April Fools

[tickingheart]

[FAIL!FILTERED TO AOKO AND KUROBA]

Aoko? Kuroba? Tell me you're both back to normal.

[END FAIL!FILTER]

So, did the town just bring a bunch of new people in at once, or is something else going on?

Comments

[pandorabox]

[he lifts an eyebrow on the other end, before he replies dryly]

You make it sound like such a pleasant place.

[tickingheart]

It's a wonderful place. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

[pandorabox]

How'd you get there?

[tickingheart]

I woke up here in August.

[pandorabox]

Just randomly?

[tickingheart]

Just randomly. And when I say randomly, I mean "without falling asleep first".

[pandorabox]

...

If you aren't aren't Dark, I wonder if the community is doing this.

[tickingheart]

Trust me, I'm not Dark.

[pandorabox]

[a thoughtful pause]

... universal multiples virus?

[tickingheart]

I'm not an alternate you.

[pandorabox]

-- eh?

[tickingheart]

Three guesses.

[He's quiet for a moment, shifts the phone closer to his chest. The sound of a steady ticking and whirring.]

First two don't count.

1/2

[pandorabox]

[-- HOLY SHIT HE DROPS HIS PHONE.

Robo can probably hear a lot of banging and scrambling around as he does so.]

2/2

[pandorabox]

[And finally, when Kaito picks up his phone again and speaks, he doesn't sound so amused anymore]

How'd you survive?

[tickingheart]

[MUSIC TO HIS EARS.

While Kuroba might not sound amused, the robot certainly does.]

The town pulled me from before I broke.

[pandorabox]

[suddenly, the voice on the other end of the line, so similar to his almost to the very tone of his voice, grates on Kaito's every last nerve]

What do you mean the town pulled you?

[tickingheart]

[As much as he might dislike Kuroba, as much as he knows this isn't even the Kuroba he knows, it's almost a relief to hear him sounding like himself. The robot was getting tired of ignoring the drone and his baseball obsession.]

Mayfield, a wonderful town in a fake 1950s America. It pulls people from different times, places, and universes and then doesn't let anyone leave.

[pandorabox]

[a snort, almost amused yet somewhat bitter]

Sounds like the perfect place for you.

[tickingheart]

I guess it's better than the alternative.

[pandorabox]

It keeps you out of my hair.

[tickingheart]

There's a version of you here.

[pandorabox]

[a pause]

I'm sure he can handle you just fine.

[tickingheart]

Sometimes.

[pandorabox]

If I did it, then he can.

[tickingheart]

The score's one to one.