cerealia inbox

[reblooming]

i'll make this pretty. or just fill it with shitposts

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Text, at some point when Yuna's out of the apartment

[wasshi]

Yuna. Call me when you get this message. Something's happened.

[reblooming]

[She calls less than two minutes after receiving the message.]

Togo, are you okay?! What's wrong?!

[wasshi]

[Togo picks up, but hesitates for a few moments before replying.]

...I'm sorry. It's Karin.

Her room is empty. All of her possessions are gone.

[reblooming]

...What?

[No, that couldn't be right. She'd just been talking to her the other day.]

You're sure...she just didn't clean her room really well, or something...?

[wasshi]

There's no sign that she was ever here. I can't contact her through the network or by phone, either.

[reblooming]

If - if she isn't here, then...where is she?

[If they're all just data right now anyway, then Karin might have been...]

[wasshi]

I've... been doing some research of my own. [Better to know what's going on before making Yuna worry pointlessly. Worrying pointlessly is Togo's job!]

It seems like sometimes, people will just... disappear. I don't know the exact reasoning, but it's something related to their code being pulled back into the nexus. So... if that's what happened, she's still alive, at least.

[reblooming]

[Togo might be able to hear Yuna's knees hitting the floor as she stumbles over in relief. It's not good that she isn't here anymore - it's terrifying to not have Karin here, just as it's been terrifying without Fu and Itsuki. But at least she's alive.]

Okay.

[It's a tiny word, not at all capable of encapsulating everything Yuna's feeling right now. But she doesn't know what else to say. She doesn't know how to react. But if that's the case, then - ]

Then, it's like she's on vacation, right? We'll just have to work harder while we wait for her. Once we restore everybody's worlds, she'll have to come back!

[Then it's time for that dauntless optimism to step in and sweep aside anything else that might get in its way.]

[wasshi]

That's right.

[As long as Yuna has hope, then Togo will have hope, too. She owes her that much.]

From now on, we're fighting to save Karin, too.