towerofanimus | Aftermath

Entry tags:

Aftermath

Characters: Tohko Amano and you.
Setting: Post-event. First the Dorm Floors and then floor seventy-eight.
Format: Prose to start with, but I'll match you.
Summary: Tohko, remembering all that she's done, tries to make amends with whomever she can.
Warnings: You might possibly have a blubbery Tohko, depending upon who you are.

Tohko remembered everything that she had done and tried to do as a drone very, very well. She had tried to kill people, had ordered others about, had been skinned and mutilated like that..and she had tried to kill children, she had tried to kill her best friends! While she loved the photo album, with pictures of her parents, family, and friends..it only made her want to cry even harder, so she left it in her room. Instead, she ran out of her dorm room, biting her lip and carrying her notebook and pen, rushing to the elevator with the intent of heading down.

She had to put things right, now that it was all over. She had to apologize, if she could! Even if it was because of Jason, it was still..terrible that she had done those things..especially to her friends.

When she finally got to the mailroom, Tohko started scribbling notes to the people she knew she had injured and friends that she had seen hurt and mutilated. There were probably network postings that she could look at or even use for this..but Tohko liked using letters, if she could. When she finished one note, she would rip it out and stuff it in a mailbox before starting again.

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"It's because Jason's been manipulating people..and stealing away their free will."

Tohko had been building up her mask over the years, so it wouldn't be Shiro's fault if she didn't notice. After all, it wasn't like Tohko wanted it to be noticed.

"I'm writing apology letters..I was one of the people that Jason manipulated..and I hurt a lot of my friends..so I'm writing notes to apologize and see if everyone's alright."

"Jason? ...Toto has told Shiro about Jason. It's an administrator and it's his month."

Still Shiro would be sad if she knew Tohko's smile was fake.

She tilted her head at was her big sister said.

"Manipulated? But maybe Jason just wanted to play? ...Surely Tohko's friends can understand that."

"Yes..and he's also the medical doctor here. But he likes to experiment on people and torture them."

Tohko sighed at the second part of Shiro's comments.

"..No..he didn't. He wanted to find out information, and he did. He learned about the rebellion towards the Administrators..and while my friends may not blame me, it doesn't change the fact that they got hurt..or that I'm worried about them."

Shiro's expression turned more serious, older somehow. "Experiments are no fun. They hurt and you think you're gonna die." She looked down at her mittens. "But they make people stronger too."

Shiro frowned. "A rebellion? Because people don't like the oatmeal and the games in the Tower?"

"And, sometimes, they make you turn on the people you care about..but they don't make you stronger in the end."

Tohko sighed again and nodded. "And because we want to restore the universes..and save the ones that aren't destroyed."

"They made Shiro stronger. But it hurt... And Aceman... had to protect Shiro."

Shiro tilted her head curiously. "Tohko thinks it's possible?"

Aceman was Wretched Egg..so that meant that the people at Deadman Wonderland had tried to mess with Shiro..and had gotten hurt badly b her other side.

"Right..but some people don't have Acemen all the time. For us, the experiments don't help us get stronger. And..it is possible. Dax was working on a way, after all..so I'm sure it's possible."

Not exactly, Tohko. It meant people had started experimenting on Shiro as a kid and messed up with her so badly that at some point she couldn't take it anymore. Instead of breaking down completely, her mind split in two and Aceman was born. Deadman Wonderland was then created both as a cage and as a playground for Wretched Egg.

"Shiro knows. That's why Shiro has to be Ganta's Aceman sometimes."

Shiro didn't know who Dax was but if Tohko trusted him, so would she. At least for restoring their worlds. "Toto says Deadman Wonderland doesn't exist anymore. Tohko's world was destroyed too?"

Sadly, Tohko had no way of knowing that, so..for right now, she only had a few scraps and hints as to what the truth might be.

"..It's good that Ganta has you to help him out then."

..And it was terrible that he had to suffer at the hands of Wretched Egg. However, at the question, Tohko sighed and nodded.

"It is..anyone who's come here has their universes destroyed, Shiro."

"Shiro is okay to be Tohko's Aceman too. Shiro is strong enough to be both!"

Shiro pondered this a moment.

"And still people from Shiro's world kept coming long after Shiro was brought here. If Shiro's world had really been destroyed, then the people in it wouldn't exist anymore either. So how would it be possible to bring them into the Tower?"

Because Shiro was not as air-headed as most people would give her credit for.

"That's true..but you don't have to be my Aceman, Shiro. I'm not that strong, but I can fight a little..we can help each other out."

Tohko smiled a little as she spoke, trying to wear her mask as well as she could.

"It's because there are alternate versions of your universe, Shiro. Lots and lots of them."

"Okay, Tohko."

Shiro offered a bright smile and wrapped her arms around the other girl's shoulders.

"They didn't seem very alternate to Shiro. Even if Yoh's sister didn't recognize Shiro."

Then again when Ganta arrived at Deadman Wonderland, he didn't remember Shiro either.

Tohko wasn't quite expecting the hug, but she returned it as her smile slowly turned into a bit of a genuine one.

"They may not seem that alternate..but there might be tiny, minute differences that you didn't see or couldn't notice that made them different."

"Shiro finds it hard to believe but... if Tohko says so, then Shiro believes it." Tohko was very smart after all. Because she read lots of books. Knowledge was in books. Ganta's mother had told that to Shiro once. But Shiro read mostly mangas or comic books... And she was pretty sure the books Tohko read contained more knowledge than that.

Actually, Tohko read a lot of fiction, but the good thing about fiction was that it could prepare you for a lot of things, if you paid attention.

"Don't worry..I'm not lying about this, and it does seem to be the case for the Tower."

"The case?" Shiro looked nonplussed as she brought a mitten covered finger to her lips. "...Tohko means the Tower was also taken from a world that doesn't exist anymore?"

Tohko sighed and scratched her head before clarifying.

"No..I meant that almost everyone who was pulled to this universe comes from alternate universes that most people aren't familiar with."

"Oh."

Shiro pondered this a moment.

"Does Tohko think there have always been people in the Tower?"

"Well, there have been here for thousands of years..so while I wouldn't say always, people have been here for quite some time."

"How does Tohko know?"

"Ruana herself revealed so over the network a few months ago. I didn't post, but I did watch it all."

"The girl who made some of the games?" Shiro and Ruana never talked to each other so she wasn't sure who Tohko meant.

"Yes..the one who put us all in costumes back in October."

"Oh, yes! Shiro remembers! It was fun."

At that, Tohko sighed. It hadn't been fun for her, or Enoch, or Kidou..or most of anyone else wrapped up in that event.

"..For some people, it was. For most..it was horrible."

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Aftermath

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