randangonpa | ENDGAME/EPILOG

[In the control room, the raccoons float quietly in their pods; none of the wild cackling from before, no raucous mocking—Where did those pesky animatronics go, anyway? Maybe not every question has been answered, but...how much does it matter? The lost souls are back, tangible and whole, though marked still by whatever's done them in. Maybe those scars and aches won't fade, either.

A metric fuckton of experimenting has gotten us to the answer of how to get back to where we belong: the first control room console makes it easy to find the thumbnail of your world, and, when selected, it automatically brings you to twenty two days from moment you were kidnapped from. It's easy to see an image where you should be there and aren't, and simply select it. The program confirms that you'd like to initiate the transport process, and directs you to stand on the glowing platform; have someone hit the button to shut the process down, or it will time itself out in five minutes.

Is the moment you were brought from not good enough? What about the rewards you were promised? It seems as though specifying those offers or threads isn't quite possible, but the console has two options, each manipulable independently of each other: you can control the date and time, allowing yourself to return as though you hadn't been kidnapped at all. You can also use a slider at the bottom to control the quality of the universe you're brought back to, sliding from the carrot to the stick side: A world where everything that possibly could have gone right for you and those you'd want it for does, where every choice and chance resolves in your favor...or one where there isn't a single moment that isn't conspiring to work against you.

It should be that simple, but...none of those are your universes. Trying to go to any universe but the one marked for you, and/or at any point but that three-week span you've been gone, prompts a warning message about a duplicate version of anyone belonging to that world. It asks if you'd like to proceed, and warns you once more by giving names of potential "doppelgangers"—but will not stop you from stepping onto the platform as it twinkles blue light, regardless. Is improvement worth interfering, maybe destroying, the life of another you?

That choice is up to you. For the first time in a long time, these choices are yours.

It's over. Happy graduation day.]

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. . . hm?

[it isn't actually that strange when Ichigo tucks the badge into Akira's palm, closing his fingers tightly over the trinket (and. . . piece of paper?). all of Akira's Confidants had given him gifts before leaving Tokyo. And he could feel it, deep in his soul, an ethereal tug against the back of his brain that signified a blood oath. an unbreakable vow]

[he draws the item against his chest, and nods]

I promise to take good care of it.

[and, because he's curious]

Is the note for now, or later?

Later. When you're alone back home.

[God, that makes it sound filthy - but really, what's written there is private and personal, something between the two of them and only the two of them. His last gift for the first person he ever shared his poetry with, and so much more besides.

Though he doesn't want to, he gives Akira's cheek one last caress before dropping his hand to his side, letting out a gentle sigh.]

I think...It's time, Akira. I -

['I have to go back home. I have to continue my life, and you've got to continue yours.'

He can't say them, but they hang in the air all the same, unspoken, and he...hesitates.]

...

[there's a pause, a moment where Akira simply presses both the badge and the letter to his heart, gaze steady and locked on Ichigo's wistful expression. he looks contemplative for a moment, before he lets out a breath, pulls up a smile (a bright one, a genuine one, one not twinged with sadness) fingers pinching the edges of his glasses. which he then proceeds to pull off of his features and calmly, quickly, slip onto Ichigo's]

You know. . .

[ssssuper casual]

I did really like the way those glasses in the library looked on you.

[As always, Akira manages to surprise him - one last time. He almost gasps as the glasses are slipped on, the plastic frame still faintly warm from Akira's face.

Of course Akira would give him something to remember him by as well, but the thought of it...

it makes his heart ache.]

[For a moment, he almost loses control - and his expression changes, teeth gritting as he tries so desperately not to cry, not to lose the composure he'd finally won after sobbing a little on Shuichi earlier.

He sucks in a breath, hand reaching up to gingerly touch the frames.]

[...

No.

This isn't the face he wants Akira to remember at the end. Not one of grief -

But one that he'll always remember warmly.]

[His hand drops, and his expression relaxes - blossoming into an open, happy smile, one that doesn't have any sorrow in it, even as impossible as it seems.

Because in the end, the happiness, the hope he'd gained here? It outweighs the sorrow and loss, and if they'll never see each other again...this smile is the one he wants Akira to remember whenever he thinks back.

The honest, open smile of the person who loved him with all his heart.]

...Take care of yourself, Akira. Goodbye.

['Genki de ne', something you say when you won't see someone for a long, long time...or never again.

He steps forward - gently takes Akira's chin in his hand to tilt his head up and give him a final farewell kiss, soft and chaste - before stepping away, turning his back, straightening his shoulders -

And resolutely stepping forward towards the portal without a single look back.

Towards the future.]

[that's it. that smile is the last thing Akira wants to remember, because it was the very first thing about Ichigo that captivated him some three weeks ago. his own expression warms, head tilting back, then forward to meet that kiss halfway. he keeps it short on his end, too. because if he lingers, if he tries to draw this out, it'll just make things all the more difficult. but he does, at least, hover close, eyes shut, nose brushing against Ichigo's, to mumble quietly]

. . . take care yourself. Don't let anything ever hold you back, all right?

[his fingers brush against Ichgo's cheek, touch warm, although they fall away back to his side when Ichigo pulls away and turns around. for a moment? Akira is quiet, gaze affixed on his back, expression quiet and wistful. before. . .]

[he cups his free hand around his mouth and calls out]

-- HEY! Make sure you train up before the next time we cross paths, or else Spy C. Kerry is going to run circles around your lazy bum!

[THE ATMOSPHERE WAS TOO SERIOUS]

[Why do you always do this to him, Akira. Ichigo doesn't turn around - but it's clear from the way he devolves into helpless laughter that it had the intended effect.]

Remember that you'll never surpass me, the one who sits on the pinnacle of all spice! So train up yourself!

[Yeah.

He can leave now, like this. With them both laughing and happy, the way it should be.

He steps onto the portal, ruffles Illya's hair -

and just like that, he returns home.

When Akira returns to his own world, with his friends, explains what's happened, manages to catch his breath -

Whenever he decides to take a break and read the note, he'll find This waiting for him when he unfolds the paper, a final poem from Ichigo.]

[better. much better. as Ichigo disappears, Akira drops his arms to his sides, hands slipping into his pocket]

[he doesn't read the note until well after he's returned home, of course. but whether he was right about him and Ichigo meeting again? said note finds its way into Akira's personal effects, folded neatly and crisply, to be preserved for as long as he is able]

ENDGAME/EPILOG

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done

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