[Alexander x Mariko] Investigation: [Chapter 2]

Root smiled when Mariko said she would be right back. Well at least he wouldn’t waste both their times as he took care of his hand. Of course, his left hand wasn’t in that much better shape, but at least it was usable. He quickly popped the couple pain pills he found in the nurse’s office and began to unwrap his hand. Of course, it was all bruised but the bruises were healing and turning that yellowish color around the edges of the discoloration. Knowing he had injured both his thumb and the 5th metacarpal, as well as a couple other places in his hand, due to the way it felt, he knew that he had to wrap up his hand nice and tight when everything was in the correct place, else it would heal wrong. However, due to the lack of x-rays and stuff, he was pretty sure it was going to heal wrong, but he would at least try his best to get it done as best he could.

“Be careful!” Root called as he felt around his hand with his left wincing when he felt pain, as he tried to assess whether things were healing right or not. All he was, was a scientist, and while he knew A&P, he wasn’t an expert. He just knew how things were supposed to go. And he’d be damned if he let Monokuma touch him. He’d rather just cut off his whole hand than let that bear go near it. Alas, he did the best he could and he began to wrap up his hand in a new wrap, covering up the bruises, wrapping around his thumb, around his ring and his pinky fingers, trying to ignore the pain of his left hand as he did it.

Finally, he was done and he nearly sighed in relief even though his hands were both radiating with pain. He took a deep breath, and decided to start focusing on things in the room. Specifically, the stuff not in the tanks, because there was water. The thing that caught his eye immediately, however, wasn’t in the tanks at all, even, given that a shark was just out in the open slowly dying. It was a fine specimen, and Root almost felt bad for the animal dying here, though he almost wanted to take the creature apart and learn about it more. It wasn’t like he could lift the shark and put in back into a tank or something. And it would be for science, a worthy cause for an already doomed creature.

Root thought of Mariko as he let his wrapped up right hand be a rest for his journal as his left wrote in the journal. His left looked like his right, except for the fact the bones felt like they were in the right place, the same sort of bruising that was starting to yellow as it healed. He almost wanted to climb up the ladder himself, but with his hands in the shape they were in, he couldn’t. He would depend on Mariko’s report of where it led and what was there. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too traumatizing, like the rest of Saoirse’s body.

Thinking of which, Root left the shark after studying it and walked over to the tank, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart in his ears, ignore his father’s whispers of ‘get out of there; you’re gonna die’. Root studied the contents of the aquarium that wasn’t water, specifically, the contents that looked fleshy and the slightly buried pink bag.

Root had been examining the areas when he turned once more, wondering if Mariko was alright. He knew he should’ve been the one who went up there, and when he saw her a few shades paler than normal? He was kicking himself. He should’ve at least tried. He knew that it probably would’ve wasted so much time, but it would’ve been worth it to not have her go through whatever she found up there. She spoke and Root closed his eyes, stopping himself from hitting himself for such a stupid act of making her go up there while he tended to himself. This was why he tried not to care about people. They always tended to get hurt because he made such poor decisions that he really should have thought through before he did them. Punching Taro like he had was one of them.

“Fuck,” Root said opening his eyes once more, making an approach to Mariko, looking down at her, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have… sent you up there. God. I’m such an idiot.” He looked away for a moment, as he continued to internally curse himself.

“Look at that, you’ve hurt yet another person you claim to care about,” Root’s dad commented with a cocky sort of smirk on his face, as if he was proud of the fact he had this ‘proof’, “What’s the point of you? The world would be better off without you. You just hurt everyone around you.” It was the little voice in the back of his head that always spoke to him but this time right in his ear, with the face of his father. Root closed his eyes and turned away from Mariko running a hand through his hair. Internally having a war with himself.

“It’s okay, Alex.” It took all of his power to stop himself from yelling at the voice of his mom that it wasn’t all okay, it was all fucked up. “Okay, maybe its not. But it will be okay after a little while. It’s just a bad day. You’ll go to sleep, and then it’ll be a new day. Just remember your talk with Willow.” Root took a deep breath and turned back to Mariko.

“I should’ve just gone up there myself. C-Can you… forgive me?”

He looked up when she touched one of his hands. He watched her as she spoke to him, a feeling welling up inside of him, but the voice of his father kept whispering in his ears pushing that feeling back down, pushing it so far that it was barely there. But he knew it was still there, even if he believed it was stupid… to feel that way right now. Her words, he thought them over in his head. Because he was here? Did she still consider him her confidence like he had promised her that day in the supply store? Even after avoiding her this whole time after Daisuke?

It was just as Willow had said. When you cared about someone the pain was worth it. The fact someone would be alright because of his presence seeing the sorts of things she saw today… it was unbelievable, and that feeling welled up inside him again. He looked down at his hand she touched then back up to her,

“Mariko… I…” Root began, his mother’s previous words ringing in his ears, louder than anything that his father had been whispering to him, even if those words were continually whispered as he spoke, as he thought, as he stood there. “You… can call me Alexander, or Alex, if you… well, if you wish to do so,” Root bit his lower lip and smile slightly. “You know, the reason I rather go by my last name, is because… people wouldn’t respect my first. And its special to me. So, the only ones I… don’t mind calling me by my first name are the ones I really… truly care about. And… you’re probably my best friend, and I do care about you. That’s why… That’s why I’m sorry about all of it. I wish I could protect you from these things. You could’ve been the one we found in the log flume, or the nurse’s office. And… I would die myself if that were to happen.” Root took a couple of breaths and his eyes shot down to the floor again. “Please don’t… leave me.” His voice cracked like a younger teenage boy and, due to the sleep deprived mind of Alexander Root, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him, trying hard to not imagine Mariko dead, or hurt or anything but happy.

It was odd hearing his name spoken by pretty much anyone. The last person to call him Alex was his sister, and… there was always that possibility she wasn’t alive any more, that the video was real. No, no, don’t think of that. Focus, focus on the words or you’ll miss them. The whispers of his dad were slowly fading away as he held onto Mariko, as if just being close to her was helping those demons disappear. Helping his internal despair be replaced by hope, hope that someone could ever care for him. That he’d ever be more than just a scientist. He’d actually be a person.

He’d confessed to Taro his feelings, but it wasn’t like he could ever tell her… what was inside. He knew it was just her being his friend and couldn’t ever be more than that, no matter what he felt. Because while he could be a friend, there was no way no one outside of his family could love him. His own father really couldn’t even love him. How could he expect this girl, who he cherished more than anything else here in Monoworld, more than anything else really in the world, to care for him the same way? He needed to just be happy with what he had right now. That he had this chance to hold her, and she wasn’t disgusted by it, or at least acted like she wasn’t. She was his friend and he was happy for that. Happy she was willing to be around him, happy she didn’t hate him... even happy to hear her call him Alex.

He held onto her as she mentioned Adrianna, a death he had been trying to forget as well, though his faulty memory didn’t seem to allow that. He felt like he had to be strong, that he couldn’t let tears fall, so when they welled up in his eyes, he held them back as best he could. Damn the lack of sleep. It was making him go insane. It was making him unable to control himself as well.

“Th-Thank you, Mariko,” Alexander began slowly, though not loosening his grip, concentrating on not allowing his voice to crack again, “I-I won’t let anything happen to me. I promise. We’ll both live on for each other. We won’t let the bear… tear us apart, ever.”

It wasn’t often that Root was the one who needed comforting. Ever really, that he would admit to. There were times when he was little he’d cry about falling over or how Wendy stole his telescope, but he never had anyone to depend on since his mother died. He’d always felt like he was the one who had to be strong for his sister, and he could never break down, he could never express what internal torment he faced…. He never felt like he could lean on anyone before. But right now? He trusted Mariko enough to hold him up while he underwent this… whatever this was. “It really should be me comforting you. You’ve had a shitty day.” He let out a weak chuckle, loosening his grip slightly, though holding onto her still, looking down towards her eyes with small smile.

Here she was promising him back, and while the whole situation was a terrible one, it was nice to hear that. Even if they couldn’t really make certain of it, that someone wouldn’t come along and try to kill one of them, it was nice to hear. He didn’t want to think about it, but the odds were that one or both of them would die here in this theme park, no matter what promises they made now or ever… but he needed to stop thinking like that or it one of them would surely die, or both. It was like his mom always said ‘if you resign to a future you don’t want, it’ll surely happen’, and he wanted a future where they could be happy together so much he wouldn’t let himself resign to the path where one or both of them died.

It was quite true that days had been quite terrible since they came to Monoworld, though… every moment he had spent with Mariko was happier than he had been in a long time, even when they had first met, he’d felt something, like a connection, as if he had known her before, but couldn’t remember it. Of course, that was stupid, given he knew all memories with her would’ve been strong memories and he wouldn’t forget them with his faulty memory. But that sense of déjà vu was common to him, he could usually sort it out… even if that time he couldn’t really understand why he was feeling that feeling. But here they were now, and he couldn’t be happier… well, if they were out of Monoworld and the future looked bright and they wouldn’t have to worry about being murdered, of course.

“Well, this happened,” Alex indicated his hands, “Because of Taro. He, uh, well he was insulting people I care about. I-I lost my temper.” Just thinking about Taro made him boil inside a little bit, with the stuff he had brought up in his mind which he had tried to bury. But the look that she had given him, it made it all feel like it was okay, even despite the skeletons that poked at his brain. “It didn’t… help that I was avoiding you. You… make my day brighter, even in this dark place.” His mom would be proud of that. Should probably write it down, but really that would be weird, pulling out his notebook at a time like this.

Taro was one of those people that if Root were to kill someone who he really wanted to kill, it’d be him. There was that dark part in his mind that wanted Taro to suffer for the shit he had pulled on him. However, his mother would not be proud in the man he had become if he did something like that, if he willingly tortured another human being, and well, her death would have no meaning whatsoever. He’d completely disregard what his mother wanted, for he was only here because it was what his mother requested. It wasn’t like she saved him from death, but she had died supporting him and told him to continue living and to live life to the fullest, and to be a good man she knew he would always be. Sorry, Mrs. Root, but he was pretty sure he’d failed that even if he desperately tried not to be… after all, he failed that when he accidentally caused her death.

However, he rather forget about Taro in a moment such as this. A moment which they could be sleeping instead of having, but he rather have the moment than be sleeping anyways. Of course, sleep would help the vision of his dad go away, even if the voice was dying down, and Root was looking forward to not having to look at his father any more (even if when he looked in a mirror he pretty much saw that face)… Anyways, Alexander refocused his tired mind on Mariko, mulling over her words for a moment, though he didn’t dare let himself go any farther away. He pushed a bit of her hair that had fallen in front of her face out of the way.

“Well, it wasn’t anything too bad,” Root began, and he shared the bits of information that he had found out. “And well, the shark over there obviously. It’s going to die, so maybe I could…” He stopped for a moment considering whether it was a good thing to tell a girl he liked that he wanted to tear apart a creature for science or not… in the end he decided that it was probably not a good choice to admit that. “Come back once it’s stopped, see if there was anything closer to it, or around it, of interest. Probably not. We’ll probably wake up and go straight to trial.” Oh trial. That was going to be… well it would be fun to figure out the mystery, but he wasn’t looking forward to whatever the bear had in store for the killer.