Work Text:
And so, with the killing game over, they wake up in a bright white room filled with human-sized capsules.
Seemingly, Tsumugi isn’t here. Shuichi is glad.
The room is below Hope’s peak academy.
He wonders if anyone knows they’re down here.
In the midst of tears and reuniting friends, Shuichi catches someone creeping out of a capsule as he’s talking to Kaito.
It’s Keebo! He was so afraid that they’d not be in the “real” world.
Dark black clothing and a tilted hat, they almost look like him at the start of the game.
”Keebo!” He runs up to them. They look up at him, but he can’t exactly read their expression.
”Hello, Shuichi. I’m happy to see you again.” They say.
But their tiny smile doesn’t reach their eyes. Their voice is quiet and monotone. Is this really his friend?
Unsure what to say, he’s feeling awkward.
”Ah…yes.” Shuichi gives them a stiff hug, and scurries off back to Kaito, who he left there in the middle of their conversation.
Probably not the best idea to just leave Keebo standing there, or Kaito, but what was he supposed to do?!
He sees Keebo catching up with Miu to his side. She doesn’t appear to notice or care about their change in demeanour.
Slowly, the students all file out of the white room and go to their dorms for the night. They’re all (obviously) tired.
But something bothers him, it’s keeping him up. He can’t sleep.
Keebo seemed so full of passion during the killing game.
(“And seemingly, that passion dissolved when we met again.
So angry, I wanted it gone at the time. But now, I feel strange in its absence.”)
Wait, “at the time”? At what time? He’s sure that during the game, he was grateful for their optimism.
Wait.
Shuichi remembers. During the final class trial, he had objected at something that they said.
—-
“Everything is going to be okay! We’ll definitely find hope—“
”What do you mean, hope?”
”…What?”
Rejected. He rejected that hope, the very hope that brought them out of there.
In a way, he’s still angry at Keebo for not seeming to care about the deaths of their friends, and still pushing the thought of a good future. But in the end, they were right.
In the end, Keebo destroyed the barrier.
In the end, everyone is happy and alive.
He has to apologize. Not to let myself sleep at night, but to hopefully fix what he made wrong.
—-
They’re glad that they’re all back.
Everything worked out. They are happy.
Or maybe not. In the killing game, they had a more advanced system.
But now, they just feel hollow. It seems that those emotions that they felt were not enough during the killing game were more than they could ever dream of in the real world.
It’s not that they aren’t happy to see their friends! It just feels like they would have been more expressive about it if they were their killing game self.
It feels like their emotions are under water, muffled by everything around them.
But no need to try to swim to shore, because Keebo just heard a knock at their door!
”At this hour..?” They mumble.
The door unlocks. Keebo sees a slightly ruffled looking Shuichi standing by their door, still in his pyjamas.
”Ah. Hello Shuichi. Why are you awake at this hour?”
Not how they wanted that to come out. They wanted to put a concerned tone into their voice, but they can’t. Maybe they can ask Miu for help on that later.
”Oh! Uhm.. hello Keebo. I just wanted to visit you. I have something I want to say..”
Strange, but okay!
”Come in.”
Shuichi looks into Keebo’s eyes. Really looks at them.
They’re still blue, but they seem cloudy. The colour is dull.
They look tired. Shuichi isn’t sure if robots can get tired, but fears a “robophobia” allegation if he does.
Actually.. Maybe not.
Keebo seems to out of it to care about a question like that, but Shuichi doesn’t ask anyways.
“What do you need?” Shuichi is startled out of his thoughts by Keebo’s words.
Might as well just go for it.
”Is something wrong?”
”…”
Uh oh. Wrong wording. Maybe… or is Keebo just not sure how to answer? He can’t tell.
”Yes, everything is ok, Shuichi. Is that a—“
”Look, I’m sorry for being rude during the last class trial!”
”…”
Silence again. Oh god.
”..What….are you talking about?”
”Umm, ah, when you were talking about..hope…and I argued against you and yelled a bit. I’m sorry for that I was just angry.”
Keebo’s expression shifts seemingly for the first time since they re-entered the real world.
He looks confused.
”Shuichi…do you really think I’m mad about that?”
”Well, I-“
“—No. I see nothing wrong with what you did. While it may have been rude of you, I understand where you were coming from and how what I said may have been ignorant in our situation. You had the right to be angry at me. In the end, no matter what happened. We are all alive and I am happy for that.”
Oh no, they’re being too sweet.
Then why do they seem angry? And why was their voice still cold when they said that?
“Oh..but you seemed angry.” Shuichi hesitated.
“Are you referring to my lack of expression? I apologize, I do have an explanation for that.”
”Oh..really?”
”Yes. Robotics are not as advanced as they were made out to be during the killing game. While I still feel emotion as I did in the simulation, I can not express it or feel it as well as I did while we were trapped in that school. My facial structure is not as complex as it was, so I can’t exactly contort it as much as I’d like to. My voice isn’t as expressive either, but I’m 99% sure that I could ask Miu to help with that. I promise you I am not angry at all.”
Shuichi is surprised. So they aren’t angry!
”Oh my gosh I’m glad. I thought you were upset!” He giggles.
”Hehe, of course not.” Keebo pulls his partner into a hug. It’s warm.
“Happy. I am happy we are all here together.” They whisper.