smash_logs | AU Hell: The First

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AU Hell: The First

Who: ~~Kiyondo~~ ~~god, i can't~~ ISHIDA and YOU
What: That shouty eyebrows kid went nuts again for Surprise Survivor!AU Power Hour
When: BACKDATED to July 5-8th
Where: Anywhere, anytime
Warnings: tl;dr and a foul mouth

Hell and back again.

That was the only way to sum up his experiences at Hope's Peak Academy. That bastion of hope for the future that turned out to be nothing but a den of death and despair, where he had considered giving up more than once after the loss of his one and only friend. The one he had tried join when he'd been framed for the murder of one Hifumi Yamada, not caring who he dragged down with him in gunning for a guilty verdict, and felt the wounds open anew when he survived long enough to witness the laptop that provided a hollow replacement for his brother be crushed before his very eyes.

The final straw had been when he learned that the outside world that his classmates did such horrible things to see again was nothing but ruin. Even worse was knowing the truth, knowing that everyone had been friends in a time long forgotten. That he and his brother had been closer than he even realized, and that those memories were locked away far out of his reach. So close, but so far. If not for the boy who kept the barely burning embers of hope alive in him and the rest of the survivors, he would have retreated from reality even more than simply hiding behind a mask.

But hope had won out... Mostly. Kiyotaka Ishimaru had no place in the dystopia that waited outside of the school; nothing to live for with all that had ever been important to him stripped away. So the mask became reality, and Ishida vowed to carry on his brother's legacy and live out his dreams for him, so he would never truly die. He would damn well live this new life to the fullest for the both of them.

There was only one problem: where the hell was he? He boldly stepped through the heavy iron doors of Hope's Peak, bracing himself for the ruined world that awaited. Instead, he found himself in a grassy field, his six companions no longer at his side. These were school grounds, all right, but nothing he recognized - what little he did remember from Hope's Peak was eagerly approaching it on his first day, and it looked nothing like this place.

So... What?

Well, only one way to find out: Rudely approach people and ask questions. And when he was through with that, he'd hang around and be a rowdy delinquent. Squatting outside the entrance, putting his feet up on cafeteria tables, generally just being noisy and rude. He was still making the adjustment from uptight prefect to badass thug, after all.

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He'd been quite serious: when Kiyotaka had not been in his room at the usual time, Hajime expected something important had come up. It was only once he'd laid his eyes on... this, that alarm bells went off.

His eyes flicked up to give his friend a good look, still guarded and cool.

"You're not the sort to break promises."

Promises. He bristled at the mere word. He had his own to keep, ones he'd made silently to himself and to those who would never see him carry them out. But he owed nothing to... whoever the hell the bald bastard over here was.

He flashed Hajime a teeth-baring grin, cocking his head to the side at an exaggerated angle. "Sorry, were you talking to me? 'Cause I don't remember making any promises to you!"

"To me? Did I say as much?"

His eyebrows lifted, one hand cupping his chin. It was one thing for this to happen, but the true question was why.

"A bond not to be broken, to share all your troubles and worries, never to turn your back on their need... surely, you can't deny its reality.

"You promised yourself, Kiyotaka. Your passion knows no limits,you wouldn't let it eat away at you here when you could share it."

His grin quickly flipped into a scowl. He wouldn't take this shit from his fellow survivors, who he'd mellowed out to feel a bit of kinship with, so there was no way in hell he was going to allow a complete stranger to talk like he knew him at all. He had no fucking idea what he had been through. What kind of things really ate away at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are..." He rose slowly, rolling his shoulders back. "Oi... oi, oi! Know what? I think I'll study with you after all, you son of a bitch. It's a fighting school, isn't it? C'mon then!! Try me!"

Never mind that he had never actually experienced a real fight before. But he had enough fighting spirit to make up for that, surely.

Wow, okay. Hajime leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed, lips drawn tight.

"You truly think that's what you need to do? Very well." He spread his arms in a shrug. "I'm a pacifist, but I'm your study partner all the same. Hit me, if this is the course you must take."

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A FUCKING GAME, BRO

TIME TO GO FOR THE HIGH SCOOOORE

Well, since he was invited. If this guy thought Ishida was just bluffing, he'd just have to prove how serious he was. Maybe he'd knock the insufferable pretentiousness right out of him.

Besides... if he was going to round up a whole new gang and carry on his brother's legacy, he was going to need to practice throwing a punch. Starting fights and winning them was the kind of thing he would be doing a lot, probably.

He circled the table and socked Hajime right in the face.

He wasn't gonna do it. He wouldn't. He was his friend, and he wouldn't--shit.

"...How disappointing." He felt at his jaw, tenderly. Hajime had gotten punched a lot of times before, but this one hurt in a different manner than usual.

He pushed his chair back, to reach his glasses where they'd fallen on the floor. "Your form needs work. This will hardly even bruise after the swelling dies down. Try planting your feet better."

One does not simply punch their way into getting Hajime to shut up.

Sorry, Hajime, did you need glasses to see? Sure would be a shame if someone's big stupid boot sent them skidding a good few metres away. Whoops.

Ishida cracked his knuckles, clenching his teeth a little at the pain that shot through his inexperienced fingers. "You know, you're even better than a punching bag! You give advice and it'll be more satisfying to beat the shit out of you!"

Really, though, he was offended. He was so offended. Not only did Hajime not take him seriously enough to fight back, he was still trying to talk back to him, too? Maybe he'd be a little quieter with a fat lip.

"But I have to wonder how good the advice from someone too chickenshit to hit back's gotta be!"

Look, okay, he's still your friend, and it's obvious you're going through a tough time, but if you goddamn break his glasses he is going to hold a grudge.

His hand gripped the table to keep himself from falling out of his chair, and he tang of iron hit his tongue as his lip split. He huffed, caught his breath, and glared at his goddamn fucking best friend.

"Someone who's been hit enough times to see what's gained from violence." He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, scowling at the smear left behind. "The breeding of further loathing and inadequacy from how little it accomplishes."

Indeed, this wasn't going to accomplish anything. He could weather a good beating, but Kiyotaka would get nothing from it. "Kiyotaka, please. Talk to me. Tell me what happened. I made a promise too."

The glasses were still pretty intact, at least. Just annoyingly out of reach. Ishida was not going to break things for the sake of breaking things - or should he? Was that a thing he... no, that didn't feel right.

Hell, hitting a guy who wasn't fighting back didn't feel right either. There was a part of him that begged him to stop, because nothing was going to be gained from this, and he was disrupting a perfectly quiet and orderly school environment, and there was a clear line between senseless street fighting and plain old bullying.

Ishida just told himself it was because he wasn't going to learn how to put up a good fight if his opponent couldn't be assed to do the same. His fist hurt anyway, god damn.

He hooked his thumbs into his pockets and leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Hajime's. ~~The best he could do until he gained a cornhat to poke his enemies with.~~

"I dunno who you are or how you know that name, but if you don't want to talk with your fists like a man, I've got no reason to waste any more of my precious time on you!"

Wasting time with his feet on the table trying to look as tough and cool as possible, though, that was important.

Edited 2014-07-14 13:24 (UTC)

As much as this whole situation burned his gut, he considered it a step in the right direction to not be getting punched anymore. In general, it's a pretty good sign.

It was a little harder to glare someone down properly while squinting, but if he could keep eye contact against Mondo Oowada, he certainly wouldn't flinch against this imitation.

"My name is Hajime Tanaka. Whether you remember it or not, we've been allies for months. This school has a habit of playing cruel tricks on people. I can only assume you're its latest mark."

You know, again.

"Yeah, uh, no."

He straightened up and cocked an eyebrow, still sneering. There was something pretty weird about stepping out of one school and finding himself right in another, sure, but he drew the line at being told that he'd always been here and people knew him. He was pretty sure those two years' worth of missing memories did not include being at a fighting school instead of Hope's Peak. Unless Junko was messing with all of them to the very end, which in reflection didn't sound all that farfetched.

His eyes narrowed as he considered this, but eerily enough, did not blink even once. Didn't want to burn his eyelids off or anything.

"Let me tell you, Taaanaaakaaa, this school's a fucking godsend compared to the one I just busted out of! That's where I was for months! Cruel tricks-- you haven't seen jack shit, I'll bet you anything!!"

Just thinking about it made him itch to leave the building, to go outside and stay where it was open and free and nobody could corner him. The only reason he hadn't bolted was because ending up at a fighting school after his vow to become the biggest, baddest gang leader in history had to be a sign of some sort.

Didn't stop the paranoia, though. He glanced over his shoulder involuntarily before glaring right back at Hajime.

"A couple months ago, I caught a fever that charred my flesh away and turned all my bodily fluids into magma. You held the bucket as I vomited slag. Until the bucket melted, naturally."

His eye contact broke, and he rubbed at his jaw. Bringing that up made it feel as though he was trying to compete over who had it worse. That wasn't his style, and whatever Kiyotaka was dealing with, he certainly wasn't lying. It would be foolish to undermine whatever was going on.

"I don't say this to claim you're wrong. Only that this campus is fond of pulling pranks, and memory loss is not beyond it."

He straightened again, smoothing his jacket. Somehow, eye contact felt much harder than a moment earlier.

"I won't claim that this school is worse than your last one. You..." The videos. He'd tried not to watch them, not to question them. But he'd seen the effect they'd had. "You never told me about what happened there."

"Do I look like a goddamn moron to you?"

Because Hajime's flesh was clearly still intact and nothing around him seemed to be catching fire from heat. Maybe he just did some really bad drugs and hallucinated it. Drugs did that kind of thing to you, right? Even with his new dedication to the thug life, that wasn't really a road Ishida cared to venture down.

"Forget it!" He turned around, sticking a pinky into his ear. "What's in the past is in the past, got it?! And I'm leaving you in my dust right along with all that crap!"

Pete's sake. This was getting exasperating. Hajime tutted as he finally retrieved his glasses, brushing away the dirt and checking for scratches.

"Please. The past is what makes us. You can't run from what you are."

His spectacles pressed back on, he gave Kiyotaka's back a good look.

"And I am in the present with you. I'll keep up, whether you want me to or not."

He could totally feel those eyes on his ass, Hajime.

But exasperating was right. If Ishida stayed here that meant he'd have to put up with this nerd. He wasn't going to back down or anything - he was no coward, damn it. That didn't mean he had the patience to deal with being lied to about a past that was already shrouded in darkness. No, there was only looking toward the future, now.

There was something to be said for Hajime's dedication to this, even if it was crazy. Maybe it was because it was crazy that Ishida felt the least bit intrigued. Just how far would he go for him? Even if it was a stranger, a small part of his heart yearned for someone who would follow him no matter what, since the one he would follow went where he could not.

There was also a tremendous thrill in a challenge. So he did pause in his retreat long enough just to taunt him and spur him on. To test his will as a man.

"Good luck! I'll run you so fucking ragged you'll be begging me to wait up and let you catch your breath!"

A lingering sense of dejavu rippled through the universes where they overlapped in FDC, but Ishida didn't feel it on a conscious level.

Edited 2014-07-15 14:15 (UTC)

Ishida may not have recognized the challenge, but Hajime certainly did. In fact, he couldn't help but break out into a grin at the words, a weary relief in the familiarity.

"You really can't change who you are, can you?"

He pushed out his chest and balled a fist, puching the air for emphasis.

"Well, go on! Give it your all! I expect nothing less!"

Indeed, creepy knowing grins and comments like that wrte sure to convince Ishida he was sane.

This guy...

Was he trying to egg him on, or was he genuinely encouraging him? Ishida couldn't tell, and so didn't know what he should feel about it. The guy was crazy, that much was certain, and the former prefect was definitely in a position to judge that.

But one thing was for sure, as much of a pain in the ass as he seemed to be... he had drive and spirit. He posed a challenge of some sort, and even if Ishida had yet to figure out the full extent of it, he was eager to jump at this opportunity. He hadn't forgotten the elation of the last time someone challenged him, the combined heat of their manly passion and of the steamy surroundings ~~THIS ISN'T EVEN INNUENDO I SWEAR~~. It would never be the same, of course, but it was still a void that desperately needed filling.

He crossed his arms, staring Hajime down and returning his creepy grin in full.

"You are just one cocky motherfucker, aren't you? Not backing down even after I slugged you... not bad, not baaad..."

Crazy or not, even Ishida had to respect that much. But he did not appreciate being told he couldn't change who he was, because god damn, he just gave up everything to do that.

"You're gonna regret this. How's that for a promise to you, aa?!"

Edited 2014-07-17 04:58 (UTC)

The smile didn't falter. Indeed, he was fairly cocksure, but what reason did he have not to be? He was betting for Kiyotaka's success--with such a great strength of will behind him, surely there was nothing but success imminent. Whether Kiyotaka came to his senses, or pursued this bizarre amnesiac will to its end, surely he'd do his best.

Someone a little more cynical could have pointed out he was using arbitrary reasoning so that he could win no matter how this turned out.

"A promise like that... well, you've got a long road ahead of you, but I'm sure that won't daunt you."

After everything that had happened, all that this school had thrown at him since his arrival, every bit of doubt and pain and misery, the one thing that made any of it worthwhile had been meeting Kiyotaka.

"If I can be made to regret knowing you... it certainly would be a feat. Give me everything you've got."

Ishida had to wonder just who the hell Hajime thought he was. Because whoever it actually was, the guy was definitely dedicated to him.

And that kind of dedication was just a setup for heartache.

"Then get ready. We're gonna be seeing a whole lot of each other from now on!"

What with schools only being so big and the likelyhood of them sharing at least one class together. As much of a delinquent as Ishida was trying to be, he could not shed the part of him that was a professional learner.

"But for now, I'm outta here! See you, chump!"

Despite himself, he was going to look forward to their next encounter.

Hajime watched him go, smile fading. Yes, definitely, he'd see him again soon, one way or another.

Left alone, Hajime finally went about picking up the books Ishida had kicked over the floor. His cheek and jaw throbbed, his split lip swelling outward whilst he took his time with the task.

Odds were, this was another joke of the school's inexplicable whim. He'd seen it bind the body and torture the flesh, but to completely erase the memories of a person, rewriting their history as it saw fit... the danger nexus that was Smash Academy was more terrifying than he had imagined.

Surely, the effects would wear off soon, as all these things did. If not, well. Hajime would make good on his promises, one way or another.

He realigned his stack of study material on the desk, and sat, staring at the page before him. For a long few moments, he remained still, before his back hunched, an he put his head in his hands.

Yes, he'd just have to wait for things to play out. He had no other power here.

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AU Hell: The First

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