GRAVEYARD

[foundationmods]

[On the instant of your death, you're suddenly outside of your body - probably staring down at the remains it's become.

Yet, you're not alone. For all of you (except Szayel), a young man appears from behind you, his face set into a firm, yet sad, scowl. His shaggy strawberry blonde hair is pretty eye-catching, along with the black and white Shihakusho he wears and the large sword on his back, even as he gently tries to lead you back into the lobby and away from what was once your body. You can still clearly hear and see the living, if you want to try - but they can't see or hear you.

'Welcome to the world of the dead in this Resort,' he says, quietly. 'Looks like you're stuck here with the rest of us.'

He hands you a tablet, just like the one you had before. "You'll need this if you want to keep talking to them,' he explains, looking sad.

It looks like you've passed on, and yet...You still feel like you have a role to play in all of this.]

Comments

[messianic]

[... God, he doesn't want to think about that, though he's going to have to...

Minato's eyes squeeze shut as he drags in a slow breath.]

... Yeah.

I... I'll talk to him, when I can.

[dereban]

Please do. He really didn't deserve to suffer anymore. . . [ she clenches her teeth ] Damn it. I should have said something to the Jorogumo. I could have at least prevented both of you guys blowing up.

[messianic]

I know... he always picks himself back up, but he pushes himself so hard. And this after everything...

[He's talking more to himself at that--before he just sighs, shaking his head.]

It's nobody's fault. I didn't realize that they would have to kill once a week or be punished themselves.

[dereban]

He's just that kind of person. I understand.

[ She honestly gets it, as someone who pushes themselves just as hard, in a completely different way. ]

Yeah, I. . . knew? I was kind of conspiring with the mafia so that they wouldn't choose Atsushi, but then. [ Tigergate happened. ] I probably could have at least went back to ask a favor again after Atsushi's death to prevent this much.

[messianic]

[... Oh.

Well.

Whoops...]

... It is what it is now... for better or for worse, we both died. [Him and Rean... and the Jorogumo too, most likely.]

[dereban]

[ She's going to place a hand on his shoulder, trying to wear a rather reassuring smile, but it looks more self deprecating than anything. ]

We'll. . . figure something out? Hopefully.

[messianic]

I'm... worried about the trial.

[What are they going to do? Rean is dead. If the spider is dead too, then--

(Obviously, he's worried about Akira, too--he can only hope Akira doesn't find the scene.)]

[dereban]

Honestly. . . I am, too. For a lot of reasons.

[messianic]

[... A sigh.

Minato just kind of...groans and flops back against the couch.]

I'm so tired.

[dereban]

If you want to rest a bit, nobody's going to blame you for it, you know. I certainly won't.

[messianic]

... Yeah. I guess so. I... want to stay awake, though.

[Because--]

If that explosion woke everyone up, then...

[Even if he can't do anything, he wants to be here to watch and make sure Akira doesn't find his, uh, body.]

[dereban]

. . . Kurusu's going to be the first one to try and find you because he knows.

[messianic]

[... He buries his face in his hands and groans.]

I know.

I don't want him to find me. Please, please... don't let him find me.

[dereban]

Even if he doesn't, he's going to find out in the end... he'll probably want to see it even if he's not the first person to.

[messianic]

[... Yeah. He knows. That's how Akira is... but from what he experienced of it via his soul being there before Ichigo yanked it out of dodge?

Not pretty.]

He's dealt with so much here from the very beginning.

He deserves...so much more than to constantly be hurting.

[dereban]

I know. [ She doesn't get or know all of it, but she's had the feeling that was just the kind of person he was from the very beginning. ] For you, he probably deserves the world, doesn't he? And not this bullshit. Maybe after everything. . . you guys should go on a vacation together.

[messianic]

... Ha... yeah.

[Minato dips his head, lips curved in a soft, gentle smile.]

He does deserve the world. He's fought so hard to make it to this point, and... I don't want the world to take anything away from him anymore.

[...Tentatively:]

A vacation sounds really nice, honestly.

[dereban]

Yeah. He's had to deal with a lot of bullshit. And I've heard other related things that he probably doesn't like, too. We have our work cut out for us, to be honest. Not just with hauling ass here, but figuring out how to change the Foundation. And then a vacation. Probably somewhere that can't kill us.

[messianic]

.... Yeah. It's time to make some changes.

Once we get out of here...

We have to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again--or any of the things the Foundation does to people.

... But after that, definitely a vacation.

[dereban]

Maybe it can be a group vacation. Maybe we should make a list of vacation spots...? I could invite everyone over to my world, I guess? It's probably one of the safer ones out there and isn't really fucked up. Plus, Yokohama's pretty big and has a lot of nice date spots.

[messianic]

Yeah, I definitely still want to go to Yokohama.

[Minato is taking this well, but. He's no stranger to death, so maybe that's no surprise really.]

I think I owe Akira a lot of nice dates for this.

[dereban]

It'll be fun.

[ Inaba doesn't seem to be surprised at how well he's taking it, if she's going to be honest. ]

And you absolutely do.

[messianic]

So we'll all go together when we get out of this mess. A trip, so we can all relax...

I'm excited for it.

[dereban]

Yeah. If we're all going to Yokohama, we definitely need to get everyone on the Ferris Wheel at least once.

[messianic]

That sounds amazing, I'm not going to lie.

All of us on that ferris wheel together, getting to see the sights and take it easy...

[... It kind of makes his chest feel tight.]