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Kaitou Daiki dies, and he expects that to be the end.
They don’t seek out necromancy, it just happens. Daiki threw in his lot with monsters full of power and violence, love and fate, heroism…
And, for some reason, a spot for him. A spot he carved out himself, refusing to leave until he realized they left a place for him by their side. By then, he was in far too deep.
But he is human, painfully human, painfully normal. He knows it to be true - he collects the powers of gods and monsters like trinkets, toys to put on a shelf like action figures.
Kaitou Daiki dies.
They will not save him. That’s what he assumes. The world goes black, and they scream his name, a round of “Daiki!”
(Isn’t something wrong there?)
And that should be the end.
“…What is this place?”
“The Trial of Fate.”
Is it though? Natsumi isn’t sure. The guide’s words ring hollow.
Kaitou Daiki died, and she would have gone to the ends of the worlds for him. Just as he always found her in the Ends, she would find him. They all would.
But they don’t have to reach the ends. This world has a system before death is allowed.
“And what exactly is that?” Tsukasa asks. His voice has a dangerous edge. A threat.
“A trial where we look at the life of the dead,” the guide says. “To determine if they deserve to live.”
Yuusuke laughs.
“Of course he deserves to live,” he says. “He’s ours, and we have young kids at home. Waiting.”
“Kids don’t need more than two parents,” the guide says. “How many are you?”
Oh, so they have to deal with that, too. It’s rare Natsumi gets anything for her family, they move in too much of a strange unit for people to ask questions.
But they’re missing a piece.
And they need each part.
“Not enough, right now,” Tsukasa says. “So, how do we get him back?”
“We’re here,” the guide says.
They open on a room - it is dark, and empty. Except for one.
“So what exactly do we do?” Natsumi asks.
“Reach him,” the guide says. “And get him out. The System will decide how difficult this will be.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard.”
“You have one day.”
“…I’m sure we can handle that.”
It’s gravity. Pulling them down like a weight. Is it this simple? Yuusuke assumes it can’t be.
This has to be like. A false sense of security.
A whisper begins to echo
No one is coming for me…
“What?” Yuusuke asks.
“The… the first trial,” Tsukasa says. “Must be how much he expects someone to come for him.”
And this must be… not at all.
Natsumi frowns.
“He clearly doesn’t know us at all,” she says.
And she’s right. If they hadn’t come for him this way, it would be another. The court of them - they belong together, with threads of fate they tied themselves to defy the forces against them.
“We’re right here, asshole!” Yuusuke cries out. “And we’re coming for you.”
And as though his thoughts made manifest, red ropes form.
They drag themselves through.
Tsukasa finds himself in a dirty alleyway.
A ghost of his Kaitou appears in front of him - floating edges of glowing blue light.
“Where is this?” Tsukasa asks. Daiki laughs.
“Don’t you remember?” He asks. “This is where we met.”
He doesn’t, actually. Not in detail. Little more than concepts - some horrid mix of hope and fear and possessiveness. Daiki with a loss in his eyes.
“And why am I here?”
“Because I’m never quite sure if you’re the same man,” Daiki says. “Would you still save me, now that you know better?”
“Of course I would,” Tsukasa says.
And suddenly the ghost is replaced by a man - god, Tsukasa’s never even seen Daiki that young. He’s dirty and scared and—
“Would you really?” Daiki asks. “My world… my whole world is a lie. So what are you?”
And Tsukasa knows why he would have taken Daiki then - fascination. A desire to fix this good man despite not knowing how to be good.
He’s tried. It never works. Daiki is… stuck, now.
“I’m your future,” Tsukasa says. “And I won’t let go.”
Daiki looks up at him with wide eyes.
“I don’t know if there’s a future worth looking for.”
Tsukasa hmms.
“Not in this World,” Tsukasa says. “But this isn’t your World, anymore.”
He offers his hand.
Daiki takes it, and fades away.
“What is this?”
The ribbons that brought her here have changed to light and to form, and Daiki is standing in front of the table. There are two DiEnDrivers, one— is that in… in violet?”
Kids don’t need more than two parents.
Was that a threat?
“A test,” Daiki says. “A duel. If I don’t win, you get to move on. And it is deadly, by the way. Nothing else counts.”
Natsumi picks up the violet Driver. There’s a magenta ribbon tied to it.
The guide was wrong, she thinks distantly.
“So what,” she says. “Ten paces?”
But is there even a point to killing the very man she’s here to save?
Daiki laughs. It’s fake and high.
“Something like that,” he says, and he takes the other one. “Just a count of three, how about? I hate all the pomp and circumstance.”
Natsumi nods.
“One.”
There’s some kind of trick.
“Two.”
Something about Daiki himself…
“Three.”
Silence.
“…Why didn’t you shoot?” Daiki asks.
“Because I knew you wouldn’t shoot to kill,” Natsumi says simply.
“You’re insane, Natsumelon.”
“I’m yours.”
And you are mine. And we are his.
And one of my only constants is that you will find me.
Daiki hmms.
“This isn’t the end,” he says. “How many trials will you put yourself through to reach the real me?”
“As many as it takes,” Natsumi promises. “We all would.”