tw: mentions of suicide, gore, violence, and foul language.

bold: writing

'single quotation': thoughts

"underlined quotation": telepathy

slanted/italics: memories.

underlined: underlined sentences are basically commands and thoughts of those who's thoughts are still completely controlled by the mask.

single quotation dialogue is basically belongs to a person who isn't a mask or has gained a bit of freedom from the command and can retain their own thoughts..

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~" 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 "~

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Previously

"I uh... sorry?" The girl stuttered while peeking from behind Butcher mask, who stood as cold as ice.

'This human has already reached the level close to God.'

Butcher mask watched the sniper's eyes widen. 'What the hell?! What's with this command?'

Butcher mask snapped out of his petrified state. The mask had almost hit him. The mask threatened him and a human girl with a gun. Something like artificial rage swelled inside of Butcher mask. A click in his head, and a swarming buzz.

'This realm is a facility to create God.' The voice spoke to Sniper mask.

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'What do you mean "God"? I need specifics.'

'It is unnecessary for an Angel to interfere with the one close to God.'

The girl was still looking at him from the side. "So, um, I was just wondering if you're okay?"

Butcher mask pushed the girl back again so that she was completely behind him.

'This realm is a facility to create God. Those who wear the masks are "Angels," and must preform the task of bringing humans closer to God.'

'So that was the end of the command?' Sniper mask lowered his rifle down completely. 'The "Angel's task," huh?'

Butcher mask kept his cleaver drawn and maintained his defensive stance. There was a tense silence as they all looked at one another with distrust (well, not really the girl.)

'He doesn't seem hostile anymore. You can relax, (y/n).' The voice offered with a cautious, know-it-all tone. Butcher mask clutched the cleaver drawn.

'He almost shot me! You seriously think I'm just gonna get all buddy-buddy with someone who almost put a hole in my head?!' The voice didn't reply. 

No one spoke as they all waited for Butcher mask to make a move. 'Fine.' He lowered the knife, but maintained his protective attitude, standing close by.

"okay, it seems like you both calmed down a little bit." She put a hand over her chest and let out a breath of relief. She inhaled again and looked at the two, a little teary. "But I... Well, I seem to be at a loss right now."

Butcher mask watched closely as Sniper mask slung his rifle over his shoulder. 

He stepped forward. "Hey." 

Butcher mask stepped forward a bit too with his hand on his knife's leather pouch, ready to draw it if necessary.

Sniper mask looked at Butcher mask for a second, before looking down at the girl again. "Mind if I ask you something?"

The girl blushed a bit, flustered by the man's deep voice. "Uh, so you can speak. I wasn't sure if you could." Her face did a complete 180 as she started tearing up at an alarming rate. 

'She's crying!' Butcher mask's mind went blank with momentary panic. In a desperate attempt to not be completely useless, he handed a surplus of tissue to the girl and gave a very awkward shoulder pat.

She gave Butcher mask an appreciative nod, dabbing the paper on her face, to which he replied with an "ok" hand sign.

"My name is Kuon Shinzaki." She bowed respectfully once she appeared to have gotten a hold of her emotions. "The truth is, I'm just... I'm just really scared!" Spoke too soon. She started sobbing again, this time harder. Butcher mask frantically hovered over her and gave her more "harder-than-they-should-be" shoulder pats in a desperate act to calm her down, slightly knocking the wind out of her with each smack.

Sniper mask was also taken aback, reacting stiffly as well. 

"Hey, hold on-" Sniper mask stuttered unsurely. 

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It took a good 5 minutes to calm the girl. She wiped her doe eyes with the tissues Butcher mask provided in large quantities (to which Sniper mask and Butcher sighed in relief.)

Sniper mask cleared his throat and pointed at a spot near the wall. "Why don't we sit down?"

"Ah, sure." They all sat down and waited in silence for someone to speak.

'It's very quiet.' Butcher mask thought as he crossed his legs and looked up at the blue sky in an attempt to avoid the awkward silence.

'Not to mention tense.'

Kuon looked at the pair who were sat against the wall a few feet from each other. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Mask," Both Sniper and Butcher mask turned to her. She sweat dropped.

"I uh, mean you sir, the tall one." Butcher mask looked around and noticed their size differences. Was he really that freakishly tall? Sure, maybe being the tallest on the neighborhood basketball team in primary school said something, but he hadn't actually taken it into consideration before.

Sniper mask sighed sadly.

"Are you able to speak too?" She looked at him curiously, leaning in a little too close for comfort. Butcher mask moved his head back a bit from the close proximity.

He shook his head. "Oh! That reminds me! Why did you step in front of me when Mr. Mask pulled out his rifle? Shouldn't a mask's first instinct be to attack a human?" She leaned in even closer. Butcher mask was running out of room to lean back against as he felt the back of his head brush against the wall. 

He shot a pleading look at Sniper mask, who looked away coyly. 

"Tch." He looked at Kuon once again and mustered the courage to write in his little notepad.

'I'm not entirely sure why. A while ago, I got a weird chip that downloaded this bug into my mask's command. It allows me to sense when a human is in danger and protect them.'

Kuon read the note he passed to her. "That's really nice! I'm glad there's a little bit of hope for others here." She smiled sweetly. 

Sniper mask scooted over and grabbed the note from Kuon, flipping it over in his hand to reread it again. 

"Hey, how come you saved me earlier? Shouldn't you've just walked away? Not to mention that you killed that human boy." There was a deep lurch in his stomach when Butcher mask recalled the moment. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't feel any kind of guilt about what he had done. He found it was hard to care, simply put. 

There was an invisible spotlight in that moment that (y/n) hadn't noticed until then. When did it get so hot? (y/n) felt a bit warm from the sudden attention, Kuon and Sniper mask now leaning in curiously, and he turned away from the prying eyes with a dopey slouch, suddenly intrigued with the hem of his apron.

"Weird."

"What?" The (h/c)ed boy looked at the teen beside him. 

The boy shrugged. "You get shy all of a sudden sometimes. It's kinda weird, especially when you take every earthly chance to flirt with me, weirdo." He mumbled. He took his eyes off the dimming sky and glanced at (y/n) softly.

(y/n)'s breath hitched as the sun's last rays of light made the gray haired boy's face glow. His face turned a deep scarlet just before he looked away. Staring at the river of water in front of them, he let his mouth move on its own. "I dunno what you mean." He barked coyly, fearing what his voice might reveal if he said too much.

The boy raised an eyebrow at him before he pried (y/n)'s clammy hand off the river's rail and interlocked fingers. (y/n) sputtered out in protest, trying to pull his hand away weakly but failing.

"See, you'd usually be like 'You could've just asked if you wanted to hold hands~' or something mildly sexual. Is something wrong?" (y/n) glanced up to meet his gray irises, unsure how to answer, before parting his lips to speak again.

A memory? At a time like this?

His mind didn't feel too bad after that one; he hadn't even realized it was happening from the lack of pain. His memories were actually coming in pretty normally now, despite the amnesia. Was this a good thing? 'Weird.'

Butcher mask shrugged at them sheepishly after a moment of thought. Sniper mask sighed before he looked back at the ground and scooted away. 

"So, does the command not speak to you anymore?" He asked, taking a puff of his cigarette. When did he pull that out?

Butcher mask shook his head slowly. "Not the way you think, anyway."

(a/n: im confusing myself with this telepathy crap, so now quotes and underlined are the brain messages. please check the top of the page.)

Sniper mask looked up again, this time with a sharper glance as he rose an eyebrow. "Then how?"

Butcher mask stared back, owl-eyed and distracted before he realized he had used his weird bluetooth mind feature again. Kuon simply look at the two with her lips pursed in a confused pout, not understanding the full context of their conversation.

He flipped the paper over and scribbled on it. 'It's like a guide now. It lets me know where things are and where to go.'

"So, like part of the program thing?" Sniper mask inquired, but he seemed to have already confirmed himself. Butcher mask nodded again. It was difficult to explain fully, so he decided to leave it at there and explain when it's most necessary.

Kuon gave the pair one last glance, and then started asking her own questions. "Um, Mr. Mask," Both men turned their heads towards the nervous girl. "The slightly less tall one." She added quickly with a nervous stutter, the attention making her hyper aware of herself (Sniper mask sighed sadly again). She continued despite the bubbling feeling in her stomach. "If you're okay with it, could we perhaps operate as a team?" 

Kuon looked at her lap and bit her lip a little, displaying her pure nervousness on her soft facial expressions. "'Cause you see, I'm kind of nervous on my own."

"Sorry, but I've got obligations here, too." Sniper mask's low voice rumbled. He extinguished the cigarette on the side of his lighter, turning his head up again to meet her dazed irises. Kuon had started to deflate in confidence, but rather than stopping there, Sniper mask spoke again. 

"You're better off searching for some human to team up with." Butcher mask understood, snapping his fingers as he thought of a group of high schooler idiots that would be perfect for life or death survival.

"Seems Butcher mask already has an idea of who you should team up with." Sniper mask chimed with a playful tone. Kuon looked down sadly, debating their words and ideas, and looked up once more. She took note of the new name and looked at Butcher mask a bit more warmly.

"Okay. I understand." She replied. Butcher mask noted the sadness and unsureness in her voice. After their brief conversation, Butcher mask watched as Sniper mask pushed himself up and adjusted his rifle on his shoulder where it rested comfortably.

"There are some girls out there, a pair of high school girls like you." He elaborated.

"Huh?" Kuon titled her head up towards the man who was now walking away at a slow pace, inviting her to walk along side him.

"Come with me. We can search together for a while." He turned to Butcher mask. "Are you coming along?"

The apron wearer waved his hands in the air and handed him a pre-made letter. 'I have to work.' Butcher mask patted himself off as he stood up, stretched lazily, and ensured his mask was secure on his (s/c) face. Sniper mask simply nodded, then tilted his head a little to look back at the two.

"I'm gonna go ahead and guess that they're still alive." The sniper caught the small glare the man behind him shot. Kuon's clueless pout turned into a happier smile upon hearing his request. She was glad she would have someone to help her get through this crazy realm.

"Okay!" She replied sweetly. "Goodbye Mr. Butcher Mask!" She followed after Sniper mask, now much more confident than before. A smile pulled at Butcher mask's lips when he heard her farewell, but it faded when he heard the familiar buzz of a human nearby.

He watched the two turn the corner and disappear. He let out a quiet sigh and after a few seconds of thoughtless glances, he retreated back to follow the buzzing.

"Wh- Hey!" A voice suddenly called after him from behind. Sniper mask jogged around the corner again, catching Butcher mask just as he was a quarter down the rope bridge. He held out a cleaver, one that he immediately recognized as the one he had lost a while ago. 

"Here. You'll need this. I'm sorry about almost er, shooting you in the head." Butcher mask looked at the black haired man blankly. A tinge of embarrassment was making its way up Sniper mask's throat. "I guess I'll see you soon?" Sniper mask mentally cursed himself for being so awkward, but it melted away when the (h/c)ed man carefully took the knife out of his hand and after putting it in its pouch, cupped his hands around the sniper's extended one in gratitude. It puzzled him; the growing heat in his face and the gesture that seemed so casual for a stranger he had just met a few hours ago, but something in his gut told him it was right, that the feeling of speechlessness and hazy disregard for everything surrounding them was something that he had been missing for a very long time now. 

Just as quickly as the warmth came, it left. Butcher mask turned and continued down the bridge, sticking his hand up to send a small wave goodbye and then disappearing into his own little world of hero. It took Sniper mask a few seconds to process what had just happened. His eyebrows furrowed and he felt completely stumped. 

"what the hell was that..." He mumbled under his breath, now taking note of the small folded  paper in his hand and the knowing giggle of Kuon as she peeked around the corner.

'Sorry for almost decapitating you. See you around.'

'What the hell was that?!' He placed a hand over his mask and tried to wrap his head around the bitter vanishing of butterflies in his stomach.

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OH MY GOD IM SORRY

god, how did I let my procrastination get so bad?! Jesus! here, take it. it's rough and I will most definitely change some things, but it's something bro chew on while I get this all sorted

IM SORRY TAKE THE 2000 WORD CHAPTER AND EAT IT