"I absolutely will not eat this." Alice said. You and Joe emerged from his room groggily. You could see Alice sitting on one of the sofas with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Safalin who stood parallel to him, shaking slightly.

"But.. I thought you said you wanted stir fry..?" She responded quietly. She hugged her arms, and Alice crossed one leg over the other.

"No, I asked for fried rice. Not stir fry."

Safalin sniffled, "Isn't that... a bit heavy for a breakfast?"

"As if stiry fry is any lighter?!" He huffed, "I can't eat such... bitter food in the morning."

"But many adults use bitter coffee as a way to wake themselves up... You would think something like this would help prepare you for the day ahead of you."

"I don't drink coffee!!" Alice argued back.

You and Joe walked into the library, taking both their attention away from each other.

But only for a moment. Safalin turned back to Alice nervously, stating, "If you don't finish it... you'll be given a penalty." Then ran off.

Alice made a sound of disbelief, just watching as Safalin ran away. Joe began to lead the two of you to a seperate room but Alice shouted, asking you to wait.

"If you guys will eat the green bits, I'd be willing to entertain a conversation. Come, sit." He motioned to the couch opposite of him.

You looked at Joe, "Are you hungry?"

"...Yeah. Are you okay with this?"

"I don't mind."

~ * ~

Alice had left the two of you in the library with a magazine from two years ago in your hands. It described Reko's sour feelings towards her at-the-time band that had included Alice, stating that she wouldn't ever be able to sing their songs again. Your heart broke for them. But your heart broke more for Alice, who had convinced himself that she wouldn't be willing to listen to him, even if it really didn't seem that way on Reko's side of things.

Rather than tossing it out like Alice had asked the two of you to do, Joe folded it up gently and placed it in his pocket.

You and Joe went to do an attraction, and upon reentering the lobby again, Q-Taro, who had been sitting on the couch, stood up and hobbled over to you two.

"Do you guys have any tokens left? Or did you trade them all?"

Joe looked at him strangely, and you began to feel sick. "Yeah?" Joe responded.

"Yeah, what?" Q-Taro asked, raising his voice slightly, "Yes you have tokens? Or yes you traded them all? Joe." He took a few steps towards the two of you, and you both tok one back in turn.

"I have... tokens." As soon as the words had left Joe's mouth, you could see the regret.

His face lit up, "Do you guys want to trade? I just need twenty tokens. Or ten from both of you. I'll give you each twenty in return. Good deal for you, huh?" He said quickly.

Joe took another step back, slightly placing himself in front of you. "Why are you acting like that?" He questioned suspiciously.

"I'm not acting like shit," He said coldly, complete 180 from where he was before. "I just wanna trade."

"But it's so uneven."

"My own tokens don't matter. I might as well give them away." He pulled tokens out of his pocket and held them out to you, "Please."

Joe forced the two of you to take another step back, "No. This is weird, Q-Taro."

"You're actin' delusional, Joe. Nothing's weird about it."

"For the last time, no, Q-Taro. We aren't going to trade with you. You're acting strange. You need to go sit down and eat a Snickers or something. Don't make any rash decisions."

Shakily, Q-Taro pulled back after a moment. He seemed to finally realize how strange he was acting.

"...You're right, kid. Dammit, I'm sorry."

And he walked off in silent shame.

~ * ~

"What are you into?" Joe asked as the two of you relaxed on one of the sofas. You sat with your hands in your lap as Joe rested his head on your shoulder.

He was really close.

"Uh... I don't know. Games?" You responded nervously.

"What kinds of games?"

"Hold on, before I answer that, I need to ask you a question."

"...Go ahead."

You responded with a fully serious tone, "Would you rather have... unlimited bacon... and no more video games — Or — Games, unlimited games, but no more games."

"Well—" Joe paused, "Wait, what?"

"Maybe I wasn't clear." You said, "So, would you rather—"

Joe cut you off, "No, stop there. I heard what you said. I think. You said, unlimited games, but no more games?"

"Uh, yeah. I don't see what so confusing about that."

"Y/N, I dont... Okay. I guess I'll choose the unlimited bacon."

"Why?" You asked, dead serious.

Joe squinted his eyes at you, "Why?" And you nodded your head, "Bro, what do you mean why?! It's the only thing with a result. I'd rather have unlimited bacon and have something taken away from me, than just have something taken away from me.

"...I don't understand." Joe's eyes widened at your response, and you couldn't fight off the smile on your face, making you burst out with laughter.

"Heyyyyyya!!" A voice said, quickly strutting into the room. It was Ranger. Your laughter immediately died down. "How're ya feeling?" He asked.

You eyed him silently, and Joe was also quiet beside you.

Ranger rolled his eyes, "Don't be like that. Come on!" He sat on the couch opposite of the two of you, crossing one leg over the other and leaning on them with his elbows, "We're doing a parent-teacher conference."

The two of you sat in silence as Ranger got himself situated, "So, have ya both been collecting tokens?" He asked.

"...Yes." Joe answered for the both of you.

"Excellent!" Ranger said, tossing up a mask that mimicked Mishima's face, "You're both fine students for doing as your professor instructs!"

You shifted uncomfortably towards Joe. The atmosphere had taken a complete 180 from how it was only a minute ago.

"Ugh," Ranger scoffed, "Don't be like that. Anyway, have you looked at any of the prizes in the exchange room?" He asked, "You can look at people's personal info by booting up their AI."

"How do the AIs work?" Joe asked.

"Oh, I can tell you, if you ask me nicely."

Joe stayed silent.

Ranger rolled his eyes, "Fine. The AIs are basically super-detailed reproductions based on y'all, the participants. In fact, the AIs have hearts that possess superb emotional capabilities. Same with their personalities and memories. They're all based on info gotten from observing y'all for years."

"Years?!" You exclaim.

Ranger grins mischievously, "Yup! We update their memories every six months, but if we wanted to, we could do it in a day. We were actually supposed to add your memories of the Death Game to the AIs as well, but... Well, when we tried to input Mishima's own death into his AI, it bugged out." He giggled as you and Joe sat there in anxious shock.

"It's not as easy to update the personalities, though." He added. "Unlike the memories, it's enough work to just update them every three years. We've been watching you guys for a long time." He smiled.

"Anyway. Try not to die, you two. Though if you do die, I'll be taking both of your guys' clothes." He stood up from his spot on the sofa and disappeared into another room.

"How have we never noticed?" Joe asked in disbelief.

"...I don't know."

~ * ~

After completing an attraction, you left Joe in the lobby to use the restroom, and came back to him sobbing on the ground.

You fell to your knees beside him and whispered, "Joe, what happened?" He went silent, but tears still fell from his reddened eyes.

You wanted to ask before acting, but you didn't think he'd respond if you asked, so you held him. You wrapped your arms around him and held him close to you, his sobs continuing.

"I miss her." He said, his voice cracking. "I— I miss her so much. She shouldn't have—" He cut himself off with a wail. He sobbed into your shoulder, "She shouldn't have died!" He shouted into you. "I should've— I, I should've—"

You hushed him, trying to soothe him, but also stop him from continuing. If it was going where you imagined it was going, you didn't want to hear it.

You couldn't let him lose hope.

"Let's just... get to your room, okay?" You whispered. Nao walked into the room with Reko, but quickly turned herself around and forced Reko to follow suit.

It took Joe awhile to respond, but eventually, he nodded his head and said, "...Okay."

~ * ~

You sat on his bed, arm wrapped around his shoulders as he rested his head on yours. Eventually, he calmed down, no longer sobbing, repeating Sara's name under his breath.

"Y/N," He whispered your name. He said it so quietly, you almost believed you'd imagined it, until he said your name again, only slightly louder. You looked down at him, his face stained with tears and his eyes barely open with the whites of them red.

You stared at him until he responded, "I'm so... tired." He looked tired.

"I know," You said in response, "You should rest."

You started to get up but he grabbed your arm, stopping you from leaving the bed. "I don't... want you to leave. Not... yet."

And you gazed at his soft face, silently pleading you to stay with him, and you couldn't.

You couldn't say no.

You sat back down, and Joe curled up into a ball next to you, resting his head on you again. You pulled the blankets up to keep the two of you warm. Mostly him. You were already feeling quite hot.

..Not sure why, though.

Under the blankets you felt Joe's hand move until it stopped on yours. He paused, not sure whether he could continue or not. You weren't sure what he wanted.

You weren't sure.

Gently, you laced your fingers with his, which he accepted. He moved his body closer to yours, but didn't make any further moves.

"Y/N," He barely said. He was so tired.

"Yeah?"

"I really... like you... and... appreciate..."

You waited for him to continue. You sat there for a full minute in silence, but he didn't continue. You looked down at him to see his eyes closed, and his chest slowly rising and falling to the rhythm of his breaths.

Your face was so red, and so very hot.

You sat there until you fell asleep.