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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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"I..."

Well, that last part certainly got him to look up, at the very least; the general sense of confusion was back, though at the very least he had managed to not start crying again. "Y-You're too good to me, aniki." He shook his head a bit once that was out there. "But I've never...you're the first friend that I've had, so I..."

...really obviously had no idea what to do with this, um.

The... first friend? That wasn't possible, was it? Surely he'd had other friends when he was a kid? He seemed a bit distant from their classmates, sure, but that was now. It wasn't possible that he was Ishimaru's first friend, was it?

But the more he thought about it, the more he realized it could be possible. Ishimaru wouldn't lie to him - and what could be gained from a lie like this anyway? No, he really was Ishimaru's first friend.

So after a moment, Mondo ruffled his friend's hair again, back to grinning widely.

"Well! I'm honored! You're one of the best friends I've had in a long time." It was true that they hadn't known each other for very long, but there were some connections that could be forged instantly. This was one of them. "And don't say that; I'm not too good to you." Though he deflected it with a laugh, he really did believe that. If he had been a better person, he wouldn't have caused Ishimaru to suffer through that trial, even if he didn't remember it now. That wasn't something he wanted to think about though, and Mondo brushed the thought aside for the time being.

He ducked away from the hair-ruffling a bit that time, though it was more to preserve his pride than anything, and it wasn't far enough of a flinch to prevent it from happening anyway. "I wouldn't say it if it weren't true!" His voice was light, however, and he was clearly unaware of whatever Mondo was thinking in regards to the truthfulness of the statement. "But I would like to explore the city with you - maybe tomorrow, I can find time."

"Great! I'm sure there are all sorts of fucking awesome things to see around here!" Mondo was perfectly content to move on from that topic of conversation. "It'll be great!"

"And I'll talk to those in charge about transportation - it's possible you may have your motorcycle eventually!"

...

"Although I'm not going to get on it with you, if you don't mind!"

"What? Seriously? But it's so much fun! There's nothing in the world like it, aniki! Come on, you've gotta come with me at least once! It'll blow your mind! You'll never want to ride in a car again!" He would have pointed out that he was a safe driver, but considering that mess with Daiya, it was probably best not to say anything.

...What on earth did he just start...

"A-Ah - no, no, that's quite all right!"

"No way, you've got to come with me! You haven't really lived until you've driven a motorcycle! ...Well, I mean, you'd just be riding, not driving, but it's still pretty close! Oh man, it's fucking awesome! How could you turn that down?"

"I've lived rather well without it until now, I...I don't see why I couldn't continue living rather well...!"

"You're coming with me." It was rather obvious by that tone that Mondo had made up his mind. "You don't have a choice."

"...Why...?"

Even when Ishimaru was plainly wanting to flat-out complain, it was clear that that was Not Good Conduct; as such, he managed to keep the whine out of his voice, but the intent likely came across anyway.

"No complaining! It's gonna change your life and you'll thank me for it!" And with that, Mondo slapped Ishimaru on the back, grinning. "You'll love it!"

"I-If you say so, aniki..."

He hesitated for a moment. Dear lord...

"What...what is it that you like about it so much, anyway?"

"Everything! The freedom, the wind in your hair, the speed... it's like, getting away from everything in the world and just living in the moment, you know? You can stop and enjoy just being alive."

It sounded kind of lame, but he wasn't really sure how else to put it into words. "It's what I do to relax! I mean, sure I love racing, but just travelling wherever the fuck you wanna go without anyone telling you what to do... it's the best feeling in the world, aniki."

Judging from the look on Ishimaru's face, all that explanation did was make him calculate the speed at which society would completely dissolve into anarchy and fall apart if everyone lived like that; however, he managed to keep himself from saying anything along those lines - this was obviously important to his brother, and as such it didn't seem right to criticize, either.

For a brief moment, he wondered what the other members of the disciplinary committee would say if they saw him now. Actually considering doing something like this with a known delinquent...? Wasn't he supposed to be setting some sort of example? This was completely reckless, to say nothing of dangerous on many levels, and -

"All right."

...and this was his best friend. His aniki. And if he was going to be honest with himself, the disciplinary committee would have abandoned him the second they saw what he had done here in Johto.

Mondo hadn't.

"If it's that important to you, my brother, I'll go with you!"

"Fuck yeah!" Mondo punched a fist in the air happily. "Man, I can't wait to ride again! It feels like it's been forever!"

...Well, not counting the execution, but he figured that was something that didn't need to be brought up.

Had he been aware of Ishimaru's thoughts, he would have been incredibly pleased (and horribly embarrassed). Of course he was going to stand by Ishimaru. He promised.

"I'll make sure to get you a helmet too, since I think riding without one would just about kill you." He teased.

"You say that as though I would have considered doing otherwise!" While he wasn't being entirely serious, it was rather plain that this wasn't an option. "I'm not going to stand by breaking rules left and right, you know, no matter how pleased I am that you're here now!"

"Yeah, it would be pretty fucking ridiculous if you changed on that." But Mondo seemed pleased anyway. Ishimaru seemed like the last person to ever get on a motorcycle, but he was willing to do it anyway! Maybe he should have felt bad about trying to get Ishimaru to join him. Naaaah, he'd enjoy it!

If by 'enjoy it' Mondo meant 'spend the entire time clinging with his face buried in Mondo's jacket, probably screaming his head off the entire time,' then yes, Ishimaru would probably enjoy it!

...At this rate, he'd have a heart attack by the time he turned twenty.

"I'll talk to our superiors, then! I'm sure they'll at least have information on where such things can be obtained!"

It would be just like a roller coaster ride! Except a lot less safe! Fuck yeah!!

"Sounds great! I can't wait!" Ah, actually, speaking of their superiors... "Hey, you didn't get in trouble for ditching the other guys this morning, did you?"

"...They weren't exactly pleased, no..." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "A-Ah, but don't let it concern you, aniki, my record is good! Things come up sometimes, this world is unpredictable. I owe one of them a full explanation tomorrow, but I meet with him regularly; he'll understand."

"You sure? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble on my behalf. I can talk to him, if you need me to." Not that he would be very good at that. Mondo had never gotten along well with authority figures (well, besides Daiya). Still, if it would help Ishimaru, he'd try.

"I can handle it! You just concern yourself with getting used to this place!"

He grinned after that, clearly trying to lighten things up at least somewhat. "And besides, it was both my choice and more than worth it!"

He didn't doubt that Ishimaru could handle it on his own - he was the Super High School Level Hall Monitor, after all - but it was still nice to see Ishimaru so confident about it. "Ah, yeah, really?" Of course spending time with Ishimaru was worth it, but today had been... pretty crappy in comparison to the time they had spent together in Hope's Peak. Sure, the situation back home was horrible, but they had enjoyed their time together. It was nice to hear that Ishimaru still enjoyed today, even if there had been a lot of painful conversations.

"Thanks. I guess." That didn't make it any less awkward, or embarrass Mondo any less.

"Of course. You're here now. Why wouldn't getting to spend time with my brother again have been worth it?" The question was a blunt one, as opposed to anything pointed or sarcastic; he continued without giving any sort of opening for an answer, however. "I would never regret it!"

LOCKED TO ardent

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