backdated to 6/29- Losing more than a bet

[onlythankyou]

Jun Kurosu shax@applenet.net
Shared the following message below:

We've all noticed names that vanish from the app, right? Those who don't make it to the end of the countdown. That can happen to those of us who have, too. It's more extensive than simply leaving the chatroom, though.

I can confirm that Marchosias 29, also known as Okuyasu Nijimura, is, for lack of more descriptive words, gone. Completely gone.

Comments

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

[touketsu]

9: What do you mean by completely gone?
9: People don't just vanish.

[They'd barely spoken, but 29 was a Marchosias the same as him. That meant something...or it was supposed to have.]

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

I mean exactly as I said.

One day I had a brother, the next it was as if he'd never existed.

Shirou Fubuki ⚔ Marchosias

[touketsu]

[That remark cuts deep and Kouyuki is filled with dread. Could the same happen to Michi and him if he wasn't careful? Was there anything he could really do to stop it from happening if it was going to?]

9: Don't you have proof? Photos or e-mails or phone records? Stuff in his room?

[Vehemently, he tries to reject the idea that family could be...well, erased. Especially if memories of them remained.]

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

He's vanished from photos, and the texts and emails are gone.
We shared a room.

It's been nearly a week. I tried every avenue I could think of before saying anything.

[All that's left are his own memories... Well, and maybe those of other users. He's not sure. Honestly it hits far too close to home. Is it his fault this time, too?]

Alucard ⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

Oh he was your brother, was he not?

[He'd heard that Okuyasu had left but it hadn't quite sunk in what that really meant until now. Alucard isn't alone in losing people.]

It's not fair that they're just...gone.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

Yes, twins. It's been close to a week. Every sign of him is gone and no one without the app seems to remember his existence at all.

It's almost ironic...for reasons I'd rather not disclose in public.

You're using the plural. Who else has disappeared?

Alucard ⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

Someone said a person named Mako has vanished. I know that my friend Sion is no longer anywhere. He played violin and we composed music together. He helped me during that last event.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

Does anyone who doesn't use the app remember your friend?

I know there are more names that have disappeared from the app. I wonder if we can confirm how gone their offline counterparts are...

[lightmischief]

Awww damn, I was hoping he'd say around.

[onlythankyou]

What exactly happens to those who don't last? Are they really completely gone, or is there a chance they're alright?

[Maybe they weren't "really" twins. Maybe he's definitely Jun, and the other was definitely Okuyasu. But reality is rooted in memory, isn't it? So aren't Lonán's memories just as real as Jun's? And those memories are as precious as Jun's memories of summer afternoons at the Alaya Shrine are.]

[lightmischief]

Well, he's fine as long as you think being Unawakened is fine. His mind couldn't take it as well as yours and it reverted.

Luci: Couldn't keep him close to you so he's with another family now. That's how it goes.

Luci: It happened to you too before.

[onlythankyou]

Then he's safe...that's enough, I suppose. [Not really. But it's what he gets, and Rommy isn't removed from reality altogether so... It's better than him becoming a Shadowman.

And then that last part appears on his screen and he freezes. Luci's said something like this... They'd mentioned he'd said something before. Slowly, with mounting anxiety, he taps out a reply.[

What do you mean?

Tatsuya Suou ⚔ Sabnock

[cantforget]

[It doesn't take a genius to know that Jun's hurting. Tatsuya is still fighting his own instincts to stay away from him but now it's hard to ignore.]

He was your brother, wasn't he...

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

[Text is wonderful for sounding like he's in control of his emotions. If Tatsuya hadn't seemed so hesitant when they'd met before, Jun might have added a specific call to him in his message. He...needs him, right now.]

He was. Twins. I was the older.

Ironic, isn't it?

Tatsuya Suou ⚔ Sabnock

[cantforget]

[Twins, just like Maya used to say. Jun...he wants to let him know but...]

He is very lucky to know you. You deserve all the brothers in the world.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

Past tense. He's gone.

You know my opinion on what I deserve.

Kaltz ⚔ Saleos

[dendranthema]

As someone with family in this version of things, mine or not... I'm sorry, truly. I don't know if that's your situation but... losing them would be as awful as losing those from my memories.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

I believe both sides are equally real. I'm not quite sure what that says about our situation, but my point remain.s

Losing people unexpectedly never grows any easier.

Chikusa Kakimoto ☸ Astaroth

[kokuyoyo]

I'd noticed.

You'll want to make sure you don't act strange about it.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

I've investigated as subtly as I can. I'm no more out of character than I have been regardless, which people are beginning to grow accustomed to.

[kokuyoyo]

Your other self was popular, wasn't he?

[onlythankyou]

He was. Truth be told, it's uncomfortable.

Jirou Sakuma ⚔ Dantalion (pretend i'm not this late)

[forsteri]

[What could this even mean?]

11: Your experience is different than mine.

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax (i see no lateness here)

[onlythankyou]

...It is?

What was your experience like, then?

<3;;;

[forsteri]

I still have a brother.
He just... forgot. I happened to mention a discussion I'd had here, and he got

[There's a pause here, as he searches for the word.]

He said he didn't know what I was talking about. When I expanded on it, he got very defensive, and then almost aggressive. He told me not to make things up.

[This has been weighing heavily on him. He's been very uncomfortable at home since then. The swell of anxiety he gets talking about it, even now, is an unpleasant reminder of that.]