𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

◇barely a person◇

"someday i'll be perfect, and i'll make up for it all."

"we managed to defeat it in a daze... but just what was that thing?!" alice seemed extremely taken aback. "an obstructor." hinako answered. "a doll meant to impede our objective... and who'll come after our lives... apparently." hayasaka rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "it was saying... it definitely wouldn't be satisfied until it destroyed one of us."

"eh? was it really saying that?" kurumada joked. "that ain't funny! after all this, suddenly we gotta use violence!?" you realized you were still holding the shovel. "that's why we're cooperating, right? our only advantage is numbers. putting our heads together, and sometimes having someone risk themselves... that's all we can do."

"sheesh..."

"let's work together, sara." ranmaru said, speaking to his partner. "...can i really trust you?" she responded.  "we don't want to meet a fate like that either..." anzu trailed off. "we know the fear of death better than anyone..." to install fear into an ai... incredible. "hmph... perhaps it's fine to trust them. i learned how elaborate these ais are from the incident with the fake reko.. these fellows are alove. they're not just dolls." alice had a sad smile adorning his face. "whether that's a good thing or not aside..."

"..you're pretty kind, huh.?" the prisoner just laughed. "well.. guess it's fine. the more people, the more fight we can bring. right, f/n?" you rolled your eyes. "shut up, shinogi." you heard him mumble an 'okie-dokie' once again. "so.... uh... let's keep it up sara." ranmaru changed the subject. "right.. same to you." they gently smiled at each other. "alright then. first up... let's go after midori." you all proceeded past the stone and coffins, arriving at some sort of traditional gate. "not sure whether we're inside or outside anymore..."

you tried to open the gate, but to no avail. "locked or somethin'." you muttered. when the dead assemble, the banquet shall begin. read the sign above the door. sara appeared next to you, taking a piece of paper off the wall. "is this a floor map?" you looked over, nodding. "how generous. never gotten anything like this before..."

"hmph.. he must be quite confident that we won't be able to kill him.." alice crossed his arms. "...that's not it. he wants to enjoy this... midori..." sou looked towards the ground, gripping his scarf. "incidentally... where are we right now?" looking at the map, you were in the top middle square. "man, though.. some dicey lookin' rooms here." everyone was huddled around sara, who held the map. "no point in getting scared. let's make good use of this info."

"r-right!" you all moved to the left, finding yourselves at a red door. on the wall next to it was a symbol of two people holding hands. "wonder what this is.." you ignored keiji. "i think it's a bathroom...?" gin came closer to you, grasping at your hand. "kinda shady, meow... don't wanna go in, woof." you gently smiled. "you don't have to, gin." you all came to the conclusion the door was not going to open.

next, you moved to the right of the gate, leading you to some sort of boxing ring. "...guh?! this place..?!" your dummy-partner said. "what is it..?" shin asked. "...it looks like... the gym i used to go to." you felt gin grip your hand tighter. "is it just a coincidence, meow..?" kurumada shrugged. "..dunno. but if they're gonna make us fight another monster, then bring it on..! i'm never gonna lose a one-on-one here!" shin nudged your shoulder. "a lot of boxers sure are hot-blooded."

"i was feared as the one and only convertible of destruction.." you held back a laugh. "what kinda alias is that... were you bullied?" you quickly covered your mouth, laughing. "whaddya mean?" the boxer didn't seem to understand. "umm.. nothing! hey, let's search!" suddenly, just as sara began to walk towards the passage at the other end of the room, it shut.

as did the entrance.

then the lights turned off. "everyone get in the ring!" everybody did as sara said, climbing into the boxing ring. there was a strange noise coming from the walls- sounded like something pouring. when the lights finally came back on, there was an orange and red liquid filling the room. "what in the..?! what's this?!" gin jumped into your arms. "it's magma, woof! we're gonna be melted, meow!"

"you gotta be shittin' me! so it's not gonna be a monster?!" you quickly drowned out the chatter, heading towards the edge of the boxing ring. "big sis f/n, meow! don't touch that, woof!" you ignored him, putting your hand in the liquid. sure enough, it didn't burn you. "it's not magma... just some weird liquid. but... it doesn't seem to be stopping..."

"seems like your forte, f/n." you ignored keiji, not even bothering to spare him a glance. you rubbed your temples, annoyed. still, there was no time to waste, so you looked around. noticing an odd shadow on the ground, you looked up, seeing what appeared to be a knife stuck to the lights. you thought for a while, tuning out the chatter around you. as much as you didn't want to talk to him...

"keiji, wanna be friends again? jump from the ropes to get me that knife." you pointed upwards, leading everyone's eyes to the sharp object above them. "..got it." he did what you asked, retrieving the knife for you. you motioned for him to keep hold of it until you were ready. you moved to one of the posts holding the ropes, examining it. sure enough, there was a button on the back. as you clicked it, the post changed colors. humming, you looked at the ropes.

two of them are the same, two of them are completely different, even from eachother. the specific post i'm at, one set of matching ropes goes from red to yellow, the other goes from red to green...

you flicked the color to red before following the same thought process for the rest. "knife?" you held your hand out. keiji looked like he wanted to question you, but didn't. no one did. however, you had began to question yourself. "if this is right... then we should cut the ropes that don't correlate with the posts, right?" everyone exchanged glances, before q-taro finally spoke. "do what you think is best, f/n! we trust ya!" huffing, you cut all the ropes that seemed out of place.

the room began to drain. "bravo, f/n." keiji said. despite saying you'd be friends again, you ignored him. " 'severybody okay?!" anzu began to look around. "h-huh? where's hinako..?" you deadpanned, pointing to the pink haired girl a few feet away from you. "uh, i'm right here." ranmaru jumped. "don't startle me! if you go too far away, your collar will explode, y'know?!" hayasaka laughed. "no need to be that cautious. the paired collars can go as far as a room apart..." your partner turned his head. "ohh? where'd you hear that?"

"huh? didn't midori tell you..?" the room went quiet. great. "hey, got a sec? seems to me there's a difference in what information you guys've got.." mai hummed. "come to think of it..." ranmaru shook his head. "why would that be..? midori talked to us together.." keiji tilted his head, thinking. "maybe there's the info you heard.. but also the memories you were programmed with. so on top of the shared info, you were each given special knowledge."

"s-special knowledge..?" kurumada, suddenly, seemed angry. "you serious?! well don't hide it, damnit! tell us!" the white haired boy shrugged. "i mean, how do we know what's special info?" hinako cut in. "..right. it's best to pretend we don't know for now. each of us have been given a unique value... that's how it is, right, miss f/n?"

"well, i wouldn't call it value.. it gives you each something useful, but your value doesn't depend on the information you have. you're alive- or, well... close to it. that's what gives you value. so, don't think of it like that. but i suppose you're right." kurumada smiled. "heh... my master's pretty cool, eh?" you cringed. "..don't call me that."

"anyway..how long do we plan on sticking around in this room?"

"man is condemned to be free." -jean-paul sartre