Week 0: post trial

[disclosures]

[That was one very long trial, a good nine hours of floundering around and trying to decide who the culprit was. Rebecca wasn't close to Sharpay, but she's hardly close to anyone at all.

Once they're back she's taking Natsuo aside and checking in on him.

If she cares about anybody in murder castle, it's this dumb kid.

How did she get here?]

You didn't end up licking your shoe, right? You aren't hallucinating from that?

Comments

[disclosures]

It... It was a lot. That's the first time I've ever been part of something like that.

[randori]

I want to say it'd be the only time, but...

[ The wheels are in motion and it's happening. He wishes this would be a shock enough to people to never do anything about this again, but that's him being hopeful, and being hopeful didn't get him anywhere. ]

Um. I was thinking about something a little, back at the very end of the trial when people were talking to Sharpay and I couldn't do anything else to help. So later- tomorrow? Remind me, 'cause I want to talk to you about something.

[disclosures]

I don't know how much longer this is going to go.

[But wishes are powerful things, if it's something people care enough about, then murder isn't that big of a deal.

At least it seems like that.]

You don't want to talk about it now?

[randori]

[ 38 people, and each week, at least two deaths. His head hurts too much to do the math, but whatever the answer is, it's way too long; it's already been way too long. ]

Right now, I'm still worried about Sousei— Sharpay and Jae-ha too. [ They're all going to die? All three of them. ] Moving on and pretending they don't matter anymore feels kind of bad.

[disclosures]

I don't know what's going to happen to them. I wasn't that close to any of them, so I'm not really the right person to... help with this kind of thing.

[randori]

[ he shakes his head again ]

I didn't know them well either. Only talked to them once or twice each, but... [ Death's a death. The impact between that of a friend and that of a stranger might be different, but it will still be bad. ]

There really is nothing we can do but move on, right?

[disclosures]

[Rebecca is bad at this. Bad at comforting, bad at dealing with her emotions and bad at connecting with people.

They're strangers. Why should she really care about them? The thing that really matters is that she might die.]

We can't bring people back from the dead. That's impossible.

[randori]

Yeah. [ Truth of the world right there. People die and... Ugh, he doesn't want to think about the circumstances surrounding all of it— people die and he'll deal with it as it comes, try to prevent things from happening and not dwell on things after the fact. That's how he's always gotten through things.

He hisses out a sigh and forces his feet to move. ]

No point in putting it off, then. Let's get to the tailor. We can talk in there.

[disclosures]

[She gives a small nod and starts walk into the tailor's.

Right now, she doesn't know what to say.]

[randori]

[ There's really not much to say all the way there, a silent walk, steps feeling a lot heavier than he's used to despite not having the weight of shoes on them. It's when they get to the door that he hesitates, stopping just short of opening it. ]

They cleaned everything up, right? The evidence.

[ The purple blood and stuff. He's never had much of a reason to be in here, so he hasn't actually physically been here in days, from way before the murder. ]

[disclosures]

... I really hope so.

[She'll nudge it open, looking it over before Natsuo does. Once she's satisfied it's back to normal she'll open it all the way.]

It's fine.

[randori]

[ He peers around her, sees that everything is just as fine as she says, and only then slips inside, taking care not to actually touch anything as he makes his way across the floor and finds a stool to sit on so he can peel off his gross socks. ]

Thank god... Almost doesn't seem real, huh? Like none of that ever happened.

[disclosures]

[She takes a seat across from him.]

If we could forget, we could just pretend. But memories aren't that easy.

[randori]

They're not, but... I think I'm pretty good at making myself forget, and moving on from stuff. Especially things where there's nothing more I can do about it.

[ He bunches up his socks and sort of... tosses them into a corner, before looking around for another pair. Maybe knee socks or something that'll help keep his shins from getting busted- he goes to paw through a pile of those. ]

Anyways, that thing I wanted to talk to you about, any why I didn't want to talk about it out there where everybody else was around. It's about that task you're supposed to do- the not talking for a week one.

[disclosures]

I think you're better at that than I am.

[She watches him but she looks over at the missing dresses before her attention drifts back to him.]

Right. What about it?

[randori]

[ Being able to forget isn't something to be proud of, but he almost cracks a smile anyways. ]

I was thinking about how when Gi-Gan died, [ his voice drops to a whisper at her name, but then stubbornly picks right back up to a normal volume, though soft enough that nobody would overhear. ] She was killed but nobody heard her shout. I was thinking about if that happened to you, you should scream, right? You wouldn't let something like a task keep you from calling for help?

[disclosures]

I hope I'd still be able to scream. But it really depends on how that silence works. If I'm enchanted to be silent, I don't really get a choice do I?

I can always try my vow of silence again. ... I think.

[randori]

Starting over a whole week would be such a waste, though... Did you ever get to talk to Tiger or Dragon? About whether you're just supposed to not speak, or if you go to them and say you're ready and they do something about it?

[disclosures]

It hasn't really come up. If I get a chance to speak to them alone, I'll check then.

[randori]

That's a good idea. A spell would make it easier, but that's more dangerous... If something happens and you can't speak, that'd be really bad! But there's ways to talk without speaking— I was teaching Reyna too! If you want to learn morse code! That way, we can still talk to each other if something happens.

[ And they wouldn't leave a paper trail either, if it's something sensitive like this. ]

[disclosures]

Why do you know Morse code? I mean, yeah, I'll learn it, but I'm surprised you picked it up.

[randori]

It's not that surprising!

[ Is it that surprising...... Yes it is. He's slow enough that it seems there's no way he could have picked up something like Morse code over a handful of days, but that isn't the case either. ]

It's something like a hobby I had before. It's just memorizing, and I'm really good at memorizing!

[ Understanding is a separate issue from memorizing, but with Morse code, as long as you understand the language it's being transcribed into, that's a moot point. ]

[disclosures]

Honestly I thought everybody who used it was in the military. [Pointed! Look! He doesn't look like he's old enough for that!]

It'll be useful. If I can learn it over this week, then I'll be more comfortable with going completely silent.

[She's still nervous though.]

[randori]

[ One more year of high school, so soon... If he survives this place, anyways, then he might find himself in a place where his various """talents""" of shouting, fighting, and Morse Coding are actually useful. ]

You're smart, so I know you can learn it! The basics are easy, and then all you need to do is keep practicing it- I'll come practice with you all the time!

[disclosures]

Thanks. I think... I'll try the vow of silence next week. That gives us plenty of time for you to teach it.

[randori]

Yeah! Just tell me when you plan to start so I won't accidentally make you talk out loud too!

[disclosures]

Let's try for Monday of next week.

[randori]

Monday, then! I'll make sure you have everything down by Monday!

[ Which we could probably handwave since it's like... dots and dashes and their corresponding letters. But now they can Morse Code at each other in tags...! ]

[disclosures]

[ What a good child. She'd kill a man for this child specifically. ]