VIII (Aoi Kurashiki x Reader)

IX

Hey guys! Sorry this update is kinda late. Btw I drew that picture of Santa in the header photo (:

A massive room stretched out in front of them-more a cavern than a room. Its vastness was oppressive, and it bore down on the four companions. It was not empty, however. The entire room was filled with lines upon lines of beds. They were simple things, little more than pipe and thin mattress. "Is this a hospital?" June marveled.

At last, they were able to put a name to the harsh scent that pervaded the room. The room swam with the harsh, biting smell of antiseptic. In the center of the room were shelves stacked with medicine and a number of medical devices none of them knew the function of. More importantly, on the back wall of the room were four doors. Three of them emblazoned with large single-digit numbers made with thick, red paint.

The door on the left was labeled three, the second door from the left had no number but the third had a seven. Lastly, the right-most door had a number eight. No doubt they were numbered doors. It was, however, weird that one of them didn't have a number. What could that mean, exactly? "Let's take a look at the doors." Junpei interrupted her thoughts, practically reading her mind.

Weaving his way through the beds, he started with door three, then moved to the right until he'd reached door eight. "It's pointless." June sighed.

Approaching a door herself, (Y/N) let out a hum of agreement. "If it was that easy to open these doors, what would the point of the Nonary Game be?" She fiddled with the RED continuing her rant. "We have to activate the RED or the numbered doors won't-wait..." She cut off, noticing, in fact, something was definitely wrong with these REDs.

Junpei joined her. "What's wrong?"

Tapping a finger against the digital face of the RED, her face soured. "Look at the display. There's nothing on it."

"So what?" Santa clapped her shoulder, not surprising in the least.

"Don't you remember the RED at the central staircase? If no one was inside, it said vacant."

The boys 'Oh'd' in sync, bobbing their heads. "Maybe it's broken." Santa leaned his face down in front of the machine poking a slender finger at it.

"Only one way to find out."

It didn't respond. All four took turns placing their hand over the RED but it refused to reply. They pulled at the lever and it still did nothing. As they soon discovered, it wasn't only the RED for door eight that was behaving strangely. The RED on door seven and three were similarly silent. "Knew it." Santa shoved his hands against his hips, a smug grin lining his lips. "They're broken. Zero sucks at maintenance."

"No, that's impossible. You really think Zero prepared all of this?" (Y/N) shook her head not quite sure who's side to take. It was all too strange.

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain why this thing ain't workin'."

It was at that moment, as Santa's words dissipated, they heard a voice from behind them. "I believe the bottom of the device has been removed." They all spun around to see-

"Snake!" Junpei exclaimed, but it was more than just Snake. Ace, Clover, and Seven quickly filed into the room as well. Although they were glad to see each other, it wasn't terribly surprising they had. If it had been the other party who opened the gate in front of the kitchen, it wasn't unreasonable that they'd bump into one another eventually. The rest of Snake's team, however, did look surprised.

"How did you guys end up here?" Clover questioned, tipping her head to the side.

After a moment of silence and surprise, everyone began to talk, desperate to exchange information. They talked about the rooms they'd been through, and how they ended up in the same place. Of course, none of it mattered, they were just happy to see each other again. And although the level of cheer varied greatly from person to person, each one of them was wearing some manner of a smile. Almost as if they'd forgotten the death of the Ninth Man.