let them believe that. They’d never been missed before, at least as far as they were aware. .

“I... I missed you too...”

They wrapped their arms around Grey’s torso and pulled him close, enjoying the warmth. 

“I missed you so much! I wasn’t gone too long but... I couldn’t help it...”

They squeezed even tighter, feeling repressed tears starting to form.

“I won't leave you again. I won't ever leave you again.”

Masaru pushed their feelings back (as usual) and sat up. If they started to cry then Grey would really lose it. 

It was only a matter of time before something was bound to happen again. Lucas continued to be out of character, which was still worrisome, but Grey had no idea what he could even do at this point. Thus, he only pocketed some things as he ventured out to where they were headed.

He’d been a bit startled when the train station was suddenly gone, but Lucas had told them that they wouldn’t get stuck here… Maybe he just wanted to make sure that they would look around here first for a bit?

Either way, as they went through the forest, Grey saw some foxes roaming around. He smiled a bit at the familiar sight, good memories being brought back to his mind. The popping dancer also remembered how Mystique and him had talked about going to the fox village… well, this was certainly not the one he had visited, but it was close enough, huh?

As they finally arrived at the place with the towers, Grey hurried after Colleen after Lucas crashed into the tower with some kind of big bird. It was a good thing that he was so atheltic, because he wasn’t that out of breath when they finally arrived to where they were headed.

Everything afterwards happened quickly - the both of them being confused again as to why they were here or from where they got the hammers, then Lucas asking for one of them, smashing the mirror and-

…

“K… Katsuo-kun…?”

Grey blinked, not understanding what was going on. Why was he here? He was… dead, wasn’t he? Sure, they had that weird moment back in the trial, but he thought that maybe, it was just SUL trying to screw with them. Of course, that could still be the case, because…

… Or maybe he was simply hallucinating it?

No, no, no, he couldn’t get worser than he already was, how was he supposed to help?

“I… I-I– I’m sorry, I–”

And with that, he left the room quickly, tears welling up in his eyes. No, he needed to calm down, he needed to… needed to…

What?

…

……

In the end, Grey found himself in the biggest tower. As he took the stairs, he heard voices… voices that he thought he would never hear again. He heard cheers, surprised noises, everything…

Heck, he even saw some of his classmates running around with their hammers in their hands. Was it really…?

Grey looked at the hammer he had on his person. Biting his lips, he decided that he might as well give it a try… See if he was really just hallucinating or if… if the dead were actually coming back.

(He didn’t even bother to think how this is possible, but the prospect of seeimg them all alive again- the prospect of nobody having been ever hurt maybe- the prospect that this might have really been just the sickest joke on earth…)

Grey decided to try it out.

As he stepped into one of the rooms, he got near the mirror. Weighing the hammer in his hand, he hesitated at first. Well, it wasn’t exactly nice to break mirrors, was it? Still, if it meant that he could free one of their fallen comrades, that they could actually live together and start anew-

After taking another deep breath, he reached back with the hammer, before swinging it at the mirror - which broke into thousand of pieces, of course. It wasn’t the only thing that happened though - a blinding light filled the room and he had to close his eyes.

When he opened them again, Grey felt like as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Masaru.

His subunit member was lying on the floor, seemingly asleep. Grey blinked at first, then proceeded to rub his eyes and take another look. They were still there. They didn’t vanish yet

“M… Masaru-kun…?”

He felt himself hoping that for once, luck was on their side. That for once, they… could be happy.

The popping dancer kneeled down besides the geocacher, looking them over. They… certainly looked real enough, but… that was with the others as well, so he needed to make sure that he didn’t hallucinate!

After hesitating for a second, he reached out to touch the other’s shoulders - and it connected.

He felt him. Masaru was warm. They were here. Alive.

“M… Masa.. Mmm– O-Oh my god, y-you’re… p-please tell me that’s really you, I-I–! Masaru-kun? Ne?”

Grey began to shake them a bit, trying to wake them up.

This time was different. After being dead for a while, they missed the one thing that seemed to make them happy in life. If it was anything else, they would have rolled over and forgotten about being knocked out. But a voice was calling out to him; a voice they couldn’t ignore because just hearing it made their heart race. 

Okay, they ignored it until Grey touched their shoulder. Who could blame them? Me.

“... Of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”

They take a deep breath and look over Grey’s face carefully. God, they were just starting to miss him. 

“It could be my corpse just thrown out here but that’d be messed up, right?”

Grey was crying again. Masaru hated seeing him do that, no matter how often it ends up happening. They pulled their sleeve over their hand and sighed, bringing it to Grey’s cheek. 

“Tch... can’t leave for a week without you breaking down..”

Such a shame that the quiet, otherwise peaceful morning, was disturbed by the dreaded yet constant rise of the body count. An alert on your keycards brings you to the castle, and from there you can see a long trail of blood. Strangely, there is no body where the blood trail ends, only the smell of hay and some spooked horses.

Is it possible that there was just a mistake? A chance that you hadn’t lost one of your own; that there would be no grueling trials followed by hours of taxing investigation? The hope that there had been a miscalculation floods your minds… until you enter the loonge.

[ ♪♫♪♫ ]

Upon seeing the body, whatever hope you had died just as painfully as Crimson did. There they lay, limp on the couch. If there wasn’t a knife jutting out of their chest, a pained expression on their face, and blood soaking through their jacket, you would have just assumed that they were taking a nap. Ha, just kidding. You could never convince yourself that this was anything but a dead body. Seems that even in death, Crimson was down right awful at comforting others.

Just like the last time they had all gathered down here, Crimson was lacking energy and the will to deal with all of this negativity. However, now that they actually had more than a loud siren to show for their investigation, they figured that maybe interacting would be a bit interesting. 

With a sigh, they picked up the potted plant they had taken from the hall and started making their usual walking laps around the podiums. It wasn’t necessary but it kept [idk but uh censor bars] at bay. 

Crimson made a short stop next to Grey and gently patted them on the back before placing the potted plant at their feet. 

“…It’s not healthy to live in such a gross room… maybe some other life will… ‘spruce’ it up… Feel better, dude.”

They normally would have given Grey a『 R A D I C A L H I G H F I V E 』but since he was so sick (and not the good kind of sick) they decided against it. 

“… Oh, I also remembered… that’s not what LeBlanc told Fushia, Silver, and I when we asked her about the blood…. But ya know… some people can get confused… But she also wouldn’t let me blow up her microwave…”

He was also starting to assume that Grey was just putting on a brave face right now, considering that in every trial so far he had ended up crying. Not that he blamed him of course, no, no. The guitarist was very sympathetic. And guilty for not being able to do much about it.

Plum was more concerned about the fact that Crimson had not had very much sleep than by the fact that they were still in their pyjamas. Three hours?! So that was why this kid was looking permanently tired…

[ i’m doing pretty awesome, thanks grey! ]

[ i’m glad you wanted to know more about me Crimson Chin. first thing you need to know, i’m AWESOME. second thing, i’m EPIC. third thing, i’m SWAGGY. ]

Was he being sarcastic? Was he being serious? How did he fit all that on his whiteboard? A lot of questions here, and no answers.

[ you guys should order something! the drinks are surprisingly good here! ]

“Aha, sorry, I didn’t meant it like this, promise!”

He kept up his usual smile, but hearing how Crimson only slept for three hours… Well, he’d love to help out, but that didn’t turn out to be helpful last time. If anything, all he could do was offer silent support in case he fell asleep here.

Anyway, it was good to know that Plum was holding up okay! He couldn’t help but grin widely at Plum’s introduction to Crimson - smooth as always!

“Yeah, you’re right, it’d be a waste to not order anything! Though I have to admit, I’m not that much of a coffee fan… uh, do they serve something else here?”

Admittedly, he wasn’t visiting the coffee shop that much and his memory sorta failed him at remembering what it even offered in the first place safe for coffee… unless that was really the only thing you could get from here.

“I’m all ears, my dude. If they don’t serve pure chocolate melted into a mug, I’ll take the second best thing.”

By second best, they meant next on the chocolaty scale. 

They fold their arms on the table and plop their head down. If they were going to be here, they might as well get comfortable.

“So, Plum. I’m guessing that you have that whiteboard because you can’t speak. Can we use it to play hangman? I want to chose the first word...”

The geocacher yawned and thought for a few seconds.

The coffee shop. Plum didn’t particularly like coffee - did anyone, really? - but he had learnt to deal with the taste enough to drink it most mornings. He really was a morning person so he didn’t need much help waking up, anyway, but it was nice to enjoy a hot beverage at the beginning of the day.

It was a few days after the trial and the guitarist was looking unusually chipper for… reasons, especially after everything that had happened. He had texted (or messaged, whatever) his fellow subunit members to come and meet him for brunch at the coffee shop that morning. And no, he didn’t feel guilty about making them wake up early just for him. Heheh.

He was sat sipping his latte when they arrived and put it down to wave enthusiastically at them. He patted the chair next to him in invitation, as if were going to occupy one of the other empty tables if he didn’t. A bright-toothed grin accompanied his frantic waving.

[ how’s it going guys?! hope i didn’t interrupt your beauty sleep. not that you need it! ]

A good start, a good start.

Well, no use to cry over spilled milk - especially not when they were about to make up for that! The popping dancer got quickly ready for the day, glad he got invited for some good times!

While going to the coffee shop, he also ran into Crimson. Greeting the other with a smile on his face, the both of them walked to the meeting place, where Plum was already waiting for them.

Grey waved at his friend as he approached him, reading what the guitarist wrote down as he took a seat besides him.

“Morning, Plum-kun! You really didn’t interrupt me or anything - it’s good to wake up earlier once in a while, right?”

“Aha, true! I’m actually surprised that none of us came up with that idea earlier… you would guess that’d be one of the first things you would do!”

Then again, constant murders and executions might be a big enough distraction to not come up with usual stuff. Or something like this. Yeah, quality narration right here, guys.

“How are you two doing? If there’s something I can help with, you know I’ll be there to assist you!”

Whatever, it was just their subunit. They didn’t need to be so formal. They were all supposed to be close, right? Friends, even. Crimson didn’t understand how to behave around friends (or anyone really) so they just decided to to be themself.

The detective did nothing more than nod at Grey’s greeting in the hallway. They fixed their hair slightly and glanced over at Plum. Why was he hitting the seat next to him? Why did he say that people didn’t need sleep? Whatever, the world was a mystery and so was human behavior. 

Crimson dragged a seat over and sat across from the other two. More room for them, they figured. 

“Speak for yourself, Grey. I have no sleep to even overflow into ‘beauty sleep’.” They glanced up at the clock, “...I slept for three hours. Huh. Pretty good.”

Classy.

“I’m really, really sorry! I’m gonna ask Lucas or Colly if they can’t tell SUL to take care of the plant until we come back? And then I’ll come for it and treat it well! I’m gonna apologize to Josh as well!”

Sadly, Grey didn’t catch onto Crimson’s joke and instead, was seriously considering doing what he’d just suggested. Heck, he even wanted to apologize to a plant. Dude, you aren’t sick anymore, so why you gotta do this.

Well, anyway, it seemed like as if Crimson didn’t have a particular goal in mind… But just standing here would be kind of boring. So in the end, he began to move, being rather aimless in his walk.

“Alright, then I’ll just walk us around! We could end up here, we could end up there, wherever the wind takes us!”

Not like there was any literal wind around, but you know.

The popping dancer felt the weight on his shoulder, but didn’t really comment on it - why should he, anyway? If they were too tired, they had every right to support themself on him! He was the one who offered anyway!

“... Uhuh. Amazing.”

It was hard not to hide their somewhat bitter tone. Thankfully, they were always bitter so it didn’t change much. Ah, Crimson. What a piss baby. 

Moving on. 

“You train every day? That’s pretty rad. Must keep you in good condition or whatever. For dancing? Owning the dance floor? Showing that jerk, Georgia, from your class, that even though she’s dating the guy you like she can’t make you feel bad every time you see her... you own this dance floor... tonight... you... own...”

Their head makes sudden contact with Grey’s shoulder and stays there for a few seconds. Crimson then looks back up and yawns.

Good ol’ Grey, still naive enough to think that nobody would murder again… Well, can’t really change a man that quickly, huh? Or he’s just escaping reality. Take your pick~

“Oh, really? Still, you’re feeling better if you’re all warm and comfy, right? Sometimes, I don’t even wanna leave the bed because it’s so fluffy!”

At the end, he still did, because he was too energetic to lay down for a long time. The sickness time™ had already tested him greatly in that sense.

A relieved sigh escaped his lips when he heard that he hadn’t said anything too strange to Crimson. At least not something bad strange. That was something, right?

“Good to hear, but… just because you have a thick skin regarding bad stuff, doesn’t mean that people should say something mean to you, right? After all, you’re a great person, Crimson-kun! I don’t want you to be sad!”

“I… oh man, I can’t believe I almost saying that but; thank you for taking care of me during the trial! I remember that you stopped by and gave me a plant-”

“Ah.”

Looks like someone remembered that he hasn’t brought the plant with him while leaving the trial room. Admittedly, he hadn’t been in any condition to transport anything by his own (he had been carried out himself, after all), but he still felt bad.

“Oh man, my plant buddy! I didn’t brought him out of there… sorry, Crimson-kun.”

He sounded really apologetic, but blushed a bit when his hair was ruffled. A gentle giggle escaped his lips - seems like someone really liked having their hair ruffled.

“I can’t believe that you left Josh to just die in the basement like that. I trusted you, dude.”

Even though their tone was quite serious, Crimson was joking. Grey did leave their heartfelt gift to rot away but like they said before: Crimson had a thick skin. Maybe it was even their fault for trusting the sick-out-of-his-mind Grey to take care of it. Who Know?

Though Crimson forgot all about it when Grey laughed.What a beautiful sound that wiped away all tiredness and betrayal from their thoughts. Looks like they’re gonna have to do that more often.

“Nah, I really don’t care. Don’t know much about this place anyway...”

They sigh and rest their head on the dancer's shoulders. Mmm, nice.

As Grey was standing in front of Crimson’s door, he thought of a way to get into the room without making too much noise or movements. Kicking the door was out of the question, but had shortly appeared in his mind nonetheless. Of course, he could just let Crimson down for a bit and pick them up again, but that would involve many steps which could waken them up. Maybe… his teeth?

Before he could do anything dumb though, he felt how the other started to move. Oh no, had he really dragged them out of their sleep? Dangit, that wasn’t the-

… Wait, what?

“C-Crimson-kun?! You– I mean– Why would anyone ever want to kill you?!”

He certainly sounded distraught, green eyes widened in shock as he glanced behind him. Did they really think that someone would do that to them? No, no, that was wrong, the killing had to be over now! They could never let that happen again, so why-?!

Although he was relieved that in Crimson’s eyes, he wasn’t likely to hurt them, the bewilderment that they’d be this supicious of others doing that was bigger.

He bit his lips, not sure what he was supposed to do now - let them stand on their own? Ask if they were alright? Doing a backflip? No, why would you even think that, you can’t just backflip out of your distress.

Oh right, he was asked a question. Better answer it!

“Ah, no, that’s not it! I just wanted to carry you to your bed, because you’ve been asleep on the couch and… well, a bed is more comfortable and you’re gonna have a blanket as well! Don’t get sick like me!”

“… Actually, I wanted to apologize. Like, in case I said anything offensive during the trial to you. Or well… anyone, really. I really wasn’t thinking, aha… Can’t remember that much, to be honest. It was… kinda a mess?”

A moment of pause.

Whatever. Crimson had noticed that Grey was unlike them in many ways, mostly because he seemed to be more of a humanitarian, an optimist, sweet, nice to be around, handsome... where were they going with this? Oh, right. Mentioning that Grey was looking too hard for a silver lining wouldn’t be the best idea... so Crimson dropped the subject. 

“...I’m used to the cold. I doubt one day of sleeping by the fire could make me sick.”

Besides, they were already sick, technically. Wait, what was Grey asking?

“You didn't say anything mean to me during the trial... at least not that I can remember... I really don’t care either way. I have a pretty thick skin when it comes to that.” 

Crimson ruffled the dancer’s hair with one hand and steadied themself with the other. 

Just like the last time they had all gathered down here, Crimson was lacking energy and the will to deal with all of this negativity. However, now that they actually had more than a loud siren to show for their investigation, they figured that maybe interacting would be a bit interesting. 

With a sigh, they picked up the potted plant they had taken from the hall and started making their usual walking laps around the podiums. It wasn’t necessary but it kept [idk but uh censor bars] at bay. 

Crimson made a short stop next to Grey and gently patted them on the back before placing the potted plant at their feet. 

“…It’s not healthy to live in such a gross room… maybe some other life will… ‘spruce’ it up… Feel better, dude.”

They normally would have given Grey a『 R A D I C A L H I G H F I V E 』but since he was so sick (and not the good kind of sick) they decided against it. 

“… Oh, I also remembered… that’s not what LeBlanc told Fushia, Silver, and I when we asked her about the blood…. But ya know… some people can get confused… But she also wouldn’t let me blow up her microwave…”

Look at that, another thread happening on the forth day! What interesting narration, yay! You can probably tell that the mun has no other clever way to begin this starter than with a bit of sarcasm. Tfw your creativity is kinda on a low.

After his conversation with Silver, Grey was on the move again. He’d explored some more, before deciding to go to the second floor and inspect the rooms there again. There was a billiard room, if he remembered correctly… Maybe he should invite some of his pals over to play a game? Lightening up the mood and all? After all, he had always planned to do an event of some sort, but thus far… Nothing.

He was kind of disappointed with himself.

Well, but he could still make it happen! Better later than never, right?

With newfound confidence, Grey strudded into the second loonge, only planning to pass through it, but something - or rather someone - caught his eyes. The popping dancer stopped and approached the lying person on one of the couches.

Somehow, he wasn’t that surprised to find Crimson sleeping. They always seemed to be so tired, so the red-haired boy figured that they were bound to fall asleep somewhere out of their room.

Sure, the couches seemed to be comfy and all, but Crimson had no blanket or pillow and… well, the beds here were more comfortable. Better get them to their room, so they get proper sleep!

Grey fished out his keycard from his pockets and looked where his subunit’s room was lying - huh, they were a neighbour of White! That was nice, maybe they could befriend each other? If they didn’t already, of course. He might ask them later if they knew each other better than he thought!

Slipping the card back to where it belonged, Grey crouched down and started to load the other on his back. With a bit of a struggle, he managed to do that. Hopefully, that didn’t wake them up… After all, he didn’t want to disturb their friend’s sleep.

Having a good grip at the other, he stood up and slowly moved towards Crimson’s door, making sure that his steps were as quiet as possible.

Though then something occured to him.

How was he supposed to open the door with both of his hands occupied now?

Ah, how nice it was to feel the warmth off the fire and the absence of any real responsibilities. It reminded them of home. Rather, it reminded Crimson that they weren’t home, which was great. 

They must have fallen asleep by the fire because they next thing they noticed was nothing but a light red. Slowly they looked up and noticed they were being carried. Well, that’s new. 

“... If you’re gonna kill me, at least make it quick.” They muttered into Grey’s shoulder, “I never liked this place anyway...”

It’s better than the alternative, Crimson. 

“...Oh, wait...Grey... I didn’t notice it was you...”

Someone who most likely wasn’t going to kill them. Fanstatic!