pokebox | LOCKED TO ardent

LOCKED TO ardent

The first thing he noticed was the off-white ceiling and plain walls. It didn't occur to him that there was anything weird about that for a minute or so, instead he sat up, glancing around at the unfamiliar room. The bed he was lying in wasn't particularly hard or soft - not as comfy as the one at Hope's Peak, but it wasn't uncomfortable either - and there was a desk beside the bed with a set of clothes, a note, and two red-and-white balls. Mondo reached for one of the balls without thinking, only stopping himself when his memories of the previous days came flooding back like a tidal wave.

Fujisaki. How could he forget, even for a moment? Fujisaki had come to him, seeking help, expressing a desire to become stronger, and what had he done? He'd blacked out. No, that wasn't right - he'd blacked out and killed the kid. Mondo's fists clenched and he drew his hand back. That's right, then there had been a trial, just like the first time someone was found murdered in Hope's Peak Academy. Monobear had called them all down there and they had gone over the evidence. Well, if by "they" he meant Naegi, Kirigiri, and that jackass Togami. First they had outed Fukawa as Genocider Syo, then they'd blamed Togami for altering the crime scene, and then...

...And then the truth had come out. If he hadn't been so careless with what he was saying, Fujisaki's secret would have been safe and he wouldn't have hurt Ishimaru, his aniki. Of course he had noticed the way Ishimaru reacted - the screaming, the denial, the tears, the desperation - and Ishimaru had voted for someone else. Even when he had acknowledged his defeat, Ishimaru hadn't. Ishimaru had believed in him until the very end - but he shouldn't have. He had betrayed not only Fujisaki's trust, but Ishimaru's as well.

It was a good thing he hadn't gotten away with murder though. Mondo doubted he could have lived with himself if he had. Even the execution wasn't that bad - from what little he remembered of it. It could have been worse; he could have been chained to a signpost and bludgeoned to death by millions of baseballs. He still had nightmares about Leon's death. He didn't even know Leon all that well. No, Mondo's death had been relatively quick and he'd gotten to ride a motorcycle one last time. There was something freeing about that, something he doubted he could ever really put into words. His last action had been his favorite. Maybe that was suiting.

So why was he here? Why was he waking up? He was dead, he was sure of that. He was equally sure that this wasn't Hope's Peak. There weren't any windows in the room, which meant that he could be underground, but he doubted Monobear would have let him live after the murder. He hadn't gotten away with it; he hadn't "graduated." So where was he?

Mondo finally got up, snatching the note off the top of the clothes folded on the desk. There was a large, red "R" on the shirt front, but Mondo ignored that for the time being to scan the note. Apparently he was now working for an organization known as "Team Rocket." That title meant nothing to him and he set the note aside, picking up the clothes next. It was a very standard uniform that looked like it would be way too tight-fitting for his taste and Mondo set that aside as well. Finally, he picked up the red-and-white balls, turning them in his hands curiously. He wasn't a Super High-School Level Baseball Player, but he might be able to use them as weapons if he needed to. He tucked those in his pocket and turned to the door. He expected it to be locked. It wasn't.

The hallway was just as nondescript as the room, though the ceilings were a bit low for his liking. Mondo picked a direction at random and started down the hallway, absently wondering if he could find some way back outside. It felt like it had been a long time since he had seen the sun.

He was stopped on his way by a shorter, scrawny man wearing that uniform (yeah, it definitely looked like it would have been too tight on him). The man frowned at him and pointed one gloved finger down the opposite hallway. "You should be heading to your first day of training! Why aren't you in uniform?"

"Fuck off," Mondo replied, shoving the smaller man out of his way. The guy definitely looked older, so he could assume that this wasn't the school. No one else was in the school after all, right? Just the fifteen of them - well, eleven of them now (did he even count anymore?) - and the person controlling Monobear. Mondo brushed that thought aside; this wasn't the school. That was what he would focus on.

He didn't find his way out. His sense of direction had always been good, but that was on the roads, in the open air. He had always gotten turned around in Hope's Peak as well, but never like this. He couldn't believe he'd managed to wander in a circle, finding himself back in front of the room he'd woken up in. Maybe this was some kind of trick; he couldn't move on until he'd gone to his first day of "training" or whatever.

The man in the Rocket uniform came walking down that hallway at just that moment. "Gotten yourself lost, huh?" He sneered. "Just follow this hallway and hook a left. The training facility's there. You'll meet the other new recruits and get started on your two weeks of training."

Two weeks? Like hell he was going to hang around for that long. Mondo rolled his eyes and followed the man's directions, ignoring the shout for him to get back and change his clothes.

The training facility was more decorated than the hallways or the room, and well-lit at that. There were several other young men (wearing that hideous uniform), all gathered in the center of the room, talking quietly. It looked like the instructor hadn't shown up yet. Mondo was tempted to leave, but this might be his best chance to get information on this place. He frowned for a moment, before walking up to join the others. He stood at least a head taller than them, which made him stick out even worse than the clothes he was wearing. Not that he cared.

"What's this "training" gonna consist of anyway?"

None of the other men seemed to know, and Mondo began to wonder just how badly things were going to go. It wasn't like it could be any worse than Enoshima being stabbed through by spears in the gym, right?

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The words got Mondo to flinch away as well. It was just like before, when he had yelled at Fujisaki - Fujisaki hadn't taken it well because he wasn't a girl, Mondo's words hadn't helped at all, and yelling at poor Fujisaki had been what caused the boy to cry in the first place. This wasn't quite the same, but this was his aniki talking to him like this.

Mondo didn't know what to do. He usually had some idea of how to approach a situation (and if he didn't, he'd just act like he knew what he was doing - he couldn't show weakness, after all!) but this was different. He certainly couldn't act like there was nothing wrong, but what was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do? He could get in that elevator and leave Ishimaru to pick himself back up, but he doubted that was the right thing to do. It seemed too cold, especially for someone he called his brother.

After a moment - a very long moment - Mondo finally moved to sit on the floor in front of Ishimaru. He was almost close enough to touch, but he didn't try to reach out. Not yet.

"...I'm sorry. I got carried away." The words were soft, a little uncertain, but genuine. "You're... you're right. I don't need to say things like that. If we're here, then chances are Fujisaki will show up here someday too. I mean, I'm living proof that the dead can be brought here, right?"

The attempt at a joke fell flat and Mondo glanced down at his hands. "I... look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you like that, alright? It's just... being in denial isn't going to help. I want you to know the truth, okay?"

Well, despite Mondo's...clearly mighty command of tact and social grace, his words did seem to have an effect, albeit not an immediately obvious one; it took Ishimaru some time to calm himself down to the point of being able to form coherent words, and actually managing to stop crying was something that was going to have to happen later, but after a while he at least seemed to be breathing properly as opposed to clearly trying not to scream or otherwise crack further.

"F-Fujisaki-kun...we'll...we'll bring her here."

The words were spoken more to the floor than Mondo, really; however, that didn't last long. His head snapped up after that statement was out there, determination in his eyes despite the tears.

"I'll save them...all of them! I won't let you down - I won't let any of them down - and they'll all be brought here with us! You'll...you'll see, I promise you...!"

Mondo was content to sit and wait for Ishimaru to collect himself - he would eventually, right? Sure, he had never seen his friend this shaken, but Ishimaru was strong. He knew Ishimaru would work his way through this despite the, uh... rather messy tears there...

Then Ishimaru did speak, and Mondo wasn't sure what to do with what he was hearing. "You haven't let me down. What are you talking about?" But as he thought about it, it became clear. Ishimaru was blaming himself for the fact that he was the only one here, wasn't he? He hadn't been living in that hell for months, while the others were stuck there, in some kind of weird limbo. Did Ishimaru really believe that it was his duty to bring them all here? Was that even possible?

"Hey, hey, calm down, alright? What are you talking about? Do you know of some way to bring the others here?" A pause. Mondo's expression altered to something clearly confused. "Did... did you bring me here?" Did Ishimaru have some kind of Super High-School Level Magic Power here or something? It sounded ridiculous, but so far everything else he'd heard about this world sounded strange, so why not this?

Ishimaru's initial response to that was to firmly swipe at his eyes, clearly trying to get rid of at least some of the tears before he responded; it wasn't quite...working, as this most recent bout of crying seemed to have decided that damn it, it was going to be a good one, but at the very least he seemed decidedly less distressed when he replied.

"No - if we've found the way to bring people to this world, I have yet to be notified! But there is a way; those now in charge of this organization and I have been theorizing about it since my arrival, and we believe we're close to finding it and harnessing its power! If we can just do that...!"

Those in charge of this organization, huh? "Seems like you've made friends in high places, huh?" And for a brief moment, Mondo smiled. It was nice to see that Ishimaru had made friends here. Even though his earlier thoughts were about how he was sure Ishimaru had made friends, he found it such a relief to hear that.

"So, you guys think there's some way to do that? Well, what is it? I'll help you. We'll bring the rest of our classmates here and then we won't have to worry about Monobear or whoever's behind that fucking thing, and we can actually have a normal life here! ...Well, as normal as our lives get, anyway."

He reached out to touch Ishimaru's knee, still wearing that determined smile. "You're right. We'll bring them here. All of them. Then I can apologize to Fujisaki and the rest. I don't care how hard or impossible it seems, we'll do it together."

That went a long way toward getting Ishimaru to relax, actually, and when he took another swipe at his eyes, this time his face wasn't immediately streaked with tears again. However, there were still some things...things he wasn't entirely sure how to articulate, but needed to be addressed regardless. He took a moment to breathe deeply, to calm himself. Come on. Live up to your title. Do it justice.

"You aren't...angry with me, then?"

Well, it started out well, at any rate; however, he couldn't quite keep himself from seeming hesitant halfway through.

Mondo tipped his head to the side, expression blank. "Angry at you? Why would I be?"

Again, he recalled the idea that Ishimaru was upset with himself for being in this world for so long without managing to bring any of his classmates here. Was he beating himself up over that? That was nothing in comparison to what Mondo had done. ...Not that he'd ever want Ishimaru to ever go through that pain and frustration, and really, what they'd done (or hadn't done) couldn't really be compared, could it?

"You mean for not being able to bring me here sooner? For not being able to bring the rest of us here? Nah, I'm not mad. Time didn't pass where I was. I didn't notice you were gone, and it sure as hell hasn't been months there." He squeezed Ishimaru's knee reassuringly. "Don't beat yourself up over it, alright? If it had been easy to figure out how to bring us all here, I'm sure this place would be overrun by people who brought their friends and family along, right? You don't need to worry about it. We'll find it, I promise you that, as a man! And once we've found it, we'll bring everyone here and we'll live fucking happily ever after! Not even fucking Monobear would stand a chance against us, or the bastard controlling him!"

Ah, right, but he got off topic, didn't he? "I'm not mad at you, alright? I'm sure you've been doing everything you could to find a way to save us, right? So there's nothing to be mad about!"

It took him a moment to process all that, as it wasn't what he was referring to; it was comforting, in its own way, but at the same time...

He shook his head after a moment. Tried again. "Ah, I appreciate that, ani-" He cut himself off abruptly, his hesitation clear; that was part of the issue, wasn't it? Mondo had corrected that himself earlier, and hadn't gone back to using the more familiar term; he didn't understand why, but if they were back on a last-name basis, then that was how it was going to be. "...Oowada-kun." It didn't feel right. "But that wasn't what I meant."

He took another deep breath before continuing; his words were determined and perhaps overly forceful, delivered in the sharp, authoritative tone that he tended to take when he was trying to get some control over the situation. "Was there anything that I could have done to have prevented your actions against Fujisaki-kun, and do you hate me for not having found some way to intervene?"

Mondo had never liked acknowledging his more negative feelings (except perhaps anger, though that one was hard to cover up or ignore); this was no exception. He couldn't help but feel disappointed when Ishimaru went back to calling him by his last name, but it was something he really should have expected. How could they possibly be brothers after what he had done to Fujisaki?

Speaking of Fujisaki, Ishimaru clearly wasn't done discussing that, and Mondo's expression went back to completely clueless. "Huh?" He finally asked, not sure if he was hearing Ishimaru right. "You think I'd be upset with you because you didn't try to stop me from killing Fujisaki?"

That was so far out of left-field that he couldn't even process it properly. Ishimaru had no idea that this was going to happen. He had no idea that Mondo and Fujisaki weren't even in their rooms during Night Time to begin with. How could he have possibly interfered? There was literally no way he could have stopped Mondo, and even if he had been there (for whatever reason), did he really think that he was strong enough to stop Mondo when he was enraged like that? He considered asking, then decided against it. There was no need to say that in a state like that, he might have hurt - or worse, killed - his best friend. The thought alone made his skin crawl and he was quick to look away, working to think up some kind of response.

"Nah, I'm not mad at you. There was no way you could have known. I didn't even know it was going to happen. If I had planned the whole thing out then yeah, maybe you could have seen it coming. I don't really have a good poker face or anything, so I can see where you might blame yourself for not catching on to something like that. But I didn't plan it out at all. I didn't know it was going to happen - I didn't even realize it was happening until I woke up. There really wasn't anything you could have done, ani-- Ishimaru-kun." At least he had gone back to using a less formal honorific? Ishimaru didn't seem mad at him, so he figured that was probably okay.

"Even if there had been some way to prevent all this, by... I dunno, revealing the our secrets or whatever, I still wouldn't blame you. It wasn't your fault. I'm not one to blame other people for my own shortcomings and fuckups, you know? If I did that, I wouldn't be a very good leader, huh? My gang wouldn't have any reason to follow me. I'd be pretty fucking weak if I did that, wouldn't I?"

Despite the sheepish smile, Mondo had to wonder if there was any truth to that last part. It wasn't like he never blamed others for things that were his fault, after all. He wasn't that strong.

"I'm not gonna lie, if you had found some way to stop me, that would have been great. But you were probably asleep in your dorm, like everyone else. No one was around but me and Fujisaki." Well, except Togami, that bastard, but he probably hadn't been in the area around the time of the murder, just while Mondo was moving things afterwards. "I don't blame you. I don't want you blaming yourself either, alright? I know you would have tried to stop me if you could. You're a really good guy, Ishimaru-kun. You wouldn't have let that happen. But the fact is that you weren't there. No one else was. Fujisaki trusted me and I..."

Mondo shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get stuck on that. He had to reassure his friend.

"I'm not mad at you. It's... really presumptuous of me, but I don't think Fujisaki would be mad at you either. You did nothing wrong. 'Sides, if you start blaming yourself for that, you're gonna have to blame everyone else too, right? That's not fair to them either. So don't be so hard on yourself, okay?"

Ishimaru nodded a bit at all that, though his gaze was diverted back down toward the floor for most of it; what Mondo was saying...it made sense, but it still wasn't something that he'd be able to let go of easily. He could tell that much already; just the same, he looked up at Mondo after he was done speaking, and while he wasn't exactly pleased, he seemed calmer, at least.

"I still don't understand why - why it is that you did what you did. You've said something about secrets...the motives from Monobear? Is that what this was about?"

He didn't wait for an answer once that was out there, however. "I don't think it was enough to kill over. But since you're saying that revealing the secrets might have prevented it..."

The implication was clear; while Ishimaru didn't think it was enough to kill over, it was fairly obvious that Mondo did. And while Ishimaru seemed rather unsure of what to think of that, he still had one more thing to say on the matter.

"I don't know what your secret is, what you would kill Fujisaki-kun to protect. Or what Fujisaki-kun's secret could have been, if it enraged you into killing her. I can't think of anything that could be that important. But I'm not going to force you to tell me either yours or hers."

Mondo was silent for a moment. He forced himself to look back at Ishimaru. "I can't tell you her secret. I promised her I wouldn't let anyone know. When she gets here, she can decide if she's ready to tell you. She... she said she wanted to tell everyone, but that she needed to get stronger. I'm sure she'll be ready to tell you someday."

Now that he could think rationally about it, he was rather proud of Fujisaki. He was so strong and so brave, it was admirable. He doubted Fujisaki would ever want anything to do with him again when he arrived, but Mondo would at the very least apologize and make it clear that now that he could think logically about it, he was very pleased to see how strong Fujisaki was becoming. If only he hadn't lost control. Fujisaki would have gotten so much stronger.

"Monobear's motive wasn't the only thing that made me kill Fujisaki, don't get that wrong. I've... kind of got issues with being strong, I guess. I need to be strong to support the gang, you know? But I've always been pretty weak, and seeing Fujisaki being so strong it... well, it pissed me off. I thought she was making fun of me or... something. I don't really remember. I know I yelled at her before I blacked out. I'm not saying it's her fault, 'cause it's not. It's my fault for not being strong enough to overcome that.

"I'm not going to keep the secret from you though. It doesn't really matter here anyway and maybe it can kind of help explain where I'm coming from. Not the... killing Fujisaki thing, but the fact that I'm so... worked up about being strong, I guess."

Mondo stared at his hands, opening and closing them slowly. He wasn't really sure how to put this. It was painful to talk about, but it needed to be said. He really did believe that saying it could help Ishimaru understand him better.

"It was about... my brother. Daiya was older than me, so he founded the Crazy Diamonds. Daiya and Mondo... get it? He picked me for his second and prepared me to take over after he graduated. But people in the gang didn't think I'd live up to Daiya. They were worried that the Crazy Diamonds would fall apart without Daiya's leadership. So... I had to prove myself. I had to prove I was better than him.

"I challenged him to a race. Motorcycle race. On the highway; the sort of thing you'd never approve of, you know?"

He forced a smile, but it quickly disappeared as he continued.

"Daiya was always better than me. I knew that, but I thought that just this once I could beat him. I didn't want him to let me win, but I thought that I could do it. I started losing, so I stopped caring about the usual safety rules and started racing pretty recklessly. I could have gotten myself killed. I almost got myself killed. But Daiya, he..."

Mondo's voice hitched. He cleared his throat, shook his head, and continued, staring back at his hands.

"Daiya pushed me out of the way. If he had been even a second slower, I would've died. But he really was a fucking good racer. He saved me, but in doing so, he got hit. He... he made me promise to keep the gang alive. A man's promise. I told him I would. I told him I'd do anything for the Crazy Diamonds. Daiya died in my arms before he could even get to the hospital."

But the story didn't end there, and Mondo forced himself to keep going, once again swiping an arm across his eyes, almost angrily.

"That's what Monobear threatened to tell everyone - that I killed Daiya. The gang would've split up for sure. They would have been furious with me for killing their leader. I... didn't tell them the truth. I told them that I beat Daiya and when I started winning, he started racing recklessly and got hit. I couldn't tell them the truth; what would they have thought? They would have thought I was weak, that I couldn't be trusted or respected or worth following. I would have broken that promise! So I... I felt I had to lie about it. But Monobear...! He said he was going to reveal our secrets to everyone and if he did, my promise would have been broken anyway! After everything we've gone through, the gang still would've turned on me, I know it.

"I wasn't strong enough to face Daiya's death. I wasn't strong enough to tell the truth. And I sure as hell wasn't strong enough to tell any of you guys. Maybe if I had said something, you guys could have calmed me down or... I dunno, kept me locked up in my room or something. But I didn't. I don't blame you for that - you tried to get everyone to talk. You did what you thought was right, and I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for being so weak as to fall for that in the first place.

"But... there's a difference between what happened with Fujisaki. I killed Fujisaki. I... I took her life. I didn't take Daiya's. His death was my fault, but it's... different. 'I got someone killed' and 'I killed someone' are really different, you know? I still miss Daiya like fuck, but I... don't really feel like his death is totally my fault, you know? I think I can finally come to terms with that. It's Fujisaki's death I'll never be able to atone for and for that I'm... really, really sorry. I made you worry, I made you think that it was your fault somehow. It wasn't. Don't get started thinking that way, alright? Everything I did was my own fault and I don't want you - or anyone else - blaming anyone but me for it."

There were many things that were difficult to understand in Mondo's explanation, especially at first, but the explanation of the secret itself cleared up much of it. He wasn't incorrect in thinking that divulging it would help Ishimaru understand him better; unlike the first...large explanation of the state of things, this was decidedly less overwhelming, for a reason Ishimaru couldn't explain - rather than the odd, panicked look that the previous explanations had gotten, this seemed to quiet him, rendering him rather focused as he took all of it in.

He wasn't going to comment on this entire matter involving Mondo's brother; it wasn't something he felt he could pass judgement on - both because it wasn't his place to do that, and because it struck him rather hard as something he couldn't begin to understand in the first place. He had never experienced loss like that; he couldn't imagine what it would be like, much less comprehend having to keep the true circumstances of that loss such a large secret at all times.

But there was something in the explanation that troubled him; It took him a moment to articulate it, and when he finally managed something, it was incredibly unsure-sounding.

"I'm not going to keep blaming you, Oowada-kun."

He paused for a moment, then nodded again, as though confirming it to himself; the rest of his statements were quick to build in confidence, leading back to the usual volume and strength that he insisted on presenting at all times.

"I'm not unfamiliar with administering punishment to those who have committed some sort of wrongdoing - as the leader of the disciplinary committee, my assigned duties required it! And in the name of honor and personal integrity, I never punish those who have committed some sort of wrongdoing beyond what would be seen as fair and just! You...you mentioned being executed for what you did to Fujisaki-kun; while I don't agree with what happened, you accepted your punishment. There would be no sense in continuing to punish you further!"

He still didn't like mentioning the execution; just the same, he managed to recover from the falter well enough to continue. A mild stumble, nothing more.

"And outside of my title and duties as Super High-School Level Hall Monitor, I will do whatever I can to support and assist you! Should you still feel guilt over not immediately confessing in the trial, consider your guilt alone to be your punishment; you won't be receiving anything further from me - I will not turn on you, hold this against you or otherwise consider you weak, because you are my brother and aniki, you are one of the strongest people I know!"

Mondo opened his mouth to protest Ishimaru's first statement - he was wrong not to blame him; it was his fault, everything was his fault, and there was no way he'd ever get over the guilt of killing Fujisaki and then lying about it and nearly getting the others killed-- but Ishimaru was faster. He kept going, leaving Mondo to stare at him, speechless. Of course he knew what Ishimaru's Super High-School Level talent was, but he hadn't really thought about it like that. If anyone knew the correct way to punish someone for their crimes, it was Ishimaru, wasn't it? He did have a point, didn't he?

But then those last words hit and Mondo couldn't stop himself. He reached out to grab Ishimaru and pull him into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he did so. He was not going to cry, dammit!

"An-aniki..." He tried to start, but he couldn't quite find the rest of the sentence and found himself shaking instead. He figured Ishimaru would take that badly and would probably try to get a better look at him and dammit, he wasn't going to let Ishimaru see him cry because fuck, he was stronger than that! ...Not that it meant Ishimaru was weak when he cried but... Oh whatever! It's not like it mattered anyway!

"Y-you're too fucking good to me, you know that?" He finally managed.

If he was going to be perfectly honest, Ishimaru had never had any friends before Hope's Peak - that was honestly the only good thing that he could say had come of their situation, and even if it was a relatively thin silver lining in comparison to the hell they were being put through, he was sure he would never regret this bond he had formed with Mondo. From the sound of it, it was going to be short-lived - but that wasn't anything he was going to dwell on. Not now.

However, the lack of friendship and positive social interaction in general before this meant that he was completely and utterly unsure of what to do when suddenly pulled into an embrace in such a manner; Ishimaru was never opposed to physical contact or anything, but things outside of brief open-hand touches on the shoulder or playful slaps on the back were more than a bit foreign. The result, therefore, was probably something akin to putting a sweater on a small dog - it becomes comfortable enough after a while, but there's still a good long bit of time where the animal in question just sort of freezes up in complete bewilderment until it gets its bearings.

...yes, it was more or less exactly like that, really.

So for a few moments that seemed far longer than they possibly could have been in reality, he simply allowed Mondo to hug him, his hands hovering awkwardly over Mondo's sides without quite making contact; however, once he became aware of that odd shaking that Mondo was doing...well. He managed to refrain from pulling back to check what was going on, though he had to admit that he was tempted; he was fairly sure he had a good idea, however.

He shifted a bit to make the position as a whole more comfortable, kneeling down and settling back on his heels before allowing himself to make contact properly. Admittedly, he was still just kind of...awkwardly pressing his hands against Mondo's back gingerly as though he wasn't quite sure what to do, but he wasn't going to make Mondo break contact with him and he wasn't going to try to force eye contact, either.

"It's what I'm here for, aniki, don't worry."

...Well, he probably should have expected a reaction like that... Ishimaru was mostly talk when it came to friendship, Mondo had noticed. He was a little odd, sure, but who wasn't?

"Yeah... yeah, I'm not worrying." Though the hitch in his voice probably said more than he wanted it to. Mondo finally pulled back after a little while, rubbing at his eyes again in what he hoped was a discreet manner but was really just incredibly obvious. There was no sense in hugging on his friend all day, that was both a waste of the day and really awkward.

When he finally faced Ishimaru again, he was grinning like nothing had happened. "Well? Are you just gonna make me sit in this stuffy place all day? C'mon, let's go outside!"

Awkward indeed; it wasn't a voluntary reaction at all, but Ishimaru was rather obviously relieved when Mondo let go of him, allowing himself to let out a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding until that moment and raking a hand backwards through his hair.

The reaction was a brief one, however, and he was quick to laugh, the sound light; he pushed himself to his feet easily, meeting that smile of Mondo's with one of his own. "Yes, yes, of course! I just ask that you have patience for a few minutes longer - I can't go out dressed like this."

"I guess I can see why; it's not your usual uniform, huh?" But even as he said it, Mondo had to wonder if that was right. Was there something more to this organization? Team Rocket didn't exactly sound like a group that supported fucking puppies and rainbows. "Or is there something you're not telling me?" He teased.

That got something of a startled noise, even as Ishimaru turned back to call the elevator. "If you think I would desecrate my uniform by modifying it to this extent...!"

While it would have been hard to tell whether he was serious or not based solely on his voice inflection - Ishimaru tended to have one volume, after all - his expression was playful enough. "It won't take long at all; I'll show you where my room is located at the same time, so you'll know where to find me later."

"Yeah, that would probably involve a lot of sewing. I can't see you being any good at it."

And just like that, things were back to normal between them. That was probably a bad sign, wasn't it? Things weren't supposed to go back to normal so quickly, were they? It's not like this had any precedence; people didn't usually go through things like this, so how was he supposed to know if everything was okay? Well, either way, Ishimaru didn't seem mad and was even calling him aniki again. Things seemed right with the world, and Mondo was desperate for them to stay that way.

...Not desperate enough to kill, however. He'd never go there again.

"Yeah, sure, sounds like a good idea. Lead on!"

Stepping onto the elevator for the second time brought with it that familiar bolt of trepidation; again, while the elevator had never done anything strange, in Ishimaru's experience, he still found himself pressing back against the wall while the button was pushed, fingers curling tightly around the railing running the perimeter of the car, knuckles turning white.

About the only thing that bothered him more than being in here when the doors slid closed behind them was the idea of taking the seven floors down in silence; he was clearly trying to keep his voice controlled as he spoke, though it was obviously wavering more than he would have liked.

"It...doesn't really get easier, unfortunately..."

Mondo stepped onto the elevator as well, taking up his usual spot by the wall - close enough to touch it, but not actually touching it, folding his arms as if this wasn't bothering him at all. He probably should have moved to a different spot, to make this seem less like that fucking ride down to the courtroom, but he didn't want to move and draw attention to himself--

Then Ishimaru spoke and Mondo realized that his friend was just as troubled by the elevator as he was. He didn't have to pretend that this didn't bother him. He dropped his arms back to his sides.

"Ah, yeah? That's a shame. One thing I never thought I'd be bothered by. Elevators. Man, fuck Monobear."

Something about that sentence amused him greatly - possibly the fact that it was the first time he could say it without worrying about the bear in question popping up and either chewing him out or going on some rambling speech that bordered on terrifying. Mondo tried to stifle the urge to laugh. He failed.

"We're free. We're fucking free, aniki! Who cares if this is a different world? We're no longer under that bastard's thumb! We can do what we want here! We don't have to kill anymore and no one has to get hurt!" He laughed, a bit too loudly and a bit too joyously. "We're free."

Mondo had never liked being cooped up in one place, but he had never really understood the meaning of freedom until this moment, and it didn't matter how crazy it made him sound, he just needed to laugh about it. Who would have thought this would be how things ended for him?

Ishimaru's initial reaction to that was probably best described as nervous tittering - the sort of laughter that occurs when one isn't quite sure why they're laughing, but they suspect they may be punched or something if they don't. However, after a moment Mondo's words started to sink in; it was something that he had known for quite some time, but hearing them voiced from someone else that was from his own world, who wouldn't pity him or think he was crazy if he tried to explain the Monobear situation...

"You're right, my brother!" He laughed then, properly, the sound strangely wild. "Fuck Monobear!"

...that likely would have worked a bit better if he didn't seem immediately startled by his own vulgarity; the look on his face made it more than clear that in saying that, he'd probably broken about half a million self-imposed rules and it was quite possibly his duty as a hall monitor to hurl himself off the roof of the building as soon as possible.

After a good moment in which his brain quite visibly provided him with no reaction but pure and utter static, however, he promptly folded his arms over his chest, looking more than slightly defensive. "Free though we may be, you are never going to inform anyone that I said that just now!" Thankfully, the elevator reached its destination then, and he could use the excuse of getting off the thing to cover the fact that he'd thoroughly embarrassed himself; he imagined Mondo would follow him anyway, but still.

"Why, aniki, aren't you the one always telling me I shouldn't be so crass?" Mondo teased, nudging Ishimaru's arm with a wink. "You'll get used to it soon enough! Then you won't be able to stop saying it! It'll be 'fuck this, fuck that, fuck everything'!"

He laughed again and followed Ishimaru off the elevator, mood much better than it had been when they first went up. "Ah, c'mon, no one would believe me anyway. You? Cussing? Yeah right, come the fuck on." Again, Mondo slapped Ishimaru on the back. "You want me to promise you though?" Despite the joking tone of voice, he was serious.

Ishimaru just glanced back at him at that last question; poor at reading social cues though he may have been, he was aware that Mondo didn't say things like that unless he was being entirely serious about it, regardless of tone. He seemed to consider for a moment before grinning again, turning to look at him briefly. "While I appreciate the offer, I'll take my chances."

His room was easy enough to find; it was incredibly nondescript, as he hadn't been bothered to decorate it any, though what few personal things he had lying around - mostly books and the like, though there was a narrow case containing what few Gym Badges he'd obtained on the desk, along with some writing materials - were organized to the point of looking unnatural.

Despite that, however, it seemed that not much had changed in the modesty department (or perhaps more accurately, the lack thereof) - once the door had closed behind them, he clearly saw no issue with getting changed right then and there. "Again, it shouldn't take long; did you examine the things you found in your own room when you woke up, by any chance?"

Ishimaru's room was as clean and organized as expected, but Mondo had expected to find... well, more in it. It didn't look much different from the room he woke up in this morning. Couldn't Ishimaru at least decorate his room to make it feel a bit more like home? Or maybe he was planning on moving out of this base and getting a real house! It sounded like too much work (and effort) to Mondo, but he wouldn't be surprised if Ishimaru was saving up for his own place. Ishimaru really was like an adult in most ways.

He wasn't surprised when Ishimaru started getting changed in front of him, but he did turn his attention to the strange case on the table, reaching for it without waiting for permission. He opened it and glanced at the shiny pieces of metal, lifting an eyebrow and setting the case down without asking.

"Huh? Oh yeah, there was some note from Team Rocket or whatever, that hideous outfit they wanted everyone to wear, and..." He reached into his pocket and held up the red-and-white balls, "these. I've got no idea what they do, but I figured I'd better take them with me. They look important. There might have been other things, but I was more focused on getting out of there. I... wasn't sure if we were in the basement of the school or something."

LOCKED TO ardent

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