Chapter Text
[Yasuhiro Hagakure]
Each step we're taking echoes trough the tunnel. Kanon's steps are a little out of beat, but can ya blame her?
„Are you sure you can walk all the way?“
„Yes, don't worry about me.“, she answers with a painful undertone.
„I can carry you. I don't mind.“
„It's fine, really.“
Just watching her walk like that makes my own leg feel pain. Plus carrying her all the way to her father maybe helps me making a good first impression and I might get more money. That 8 Million debt won't dissappear just like that. Even though I wish it would.
„Just let me carry you, it pains me to see you like that.“
Kanon stops walking. Finally.
„Alright, lemme-“, before I am able to even touch her I notice her face had a sad expression, eyes locked to the ground.
„Are you alright...? Did I say anything bad?“
„Huh?“
Kanon looks back up again. After realizing what I said she shakes her head.
„N-No, don't worry. It's just... Yeah, okay, you can carry me.“
I let Kanon wrap her arms around my neck and I pick her up.
„See? It's way better than walkin' all the way with pain, right?“, I ask her, continuing the journey to get out of the subway.
„You're just doing that to get some money out of my daddy.“
She got me there. But on the other hand, it really was painful to look at her.
„You know, Yasu. My daddy is most likey a goner.“
„What makes you think tha- wait, „Yasu“?“
„What? You don't like nicknames?“
„N-no, it's not that. I'm just used to a different nickname. What do you mean your dad's a goner?“
„The kids probably killed him. I don't really doubt it.“
Kanon leans her head against my shoulder and sighs.
„I've been to TAT headquaters before. Multiple times. And when the Warriors of Hope made that broadcast with the dead news anchor, it was in one of the studios there.“
All I could do was furrow my eyebrows in worry.
„They most likely killed all the adults they came across. In conclusion, you can drop me and leave me behind. You have no use of me anymore.“
„No.“, I say unintentional.
…
Huh?
Where did that come from?
Why am I not listening to her?
Technically, yeah, she has no use if her dad's really dead.
But... I keep going, not thinking of dropping her. Or leaving her behind.
That would feel.... Wrong.
„No? Those 100.000 I gave you was my last money. I can't give you any more.“
„How did you know that was my initial plan anyway?“
„When you started to treat me like a princess and when you randomly blurted out „8 Million!“ just a few minutes ago.“
Yep, that was weird. Shouldn't have done that.
„So what exactly keeps you from dropping me right here?“
Is that a serious question?
Is she serious?
She is, isn't she?
My pace becomes slower and slower the more I think about the question. Kanon raises an eyebrow once I completely stopped walking. I am searching for an answer in my head but all I can come up with
„Because I care...?“
„Huh?“
I-I care?
Yeah.
Yeah! I care! I've been through so many things with Kanon by my side. I care about her. That's also why I saved her. I couldn't just let her die. That would have been awful.
[Kanon Nakajima]
He cares?
About me?
„I tried to kill you.“, I whisper, „Why do you care?“
„Ugh, can we stop talkin' about what happened in the past?“, he says, continuing to walk.
„But I-“
That was all I could bring out before I start to cry.
Yasu doesnt't really comfort me with words. He's probably glad that I finally shut up.
He's tightening is grip though.
I don't mind that.
At all.
It feels safe.
„Hey, wasn't there a hotel somewhere here?“, Yasu asks out of nowhere.
„W-What...?“
I look up, my vision still blurry, and realize that we weren't underground anymore.
Aparently I was too occupied with crying that I didn't notice.
I look around to scan the area. But it's dark already.
It's pretty hard to make out any shape, especially with a blurry vision.
„I... I don't know.“ is all I can give right now.
„Huh. I'm sure there is a hotel here somewhere...“
„Don't you wanna put me down, just in case there's a Monokuma somewhere?“
I would just be a burden to Yasu if a Monokuma was to come around a corner and attack us.
„It's okay. I'll be careful. ...At least I'll try to be. The hotel can't be that far.“
„At least let me walk that small bit. I must be getting pretty heavy after a while.“
„Actually“, Yasu sneakes his way to the hotel, „it's quite the opposite. I'm startin' to think you need to eat more.“
Hey, I do have some muscles that give me some weight!
I'd like to scold him but it's best to stay quiet. I can keep that for later.
„See? There's the entrance! And no Monokuma in sight!“
„Don't get too confident, Yasu.“
„Alright, alright.“
He looks to the left, right, and left again and then sprints towards the entrance.
Still no Monokuma. Luckily.
The hotel seemes to be rather safe from those two toned robotic bears.
„Hey, Yasu, before we go to the rooms, let's see if we can find some food somewhere.“
I start to feel a bit hungry.
Not because of what Yasu said earlier. Both of us haven't eaten for a while.
„Sure.“
This time he puts me down.
„Oh, so now I'm allowed to walk freely, huh?“
„Well, it's not as dangerous here!“, Yasu tries to defend himself.
I smile at him.
„I was joking, don't worry.“
„Oh.“, his cheeks turn slightly red.
„Let's look for something edible, come on.“
We come across an abandoned bar. Y'know how some hotels have these overpriced hotel bars?
All we are able to find is some water and some bar snacks. Better than nothing.
I'm pretty sure Yasu just took some booze with him too.
Well, he's twenty-something after all.
We take as much as we are able to and go upstairs, at least three floors.
That was poison for my injured leg.
The moment Yasu opened the door to an empty room, I limp in, drop the snacks I have onto a table and flop face first onto the bed.
„Are you... alright...?“, Yasu asks me while putting the waterbottles next to the snacks.
„I wanna chop off my leg.“
„Good thing I carried you most of the time. Otherwise it would be worse.“
The loud noise of heavy furniture moving suddenly comes up behind me.
„What are you doing?“
The noise goes on for at least twenty seconds until I get an answer.
„I moved the sofa in front of the door. Just in case.“
„Ah.“
„I think it's best to stay here for a few days so your leg can get some rest.“
The idea wasn't that bad. Maybe I should rest my leg.
Out of nowhere, something heavy drops right next to me.
It's either the hotel collapsing.
Or it's Yasuhiro.
It obviously must be Yasuhiro.
I change into a more comfortable position where I can relax my leg and face Yasu properly.
He sits on the right side of the bed, cross-legged, with a can of beer in his hand.
I knew he took some booze with him.
He opens the can all casual and takes a sip.
„...Hey, what exactly does that „8 Million“-thing even mean?“
Yasuhiro nearly chokes on his drink.
[Yasuhiro Hagakure]
Where did that question come from?!
Holy sh- I can't stop coughing.
Even Kanon is slapping on my back now to help me out.
It takes me solid two minutes to calm down.
Kanon leans back on the bed again, crossing her arms over her stomach.
„So?“
She really wants an answer.
„Well, uh, I once had a customer who asked for eight services. And you know how I'm like „There's only a 30% chance.“, „If it's wrong there's no refunds.“ and all that.“
„Yeah.“
„So this girl had to pay me 800.000 Yen at the end, right? Long story short, I did what she asked me, she didn't like it, she sent the yakuza after me and they wanted me to pay back the 800.000, but with an extra 0. So 8 Million.“
„She sent the yakuza?“
„Yeah, she was part of the Kuzuryuu clan.“
„Wow. That's some bad luck. But think about it.“
„Why should I? Because of that mess my mom and I had to hide for three years.“
„What? No, that's not what I meant. Think about the situation you're in right now. Society has fallen. There's no rules. For example, people steal their food because no one would take money, meaning money isn't worth anything anymore.“
How come that I didn't think of that?
„Does that mean I'm basically debt-free?“
„Yeah. Once society is rebuilt, eveything starts from zero.“
My wish came true.
„Wait, that would also mean that you basically lost all your money.“
„Yup.“
I know exactly who will be super pissed about this if I tell him that.
...If I ever get to the Future Foundation headquaters that is.
I can't really contact them, and they probably can't reach me either.
I take another sip, hoping Kanon doesn't have a second question ready.
„Hey, uh-“
Welp, there is the second question. I better stop drinking.
„Hm?“
„Can you... can you tell me what Leon was like at Hope's Peak?“
Oh boy.
I look at Kanon, her expression was neutreal, but her eyes were very empty. Just like my memory about Hope's Peak.
I could lie and make some stories up. But that would be mean.
Time to tell her the truth.
„Not really.“
„What, why? Did you two hate each other?“
„N-No?...Yeah?... I don't know.“
Kanon tilted her head.
„You don't know?“
„We got our memories erased by the mastermind. I only remember the things that happened in the killin' game, even though I would gladly exchange those for my erased memories.“
„Then tell me about that.“
That would be... stupid. For me. I would step into another landmine if I told her what exactly happened to Leon.
„...“
I can not say one word. Just thinking about what happened to Leon gives me flashbacks.
His death looked so painful.
A touch on my shoulder brings me back to reality.
I shake my head and look to my right.
Kanon leaned a bit forward, being a little closer to me.
„Forget it, you don't have to tell me.“, she tells me quietly.
I nod.
„Let's talk about something else. How did you get into fortune telling in the first place?“, Kanon quickly changed the subject.
„There's no deep story behind that actually. My mom's best friend once did a hand readin' on me when I was eight. I thought that was so cool that I tried it myself and well, I seem to be the best at it now.“
„What did she tell you?“
„That I'd be super tall, and that I would meet someone with short hair and golden eye-“
The moment I said that I glanced over to Kanon.
Who pretty much matches the description.
Well, these kind of descriptions are usually very vauge. But how many people on this planet have golden eyes?
I only know one.
And that's Kanon.
For some reason, my face heats up. Thank god it's pretty dark, only the remaining street lights from the outside brought some light into the room.
„That's actually quite cute.“
Kanon brushes a strand of hair out of her face.
„Uh-huh.“
She aparently didn't notice.
Good.
Kanon lets out a yawn. She's probably about to fall asleep any minute.
After running from giant robots, understandable.
I'm slowly starting to become tired as well. But I have a can to empty.
I take a big sip and wipe my mouth with my sleeve.
Kanon has been quiet for a few minutes. I look over to her to see if she fell asleep.
Nope.
She's awake.
She did lay down but she stared at me with her eyes half closed.
„Uh... Is somethin' wrong?“, I ask her.
„I'm waiting for you to finish.“
„...Why?“
„I don't wanna fall asleep alone.“
What?
Why?
I was planning on sleeping on the sofa anyways!
„You don't- you don't have to wait for me.“
Kanon stays quiet.
Did I step on another landmine?! I get the feeling I have to get like a manual for her or something.
Oh. She fell asleep. That's why she was quiet.
I drink the last bit of my beer, put the empty can on the floor and lay down next to Kanon.
Even though we had shared a bed before, it's still... troubling me a bit. I can't really fall asleep peacefully knowing that there's a cute girl, that I barely know, sleeping right next to me.
I put my arms underneath my head and stare at the ceiling. I follow the decorative patterns, trying to distract myself from this adoarble high schooler.
Was she even still in High School?
What if she was about to graduate before she got kidnapped and didn't have any other clothes?
I mean, Fukawa-chi still walks around in her torn High School uniform, and she's like only three years younger than me. I wonder how she's doing.
I successfully let my mind wander off to somewhere else.
Until an arm drops onto my chest.
Okay.
Don't freak out.
Kanon is sleeping, she doesn't know what she's doing.
Just. Ignore the arm.
Ignore the fact that she's pretty much pressed against your body.
…
I sigh.
„This is going to be a long night.“