YOUR RESULTS.

[lockdownmods]

[ You've all been given around an hour to recuperate from the trial. You may be exhausted, worn down mentally and physically; or perhaps you simply don't care at all. Either way, the short amount of time you had to regroup and rest has come to an end.

Wherever you are, your tablets will light up with a notification: PLEASE REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA IMMEDIATELY. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PUNISHMENT. You all probably know what that means by now.

Should you choose to go to the cafeteria, you will see that the screen that once read RESULTS PENDING has been replaced with a list of names: ]

Congratulations to the following Prospects:
Maya Fey, Twelve, Gladiolus Amicitia, Contessa "Tess" Rubikov, Terra, Akira Kurusu, Kyousuke Natsume, Yoosung Kim, Max Caulfield, and Nine. You have all been selected to participate in our very first Apprentice Program, which means that you've passed the Entrance Exam.

[ The screen flashes to a new list of names after a couple of moments. ]

The following Prospects have been placed on our waitlist and will be put up for consideration for future programs:
Kasumi Toyama, Nyanko-sensei, Shuu Iwamine, Detective Pikachu, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, Jake Peralta, Takashi Natsume, Henry, Hanamaru Kunikida, and Flat Escardos.

[ Which means... ]

Okosan, Dr. Eggman, and Hollyleaf: We regret to inform you that you have failed our Entrance Exam. We are finishing the final touches of your punishments, so you may take this time to say goodbye to your fellow Prospects and we will carry out your executions shortly.

[ There's still one person missing from these lists who still stands among you.

What will you do next? ]

Comments

[unswaying]

[ what the fuck. ]

And what the hell about her?

[ POINTS TO KAORU ]

[heartcatcher]

[ the names go up, and kaoru stares at the screen intently, searching for her name. she finds that she is not among those who have been accepted nor waitlisted. her heart begins to pound in her chest, and kaoru is anticipating the worst--

failure. death.

she holds her breath, feeling tears start to well up in her eyes, and when the failed prospects flash on the screen... she's not on there, either.

kaoru lets out a sigh of relief. then, it registers that... ]

H--Hollyleaf?!

[ while her fate is still yet to be determined, kaoru shakes her head, and everything starts to sink in. ] No, you can't--Hollyleaf does not deserve this! We should not be subjected to any of this any longer! How can this be?!

[heartcatcher]

[ kaoru looks over at gladio frantically, lost and confused. ]

I--I wish to know my fate as well.

[unswaying]

I don't know what the hell they're playing at, but it ain't funny to play with people's lives like this.

[ he looks to kaoru ]

... It'll be alright, K. I'll get another damn swing in at the smug bastard before he can screw with you.

[heartcatcher]

[ it'll be alright.

kaoru desperately wants to believe that it will be, but everything that's happened today, partnered with how they'd pulled her away earlier in the program... ]

Y...Yes. We--we need to believe in that...for the sake of those we have lost...

[ she doesn't sound sure of herself, though.

and then...he says he'll take another swing. kaoru puts a hand on his arm instinctively. ]

You can't do that, Gladio! Vivienne isn't here to give you permission anymore!

[unswaying]

[ it's the second use of his nickname that gets him. gladio relaxes a little, and now, he just looks tired. ]

Shit. You're right.

[ and it's the way she isn't acting that gets him, more than anything else. ]

Y'know, you should drop the act more often, K.

[covertizer]

... Why leave someone off the list in the first place?

[ Something about this feels really?? Wrong?? ]

[heartcatcher]

[ she breathes a sigh of relief, removing her hand. ]

...Thank you. We are already losing three people today--we can't afford to lose you, too.

[ ... ]

What do you mean by that?

[recodified]

[ Hollyleaf can't read the results. But with Kaoru's reaction and how the day's gone...

She has a guess. ]

They're going to kill me, aren't they? [ It's resigned. Her shoulders droop and she stares up at the incomprehensible screen. ] I'm going to die.

[heartcatcher]

No. No, you can't.

[ kaoru knows you don't like hugs but too bad, this twoleg is scooping you up into her arms. ]

We have to do something!

[unswaying]

Noct'd throw a fit if I never came home.

[ he looks at her quietly. ]

You put on an act. Say shit you probably don't understand, shit that just sounds good when you put it all together. This way's more natural. Hell of a lot nicer.

[unswaying]

No idea. Mess with our heads even more.

[eggmobile]

WHAT?!

How can you fail me?! An evil genius with an I.Q. of 300?! Blasphemous! I demand to speak to your manager!

[heartcatcher]

I...

[ this is...kaoru's never been told that before. people at home have always fawned over her for being a prince, for sweeping girls off their feet, for having a knack for the dramatics and romance. but here, people have thought otherwise.

it's a shame that she didn't drop the act sooner, and it took the murder of sherlock holmes to get her to that point. but right now, in this very moment, kaoru has never felt more like herself.

she smiles sadly at him. ]

Perhaps I should have done it sooner...before it was too late.

[recodified]

[ She stiffens but...accepts it. Others do rash things when the ones they care for are faced with death, after all. ]

Kaoru... [ A moment of clarity, right, that was her name, right. ] I was already dead...remember? All I've wanted, since the moment I got here, was to finally see StarClan.

[curseoclock]

No, no, no, absolutely not! We'll just... we'll just kill them first, then they can't! [So he says, but it's not as if that's at all realistic right now. But also? Fuck this.]

[unswaying]

[ he puts a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it. she kind of reminds him of noct, and that... it makes his heart squeeze. ]

S'not too late now.

[heartcatcher]

...You remembered.

[ no. that hurts. kaoru's shaking now, holding hollyleaf protectively. ] You--you can't see them like this, Hollyleaf! The people here will show you no mercy!

[heartcatcher]

[ kaoru is surprised by the hand on her shoulder, but it's comforting, like how max had put her arm around her earlier. ]

I suppose you're right. There's still time. I just...

I don't want to leave you all.

[unswaying]

[ god, he's not good at this comforting shit. that's prompto and ignis's realm, he's... he pushes and pushes, that's all.

damnit. ]

You won't. Might be a Shield without a king to serve here, but like hell I'm gonna stop shielding you all.

[covertizer]

[ He was already ticked off when he saw the pass/wait list - he can't find the logic to it, if there is any, to who is stuck here until what? All of them are dead? And then there's those who might get dragged into it later, on a whim of whoever is in charge.

And then scrolls down and-- ]

No.

[ There's a recollection - that someone's missing entirely from the list, but her name keeps dodging out of reach. Kao. Kao-chan? Kao-san? But he does recognise Hollyleaf's name immediately, and, just. No. ]

What the hell is the criteria here? Hollyleaf did as much as the rest of us to get through your stupid exam.

[heartcatcher]

Then protect them with all your might.

[ them. ]

But you mustn't give your life, either. They need you.

[covertizer]

But why only her? Because of what happened when she vanished... or...?

[recodified]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I won't have any of you dying for me. Are you... The rest of you, you're not failed too, right? [ "Failed" like what Aiden and the others' profiles read. She can only assume... ]

[recodified]

[ Do I really deserve mercy? The thought slithers in like a snake, coiling around her heart and sitting there. Hollyleaf knows what she's done. The rest of them don't. ]

That's how it happened before. I'm just...being put back where I belong. That's all.