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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=#98A9B1][b]Location:[/b][/color]The Riverside- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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[color=EB8BB1]“The river helps doesn’t it? Makes you forget about everything for a minute.”[/color]

[color=#98A9B1]"Helps to try, I guess."[/color] Benkei couldn't even attempt to look friendly at this point. His emotions were too wild, and everything was rushing in his head. He wanted it to stop, but he knew there was no spell or potion to fix scars that deep.

[color=EB8BB1]“Imagine how hard it’s gonna be tomorrow, or the next day. My group thinks that it is only going to get worse.”[/color] She said, a little tinge in her voice as she did so. [color=EB8BB1]“What’s left of my group, anyway.”[/color] 

[color=#98A9B1]“I’m sorry.”[/color] Benkei frowned. They weren’t the only ones to lose people. That was obvious anyways. [color=#98A9B1]“We lost several. Everyone’s still reeling--I…”[/color] he trailed off, looking down at the water. [color=#98A9B1]“I’m still reeling from it too. I thought I could strengthen everyone’s hopes and resolve with plans, to discuss a strategy on how to make the best of where we’re at. But tempers flared and I made things worse by running my mouth. So that dream is pretty much dead.”[/color]

[color=EB8BB1]“That bad, huh?”[/color]

Bad didn’t even begin to describe the monumental fuck-up that was Hoshizawa Kazuma. In less than a minute, he’d undone every plan that he’d spent the entire day working on, all the discussion, [i]everything[/i]. And he knew he’d do it again if the situation was the same. He couldn’t back down from a fight if his brother was involved. It was his weakness; that the one person in the world that he would die for was stuck in this death game alongside him. [color=#98A9B1]“Yeah. It’s pretty awful.”[/color]

She nodded as she looked toward the sun, [color=#98A9B1] “People will come around. Fights are only normal when the stakes are high. Best we can do is try. We’re not gonna survive alone. I don’t know anything about your group, but, you were together for a reason right?[/color]

Survive? Did he even want to survive? What did he have back home waiting for him? Hell, would his mother even care that her son was most likely trapped? That he’d most likely die? Probably not. They’d probably put him away in a government run hospital, and sue the hell out of the game company. They’d take the cash, use it to buy whatever the hell they wanted, and they’d forget about him. If he lived? They’d tell him to get the hell out. If he died? They’d probably toast his death. What reason had his group joined together? It was ultimately a test. A test for him. 

[i]His stomach tightened into knots. Luci blamed Kazuki but he knew it was his fault. If Aaginim didn’t try to recruit him, they wouldn’t have gone into the dungeon and-[/i] He realized he’d been staring out into space for a few seconds. [color=#98A9B1]“It wasn’t much of a reason. And…”[/color] he sighed.[color=#98A9B1] “We were all together because of me. And three people died in that dungeon. So ultimately, when everyone really starts to think about it, everything is all my fault.”[/color]

[color=EB8BB1]“No, it isn’t. It’s whoever is hacking this game’s fault. You probably didn’t even notice things until you were already in the dungeon and you couldn’t turn back.”[/color] She looked at him, frowning, [color=EB8BB1]“You can’t blame yourself for a freak accident. Just like my cousin can’t keep blaming herself for what happened to us; and we weren't even in a dungeon. People died yesterday. For no reason.”[/color] 

[color=#98A9B1]“You’re too positive.”[/color] Benkei grumbled, burying his face into his hands again and groaning. For him, there was no positivity, there was no silver lining. It was all his fault. And he was too much of a coward to take responsibility for it. 

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