Chapter Text
It was finally over.
The "War", as the student body has named it, has concluded with the final execution of Hibiki Wataru, the last of the Eccentrics. One Sakasaki Natsume was spared from the spectacle, but Eichi doesn't want to cause more damage than what was necessary. Sakuma had already made it very clear not to drag their youngest any more than he had to, and the blond wanted to respect that, no matter how much harm he'd already caused.
Despite the amount of dirt he gave the quintet, Eichi still admired and respected them for their talents, after all.
He was in the student council room, with his childhood friend Keito, tidying up the area, and getting rid of any evidence that might have suggested foul play during this "War" period. Surprisingly, they had found little to none; Eichi knew that Tsumugi took care of any loose threads, but he didn't expect the boy to actually wrap this up so nicely. Especially not after when he saw the other's expression backstage before their final live together.
His heart clenched tightly at the reminder of how hurt Tsumugi's eyes were. He'd put in so much effort into this project of theirs, only to be met with a sad betrayal from someone he'd considered as a friend. Yet he had still placed on a smile, to give the audience a lasting grace of fine as they sang together with Nagisa and Hiyori.
Eichi didn't miss how sad the bluebird's eyes were, no matter how bright his smile was on his lips.
His heart somehow hurts even more.
"...it's late, Eichi," Keito finally said into the quiet. The sun's amber glow has started to filter into the room, the last of the afternoon washing away with the slow sunset. Eichi himself was standing over a seat, to the table on the right side of the room. His eyes gently traced the wood markings on the desk as he barely registered his friend's words. Were they a bit apart from each other somehow..?
"…can you tell me anything about the rest of fine?" his voice asked in a whisper.
Keito glances down to the small stack of papers on the student council president’s desk, face stoic but eyes gentle and understanding. "Ran and Tomoe submitted their transfer papers to different schools. We don't get to do anything much with this information — that power goes towards the administration — but at least we can update their registration papers to 'transferred' rather than 'enrolled' ourselves."
"…"
"…as for Aoba," Keito continued, when no response came, "there's nothing much from him. He hasn't said anything about taking a break or continuing his studies…but I've noticed that he's been hanging out with Sakasaki more often these days."
Eichi blinked once before smiling bitterly. "That's great to hear," he whispered, forcing his voice not to waver. "I'm glad he has someone to talk to." Why does his brain feel so muddled?
"…are you implying you can't talk to me?"
A small laugh burst out at the sudden deadpan. "No, of course I know I can talk to you, Keito," Eichi said easily. "I'm just happy for him that he gets the same treatment."
Keito huffed slightly at the reply, crossing his arms and looking annoyed, though there's not much bite to it. "Point aside, you still need to get home. It's late, I don't want to explain to your parents why you're stuck here again for another night."
"Not that they'd care, but thanks for the sentiment." Grabbing his belongings and other necessary needs, Eichi waved his friend farewell. "See you soon, Keito~"
The other narrowed his eyes slightly at that. "…do you need me to walk you to the front?"
"Please, Keito, I'm fine. No need to mother hen me every single time I leave. You still need to file away papers. Besides, my gauge says I'm perfectly okay," the blond said, showing his stats to Keito to see. "Even if I suddenly collapse, you'd get an alarm for it. Walking myself to the front is not a big deal. I'll be okay, promise."
Keito sighed at that, unwilling to argue back with a pouty Eichi. "Fine, but if anything happens, just yell. If you can't, then, I don't know, make a sound. Break a window, or something. Actually, don't, just pound on the wall, I don't want you with cuts—"
"I get it. Seriously, you worry more than my parents," Eichi laughed. "See you~"
With that, the blond left the room and closed the door quickly before Keito could get another word in. He took his time walking the trek down Yumenosaki's hallways. His chauffeur can wait as long as Eichi wants, as long as he got his job done, which, in this case, was to get his master home. Surely a few extra minutes won't hurt?
…speaking of hurting, Eichi couldn't stop thinking back to Tsumugi. On the first day they introduced themselves to each other, Eichi had no plans on interacting with him any more after the plan was executed and finished. Yet Tsumugi thought differently, didn't he? He saw this sickly boy as a friend, one that he'd do anything for, whether that be to go to a karaoke bar or to take down an entire school system built on fame. The smiles he gave, the sheepish denials whenever praise was thrown his way, the genuine nature of his earnesty… those were all real. Tsumugi thought they were all real, thought that he'd really made a friend with Eichi.
Until it all came crashing down on him minutes before their last live.
Eichi slowed his walking, a hand reaching for his chest as he struggled to breathe. He remembered that betrayed look in Tsumugi's eyes, when Eichi had claimed the other was only friendly to him for his money. He had shut his eyes and shook noiselessly as he tried to keep in tears, as Eichi bluntly told him how he had seen this relationship to be nothing more than contractual.
"I'd never make a mistake in one of my precious contracts."
It was around then that Wataru stepped in, with all of his dramatic flair, even if he was still in his school uniform when he confronted them. He greeted the two with his usual thespian nature, before joyfully referring to Tsumugi as the boy flinched.
"Aoba Tsumugi, was it? You're truly the best clown I've ever seen."
Hiyori joined a bit later after Wataru did a small monologue piece, interrupting the three to remind them they still had one last performance to give. Nagisa was quietly fixing his attire from behind as the noble son smoothly got the unit back together. He was all smiles as he said his part, though Eichi didn't miss the bitterness hidden beneath his words.
"Let's finish out our contracts… I don't know what we've missed, but don't bring it to the stage!"
Eichi suddenly bumped into a wall, snapping himself out of the moment as he collapsed onto the floor. His chest was clenching so achingly, as his heart pounded faster than it should. It was like he couldn't breathe all of a sudden, something pressing against his lungs. His gauge started blaring as his vitals dropped, and Eichi looked up to see himself in a hallway that he didn't recognize in his hazed mind.
He didn't know if Keito could reach him in time.
Fighting against the pain, he tried to crawl himself to — somewhere, but it was too much as he groaned and fell into a heap on the floor. His vision started to blur, colors mushing together as the alarm on his gauge continued to sound deafeningly.
He didn't know what he was thinking about before he blacked out.
It was silent at first, and Eichi almost thought if he was dead, until—
"Oh my god!?"
"Is that a real sword?!"
"Who the hell switched the props?!"
"Someone call 911!!"
—he felt something being jammed into his torso.
He blinked his eyes open to see someone crouching over him, but it was too blurry to make out who it was. A chaos of unfamiliar voices were swarming around him, all too jumbled for him to separate. He turned his head towards the person above him, who was clearly trembling and crying even in his hazy state. They were doing whatever they can to press against the pain on his torso, and that's when he realized—
Oh. I got stabbed.
The sobbing and panicked voices continued to echo, as the person started to warble out words he was able to barely decipher before the sounds became too much.
"…orry, I'm so sorry, Lissa…hould've notic…"
…Who's Lissa?
Then it went quiet.