(no subject)

[suiseimushi]

WHO: Chloe, Kisa.
WHAT: Confirmation.
WHERE: Yanagi dorm.
WHEN: Saturday 5/6, immediately after the dungeon.

Fortunately, the run from the main hall to the dorms was not a long one.

Class was still in session; it would not be for much longer, but it still allowed Chloe and Kisa to arrive at the dorms uninterrupted. Kisa was quiet, simply keeping pace -- she understood Chloe well enough to realize, at any rate, that anything she said would go unanswered, or close enough to it.

That, and she wasn't sure what would come out if she spoke.

Comments

[fassade]

"I need to see her."

The German's voice had taken on an entirely new tone. It still had her trademark growl, but it was uncharacteristically impatient. Instead of the calm, nearly emotionless even tone, she was left with an almost angry snarl. Chloe fought to keep her temper under control. After what they had just been through, what they had just witnessed, it was becoming more difficult to control that roiling seething pit of rage that had always threatened to rise.

"Open the door."

Gone was her politeness and her mask of calm. Her usually icy gaze had intensified as she stared at Aya, threatening to bore a hole straight through her skull. One look into the German's eyes would confirm that if they didn't open the door within the next ten seconds, she was going to break it down.

[fivehundredways]

The cold stare seemed to shake even Aya for a moment, but she squared her shoulders and frowned earnestly up at Chloe.

"Fine, just... don't touch anything, okay? I'm serious. If there ends up being an investigation, I don't want you implicated."

With that, she opened the door on a room that was essentially unchanged from that morning.

Save for one thing: Miyume's body on her bed, lying as though asleep, peculiarly doll-ified just as she had been in the other world.

[fassade]

Chloe didn't need telling twice, and entered the room the moment the door was unlocked. However, the German paused when she saw the bed, almost as if she didn't know what to do. As soon as she saw Miyume, her gaze softened, but in a very peculiar way.

".... Miyume..."

Her voice was hoarse as she made her way to the 'sleeping' girl's bedside. Her hair, her beautiful hair was mangled like it had been in that god forsaken castle. She even wore the same ugly clothes that didn't seem to suit Miyume at all. A shaking hand reached out to lightly brush at what was left of Miyume's bangs. She wasn't stupid. The Gaijin could clearly see that Miyume's chest was not rising and falling.... but what really hit it home was when she reached for her friend's hand. It was cold... It was so cold.

The boiling pit of anger and despair began to boil over when it hit her that she would never see Miyume again. They would never have tea together again, she would never hear the other girl's girlish giggle. She would never have anymore heartfelt conversations with the only person to give her the time of day right off the bat. The only person who stood up for her, even against their teacher. The German's eyes closed as soon as they began to water, her face contorting in such a look of misery that it shattered her mask completely. Chloe fell to her knees beside the bedside and it escaped, a loud, hoarse, anguished roar that embodied all her anger, frustration, and sadness, that echoed through the dorm and beyond.

She had failed Miyume, and the tears fell freely and quickly as she held onto her dead friend's hand. She didn't want to let go. She couldn't let go. Her shoulders shook as she just knelt there sobbing silently and holding Miyume's hand.

[suiseimushi]

It was true. She was dead. It all came crashing down at that moment.

Kisa stood, seemingly planted in the doorway, watching helplessly. She reached out, opened her mouth to speak, but nothing emerged.

Even then, what could she say? The usual platitudes didn't seem right here, didn't seem a proper response to the emotion, the pain -- not all of it Chloe's.

[fassade]

The grieving gaijin wasn't sure how much time had passed as she knelt there holding the dead girl's hand. Long enough that her legs ached and her face was good and streaked with tears. It seemed like forever when she finally looked up at the door, finally aware that she wasn't alone in the room. The German's gaze was no longer its steely piercing self. Never before had the giant of an outsider looked so... vulnerable. Now that the mask was completely shattered, the sheer amount of emotion on Chloe's face was staggering. She looked up at Kisa with all but dead eyes, seemingly lost. What did they do now...?

[suiseimushi]

Kisa swallowed past the lump in her throat, and looked back at Chloe with nothing but sympathy. For now, at least, it seemed, the gaijin issue had been forgotten.

"Let's..." She swallowed again, or tried to, finding her mouth dry. "Let's go. We can't stay here."

She paused here for a moment, not entirely certain where they should actually go to. For her, at least, only one answer came to mind; whether Chloe would be up for it was an open question. Kisa thought it unlikely.

"I'm going to go back. I want to make sure everyone else is all right, and... maybe they can tell us more." This last was wishful thinking, she suspected.

[fassade]

Go? Chloe's dead gaze returned to Miyume. They couldn't go... they couldn't just leave her here like this, right? She looked back up at Kisa, confliction showing clearly on her face. The German looked back down at Miyume's face. Inwardly, she knew there was nothing she or any of them could do for her now... and it killed whatever was left inside of her. After a few moments, Chloe stood on unsteady legs, her gaze still locked on Miyume. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. It took her a few moments of trying, but she finally found her voice. She spoke directly to Miyume, her voice breaking as she spoke in German.

["Miyume... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I did what I could, and it wasn't good enough. It will never be good enough, will it? You were the only person who never hesitated to show me kindness, and I failed you... You deserved better than this. I guess... this is goodbye, isn't it? I don't know what happens after death... but wherever you are, I hope you're at rest and free of the pain and misery that permeates this god forsaken school."]

Chloe paused, fresh tears streaming down her face as she leaned down to kiss Miyume's forehead. It was such a simple gesture, but coming from someone as stoic and 'unfeeling' as Chloe, it was monumental.

["Goodbye, Miyume. Who knows... maybe some of us will be joining you shortly."]

With that, she left the bedside and wandered almost aimlessly back towards the door where Kisa stood. She seemed lost, and it was apparent that it didn't much matter where they went; she would be trapped in her own thoughts regardless.