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Ishida tapped his foot impatiently as he stood in the middle of the storage room. He let out a frustrated sigh as he adjusted his coat, making sure it was straight.
"Who the fuck would call someone out in the middle of the night and not show up?" He crossed his arms as he spoke to the empty room. He waited another few minutes before growling in frustration. "That's it, this was a waste of my time and I'm going back to bed." He ran his hands through his hair before shoving his hands violently into his pants pockets. He made it to the storage room door before he heard a noise over by some boxes. Eyes filled with confusion, he hesitated before walking over to the boxes. His pace was slow and cautious.
"Hello? Anybody there?" His hands were placed in front of him, ready to attack something if it were to attack him. He jumped slightly when he heard another noise coming from behind the boxes. He took another step closer, pausing before a louder noise was heard. Naturally, he panicked. He let out a short cry as he kicked some of the boxes closer to the bottom of the pile. As some of the boxes came crashing down he looked behind them for the source of the noise.
"What on earth?" He mumbled in confusion as he lifted one of the boxes, "Is that a radio doll?" Feeling even more confused then before, Ishida leaned down to pick up the doll but stopped once he heard something move behind him. He slowly stood up straight. His grip loosened on the box. He took a step forward and placed the box on top of some others. He moved to turn around to face the person but the other had different ideas.
Ishida let out a small cry of surprise and pain as he felt something heavy and solid hitting the back of his head. The world was spinning as he felt his body fall, quickly hitting the ground with a loud thud. He groaned as he lifted his head slightly, so he could look to his side and not be face down on the ground. He could feel the warm blood flowing down his face and onto the ground beneath him. He felt annoyance for a moment as he thought about his clean white uniform turning pink with his own blood. That feeling was soon replaced by fear, anger and sadness. Tears were welling up in his eyes. Vision in one eye was staring to turn pink, he didn't know if it was because of the blood flowing down his face or if there was blood in his eye. He tried to crawl away, his legs moving slowly and his arms barely strong enough to hold him up.
But his attacker hit him once again, this time square in the middle of his back, with another thud and cry, Ishida flopped to the ground. The attacker laughed, clearly proud that he was able to stop a very injured opponent from crawling away. Ishida cried out softly as he began to feel much weaker. His head and entire body was beginning to feel so very heavy. He tried to turn his head to face his attacker once they laughed. But as soon as he moved his head pain began shooting up and down his body. He would've cried out but he just didn't have the energy anymore. He felt so tired. His eyelids felt like lead as he reached his hand out, desperate to try get away. Desperate to tell someone. He couldn't die here. He just couldn't.
He tried to crawl once more. Unfortunately he couldn't. He couldn't do anything anymore. The only thing he could do was wait until he finally died. Breathing was becoming an effort. Would anyone even care if he did die here? The only people that actually cared about him were dead. And Naegi didn't really care about him, he didn't help him when Mondo died. No, Naegi just watched with the rest of them as his mind destroyed itself. They all just sat and watched as he became the thing they all knew as Ishida. And even then, no one cared. No one ever cared about him. No one except Mondo and Chihiro, they were the only two that really cared about him, and even then, Chihiro was slightly scared of him and his volume. So I suppose the answer is no. No one would care if he died here. He opened his mouth, blood trickling from the corners. With as much breath as he could manage, he began muttering the words,
"K-Kyoudai," he paused, having to take a breath and to stop himself from closing his eyelids as he finished speaking. "I'm sorry." He could feel more heat coming down his face but at this point it was impossible to determine whether it was his tears or his own blood. He smiled shakily. His smile vanished, however, when he heard his attacker move towards the door. Right into Ishidas field of vision. Ishidas only working eye would've widened if it hadn't been so heavy as he muttered out the name of his attacker.
"Y-Yamada?" Yamada turned around to Ishida in surprise, face turning pale as he saw that his supposedly dead victim was still speaking. Shaking heavily, he lifted the wooden mallet once more. Mumbling something about Alter Ego and 'waifus', he brought the mallet down roughly towards Ishidas head once again.
And with that, the world went to black
Chihiro hummed to themselves, kicking their feet against the wall that they were currently resting on. Even if they were dead, it wasn't all bad. I mean, the afterlife was pretty fun. Everyone who was dead had their memories back. Mondo apologized for days when Chihiro say him. Leon and Sayaka often hang out to try write or play music, which is pretty entertaining to watch. And the place where they're staying looks exactly like Hopes Peak, just without all the metal covering the windows and they're allowed outside. The school looks exactly how it did before the great despair. It was interesting really, how different the school was when you weren't in danger of being killed by your fellow classmates. Chihiro looked at the water fountain behind them. If the wall was a tiny bit lower they'd be able to completely submerge their hand in water. Chihiro moved a piece of hair out of their face as they sat up straight again.
"Chihiro! Chihiro!" A voice brought Chihiro out of their thoughts and back to the afterlife. They looked over to where the voice came from.
"Oh, hello Leon!" Chihiro said with a smile and small wave once they saw the baseball star running towards them. Leon finally stopped running when he was standing in front of the programmer. He took a few breaths and ran hand hand through his hair. He smiled happily at the other.
"So, did ya hear?" Leon was grinning at this point, it was kind of scaring Chihiro to be honest.
"Hear about what?" Chihiro looked at Leon with confusion in their eyes, "did someone else die?" Leon began nodding when Chihiro finished speaking.
"Yup, apparently Ishimaru's dead!" Leon was still grinning as he spoke about the now dead of his classmate. Chihiro began smiling, yes, it may have been odd or cruel to smile about a friends death but Ishimaru being dead meant that Chihiro would get to see him once again. Chihiro jumped off of the wall, stumbling slightly before they bounced over to Leon.
"Where is he? Has someone found him yet?" Chihiro was bouncing in the balls of their feet, looking up to the other. Leon smiled warmly before putting his hand on Chihiros head.
"Nah not yet. Mondos gone looking for him though. But the thing is, Mondo doesn't know that he's looking for Ishimaru. I say you go join 'im though" Leon ruffled Chihiros hair as he finished his sentence. Chihiro nodded happily before thanking Leon and running towards the school building.
They bumped into Sayaka on the way in, who explained that Ishimaru was not in his room, dining hall, laundry room or bath house. Chihiro thanked her before checking the gym, changing rooms and nurses office. They sighed as they entered the art room. They'd looked all over the first and second floor with no sign of Kiyotaka. Maybe Mondo was having more luck then them. They were about to turn to look for Mondo when they heard a crash and a mumbled curse coming from the storage room.
Chihiro jumped sightly before creeping over to the storage room. They took a breath before opening the door to see the person inside. A grin made its way onto their face. The figure in front of them had their back to them and was clutching their head but Chihiro could recognize that white uniform anywhere. However, the person wasn't wearing Ishimarus normal boots, the boots that they wore had heels on them and were tied with a white ribbon and a bow on the top. Why on earth would Ishimaru wear heels? They looked up at his head and their grin was quickly replaced by a frown. Why was his hair white? Ishimaru would never dye is hair, and where would he even get hair dye in the school? Chihiro took another breath before stepping into the room slowly.
"Ishimaru? Is that you?"
The first thing he noticed when he woke up was that his head was fucking killing him. The next thing he noticed was that he was lying face down on the ground. He groaned as he stood up, clutching his head. He brought his hand down to look at it, he could've sworn that his head was meant to be bleeding. He touched his eye too. He could've sworn that he was only meant to see pink out of that eye. He groaned when he stood up straight, he was incredibly dizzy and wearing heels was not helping. He let out a small cry as he stumbled to the side, crashing into boxes. He let out a curse as he felt his headache getting worse. He leaned against the wall as he ran his hands through his hair. What happened? The last thing he remembered was Yamada bringing the mallet down on his head for the second time. He turned his head to look around. He was still in the storage room but there was no sign of the attack. There wasn't any blood on the ground, there wasn't any radio doll behind the boxes. There wasn't any sign that he was dead, no sign of the attack. Everything seemed perfectly normal. He tensed slightly when he heard someone entering the room. Was it Yamada? Was he back to finish what he started? He was about to turn around when he heard it. A small voice, which he didn't recognize right away but they asked such a simple question. So why did the question annoy him so much? All they did was ask,
"Ishimaru? Is that you?"
Ishida turned around quickly, ignoring the pain in his head. He stumbled slightly on his heels as he turned. He put his hand on the wall to help keep him standing upright. He glared at the other in front of him. He recognized them. He remembered them but he just couldn't remember their name, or anything about them. All he could remember was that they were a classmate. That they were the one Mondo killed.
They were the one that got Mondo executed.
They were weak.
"What did you call me?" Ishidas voice was dripping with anger as he took a step towards the other. His hands were fists at his side. The other looked at him in confusion, his voice was different, it sounded rougher then before. Chihiro shook their head slightly before responding.
"I called you Ishimaru. Would, would you rather I call you Kiyotaka?" Chihiro was confused. Why did it look like Ishimarus eyes were on fire? Was was he so angry that they had called him Ishimaru?
Ishida took another step towards the other, he was towering over them now. "My name isn't Ishimaru. Don't call me Ishimaru." The other opened their mouth to say something but Ishida spoke before they could, "My name is Ishida. Kiyondo Ishida." He jabbed the other in the chest. "Got it?"
Chihiro nodded slighty, they were still very confused. Why did Ishimaru want to be called Kiyondo Ishida? And why did it sound like a mixture of the names Ishimaru and Mondo? "Ishima- I mean, Ishida," Chihiro's voice was filled was confusion and uncertainty when they said the name Ishida, "Do you remember who I am?" Ishida frowned slightly before shaking his head. Chihiro sighed, somewhat happily. Maybe if they reminded 'Ishida' who they were, maybe he'd go back to normal.
"I'm Chihiro Fujisaki. We were best friends remember?" Chihiro looked for some kind of sign on Ishidas face that showed that he remembered. There wasn't any, his face just turned to one of pure anger. Ishida grabbed Chihiros collar, lifting them off the ground slightly. Chihiro let out a yelp. "I-Ishida what are you doing?" Chihiro grabbed at Ishidas wrists before looking up at him. Ishida's eyes were filled with rage.
"You. You're the reason my bro is dead." Ishida growled. Chihiro's eyes were starting to fill with tears.
"N-No, you don't understand! Ishimaru let me down!" Chihiro started kicking their legs, one of them hitting Ishidas shin. Ishida just stared at Chihiro. Tears were starting to well in Ishidas eyes.
"You're the reason he's dead. He's dead because you were weak!" Ishida was crying pretty heavily at this point. But Chihiro didn't think he even realized that he was crying. Tears were threatening to fall from Chihiros eyes.
"Ishimaru please! Let me down. Ishimaru!" Chihiro was clawing at Ishidas wrists at this point. Tears were flowing down their face now. "Please let me down!" Something flickered in Ishidas eyes as his face changed from one of anger to one of regret. He quickly dropped Chihiro, stepping back quickly. He stared down at his hands in disgust. The flames from his eyes were becoming smaller. Chihiro staggered when Ishida let him down. They had their hands up for balance, as well as defense in case Ishida decided to grab them again. They stared at Ishida with wide, tear filled eyes. Ishida looked at Chihiro, regret in his eyes.
"Chihiro, I I'm so sorry!" His voice was beginning to go back to normal as he tried to apologize. He took a step towards Chihiro but quickly took a step back once Chihiro visibly flinched when Ishida reached out to them. Ishida was about to say something else before he felt as if someone had hit his head with something hard. He let out a pained cry before clutching his head. Chihiro looked at him in shock before mumbling a curse and hesitantly walking over to Ishida. Ishida began clawing at his head, drawing a small amount of blood as his nails dug into his scalp. He quickly dropped to his knees. The pain in his head was becoming unbearable. He kept clawing at his head until he felt hands holding his wrists softly. He looked up, tears and blood flowing down his face now.
Chihiro looked at him sadly before taking Ishidas wrists and putting them by his side. With a soft smile, they quickly wrapped their arms around Ishidas, pulling him into a hug.
"It's okay Ishimaru. I'm here now and Mondo will be here soon. Just please, don't hurt yourself anymore. And I don't know why you were calling yourself 'Ishida' but please stop. It was scaring me, you were scaring me Ishimaru," Chihiro pushed Ishida pushed from them, their hands still on Ishidas arms as they looked Ishida in the eyes, "Please, I want the old Ishimaru back. I want my best friend back!" Chihiro noted that they were crying now. Ishidas eyes were wide when Chihiro was speaking. The white in his hair was starting to disappear. He let out a small sob as he threw his arms around Chihiro.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm so sorry Chihiro!" He sobbed into Chihiros shoulder. Chihiro only responded in sobs of their own. And there they stayed. Kneeling on the ground of the art store room sobbing in each others arms until they heard a voice from the other room.
"Oi! Chihiro! You in here?" Mondos voice rang through the air. Ishida quickly lifted his head at the sound. Chihiro wiped at their eyes, smiling slightly at the voice.
"Kyoudai?" Ishida said, probably a lot softer then he had hoped. He stood up and assisted Chihiro in getting up too. Chihiro looked up at Ishida. The white in his hair was almost completely gone and the flames in his eyes were gone too. Chihiro reached over and held Ishidas hand, squeezing it softly. Ishida looked down at them in surprise before smiling shakily, tears were threatening to fall from his eyes again. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by someone stepping into the room.
"Ishimaru? Is that you?" Ishimaru looked up, tears in his eyes. Mondo's hand was over his mouth, his lavender eyes were filled with tears as he walked over to the two. Ishimaru sobbed as he grabbed onto Mondos jacket, pulling him onto a hug. Mondo responded by wrapping his arms around Ishimaru tightly and sobbing. Chihiro smiled sadly before rushing over to the cupboards to get some blue tissue paper for them all.
"Ishimaru, what happened?" Mondo pushed himself away from Ishimaru so he could look at him in the face. Ishimaru was looking at the ground, clearly ashamed of what had happened. Ishimaru mumbled something before wiping at his eyes. Mondo looked at him in confusion before putting his hand under Ishimarus chin, lifting his head so Ishimaru would face him.
"Kyoudai, what happened?" Ishimaru tried to speak but he just sobbed once more. Chihiro frowned slightly before holding one of Ishimarus hands, squeezing it in a calming manner. Ishimaru looked down at them, surprised. Chihiro smiled softly at him. Ishimaru took a shaky breath before wiping at his eyes once again.
"After you two died something happened to me," his grip on Chihiros hands tightened, "Once I found and spoke with Alter Ego, I became someone else, I called myself 'Ishida'," he laughed bitterly, "my hair turned white and my eyes looked as though they were on fire. I started wearing these things that I found in the warehouse next to the dorms," He pointed at his boots. He let out a few sobs before talking again.
"One night I was called out to the storage room that we're currently standing in. And and I was cornered Kyoudai! I couldn't escape." He was sobbing heavily as he remembered his death and the pain in his head began to return. His face went from one of sorrow and sadness to one of intense pain.
"Ishimaru, are you alright?" Chihiro questioned, bringing Ishimarus hand up to their mouth, kissing the back of it. Ishimaru shook his head slightly, using his free hand to point at his head. Mondo frowned slightly before smirking. He bent his head down as he put soft kiss on Ishimarus forehead. Ishimaru's eyes widened as he felt his face becoming red. Mondo leaned back and smiled softly.
"A kiss is supposed to make things stop hurting right?" Mondo was blushing heavily and was looking at anything but Ishimaru. Chihiro laughed to themselves as they looked at the two blushing boys in front of them. They took hold of Mondos free hand, kissing the back of it. They would've kissed the two on their foreheads but Chihiro wasn't tall enough for that, so they just kissing the back of their hands instead. Ishimaru starting laughing to himself, shocking Mondo.
"I suppose it is!" Ishimaru wiped at his face, he may have been laughing but he was still crying and dreading telling them who killed him. Once he stopped laughing he spoke again. "I guess I should finish my story." He took a breath, "I was cornered and someone hit me in the back of the head with a wooden mallet. Turns out it was Yamada. He hit me with it again and it killed me." He was shaking at this point, "Yamada killed me." He looked up at Mondo. Mondos face was one of anger.
"I swear I'm going to kill that fat fuck again when he gets here." Mondo growled. "He's going to regret what he did to you, I'll make sure of it." Ishimaru smiled shakily.
"You don't have to do that Kyoudai. After all, if he didn't," he paused for a moment, "kill me, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have seen you two again." He looked between Mondo and Chihiro. He took his free hand and held Mondos free hand. He squeezed it gently as tears began going down his face again. "And that's all I ever wanted, was just to see you two again."
Chihiro and Mondo smiled as they bought squeezed Ishimarus hands. Chihiro placed another kiss on the back of his hand. Mondo smiled softly at the two before speaking.
"You know it kinda sucked here. I mean, Daiya ain't here, at least I haven't been able to find 'im. But I think that everything is gonna be so much better, now that you're here with us" Ishimaru looked at him before smiling brightly.
Maybe dying wasn't that bad. After all, now he got to spend the rest of eternity with the best and nicest people he had ever met.
Yeah, there really wasn't any downside of dying. Well, none that Ishimaru could find.