Chapter 23
Es had stayed up all night figuring out the verdicts of the prisoners, resisting the urge to ditch it and go to sleep.
But she was finally done, and with the trial having ended, she needed a place to relax.
She needed to get out of Milgram for a bit, although the place she had in mind was unknown to her.
She went back to the computer, opening Untitled, part of her hoping it wouldn't work.
Everything went white and then she was back at that rooftop, the stars in the sky above her shining brightly.
It was early in the morning, so Es wasn't expecting to see anyone there.
She went into the building, it looked like a school but… different, in a way?
She heard a faint sound coming from a classroom at the end of the corridor.
"Mhm…"
She slowly but surely headed towards it, only to be met with the girl she'd seen the first time she was there, the girl that appeared in 004 and 007's songs, the one that looked like 001.
She noticed Es as soon as the latter came to view, only then did she stop playing in complete shock.
"Shiho..!"
Saki walked up to Es, the latter taking a step back.
"Huh…"
Saki wrapped her arms around her childhood friend, this time she didn't disappear in her arms, instead looking incredibly confused.
"Shiho? What's wrong?"
She asked, looking up at Es.
"I don't understand. Why does everyone think I'm this Shiho person…?"
They were at the rooftop again, looking right up at the sky with a nice breeze accompanying the moment.
Saki had to hold her tears when Es told her she didn't know her, but she was glad her former friend had accepted to stay in Sekai for longer.
"Everyone?"
Es nodded.
"Yeah. I shouldn't exactly be saying this, because to be honest to you it's super classified, but… I've had at least five prisoners telling me that."
Saki thought. "Prisoners?"
Well, it was true that Shiho was dressed like a prison warden…
"Oh… Well to be honest… You kinda look exactly like her…"
Es looked at her, immediately changing the topic.
"You look like one of them."
"What?"
Es sighed.
"Classified as well, but you look like prisoner 001."
Saki's eyes widened as she jumped a little.
"I- I do?"
Es thought back to Tsukasa's interrogation.
"Actually didn't he say he had a sister?"
She looked back at Saki, who had one of her hands covering her mouth.
"...Huh…"
"Hey uh… Es."
Es hesitated to respond.
"...Yeah?"
"This prisoner you're talking about… What's his name?"
She asked.
"... Classified."
Saki nodded in defeat before taking something out of her pocket.
"Well…Ummm… If it's not much of a bother to do it… Could you maybe give him this?"
"Tsukasa and Kamishiro. They didn't run away."
"What? How do you know?!"
Nene looked pale already, while Emu took a seat next to her.
"...I can't say just yet. But we definitely know they're in prison."
"What?!"
Emu exclaimed, startled a bit by Saki's statement.
"But--! They were scot free!"
Nene nodded.
"Emu's right, Tenma. I saw them at school the following week."
Saki sighed.
"When was that, Kusanagi?"
Nene thought for a moment.
"I think it was 3 weeks ago. That's when they stopped showing up to the Wonder Stage too."
Saki winced at the fact that her brother's crime was so recent, it felt unreal.
Tsukasa was the only one she couldn't see as a murderer, even if he were to kill a million people.
She knew he was one, but she couldn't see it.
No one had prepared her for this.
"Saki?"
Emu's voice pulled her back into reality.
"Ah.. Sorry… I guess it's just surprising that it's been so little time since… that happened…"
Nene nodded slowly.
"Yeah… I guess you're right…"
"But! I think I have a way to communicate with him!"
Fuuta had made a new Twitter account a bit before Ena called him for the first time.
He'd stayed out of it for more than 2 years, so admittedly it was strange to be back.
The first few days were… strangely just memes.
He wondered how he went from what led to him being at Milgram to this.
Just cat memes.
Really funny ones to say the least.
His "friends" were still highly active and basically the same.
Fuuta now had a profile picture that Mikoto took of him when he was distracted, that Ena said somehow fit him.
He didn't even want to see what they said about him, even if it was all in the past already.
Kazui sat down next to him.
"Look, kid. I know you don't want to do it, but you've changed already, whatever they said about you is not true anymore."
He reassured Fuuta, the latter handing him the phone.
"You do it. I'm not ready yet."
"You've been saying that for three months. Muu thinks you're just stalling."
Muu chimed in, making herself a sandwich with whatever Fuuta had in his fridge.
"Hey, shut up, Muu."
Ena was laying down on the floor, her phone in her hands as she chatted with Kanade.
"Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Um, a lot?! I was a pretty hated person there before I got into Milgram, everything can happen."
Ena stood up and snatched the phone from Kazui's hands.
"I'll do it. It cannot possibly be that bad."
She typed in something in Fuuta's phone, him burying his face on one of the couch cushions.
"See? I told you-- OH MY GOD."
Muu sprinted out of the kitchen.
"Show me, show me!"
She leaned over to see the screen.
"Oh… It's bad… Like, like bad bad…"
"Alright, enough of this, pass me the phone."
Kazui declared, Ena gave him the phone and, after a few minutes of tapping things on his phone, he gave it back to Fuuta.
"Here you go, kid."
Kazui then decided he'd surprise adopt Fuuta, not knowing that meant something illegal in internet terms.