Copycat

SHSL Vocal Mimic/Voice Actor

[hopevsdespair]

Sleepy Analyst. Mood: Troubled. Open!

[gentle-shadow]

What… the hell had he just watched?

He was half awake before, but now he was distinctly aware he was awake and doing everything he could not to cry, or scream. Yoshihiro-kun had been… scum. He’d been scum for killing Koemi-chan, and it was impossible to deny. But… he didn’t deserve death. He especially hadn’t deserved that. 

Yoshio’s brain wondered why the hell it’d happened at all - the bear, in some respect. The boy had blamed the bear with his last words to them… Had it been true, or was the other crazy? He didn’t know, but… all he knew he felt was a soft, sinking despair.

…Wait. Despair…?

Was that all the other had killed Yoshihiro in that way for…?

“Whoever’s controlling that bastard bear…” He mumbles, “I’ll never forgive you.” he might have been crying.

Nobody had deserved that…

And he knew someone would start the cycle over, if he didn’t stop their drive down into despair.

But what should he do…?

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Electricity...electricity? Monobear had said it would be, but. That. That wasn't even an electric chair. It was straight-up torture. Torture with the worst fate.

For a murderer, though?

Ayumu would have weighed it in his mind if he weren't standing there, numb and motionless. He had been, in some ways, since the trial ended. Wasn't there some other way to deal with this?

Every time he asked himself that he heard Koemi's final song echoing in his mind.

So he was frozen, and still tired, and had no idea what to do or say. Being at a loss for words was a rarity for him, even without a script, yet for the second time in the days since they had arrived it had already happened.

Of course it was his voice that broke through.

"Yes," he could hear himself saying, and was vaguely aware the normal smile was gone from his face, "it is unforgivable...I'm not sure what sort of mind could devise a torture like that."

To call it anything else wouldn't be accurate. 

"Who is the mastermind?" he murmured lowly. "What an. Odd question. Something he obviously didn't, couldn't know, seeing as the rest of us didn't even know there was one. Drawing it out so long before springing the unanswerable on him is...immeasurably cruel..."

He took a deep, ragged breath. There was still something unreal about the entire situation.

No one was happy about it. No one was handling it well. And he was sure this was a catalyst.

"We need some way to cheer people up." He shook his head. "Something." He couldn't think of what, but instead flipped through the map on his ID card, holding it out so Yoshio could see what he was doing if he wanted. 

They had an entire new island to explore. Maybe exploring was the key?

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Regroup

...That was probably it, then.

Ayumu ran over all the clues he'd picked off the floor and from the bathroom. He didn't actually understand all of them, but he had a couple working theories. Of course, any of those might be shot by other evidence anyone else found. 

With the number of other people handling things though, what he had found was probably sufficient for his part. 

He glanced at Abigail on the way out. Her previous reasoning and the fact that he'd actually spoken to her before went a long way toward making him think she was innocent of this at least. Besides, why would she just go and pass out after killing someone in her own room?

Now to wait for the others somewhere accessible.

He picked his way along the path to the lobby, turning over ideas in his head and humming very softly. He had the how, and the who hadn't. Now what remained was the who and why; finding out who was the first to break.

He detoured to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge for a drink and pulled out a can of Orange Crush, then went to sit down in the lobby until other people showed up, or possibly they had to go to the trial.

I do wonder if anyone found anything else helpful...

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary although there were a few bottles that were close to empty. The longer you stay here, you notice the faint smell of ammonia in the air. It seems to be coming from one of the empty bottles. It’s hard to tell what was in it because it’s been washed out with water and the label has been ripped off.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

That seemed like an awful long way to go to hide the fact you washed yourself off...particularly if the smell of ammonia was anything to go by. Ayumu wrinkled his nose a bit. Cleaning products? But there were none around, and why would you bother with a shower right there?

So...what, exactly, would you find in a bathroom that uses ammonia?

Aside from cleaning products, he was at a bit of a loss. How thoroughly was the bottle washed out anyway, and was there anything in the sink or the drain leaving a trace? Those were the most logical places to properly dispose of something, anyway.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

The Inn’s bathroom looked like it was recently used. There are many bath products ranging from different soaps and hair care products on the pantry, some of which looked like they were recently used as well. There is also a medicine cabinet by the sink. There seems to be two empty spots where the bottles of vitamin C and benzodiazepines could have been from.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

"...well that's simple enough," Ayumu said aloud. Obviously the the bottles had come from here. Their purpose was still mostly unclear, especially the vitamin C, but at least they could be proven to have come from there. 

But. What was that over there? Who on earth washes them--

Well of course the culprit would try to clean themselves up after the murder. And why not just use the nearest bathroom? He poked around the various bottles left out to see which was used recently.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

On the pages before Fujioka Koemi’s notes were a great variation of things, profiles of the rest of the students at Hope’s Peak and details of… something. The words were greatly encoded, encrypted, greatly using words that didn’t even exist. There were whole paragraphs even written solely in numbers and others written in more than one language, one such paragraph varying word per word. At the bottom of one of the pages in red ink was probably the only paragraph that made sense outside of the profiles. “Fear is power… Their is nothing to fear but fear itself.” On the page after the Singer’s profile was a diagram of the human brain, the one usually studied by neurosurgeons. There doesn’t seem to be any obvious consistencies in handwriting.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

"How illuminating," Ayumu murmured ironically, finding little use in the notes directly. He was trying very hard not to glance between the chart and the actual opened human skull sitting on the desk.

In some ways these notes were exactly what he'd expect to find, but that didn't exactly help matters here. Still. Someone else could answer, and hopefully--just hopefully--Abigail would be awake for the trial.

Then he could ask her directly.

He looked back at the pill bottles. They were--well. One was something a psychologist might carry, or sounded like it. But Vitamin C?

He went to poke around in the bathroom. Maybe there was a medicine cabinet or something of the sort.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

Two of the photographs showed a bespectacled man and a woman who looked to be the psychologist’s parents. One of them showed the same couple along with two children, a dark haired boy and a dark haired girl with the most odd green eyes. The notepad seemed to be full of psychological jargon although one of the pages was folded as a makeshift bookmark. The page it contained had the name Fujioka Koemi written on top… The entry seems to contain observation notes on the victim. It’s obviously Abigail’s journal.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

That picture. No wonder she'd fixated on his sister in the video, she had a sibling too. What was it doing on the floor?

No matter at the moment, though he kept it in mind. Ayumu picked up the notebook to flip through it, trying to see if there was anything else in there that might help. Especially on the pages that were near the observation notes, and the notes themselves.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

One bottle was labelled BENZODIAZEPINES; checking inside showed some white pills although it is not quite full. The other bottle, the one of Vitamin C pills, was empty.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

That...

Told him exactly nothing. It wasn't like Ayumu had any idea of chemical names. It sounded vaguely like a sedative, but it also sounded vaguely like a drug that could make you spontaneously break into song, as far as he knew.

Still, I'll remember that name. Benzodiazepine. Nearly full, white pills. Vitamin C pills...empty, for some reason.

Bothersome. He moved over to check the notepad and photographs. It would be too much to ask that the notepad explained what the drugs did, wouldn't it.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

[hopevsdespair]

The floor is a mess, not counting the mutilated torso and the blood trailing around. There are ROOM KEYS, a BOTTLE OF VITAMIN C TABLETS, another BOTTLE OF MEDICINE although the name is harder to read without taking a closer look, a NOTEPAD and some PHOTOGRAPHS.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

...Bottles?

Yes, those were definitely medicine bottles. Vitamin C, which seemed innocent enough on the surface (but might not have been), and something else.

Ayumu glanced at Abigail's sleeping body. It wasn't hard to guess what they were, but. Just in case. He'd check them both. The Vitamin C might be some kind of decoy. He had a hard time believing anyone would sedate themselves...

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Restart (1st Murder Investigation)

It took several minutes and activity in the area to snap Ayumu out of his trance. At which point he was staring at Koemi's head.

It was a bit of a gruesome scene. That wasn't why he was staring. He had liked her. That wasn't why he was staring either. It was still shock, but he had to pull himself out of it and do this, or else.

The person who did this...the filthy murderer...they can't get away with it.

At which point he realized he was staring at his feet now. 

Or rather, what was around them.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Attuned (1st Kill Investigation)

It wasn't...surprising, in retrospect, that Ayumu would be one of the first there.

What with all the sound.

She has a lovely voice. It's definitely her, isn't it.

He didn't speak English fluently, but he knew enough of it to recognize it and get the general meaning. And he, of anyone, knew whose voice it was...

Koemi-chan, right? I never did get a chance to hear her sing before. Well, not since we got here at least. 

It was, after all, hard to avoid hearing the talents of someone in the same sort of career as he was, even if he had tried to. Which he never had.

Despite all of them having the distinction of being Super High School Level, she was one of the few others who was actually famous. It would have inevitably been one of them first, wouldn't it? 

He had a prickling feeling up and down his spine as he approached the source of the sound. Not the singer's room. Not her own. So something was already off. And...

I didn't want to be right, of course.

He stared at her decapitated, dismembered torso. A small sigh escaped his lips. Maybe it was shock setting in, but he didn't feel much of anything. Maybe regret, that no one had managed to see this coming and head it off. Anger that it had been her, one of the people he got along with. And assurance that the person who had done this would be caught. He would do it, if no one else would.

Then where is that song coming from?

It sounded like it was from there. He stepped inside, taking slight note of the unconscious Abigail.

She said she wouldn't kill because there wouldn't be a point in it, to her. I think that's a motivation I can actually trust. A frame-up?

There was blood everywhere, but that wasn't what caught his attention. He barely noted it, in fact, compared to the sight of...

Oh, Koemi-chan...

He barely twitched, not finding much in the gruesome scene except...anger. Yes, that was the dominant emotion. Not only was their this death, but it would undoubtedly be the spark that would set off others.

So he'd still be standing there looking numb, usual smile replaced by a blank expression, when anyone else got there.

[shslpsychologist-blog]

Sadistic Personality Disorder (Open)

[shslpsychologist-blog]

People curled up in a corner, crying for their sanity? Yes, you could blame that on the girl – she’s done it several times after all, both with those younger and older than her, given the chance. Although she still had to be better than that… after all, her father’s criminal records stated that he managed to talk two men into suicide without even touching them. He just talked to them and they were found dead hours later. She wondered, if she ever managed to do that here, would it be considered a suicide or would she be considered the culprit?

Oh, and it was the latter. You didn’t exactly have time to ponder on another’s personal space when you were screwing with their mind in the metaphorical sense. She’s had to initiate some physical contact before on certain patients to incite certain reactions in them… like that man with Aphenphosmphobia, a fear of being touched, and the one with Gynophobia, the fear of females.

Slowly, Abigail let go of Ayumu, pinching his cheeks before completely doing so and stretched her arms. “So, are we done here? Because if that’s all, I’m going to go around and run a bit; can’t let myself get slow just because we’re stuck on a bloody island, you know?” The message that she wanted to keep herself fast and fit to be able to chase down runners, the mastermind to be specific, was left unsaid. “Or, if anyone needs me as a professional or a peer, I’m up for it too. Have you had a psychological check up yet, Ayumu? It’s good to have a professional opinion on your state of mind in our current setting.”

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Ayumu gave her a slow look. Of course he wasn't about to trust someone who admitted to what she had already admitted to, but there was no reason to ostracize her, either. He gave a mental shrug. As long as he didn't make her think he was a target, he was fine.

She would probably be blamed by the students, but. Within the actual system? Who knows?

As it so happened, he knew enough touchy-feely people in the industry--including several he'd worked with extensively--that someone touching him unwarned didn't really bother him all that much. 

The cheek pinching was a little excessive, though.

"Run, hm?" He tried not to make a face at that. He wasn't that great at most kinds of exercise, and the only kind he actually liked had already been ruled out by the bear. Unless there was actually a pool somewhere, he was out of luck. "You might think about seeing who here is likeliest to crack at some point."

Not him, of course, since he was at best disaffected. And there were a few others in similar state. But. That could be acting. 

"I don't think I actually have a condition that needs monitoring, so unless you're intent on collecting a profile for everyone, I think I'll pass," he leaned back against the wall. "I'd rather not let anyone in my head unless I absolutely have to. And I fully authorize you to do something if it looks like I'll crack."

[shslpsychologist-blog]

Sadistic Personality Disorder (Open)

[shslpsychologist-blog]

Abigail nodded with great, forced energy; “That’s right, cross me off the suspect list; killing is just not my style,” she said with a grin. “But we are lucky, I think, that our batch is compromised highly of people in the medical field or entertainment business… with the exception of the Sukeban Girl,” she continued. Perhaps the only one actually capable of murder, at first glance, would be that girl who was always brewing trouble in the news… after all, she was able to bring down entire gangs on her own. What could they do against such a strong being?

Then, she shook her head and laughed, her hair fluttering about like dark curtains as she did so. “Silence, if used effectively can be a great factor to… produce fear. There is even Sedatephobia, fear of silence itself! People are so afraid of the unknown that even the absence of sound can be quite jarring given the right circumstances…” There was a glint in her eyes that spoke, that told she knew these facts intimately. She’s seen people crack, go hysterical, just because they’ve gone deaf although people were to panic more when they’ve suddenly become blind. Such fond memories…

She peeked over at Ayumu’s video since he had seen hers; it was only fair she got to look, right? On purpose, she stood behind him, being taller than the boy was, and draped her arms over his shoulders. She linked her fingers together in a strange form of hug on the voice actor and looked over his shoulder. “You sure that isn’t a cousin or you’re not adopted?” she said in a ‘matter of fact’ tone as she squinted at the girl in the video.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

"If I find anyone curled up in a ball in the corner as a gibbering mess, I'll blame you," Ayumu said dryly. "Fair's fair."

The Sukeban Girl...? His gaze roved around the room until he remembered which one she meant. Yes, he wouldn't want to cross her. Someone with that reputation was probably quicker to violence than the rest of them were.

"Ah, but has she ever killed someone...harm and kill are such different things." In this case though, it might be a shorter walk if the motivation was right. He filed that away with a wince.

Obviously, hearing was just about his most prized sense. You couldn't be an excellent mimic if you had no real idea the subtle nuances of people's speech, the ups and downs they used in different moods. He wasn't exactly afraid of silence to the point he'd fill it in, but...

"Silence, used correctly, is an augment to the atmosphere, though there has to be something in there to be threatening or it comes up as not being bothered to use a soundtrack," he glanced at his video again, his expression the same consistent light smile. "Here, they could have used sound...the video wasn't overly effective on its own, so it comes across like they had a limited budget or something of the like."

Of course. He gave a light sigh. Touchy-feely, or just not particularly caring as to people's personal space?

"We're very much blood siblings," he said after a slight pause, when the recording showed a slightly better shot of the girl. "I suppose we don't look it except on the most basic level, but well, you can't always tell on sight."

Not that he hadn't occasionally wished he was adopted, but, well, that wasn't exactly relevant here.

[shslpsychologist-blog]

Sadistic Personality Disorder (Open)

[shslpsychologist-blog]

She let out a giggle that sounded just a bit mad, ripping through her throat unnaturally as she felt a very shallow joy. “Oh, I just watch too many psychological horror books – yeah, that’s it. I’m harmless compared to all of you; I’m a cerebral person, a thinker… I won’t really do anything,” she makes up an excuse, shrugging casually with a big smile. “Besides – why kill the wicked? It’d just end their pain too quickly. And when they’re dead, what’s left? Bloody hands, a corpse and post homicidal depression; that’s not satisfying at all. Murder is a messy business I rather avoid.”

“Oh, but I’ll let you all have your turn at the culprit too. Just to think of what I have for them as the dessert course – just, it won’t be delicious for them,” she continued in a joking tone.

Abigail shrugged and showed her card to Ayumu when he went to take a look too. It wasn’t that big of a deal, it was just her parents… a predictable enough move considering they were all high school level children. “Ah, but you see, the silence makes our mind assume things. And usually, in a situation like this, we assume the worst. But I do agree it would have had a better impact if the Headmaster didn’t explain it to us,” she sighed.

She then shook her head in thought, placing her hands on her hips; “One has to note, whoever is behind this caper is not alone. A whole bloody group could be behind this to orchestrate such a big plan. A New World Order, a government conspiracy, a company just doing it for shits and giggles? Makes you think. And why?”

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

"Harmless," Ayumu murmured audibly, a slight edge of sarcasm to his voice. "Yes. Certainly anyone who could say and mean such a thing is harmless. Most of us are more thinkers too, you know?" They didn't have any martial artists or gang leaders or professional killers, at least. 

At least it wasn't killing. It didn't sound a whole lot better than killing someone, but at least it wasn't killing. 

"Charming," he noted evenly. "I suppose we can cross you off the suspect list if this motive actually gets to anyone enough to have them act."

He looked at her closely. "You would, wouldn't you...I'd hope most of us were above that sort of revenge but I think I'm quite mad at them as well."

Maybe not mad enough to actually hurt the people in charge. That seemed a little...extreme. No one even knew the motives yet. Or had any clue as to who it was.

"I'm not fond of silence as a device," he pulled his card out and studied it, then shrugged. "I'm not about to assume the worst of a plush toy being delivered to my sister, either. It only shows they have information on us. That's something we could have guessed already by the fact we're here."

He activated the video on his again, showing his sister at home. She resembled him slightly, but the similarity wasn't startling as it was with some siblings. Only the context proved their relation.

Not alone? His smile faltered, very slightly, but then came back

"It could still be a very small number of people. Well-connected." He looked away briefly, video in his hands still playing. "Who's to say? We certainly won't find many answers on these islands."

[shslmaid-deactivated20190623]

At least she’s not holding it against you or anything.

“…I could teach you what I know, if anything.”

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

Things can always be worse.

He blinks. "That would be great if you don't mind. I don't want to burn down the kitchen while we still need it."

[shslmaid-deactivated20190623]

“I kind of owe you from earlier, in a way, so no problem.”

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

...Ah, she probably does remember the kitchen thing then. Drat.

"It was my fault for getting like this in the first place." He shrugs as he applies the burn cream to his hand. "I probably shouldn't try to use the oven. I never learned."

[shslmaid-deactivated20190623]

…

And grabbing your hand to take you to the location of the nearest first aid kit. AKA the supermarket.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

He thinks she forgot because of the voice thing but he's not about to say that or anything. Lest she remember the kitchen incident.

"This makes sense, yes." Pause. He grabs the first one he sees. "Thank you, by the way."

[shslmaid-deactivated20190623]

“Agreed.” She prays he doesn’t hear them.

“…So.” Now what.

[shsl-vocal-mimic]

"...do you happen to know where there's a first aid kit, then?" Burned hand. Still. That's his 'now what' anyway.