And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. -Revelations 21:4
Status: Survived
The doors are open, and a crowd of people stand waiting as the seven survivors make their way out of the archive.
Eisuke freezes, scarcely able to believe his eyes. After so many long weeks of worry... she's alive. They're both alive. His mother and sister are there waiting for him.
He slowly drops the bags he's carrying, and Mika runs toward him, practically leaping at him, and the Hanae siblings are reunited at last.
The entirety of his backstory. It's long, brace yourselves.
 The Hanae family's problems began a long time before Eisuke was born. Misaki Hanae is an only child, as are her parents. She grew up in a rougher part of town, and eventually went away to university as a way not only to escape that, but to escape her parents, who were distant at best. They were good people, they just weren't good parents.
In university, Misaki met Kensuke Ozawa, and then two began dating partway through their first year. Things were going well â it was pretty casual. Kensuke was persistent about having sex for the first time, and Misaki finally relented during second year.
And then she became pregnant.
She knew that she would be unable to balance full time school with parenting and, her own history of having distant parents present in her mind, she dropped out of school and moved in with Kensuke. It went downhill from there. She was stuck with an infant son and a boyfriend whose abuses grew slowly but steadily.
She started talking about moving out, maybe giving the relationship some space, but her second pregnancy changed that. Eisuke was two years old when Mika was born. And by the time Eisuke was four, the abusive relationship had escalated into physical assault. It happened most nights, after the kids had been sent to bed. But Misaki felt trapped in the relationship and couldn't fight back.
What changed was the night Eisuke and Mika went downstairs around midnight, after Mika had a nightmare. They walked right in on the beating in progress. Kensuke, really drunk and this point, threatened to beat the kids if they said anything, but Eisuke managed to call the cops. He was too scared to say anything, being four at the time, but they traced the location, arrived just in time, and had Kensuke arrested and the others brought to hospital. This is the episode on playback in the nightmare machine.
Misaki had nowhere to go, really. Only twenty-four, with two kids and no financial independence, and with no siblings, aunts, uncles, or cousins â she returned home, the last thing she wanted to do.
And so, Eisuke and Mika grew up in the same rough neighbourhood that Misaki had, except that it had gotten worse in the last few years. Crime rates were up, general safety was down. The house was built for three, not five, and Misaki was still looking for work. Two paychecks were spread thin across five mouths, and Eisuke's grandparents were still distant as ever.
The first years of their lives were just like that. Eisuke was athletic, but the exercise afforded him greater strength to keep himself safe just on the walks home from school. Misaki picked up multiple part time jobs to cover costs, as well as the odd night course at the local university, and with all that, she rarely saw her own children. All the while, Eisuke's grandparents grew more resentful toward Misaki for putting this kind of strain on the household, but they couldn't bear to kick her out altogether. But the strain was not good, and they didn't always have enough money to pay for food, or heat, or new clothes. Not a healthy existence, really. But did they ever try their hardest to survive in their situation.
At school, Eisuke was the competitive sort, of course. He burned that part of his nature in track and field competitions, but it was also what kept his grades up. Mika was more of an artist herself, but she enjoyed intramural soccer too. Mika was also picked on relentlessly by some of the boys at their school, boys in the grade between the two Hanaes, and did not stop despite repeated threats from Eisuke. Mika told him to cool off, basically, and said it wasn't a big deal, but Eisuke clearly remembered Misaki's relationship with Kensuke.
Speaking of Kensuke, he was eventually released, but Misaki cut all ties with him. He met a premature end when Eisuke was eleven â killed in a car crash. After many years of absence, Misaki did actually show up at the funeral. It did not end well; she spat on his casket and was chased out by the rest of the Ozawas.
Around the age of fourteen, Eisuke finally had enough with Mika's bullies. They trashed her sketchbook, and he finally lost it. He beat the shit out of the ringleader so badly that the kid was hospitalised, and Eisuke was suspended for a full year.
In this school-less interim, three things happened. The first was that Eisuke picked up his first part time job. Yes, working that young was illegal, but there were far worse things going on in that neighbourhood. He always saved some for himself and put the rest into the family funds. The second was that Misaki graduated business school at long last, completing the degree she had put on hold so many years ago. In the following year, she quit her dead end job, entered a business career, and the family moved out of that area of town into something much more teenager-friendly. And finally, Eisuke's boyfriend introduced him to parkour, that weird but cool European sport that Eisuke totally fell in love with. Through online research he self taught, and decided that one day he would travel to Europe to take part in some official competitions.
Eisuke was held bck a year, of course, but in his first year of high school, with the money he had raised as well as some subsidising from his mother, Eisuke travelled to Italy and entered his first parkour competition. He did surprisingly well for someone self taught, and knew that this was what he wanted to devote himself to.
He got together an application to go on exchange to France for his second year of high school, which went through. There, he travelled all over Europe, entering every available competition, and climbing higher and higher in the rankings, right to the very top. He also found roles in movies, either as a stunt double or as minor characters who were really there just to showcase cool running skills, and Eisuke enjoyed this line of work immensely. He also became fluent in English and French at this time.
This was the same year he had the media scandal. He had left behind a boyfriend, Kenichirou [different one, not the one who introduced him to parkour], but while in France he met up with a girl named Rachelle, with whom he was instantly smitten. Eisuke and Rachelle had a very good relationship and dated for many months, before she found out about Kenichirou. Instead of confronting her boyfriend, she contacted Kenichirou, and the two of them conspired. Not cool. The story broke to the media the same day it broke to Eisuke, and for months all he saw in the media about himself was that he was a dirty cheater, dishonest, and so on and so on. Needless to say he retreated from any semblance of public life for a while.
Apparently Hope's Peak Academy didn't think so lowly of him, though, because some time after returning from France [he left partway through the last semester], he received a letter of invitation. Knowing that his attendance of the school would only serve to improve the state of the Hanae family, he jumped at it. It wasn't his own career or reputation in mind, but his mother Misaki and his sister Mika. They were and are the two most important things in his life, and everything he did was devoted to them and their well-being.
After a few moments, Tsunami took a few deep breaths, folding her arms across her chest, hugging herself. âInvestigating.. we are definitely going to have to be careful. Who knows what else we could trigger.â
Upon hearing his question, she shook her head. âWe havenât found anything on these floors. That just leaves the second and first floors along with the basement.. Though.â
Tsunami went ahead towards the stairs, leading down. âIf.. the mastermind decides to fire anything else at me, I think it would be best for us if I parted ways here. We donât need.. more people being injured than necessary.â
She didnât give them time to argue about it, and descended the stairs, probably clean up.
A horrified expression formed on her face upon realizing just what Tsunami meant.Â
"M-Mitsuki-kun-!" She tried to call out, but stopped, knowing just how futile her efforts would be. After all, the choreographer was right. If there was only one target, then it wouldnât be good to stay near them⌠Akira grit her teeth and stifled a sob.
"Damn it⌠Damn itâŚ" She forced herself to regain composure and turned to Eisuke again. "âŚI⌠Had a plan to explore the second floor with her, but⌠If you donât want to endure the risk, then I understand."  Slowly, she took in a deep breath and began to speak again.
"I was supposed to take the atlas room, adultâs section, and courtyard, while she would take everything but the biographies room⌠Then, I would meet her in said room to help her skim through biographies in case we missed something⌠Or something was added recently."
"In that case," he said, "How 'bout you do that, and I'll take the ground floor, maybe with one o' the others. I don't think we got much time left b'fore the trial anyway." He absently glanced around, as if looking for a clock, and of course did not find any. "We'll meet up again later."
Tsunami agreed to the way they would take the second floor, and was about to take off once more, before the harpoon stopped her head in her tracks. She wasnât able to look at it, only read the note before she was being pulled away. Trying her best to run, she stumbled a bit due to the amount of shaking she had been doing, and stopped when she heard Eisuke.
For once in her life, Tsunami actually.. looked spooked, and was shaking to no end. Having her life flash before her eyes probably contributed to this a lot. If she were standing anymore forward, there was no doubt she would be greatly injured, no, sheâd be as good as dead.
"There was.. there was a.. I donât. know. Why did it say that."
Breathing hard, partially due to her panicking, Akira explained the situation to Eisuke in between pants.
"A harâŚpoon⌠A fucking⌠Harpoon⌠Almost killed⌠Mitsuki-kun⌠Out of nowhereâŚ" She was extremely anxious. Simply standing there was a death wish, but was there really anywhere to run? The place could have been littered with traps just waiting to be sprung. The fact that the harpoon only came recently from the arcade proved that.
"Of course it wouldnât be this easy⌠That scumbag would never let it be this simpleâŚ"
"You're shittin' me..." he muttered, "There's more traps in here? Jesus."
That was real ad. He'd figured all of the traps were in the basement, that they were safe on the upper levels. But if the whole archive was trapped, that made investigating a hell of a lot more dangerous.
"So, er, what're we gonna do 'bout investigatin' now? And did I miss any freaky pieces of evidence while I was gone?"
"Figures.. There are so many rooms here, itâs hard to point one out and find evidence. This is pretty time consuming, but itâs not like we can help it. Either way, there wasnât anything in the gym nor ballroom of interest."
This time around she didnât look through very many rooms, so she could afford to look a bit more on the next floor down. She was quick, it wouldnât take very long for her.Â
"Well, that leaves the second and first floor, as well as the basement. Is there any way you want to go about doing the next floor?"
The rooms of the second floor had some more rooms related to the victim and the most likely suspect so far. Of course, going through an entire biography wouldnât be possible before a trial.
"To switch things up, I can tackle the three biggest rooms: the atlas room, the⌠Adultâs section, and the courtyard while you can handle the mural room, . And then I can meet you back in the biographies room to help you skim through. Maybe thereâs something we overlooked." Akira shrugged. She hadnât paid much attention to most of the deceasedâs biographies and Hotaruâs was no exception.
In the middle of their conversation that presumably led itself to the arcade for some odd reason, the harpoon CAME IN LIKE A WREEECKING BALL, leaving no time for Akira to even scream. She just stared at the note for a few seconds in stunned silence before grabbing Tsunamiâs hand and breaking into a run.
"Damn itâWe canât stay here-!" She could not let Tsunami die. She couldnât. Her only hope was not allowed to dieâŚ
Eisuke returns at this point from a very quick shower. Heâs also changed clothes, and the firefly blood is all washed off. He goes back upstairs to where he left the two girls but finds that theyâve moved on, so he heads back down and searches them out.
He finds them by the noise, the loud crash and the shouts, and spots them running.
"The fuck happened here?" he called, catching up to them.
After leaving the room, she had followed Eisuke to Himikoâs room, looking in briefly before being driven out by the scent of blood. After that, she just waited in the hallway waiting for him and Akira. When he finished up, she just nodded.
â..Iâd hate to see whatâs in my own room. Iâm glad itâs locked.â No, Tsunami had a good idea of what her demise would be were she ever to murder. Talk about Dance Dance Revolution. Sheâd be rather surprised if dancing werenât involved. What a fun way to go out, right?
"Might as well."
With that she went on first, heading up the stairs pretty quickly. Waste no time.
Akira almost questioned why she was doing this. She wasnât really helping. She just kept getting so disgusted with the scenery of the rooms. With a grimace, she quickly tailed after Tsunami, though she really didnât want to think of her own execution. Why would she even have one set up? Perhaps the mastermind underestimated her⌠That could only be the case. Even after everything, her will was still going strong.
Eisuke glanced down at his gore-covered clothing. It was probably Hotaru's blood, now that he thought of it. Somehow, he was far less revolted than he thought he should be. That was a scary thought - the archive had clearly desensitised him.
"I'm gonna go change clothes," he said, "'N maybe have a shower. I'll come back later." With that he headed downstairs, leaving the two girls to continue working.
As she watching him spin the wheel over and over, then watching him get ready to leave, she decided to speak again.
"No matter how many times we spin it, the wheel lands on her so.. that obviously is a sign that when Tachibana-san spun it, someone had rigged it to land on her. Who did it and why, we canât be sure for right now."
Going to the edge of the stage, she sat down and scooted off of it instead of just jumping. âThough, if we assume the worst, then a lot of things seem to add up. Iâm not saying to jump to conclusions as of right now, but.. Just keep an eye out.âÂ
God. The evidence just continued to point at Hotaru. Why? They grieved. They felt deep regret over not being able to do anything. If this was true, then it was all for naughtâŚ
âŚBut that would be the point, right? Akira reached up to briefly pull at her own hair. She wanted to scream, but there were better things to do than scream. Gritting her teeth, she slowly began to follow Eisuke.
From the movie duo's room, Eisuke proceeded in turn to Himiko, Fuuka, and Kakemono's rooms. Himiko's room contained the stage on which she had died, and the other two rooms had a bunch of unfamiliar machinery that he assumed were executions meant for them. There was nothing suspicious, though. Absently, Eisuke wondered what was in his own room...
"I don't see much else here. Wanna go up a floor?"
As they went back into the room, Tsunami frowned a bit at it, but shook it off. Now wasnât the time to be fooling around if she had any hope of escaping. Leaving her spot, she walked over to the stage where Hotaruâs last moments were made, pulling herself up onto it.
"Thereâs a lot of stuff off about this room. I think you should see this at least."
Getting herself more bloody than she already was, she grabbed the flyswatter and lifted it up once more, using some effort herself to hold it up. She was strong but good lord. Underneath the flyswatter is some black tape that forms an âXâ.Â
"I wouldnât stand on it for very long. Itâs really unstable. It seems like a trap door, but I think itâs locked from the inside."
Reluctantly, the girl opened her eyes and forced herself to watch Tsunami. She took in a deep breath. What did that âXâ even mean?
"U-UrghâŚ" she exhaled. Whether that was a sound of disgust or deep thought is unclear. Of course she was tempted to pick the lock, but the last time she tried to pick one, it didnât go well. "âŚI really⌠Hate to think⌠About what this could meanâŚ" Was that execution all a ruse? Was Hotaru⌠Alive?
Eisuke kicked the x on the floor with his foot, and it rattled slightly. "It's a trapdoor. I dunno what it means, and it's locked."
He then went over to the wheel. "And get this." He spun it hard and when it finally stopped, it landed on Hotaru's name. He spun it twice more, and twice more it landed on her. He cocked an eyebrow. "You can try it out for yourself. I'm gonna check around other rooms."
A few moments after Eisuke had emerged from the room, Tsunami appeared from it as well. After the announcement finished, she and her quick walking went to investigate the rooms pretty quickly. After figuring out hers wouldnât open, the next one she had tried had been Hotaru  and Minoruâs, where she had seen him already at work.
There had been a bit of blood on her as well, but not as much.
Akira often had trouble standing the smell and appearance of blood. Recently, she hadnât been as fazed by it, but then again, Asahi mightâve just been an exception. Especially because there wasnât as much. She winced, then shut her eyes, breathing slowly. Now was not the time to be squeamish. After a few seconds, she managed to calm herself down and speak.
"This room's... this is where they got killed," he said hesitantly, "It's the execution chamber." He gestures for her to come inside, and from there a stage is visible with the giant bloody flyswatter that killed Hotaru. Over there is the stage for Minoru's execution, although it's been cleaned of blood, apparently. In the back is the wheel that was spun before Hotaru was killed.
All or Nothing, Now or Never | (Eisuke+Tsunami+Akira)
After Monobearâs odd little meltdown, Akira uttered only a few words of the utmost grace.
"What the hell, bear?â Heâd usually say these things in person, not to mention that there was a strangely profuse amount of stuttering in his speech. Akiraâs âonii-sanâ wasnât frightening at all either. What the hell, indeed. As she was no longer afraid of death, she brushed the last sentence off and turned to the stairs right away.
"Well, whatever. Letâs get cracking then. Our lives are at stake, and weâre certainly more important than whoeverâs behind this." Akira strode off, beckoning whoever was willing to follow.
Eisuke heard footsteps in hall. He had been a floor down, just about to tart in on the weight room when the announcement happened, so of course he had gone straight upstairs and began exploring. Hearing the others, though, he steps out of the room marked with Hotaru and Minoru's faces. His hands and shirt are smeared with blood. Real nice.
"Yo," he says, seeing Akira and Tsunami, "You ain't gonna guess what's in here."
Itâs been nearly a day since the bizarre execution of Kiyomitsu, when Monobear announce loudly over the speakers to gather by the check out desk.
Heâs nowhere to be found, and suddenly his voice rings out from the speakers.Â
"Sorry about our little impromptu showââŚit seems she was one step ahead of me. Upupupu. She canât bother us anymore, since sheâs dead, though."Â
HmmâŚwhy isnât the bear showing himself? This is just strange.
"She wonât be getting a trial, so donât worryâ"
"She wonât be getting a trialâ? Why notâŚ?"
Itâs Akihikoâs voice that cuts off Monobearâs.
"B-because! Sh-she broke the rules!"
"SheâŚwhat? What did she do?"
You can sense Monobearâs agitation from the other end.
"âŚShe broke into the rooms in the top floor! The exe-âŚ.uh, upupupu! You know what? Iâm in a BEAAAAAARY generous mood today, soâŚ! The trial of Kiyomitsu Tachibana will be held soon. You may investigate the rooms she even broke into."
"âŚbut if even one of you votes wrong in this trialâŚall of you will die! Thank Trash Prince!"
There was story behind her vague knowledge of lock picking. After her brother managed to get past the locked door she accidentally shut, Akira couldnât contain her curiosity and tried to reenact things again and again. She eventually did find out, but then again, that was just a push-button lock. Nothing too complicated. Was that really enough?
"Just a little. Ha, I⌠Must seem crazy." An amused smile. Usually sheâd sit back and let the others do the dangerous things, but now she was driving headfirst into something that could very well get her in trouble. She couldâve said something more comforting, but that wouldâve been a lie. Akira hated lying. She wasnât even good at it. The only alternative was just not saying anything at all, and a suddenly dead kaichou wouldâve been much worse.
Well, she was still going to refrain from saying too much. Something like âif I die, runâ wouldâve been unnecessarily worrisome even though she was thinking it. Eisuke was probably fast enough. He could quickly tell the others if something terrible were to happen.
"Well, yeah, y'are bein' a bit crazy," Eisuke said, although he found himself smiling slightly. Maybe he was just impressed that Akira had the guts to do this.
He sighed, and the smile faded. "You know, there's no tellin' how Monobear's gonna take this. I know the rules just say no destroyin' the doors, but I don't think the thing's playin' by the rules anymore."
Still... it was worth a shot. He dropped his voice and said, "A'ight. Well, I'll keep watch, and if the bear shows up, maybe we can talk it out of an execution, if it comes down to that." He glanced around the hallways for cameras and, spying the nearest one, positioned himself in such a way as to block her from its view, while still looking like he was talking to her.
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