[ DEPARTURE ]

[sheriffexe]

DEPARTURE

It's time to go. Most people are on the train by now. Settled into their cabins and among friends and loved ones. There are only three new arrivals left to board and once they do, Hal pulls a conductor's hat out from underneath the bar, tugs it on, and steps around it to the middle of the train. He opens his mouth to talk, voice filling the train. "It's time to go. Stops happen once a day until everyone's departed and I already have your stopped listed. If you'd like to be prioritized, let me know, otherwise we'll go in order of death. Settle in and enjoy the ride. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask, folks." This, of course, means that those who died earliest (Manfred, Higekiri) will depart first while those who died latest (Barnham, Damian, Percy) will depart last. There's a stop for everyone, though those who want to get off together are more than welcome to. Hal pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket later and people will notice that he goes around the train confirming stops with everyone. Whatever feeling Hal may have had to a character back in town isn't noticeable here -- he is simply a robot assigned with a job. After that, it's all a matter of settling in and enjoying the ride. If that's possible for you, at least.

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Comments

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke doesn't want to see anyone. At this point, he just wants to go back home (for a given extent of "want", at least) and preferably not deal with people until then—however long that'll be, given his time of death.

The people here are what terrify him the most, after all; why he almost chooses not to retain his memories. He can handle death and trauma, but it's caring that will break him the hardest. Those whom he's come to care for are what would make him falter, and his memories of them will only serve as distraction back home. Logically, he shouldn't need them. He shouldn't keep them. That's how he's always lived: discarding anything disadvantageous for his goal.

And yet, he's still choosing to remember, and that's part of what scares him.

... That doesn't mean he has to actually confront any of them before he leaves, however.

In a corner somewhere, tucked away out of sight, he's sitting on the floor, not doing much of anything. He's going to have to leave sometime to do things like eat and whatnot, but for now, he's hoping that anyone looking for him (if anyone at all; he's not exactly Mr. Popular) will just give up. In the meantime...

Voicelessly, he mouths to himself, again and again, the same string of words: I'll save her. I'll save her. I'll save her.

His fight is just beginning.]

[cherrypuncher]

[okay but when has Yuna Yuki ever given up on anything ever in her life what's Shinnosuke thinking

It takes a long time, even before counting interruptions for hugs and conversation and tears along the way, but eventually she finds this asshole's hiding spot. A stop a day means almost two weeks before the train lets her leave, so she has time to wait for him to decide to pick somewhere less subtle to be, but this is too important to put off. Seeing him like this makes something tug hard and hurtful at her chest.

Without preamble or hesitation, though, Yuna prances on over, chipper as ever, and takes a seat ride beside him, first setting her hands in her lap and then moving to reach into a cardigan pocket where she's saved a couple of candy bars.]

I brought snacks if you want some.

[insincerely]

[This is why hopes and dreams are worthless!!!

At first, Shinnosuke pauses, a frown flickering across his face, before he puts on a smirk. Just don't feel anything—this will all be so much easier if he doesn't feel anything.

(How is he going to say goodbye to Yuna?)]

I've told you before, haven't I? You're going to get fat if you keep snacking like this.

[cherrypuncher]

—Well if that's the price I have to pay for eating lots of good food then I'm just gonna deal with it!

[WHATEVER!! FINE!!!! she's not even gonna fight it anymore she isn't even going to give this line of conversation the ammo of her argument!!]

I'm not even snacking right now, anyway, I was offering some to you!

[insincerely]

And when have I ever accepted food from you?

[Don't do this, he thinks but doesn't say. Don't give him another conversation like all of their ones before this, as if they aren't going to part for good.]

[elemancy]

[shinnosuke can only hide for so long before noct is going to find him and just. sit next to him, even if it's on the floor.

he's good at this noble royal thing, right?]

You planning to just try to hide from us until it's over?

[insincerely]

...

[Shinnosuke frowns at him, before looking away.]

Well, that was the idea, before you ruined it.

[elemancy]

Gotta make sure to ruin your day a couple more times before we never see each other again, right?

[he says it jokingly, but it's no less true—and no less shitty, honestly.]

[insincerely]

Don't you have someone to go make out with? Two someones, maybe?

[Dimly, it occurs to him that he's actually going to miss Noct, which is all the more reason why he doesn't want to talk to him. Ever.]

[thatsthespirit]

[Shinnosuke is the most difficult of them all to find, and somehow, that doesn't surprise Milla. even knowing that he likely doesn't want to talk to her or anyone else, she still seeks him out]

Don't you get lonely, sitting here all by yourself?

[insincerely]

[Damn it. Can't any of them just leave him alone?]

Sorry, I don't understand this concept of "getting lonely" that you speak of.

[thatsthespirit]

[doesn't he know better by now. she shakes her head, and takes a seat next to him]

Difficult, all the way until the very end. But I'm sure you're aware none of us want you to leave without saying good bye.

[insincerely]

[He's just going to scoot away.]

Yes, but what you want is irrelevant to me.

[ceded]

[ There was never any way she wouldn't find him.

She's quiet as she approaches; saying nothing, her steps light. Her expression is the same way: light, considering, nothing too serious. But her knowing is in her eyes, in the way she tucks her coat beneath her as she takes a seat by his side.

Though it's long been her custom, she doesn't take one of his hands, doesn't lean against him or lock their arms together. She doesn't touch him at all, though they're close enough that they nearly brush. Just ... only nearly. There she'll stay for a moment, a warm presence at his side, before finally murmuring: ]

I thought I'd find you here.

[ With the softest smile and a teasing glance. Gentle, gentle, the barely-there force of it cut further by a hint of melancholy. ]

[insincerely]

[Xion is, perhaps, the person he wanted to see the least.

Shinnosuke's silent for a moment, tense with her next to him (damn it, no—he doesn't know what he's supposed to say to her, and that terrifies him), before quietly, he responds.]

I wish you hadn't come looking.

[It would've been easier on both of them that way, he figures.]

[ceded]

[ There's a pause, and in it she watches him: his quiet face, his eyes that refuse to give away his heart and yet, somehow, always do. Even the fall of his hair, the stiff line of his shoulders, every inch no matter how guarded is something she's come to love.

It really is unfortunate, some piece of her laughs. The piece that's been around snarky teens too long. Not to fall in love with someone who can't return it; it would never even occur to her to think that. No, she thinks: I might never see him again.

The thought of each moment being one of the last of its kind - a hand on her head, his voice calling her name or just pipsqueak, his hands curled in her own - has kept her near tears for days. Suppressed by the unknown, the terror of the end; but right now, right here, there is little else to dwell on. ]

I never really knew if I had a heart. [ ... where's this going? ] They told us we didn't. But I always felt so much, and hearts were supposed to let us feel. I've been thinking about it since I got here. If I really didn't have a heart, all this time, then... could I really care so much?

[ Now, finally, or maybe too soon, one of her hands finds one of his. ]

I'm still not sure. But I must have something like one. Otherwise, this wouldn't hurt so much. [ her voice briefly hushes to a murmur. ] And... there's one other thing, too.

If I have a heart, then... you'll always be a part of it, Shinnosuke. That's what hearts do, isn't it? They hold all the people you love.

[ ... ]

It means that ... we'll always be together, in a way. Not just you and me, but ... everyone else, too. Everyone who loves you.

[insincerely]

[... She couldn't get into this topic more gradually?

Perhaps Shinnosuke shouldn't have expected differently. He still did, just as how he fails to expect the way Xion takes his hand. He lets her, though not before having to stifle a jerk away.

It hurts. It hurts, because he's not sure how he feels over knowing that he'll never see Xion again. Will he grieve? Will he move on without a second thought? No, he probably couldn't do the latter, as much as he wishes it were possible. Will he be happy knowing that she's likely living her life elsewhere, with the future she was deprived? Maybe.

Rather than let his thoughts leak into his face or voice, though, he simply states, passively:]

Technically, as far as humans are concerned, our heart is just the organ that pumps blood through our circulatory system.

[hydrokinetics]

[He doesn't want to do this. He knows Shinnosuke of all people probably wants to see him the least, but he knows he has to at least end this fairly. It's why he goes to seek him out after a while. It's why when he finds him, he crouches down to be more on-level with him.

He's tired. He's exhausted and sick with relief but tense with worry lines all the same as he looks over Shinnosuke. Knowing he has his eye sight though, he doesn't speak right away. After some time in silence he speaks up.]

...you'll do well. [He remembers what they spoke of in the post office. He knows Shinnosuke is like him. They each have one more fight to the finish.]

[insincerely]

[Shinnosuke does not, in fact, want to see Percy—nothing personal, since he evidently doesn't want to see anyone, given how he's squirreled away over here. He was hoping that Percy at least wouldn't bother to come looking for him, but apparently, that was a futile wish (as most of his wishes tend to be, really).

Quietly:]

We'll see.

[He doesn't know if he's ever had much faith, as he's being forced to act vastly ahead of schedule with none of the preparations he wanted; then, this place has only made him more uncertain of his capabilities (in the end, he didn't do a single thing of worth, did he?).

On the other hand, faith may have nothing to do with it. He doesn't need hope to keep moving.]

... Don't you have your own hiding spot to go find or something?

[hydrokinetics]

I don't need to find it. I already know where it is. [He shrugs, not too bothered by Shinnosuke's resistance. He deserves it, frankly. He won't try to force him not to feel this way. Still, he frowns lightly.]

What are you going to do about your memories, Shinnosuke?

[insincerely]

[...]

Why does it matter to you?

[robitussin]

Hey, loser.

[No such luck, his favorite person has found him!!]

Is there a reason you're sitting in a secluded corner, mouthing random shit to yourself?

[insincerely]

[Ugggggh.

He gives her a flat look, and then:]

Maybe I've snapped and gone complete insane. You should probably stay away.

[robitussin]

Eh. I could take you, I'm not too worried.

[That aside...]

You know hiding is going to be entirely pointless, right?

[insincerely]

It wouldn't be pointless if those idiots would just stop looking for me.