Stop and stare...

[acorpseonthe_battlefield]

She went to bed with the wig. It's not exactly uncomfortable to wear compared to a helmet or a gas mask, and she's almost grown accustomed to its constant presence on her head. A soldier shouldn't grow too complacent with her surroundings anyway; she can't afford to take any chances, even if the locked door in front of her means that she's locked in her own world. No class mates, no Naegi...but Junko is always there. She doesn't need to look at the monitor. Even if its blank and showing nothing, it doesn't mean that it's switched off. And there are the hidden cameras all around, and her sister's presence continues to weigh on the room and on Mukuro's shoulders.

Their plan has so far gone without a hitch. She's played all her classmates, played her part well enough to fool all of them. There hasn't been a word of congratulations or gratitude from Junko, but that's OK. So long as Mukuro helps her sister accomplish her dream of spreading despair...that's good enough for Mukuro. It's all she wants, it's all she deserves.

But is it what Naegi deserves? That little voice inside her whispers.

A slight twitch of the corner of her mouth, a tiny rebellion of her heart against her desires that she couldn't clamp down on.

She's conquered battlefields and killed thousands. She's scorched and salted the earth, smashed buildings into rubble, coloured the sky with black smog and the ground with crimson blood, yet with all her power and strength the SHSL Soldier found herself unable to completely quash the mummers within her that pricked at her absolute confidence in her sister's plan.

Mukuro lies on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Should she dare to ask her sister for mercy?

That's a question that bothers on blasphemy to SHSL Despair. Almost akin to treachery, and it could backfire terribly with consequences for Naegi. That's the last thing she wants.

Her eyes search the blackness above her, almost as if she's hoping for some writing to appear on the wall to tell her what to do. She doesn't have much time, the first execution should be coming up soon. What if it's Naegi who lands the unwanted role of the first victim? The thought made her stomach turn. His kindness that had won him Mukuro's loyalty and care would turn into his Achilles heel in this game of murder and betrayal. He wouldn't last; either he'll die at the hands of another or he'll die when the murderer gets away.

The ceiling stares back at her, no answers to give. Just a pitch black darkness-

-...Mukuro blinks. Did the darkness just, just move?

She doesn't even have time to react. Like the speed of a bullet, the blackness just...falls. It's not the ceiling exactly, she briefly muses right before the impact. It's more like an inky sheet of the ceiling that's hurtling itself down on her at a speed that she can't avoid.

A force slams into her and now she's being thrown up, up, up at a speed she can't control. There's no wind, no sound or light around her, but like a yoyo being snapped up to an unseen hand Mukuro's being...almost reeled, by a string that's attached to her body. The speed rips at her clothing, rips the wig to shreds and for an absurd moment she panics that she's been exposed, but all thoughts of her sister's wrath is temporarily put out of her mind as the break-neck speed starts to leave cuts on her body. She feels blood, she feels pain, and she feels skin and muscle stretched to their utmost limits. Like a rubber band, Mukuro is being pulled in different directions, and if this continued for much longer she is going to snap.

She should be scared, really. But that emotion had long been put to rest and all Mukuro feels apart from the pain is...relief. Selfish relief that she wouldn't have to make a hard decision.

Right before the breaking point is reached, Mukuro finally sees something else. That same dark ceiling. At the rate she's being flung at she's probably going to end up a bloody pile of broken bone and flesh. It's almost like she's been thrown off a building and is falling to her death but backwards. It's strange. She gazes at the fast approaching wall, forces her eyes open despite the stinging pressure on her eyeballs, because if she's dying she wants to die facing her death.

...and then abruptly she explodes into light. A reversal of gravity occurs as the shift between time and dimension ends and Mukuro falls from a different ceiling than that she had started with, crashing on the ground completely without a stitch on. There's blood streaming down her body from the slashes she had picked up from her journey, and the force that she lands with knocks her out before she manages to even catch a glimpse of her surroundings.]

Comments

[thirdarrow]

There are many things which other people do not expect, but strategists do. The shift in the tides of battle, the winds that stir clouds and mix weather, and the tipping of the hearts of men - instinct and prior knowledge lays them all out before the eyes of those with sufficient foresight. The flow of events become clearer, myriads of paths branching out with each decision made.

But no amount of prescience and instinct can prepare him for what happens next.

There wasn't even a single hint preceding its occurrence, no ominous stirring of foliage, no uncanny winds or resultant clouds that dash across the late afternoon sun. The peace of the study held, soft and silent, the air heavy with cogitation -

- then a sudden crack of splintered glass, and something flashes into existence a few feet above the ground.

No, someone. He rises from his seat reflexively and his spellbook flies to his hand - though there is no time to retrieve his sword from where it hangs on the wall. This could be an ambush - but for a ninja to make it this far into the keep would signal an adversary much more powerful than they expected. Is this Lord Kanbei's second backup plan? If that is the case, then it will mean that the flow has changed once again -

- no. The woman - it seems to be a woman - is badly injured. Even if she is a ninja, her safety is more important.

His hands do not leave his spellbook, but he does find a sheet to preserve her decency while he goes to call for help. A few retainers and pages arrive a while later - never mind their questioning gazes. He explains the situation to them the best he can, and hopefully they will believe him. For now, he keeps this mystery woman's identity vague - after all, only she could provide the answers they need. She's unconscious, which made the first aid process a little easier. One of the women is luckily well-versed in treatment, and after a while the new arrival's injuries have been cleaned and securely bandaged.

When Mukuro wakes up, she will find herself in a small room resting. A page has been assigned to guard her, and he is reading by the window.

[acorpseonthe_battlefield]

It's quiet here. A different sort of quiet than what she's used to, with the constant hum of the electric system in the background. She feels the wind on her face and hears the gentle rustle of the leaves, and she's confused.

All the windows have been sealed. And there aren't any more trees left around the school after she and her sister plunged the world into despair.

Mukuro keeps her eyes closed but she listens carefully to her surroundings, hoping for a sound to clue her in on where she is and who her captor could be. Her hands and legs are unbound so she's not a prisoner, but there's no doubt in her mind that she's not in Hope's Peak Academy.

[thirdarrow]

The page shifts a little from time to time, and after a while there are two sets of footsteps sounding down the corridor. The guard is being changed - and the one who had found her is here as well.

The replacement guard greets the previous shift warmly, and they converse for a short while. Mostly small talk, nothing really important - though the fact that they spoke a different, more archaic form of Japanese will be apparent.

And then, the door opens, and there is a third voice. A voice much calmer than the other two, pleasant and gentle.

"Has she awakened?"

"Not yet, my lord."

"... I see. Please call for me if she does."

[acorpseonthe_battlefield]

The old-fashioned speech is...something alright. Mukuro wonders if she's been smacked on the head a little too hard and strains her ears a little harder, but nope they really are using throw-back lingo.

At first she wonders if she should fight her way out; she's not been actively threatened just yet, but her instinct warns her not to let her guard down. Perhaps she should take advantage of the situation; leap out of bed, take down the two, maybe three, people in this room and beat a hasty retreat to figure things out. She doesn't feel any threatening presence that could pose her a problem-

...ah. There's a new voice. And it may be calm, it may be gentle, but like the still ocean that lures unsuspecting ships, she can sense the deep, fierce under-current that lies underneath the smooth surface. Her gut pinpoints this man as the biggest threat in the room; until she can determine more about him, she's not going to make any rash moves.

So gently, just gently, Mukuro stirs, pretending to have just awoken from a painful sleep. It's not that hard to act that out though because wow does her body hurt. A LOT.

i am slow as shit gomen

[thirdarrow]

... She's awake.

The footsteps stop, turn, and approach. His movements are careful and measured, stepping around the two pages and stopping a safe distance away - not quite close enough for the woman to be able to hit him, but not too far as to be out of polite range.

"How are you feeling, miss? Shall I fetch a healer?"

He's concerned, but also cautious, his voice delicately controlled. His spellbook is still with him, ready to act at a moment's notice.

[acorpseonthe_battlefield]

Mukuro feigns weak and frightened eyes, her voice quiverring and hiking up several pitches seemingly out of fear; that is the normal response of an innocent and weak school girl who's just leapt through time. And unless this is a gross joke played on her by her sister, it would seem that that's what's happened because the man in front of her is dressed head to toe in traditional Japanese garb. Her gaze lingers just ever so slightly on the book (any clue? No? Damn.) before she widens her eyes to further her act.

"Wh...what happened? Who are you?"

[thirdarrow]

She is fearful, yes - unless this is an act, the. she would be an exceedingly good actor. Knowing shinobi, this could be a real possibility - best to play along just in case until she drops her guard.

He nods slightly, voice even. "You fell into Koriyama Castle from the air. It can be quite disorienting, but do not worry. We will not harm you." Which is technically true. Even if she is a shinobi, the Mouri clan at least had some honour. But she doesn't seem to know who he is, or at least pretends to. It deviates from some predictions he had in mind.

"You don't recognize our lord? Have you been knocked out too badly or something?" One of the pages shakes his head, evidently annoyed, but the other shushes him quickly.

"I am Kobayakawa Takakage, retainer of the Mouri clan. You are currently within our castle." Takakage doesn't seem to have heard what the pages said.