Clocktheatre || S(he) Loves Me, (S)he Loves Me Not
TW: Blood, Stomach Trauma, Strangulation, Physical and Emotional Abuse, Caps, Car Crash
【 (S)He loves me, (s)he loves me not 】
As the screens turn on, it occurs to you that this will be the last execution you’ll have to witness. Just one more time and you would be finally free. At last, you wouldn’t be forced to watch these gruesome sights anymore and even though you know that Hayate wouldn’t actually die (or at least that’s what you assumed from everything you’ve learned thus far), it doesn’t change the fact that it would be still a chore to watch through it.
At the beginning, you spot the popping dancer in a long, dimly lit hallway. Given that behind him was a dead end, he didn’t have much of a choice but to proceed forward. His footsteps echo loudly in the hallway and for the first minute or two, it would be the only sound you would hear. He’d also pulled up his hood from the start, obscuring his face from your view.
Thankfully, this monotone procedure was soon over when Hayate spotted a better lighted area in front of him. Without meaning to, he picks up his pace to reach it - having since long seen the dark red door that awaited him at the end of the hallway. For a moment, he just stands there, before he hesitantly grabs the door handle. Carefully, he pushes it open a bit, merely wanting to take a peek inside. However, thanks to the view you have, you’ve seen a few moments before that a pair of hands emerged from the darkness, pushing him forcefully into the room that lies beyond the door.
In contrast to the dark corridor, Hayate was now in the middle of a colorful disco filled with people. Instead of silence, music was blaring from all sides, though that was one of Hayate’s least problems. After all, he’s being pulled through the masses by the people that occupy it - and you had to admit, seeing how all of them appear to be businessmen of sorts was rather strange. It also doesn’t help that they were faceless, so it only adds to the creepiness.
In the middle of all the pushing and pulling, his hood had come off and when the last person threw him to a spot on the dance floor that was actually free, his cloak had been ripped off from him. Thus, Hayate fell to the ground in his usual attire - no edgy glasses or his vest having red spades and clovers on them anymore. There was no time to analyze why he’d been stripped off of them, because the camera panned out to ten men who stepped into the free space as well. If it weren’t for their hairstyles and -colors, they would’ve looked like everyone else in the room.
When Hayate got up from where he’d fallen, his eyes widened in surprise and shock upon seeing the men in front of him. It seemed like as if he was able to recognize them despite how shallow they looked. Again, there was not much time to think, as the music suddenly changes and the crowd starts to cheer. In the background, a panel lit up with the following written on it; “DANCE OFF BETWEEN THE MOON FOXES!”
From somewhere - you weren’t really sure where though -, someone shouts into a microphone:”LET’S GIVE IT TO HIROSHIIIIIII~!”
Without further ado, one of the men steps up and begins to dance to the music - you recognize it as a streetstyle once. The crowd goes wild, though the dance itself only lasts for about 20 seconds, before the voice calls out for someone else.
“HEEEEEEERE COMES NAOKIIIIII~!”
As ‘Hiroshi’ walked back to the others, the one called Naoki took his place on the dance floor and started to pick up from where his partner left. This procedure was repeated again and again, each time with a different name.
Takuya. Shouhei. Isamu. Kohaku. Ayumu. Kaito. Yuuichirou. Aoi.
As the last one was almost finished with his performance, he had closed the distance between himself and Hayate, who was merely observing everything from where he stood. It wasn’t the first time that one of the men got close to the popping dancer, though this time would be different. After all, you see how ‘Aoi’ suddenly pulls out a knife from his sleeve and rams it deep into Hayate’s abdomen. Completely taken aback, a pained yelp escapes the boy’s throat and he hunches over while the crowd seems to get ecstatic.
Before Hayate had even the chance to react in any way, two of the other dancers approached them, securing his arms with an iron-tight grip. Hayate was forced to stand despite in how much pain he was. The knife was then mercilessly pulled out from his wound, blood gushing out so quickly that it stained a considerable amount of the floor in no time. Hayate’s pained scream was drowned out in the cheering of the crowd, as well as the invidious laughter of the supposed Moon Foxes members.
The purple-haired boy was struggling to hold onto his consciousness, so he wasn’t quite aware of what would happen next - you, on the other hand, saw what was about to unfold.
As the knife wielder was about to stab Hayate again, his hand got grabbed by someone else. You recognize these hands from back at the beginning, but your attention was instantly taken to what these hands were doing - you already knew what one of them did and you would witness what the other did in a second.
After all, it’s hard to miss the knife that was dug into ‘Aoi’s’ back now.
When the camera finally pans out on the whole picture, you notice several things. Aside from the new body that just hit the floor, there are several other corpses in the background; seven to be more precise. Then, there was the crowd that started to freak out and leave the murder scene as fast as they could. Last, but not least, the holder of the second knife - a middle-aged woman with black hair and brown eyes. Her flower-patterned dress is tainted with blood, but she pays no mind to it and instead attacks the duo that hold the purple-haired student. Her face is completely blank as she stabbed both of them fatally while Hayate - now with no one lifting him up anymore - falls unceremonically to the ground. A pained groan escapes him as he put his hands onto his wound and squints his eyes harshly.
The groan seemed to have caught the woman’s attention, whose face showed emotions now. It was surprise at first, before it turned to a worried expression. She kicks both bodies away from Hayate, giving them a dirty look, then turns around and... smiles. However, it wasn’t any normal smile that was plastered on her face - it was the kind of smile that would make your alarm bells go crazy and urge you to get the hell away from that woman.
Her voice was sickenly sweet and that alone made Hayate freeze. His eyes shot up instantly, widened in complete terror. He began to shake violently, trying to make his body move, but yet again, he was powerless to do anything. The woman kneeled besides him and put the knife away, scooping the bleeding boy up into her arms. She gently stroked a hair strand out of his face before pulling him into a tight hug - so tight that it was suffocating.
Though not nearly as much as her words.
“Don’t worry, my child, auntie loves you… Auntie loves you so much, even more than your dead mummy. Auntie is the best, isn’t she? She won’t die and leave you behind. She won’t be like her stupid sister. She’ll always love you and never let go...”
Her tone was a strange mix of gentleness and eeriness, her smile having an almost maddened tone to it.
“Auntie loves you… auntie loves you…”
Hayate shook his head weakily, coughing as he had difficulties to breathe due to the smothering hug he found himself in. The same Hayate who usually didn’t shy away from physical contact at all, the one who would never push anyone away from him…
That Hayate tried to desperately pull himself away from his apparent aunt.
When she felt the resistance against her - no matter how weak it was -, she froze up, her face blank again. She simply sat there for a few moments, before something changed - now, her face was contorted in rage and fury and with a shrill scream, she threw Hayate away from her. He landed harshly on the ground and let out a gasp, writhing in pain.
[TW: Physical and Emotional Abuse, Strangulation, Caps]
He didn’t get any moment to catch his breath, of course - this was an execution, after all, so it only made sense for his situation to get more and more worse. Thus, it only took seconds for the woman to storm towards him and begin to strangle him, whilst also violently bang his head against the floor multiple times. As if that wasn’t enough, she started to hurl all kinds of insults at him.
“I HATE YOU! YOU’VE TAKEN MY BELOVED SISTER AWAY FROM ME, YOU DEMON CHILD! YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO DIE AND NOT HER! A LITTLE KID IS WORTH NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, YOU’RE DISPOSABLE! SHE WAS MY LIGHT AND YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME! BRING HER BACK! BRING ETSUKO BACK AND DIE IN HER STEAD! DIE, JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH! DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!”
Midways, Hayate’s glasses fell from his face and the aunt hurled him against the ground again, letting go of his throat. The injured man coughed violently, gasping for air while clinging to his consciousness with all of his might. He was dizzy from all the abuse, not capable of thinking straight anymore - not like you could blame him, given that he definitely had a concussion on his head now along with the stab wound in his abdomen.
You could only watch helplessly as the black-haired woman grabbed the knife and made her way back to Hayate, kneeling down as she started to stab him god-knows how many times. If you had dark humor, you might entertain the thought of Hayate turning into swiss cheese.
She didn’t stop ramming the knife into him nor throwing insults at him even after life had already vanished from his body.
However, when she finally realized that he wasn’t moving anymore, her body froze up again, her face twisting into agony. She seemed to be completely horrified at the sight before her, shakily dropping the knife from her hands.
Her voice broke as she called out to the dead boy, though naturally, there was no response. Tears welled up in her eyes and she screamed in terror, hugging the lifeless body close to her. Again and again, she shouted his name desperately, pleading and begging for him to come back. At one point though, it wasn’t Hayate’s name that you heard anymore - it changed into Etsuko.
You thought that this should finally be the end of this mockery and you weren’t wrong to think that - you only weren’t prepared for the last seconds of this execution.
Out of nowhere, a car crashed into the room, flying directly towards Hayate and his aunt. There were only split seconds to take in as much as you could; like the couple inside said vehicle. Despite how quick it happened, your eyes went to the passenger seat where you saw a woman that looked similar to the aunt - and especially to Hayate.
Though her smile was an especially cruel one.
Before the car could hit them, the screen cuts to black - though you weren’t spared from the horrible noises that followed after the crash. It would chill you to your bones.
And then, there was silence.
Sergeant Grey Hayate Minami, SHSL Popping Dancer and Mastermind has been executed!
[ art by finn! thank you! ]