A tribute to Joseph, the one that got me into Idv in the first place
Also the first character I simped for lmao

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

You were one of the newest additions to the manor. And ever since you've arrived (which is basically 3 days in total), the others have quickly realised that you might have a bit more energy that a normal person usually would. You were pretty much bouncing off the walls without using Naib's elbow pads, to the point that some people, especially Emily, were getting concerned about your condition.

But on the bright side, your kit does help a lot in matches. Being an ex-firefighter, you were pretty much a naturally born kiter, what with your increased movement speed and such.

And you had a fire tank, which basically is a portable water tank to put out flames for firefighters, which can decrease the hunter's speed and stun them for a bit if you can make them wet. No, not that kind of wet.

There were some people who found it weird and asked why you were a contain-type instead of a rescuer-type. And during those times, you would give them a tight-lipped smile, before changing the topic..

Strange that a firefighter who's supposed to save lives can't rescue, right?

It did raise a few eyebrows, but no one really brought it back up. Everyone's got their own secrets, and no one likes it when someone else tries to forcefully pry into something private.

Downside to your abilities is that your low decoding speed that also decreases by 15% for every player that's within a certain radius around you due to your hyperactive personality, but as long as no one else is near you when you're decoding, everyone seems cool with that. So during matches, you're either alone decoding in a corner of the map, or containing the hunter while someone else does it.

If it was just that, then the hunters wouldn't usually mind and just continue the match. What they do fear, though, when they have to be in the same match as you, is the waterfall of a-little-odd questions.

"Is cereal soup?"

"Why do people simp for you, Luchino?"

"Is a hotdog a sandwich?"

"How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant?"

"If peanut butter wasn't called peanut butter, what would it be called?"

Jack has started kiting you while trying to eliminate the rest of your teammates, while Fan literally surrendered the moment he saw you in a distance staring back at him with a big grin on your face, and proceeded to hide in a corner of the map while the rest of you made your wait out through the nearest exit.

You haven't met all the hunters yet, but there's already rumours spreading at the hunter's side of the manor about a new survivor who tortures the unfortunate hunter of the match by bombarding them with questions.

And you take pride in that, cause why not?

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

Eli , Freddy and Vera sat on the same table as you as the 4 of you waited for the match to start. The other 3 were happily conversing with each other while you were more occupied with the, to your dismay, empty goblet on the table before you heard Vera mentioning your name.

"Yea? Are we talking about strategies? " You smiled, still toying with the goblet in your hand.You completely did not pay any attention to what they were saying, so yay to that.

"You probably know by now that each of us came here for a certain reason. Some of us for wealth, for something specific, or other reason. What about you?" Eli asked.

"Ahh.." Your words dropped off, unsure how to answer his question.

"It's alright if you don't want to share with us though! I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with this question-" The seer hurriedly added, a nervous smile on his face as he became worried.

"No no, it's fine. How do I say this-" You stirred the spoon you picked up from the table in your goblet, listening to the clanking sound of the metal cutlery hitting the sides of the cup. "I'll just keep this simple, to settle some problems I had in the past." You gave a smile, albeit a nervous one.

"Doesn't that apply for everyone though?" Freddy groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Well-"

"Doesn't matter. The hunter's here already," Vera interrupted, eying the curtains that separated the survivor's side of the waiting room from the hunter's side as a tall figure walked up to the old chair before seating themselves on it.

You raised a brow in question since you don't seem to recognize or have even met this hunter, but you couldn't dwell on your thoughts for long as your vision went black while the familiar sound of glass being broken could be heard.

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

How's the match going? You might be thinking.

One sentence, four words. This was a mistake.

The hunter, according to Eli, was Joseph, the Photographer. And he was quick, and unfortunately, difficult for you to kite. The camera world was something you couldn't understand how it works, so the fact that he could pop in and out of nowhere like a ghost without you ever knowing was just a tad bit scary. Your tool was almost pretty much useless since either you didn't have time to use it before he popped out or you were too nervous to aim straight.

On the bright side, he looks hot. But he's also the hunter, so oh well.

And this was how you ended up in your current situation. Eli had been, unfortunately, sent back to the manor, while Vera was being chaired and Freddy one more hit away from being incapacitated.

By some miracle, you've managed to get all but 1 cipher popped. But before you could decide what to do next, Vera's chair flew off and you could see Freddy running full speed toward you.

Before you could say anything, the lawyer shoved you away, causing you to stumble to the ground in surprise.

"Hey! What-"

"Let me handle it. You're way too slow. " He scowled, not taking his eyes as he directed his full attention to the cipher. "You're a kiter, aren't you?"

"Well yes-"

"Then go do your job. Distract him!" He snapped, glancing towards the hunter who was steadily walking towards you guys, an annoyed glint in his dead black eyes.

Ah fuck it.

You threw the lawyer a dirty look before speeding off, the hunter now on your tail, leaving the lawyer behind as the two of you began your dangerous game of tag.

You did what you normally do when kiting hunters in your attempt of getting Joseph's attention off the cipher, bombarding the photographs with random questions while sweating buckets. Normally you would be in a jolly mood when you're doing this but since you were so close to winning and your stamina was almost up, you quickly dropped the bombarding. Cause unlike all the other hunters you've met, Joseph did not seem to be bothered by your behaviour, solely focusing on his target: chairing you.

You could hear the light laughter from the photographer. The distance between the two of you became shorter and shorter as your stamina decreased. Finally, your body caved in, crashing to the cold earth like pots and pans hitting the floor.

"Tut tut tut." The photographer shook his head as he walked over to your sprawled out body and picked you up gently. His face remained expressionless but somehow you could feel an air of smugness and pity around him.

"You know you could've ignored what he said and continued on, right? I might've chosen to ignore you and focus on him instead," He continued as he tied the balloon around you and picked you up.

At this point, you've given up on struggling and didn't bother to put up a fight as the hunter placed you on the chair just as the last cipher was finally popped, and soon, you'll be flown back to the manor, since there's no way the lawyer would be coming back for you.

"Well, I'm a kiter, am I not? It's my job to distract you with my hotness while he does his thing," You tried to give a cheeky smirk although it was strained from the slight pain from the barbed wires hugging your body.

Although you couldn't look at his face, you could feel Joseph giving you an eye roll before humming in response.

"Welp, looks like I'm gonna be zooming off anytime soon," You said, watching from a distance Freddy typing in the password for the main gates. "Anything else you wanna chat about?"

"You're annoyingly chatty for a survivor. Even that gardener doesn't usually talk this much to a hunter," Joseph noted.

"Thank you!"

"I don't mean that as a compliment."

'You're mean!"

"I'm just giving my opinion, mon chéri."

You huffed in response before you felt the rocket chair shuddering, indicating that the game was over and you were about to start the excruciating flight back to the manor. You gripped the handles for dear life, your (e/c)-coloured orbs dilating from fear as the Photographer watched you with a stony expression.

"You know. There's really no need to keep throwing yourself in danger every single time. Mon chéri."

"WHAT??"

"I said- Oh and there you go."

Joseph looked up, watching the rocket chair disappear into the sky before sighing. "Hopefully they at least heard the last bit."

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

You did not hear the last bit.

More like, you couldn't hear anything at all, not from all your screaming and sounds coming from the rocket chair.

Waking up from your bed with a bad headache was a great way to start up. Mumbling under your breath and being unsure of what time it was, you decided to go try and find some painkillers to fix that head of yours before you decide on what to do next.

The corridors outside your room were dead silent, which either meant everyone was asleep or busy doing something else. Judging from the fact that there was no light outside the window, you guessed it was the former. That, or an alien just popped into the survivor's manor and kidnapped everyone before taking off. That's also a possibility, I guess.

Your feet trudged into the kitchen, hoping to grab the painkillers and leave without bumping into anyone. You were enjoying the silence of the night when a rude coughing sound came in,breaking the silence.

Ok. Maybe the alien left out one.

Blinking through bleary eyes, you looked up to see the one and only lawyer, Freddy, glaring at you as if you've just taken his family away from him and tore it apart.

This description sounds oddly specific for some reason.

"A very good-" You squinted at the clock. "1 o'clock in the morning to you. So what's up?"

Freddy snorted. "We could have gotten at least a tie in that match."

Ah. So we're having a post-match talk, huh?

"Well it's not like every match will always be in our favour. We can make mistakes here and there, for your information." You rolled your eyes as you tried to scoot around him, itching to get out of this situation and get back to your room. You reached a hand out into the cabinet, rummaging through random stuff in search of the painkillers.

"If you had done your job properly, then that match could have been ours to take. " He snapped back. If looks could kill, then you would've been cut up into pieces and set on fire by him.

"Look. I did my best. The team did their best. We can't control how the match will go, so there's no use pinning the blame on me." You shot back, glaring at him.

The lawyer scoffed, rolling his eyes. "So a useless firefighter who can't rescue, who can't keep their team from being captured for even just a bit longer. Some firefighter you are."

"I- "

"Why don't you just stop making excuses for yourself and actually do something. Maybe the next time we get matched together, you'll at least be able to kite for another cipher or two."

Your hands were itching to wrap themselves around his neck, but watching Freddy leaving down the dark corridor, you couldn't help but let your thoughts go back to his words.

A useless firefighter who can't rescue.

Can't even keep their team from being captured for even just a bit longer

Some firefighter you are.

You rolled your fist tightly into balls, your lips forming a grim line. Your body slumping forward as if a huge weight was just placed on your shoulders as you glared at the space the lawyer once occupied. Though your anger was not only directed towards him

Want me to be more useful?

Fine. I'll be useful.

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

So how did you make yourself useful?

By making yourself the sacrificial lamb of the match.

On one hand, this was a very effective tactic. All you did during your matches was to piss the hunter off enough to have their full attention on you. Then run like crazy until all 5 ciphers are primed before collapsing onto your feet and allowing the hunter to chair you while the rest of your team escapes through the gates or dungeons.

On the other hand, this was a tad bit taxing on your part. Watching the other survivors leave the match while you are left strapped to the rocket chair doesn't exactly help to boost anyone's mood, ya know?

But wins are becoming more frequent, and Freddy was leaving you alone. So that's great.

Sadly a certain photographer doesn't exactly share the same view as you.

"What the hell are you doing?" Joseph growled.

He had you pinned to the wall, his rapier less than an inch away from slicing your neck, sweat dripping off his forehead from the chase you gave him. Yet you stared up at him with a smirk, though it was slightly shakier than your usual.

"Language! Really, for a gentleman, I did not expect you to start swearing and breaking out of your character." You joked.

The two of you were in his camera world, where the rest of the survivors usually wouldn't enter unless they were being chased by Joseph himself. You had hoped that you would be able to keep the photographer busy without bothering the rest by entering his camera world but unfortunately, the match did not seem like it was going in your favour.

"You're tossing yourself into danger to buy your teammates time."

"Isn't that the job of all kiters though?"

"Well yes but-"

Joseph looked as if he desired nothing more than to strike that sword of his down. His eyes glaring into your (e/c) orbs, though it was hard to tell what was fuelling that anger. You showed no signs of backing down, having gotten used to it in your line of work.

"So.. are you gonna chair me or what?" You glanced at the hunter, barely being bothered by your current situation with Joseph towering over you.

Joseph said nothing, and you couldn't tell what he was thinking from his face alone. But you did notice, or rather, feel his rapier slightly quivering in his hands. The sharp blade digging into your flesh as a crimson liquid slowly starts seeping out of the newly created wound.

Your body tense up as you close your eyes. If he was not going to chair you, he was going to let you bleed out before getting sent back to the manor. You didn't have the energy to run anymore and you've already broken through your self-healing limit. Might as well prepare yourself for whatever Joseph was planning to d-

"Tch"

You felt the rapier being lowered down from your neck but you didn't dare to open your eyes.

Was he not going to chair you? Have you not pissed him off enough yet? What exactly was he planning to do?

"Open your eyes." He ordered.

You scrunched your face up, not budging.

A hand slammed against the wall next to your head and your body froze, eyes shot open as you stared at him with fear for the first time in this whole match. He leaned in close to you until his head was right besides your own, his breath tingling the hairs on your neck.

"Is mon chéri really going to disobey me? I can always just chair you and go after your teammates if you decide to be stubborn, my dear" He whispered into your ear. His blue eyes showed a dangerous mischievous glint, reminding you that he was still the hunter who's in power.

"Ah-"

"You don't want to be sent back to the manor on the chair, don't you?" He raised a clawed finger, stroking your chin with it gently while very subtly reminding you that he can easily tear your face off if he wanted to."All you've ever wanted ever since you started this...self-sacrificing tactic of yours, was to be able to pass through the gates with the rest of your teammates, am I right?"

Okay... what the heck is he planning. How did he turn from that concerned, help-I-don't-know-what-to-say gentlemen from earlier into this confident, smug-ass person-

With no idea what else to do, you nodded your head slowly. A devilish smirk appeared on his face (that definitely did not make him look even hotter than before) and you could feel the pit of your stomach dropping.

"How about an offer? One question, in exchange, I'll let you and your teammates go free." He tilted his head, blue eyes gazing onto your (e/c) orbs intensely.

"What's the catch? Are you going to force me to spill some secret and you'll use it to blackmail me?" Your fear was now replaced with anger along with a hint of annoyance, not sure where that burst of anger came from though.

An eyebrow cocked up in slight annoyance. "Or we can just go back to the game and I can chair you-"

Your eyes widen before shaking your head furiously. "No no no! Fine! Just do whatever you want." You knew if your team lost this time, all hell would be unleashed by the rest of the survivors, ESPECIALLY Freddy.

"Wonderful! I'm glad you've agreed," The photographer flashed a smile that tugged your heartstrings, to your annoyance. He backed up a bit with his hand still next to your head, creating some space between the two of you. With the absence of his breath against your skin, you were surprised by how hot your face felt, completely not noticing the heat that basically equaled the sun at all earlier.

"Now mon chéri" Joseph took his rapier, placing the sharp side of the blade against his finger to test its sharpness. "Do you still remember that little match we had with that lovely lawyer?"

"Lovely?"

"I was being sarcastic, my dear."

"Oh. Yea he was being a d-"

"ANYWAYS! Before the match, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you had with your fellow survivors. I have to say, that answer you gave is so vague."He gave you an unimpressed look. "That caught my interest, I must say. And thus, I hope you don't mind giving me a specific answer to that seer's question."

It was more of a command than a question, to be exact. But at this point, you really don't have any other choice besides caving in to his demands.

"I.. I come from this firefighter station, before I joined the games. I was a newbie, with barely any experience in dangerous situations. My teammates welcomed me with open arms and for a while, everything was nice."

A small smile crept onto your lips as you recalled the memory fondly. Remembering the chaos you had with the others, the laughter and shouting through the building, the amount of support your teammates gave you while you were still learning on how to do stuff. You almost forgot that you were still pretty much being milked for information that could be used against you.

"And?" Joseph asked, his face remained mostly expressionless except for the slightly furrowing of eyebrows.

"It's rude to interrupt, you know?"

"Mon chéri, unless you wish to be stuck in this map forever, I would suggest you speed up your pace a bit. Also, you looked like you were in a daze."

"Fine," You rolled your eyes. "A fire tore my life down. End of story, can I go?"

Joseph blinked. "Pardon me?"

"You wanted me to hurry up."

"Are you trying to get onto my nerves or are you just trying to buy time for yourself and for your teammates?" He snarled. The hand that was placed squarely next to your head now held your neck harshly, not enough to fully choke you, but probably enough to form red marks around your neck.

"Fine!" You gritted your teeth, glaring at him while holding onto his hand, trying to pry it off. "Get your hands off me first!"

"Is this what you people call 'being fiesty'?" Joseph questioned, watching your poor attempts at clawing him off. "Just answer the question. The sooner you answer, the sooner I'll let you go."

Grunting, you shot him a glare before pausing. "That night, there was a fire that broke out in some random part of town. My team went over to put it out. I wanted to help out as well, but they refused to let me go into the burning building. So I watched them go. A couple of minutes later, just when they brought the last few survivors out, something rang out from the insides of the flame, like a scream. They-"

You sucked in a breath before continuing, "They thought it was a survivor they left out, so they rushed in once again."

"Seconds later, the place blew up."

You lowered your eyes to the ground, no longer having the energy to make eye contact with the hunter before you. "I remember their screams from the collapsing building. I wanted to charge in as well, but I was too scared. I was weak."

Giving out a dry laugh, you snickered to yourself. "A firefighter who can't rescue others, not even their teammates. What kind of firefighter are they then-"

"Don't."

You lifted your eyes up to Joseph, a slightly confused look on your face.

"Don't what?"

"You're blaming yourself for something that you can't control. You blame yourself for losing a match, just like how you blame yourself for not going in to save your teammates. It all happened in the past, and yes, it's fine to mourn and to regret making those mistakes, but you can't do anything about it anymore. What happened in the past can't be changed." Joseph remarked.

"Well thank you for being so straightforward by spitting the harsh truths," You rolled your eyes. You wouldn't admit it, but you were sort of thankful for him going straight to the point instead of twisting his words here and there, wasting your time.

"But.." Joseph continued. "The next thing you can do is to continue living your life as best as you can. Your teammates sacrificed themselves doing what they think is good, and that would be a waste if you keep looking back at your mistakes instead of moving forward. For matches, keep going forward by taking the criticism and turning them into obstructive ones so they can help you improve yourself. This is what you should focus on for now, at the very least."

There was an awkward silence as the both of you stared at each other for about a solid minute before you finally spoke up, "Jeez. Why aren't you being hired as some sort of motivational speaker or life coach? That was actually some pretty good life advice!" You joked, eyes lighting up for the first time in a while as you made eye contact with the photographer.

"My current state of living is kind of preventing that, unfortunately." said Joseph, the ends of his lips curving upward into the smallest of smirks.

"I'm not kidding! Really. That helped a lot," You smiled. "Thank you."

The photographer opened his mouth, looking as if he was about to say something else before it was cut off by loud sirens, signalling the endgame was here. His facial feature contorted to a scowl, obviously not pleased.

"You should probably go now. Your teammates will be leaving soon," Joseph sighed, pushing you towards one of his cameras in order for you to leave the camera world.

"What about you?" You frowned.

"If a hunter were to walk towards you while you're busy trying to open the gates, your first instinct wouldn't be to sit around and wait for the hunter to hit you, would it?"

"Point taken."

Joseph covered his face with a palm, obviously not being able to accept just how amazing you are before shaking his head. "Just get going. I'll let you go this time, but next time, I won't be as nice." He warned.

You gave 2 thumbs up, walking backward (and very casually tripping over the terrain) towards the camera. "Got it! I'll do my best to be the most annoying person in the next match then!"

"You really are- Never mind. Just remember what I told you, and don't say a word about what happened to the others," He hissed as you saluted before stepping through the picture-like portal, leaving the camera world.

─┉┈◈◉◈┈┉─

"Y/N? You actually made it-" Eli was surprised but nevertheless welcomed you the moment you stepped through the gates, enveloping your form into a friendly hug.

"Yea.. yea I did-" You blinked, still not really believing what just happened.

"You kited him for 5 whole ciphers- How did you do that-'' Tracy's eyes gleamed like a child's eyes would when given candy, completely in awe of your 'feat'.

"Haha- Yea.. I just got lucky this time-" You laughed awkwardly, eyes darting everywhere else. "I'm just going to take a shower- It's been a tiring match-"

"You gotta teach me how to do that! You're always so good at kiting the hunter for a long time, but you're always getting captured in the end.." Tracy's voice faltered before her eyes met yours, a smile on her face once again. "I know you're just doing your job, trying to protect everyone, but please, don't just blindingly throw yourself into danger for others."

"We're a team! There's no need for you to single handedly shoulder the burden! Otherwise, what else is there to do for the other rescuers and kiters? The only time Naib runs nowadays is when he's getting to the next cipher after he's decoded the first one."

"Mercoder."

"You know he hates that title, Eli."

While the other two continue their conversation, your mind couldn't help but wander back to a certain 'gentleman'. You couldn't help but smirk a little, playing the event in your mind, remembering the way he carried himself through your interactions and every single gesture he made.

Ah.

Does that mean I'm falling for the photographer?