WEEK FOUR: EXECUTION

[saturations]

EXECUTION: TRIAL BY COMBAT

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough, until around noon, when alarms start going off on your phones. The dreadful noise is accompanied by a reminder of the execution taking place in the Central Node. You can snooze the alarms at first, but they begin to get a little more insistent. If you're being stubborn, you can probably hold out until exactly 1 PM, when an archway opens right in front of you and pulls you in.

Today the Central Node is eerily quiet and empty. There are a few blankets laid out on the grass for those of you who wish to sit instead of standing the whole time. No refreshments have been provided, but the Residents are already there waiting for you.

As the last person enters the node, an enormous archway suddenly opens. This archway once again leads to an area which is pitch black inside, with white and grey dust falling softly like snow. The chilly air feels even colder than before, and you instinctively know you must not approach it. If you try to push through anyway, something is blocking your way. Smaller tears to the same space open in the air, at the very least. You can see what's happening, even if you can't follow.

Because - once the archway is open, Atsushi and Vin alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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[dms]

[ as fireworks burst in the sky, kazunari's calm veneer cracks.

homesickness, sorrow, and fondness all filter though as he watches the lights in atsushi and vin's sky. fireworks should be for happy occasions, for celebrations... not a prelude to death. he misses that, misses it so badly, and the last thing he wants to see is a sight like this, a special moment between those two, become tainted. ]

It's like Summer...

[ a soft exhale, where kazu allows his sorrow and longing to show for only a moment longer before he packages it back up to set aside for later. ]

[9mon]

[It's like a heartbreak. He loves fireworks, and the start of Summer, for festivals for friendship. And he thinks... this is also Atsushi's way of showing friendship, even here, at the beginning of their fight. It's a kindness.

It makes anxiety worsen.

He misses Summer. He misses Mankai and he misses home. He reaches for Kazu and squeezes his hand.

Somehow, they'll manage to make it back. He has to keep holding onto that hope.]

[dms]

[ a confession under the fireworks... it's sweet. romantic. a moment that should only be shared between those two, not... everyone trapped here to watch through the end.

it makes his heart ache.

kazu holds kumon a little tighter, squeezes his hand back, and reaches for that little bit of hope with him. ]

[9mon]

[There's only so much time... there's only ever so much time. Being here makes it so clear that it's limited. More limited than he thought.]

[dms]

[ and there it is. kazunari sighs, a thread of sorrow slipping past his defenses before he bottles it back up, and gives kumon's hand another squeeze. ]

I wish they'd had more time...

[9mon]

[He closes his eyes as they take up their guns.

But the vibe is he agrees with Kazunari.]

[dms]

[ a flash of relief when vin avoids the hit, followed immediately a spark of dread because it means this will go on longer. neither of them is the type to drag this out longer than necessary, though, so he hopes that holds true here.

he sends more comforting vibes to kumon, reassurance that it shoudl be over soon. ]

[9mon]

[The vibes are "I trust you", even as he refuses to look up and see what kind of fight is happening.]

[dms]

[ something about vin's shout and the use of fireworks as weapons makes kazunari flinch, but he keeps watching where kumon won't. ]

Come on, guys...

[9mon]

[ He can hear the fireworks, loud as they are. With the way these fights are... He doubts it's because they're just going off in the background. ]

[dms]

[ looks at the mod update and closes my goddamn eyes.

the calm in kazunari shatters, breath catching with the spike of anxiety and fear. he holds onto kumon a little tighter. ]

[9mon]

[ His own anxiety spikes and now, somehow, he's feeling Anxiety Two. It's not better than Anxiety One. It's worse.

Could this happen to him too?

His breathing is getting ragged, fever coming to the forefront. ]

[dms]

[ nooooo his kumon. ]

H-Hey. Kumopi, just breathe, okay? You'll be okay.

[9mon]

[ His rolls are terrible this weekend.

But he's always been an obedient child, as he does his best to keep breathing and not faint. ]

[dms]

[ he's trying to scrape that sense of calm back together - if not for himself, then for kumon. he takes deep breaths along with him to try to shake the anxiety. ]

It'll be over soon...

[ hopefully without everything else they had to deal with last week on top of it. ]