Gambit - Epilogue
Apr. 17th, 2025 08:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Winter
---
Location: Hospital Waiting Room
(The next day, in a hospital near the ES building)
Arashi: ...That scared the living daylights out of me.
You got ahead of yourself and provoked him too much, Ritsu-chan. I hope you've reflected.
Ritsu: For that, I really am sorry.
Nrgh... I managed to perfectly set myself up as a key figure of the main plot twist, and yet I ended up getting people mad at me.
Izumi: Still better than me, though? From beginning to end, I wasn't able to do much.
I sure wish everybody would quit going off and doing shit without my permission.
Ritsu: Wow, really? I had no idea we had to get Secchan's permission for every little breath we dare to take.
Izumi: Yeah, you do, so what? You didn't know? Were you living under a rock or something?
Ritsu: ...
Leo: Better give it up, Rittsu. Sometimes this guy sounds like he came to earth from an alien culture.
Ritsu: I have no idea how you have the desire to live with an alien like that, Tsukipi~.
Leo: Huh, why not? Aliens are fun! Especially 'cause you never know what they're gonna do next! Wahahaha! ☆
Tsukasa: —You are making a racket in the hospital, everyone.
Arashi: Oh, Tsukasa-chan! Was everything okay?
Tsukasa: Yes... I am unharmed, of course, for one.
I've just spoken with the doctor as a representative, and it appears Ryuji-san's injury is not as serious as we had imagined.
Arashi: He still had enough strength yesterday to physically drag his little brother offstage, after all. I could tell right then and there that it wasn't fatal.
But I was still worried about him... I don't ever want to go through that again.
Tsukasa: Indeed. Yesterday, in his frenzy, Ohji-san drew a blade on me.
However, at nearly the same time, Ryuji-san flew in front of me and suffered the blow in my stead. Still bleeding, he managed to restrain his brother.
The curtains had not yet risen at that point. I doubt the audience noticed what happened.
Arashi: I hardly felt like I was in my own body... I was already worried sick about Ryuji-san, and then we had to sing and dance on top of Ryuji-san's bloodstains like nothing was wrong.
Ritsu: Quite the metaphor, if you ask me.
Tsukasa: Yes, it all happened just as we were due to start, so we had no choice but to proceed with the Judgment.
Though, thanks to Leo-san and Ritsu-senpai's efforts behind the scenes, King Slayer resigned themselves to a loss by default and did not send out anyone to represent them onstage.
Arashi: Yeah, then after that, it was just like one of our regular Knights concerts.
We would've felt bad for the audience who came all the way there if we just let it all end after one Judgment round.
Still, I... don't know if I managed to look happy or not... I took every spare moment I could get to run to the wings and check on Ryuji-san's condition...
I knew nobody was in life-threatening danger, but again, I didn't feel like I was in my own body.
Izumi: Seriously, that could've ended up a disaster. I mean, bloodshed onstage?
Publicly, it's like the incident never happened. Nobody knows about it except us... It's only times like these when ES is quick and precise with what it does.
Tsukasa: While it is a tad frustrating, it remains a fact that they helped us greatly.
We should be able to act freely and continue our activities as we have up until now.
It must've been a shock to Ohji-san to have stabbed his own brother. He's been dead quiet since, as if his very soul has left his body.
Izumi: That yandere brat... Shouldn't he be arrested or something?
Leo: I asked Mama to take care of that, so that should be dealt with.
Mama wouldn't treat him too badly... At least, I think... I want to believe. Mama always does what I ask him to.
Ritsu: The silver lining on all this is that the guys in King Slayer were obviously totally dumbstruck at what happened and decided to cut ties with the Kuroki brothers completely.
Tsukasa: And thus, the ones who manipulated it all from the shadows in pursuit of revenge and incited so much hatred, have been removed from our world...
...I wonder what will happen to them now.
My blithely naive offer to walk our paths together was met with the edge of a blade. I have nothing left to say to them.
Perhaps we want to meekly continue our activities, careful not to ruffle any feathers so as to avoid another such incident...
...but that is, of course, impossible.
On the contrary—I find myself filled with an even greater drive.
Bodies of the fallen carpet the path we walk.
Their blood stains us, their reproachful cries ring in our ears.
Yet, if we were to give in and invite our own defeat, those people who have lost to us will have died in vain.
And so, no matter who may despise me, I shall continue to hold my head high in haughtiness.
As the head of the Suou family, as the king of Knights, and as a proud individual.
So, any objections?
Leo: Wahaha. If we had any objections, we wouldn't be walking along by your side.
Right, Rittsu, Naru, Sena...? ♪
Tsukasa: I daresay, you are not walking by my side! Where exactly are you tottering off to? Stop it! Haven't I told you time and time again not to compose while walking?!
Izumi: Ahaha, having fun writing something again, Leo-kun?
Leo: ...It's a requiem.
A requiem for the source of everything, in a sense—the friend of that Ryuji guy, the nameless mouse.
No, for all those who never gained notice, whose names have been long forgotten.
It is a song of love and lamentation.
Tsukasa: ...
Leo: Wahaha. Don't worry anymore, little mouse.
Your precious friend isn't alone anymore—someone out there got angry for his sake, even risked their life.
No—that's how he was able to stand back up again from the flames in which he threw himself.
At the very last moment, he changed his mind and decided he couldn't die yet. He survived.
And he will live on, from now into the future.
Just like me. Just like us.
♪~♪~♪
---
< Night Stalker Chapter 21 || Masterlist
---
Location: Hospital Waiting Room
(The next day, in a hospital near the ES building)
Arashi: ...That scared the living daylights out of me.
You got ahead of yourself and provoked him too much, Ritsu-chan. I hope you've reflected.
Ritsu: For that, I really am sorry.
Nrgh... I managed to perfectly set myself up as a key figure of the main plot twist, and yet I ended up getting people mad at me.
Izumi: Still better than me, though? From beginning to end, I wasn't able to do much.
I sure wish everybody would quit going off and doing shit without my permission.
Ritsu: Wow, really? I had no idea we had to get Secchan's permission for every little breath we dare to take.
Izumi: Yeah, you do, so what? You didn't know? Were you living under a rock or something?
Ritsu: ...
Leo: Better give it up, Rittsu. Sometimes this guy sounds like he came to earth from an alien culture.
Ritsu: I have no idea how you have the desire to live with an alien like that, Tsukipi~.
Leo: Huh, why not? Aliens are fun! Especially 'cause you never know what they're gonna do next! Wahahaha! ☆
Tsukasa: —You are making a racket in the hospital, everyone.
Arashi: Oh, Tsukasa-chan! Was everything okay?
Tsukasa: Yes... I am unharmed, of course, for one.
I've just spoken with the doctor as a representative, and it appears Ryuji-san's injury is not as serious as we had imagined.
Arashi: He still had enough strength yesterday to physically drag his little brother offstage, after all. I could tell right then and there that it wasn't fatal.
But I was still worried about him... I don't ever want to go through that again.
Tsukasa: Indeed. Yesterday, in his frenzy, Ohji-san drew a blade on me.
However, at nearly the same time, Ryuji-san flew in front of me and suffered the blow in my stead. Still bleeding, he managed to restrain his brother.
The curtains had not yet risen at that point. I doubt the audience noticed what happened.
Arashi: I hardly felt like I was in my own body... I was already worried sick about Ryuji-san, and then we had to sing and dance on top of Ryuji-san's bloodstains like nothing was wrong.
Ritsu: Quite the metaphor, if you ask me.
Tsukasa: Yes, it all happened just as we were due to start, so we had no choice but to proceed with the Judgment.
Though, thanks to Leo-san and Ritsu-senpai's efforts behind the scenes, King Slayer resigned themselves to a loss by default and did not send out anyone to represent them onstage.
Arashi: Yeah, then after that, it was just like one of our regular Knights concerts.
We would've felt bad for the audience who came all the way there if we just let it all end after one Judgment round.
Still, I... don't know if I managed to look happy or not... I took every spare moment I could get to run to the wings and check on Ryuji-san's condition...
I knew nobody was in life-threatening danger, but again, I didn't feel like I was in my own body.
Izumi: Seriously, that could've ended up a disaster. I mean, bloodshed onstage?
Publicly, it's like the incident never happened. Nobody knows about it except us... It's only times like these when ES is quick and precise with what it does.
Tsukasa: While it is a tad frustrating, it remains a fact that they helped us greatly.
We should be able to act freely and continue our activities as we have up until now.
It must've been a shock to Ohji-san to have stabbed his own brother. He's been dead quiet since, as if his very soul has left his body.
Izumi: That yandere brat... Shouldn't he be arrested or something?
Leo: I asked Mama to take care of that, so that should be dealt with.
Mama wouldn't treat him too badly... At least, I think... I want to believe. Mama always does what I ask him to.
Ritsu: The silver lining on all this is that the guys in King Slayer were obviously totally dumbstruck at what happened and decided to cut ties with the Kuroki brothers completely.
Tsukasa: And thus, the ones who manipulated it all from the shadows in pursuit of revenge and incited so much hatred, have been removed from our world...
...I wonder what will happen to them now.
My blithely naive offer to walk our paths together was met with the edge of a blade. I have nothing left to say to them.
Perhaps we want to meekly continue our activities, careful not to ruffle any feathers so as to avoid another such incident...
...but that is, of course, impossible.
On the contrary—I find myself filled with an even greater drive.
Bodies of the fallen carpet the path we walk.
Their blood stains us, their reproachful cries ring in our ears.
Yet, if we were to give in and invite our own defeat, those people who have lost to us will have died in vain.
And so, no matter who may despise me, I shall continue to hold my head high in haughtiness.
As the head of the Suou family, as the king of Knights, and as a proud individual.
So, any objections?
Leo: Wahaha. If we had any objections, we wouldn't be walking along by your side.
Right, Rittsu, Naru, Sena...? ♪
Tsukasa: I daresay, you are not walking by my side! Where exactly are you tottering off to? Stop it! Haven't I told you time and time again not to compose while walking?!
Izumi: Ahaha, having fun writing something again, Leo-kun?
Leo: ...It's a requiem.
A requiem for the source of everything, in a sense—the friend of that Ryuji guy, the nameless mouse.
No, for all those who never gained notice, whose names have been long forgotten.
It is a song of love and lamentation.
Tsukasa: ...
Leo: Wahaha. Don't worry anymore, little mouse.
Your precious friend isn't alone anymore—someone out there got angry for his sake, even risked their life.
No—that's how he was able to stand back up again from the flames in which he threw himself.
At the very last moment, he changed his mind and decided he couldn't die yet. He survived.
And he will live on, from now into the future.
Just like me. Just like us.
♪~♪~♪
---
< Night Stalker Chapter 21 || Masterlist
