it’s time to wake up @shslai
It is equal parts perplexing and predictable for Izuru to have found himself waking up in a pod, the metal cool against his skin. A striking difference from the warmth of the sun Hajime felt on that island. Unable to bring themselves to open their eyes quite yet, he takes a deep breath. Another. The feeling of these contrasting perplexing and predictable feelings are in and of themselves unpredictable, new and exciting, but all the while frustrating. Idly, he wonders if this too will become boring.
Izuru is not quite sure who he is.
But they don’t get much time to dwell on that, because the pod makes the sound of steam blowing out of a pipe as the lid opens up, revealing a tall ceiling just as cold looking as Hajime feels.
It is hard to know what to call oneself.
Before they can really dwell on the confusion, they’re sitting up, and someone’s presence grabs hold of their attention.
Chiaki Nanami. Ultimate Gamer. The Traitor. Hajime’s best friend. Izuru’s…
“Hello.” It’s all Izuru can get out.
There is so much more to be said, on the tip of his tongue and waiting to spill out like a waterfall crashing over itself. But the dam of his fears holds it back. A fear like this hasn’t been felt by him in… the amount of time is countable, stored somewhere in the back of Izuru’s mind. But it is just out of Hajime’s reach, the tips of his fingers brushing against information that means nothing and everything all at the same time.
Nonetheless, he is afraid. He looks into Chiaki’s soft pink eyes, and they are afraid.
That fact in itself is endlessly exciting.
for too many months… no, too many years, chiaki had been waiting for something to give. joining the fourteenth division of the future foundation & working alongside her former underclassmen has saved her otherwise fleeting sanity. having seen what she had seen in the years prior, it’s something of a miracle that she never underwent the same fate that the rest of her classmates had.
speaking of her classmates… what she watched them go through while monitoring the neo world program changed her more than the years of tragedy. the hope that she & the others in the future foundation had put into this program was all but shattered, despite the faith she had in her old friends.
there’s something morbid to be said about watching yourself die after having almost died once already. it’s an experience chiaki never thought she would go through, until she did. though she was not in the neo world program herself, her avatar a mere AI, she had been observing the events going on. when it finally came to an end, & those outside the program were able to stop the junko AI, chiaki nearly collapsed from relief. since then, she’d been sitting by the side of one pod in particular. the person inside was closest to her before all of this had happened, and she wanted their safety and sanity above all else.
once she got word that it was safe to open up, she didn’t wait any longer than necessary. the top of the pod rose so painfully slowly, chiaki could feel her anxiety spiking. upon seeing hajime — no, izuru..? — she can’t stop tears from welling up behind her eyes.
he’s okay. he survived & he’s okay.
their voice hits her ears with a kind of apprehension she wasn’t expecting, & she quickly tries to come up with a response of her own.
“ hi… ” she begins to piece together a sentence, not wanting to ask too much too soon while also wanting to know everything.
chiaki’s eyebrows knit together, concern & hard-to-hide affection combining in her expression. “ how’re you feeling? ”
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