COUNTDOWN: THE SMALL VOICE THAT RINGS OUT

[cordibus]

Seven days remain. Or so it would seem. Somehow you might not still be convinced. This is all just a strange coincidence, but to go as far as to claim that you have other memories... can it?

But things have already been set alight inside the hearts of those chosen few who have received the app on their phones. For some, it's just the first bite of the apple. For others, it's been like shaking down an entire tree. Things are beginning to look... strange. Surely there are more burning questions on their minds by now.

The warning bells of the Nightly Curfew ring across the city. There's a faint hum from the phone this time before the icon appears. This time it displays a time: 1:00AM

The rest of the night is normal. Perhaps you've cuddled up with family, or you've gone to bed early to wait, but sure enough, time tick by right until 1 in the morning when...

You're back into that application again. A single question before you're even permitted to type anything else. And while it seems to be overwritten by something inside of you, it feels a lot more natural than before. Which is, truthfully... troubling.

WELCOME TO THE FINAL QUIZ!
Answer from the heart, the part of you that has been denied for far too long.

Do you want to remember?
Yes | Hell Yes| Definitely | Of course I do!

And yet, a tiny little font at the bottom. A bit hard to miss but if you hover your finger over it will answer for you...

No. Not yet...
Once you are done, you are tossed once more into the main chatroom. Now your user names are the names that you wrote down in the last survey, but with all those questions it's... hard not to think of them as your own. Maybe you'll be cursing at this device, but it looks like you're already deep down the rabbit hole by now.

[OOC: This is the final network post before Awakening. Users will now be able to speak of who they are in their AU life without the information being blocked by the application.

As a note! Characters who select "no" will not need to Awaken next week and will be able to delay to later. Instead, the character will be able to proceed with logs as a Pre-Awakened, be aware of certain issues happening in the city, however their memories will not be complete and they will be unable to fight back (apart from their own weapons). Note that they will be unable to use a Persona until they fully Awaken. There will be more details to follow, if you pick this option.

As always, while they will not get any new on their own, speaking with Luci might grant the Awakened more memories... be careful that they don't get more than they bargained for.]

Comments

[blacktemper]

[instinct allows him to snatch the keys out of the air effortlessly, but it also causes him to use his more injured hand to do so. Vincent had wrapped them with as much care as he showed most things in his life, and he can't hide the wince it induces - so he merely papers over it with ire instead.

he wants to hurl them right back in Kurama's face, but manages to at least contain that. instead he cants his head to the side, spinning the keys painfully around his finger. just another brilliant idea in a long line of them.]

Don't be so full of yourself. I have practice.

[it was the truth, albeit only half of it. Vincent did indeed have practice today, something that had been scheduled for quite some time. but what he wasn't saying was that he didn't intend to return after they'd finished playing.

it meant abandoning all of his belongings not on his person to Kurama's discretion, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. anything to get away from this and to keep this pompous asshole from martyring himself over Vincent's pain.]

[whitefox]

I see.

[Precious little escaped Kurama's notice, even with being sleep deprived and on the verge of collapse. Both Vincent's twinge of pain and blatant refusal to back down from any such inconvenience were noted, but neither one was commented upon. Much as Kurama cared about his would-be partner's well-being, that was obviously the last thing Vincent wanted to hear from him right now. And forcing the issue would only encourage the other boy to be more reckless with himself, not more careful.

He didn't believe for a moment that Vincent had to leave for practice, however. Not now. Later, perhaps, but he'd been in no real hurry to go anywhere until Kurama had decided to be the bearer of bad news himself. But that was one more thing in a long line of those Kurama was not about to call the other boy out on. He would keep his word. If Vincent wanted to go, then he wouldn't stop him.

But he wouldn't pretend to like the idea, either.

His stare was unfaltering as he circled the arm chair and came to stand nearer the other teen. Even as he held his hand out to accept the keys back from Vincent, if indeed he wished to relinquish them, Kurama didn't look away. He expected violence. He expected blistering hot rage. But these were things that he was built to handle, even in this body. It seemed Kit's form remembered everything and, while it was significantly more human, it was just as enduring. He would take whatever Vincent wanted to dish out.

He would even fight back to give him the release he was too bullheaded to realize he needed.

But only if Vincent instigated anything.]

[blacktemper]

[he certainly wanted to. god, did he want nothing more than to break that delicate face until no amount of medical assistance could ever truly repair it. the proper reaction to pain had always been violence in his world, and in this moment he isn't sure if he's ever felt more hurt than right now.

but the epiphany that had been forced upon him earlier still lingers with Vincent now. as he stares deep into this once-familiar emerald eyes, he knows that lashing out now would only serve to make himself more sick. it would be affirming the mockery that all their previous fights had truly been, making an emotional fool out of himself for no gain whatsoever. violence now would only be as hollow as the rest of their relationship had been.

it seems that Kit had stolen even this from him with his actions. how fitting.

no matter what he did now, he knew that Kurama would use it as fuel to further his consequenceless guilt. his former self had the same habit, and he could tell by the set of the other boy's jaw that it was an inherited trait. whatever he did or said, his former companion would sit and allow it to eat away at himself without ever acting on it, as if feeling bad were enough to justify his actions. it wouldn't change anything. he'd continue doing as he pleased all the same.

that loathsome thought is almost enough to prompt him to relinquish the keys, but at the last second they swung up to be encircled by his fist, hand hovering a few inches from Kurama's outstretched own. he could justify it by saying he wanted to be able to send his bandmates to retrieve his things sometime in the future, but Vincent knew better. what he wanted was a memento, a constant reminder of the costliest mistake he'd ever made.

they stand in silence for a long moment before he finally speaks up, his words low and burning.]

He deserved to believe in something better than you.

[not Kit. Kit had gotten exactly what he'd wanted out of all of this. the person that he was speaking of was none other than Hiei, the boy in his visions and this thing's partner in another life.

sympathy had never really crossed his thoughts throughout all of the memories he'd experienced, no matter how visceral they'd been. but looking at the only thing that, to Vincent's knowledge, the demon had ever cherished and trusted, he can't help but feel it welling up inside him.

Hiei possessed nothing. no past, no affection, no future. his life had been bleak from beginning to end, with a single bright spot in all of that futility - Kurama. even someone as bloodthirsty and vicious didn't deserve that. the least the world could have done was provide him with something truly worth believing in.]

[whitefox]

[As his hand dropped back to his side absent of his keys and the feeling of Vincent's skin against his own, a rapid succession of thoughts flitted through Kurama's mind.

Vincent was angry at the wrong person.

Kit's impetuousness, which exceeded even his own, was to blame for the disaster that had befallen them. Had the choice been his, Kurama wouldn't have wanted this. He would never have chosen himself over anyone who had given so much of themselves to him. Why hadn't Kit been able to see that? Even without having experienced the crushing weight of the Gateway of Betrayal, he had still witnessed the memory of Shiori and of Yusuke's sacrifice on her behalf. He had seen how effective his partnership with Hiei was because of how deeply they trusted one another. He had to know that Kurama cherished the people around him from the very depths of his heart and yet...he'd not only been inclined to shed the bonds he'd forged, but he'd been eager to do so, too.

And all of it was to become someone he only thought he understood.

He was such a fool...and now an inescapable part of Kurama. But unlike his other self, Kurama would not run from what he was, whether he liked what was there or not. Neither would he attempt to shirk his responsibilities. Even if the decision wasn't one that he had made, Kit could no longer answer for his mistakes the same way that the youko he'd been when he was younger could no longer answer for the horrible acts he'd committed. As such, that task fell to the person Kurama was now. Some strange and altogether frightening amalgamation of the youko Kurama, Shuichi Minamino, and Kit Florentine.]

I know.

[Vincent was right. Hiei deserved better. He had always deserved better than the lot in life he'd been given, if it could be said he was given anything at all but a cursed existence.

That was why...Kurama didn't want to cast him out, to rob him of another place to call home. He could be safe here, protected in the dorms. He wouldn't be as likely to be a target if Kurama wasn't there drawing unwanted attention.]

I'm going to my parents'.

[He was not going there at all, unwilling to put them in the same kind of danger his presence might be throwing at Vincent. But the other teen didn't need to know that. All that mattered was that he had a place to go...if he wanted it.

And if he didn't...it was at least a place they shared where they could meet up in a week's time.]

[blacktemper]

[the acknowledgement only causes Vincent's expression to blacken. this was what he'd hated the most about Kit - and now he supposed it was what he hated the most about his other self. there was no argument about his shitty nature or misdeeds, but there were also no attempts to change any of that. somehow that was infinitely worse than if he'd simply denied it outright.]

Do whatever you want. It's not my problem.

[had it ever been his problem? he supposed not. yet another moment of abject stupidity.

in a moment of extreme spite, Vincent feels intensely glad that he'd be denying this person the partner he'd once worked alongside in their last life. Kurama may not have any interest in rectifying his mistakes, but the boy housing his companion certainly did. no one deserved to experience this relationship a second time over.

there's nothing left for him to say that won't send him teetering into a dangerously vulnerable state. once that wouldn't have bothered him, but now he understands that feeling of safety had always been an illusion. in order to protect whatever was left of his dignity he turns and begins heading for the door.

it had been nice to have a place he truly felt comfortable in for once. but everything had its end.]