PC - Nozomi

[maladied]

Comments

[maladied]

...

[Rosemary sits still for a long moment.]

I want to say first, if this is some sort of trick, just know I won't hesitate to fight back even if you look like one of my dear friends. Am I clear?

[rescuebullet]

[She stands quietly, and lets him speak.]

Do you really think I want to hurt you?

[maladied]

If you're the Nozomi I know, certainly not. But the Nozomi I know shouldn't be here. That's why I'm concerned.

This place plays tricks on you, I'm sure you've noticed.

[rescuebullet]

I don't think you should be here either.

[As far as she knows, Yugamu is still alive. This Yugamu... seems more like himself than he has in ages.]

I've definitely noticed.

1/2

[maladied]

[Well at least they are similarly confused, he supposes. Somehow even though that raises more questions, it makes him feel more at ease.

Maybe because something trying to trick him wouldn't introduce more problems, they'd just try to deny his.

After another long moment, Rosemary goes limp, falling to the floor.]

2/2

[vivisexual]

[The storage closet creaks open and Yugamu limps out, a crutch under the arm on the side of his bandaged ankle.

He almost reaches out to touch her, but stops, remembering the fucking pain effect.]

... It's really good to see you.

[He looks a bit older than Nozomi remembers him, and much more tired.]

1/2

[rescuebullet]

[It's so hard to not hug him- but the pain is an effective deterrent.]

It's so good to see you. [And she means it. Even if he looks older than she remembers.] It's... really, really good to see you, Yugamu.

[That moment is an indulgence...]

[rescuebullet]

[And then she really looks him over, looking increasingly more worried.]

Have you been getting enough rest?

You should really be resting your ankle.

[vivisexual]

[He's willing to deal with the pain, but he has a different relationship with pain than Nozomi, so he refrains.]

For the love of murder... First Sage and now you! I'm resting as much as I can but there's a lot that needs to get done around here, you know?

[rescuebullet]

I'm sure there is, but you won't be able to do much if you collapse from overwork.

Is there anything I can help you with?

[vivisexual]

Mm.

I... don't mean to worry you, but the reason I was concerned was because the last I remember before I came here, you were already infected with the disease. It was the final straw in forcing me to look for a cure.

So I'm wondering how it is you're here. Can you tell me how you remember things?

[rescuebullet]

I was?

I don't remember being infected with anything. [But what she does remember she really doesn't want to say.]

Before I arrived here? It's not pleasant. Maybe you should sit down first?

[vivisexual]

[Dang. Yugamu does as he's told because he's a good boy.]

Alright~ Though I don't think there's much you could say that would knock me off my feet at this point.

[rescuebullet]

[ She does not meet his eyes. Yugamu was the one who made the drugs, but this Yugamu can't be the same. ]

Takumi took some sort of drug that made everyone else obsessed with him.

...

Everyone at the school beat me to death because I asked him to stop taking it.

[vivisexual]

[Unfortunately, while Yugamu is a freak, he's a very smart freak. So it only takes him a moment of thought to deduce there's only two people who could be responsible for making such a thing, Sirei or himself. Given how Nozomi is acting... Well, it could just be because he is obviously part of the "everyone" that killed her. But... Well, Sirei also probably wouldn't want to make Takumi that powerful as a leader.

Obviously, he doesn't remember doing this. But he's spent a lot of time thinking about how Nozomi is here and seemingly uninfected the way he remembers her being. One theory was her being an impostor, which had prompted his caution. But another... If Takumi could travel back in time to redo the 100 days, and the choices he made in that "redo" made things play out differently... Couldn't there be multiple ways that "redo" played out? Obviously the multiverse is real given the variety of people here.

After a long pause where he turns all of this over in his head;]

No wonder you didn't want to confront me. I'm the one who's most directly responsible for your death, aren't I?

[rescuebullet]

[ Sirei seemed perfectly happy to take advantage of the situation when it was presented before him... Up to the point he was killed, that is. ]

... I don't know if you can say "most", exactly. [ Eito was there too, and he was extremely desperate to make sure Takumi stayed the way he was. She wasn't there for the whole conversation between him and Yugamu about undoing the drug. ]

None of you were in your right minds.

[ Yet, there is the extremely human fear response to one of the reasons you've died. Unsure of how to relate to Yugamu, how different this Yugamu might be. ]

I... I still want us to be friends. [ She just wanted everybody to be themselves again, for them to be friends. ]

[vivisexual]

[Listen we can't just blame everything bad on Eito even if it's usually true.]

But we wouldn't have been in that situation if I hadn't made the drug. [He pauses, thinks.] And I probably had to talk Takumi into taking it in the first place.

[That said, he looks at Nozomi for a long moment.]

I'm not the version of Yugamu Omokage that did those things, I know you can understand that on an objective level. [Nozomi is smart enough to get that. He knows.] But do you really want to just treat your own death as water under the bridge?

[He knows Nozomi. He knows the answer. He wishes it was different.]

[rescuebullet]

[ 75%-85% of their problems are probably Eito related, a majority, but not the entirety. ]

I don't mind.

[ Because it's not like her death matters now, right? She's alive, and this isn't the same Yugamu Omokage.

This is one who called her his friend. He didn't kill her.

What would dwelling on it possibly hope to achieve? Bitterness when she's grateful to see a friend at all? ]

[vivisexual]

[Yeah that's what he thought you'd say. Yugamu sighs.]

You're allowed to be upset. Actually, no. I want you to be upset. I'm upset that a different version of me and our friends did that to you, but I didn't experience it, so I can't be mad about it properly.

[Can he reverse psychology Nozomi into being less self sacrificing.]

So I want you to tell me how you really feel, even if you think it will hurt my feelings. Then we can be friends again. Deal?

[rescuebullet]

But... that is how I really feel.

[Good luck, Yugamu. The self-sacrificing is buried deep in her core.]

[vivisexual]

[Goddamn but also he isn't that surprised. But also... This just further confirms it's really her and not some evil force trying to lower his guard until it has a chance to attack, because that would have been a perfect excuse to attack.]

Alright. I'll just have to have Lobelia torture me a little later.
[Yugamu.]

I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long. I'm sure you must've suspected it was me for a while, I'm not a very subtle person.

[rescuebullet]

You don't have to be tortured.

[But if he's into that, she really shouldn't get in the way.

She nods.]

I... didn't know how to approach you. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk earlier. How long have you been here?

[vivisexual]

No no, I insist.
[He's just looking for an excuse... Anyway.]

I think we sort of lost track of time. A couple weeks? Maybe a month? Just long enough to perfectly throw us off when you all showed up, I suppose. I didn't really know how to approach you either. There were a lot of other things to be preoccupied with for us both, too.

[rescuebullet]

[She really should've expected that.]

I can understand that. [Between the research and the business.] There's a lot to be busy with.

This disease... what do you mean the version of me you know got infected? What about everyone else?

[vivisexual]

[Ah jeez. Yugamu goes stonefaced.]

It's... It spread so quickly, and then by the time I fully understood what was happening, some of the others were already dead.

[He takes a deep breath and admits;]

And it was all my fault. When you got sick too... I knew it would break Takumi if you died, and I didn't think our group could hold it together without him. So when I was offered a way to find a cure, I jumped at it without a second thought.