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ᵐᵒⁿᵉʸ ; ˣᵃⁿʳᵉⁱ ⁽ᵈʳᵈᵗ⁾

Before I die, I’d like to do something nice. Take my hand, and I’ll take you for a ride. You hit me yesterday Because I made you cry, So before we die, I’d like to do something nice. Warnings: Chapter 1: Legends Never Die spoilers Word Count: 1,911 A/N: Happy Xander Day, everyone! Don’t forget your daily clicks!

i know you didn’t plan it, but thanks for being here.

Teruko Tawaki was going to die soon because of Xander Matthews. Because of that, Xander’s death would follow soon after hers. That was how it worked in a killing game, going based off of what MonoTV said. Xander didn’t have much time left before he killed Teruko, which meant he didn’t have much time left before he died.

They were such pessimistic thoughts. There was always the chance that he would be spared death because he managed to get away with the crime. He wasn’t sure if he could, though. He prepared for it by having all the necessary components to frame Charles Cuevas for Teruko’s murder, but he didn’t know if everyone would fall for it.

Although, he wasn’t sure if he wanted them to fall for it. Doing so would mean everyone else would be executed as he stood and watched. The heroic thing would be to say he would be willing to be executed on behalf of everyone excluding Teruko, but death was such a scary factor of life.

Xander stood in the infirmary, standing next to the cabinets as he stared at them. How unusual he must look to anyone who happened to come inside the infirmary. He was only there to think. That was not how he wanted to spend his final moments, but he wasn’t sure if he could spend it the way he wanted.

Fortunately, because no one had any medical emergencies for the last bit, the infirmary was pleasantly empty. Xander hoped it would stay that way until he had to leave, but he was interrupted by someone opening the door and asking, “What are you doing here?”

He turned around to see Arei Nageishi at the entrance. Her usually-gloved hand was bare, the glove being held by her other hand, with her index finger held out. He noticed why she came here.

“Did you cut yourself? I’ll help you!” he decided for her, already rummaging through the infirmary for bandages. Despite doom looming over him, he felt happy someone needed help, even if it was a bit small. Xander always knew that in his final moments of life, he would like to do something nice. It didn’t have to be anything big. As long as it was nice, he was fine with anything. Plus, it could also distract her from him being here for, to her, no reason. He didn’t want to have to explain to her what he was going to do.

Arei sat on the nearest hospital bed right as he found the bandages. Xander approached her and helped wrap them around her finger. He was a little fascinated by how soft and slender her fingers were—was that something all bowlers had?—but he decided not to comment on it. He didn’t want to start anything he couldn’t finish now.

Once her finger was wrapped up, he put the bandages back. While doing so, Arei pointed out, “You didn’t say why you were here, you know.”

He could now see she couldn’t be easily distracted. There was no reason to remember that now, though.

Xander didn’t look up as he lied. “I was changing my eye patch.”

“Why do you wear that anyway? It looks stupid.” She put her glove back on her usual hand.

“I have to. I don’t have an eye.”

“Really? I thought it was just something you wore because you thought it makes you look cool.”

“I think it does.” He smiled slightly at the face she made. “Do you want to see it?”

Her face twisted, and he was going to take it as a no. She surprised him by relaxing her face, shrugging her shoulders, and saying, “Why not?”

Xander smiled as he lifted his white eye patch. With his only eye, he watched her for any signs of discomfort. He showed it to Teruko and Eden Tobisa the other day, and Charles accidentally saw it just before them. They were all disgusted or uncomfortable. Arei narrowed her two eyes at his missing one as if she was studying it. She then scoffed and said, “I thought it was going to be worse.”

He readjusted his eye patch as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“It’s not that bad,” she explained. “Ugh, you made it a bigger deal than it was, and now I’m disappointed!”

“But I barely said anything?”

“You said enough.”

Xander knew they hadn’t been stuck together for long, but he still didn’t understand Arei Nageishi’s thought process. He never would.

He still had time before he had to kill Teruko, so he decided to continue this conversation. “You’re not phased by it. The other three people who saw were disgusted.”

She scowled. “Those three had soft lives then. Sheltered as they grew up. Wait until they find out how the real world works.”

He felt annoyance rise as she insulted people when she didn’t know whom he was talking about. Something like this happened when he and Teruko were introducing themselves to everyone, and he would’ve gotten himself into a fight with Arei, if Teruko hadn’t pulled him away. He had to remind himself that he or Arei were going to die soon, so he couldn’t afford any fights. “I’m guessing you didn’t grow up like that.”

“Obviously not. I was surrounded by people who showed me exactly how the real world works. So, I’m a strong, independent woman who knows all about how to make it by in this world!” She posed and winked.

It wasn’t that funny, but Xander still laughed. Did the possibility of dying do that to people, make them wish their final moments were happy memories? Or did they wish the other person or people they were with had happy memories of them before death? After all, it seemed that the last moments one had with a deceased were the memories they could vividly remember the most.

“Never laugh again,” Arei ordered, a frown on her face. “You sound weird.”

Xander stopped laughing. The moment was officially ruined.

He didn’t want his final conversation with someone other than Teruko to end in awkward silence, though. He had to continue as if nothing was wrong. “How did you hurt yourself?”

Arei’s glove had several of her fingers bare, her index finger one of them. She held it up to her face. “I cut myself on one of the knives in the kitchen.”

“Were you trying to make something?”

“Just fooling around.”

“Knives are dangerous. You shouldn’t play with them.”

“Relax, I’m not going to die from them. I’m not stupid enough to stab myself with it.”

“I wasn’t trying to say you were.”

“It sounded like it.”

“Then I’m sorry.”

Arei stared at him, confusion clouding her pretty blue eyes, before scowling. “What’s up with you? There’s something weird about you, but I don’t know what, and that’s bothering me.”

Xander chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“You know what I’m talking about. So, what, did you fight someone? Someone insulted you? Are you homesick? Tired of everything? Like, what’s the problem?”

“You’re the last person I expect to ask me those questions.”

“How stupid do you think I am if you think I’m falling for that?” Arei leaned forward ever-so slightly, her fingers, even her injured index finger, gripping themselves onto the white bedsheet. Her eyes bright with anger, her gaze pinning him down, daring him to argue against her.

Xander would love to do that, to give in to what she wanted and relax into the thin strings of what was their relationship, but not now nor ever again. He couldn’t tell her he was going to murder Teruko, but he could tell her some of what he was fretting over. “I was just...thinking about how I—how anyone here—could die in less than 24 hours from now.”

For a second, Arei’s expression falter, leaving a softer face. However, it was replaced with the look she had just before so fast that he wondered if he had simply imagined it. “Yeah, well, suck it up. You’re in a killing game, so obviously people are going to die, idiot! People die in the real world anyway. What’s so different about dying here and dying out there?”

“A lot, actually.”

She was ready to argue but said, “Fair point...” Her expression went back to the face she had before, proving he hadn’t imagined it and she could look so thoughtful.

“It’s hard to ignore it,” he continued. “I know I should try not to think about it—”

“You should think about it.”

“But it won’t be that good—”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the Ultimate Rebel? You want wrong stuff to be right or whatever. This is wrong. Ignoring it won’t do anything to change it.”

“I guess...”

“You’re so quiet, and it’s so weird.” Arei shuddered. “Where’s all the yelling? Do I have to make fun of your Ultimate title to get you to act normal?”

“Why do you care if I act normal or not?”

“Because it’s weird like I just said?”

“I just didn’t think you would care.”

“Why would I not care about people being stupid? I love people being stupid! But only if it’s the funny-stupid and not the annoying- or weird-stupid.”

“I’m the annoying-stupid and weird-stupid, right?”

“Obviously!”

Xander sighed, but he felt a small smile on his face.

Arei stood up and stretched her fingers. “Well, I’m going to head off if you’re going to be weird—”

“Wait, no, don’t go.” Xander didn’t know why she was looking at him weirdly until he realized he had invaded her personal space and took her wrist. It was the same hand that she injured. He let go and took several steps back. “Sorry, I, umm...didn’t mean to do that... Sorry...”

She gave him a look as she held her wrist closer to her chest. She stayed silent for a moment before talking again. “Like I was saying, I was going to leave now if you’re being weird. But if you’re going to freak out again, I don’t actually think you’re weird.”

“You don’t?”

“I do. But not enough to leave a room, I guess. There’s weirder people we’re stuck with in here.”

“I think that’s the nicest things you’ve ever told me.”

“I can be nice if I want to be.”

He smiled. “I never said you can’t.”

She stared at his face, then scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m still leaving now. I wanna bug people. Maybe J. She’s fun.”

“Don’t annoy her too much.”

“What are you, my dad?”

“Just looking out for other people.”

“You do you. Bye, Xander!”

“Bye, Arei.” Xander tried to focus on everything about Arei as she left. The last thing he saw of her was her hand touching her gloved wrist. That was, from what he could tell, the last he would see of Arei—the last he would see of anyone before getting Teruko to murder her.

Alone in the infirmary again, Xander smiled. Arei didn’t realize it, even if she was a little suspicious of him, but she did help him feel more relaxed. He most likely would panic again once he was face-to-face with Teruko in the computer lab, but that would be later. For now, this was okay. A silent thank-you to Arei.

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