The Mob (System)

Chapter 7 - Alters: 100% Negative 1

"Another day, another drama, but not for Shigeo Kageyama" was a slogan Tome came up with when he took part in one of the school's elections in middle school. He wanted to prove himself that he was capable of participating in such thing back then – that his social anxiety wasn't the thing to stop him for showing himself to the world. The world not meaning Teru or his friends but the ability to speak up and say what was on his mind.

When the elections came and the candidates were supposed to make speeches, Shigeo managed to come onto the stage only. Then, a black-out happened and the next thing he remembered was sitting in cafeteria thirty minutes later and Tome babbling about how they were going to win. It was actually her idea for him to try. Kurata wanted to persuade Shigeo into making up some rules that, in her opinion, would make school a better place. And Shigeo just wished to prove himself that he was able to come up the stage. Apparently, he wasn't.

They didn't win, of course, but back then, Shigeo didn't really care. He didn't want to necessarily win – he knew next year, so when they would be in the second grade, he would lose the position to his brother anyway. Not to mention that they were many other amazing candidates who were all a better choice. Shigeo had the least votes and he understood it. However, after the whole elections thing, he was disappointed. But not because he lost, as Tome thought. It didn't cause him distress or make him sad, in contradiction to Tome who seemed to genuinely have hoped that Shigeo would win.

Brunet was down because he didn't remember coming up the stage. Back then, he already knew that if there was something stressful happening to him or planned to happen soon, he would most likely not remember it afterwards. In high school, he just blamed his bad memory for it and the fact that the emotions he felt before these events were so overwhelming that his mind would just make him forget about them, as soon as they happened. He would even compare these moments to what PTSD worked like – what he now found quite amusing, having discovered that his comparisons were almost correct.

In high school, he was wondering. Was he so weak that he couldn't take one speech in front of the whole school? Why was it, that he didn't remember any of the challenges he wanted to take up? Looking back now at these thoughts, he saw how many mistakes he committed back then. Sure, he was losing time of situations that he didn't feel comfortable with. And sure, it was the way his brain coped with these moments. However, it wasn't a sign of him being weak. Rather some of the alters being stronger and taking the front to protect Shigeo.

Essentially 100% Negative who was in control of the body during the elections' speech that Shigeo was meant to say. What Shigeo remembered was getting up the stage and stopping in front of the altar. Then, the world got blurry and he felt lost. The audience staring at him seemed to get further and Shigeo was pushed away from it, in the back of his body and mind. Dissociation.

In the next memory, he was sitting in the cafeteria with exhilarated Tome.

What Negative remembered, however, was different. He was co-fronting before, since the beginning of the day. When Shigeo got to school, Negative started being extremely cautious. He was listening to every word and looked forward to the elections – observing Shigeo's feelings at the same time and influencing them. He wanted Shigeo to be prepared to switch in the moment of speaking. On one hand, Negative knew taking away the memory of making a speech would be harmful for him, but on the other, he also realized that not speaking at all would be even more harmful. He didn't want his host to feel bad for a long time because of not being able to open his mouth during a school's assembly. Instead, he decided to speak for him.

Negative felt well-prepared because he listened to Tome's words about the elections earlier and what she thought was good for Shigeo to speak about. He decided then to use her advice, still matching it up with his amazing attitude and self-confidence that he didn't lack like Shigeo. He planned everything himself, in order to protect and give the person he cared about a rest.