sketchythief

[ The silence goes on for a full minute, before Daisuke barely parts his lips to speak, but-- ]

The trial is over!

[ That bear sure looks peppy about all this. Color drains from Daisuke's face, but there was nothing left that could have been done. He thinks that, but losing like this. Being defeated like this, feels way too unfair. There was nothing to be done. Nothing. Nothing...

...

Was there really nothing left?

Monobear looks pretty excited, opening up the polls for everyone to vote.

It's time. ]

[ as the polls appear, naegi finds himself at a loss for what to do. he doesn't know who to choose. he doesn't know who the real murderer is. he can't find himself choosing for daisuke and it's only when the timer counts down to the final second, he inputs his vote... ]

[ ... and chooses himself. ]

[ once the votes are in and the time is over, the stands revert to normal and the tv screen shows up. it's time to reveal what the votes are... ]

[ The votes, unsurprisingly, are stilted towards Daisuke. There's the lone vote for Naegi as expected, but for some reason the vote total is off. Monobear gloats about how Daisuke is literally throwing his life away because he didn't vote. What was the point? Daisuke doesn't say anything. What is there to say?

The rigged roulette spins and lands on Daisuke. A cold sweat runs down his face as a contraption grabs the back of Daisuke's collar and drags him into the dark. ]

[ the moment that the roulette stops on daisuke, naegi feels his heart just drop. he's frozen in place and he suddenly finds it hard to breathe. he can't find himself being able to move but the moment that something grabs onto daisuke and start pulling him away, naegi immediately finds himself in motion ]

--Daisuke!!

[ he attempts to reach out, to grab onto daisuke's hand, shirt, or anything at the last moment. ]

[ Daisuke reaches his hand out to Naegi, their hands barely touch, but not quite there. He opens his mouth to scream, but is muted by the darkness that envelops him. Monobear giggles upon the sight as the students watch: half in relief, half in fear.

The room that Daisuke ends up being in resembles an asylum--nothing but white. A white emptiness. However, a crown drops near his feet. It's the first item that he stole in his memories, the Crown of Alice. The crown also exists in his home with Naegi. However, Daisuke doesn't move to touch the fallen crown. As if offended by his decision, more crowns drop into the room, filling the white with gold. Gold upon gold. Crowns continue to fall and fill up the room, joining by bigger pieces of artwork. Paintings fall, along with huge crystals. Giant mirrors also start falling. Daisuke tries to dodge the falling pieces of artwork as he tries to look for a way to escape. Thankfully, he finds an air vent that is way up high and uses his nimble flexibility and parkour skills to get in before the room floods with broken art.

He escapes the room, only to fall into another room with a lone girl. There's ice all around her. ]

How could you...? You left me to die...

[ Fear. Fear is in his eyes. Daisuke recalls when he had to leave Freedert behind while being carried off by Dark. He remembers desperately calling out to her and how badly he wanted to stay behind with her. He remembers screaming her name. He remembers--

It doesn't take long for her to stab Daisuke with a sword as he stands there, frozen in shock. He bleeds from his stomach and cries out in pain when the sword is pulled out. It hurts. He cries. He cries and mutters under his breath: ]

I'm sorry.

[ He breathes in. ]

I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

[ Daisuke falls to his knees, curling up while clutching at his bleeding stomach. The girl, quiet, throws away her sword, and touches the top of Daisuke's head. His red hair instantly turns purple. His identity shifts. He is no longer Daisuke Niwa. In the blink of an eye, the girl turns into a white haired boy who dons a somewhat similar appearance to Daisuke's except he is much more sinister. He reaches out with both hands, holding the other's face.

What is he?

Who is he? ]

Who... am I...?

[ The person that was once Daisuke asks with a strained voice as tears drip down his face. The other boy smiles. ]

You're a murderer, liar, and a thief. But that's okay. I accept you for everything that you are.

[ He smiles. ]

I want your being.

[ He forcefully grabs onto the face that he once gently held. ]

I want your everything.

[ And he tears off the skin of his face, plasters it against his own, blood and all, and starts devouring the body. The screen the viewers are watching from is covered by black feathers but it cannot hide the scream from filtering through the speakers. ]

[ and there's nothing that naegi can do but watch as this execution plays out before him. although he wants to tear his eyes away, to look elsewhere, it's like a car crash. he can't take his eyes off the screens and at the very end of it all, when it finally finishes, he says nothing. he finds himself slumping to the floor and staring at the monitor. he keeps staring until he's sure that the sound of daisuke's screams and the images of black feathers covering the screen will be burned in his mind forever... ]

[ ... and eventually, he snaps awake. ]

[ he jolts awake in his bed with a cold sweat and a silent scream. his hands grip onto his sheets tightly until his knuckles are white and he finds a hard time trying to catch his breath. he erratically looks around his dark room, dazed for a second as he tries to figure out where he is. he's... back in his bedroom? back home? so does that mean everything was nothing but-- a dream? ]

[ he immediately throws the covers off him and slams open his door. he goes straight to daisuke's door and pounds on it ]

--Daisuke! Daisuke, are you awake?!

[ Despite how much of a nightmare that was, Daisuke hasn't woken up. Even with the end of the dream, he should have woken up, but he hasn't. That's why the other side of the door is painfully quiet when Naegi pounds on the door. The door should be unlocked though, should Naegi choose to barge in.

Daisuke is just sleeping peacefully as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

As if he's dead. ]

[ naegi waits a total of three whole second before he tries to jiggle daisuke's doorknob open. when he finds it unlocked, he chooses to enter. ]

[ his better judgment tells him that what he saw and heard was nothing but a dream but he just can't shake off this terrible feeling so as he enters, he bends slightly down beside daisuke's bed and gently shakes his shoulder. please wake up, please wake up ]

[ Daisuke feels the motion of being shaken and senses that there's an underlying urgency behind the action. He blinks blearily as if still half asleep and looks quite unfocused when he opens his eyes halfway. ]

What is it...?

[ He mumbles. It's as if the dream never happened for Daisuke! Or rather, maybe he's gotten used to nightmares that his natural response is to just pretend it never happened. ]

[ naegi sighs in relief when daisuke wakes up. he lets go of his shoulder and put it against his knee as he still remains slightly bent over ]

Are-- Are you all right?

I'm fine... I think I slept wrong though.

[ His shoulder hurts, but thankfully it isn't his face. He sees the worry in Naegi's face, and can figure out what this is about. ]

... Are you okay?

[ that's it? daisuke just slept in the wrong position? naegi feels his shoulders relax though when daisuke flips the question on him, he tenses back up again ]

Y... Yeah, I'm all right. Just...

[ he pauses ]

Just a bad dream.

[ He's quiet for a moment and drops the act of not knowing, reaching out to Naegi's hand to hold it firmly. ]

... It's not going to happen. You know that.

[ as daisuke grabs his hand and speaks, naegi looks up with surprise ]

You--

[ he takes a second to fully speak ]

You remember the dream?

[ ... ]

Yeah, I do.

[ He smiles a little wryly. He doesn't want to worry Naegi any further by saying that he's used to having such nightmares, so he'll just leave that unsaid. ]

It's not... going to happen.

... I know. It'll never happen.

[ he then looks downwards and the hand that daisuke holds tightens up into a fist ]

I-- I just wish it never happened.

[ guess who got a memory of an execution after he woke up from this dream hahaha ]

[ Daisuke studies Naegi's expression, and wonders what he should say in return. He feels the hold tighten into a fist, but he won't say anything about that either. ]

I just hope that you won't dream about it again. I'll help you take your mind off it later. That's a promise.

[ He smiles and puts his other hand over the balled up ones gently. ]

I'll always be here for you.

[ after daisuke puts his other hand on his fist, naegi glances up a bit to see the smile. even though the dream and the execution of leon is still very fresh on his mind, seeing that daisuke is here for him and hearing his reassurances does put him slightly on ease. his shoulders lose their tension and he can muster a small smile in return. ]

Thanks, Daisuke. I really appreciate it.

[ he really can't put it into words just how much he appreciates daisuke's friendship. he thinks that he wouldn't have been as strong as he sometimes is if it weren't for daisuke always steadying him. ]

I'm sorry for waking you up. I'll let you go back to sleep now.

It's okay... You don't need to be sorry. I'm gonna be there for you no matter what, remember?

[ He intends to keep his promise to the best of his ability!! ]

Besides, I don't think I can go back to sleep now. I should have gotten up anyway... Gotta loosen my shoulder too.

[ And after a moment of thoughtfulness-- ]

Let's go do something fun today.

[ well, that's true. naegi also doesn't think he could go back to sleep after that. ]

Sure! Do you have something in mind?

[ it's been a while since they really hung out together! this will be fun ]

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