Graham finally sat back from staring, his eyes still locked on Akuma's body but with much less intensity. He swallowed, glancing down at the puddle of blood he was now sitting in--strangely, it didn't bother him. No, he wanted to feel the red against his hands. It was more to ingrain this moment into his mind.
My mom is dead...the mastermind is dead...my friends are dead...their families are dead...
Death is everywhere I look...
He moved back from Akuma's body, oddly calm. He moved to wipe the tears from his eyes, then flinched, realizing he almost smeared Akuma's blood onto his face. Sniffing instead, he scooted even further away, suddenly able to take in the trial room with a new and unfamiliar sense of numb calmness. His gaze rested on each dead student's crossed out face, moving to the next every few seconds until his eyes landed on Faqir's. Suddenly remembering the jeweler's presence, he looked to see him crying and speaking to himself in a language Graham didn't recognize.
...You're mine. He slowly pushed himself toward Faqir, numb to the blood splattered quite literally all over him. An odd smile graced Graham's lips--he took Faqir's hand and laced their fingers together. He fell back so he was staring up at the ceiling, then moved to hold Faqir's hand with both of his. ...You didn't die. You kept your promise. We're here. We're okay.
I'm going to get to say 'I love you' to my dad after all...
Can I say it to you, too?
Vaguely, Graham registered the whirring of the elevator. He didn't bother looking, recognizing the sound of Levi's voice and...nothing else. Somehow he was too exhausted to wonder who else was there.
I don't care. I don't need to care. Everything is okay now.
He gently squeezed Faqir's hand, smiling.
You're mine. I took your heart and you took mine. And now, you kept your promise, everything's okay, and we're...we're free.
Can you believe that? We're free. Free, free, free...I always liked that word.
There were a few voices speaking to him and people he didn't recognize standing over him and sitting next to him as if to help him up. Graham ignored them, keeping his eyes fixed on the ceiling and Faqir's hand in his, not wanting to let the moment go. He knew the onslaught of emotions coming--the guilt, the confusion, the despair, and all of the other things that would tear him apart...so he just wanted to lay there for a bit, because for some reason in that moment they weren't there.
The longer he could avoid them, well...the better.
Eventually one of the men coaxed Graham into standing up--his energy completely drained, he rubbed his eyes and wandered with them toward the elevator, hardly able to move his legs the way over. Eyes mostly fixed on the ground for the walk and elevator ride, Graham didn't see what they did with Faqir. If he had to guess, they probably carried him...
Briefly, his mind went back to Akuma. What were they going to do with his body? Would they leave it? Would they bury it? Would they find his family and tell them the news?
...Family. The thought of the mastermind having family seemed somehow foreign to Graham. Surely if he ever felt compassion then he never would have brutally murdered everyone's loved ones and rubbed in their suffering.
Upon coming to a set of open doors, Graham almost stumbled. One of the men offered to help him but Graham pushed away, shuddering slightly. He made the move to open them, then paused--chair. Wordlessly, he broke away from the group to go into his room for one last time and drag out the one thing that had been strong and there for him throughout the entire endeavor: his chair. Deciding any blood he got on it now his dad could help him wash off later, Graham hiked the chair up onto his shoulders and slowly made his way back to the supposed exit.
Completely silent and eyes dead, Graham stepped out into the open, taking in a breath of fresh air. He looked up at the red sky, feeling his heart sink in his chest.
This...isn't what I remember.
Isn't it...supposed to be blue...?