come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

[heritrix]

[All at once, Rin understands that profoundly but can't relate to it at all. She's not had to worry about anyone but herself for a long time now, sometimes it's hard to remember what life was like before that. But she does remember how much it hurt.]

That must be why they chose the title for you that they did.

[Sororal. Rin hums, and laces her fingers around her cup.]

Was it like having a big sister, or a little sister?

[Felicia was older going by the profiles, but she was so tiny and unguarded. The few times they interacted this week, Rin sometimes forgot she was the younger of the two of them.]

[torrentialroar]

I'm sure that's part of it, but I also have a lot of siblings. [ She laughs again, with a small smile staying on her face. ]

She was different than Camilla that she never coddle me—in fact, whenever I had trouble get up in the morning, she would use her ice powers to awake me. But she was more introverted than Elise, a nice partner for peaceful afternoons spent reading. [ Her gaze turns to her tea before continuing. ] ...I guess our book club is going to be just me and Jakob now.

[heritrix]

[She's learning a lot about Felicia today that she never got to understand when she was alive. There has to be more stories where that came from; the things she liked, how she got along with others. Those are all things Rin will never get to see.

But it's not as if she knew nothing about her.]

Felicia really loved you, you know. [Rin takes a thoughtful sip of her tea, before deciding to continue.] I knew her for less than a week, but even I could see that.

[torrentialroar]

[ She was trying to cry, but Rin's words break the dam holding back her tears, and the slowly roll down her cheeks. ]

I-I loved her too. I-I didn't want her to leave my side—I hoped she could always stay beside me. Not even as her master, but at least as a friend. But now—[ Her sentence goes unfinished as she's overcome with sobs mixed hiccups. ]

[heritrix]

[Oh, she didn't mean to make her cry. Rin should have expected this, she realizes it now, but for a moment all she can do is stare at Corrin in distressed surprise as the waterworks flow.

Rin will curse herself later for it, but her body moves automatically. Her thermos is set down on Corrin's desk so Rin can step into the bathroom for some tissues before joining her on the bed, sitting at its edge.]

I'm sorry.

[Hushed, Rin's apology is filled with remorse. The tissues are offered to Corrin, and Rin seems to want to put a hand on her shoulder, only to hesitate, unable to follow through. But she will take the tea from her, so Corrin doesn't spill it on herself. As upset as she is, her hands can't be steady.]

I shouldn't have said it; it was insensitive of me this soon. But when I saw you vote for yourself at the trial, I just—Corrin, Felicia least of all would have blamed you for what happened.