Monochrome Checkmate - Epilogue 3
Jul. 30th, 2017 06:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Spring
---
Location: Garden Terrace
Eichi: You know, I used to think he and I were the same. Seeing as how he was so small and slender, just like a girl...
In a men's society where physical health and strength are the standards we are measured against, he was looked down upon.
I thought that he'd be frustrated and rebellious, with an inferiority complex simmering under the surface.
That he held the same dreams and desires as me, that he was someone who would come running toward the same goal.
So I thought I understood his feelings. To my embarrassment, I was mistaken.
I thought he would sympathize with and support me, and fight by my side... So when I was admitted to the hospital for my condition, I had him do what I wanted while I was unable to move.
And what I wanted was to bring revolution to Yumenosaki and the idol industry. For that purpose, I had to squeeze out the pus and disease and dispose of them.
At that time, I was in and out of the hospital, so it was a lot of trouble trying to do everything myself.
It was my first trial, as something that no one had tried before... And I didn't have much confidence in it, so I had him give it a go first.
While indoctrinating him with half-truths, I used the student council, created new plans...
And from both on the surface and behind the scenes, I secretly tried to control him.
That trial went well, for the most part.
I broke up the swollen Chess, used Judgment to remove the ill, affected areas... used Duel to kill off enemies, the disease attacking from outside.
Judgment was put down as J, Duel as D, and any other DreamFes were labeled as O...
For convenience, I separated them by alphabetic letters on the student council's paperwork.
The remnants of that alphabetic management system are why even now DreamFes are officially called S1, A1, and the like.
Well, I digress.
The point is, DreamFes around that time was still just an experiment... It was still an unpolished prototype, so there was no guarantee it would work as I'd expected.
So to take the responsibility of possible failure off me, I fixed someone else at the center of it. In other words, that someone was Tsukinaga-kun.
He was my stand-in protagonist. Thanks to him, I managed to collect a considerable amount of practical data and removed quite a bit of pus from the school.
Of course, we may call it a war or something along those lines, but there were no actual casualties.
The defeated continued on with their carefree lives, but in the later revolution, I made them my supporters.
Tsukinaga-kun continued his steady growth beyond my expectations, and his strength grew far too great...
So to put an end to all of that, I held Checkmate after my condition stabilized.
Checkmate... It was the only DreamFes in history to be labeled with the letter C, and became the point at which the path split.
After that, the protagonist changed. I went into action, moving along our plan to conquer the Five Oddballs.
Tsukinaga-kun had exhausted his role. It was clear he was on the verge of a decline.
As he defeated his former comrades, one after another, he soon became resented by everyone and could no longer triumph in DreamFes battles...
But even then, he would cry justice, like Don Quixote, as he continued to fight the villains. [1]
We were concerned with essentially the same things, so there were times when we fought together, too.
However, that relationship didn't last long, either.
After all, he could probably guess what I'd been planning. He'd say something like “You're the mastermind, huh~”, and challenge me on many occasions. Either way, I shot back.
He'd already been driven into a corner by then, and no one would stop to listen to the words of a bygone hero, now despised and ostracized.
In fact, people would gather around me in sympathy, telling me how bad they felt hearing such strange things being said to me.
I took advantage of every one of his actions to kindle the fire of my revolution. He burned up, disappeared... and everything went just as I had planned.
Just like the foolish naked king, you all just embarrassed yourselves in letting yourselves be used. I do offer my condolences, though I suppose I'm the last person you'd want empathy from. [2]
It was a war. Those who were deceived are at fault, and those who survived preside as justice.
Of course I felt terrible, but I continued to tell myself that... And I stood atop your remains.
At least this sacrifice wasn't in vain... All I can do now is assert this.
Izumi: ......
Eichi: Fufu. This means that by using the genius that was Tsukinaga-kun at our convenience, both my dreams and yours came true.
We share the blame, Sena-kun. I wasn't lying when I said I could sympathize with you.
I'd be happy if we could get along after this. Shall we shake on it or something?
...Don't use some gloomy excuse to refuse, like you don't want to catch my disease or something.
Izumi: I wouldn't say anything that terrible. If I hurt you, he might get mad at me, anyway.
Eichi: Alright. In that case, a handshake... With the establishment of this contract, shall we call it a day and return to the battlefield? Or instead, shall we see this chess game to its end?
Izumi: Neither of us has the time to play around, right? It's fine, we don't need a conclusion.
It's not my place to say anything, anyway. It's not like he actually died. There's still a small possibility he'll make a comeback...
It's a pain to duel on his behalf, so I'll leave the rest to him.
Eichi: ...Do you really think Tsukinaga-kun will come back?
Izumi: None of us know what'll happen in the future, right? But all the same, I just think it'd be nice if that happened.
See you around, Tenshouin. It'll get chilly out here if the sun goes down any further, so go stay inside where it's warm, okay. You're still recovering, right? Take care of yourself.
Eichi: Thanks for the concern. That's right, I've finally made it out of the hospital room, after all... Perhaps I'll play around a little longer.
Cock Robin died, his singing voice heard no longer. But yet in the past, and perhaps one day in the future, it still remains a beautiful echo.
~~~
[1] Don Quixote is a well-known literary figure from Spanish literature. What is most interesting to note, though, is that the story is centered around a man who slowly loses his sanity and thinks he's a knight from a long-lost age. In this sense, Eichi might be saying Leo is foolish and/or deluded in continuing to fight on in the name of "justice".↑
[2] For those familiar with the tale "The Emperor's New Clothes", "the naked king" is the re-translation of the Japanese name for the story (裸の王様 - hadaka no ousama). In the story, two weavers trick an emperor into walking around naked by convincing him he's wearing invisible clothes that can only be seen by the worthy.↑
~~~
< Epilogue 2 || Masterlist
---
Location: Garden Terrace
Eichi: You know, I used to think he and I were the same. Seeing as how he was so small and slender, just like a girl...
In a men's society where physical health and strength are the standards we are measured against, he was looked down upon.
I thought that he'd be frustrated and rebellious, with an inferiority complex simmering under the surface.
That he held the same dreams and desires as me, that he was someone who would come running toward the same goal.
So I thought I understood his feelings. To my embarrassment, I was mistaken.
I thought he would sympathize with and support me, and fight by my side... So when I was admitted to the hospital for my condition, I had him do what I wanted while I was unable to move.
And what I wanted was to bring revolution to Yumenosaki and the idol industry. For that purpose, I had to squeeze out the pus and disease and dispose of them.
At that time, I was in and out of the hospital, so it was a lot of trouble trying to do everything myself.
It was my first trial, as something that no one had tried before... And I didn't have much confidence in it, so I had him give it a go first.
While indoctrinating him with half-truths, I used the student council, created new plans...
And from both on the surface and behind the scenes, I secretly tried to control him.
That trial went well, for the most part.
I broke up the swollen Chess, used Judgment to remove the ill, affected areas... used Duel to kill off enemies, the disease attacking from outside.
Judgment was put down as J, Duel as D, and any other DreamFes were labeled as O...
For convenience, I separated them by alphabetic letters on the student council's paperwork.
The remnants of that alphabetic management system are why even now DreamFes are officially called S1, A1, and the like.
Well, I digress.
The point is, DreamFes around that time was still just an experiment... It was still an unpolished prototype, so there was no guarantee it would work as I'd expected.
So to take the responsibility of possible failure off me, I fixed someone else at the center of it. In other words, that someone was Tsukinaga-kun.
He was my stand-in protagonist. Thanks to him, I managed to collect a considerable amount of practical data and removed quite a bit of pus from the school.
Of course, we may call it a war or something along those lines, but there were no actual casualties.
The defeated continued on with their carefree lives, but in the later revolution, I made them my supporters.
Tsukinaga-kun continued his steady growth beyond my expectations, and his strength grew far too great...
So to put an end to all of that, I held Checkmate after my condition stabilized.
Checkmate... It was the only DreamFes in history to be labeled with the letter C, and became the point at which the path split.
After that, the protagonist changed. I went into action, moving along our plan to conquer the Five Oddballs.
Tsukinaga-kun had exhausted his role. It was clear he was on the verge of a decline.
As he defeated his former comrades, one after another, he soon became resented by everyone and could no longer triumph in DreamFes battles...
But even then, he would cry justice, like Don Quixote, as he continued to fight the villains. [1]
We were concerned with essentially the same things, so there were times when we fought together, too.
However, that relationship didn't last long, either.
After all, he could probably guess what I'd been planning. He'd say something like “You're the mastermind, huh~”, and challenge me on many occasions. Either way, I shot back.
He'd already been driven into a corner by then, and no one would stop to listen to the words of a bygone hero, now despised and ostracized.
In fact, people would gather around me in sympathy, telling me how bad they felt hearing such strange things being said to me.
I took advantage of every one of his actions to kindle the fire of my revolution. He burned up, disappeared... and everything went just as I had planned.
Just like the foolish naked king, you all just embarrassed yourselves in letting yourselves be used. I do offer my condolences, though I suppose I'm the last person you'd want empathy from. [2]
It was a war. Those who were deceived are at fault, and those who survived preside as justice.
Of course I felt terrible, but I continued to tell myself that... And I stood atop your remains.
At least this sacrifice wasn't in vain... All I can do now is assert this.
Izumi: ......
Eichi: Fufu. This means that by using the genius that was Tsukinaga-kun at our convenience, both my dreams and yours came true.
We share the blame, Sena-kun. I wasn't lying when I said I could sympathize with you.
I'd be happy if we could get along after this. Shall we shake on it or something?
...Don't use some gloomy excuse to refuse, like you don't want to catch my disease or something.
Izumi: I wouldn't say anything that terrible. If I hurt you, he might get mad at me, anyway.
Eichi: Alright. In that case, a handshake... With the establishment of this contract, shall we call it a day and return to the battlefield? Or instead, shall we see this chess game to its end?
Izumi: Neither of us has the time to play around, right? It's fine, we don't need a conclusion.
It's not my place to say anything, anyway. It's not like he actually died. There's still a small possibility he'll make a comeback...
It's a pain to duel on his behalf, so I'll leave the rest to him.
Eichi: ...Do you really think Tsukinaga-kun will come back?
Izumi: None of us know what'll happen in the future, right? But all the same, I just think it'd be nice if that happened.
See you around, Tenshouin. It'll get chilly out here if the sun goes down any further, so go stay inside where it's warm, okay. You're still recovering, right? Take care of yourself.
Eichi: Thanks for the concern. That's right, I've finally made it out of the hospital room, after all... Perhaps I'll play around a little longer.
Cock Robin died, his singing voice heard no longer. But yet in the past, and perhaps one day in the future, it still remains a beautiful echo.
~~~
[1] Don Quixote is a well-known literary figure from Spanish literature. What is most interesting to note, though, is that the story is centered around a man who slowly loses his sanity and thinks he's a knight from a long-lost age. In this sense, Eichi might be saying Leo is foolish and/or deluded in continuing to fight on in the name of "justice".↑
[2] For those familiar with the tale "The Emperor's New Clothes", "the naked king" is the re-translation of the Japanese name for the story (裸の王様 - hadaka no ousama). In the story, two weavers trick an emperor into walking around naked by convincing him he's wearing invisible clothes that can only be seen by the worthy.↑
~~~
< Epilogue 2 || Masterlist
