ZEcret Santa Fic
To: @oobi-oobi
From: @classycorgiposts
Prompt: The cast of 999 keeping up with each other after the events of the game
Me: First text to make sure I have everyone’s number.
Clover Field: Got it!
Light Field: Received
Junpei Temyouji: No issues here
Ichiro: Here
Lotus shot Seven a withering look from the seat next to him. “I *know* I have yours, idiot.”
“Yeah yeah, my bad.” He rolled his eyes.
Me: Good. Is everyone doing ok? Big lug and I are at the airport waiting on the flight now
Clover: lmao
Clover: All good here! Light and I will be getting back home soon
Lotus: Got it. Stay safe, and like that Alice woman said, if anything weird at all happens, get in touch
Junpei: Ok mom
Lotus: I’m serious
Junpei: allright, I got it
——————————————-
The moment Hazuki stepped off the plane and saw her daughters, it was like a valve opened and the turbulent emotions she’d been experiencing since the Nonary Game came pouring out, breaking her cool demeanor she’d put on for the others. Seven watched as she burst into tears and ran across the lobby, pushing her way through the crowd towards her daughters, who barreled into her arms, sobbing with joy in return.
Standing off to the side so as not to interrupt the moment, Seven pulled out his phone.
Seven: Back in Japan. Hazuki’s girls met us here- all good
Responses came within moments.
Light F.: Wonderful news.
Clover F.: SEND PICS
Junpei T.: Awesome, good to hear
Clover F.: I SAID SEND PICS
——————————————-
Sitting on the couch in his apartment’s living room, Junpei’s leg bounced up and down nervously as he watched a TV special on the news about the arrest of Cradle Pharmaceuticals CEO and the liquidation of the company. His apartment felt emptier than it had before.
Me: You guys see the news?
Snake: Listening to the report as we speak.
Seven: Took longer than it should have for this to have gone public. Cradle run hospitals here in Japan have been in disarray, they’re almost certainly gonna shut down.
Since his return home, he’d felt restless and anxious. A nervous energy coursed through him at all times with no outlet. Kanny and Aoi were gone, and all the others he could talk to about the Nonary Game were far away.
Junpei: Any leads on them yet?
Seven: I already told you I’d let you know as soon I found something, calm down kid
Seven: I’m doing the best I can, but without some kind of lead to follow, it’s near impossible. Akane and Aoi completely took themselves off the map
Sighing, Junpei continued watching the news. He needed to do something. Anything.
——————————————-
Running his hands along the desk in his study, Light felt the sounds and vibrations of the small army of groundskeepers working on maintaining the gardens and forest outside their family’s manor.
“So what’s going on?” Lotus’s voice came over the phone. “It’s unusual for you to need help,”
“So you say. I apologize again for the sudden call, but it’s our mother. Put frankly…she’s become tyrannical.” Light sighed. “She’s kept a close eye on us both since my accident as a child of course, but since we’ve returned home, Clover and I haven’t had a moment’s peace. We’re hardly ever allowed to leave the house, and her paranoia over something happening to us again grows day by day. The kicker is that we’re even particularly close emotionally.”
“Hmm. Let me talk to her.” Lotus declared after a moment’s thought. “Mother to mother.”
———————————————
“Your mom did what!?” Junpei said in disbelief. Sitting up in bed, he’d been awakened by a sudden call from Clover, groggily listening as she angrily vented on the phone.
“Yeah, bodyguards! How insane is that!? My brother tried talking to my mom as his soon a bunch about letting us be even a *bit* independent, but nothing worked, and there was no way she was gonna listen to me. But then Lotus tried to talk to her and she went completely ballistic, ranting about ‘dangerous strangers’ and us just being stupid kids!”
A sudden notification while she was ranting caused Junpei’s head to swim.
“Holy shit…I just got a huge amount of money sent to my bank account!
“What?” Clover gasped. “You think…it’s them? It’s gotta be, right?”
Junpei’s mind raced. “Hang on- I’ve got an idea.”
———————————————
Seven stood in his office with Junpei on speaker, in front of a cork board with countless photos, cut outs of internet articles, and maps connected by bits of string. It might’ve been cliche, but damn if it didn’t help with seeing the big picture from pieces of a case.
“You getting close to their estate?” He asked.
“Yeah, almost there. You know, I was really confident about this at first, but I’ve been getting nervous the closer I get. My palms are all sweaty.”
Junpei was on his way to the Field estate in a car he’d bought with the large amount of money that had been mysteriously deposited into his bank account from an unknown source.
“Man, I still feel weird about helpin’ with this too…” Seven mumbled halfheartedly. “But their mom’s basically holdin’ them hostage.”
“Right.” Junpei’s voice hardened. “
“If they manage to slip out and follow the route we planned, that is.
“They will.” Junpei’s voice grew confident. “They’ve got this.”
———————————————
Sprinting through the carefully tended forest in the pitch black of night, leading her brother and Junpei by the hand, Clover still couldn’t help but laugh with elation. The confused shouts of the bodyguards tearing apart the estate they’d managed to give the slip after days of careful planning with Junpei, Lotus, and Seven were incredibly satisfying.
She left behind a cutting note for their mother, so at least she’d know why they left, and that it was extremely of their own accord this time. The money Junpei had randomly received was a lead- one that Lotus and Seven could follow to the Kurashiki siblings. They’d meet with Junpei, hitch a flight to Japan to reunite, and then…Clover didn’t know. But it was a future full of possibility.
“Clover, I hear a vehicle.” Light said. “Is that him?”
A moment later, Clover heard the sound of tires. Just as they exited the dense forest behind their estate on a remote back road, a sedan screeched up the back road, and disheveled Junpei threw open the doors. “Holy shit, it actually worked- you got out.”
“Let’s talk later!” Helping Light into the back seat, Clover hopped into the passenger seat, quickly hugged Junpei, then threw on her seat belt.
“We can catch up shortly.” Light said, hardly out of breath. “For now, we should make ourselves scarce.”
“On it!” Junpei stepped down on the accelerator, and they were off. “I’m still getting used to this car, so sorry if the ride’s bumpy! I haven’t had to drive in a while!”
“I’m sure it can’t be any worse then Clover’s driving back in Nevada.” Light said wryly, a bittersweet expression on his face as they got further and further from home. Junpei may have brought up the plan for them to run away, but Light had been the one who heavily endorsed it and planned it out. It had been a necceasry evil, for him and Clover both.
“Rude!” Clover grinned. The adrenaline of escaping from the prison of her home still coursing through her, Clover stuck her head out the window and laughed, the wind blowing on her and the trees passing by in a blur.
A future of freedom, of searching for the truth with the only people she trusted, was in sight.
