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Lately, Ramuda's been acting differently. The light that'd just began to fill those sorrowful eyes of his died out the next day, replaced with the same emptiness as when he'd just formed Fling Posse. His natural voice didn’t make another appearance after that day, with his childish tone being the only thing that came out of his mouth, as well.
Even worse, he seemed to have forgotten that he and Dice were invited to move into Gentaro’s place a while back, and tossed aside his tendency to wear experimental designs around the house. When he did design a new set of outfits, Gentaro couldn’t help but notice that the style differed greatly than what he’d usually make.
And, when Dice dragged him along to his gambling sprees, he was the one that won everything for the gambler, and not the other way around. It didn’t make it any better, though. Usually, Ramuda did everything in his power to avoid going to casinos and participating in such games…
He still talked to them as per usual, but the atmosphere around him became more distant. It was like he cut off the bonds he shared with them, as if he was a stranger once more. Those new mannerisms of his never reverted back to normal, and for weeks, Gentaro and Dice said nothing, silently hoping that time would fix things.
Was Ramuda back to his old self? Was he going through his own little phase? He still had enough candy for the next few months, and there shouldn’t have been anything going on as of late. So, there shouldn’t be any problem at all. The fact that his behavior changed completely was definitely a huge problem, despite Ramuda assuring that it was anything but that.
For a while, they kept a close eye on the designer, picking up on more slip-ups here and there. He stopped talking to them as much about the candies, and his plans for a potential revolution were quickly thrown out the window. When asked about it, his expression never changed with his voice sickly sweet, that disgusting tone that Gentaro and Dice grew appalled to, after the incident involving those clones.
Clones…
“You’re a fuckin’ clone, ain’tcha? You can’t be anythin’ else, I’ll bet on it.”
It slipped out of Dice’s mouth during one of their practices, and it definitely got quite the reaction from their supposed Ramuda. The pink-haired man gazed into space for a brief moment or two, and snapped back to reality with a quick flick of the wrist and the activation of his microphone.
Seeing that was good enough to confirm their suspicions. The battle? It wasn’t as easy as they thought, given that the clones were surely much more resistant to their microphones. Slowly, but surely, they eventually rid of the clone that took the place of their dear friend, and that led to the question:
Where the heck did he go?
They checked his room, which was still stockpiled with candies, for sure. There was nothing hidden anywhere around the house, whether it be the closets and cabinets inside, to the trash bins outside. The two even went as far as to checking his old house, which left no evidence of a potential murder or death.
So, that left one answer which was highly likely to be correct. The only people who had any control over the things that he did.
Chuuoku.
After days of bickering, crying, and all the like, they came to the conclusion that there was only thing they could do. It was either all or nothing without Ramuda by their side, and so, they did the last thing anything else would: break into Chuuoku.
Now, they weren’t exactly alone in their escapades.
It took a few attempts, but Dice managed to get some help by begging Riou to assist them. As reluctant as he was, Dice’s insistence was ultimately enough for the ex-soldier to oblige. All the while, Gentaro got the help of Saburo after a lengthy conversation that could’ve definitely been much shorter than it ended up being.
Needless to say, they had all the help they could possibly need. The two best hackers they knew were willing to lend a hand, and it was all thanks to Ramuda for providing them information about the two earlier in time.
They easily slipped into the main building through the back door, which for some reason, was left unguarded during evening hours. All security cameras were off, as were the security and emergency alert systems. Only thirty minutes was provided to them to conduct their rescue, as anything longer than that would definitely arouse suspicion.
Not like they were already doing so, that is.
Dice seemed to know his way around the place, leading Gentaro through corridors that all looked exactly the same.
Did the novelist want to question how? No. No, he didn’t.
“Where might we be going, Dice? Is there a prison of some sort? Or perhaps, a laboratory-”
“That’s exactly it, actually. There should be a lab right up ahead.”
They came upon a pair of metal doors, with an eye scanner to prevent further access. Dice bent down in the slightest, his magenta eyes staring into the scanner. Again did Dice manage to surprise Gentaro, who watched in a mix of curiosity and surprise.
The door unlocked with a low hiss, and the two rushed in, quickly but quietly. On each side of them were odd-looking tubes and containers, some of them huge and standing on their own, with others on metal shelves and racks. The stark brightness of the room made it quite easy for them to make out the tufts of pink hair in the very back of the lab, and when the two finally got there, they didn’t hesitate to call out their friend’s name.
Of course, they didn’t know if he was a clone or not, but the longing hope in their hearts led them to believe the latter.
He laid there on a lab table, eyes closed, without any garments on his body. Quite a few bruises littered his body, some of them distinctly worse than others. Just looking at him in that state was enough to push the two into action.
They couldn’t let him live like that forever. As his posse, they had to get him out, no matter the cost.
“Ramuda…? Is that you?” Dice was the first to speak, gently resting a hand on soft, pink hair. His gesture was met with violent thrashing, followed by a vice grip, threatening to snap the gambler’s fingers at that very moment.
“No, let go of me, you BASTARDS-” Ramuda screamed at the top of his lungs, only to be cut off by a hand covering his mouth.
“Could ya’ be quiet for a second? It’s Dice. Oh, and Gentaro, too.”
For a while, there was silence. Ramuda sat up and glanced back and forth between the two, disbelief in his eyes. The hand holding Dice’s loosened up a bit, fingers running over the rough skin of his palm, calloused from years of living on the streets. He was definitely not dreaming. This was real life. They…
They really came to save him, didn’t they?
Tears pooled up in his eyes, threatening to spill at any moment, with the rest of his frail body shaking from the cold.
“W-Why are you two here…? Why?” Ramuda asked in a quiet hush, his voice low and cracked, like a damaged toy beyond repair. He could barely get the words out of his mouth, choked sobs blending with his words. “You already saved me once, why are you doing it again? I don’t understand…!”
The next thing he knew, he was caught in a warm, tight embrace, two pairs of arms wrapped around him comfortingly. He didn’t know whose clothes he cried into, but as far as he knew, they were softer than anything he’d worn for quite some time. A warm hand patted him on the back throughout their little reunion, along with another hand gently stroking his hair.
“Friends don’t leave each other behind, Ramuda. You should know that by now, we’ve discussed this many times,” Gentaro chuckled. He stepped aside to let Dice wrap Ramuda’s body in his own coat and carry him in both arms like a child.
The two looked at Ramuda with a fondness that he’d seen many times, their smiles warm and comforting.
“We’ll talk more when we get home, yeah? I’m pretty sure we killed a lot of time, and they’ve probably suspected somethin’ by now-”
“There’s a back exit,” Ramuda muttered, interrupting Dice. He lifted a hand to point at a cabinet in the corner. “Check the side for an eye scanner, unlock it, and run. It’s the exit the clones use so the public can’t see them come and go as they please.”
“A cabinet? Ya’ want to lock ourselves in or what?”
“...It’s a passageway. Just do it,” Gentaro said, already making his way towards the secret exit. “Unless you’d like to join Ramuda here, which I do not desire in the least.”
In that moment, time felt like it was passing so slowly. One moment, they’d just opened the cabinet, and the next, they heard the sound of a door swinging open with a violent force. All they could do was run, with no qualms of moving forward. If anything, they’d leave things in the hands of the hackers, who were (hopefully) still on alert.
The tunnel was quite a long one, pitch black surrounding them as they made a run for it. They could feel their hearts beating as one as they moved together, like a shooting star making its way through the dark, night sky.
It only took them a few more steps, and freedom was finally theirs. Fleeing past the walls of Chuuoku into the outside world, they continued running until they could hitch a train ride, being careful to keep Ramuda warm and bundled up.
“Ramuda, you want to know somethin’?” Dice asked.
“...What?”
“We may be called Fling Posse, but remember this. We’re a family now, and I’m not going to let ya’ think otherwise,” he said. His tenacity radiated off of him, and the others could practically feel it. The sheer confidence he had in them was clear in his voice, and it was enough to bring Ramuda to tears again, and he buried his face into the coat.
With a smile, Dice continued.
“This ain’t a fling anymore. We’ll stick together until the end of time, and nothing’s going to stop us. Right, Gentaro?”
Gentaro wrapped an arm around him to pull him closer, with Ramuda sandwiched snugly in the middle. A laugh, smooth as honey, escaped his lips.
“Absolutely. To everyone else, we'll be known as Fling Posse, but in our hearts…
...We’ll always be a Forever Posse.”