Memories (Anzu x GN!Reader)

3

"Death is a scary concept, isn't it?" Anzu said. You flipped through the final pages of the gay apocalyptic book you were still reading.

You gave her an amused hum, "Truly. I find it funny how certain content creators use death as a way of progressing their stories."

"That's fascinating, and I'm sure what you're saying has something to do with your pretty little book, but I wanna talk about this."

Anzu was lying on your bed again. She spent more time at your house than at her own. You didn't blame her. You marked the page of your book, closing it and turning to see what Anzu was talking about.

"What? What is this?" You asked.

She slammed her hand on the bed, "Up, up. Sit next to me, we can read it together." You did as she said, and she handed you her phone.

"The Hades Incident — What was it, and what does it mean for the future of our society?" And in smaller lettering, "By ——" The author's name, which you couldn't read for your life. It was almost as if it'd been blurred out.

"The Hades Incident?" You read the title out loud.

"Keep reading." Anzu rushed.

"What was The Hades Incident?" A heading read. Yeah, that's what I wanna know, you thought to yourself. "The Hades Incident is not very well known to the public, as it was something that was very, very illegal." Wonderful word choice.

"The Hades Incident was a grueling and horrifying experience for many people. Multiple criminal organizations banded together to create what could be considered a Death Game.

"Numerous people were forced to kill each other. Majority voted into hell. You would think with something so destructive like that, the police would step in and stop everyone from finishing off the whole thing, right? Yeah?"

No.

"Well, that would, unfortunately, be wrong of you to think. Every last person, but one, were slaughtered mercilessly by people who might've once been considered allies. All so one person, that being the last person left standing, could become the leader of all these crime groups, hence, The Hades Incident. Hades, the god of death and the underworld (little Greek mythology for all you normies out there)."

You handed the phone back to Anzu, "That is so incredibly fucked up."

"I know!" She shouted. "And it only happened a couple of decades ago! I've done some research on it, but all of the articles, albeit very few, were written by the same person."

"That being?"

Anzu's mouth moved, but her words were blocked out. You nodded your head, though, as if you had heard her perfectly fine. Maybe you had.

"How did you find out about this?"

"Well, when I was at school, I heard Professor S-" Anzu's phone started ringing. Her expression dropped.

"Go ahead," You said.

She answered the phone, greeted her father, then quickly said goodbye to you.

~*~

This sudden memory gave you a headache. Was it possible that this person, whose name you couldn't remember, had been trying to warn everyone of the horrors of this current Death Game? Had they had some sort of tie to The Hades Incident from before? You found it so strange how you were able to remember so much, yet so little at the same time.

The group continued on through the fifth floor. The police station was nothing special. You hardly paid attention to Keiji's sob story. You didn't care much for him, despite his spectacular physique.

You weren't into men. But A for effort, Mr. Ex-Detective.

There wasn't much you could investigate there, anyway, so the group moved on to the next room, which was almost a replica of the locker room downstairs.

Nothing new, except for a transceiver you all found — Midori being the one with the other half.

Sara concluded that you all needed to get to the middle of the map, and the only way you could get there was by carefully making your way through the library again. This time, the walk through the library was silent, other than Sara mumbling directions to herself.

That scene in your home stayed at the forefront of your mind. Your memories were slowly coming back — memories you weren't even aware you had. Memories that didn't seem important at the time. You wondered if Anzu would remember that day. If she'd remember the name of the author, and which professor had said what.

When Sara led you all into a new room, you pulled Anzu aside, pretending to search the area. The majority of the group began to go over something, though you two strayed to the left side of the room.

"Anzu, do you remember what you were telling me a couple of months ago?"

"I... might? Can you be more specific?"

"Something about the Hades Incident. I think I overheard Keiji telling Sara about it before the last Main Game, but I know I remember hearing about it from you. Do you remember what you were saying? Or, rather..." You thought for a moment. You weren't sure which question to ask first. If you knew enough, maybe you'd be able to piece together more of this memory. "Do you remember who had been writing the articles about the Hades Incident?"

She thought for a moment, "I... think the author was using a pen name, but it was Shisuno Gojoku." It wasn't a name you were familiar with. You hoped that hearing the author's name would spring something into your mind, but it did not.

"Not familiar. Do you remember what you were going to tell me before your dad called you that day?"

She opened her mouth but quickly shut it, then aggressively shook her head.

The fact that you were doubting her made you feel sick, "...Are you sure?" A fizzing sound erupted in the room. It wasn't too loud, but it was close enough to catch you both off guard.

It seemed to be coming from one of the monitors turned away from you, and toward the rest of the group. They stared at the screen with confused expressions.

Anzu walked past you to join the group, and you followed. A monitor flashed red. Sara stepped forward to press a button, but an AI popped up. It looked like Sou.

It spoke in a sickeningly sweet way, far from the way Sou did unless he was trying to gaslight and manipulate you. Though, the AI wasn't speaking maliciously. It seemed genuine.

As genuine as an AI can be.

The "Shin AI" spoke about Midori, that being the real Sou Hiyori. He told you all the horrors of his — Shin's — high school life, having to deal with Midori.

You felt sorry for him. Sou Hiyori, Shin Tsukimi, whatever. Maybe, if it weren't for Midori's obsessive and creepy behavior, he wouldn't be here as an asshole to this day. Maybe you'd all get along.

Maybe a lot of this bullshit wouldn't have happened.

Your thoughts, like a cloud in the sky, were wafted away when a certain green-haired bitch walked into the room, ordering the AI to turn off.

He spoke far too many words and left the room with a glowing red light on Sara's collar.

Tag, he'd called it. "If you don't want to be straightforward with your deaths, and you wish for this Murder Game to go on for as long as possible, then I wouldn't be one to stop you." He'd said. "You're all only delaying the inevitable. And, it's as you said, Miss Sara," He turned to her, pressing a button on a small device he'd pulled out, "I do love the thrill of a good chase. If you don't want to be it, then just touch someone else." Then he ran away.

Many questions were circling in everyone's minds, and even if it was shitty of you to only be questioning your little side quest, you couldn't help but get frustrated with yourself because of your lack of information, and inability to remember important details.

"We can't just let him get away! Sara!!" Sou's shouting pulled you out of your thoughts again. He wasn't one to be loud. The only time you'd heard him shouting was when Kanna...

Sara looked surprised, but she nodded her head and led the group away.

~*~

7/12/22