[h2]Mako Moritomi//Warakuma Hospital[/h2]
[h3]Monday, June 29, 2015[/h3]

==~==

Mako listened intently as Sato explained to him what was going on, to the best of his ability, anyway- there were some things left out, but he was sure he could figure them out later, as soon as he met the other members of the group. He sighed internally in relief as Sato explained that every one of his fellow kidnap victims had gone through the same thing he had. Good. He'd have hated to be the only one whose entire psyche had been dissected and shown to all who cared to witness. He supposed he was grateful that Sato hadn't been at the scene of his personal misfortune, at that- he wasn't sure his senpai would be able to tolerate being around him, knowing what kind of filth he'd been carrying inside.

He let out an almost explosive sigh of relief upon hearing that the other two who'd been with them were all right. He'd hoped as much, considering he'd seen them in that place, the Velvet Room- until then, he hadn't even known how many victims there were, aside from him. He couldn't be sure until then, however, whether or not the others had survived. He didn't know the mechanics of all of this, he was stuck with conjecture until someone could clarify. Knowing that there had been no fatalities in this situation was a tremendous weight off his shoulders.

He blinked in mild shock when Sato mentioned who the leader of their little outfit was, then smiled. [color=0076a3]"Shinichi-san, huh? Heh. That's... actually funny. I'd figured he might be a part of this, since I see you and the others together all the time, but the leader? Couldn't have guessed that. I look forward to talking with him, then- can't very well do anything if I don't know what's going on."[/color] He frowned as Sato stood straighter, acting awkwardly with him, apologizing for... nothing, really. As he finished, Mako forced himself to sit up a little straighter in his bed, looking Sato in the eyes.

[color=0076a3]"Well... it's like you told me when we went out for lunch- whoever gets targeted next, whoever those bastards try to hurt, they won't get away without someone stepping in to help. You- all of you, Rui and whoever else is involved- you saved the three of us. And lots of others besides. Yeah, it's scary that I got kidnapped. Yeah, we could have gotten hurt. But we didn't- we're alive. And it's all because you and the others stepped up and refused to let us get hurt. That's... pretty damn amazing.

"You know, I've been having dreams all year- dreams of that 'Velvet Room' place, and that woman. You know what I'm talking about right? Mentioning some contract, some destiny that I was going to help fulfill. 'The ability to carve an interesting future.' I think I know what she was talking about now. I think... I'm supposed to help you guys. If that makes sense. Heh... what a relief, finally knowing what the hell's going on. I thought I was going crazy!

"So... I guess what I'm trying to say is, 'thank you.' For saving me and the others, and anyone else you've saved, and for helping me solve a problem I've been dying to know the answer to for a while. And don't worry- the next time those cultist bastards do their thing, you'll have help. I owe those fuckers some payback- for what they did to me, and to everyone else. Whatever you guys need me to do, I'm in."[/color]