ic contact for box_network

[pheromonecoffee]

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Comments

i think like the very end of july or the beginning of august

[inretribution]

[The cure can't do anything for Ken who's had the pathogen for almost two months now. It's been getting worse steadily in the last few weeks no matter how much he tries to hide it, and hide it he tries. He washes any blood out of his clothes on his own and he tries to at least stay sitting whenever Minato is around no matter how much pain he's in. Sorry he's been such a pain in the ass, Leader.

He's cleaning today, though. There isn't much to clean up of the little bit of supplies they have, but he made his bed more neatly than usual and folded or refolded all of his clothes, placing them in the closet -- for once, he's not wearing his uniform and orange hoodie but a dirtier outfit, the sort he described earlier this month as "I wouldn't miss it if I lost it." He took an hour or so to straighten up the other things, too, and it's later in the afternoon, as the sun's gotten lower in the sky, that he turns to Minato and points out everything he got done today, mentioning what they need more of, what they have plenty of, when he thinks the supplies in the Box will be replenished by the people who run the place.

Near the end, he pauses, his shoulders slumping as he sighs.] I think I'll be back in a week or so.

[pheromonecoffee]

[Minato's made a note of Ken's behavior. He'll make a list of the things they need, offered to help Ken with cleaning. He knows things have been taking a toll on the kid. He doesn't know how he, himself managed to avoid getting sick off of Ken, but he won't complain. Someone needs to be functioning.

But when Ken says that, Minato can't help but look alarmed.] ... Where are you going?

[inretribution]

[He's not far away. But he's farther than he usually is, and certainly out of arm's reach. He's currently slinging a bag over his shoulder, filled with just a bottle of water and a little bit of food. He turns his head away.]

I don't think I have long, so.

[pheromonecoffee]

You're kidding. [Minato sounds vastly unamused. He can't seriously be running away to die. Ken that is not the way to do things...]

[inretribution]

They collect the bodies. I can't just die in here and let them barge in on you.

[Ken Amada is not much of one to joke.]

[pheromonecoffee]

Please tell me you're at least just moving to another hotel room. [He is not letting you wander off into the wild.]

[inretribution]

The hotel's populated. [That's a no.]

[pheromonecoffee]

Ken, you can't just wander off into wilderness to die.

[inretribution]

It's better not to be around too many people...

[pheromonecoffee]

Where'd you hear that?

[inretribution]

[He shakes his head.]

I didn't. Nobody says that -- I just don't want to be around anyone when it happens.

[pheromonecoffee]

... It's easier. Being with someone. [He can say that now that you know he has experience.

[inretribution]

I don't want you to see.

[pheromonecoffee]

[He's allowed to be selfish here, right?]

You shouldn't have to be alone.

[inretribution]

[They will both be selfish.]

It doesn't bother me... You wouldn't have to worry about the body.

[pheromonecoffee]

It's not the body I'm worried about in the first place.

[inretribution]

... I'm going to come back. You shouldn't have to deal with me being dead if I'm going to come back.

[pheromonecoffee]

[There's a moment Minato wonders if Ken thinks he doesn't care. He wouldn't blame him if he did.]

Whether you come back or not, dying is dying.

[inretribution]

... When Sanada-san found me that night, before I came back, he told me it was my choice. Whether I stayed there until I died, or if I went back. He's right. In the end, we end up alone, Minato-san. [Even you, right? In the end you had to shoulder it all on your own.]

The cure they found won't work when the pathogen's gotten this far. I can't do anything when I'm stuck in bed half the time. I'll come back. Because I've still got the will to fight -- but I don't... [He feels really weak and he doesn't want Minato to see him if it starts to get to him emotionally.]

[pheromonecoffee]

[We end up alone. Minato closes his eyes. He's quiet when he speaks.]

The last thing I remember is everyone's voices.

[No, they weren't alone. He was never alone. Every step of the way since joining SEES he had someone at his side. Maybe not physically, but even as the world was ending, he was still in people's hearts. Even as he'd faced Nyx, everyone still wished for his safety. Even as he died, he could still hear the voices of his friends, he could still feel Aigis' lap. If he had been alone... It would have been horrible, if he had been alone.]

[inretribution]

[Minato he doesn't get it.]

Voices...?

[pheromonecoffee]

It was on the roof of the school. A really warm day, but I was tired. I was supposed to see you all again, but...

I fell asleep before everyone made it.

It was nice to hear you, though. It... made it nice.

[inretribution]

[He falls quiet. He drops his gaze and lowers his head, unsure how to respond to that. Of all the people to lose their lives in the end, it had to be this person.]

I'm sorry.

[Of all the people who had to die, why did it have to be him? Why did he get brought here? Here, of all places? Why wasn't he allowed to just rest?]

[pheromonecoffee]

We don't end up alone, Ken. [He was here with Yukari, wasn't he, before Minato showed up. And even in death, Minato's not alone. It's just fundamentally untrue.]

[inretribution]

[He shakes his head. But it makes him dizzy so he sits down on his bed, looking defeated.]

... We do. I've already been. Besides, Minato-san. [He shrugs.] If everything ends, and SEES disbands, the senpais will go on and graduate and find jobs, but I'm still in school. I'll go back to my old dorm again, and I can't barge in on them because they'll be busy. [He's there to fight. They're all there to fight. Of course they'll support Minato, of course they all care -- but after that, he can never...]