Comfortember 2022

Stroke of Midnight - Tsurugi Kinjo/Yuki Maeda + Tsurugi Kinjo/Kouhei Sasaki

15. A Quiet Moment

Warning: spoilers for DRA chapter 5/6, mentioned suicide attempt

***

It was the middle of the night when Yuki woke up in a cold sweat. His recent nightmares haven't stopped, the only seemed to grow like the number of bodies as the killing game went on. This was just another night to add to the list.

Yuki sighed and got out of bed, guessing that a walk might be able to clear his battered mind. There was no night air in the enclosed building to calm him down, but he decided that he should stay away from the fifth floor since is smelled like the blood it was covered in.

After wandering the halls, knowing that this was breaking the group's practically non-existent nighttime rules, Yuki had found himself on the third floor. The library, art room, and science lab held too many painful memories at this time of night for him. So the only things available for him to wander were the classrooms, casino, and infirmary.

Yuki stiffened as he thought about the infirmary. Just a while before he first tried to go to sleep, Tsurugi had shot himself in the ballroom in an attempt to 'atone' for everything he did, but he had survived and was put into the infirmary by Monokuma. The bear had said that Tsurugi might end up in a vegetive state because of where the bullet shards hit.

When Yuki had watched the trigger being pulled and received the report from Monokuma, he was horrified and full of despair. But now that the shock and denial had passed, the lucky student decided that he should visit the infirmary and see how Tsurugi was doing.

Yuki walked into the infirmary and saw the blue-haired policeman laying on a bed with bandages around his head. He noticed that the policeman's expression was peaceful, and he wondered if Tsurugi had found what he was looking for in the end.

Yuki wondered if the outcome would have been different if he had consoled Tsurugi on the fourth floor after Kinji had challenged his beliefs, but disregarded that thought. If he had been comforted from Kinji's motives, that wouldn't change that fact that he fainted during Satsuki's trial when she and Rei challenged his beliefs once more.

"Hey, Tsurugi. It's been a while since we talked privately like this, huh?" Yuki remarked, pulling a chair beside the bed and sitting down. "Ever since you fainted in the trial, you've missed a lot. Well, I guess I'm glad you didn't see Satsuki's-"

He took a sudden breath, trying to will the images of her execution out of his head. "Well, a new floor opened while you were in your room," he quickly changed the topic. "Rei's working a little more with us, she cooperated with us enough with the fifth floor. And, uh..." He noticed the security camera, so he remembered to stay quiet about the meetings held in Rei's room.

"Did you see that new 'transfer student' Monokuma introduced, Yamato Kisaragi? He speaks strangely and we suspect him as the mastermind, but we have no proof of that." The lucky student looked down at Tsurugi once more, seeing that the policeman hadn't so much as twitched at all. "I...I hope you wake up soon. Rei's angry, we have no leads, the newspaper clipping is abnormal, and I don't get this at all."

Yuki cautiously put his hand on Tsurugi's arm, tears slowly coming to his eyes. "We've been trying so hard since Satsuki died, we don't want her sacrifice to be in vain. But what can we do? Even if you just wake a bit, it won't even matter if you can't move, it will still give us hope. Tsurugi please..."

The lucky student was finally unable to hold back his tears any longer, and he sobbed while holding onto the police officer's arm.

***

Tsurugi was in a small town park, sitting on a bench. His head was foggy, but his memory was starting to come back to him. Yes, he had attended Hope's Peak Academy, learned that his views weren't correct, and came to terms with it in his own time.

The policeman gripped his knees tighter as he remembered how he got to this place. He had shot himself in the head after realizing that his ideals were wrong after dealing with the murders of the ones he called friends, and he ignored the cries of the ones still alive.

"Yeah, that was kinda stupid," he heard a voice next to him say. When he turned his head, he saw that the person sitting on the bench next to him was Kouhei Sasaki, his childhood friend appearing how he was before his death.

"Heh. Right as always, Kouhei..." he chuckled distraughtly. "I was stupidly clinging to my beliefs when I first entered the school, and when my memory was somehow taken by that...that bitch...I condemned people who could have possibly lived a happy life if not for Monokuma."

The grey-haired boy looked at him with a sad expression. "Yeah, they could have. It's true, but it's not your fault. You know better now, don't you?" he asked, putting his hand on Tsurugi's arm. "Monokuma forced them to kill, and they chose to kill for whatever reasons. Isn't it more important to protect the ones you have left?"

Tsurugi nodded silently, and Kouhei took his hand off his arm. "Rei's probably on her own still, Teruya's likely hopeless and confused, Mikako's suffering, Akane is still running rampant, and Yuki..." Tsurugi's eyes shot wide open as he remembered the moments before he blacked out. "Yuki! I need to apologize to him and stop Akane from hurting the others, but how do I leave this place?!"

Kouhei shrugged with a smile. "Don't forget, this is your dream. I can't help you when you wake up, but I trust you'll handle everything."

***

Tsurugi shot upright in the hospital bed and looked around, seeing no one nearby. He got up from the hospital bed, was forced to stop to stretch his body a little, then ran out the door and began looking around. 

The halls were quiet, so he assumed that everyone was on a new floor. He ran up the stairs to the fifth floor and saw not only old blood splattered everywhere, but new blood on the floor. The halls were quiet, so he turned around to go to the elevator in the school.

The elevator went down to the trial grounds, where he knew they had to be. As he heard the sounds of the bottom being reached, the power suddenly went out. He had no time to worry about that though, and as soon as the elevator came to a stop, he ran out through the opening doors.

***

Art credit: Q3Q___oO180 on twitter