Endless Halls

Chapter 10 - Stepping Up

The group of kids walk back to their classroom, dejected and in complete silence. "I don't get it. Lisa should have known Damien and Sophia have been telling us all about the truth of HEADS... You would think that she would've killed us immediately... You would think she'd kill us all too, knowing how close we were to them.." Makoto whispers to himself.

"...That marked you as strange too? It's odd, my current theory is that she has a plan for us. I don't want to stick around to see what that is." Akari adds. "Y-you heard me?" Makoto responds. "HEY! Damien and Sophia JUST died! So did Jacob, and Daniel before him! We JUST got to know SOMEONE new we can trust and it was ripped away from us BEFORE OUR EYES!" Junpei shouts, holding back tears. A tear breaks out anyway and streams down his face. "So can we please quit the theory crafting for a second?" He continues.

"While I get how you feel, we have too many enemies. There's never NOT a time to plan our next move." Akari retorts. "You get how I feel? You don't know the FIRST DAMN THING ABOUT ME! ALL OF US ARE STRANGERS! I CAN SEE IN YOUR EYES YOU'VE FORGOTTEN ALL ABOUT OUR PROMISE TO SHIORI HAVEN'T YOU?!" Junpei yells. "CALM THE HELL DOWN!" Makoto shouts. They all stare at him.

"Damien and Sophia were all of our mentors. Daniel, Jacob, even that Warren guy. The fact you even brought up Shiori's name is Asinine. Taking down HEADS is what Shiori would've done no questions asked." Makoto explains. "You actually KNEW Shiori before.. this?" Tsunade questions. "C'mon, give us SOMETHING. We almost died together so I'll trust you guys, but I need more to go off of.." Junpei proclaims.

"A lot more of our friends are still hurt, aren't they? Worst case scenario, we're stuck working for HEADS for a few months.  It's better if we air out everything... together." Akari retorts. Junpei thinks. "Right, that makes the most sense." He says. The group finally opensopen the classroom doors and see a familiar face standing at the front. "Welcome back, my dear students!" Watanabe declares. "WATANABE-SAN?!" They all shout in unison as Tsunade runs up and hugs him.

"W-we were so scared! We thought they'd never let you out and everyone would die and... I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" Tsunade shouts while crying. "Hey hey, take it easy there. I'm not as hurt as the others are but I'll live. Now...  Saburo and Morina need a bit. I would guess they'll be back soon." Watanabe explains. "Well, what about Kenshin?" Junpei asks. "...He's out of critical condition. But a full recovery? We aren't seeing him for a long time." Watanabe continues.

"Well, we'll get 'em back soon so there's no use in being sad about it!" Junpei exclaims. "We don't have time for that anyway, we need to discuss something." Akari proclaims. "HEADS is a fucked up organization that brainwash people into believing they're good? Well, it's more like Lisa is a total bitch right?" Watanabe guesses. "You were bed ridden for DAYS! How'd you know??" Tsunade asks.

"Bedridden, yes. But I was conscious the whole time. A bunch of the hospital staff said stuff like "You hear Lady Lisa's suspicious of Dami and Sophi? I would like to believe in them, but Lady Lisa's word is law." And other stuff. I put it together myself from there." Watanabe explains. "In any case, we have to discuss our current situation. There are currently multiple mysteries at play, if you all would be so kind as to go through them all." Akari asks.

"Number 1, the most obvious one, what the HELL are the halls?" Makoto says. "Judging from the entrance and exits, I think each hall that's explored opens up a random door in the hub.." Tsunade guesses. "And our only way to get out is to get to the theoretical Hall Infinity... It probably doesn't even EXIST! and if it does we aren't seeing it for the rest of our lives.." Junpei proclaims. "We can figure that out later, our next biggest problem is Lisa Williams." Watanabe says.