after the explosion--

[newhire]

[The explosion draws Vivienne out of her lab and-- it's hard to read the expression on her face. It's tense and full of worry, but she's refusing to break down.

But seeing Tsukasa on his knees... she snaps back out of it and gently nudges him, helping him to a secluded area of the school lobby away from the others.

And she gives him a big hug.





...and only then she whispers in the smallest voice.

"Be careful what you express. But... I promise... everything's okay. Trust us."]

Comments

[swordsinternally]

...

[ He doesn't say anything at first, because he's still stunned. ]

Thank you. [ He keeps his voice low, though. ] I'm still upset, though.

[ Just because Tsukasa trusts him doesn't mean that he's not angry or upset or a whole mess of emotions that he honestly didn't expect to have as himself. ]

[newhire]

[She can't blame him. She hated that she had to do this at all.]

I know. I know... I... wanted to...

[But she doesn't regret the choice overall. It's going to be important in what follows.]

But this is going to get really risky. There's a lot at stake right now. If... if we don't act the way we should now, it will be even more difficult.

[swordsinternally]

Just tell me one more thing.

[ His voice is tense, shaky. ]

Was this his idea?

[newhire]

[That's... not an easy question.]

No. He... offered to help me. This... however this ends... I'm the one at fault.

...I'm the one that staged what happened just now.

[S...taged. Mmhmm.]

[swordsinternally]

I'm mad at both of you.

[ He frowns, just a little bit. ] But whatever happens... we'll end all of it.

[newhire]

...that's fine.

You can yell at us both once he's finished his task.

[She's more than willing to accept her blame.]

[swordsinternally]

I will. Just... stay safe. Please.

[newhire]

...I won't lie, I'd sacrifice myself before anything bad could happen to Akira.

But... I'm going to stay close to you all and-- close to James.

[Because if there's anyone she's worried about right now, it's that man.]

[swordsinternally]

Thank you.

[ He's very appreciative of it, and it shows in his voice. ] Anyway, I should probably get going. I don't want to stay here too long when I can go help the others. At the very least... I can be a convincing liar for a short time.

[newhire]

...he wasn't initially supposed to be a part of this. I was... going to do it myself. But... I wanted to be able to go with you all... to your final test just... in case.

But I hate hiding things from you all.

Thank you. Tomorrow... Tomorrow we're going to make this school pay for everything it's done.

[swordsinternally]

[ He's groaning because he knows the kind of person he is. Of course he's fucking like this. Of fucking course he is.

God.

He hates this. ]

Yeah, I understand. Everyone might... [...] But you're welcome. You're really important to me, Vivienne. Just as important as everyone else.