𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇for the best◇

"did you get enough love, my little dove?"

you watched at sou and kanna went into the monitor room together. something about the way his head was turned down made you believe he was avoiding your eyes. giving it a few moments, you followed. the mishima ai was still on. "f/n!" kanna exclaimed, seemingly worried to see you. "h..hey there.. i- i worried you, huh.. kanna explained it to me. it's just one shock after another... i couldn't blame anyone for being paralyzed." you almost wanted to slap him. you knew. he knew that you knew. but no one else needed to. "um, f/n.. it looks like attractions have appeared in a few places." you turned around, and sure enough there were three pathways behind you.

"i wonder.. maybe some locations opened up other than attractions." as kanna talked, sou continued to avoid your gaze. kanna seemed to notice it too. "let's search for a little longer, kanna." before the girl could agree, you stopled them. "ah, before you go, sou, would you like to do an attraction with me?" he stopped, finally looking at you. "me? well.. i suppose, i don't know if i'll be of any help.." you smiled at him. he knew it wasn't real. "kanna, how about you go wait for us in the lobby? nao and reko are in there." you spoke to the girl, but never broke eye contact with sou. she looked towards the man, as if asking for permission. "o-okay.." your eyes followed her as she left the room.

"alright, mister sou, where should we start?" you continued to smile, it seemed to catch him off guard. "wherever you'd like, miss f/n." he smiled back. "how about... this one. stay on target." he nodded. "hey, miss f/n, this attraction is three stars, right? this is embarrassing, but.. would you give me two of the stars?" your smile never faltered. "sure." without saying anything else, you began walking down the path.

the attraction was hard, no doubt about it. sou was out of breathe by the time you finished. you weren't sure why though, you had arguably worked harder than he had. looking at the three clear chips in your hand, you gave him two. "there." you smiled at him, which he returned. "thank you very much, miss f/n. i should go find ka-" you cut him off. "wait, sou." he gripped his scarf, waiting to hear what you had to say. "i've, um, been worried about you." you knew it was fake. he knew it was fake. but you also knew that sou wouldn't give in first. "really..? i appreciate that, miss
f/n. it means a lot coming from you."

"i thought maybe... we could do some more attractions together..? if i don't help, i'll worry that you won't get them all done.." you trailed off. "..i see. i don't blame you for not having much faith in me." you quickly shook your head. "no, no! it's not like that at all.. just... please?" he stared at you, seemingly thinking it over. you saw his eye twitch. if he says yes, you win. if he says no, he loses.

"..okay, miss f/n. where to next?"
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with very little help from sou, you had completed all the attractions the monitor room led to. sou was out of breath again. "ah, i guess we can do something else now... thank you, sou." he smiled. "i would've died without your help, miss f/n." you almost agreed with him. you grabbed his hand, squeezing it with your own. "let's get through this together, mister sou." with one last smile, you let go, walking away. he went straight to his room, mumbling something to kanna. when you got back to the lobby, sara, nao, reko, and kanna were all there. sara was talking to nao and reko about something, kanna stared at you. "u-um, f/n, it's not a trade or anything, but... can we talk..?" you smiled. "of course, kanna, what's up?"

"sou seems to have gotten tired. i can only talk now while he's resting, so.." you blinked at her. "we can talk anytime, kanna." she smiled. "r-really? hooray!" you sat down with her, continuing to smile. "i was hoping we could talk, kanna." she reminded you of her. "kanna feels like.. she's been a burden for a while now.." you stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue. "kanna's.. a hopeless girl. on her own, she can't walk... or even stand...you're.. like a warrior. if you were a senior at kanna's school, she'd look up to you so much!" you smiled. "well, i haven't been a senior in a while, kanna. but, none the less, thank you. and you aren't a hopeless girl." she frowned. "kanna... is a hopeless girl. she always has been."