Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The fourth class trial was over, and Nikei Yomiuri was dead.

But his departure was far more impactful, more so than even the twins’ deaths.

Because from the start, Nikei had lied to everyone, all so he could ruin Mikado’s plan.

Nikei had tried to make Yuki the blackened of Shinji’s murder by lying about the firefighter being a hidden traitor working with Void.

But Nikei’s plan went south when Sora intervened.

She had seen everything, and in the end, made Yuki not the blackened by slicing Shinji’s throat, as he was alive.

However, as she didn’t want to die either, she used Nikei’s hands to make him the blackened.

But that what not all she experienced.

Sora went through more before she got involved in his plan, and because of that, she needed to talk to Teruya as soon as possible.

But by the time she snapped out of it, the former merchant was already making his way to the elevator.

“Ah, Teruya…! Wait! I have… something to say…”

Even as she called out to him, he didn’t stop, and simply went up the elevator with a despair-filled expression.

She had been so lost in her inner turmoil, that she had also failed to hear a certain hostess calling her name.

“Sora! Are you ignoring me?! I’m calling you!”

“…”

Sora turned to Yoruko, slightly shocked.

“Y-Yoruko…”

Yoruko briefly looked around the trial grounds. “It’s only us two. Good.”

She turned her had back to Sora. “I have a question for you, Sora.”

Sora turned her head away. “Yoruko, can we talk later? I have to talk to Teruya as soon as—”

“LISTEN TO ME!!”

“…!!”

Sora immediately tensed up and went quiet at Yoruko’s command.

Yoruko took a deep breath, calming down “…Sora, do you really not know? About…Yuki’s identity?”

Sora blinked. “About…Yuki’s identity?”

“Nikei said so, right? Yuki is Void’s sole target. We’re just extras needed to set up a killing game for him.”

Yoruko crossed her arms, a look of frustration forming on her face. “And you, Sora… You dirtied your hands just to save Yuki from becoming the blackened. There must be something behind this. There’s no other way to explain what you did.”

Sora backed away, confused. “Y-Yoruko, why are you asking me this? I never lied to you. Even I have trouble trying to understand why I did what I did back then…”

Yoruko stared at her, taken aback. “Sora… Haven’t you realized it? What you did was…murder. Though the rules say Shinji’s the culprit, you played a role in his murder, too!”

“…”

Sora sulked, hesitating for a moment. Then, she looked up at Yoruko.

“…I know. And I can understand why you feel that way. It’s morally—”

“It’s not because of that!” Yoruko shouted, interrupting Sora again.

Sora stared. “…Yoruko…”

Yoruko sighed. “I don’t want to do this to you,… but you’re lying to me. You know something, but you’re hiding it from me, from all of us… Do you know how betrayed I feel by that?”

“…”

“Of course it was wrong for you to take part in murder…” Yoruko continued. “But I’m not in the position to lecture you about ethics.”

“I worked at a bar faking my age before I came here, remember? That’s a crime as well. It’s true that you did something despicable… But everyone makes mistakes. You just have to reflect on your past mistakes, and pay the price.”

“It’s just a complaint. Like I said before, I thought of us as being on the same boat. And now, you’re hiding something from me.”

Sora brought a hand to her mouth, fearful. “Hide…? I’m not hiding anything. I’m really not…”

Yoruko’s gaze narrowed. “Yes, you are hiding something. If you really think you aren’t, then you must be lying to yourself.”

“…”

The hostess put on a small smile. “You lost your memories. I know you’re scared. But… you must know something about Yuki. So be honest with yourself. I…still want to trust you, Sora.”

Sora stared in awe. “…Yoruko…”

“…”

…

Deep down, Sora knew that Yoruko was right. She was, indeed, lying to herself.

But a voice in her head denied it.

It was deafening, to the point that she felt as if she had no choice but to listen.

But at the same time…

Sora couldn’t keep lying to herself, and especially not to Yoruko, who had been honest to her the whole time they’d been trapped in the killing game. She’d just feel more and more guilty.

So, at least for now, Sora decided that being partially honest with Yoruko would be enough.

Sora let out a long sigh after a moment of hesitation.

“You’re right… You’re absolutely right…”

Yoruko perked up. “Huh…?”

“I know something…about Yuki’s identity. About why he’s acting so differently. But…”

Yoruko raised an eyebrow. “But what…?”

“It feels like my mind and my body aren’t my own… If I do something that’s hard to comprehend, it’s not by my own will. I feel like I’m being controlled by someone.”

“It was the same this time as well… There was a voice in my head, constantly urging me to save Yuki and. And no matter what, I couldn’t resist. No, it was because I tried to resist that I ended up with the worst outcome of using Nikei’s hand.”

Sora’s face tensed as she fought the tears that pricked at her eyes. “…I know it doesn’t make sense… I myself am having a hard time believing it. But I…”

Sora managed a small smile.

“I want to tell you the truth, because I trust and care about you. I don’t want to lie to myself, or you anymore.”

“Sora…”

Yoruko stared, taken aback.

Then, she sighed, putting on a relieved smile.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Yoruko said.

“But first… I want to get out of here. There’s also something I need to do before I tell you what I know,” Sora added.

Yoruko’s smile dropped. “Oh, yeah… Understandable, considering…”

Sora turned to the elevator. “…Come on. Let’s go.”

With the conversation having run its course, the two girls made their way to the elevator.

The ride up was silent, but it wasn’t tense.

Rather, it was almost, in a bizarre way…comfortable.

Maybe it was because Sora was with someone she trusted, or that the heavy weight on her chest had been lifted.

Either way, she was free of her dishonesty.

Chapter Text

Yoruko quietly followed Sora as the latter made her way out of the elevator and up the stairs to the third floor. She then stopped when Sora did so in front of the door to Teruya’s room.

“Wait here, please. There’s something I need to do,” Sora said.

Yoruko gave a silent nod, and Sora knocked on the door.

“Teruya? It’s me. I want to talk,” she said.

No response.

Sora knocked again, this time louder. “Teruya, let me in. This is really important.”

This time, some shuffling could be heard from inside before the door creaked open.

As soon as it did, Sora went inside without hesitation and closed it behind her.

Yoruko simply stood there, waiting patiently as Sora asked her to.

While she couldn’t hear anything from Teruya’s room, she could make out the muffled voices of Sora and the former merchant. At one point, Yoruko swore she heard the latter crying.

After what felt like hours, Sora walked out, her expression the same as it was before.

“So? Now can you tell me what you know?” Yoruko asked.

Sora hesitated for a moment.

“Not here. Follow me,” Sora said.

Yoruko opened her mouth, about to shout at Sora for delaying again, but stopped herself upon seeing the amnesiac visibly flinch back, a somewhat scared look in her eyes.

She closed her mouth and let out a reluctant sigh. “Lead the way.”

With a nod, Sora led Yoruko up to the fourth floor. At first, Yoruko assumed that they would be going to Yoruko’s room, but that assumption would be quickly disproven as Sora turned left instead of right, walking away from her room rather than towards it.

Confused, Yoruko called out to her. “Sora? Where are you going? Your room is that way.”

Sora looked back at the hostess. “I know. Just trust me.”

Sora continued her trek until she stopped in front of a familiar door at the end of the hall.

The balcony door.

Following the second trial, the door was boarded up to prevent anyone from sneaking out at night. Yoruko had completely forgotten about it after the third trial, though considering what had happened, it was likely the same for everyone else.

Sora gripped one of the boards with both hands and with a sharp tug, yanked it off.

“Sora!” Yoruko shouted, not expecting her to do that.

Sora continued to yank off the other boards and toss them to the side until she got all of them off. Then, she opened the door and stepped in without a word.

Yoruko stared at the door, unsure.

But at the same time, she knew that if she wanted answers, she would have to take risks.

So with a deep breath, Yoruko went through the door.

Compared to the last time she was on it, the Monocruise was still, and the sky was dark and littered with stars.

And dead center in the balcony was Sora, who was staring into the starry abyss with a distant expression as she leaned against the railing.

Yoruko slowly made her way next to her, carefully watching Sora.

As soon as she did, the amnesiac let out a sigh.

“As I said before, I know something about Yuki’s identity and why he’s changing,” she began. “But first, let me ask you this. Do you remember what Nikei said in the trial about Yuki?”

Yoruko nodded, the memory still fresh in her mind. “Nikei said that Void’s goal was to awake a certain personality within him by making him go through a killing game.”

“Yes,” Sora confirmed. “But that’s not all there is to it.”

Yoruko assumed that there was, but she was still curious. “What do you mean?”

“…The personality that Void is trying to awake belongs to their savior named Utsuro.”

Utsuro…

Yoruko recalled the name. Mikado had said it twice in the past. And according to him and Nikei, Utsuro saved the Voids from horrible childhoods.

“So Void is trying to awaken their savior’s personality in Yuki? But why? And why go through the hassle of a killing game?” the hostess asked.

“Because the real Utsuro is dead.”

Yoruko froze at the words and how suddenly they were said.

“What’s more, Utsuro’s body can’t be recovered, so Void turned to the next best option: reviving him,” Sora continued.

“But…why?!? Why make Yuki go through a killing game just to revive someone!?” Yoruko screamed, appalled by Void’s apparent lack of ethics.

Sora didn’t respond immediately, instead tensing up before speaking again. “To be more specific, they aren’t just trying to revive Utsuro, they’re trying to revive his power.”

“Power…? What power?”

Sora hesitated, her face scrunched up. Then, she finally spoke.

“…I’m sorry.”

Yoruko blinked. “What?”

“There’s… a lot to Void’s plan that I haven’t told you yet, but there’s far too much for me to tell you right now.”

The hostess didn’t like that sentence. “Are you serious!? I thought you said that you would be honest with me!”

“I did say that, but… Yuki is inextricably connected to the killing game and Void’s plan. He deserves to know the truth, too. He has to know.”

“What do you mean?”

“As Nikei said, Void’s plan is close to completion. You saw the state that Yuki was in, right? If the plan succeeds, Yuki’s original personality may disappear…for good.”

Yoruko gasped. “No…”

“So, for now, I need you to wait. I plan to tell you more once I let Yuki in on this. I’m sorry, but please, just wait.”

Yoruko stared, unsure of what to make of this. On one hand, she trusted that Sora would keep her word. But on the other hand, there was something that she wanted to know.

“Okay, I’ll wait. But I want to answer honestly when I ask you this.”

Sora glanced at her curiously. “What is it?”

“How did you end up in the power room? And what happened while you were in that secret room?”

Sora’s lips pursed, unsure looking. She bit her lip before opening her mouth.

“As you heard in the trial, I fell from the floor we were on when we talked that time. But I didn’t just fall, someone pushed me off.”

Yoruko was shocked. “Someone pushed you!?”

Sora nodded. “I don’t know who did it, and I considered it not relevant to the case, but after the trial, I have a prime suspect.”

“Iroha, right?”

“Yeah,” Sora confirmed.

Sora falling from the tower was no accident. Someone tried to kill her.

“And my other question? What happened while you were in that secret room?”

Sora glanced away, seemingly deliberating in her head before she said something that Yoruko never expected to hear.

“…I got my memories back.”

To say that the hostess was surprised was an understatement. She was completely taken aback.

“…You got your memories back? You remember who you are?” she asked.

“…I do. Although I have no idea how I’m even here to begin with.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell you another time.”

Yoruko simply took the answer, trusting that Sora would keep her word.

The two stood in silence, simply staring out into the night sky.

From where she was standing, Yoruko could see smoke emitting from the tears in the Monocruise’s hull. However, as the world they were in was virtual, and the damage didn’t affect the inside at all, she wasn’t too worried.

The silence would be soon broken by Sora speaking once more.

“Yoruko?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember the last time we were up here?”

“What about it?”

“Before we left, I asked if I could hug you.”

“You did.”

“Well, can I this time?”

Yoruko blushed slightly.

While Yoruko wasn’t the biggest on physical touch, a hug sounded kinda nice right now.

Though she’d never admit it, she always wanted to hug Sora.

“Sure.”

As soon as she said that, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from the side and pulled her in. Yoruko’s head found Sora’s chest as the amnesiac rested her chin on the hostess’s head.

“I meant to say this earlier, but… thank you for listening to me and trusting me.”

Yoruko managed a small smile, before turning her body to face Sora and hug her back.

“I always will.”