Hope for The End (Book 3)

11. Err0r 11037

Kyoko had only just entered the room when she spotted him. To any normal person, it might have taken a little bit since he was in the darkest corner of the room.

Everything felt the same as when they had entered the room all those years ago. It was suffocating. Kyoko made sure not to look at any of the furniture and moved right to his corner.

She carefully put her gloved hand onto his shoulder and shook him a little.

"Naegi?" She said urgently, "Naegi what are you doing here?"

There was no reply. He didn't move, but Kyoko could feel that he was alive.

"Naegi... Get up."

Was this really going to work? She tried shaking him more forcefully.

"Get up."

Makoto slowly opened his eyes. Staring around the room in confusement.

"...Where...am...I?" He asked, seemingly to himself. His voice felt distant.

"I asked you what you were doing here."

He simply stared around the room, eyes glazed over, as if not even noticing Kyoko was there.

"Naegi. Answer me." Kyoko

"Who... who is it?..." He asked himself, as if coming to a realization.

Makoto opened his mouth to speak loud and clear, this time he seemed to fully register Kyoko, "Where... where am I?"

"..I asked what you were doing here." Kyoko stared at him coldly, "What's happened to you?"

Makoto blinked, shook his head and fully realized his surroundings. He came into the dim light of the room.

His face really did seem like it had been hacked away at, but Kyoko noticed how these scars seemed to be much more real than the fake Makoto's were. They also didn't seem to be made by a katana either, but rather like medium sized blades had been scraped against his flesh in the exact same spot over and over again.

"Oh... oh god..." He struggled to get to his feet, but his legs collapsed beneath him, "Oh... no... Kirigiri you have to... get out of here..."

"Why? I'm not going to leave you here." Kyoko stared at him and stopped him from toppling over when he tried getting up again, "You can't even stand up properly and you were in a daze. I need to get you help."

"No... no that's wrong... Junko is...." Makoto was pleading for Kyoko to listen, "Junko... She's planning...something bad... run..."

Kyoko ignored him, she grabbed his arm and lifted him up so that his arm was around her neck for support.

"You're in no condition to tell me to save myself." Kyoko told him blankly, "We didn't come all this way just so that you could tell us to leave without you."

Makoto gave up on trying to talk, his breathing was unsteady and he clearly hadn't used his muscles this long in a while.

He tripped over a table corner and it fell over. The pink striped box was sent sliding into the floor. Something rolled out of it, but Kyoko kept her eyes firmly away.

They made it out of the old headmaster's private room a while later. Kyoko was surprised to find that Hajime had gone somewhere else.

"It's too late..." Makoto muttered, he was beginning to gain control over his body, "We're too late... we have to get to the gym before..."

"Before what? What do you mean?" Kyoko asked as she gradually let him go. His legs were a bit shaken but he would manage for now.

"Junko is planning to lead the world to human extinction..." Makoto explained while getting to the stairs as quick as his legs would let them, "And she's using her AI units to do it..."