(no subject)

[idolpro]

Who: A graduating idol, others
Where: A pier
When: 121 Dawn

[ At the Tokyo seashore, dawn comes and paints the sky bright and the water red. A boat has docked there, just for the graduation ceremony. The deck is laid out with tables laden with seafood, one table with a fancy black tablecloth and a ☆ centered on the fabric. A crown sits at the table for the graduating girl, inlaid with red jewels.

A banner above the gangplank onto the boat reads CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GRADUATION. ]

Comments

[lovestained]

...

Of course I am. I told you, I don't want to just leave you all behind. Whether or not I'm an idol, I'm ☆ZRAEL's witch. I have a duty to uphold, you know.

...And it's not as if demons are really that bad, so being one won't be a problem. Even when I was Wadanohara I was friends with plenty, and you're great, too.

[stakesthesame]

That's not-- the point. I'm not part of...

[ trails off, frowning. ]

... what if they try to make you murder us, too?

[lovestained]

Ahaha. ☆

I was hoping you wouldn't think about that. You won't like my answer, you know.

[stakesthesame]

[ grits her teeth a bit. ]

-- this isn't "not leaving us behind" you know. It's worse, if it's like that.

[lovestained]

Who would you rather kill you, Req? Someone who loves you, or someone who's just doing it to watch you and everyone who loves you suffer? Not even that -- just so they can win the game they're playing?

We've never agreed on that sort of thing, but when they made the offer I couldn't think of anything but just...being gone. While the rest of you stay, and get hurt, over and over and over. This...is what I think is the right thing to do.

If I didn't, you'd just end up like me. Stained red.

[stakesthesame]

[ curling her fingers into her fists, trembling. ]

That's-- different. It's different than when I wanted to make a kill agreement with HSS. Those things that run the games don't care how much we hurt. I doubt they'd let you go easy on us, especially not because you're... Zrael.

[ silent for a long moment, hanging her head, and the tension drains out, just looking... tired already. ]

...

Congratulations, Red.

[lovestained]

...You know, it's nothing to congratulate me for. No matter what I chose, it'd have turned out worse than staying on ☆ZRAEL.

...

When it hurts, just remember that I love you. I'm sorry it had to be this way, but it looks like this sort of thing just runs in my family.

[stakesthesame]

[ hunches her shoulders a little and looks away. ]

... mm.

[lovestained]

...I'm sorry, Requiem.

[stakesthesame]

Are you?

...

Things were just-- starting to get better.