styofa doing anything
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Sade Olutola
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i don't do bad sauce passes
One Nice Bug Per Day
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Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
Janaina Medeiros
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Product Placement
YOU ARE THE REASON
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@shslicehockey
~ EVERYDAY HERO ~
A Takumi Akiyama Mix
All Star // Smash Mouth Hit Me With Your Best Shot // Pat Benatar It’s Time // Imagine Dragons On Top Of The World // Imagine Dragons The Nights // Avicii Superheroes // The Script Radioactive // Marina And The Diamonds Ode To Sleep // Twenty One Pilots Wrecking Ball // Mother Mother Naive // The Kooks The Mighty Fall // Fallout Boy Cough Syrup // Young The Giant
FATAL FRENZY TRIAL ONE HIGHLIGHTS
TRIAL ONE
[10/18/14, 6:46:49 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: As you should be. I’d like to know who authorised you to facilitate this sham of a legal process.
[10/18/14, 6:47:25 PM] Shinya Zaizen: Shinya Zaizen sneezes
[10/18/14, 6:51:13 PM] Ruri Egusa: Yep... big-ass cut. And... there was a coffee stain on the floor.
[10/18/14, 6:51:33 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Takumi Akiyama glares at Hiroshi again.
[10/18/14, 6:54:52 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Hahakigi-shi. Kobayashi-shi.
[10/18/14, 6:54:54 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Tsujio Suzuka stares
[10/18/14, 6:54:56 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Don’t be fools.
[10/18/14, 7:01:06 PM] Haruo Minami: Ah, yes, Zaizen, why don't you present what you found?
[10/18/14, 7:01:14 PM] Shinya Zaizen: Ah! Y-Y-Yes ma'am!
[10/18/14, 7:01:19 PM] Shinya Zaizen: Shinya Zaizen salutes to haruo
[10/18/14, 7:03:28 PM] Ruri Egusa: I don't see why else she'd have something like that...
[10/18/14, 7:03:40 PM] Takumi Akiyama: ...Maybe she liked the taste...
[10/18/14, 7:03:46 PM] Ruri Egusa: Akiyama-kun, what the hell?
[10/18/14, 7:07:25 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Yeesh... That bear's a douchebag...
[10/18/14, 7:09:35 PM] Takumi Akiyama: ...Actually we found some shit... Didn't we Yonai-kun?
[10/18/14, 7:09:39 PM] Ruri Egusa: What was the shit?
[10/18/14, 7:42:33 PM] Haruo Minami: Aw, how sweet, students bonding with each other...
[10/18/14, 7:43:26 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: I think murder is more important than...
[10/18/14, 7:43:26 PM] Shinya Zaizen: W-We... we only c-cuddled a l-l-little bit...!
[10/18/14, 7:43:27 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: That.
[10/18/14, 7:43:46 PM] Haruo Minami: Human interaction, how..wonderful..
[10/18/14, 7:43:46 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Takumi Akiyama scratches his head
[10/18/14, 7:43:56 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ruri Egusa bright red
[10/18/14, 7:43:57 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: .... Anyway.
[10/18/14, 7:44:00 PM] Haruo Minami: The act of two teenage boys together in one room..
[10/18/14, 7:18:27 PM] Takumi Akiyama: ....Yeah... The Knife..
[10/18/14, 7:18:27 PM] Ruri Egusa: ... a what? Knife?
[10/18/14, 7:18:28 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: …Knife?
[10/18/14, 7:18:29 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: ? A knife?
[10/18/14, 7:45:52 PM] Shinya Zaizen: I... s-saw the l-little chocolate m-man too...!
[10/18/14, 7:46:33 PM] Haru Takeyama: ...Pee problems?
[10/18/14, 7:46:51 PM] Eiji Kobayashi: Keep it... Pee-Gee??
[10/18/14, 7:47:38 PM] Haruo Minami: I'm just mystified by the wonders of everyone here bonding!
[10/18/14, 7:21:34 PM] Haru Takeyama: ... Who puts a cigarette out on a knife..?
[10/18/14, 7:48:08 PM] Haruo Minami: What you do guys think I'm suggesting here...it's just...the term..'bromance'?
[10/18/14, 7:50:25 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: Is that even allowed?
[10/18/14, 7:50:50 PM] Monokuma: In hindsight, it probably shouldn't be.
[10/18/14, 7:22:28 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: Yer seriously accusin' me?!
[10/18/14, 7:23:19 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: In short — yes, I’m accusing you.
[10/18/14, 7:59:49 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Perjury in foro may not be punishable in the same way here, but it is punishable with our mass deaths. Explain.
[10/18/14, 8:00:01 PM] Naomi Han: ...Gesundheit?
[10/18/14, 8:10:20 PM] Naomi Han: Hey, give her a break. She's tryin' to explain.
[10/18/14, 8:10:45 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: She surely is /trying/.
[10/18/14, 8:48:26 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: Oh, git off yer high fuckin' horse, Tsujio!
[10/18/14, 8:49:02 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: Toragesa Hahakigi makes a rude gesture towards Suzuka with her hand, before using the same hand to vote for Haru.
[10/18/14, 8:55:28 PM] Monokuma: For your first time, I'm quite impressed! You all pass with flying colors, all except one of you. Yes, the one to murder Tsuzarahara Fukumi was indeed Takeyama Haru! How sad, to kill someone on accident when you were trying to kill someone on purpose.
[10/18/14, 7:35:14 PM] Haruo Minami: It was around ten, I left the brewery before 10:30. Then, I entered my room and didn't go out for the rest of the night, of course it's pointless say this because I could be lying.
[10/18/14, 7:35:19 PM] Haruo Minami: That is all.
[10/18/14, 7:35:29 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ah... delightfully blunt..
[10/18/14, 7:36:17 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Uh... There is someone.. I've been wonderin' about what they were up to.
[10/18/14, 7:36:25 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ruri Egusa stares
[10/18/14, 7:37:26 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ruri Egusa stares harder
[10/18/14, 7:37:34 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ruri Egusa watch yourself akiyama
[10/18/14, 7:38:37 PM] Ruri Egusa: What are you accusing him of?
[10/18/14, 7:38:42 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: ...
[10/18/14, 7:38:48 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Tsujio Suzuka glares at Ruri, like, isn’t it obvious
[10/18/14, 8:44:36 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: But- he din't mean t'kill th'chick in the first place!
[10/18/14, 8:45:45 PM] Haru Takeyama: I- I was going... to kill... Han-san...
[10/18/14, 8:45:51 PM] Ruri Egusa: Ghk--
[10/18/14, 8:45:52 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: What.
[10/18/14, 8:45:53 PM] Haruo Minami: ...
[10/18/14, 8:45:55 PM] Naomi Han: .....
[10/18/14, 7:39:36 PM] Shinya Zaizen: Achoo! Achooachooacho
[10/18/14, 7:39:50 PM] Eiji Kobayashi: Bless you... Bless you bless you ble-- Haah…
[10/18/14, 7:40:04 PM] Shinya Zaizen: I... w-wasn't doing a-anything... w-w-w-weird...!
[10/18/14, 7:40:10 PM] Ruri Egusa: ...
[10/18/14, 7:40:15 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: Zaizen-kun.
[10/18/14, 7:40:19 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: Seriously.
[10/18/14, 7:40:51 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: I... You're kind of a weird person. But you kind of did leave your room near the time of Tsuzarahara-san's death.
[10/18/14, 7:41:39 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: The sleepover, was it?
[10/18/14, 7:41:46 PM] Shinya Zaizen: ...YOU KNOOOOOOOWWWWW?!
[10/18/14, 7:46:19 PM] Takumi Akiyama: We found Mariya-kun in the bathroom about an hour ago.
[10/18/14, 7:46:35 PM] Takumi Akiyama: He started... touchin' my legs...
[10/18/14, 7:46:39 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: ...Eh?
[10/18/14, 7:46:40 PM] Naomi Han: ?!
[10/18/14, 7:46:40 PM] Takumi Akiyama: ....
[10/18/14, 7:46:41 PM] Haruo Minami: ...
[10/18/14, 7:46:43 PM] Haru Takeyama: ...
[10/18/14, 7:46:43 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: ‘The tiny kid’...?
[10/18/14, 7:46:44 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: EH?!
[10/18/14, 7:46:46 PM] Haruo Minami: Two teenage..boys...
[10/18/14, 7:46:48 PM] Haruo Minami: ...
[10/18/14, 7:46:51 PM] Takumi Akiyama: It's NOT LIKE THAT OK.
[10/18/14, 7:46:53 PM] Haruo Minami: Haruo Minami thinks about something
[10/18/14, 7:49:13 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: Enough about how homosexual everyone is.
[10/18/14, 7:49:38 PM] Haruo Minami: Haruo Minami smiles, literally emitting rainbows
[10/18/14, 8:09:19 PM] Toragesa Hahakigi: I mean it can't have been there because of their ren-day-voo!
[10/18/14, 8:11:28 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: Tsujio Suzuka picks up her coffee can and takes a single, accusatory, sip. No saviours here.
[10/18/14, 8:24:26 PM] Trial 001: [1v1 Hiroshi Koda : Haru Takeyama – commence]
[10/18/14, 8:24:40 PM] Tsujio Suzuka: And you would rather deliberate ad infinitum? Tell him, Koda-shi.
[10/18/14, 8:30:49 PM] Haru Takeyama: It was around 11 and no one was outside of their dorms to see me...
[10/18/14, 8:30:56 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: ....
[10/18/14, 8:31:00 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: I'm sorry.
[10/18/14, 8:31:04 PM] Hiroshi Kōda: But you've got that wrong.
[10/18/14, 8:31:30 PM] Takumi Akiyama: I knew it...
[10/18/14, 8:31:47 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Takeyama-kun... your testimony from earlier was hella fishy.
[10/18/14, 8:33:25 PM] Takumi Akiyama: Takumi Akiyama grips his podium and stares directly at Haru. You just got owned son.
I'm shameless
credit to Dest
Art by Tori
this needed to be a thing
Commission for Stego!
commission info here
AAHHHHHH TORI I LOVE
“Wha- break it? What do I look like? Some hulking big brute?”
- To Hiroshi Koda when asked to break down a door in the prologue of Fatal Frenzy.
Finally I finished a proper reference sheet for Takumi (Yes, now that he has been killed lets upload a ref). Basically in this post I’m going to be explaining what made me choose what when designing this loveable Hockey Player. Each part of the ref is numbered and I’ll explain accordingly!
Takumi’s Design
When spinning around some ideas of what I wanted to make in this OC, one thing came to mind. I wanted to make a stereotypical looking ‘Jock’ character; befitting of his Super High-School Level Talent. However, one little detail I wanted to add in was to give him the goofy, cutesy face of a child; which on the flip-side is more befitting to his personality. Akiyama’s build is very muscular in order to give him an advantage on the rough Ice Hockey field. As a response to his backstory as well as the probability of him getting damaged on the ice, I gave Takumi a scar right across his eyebrow. Revealed in Chapter 2, this scar was said to have been caused from an attack by his rival team with one of the members bringing a skate to his face. Due to this beating, Takumi is also half deaf in his left ear.
The chain around his neck was initially going to be an object just to enhance the ‘thug’ feel about him as what I had intended to go into Fatal Frenzy doing was playing a ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ kind of character. The chain will be explained in detail in section (3)
Now the most interesting thing about Takumi’s design is his unique colour scheme made up of primary colours – blue and yellow. I talked with Tori about the meanings behind his colour scheme and we came up with some cool references and ideas. First of all we noted that primary colours such as blue, yellow and red were normally used in the design of superheroes. However Takumi lacks the colour red in his design, showing that he can be considered a ‘leader’ type character but isn’t up in everyone’s faces about it. This subsequently fits into his role of a team player. Further discussions lead us to talk about how Akiyama’s arc ended in Fatal Frenzy (With him being the killer of Shinya Zaizen in Chapter 2, stabbing him in self-defence) and how the way he covered up the murder would solidify the ‘superhero’ meanings that his colour scheme would suggest. Throughout the investigations and trial, Takumi lead the group directly to the clues that would allow them to discover the identity of the hidden serial killer within the group – Shizuka Gozen. This was his task all along, to protect the group for Shizuka and then confessing soon after as the true killer of Shinya. This, despite being a situation of manslaughter could be considered heroic.
Takumi’s eyes
As you can see, when I was choosing the colours for his eyes, I stuck to my colour scheme by selecting a different shade of blue. This didn’t have much significance apart from the fact that I really like hair colour matching eye colour.
Takumi’s chain
The chain that Takumi wears around his neck is in fact a gift from his best friend in High School before attending Hopes Peak. Toshiko Hisakawa had two chains made by her adoptive grandfather and gave one to Takumi before he left for his new school. It was a symbol of their friendship and a way of solidifying their promises to see each other again. Takumi never takes it off except for when he showers.
Takumi’s teeth
When I first span some ideas around in my head for Takumi, I knew immediately I wanted to give him buck teeth. It gives him an adorably goofy smile which adds to the general cuteness of his face in comparison to his rough rugged body. His trademark smirk could bring a smile to even Hiroshi’s face.
Another two dead 8D
[Execution 002] Penalty Kill
Read More
"I'm sorry brother, I'm sorry I let you down
Well these days you're fine, well these days you tend to lie"
A little death art I did of Takumi since he has been executed. He made me so emotional but he was really fun to write. RIP my boy.
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [NAOMI AND TSUBAKI]
Damn it! Naomi had been sure that something important would’ve been hidden in the train. She emerged from the compartment with a sigh of frustration, and found Tsubaki sitting there, looking worried. On second thought, maybe charging in there hadn’t been the best idea - if the list of names had belonged to an extra person, they could’ve been hiding on the train…
And on top of that, Takumi seemed to be going through another bad spell. Naomi wasn’t sure who to apologize to first, but the universe must’ve decided to give her a break for once, because she stepped on their next discovery at the top of the stairs.
"The heck…?" Kneeling down to get a closer look, Naomi examined the price tag. It read ‘15 arcade credits’, which puzzled her initially; neither of the arcades or their prize rooms were at this station, were they? So whatever this had come from must have been brought to Tin Station before the blackout.
It could’ve been something harmless, of course, like a piece for someone’s costume. But she also wouldn’t be surprised if the damn bear had given that sword to Shinya’s murderer as a prize.
"…Guys? Hey, guys!" As she called both of her partners over, Naomi stood and held the tag over her head, pointing at it with her other hand. "Come take a look!"
shslicehockey:
"Akiyama-kun…?" With his hands on her shoulders and his panicked face hanging over her, she suddenly felt much smaller than she was. Not in the way hugging Suzuka made her feel small, but small like insignificant, useless. When the tears started to fall she reached up, too late, like she could hug him and make the scary feelings go away, but he was right, wasn’t he? They were going to end up sentencing someone to death again. That was the best-case scenario for them.
By the time she actually realized she should be holding onto him, he’d pulled away and moved off down the tunnel. For a second she was paralyzed, but then she saw him punch the wall, and then she was scrambling down the remaining stairs (as carefully as she could manage, as shaky as she felt) and down to the platform and nervously, horribly slowly, like a small frightened animal, over to him, grabbing his free arm with both hands and then bear-hugging him with as much power as her little body could muster.
"I know that things are really hard for you right now. They’re hard for everybody. But that doesn’t mean you have to fall to pieces, right? That’s just what it wants, for everyone to think it’s hopeless and to distrust everyone and think there’s no way out, so this’ll…happen again. But you and everyone are stronger than you realize, okay? We can’t think badly of ourselves right now. We’re all we’ve got. Please, please don’t hurt yourself. It’s not gonna make anything better."
She was almost surprised to hear the words coming out of her mouth. When did she stop thinking that people were looking for them? Did that really change anything? No one was going to investigate for them or insist the rest of them tried to put this behind them. They were all they had. The remaining innocent eleven, plus one person…who had to lose at the trial, regardless of everything else. She was more surprised to hear Naomi’s voice calling them, and turned her head slowly at first, like she didn’t believe they were actually being addressed.
"Come on, let’s see what she found. Right now we’re all still a team, okay?" Slightly pulling back, gently holding his uninjured hand, she made to walk back over to the stairs again.
Takumi held his wrist, tightening his grip as an inflammatory pain shot into his hand. It was agony but he felt like he deserved it. He could have done something to prevent this, if he was stronger, maybe if he was able to intervene then Shinya may not have met his cruel fate. He closed his eyes attempting to block out the shooting pain in his arm. He hadn’t punched the wall too hard and he had experienced worse. This was probably just going to swell up and bruise.
“Gh…”
He felt the tiny Plaintiff wrap her arms around his waist, clutching him tightly. He wanted the comfort, he wanted to be loved but his mind kept telling him, much like a broken record, that he didn’t deserve such compassion. He grunted, trying to edge off to the side slightly, dragging Tsubaki with him.
“Sugawara-san, please I deserve this. If I-“ he paused, choking on his own words. “If I had been less of a scared crybaby, maybe I could have stopped this. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been killed.”
Gritting his teeth, he squeezed out of Tsubaki’s grip. He didn’t want her to feel too bad, so resorted to accepting the hand hold, nodding as she spoke. It would appear that Naomi had indeed found something and it had peaked his curiousity. He walked ever so slowly over to where his investigative companion stood; holding what appeared to be a Price Tag.
“That’s weird… Where the fuck did that come from? There ain’t no prize room in this station…?”
If this was a price tag with credits then it must have come from something that was purchased in one of the many arcades dotted around the station. If that was true, then it definitely did not come from Tin Station.
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [NAOMI AND TSUBAKI]
"Nothing so far," Naomi muttered as they reconvened. "This shouldn’t be so hard, right? I mean, none of us could leave this station without…w-well, ending up like Michina did…"
She was doing her best to hide her frustration, but Naomi was already starting to feel like a burden. She’d barely found anything important during the first investigation, and now she seemed to be the only one of their group who didn’t have any idea of what to do. Okay, maybe she wasn’t exactly a genius, but-
…Takumi’s comment as he explored the platform made her pause in her pacing. The footsteps she’d heard last night had been going towards the platform, hadn’t they? And why would anyone assume to go near the trains when the power was out?
Seized by the idea, she ran up the steps, swiped her transit pass and discovered that she could indeed enter the train. It didn’t move automatically, either. Naomi searched the first compartment, checking under the seats for anything suspicious.
"Not here either…" She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but they couldn’t really pass through such a big room without looking around, right? Even if most people had been grouped up here (it had been so hard to tell where anybody was with half the flashlights out), and if most people had been sleeping here, that just meant…it would involve a lot of traffic, even late at night, right? Well, her good intentions had been all for naught anyway.
At the thought of checking the platform, specifically “where Konoe-san died,” she just grimaced—even a killer wouldn’t want to hazard that minefield in the pitch-dark for no reason, right? And the killer wouldn’t be able to get anywhere in that direction anyway. They should really restrict their wanderings to as close to the rooms as they could. That’d be…the most productive course of action.
"I don’t…really…know about that…" Her voice trailed away as she slowly, obviously with trepidation, shuffled after Naomi and Takumi on the way out to the platform. Surely it was best if everyone checked every nook and cranny, right? She had no reason to oppose it. If she didn’t want to go over there, they could check it themselves. Still, she took every stair down to the platform one half-step at a time as though expecting the whole thing to give way beneath her any second, almost wringing her hands as she went. Fucking stairs. Her newfound lack of confidence only intensified when Naomi vanished into the train.
"Ahhh…do you think it’s safe in there? It never—it never said that walking on the tracks was against the rules, and…" And look what happened to Konoe-san, she meant to say, but the words got stuck on the way out. Someone had died not even over a technicality but its whims. She didn’t even want to look towards the platform. Before she even reached the bottom of the stairs she sat down on one of the steps with her arms around her middle. Too much at once. "So—we can’t be too careful, right? Was this even operational last night…?"
“Naomi?” He watched the Ballerina bound onto the train with confidence, raking through the compartments like someone who was looking for a lost set of keys. With the power being out all night and no way of being able to activate anything on the station, the idea of something being on the train was a thought that didn’t cross his overworked mind. Refusing to board the train, he stepped back bumping into the bench slightly. There was a large sinking feeling in his stomach as if someone had hit him in the gut with a blunt object. Winded, he sat down on the bench and pressed his hands against his face. Images of Shinya’s bloody corpse flooded his mind, burning the image directly into his brain. He would never be able to forget the helpless position he lay in as he probably took his final breaths. The forced façade of determination that he had set up had crumbled like the Wall of Jericho and the boy was now falling back into being a stuttering nervous mess. Fukumi was dead. Haru was dead. Michina was dead and now Shinya as well. All of his friends were dropping like flies and it wasn’t as if this was the end of needless slaughter that this station would hold. In a few hours, another one of them will be dead, killed at the hands of Monokuma in the most unorthodox fashion.
“Someone else will have to die…” he muttered under his breath, barely holding it together at this point. He didn’t think anyone would hear him from where he was sitting until he realised that Tsubaki had not yet boarded the train. He stood up and walked over to her, grabbing her shoulders gently. He meant no harm but he was firm and he was scared.
“Someone else is goin’ t’have to die like Takeyama-kun. Sugawara-san I don’t want to do this anymore, I can’t… I can’t…”
He felt the gentle dribble of tears drain from his weary eyes. He didn’t want to be in this mess anymore, he didn’t want to see anyone else die he just wanted to go home. He wanted to go home where he could wake up and go for a walk on a cold autumn morning. He wanted to see his family again; he wanted to see Toshiko again. He tried not thinking about it but after seeing Shinya dead he came to realisation that this was going to continue until most if not all of them were gone. He knew that at some point, he was going to end up dead, just like the rest of them. Solving this case would do nothing but prolong the inevitability of another murder.
“I can’t…”
Takumi went red in the face and stormed down the platform to the end where the tunnel is. He let out a yell and slammed his fist straight into the brick wall, recoiling as a sharp pain shot through his knuckles. He rested his free hand on the side of the train as he watched his other hand swell up, biting his lip.
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [NAOMI AND TSUBAKI]
"Y-Yeah," was all Naomi could say at first, still rather shaken from the list and what it implied.
Tsubaki did have a point - the bear probably would plant something like this to freak them out, and Michina’s was the only name she recognized, so why assume that they were all in danger? Unfortunately, Takumi’s observation also made sense. Even if the note hadn’t been dropped by another student, then that just meant someone else could be down here, waiting for the chance to replace their failed target…
She shuddered and shook her head, trying to dislodge the idea. At least Takumi seemed back to his usual steadfast self, and that helped stop her from panicking. When he pulled her aside for a few words while Tsubaki drifted off, she nodded in response.
"You got it." In fact, Naomi thought the note could possibly be of use even if it was a fake. Maybe it had been written to frame another student - they could check everyone’s handwriting at the trial, or something.
Since she couldn’t think of anywhere else in the dining area to search on her own, she decided to assist Tsubaki, and then Takumi with the places they were already investigating.
shslicehockey:
The second she wandered off Tsubaki already felt self-conscious about her behavior. Coming up to the two of them only to shut down and skitter off again—drawing all that attention to herself needlessly, especially if they were just going to follow her, because it was one of very few directions to go and it didn’t seem like anyone wanted to socialize in the kitchen.
As far as Takumi’s words about the list, she’d already spun up her own rationalization, however tenuous—the way the bear was conducting this game, pushing other people to break the rules wasn’t the idea, or just slaughtering them like it’d done to…her, or Nomura. Getting them to kill each other was all it wanted. Michina’s blatant reluctance to even agree with its more innocuous suggestions and her punishment as a result couldn’t possibly be counted as a success.
…None of this really felt relevant, though, and maybe she only thought of it to back up her impulse statement after the fact. Sighing and keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her feet after the initial sweep, apparently finding nothing, she moved quietly forward into the ballroom at large, checking of anything out of place around the area, at least since the lights had gone off. Since she couldn’t think of anything else to ask the other two—she considered reeling off an alibi of her own, but ended up deciding it wouldn’t be helpful—she stayed quiet while she worked.
After finding nothing of interest around the DJ booths or couch, Takumi found himself sitting on the arm of the sofa, scratching his chin in deep thought. This was all so complicated and strenuous. Trying to find these clues, a mysterious note… This mystery was going to be hard on his brain to solve. He sat in a thinker position, watching Tsubaki and Naomi run around looking at different areas of the ballroom. Surely, there would be nothing here. He stood up and called out to his two investigation companions.
“Oi, you guys find anything’?”
The strangely calm and serious Takumi jogged over to both of them and stood, glancing around the room. With most of them sleeping in here last night, he didn’t expect there to be anything too incriminating in such a public location.
“We could go check the steps and the station next. If that note talked about Konoe-san, where better to check than where she died.”
Takumi pointed up towards the platform to Central station. He couldn’t get that note out of his mind; it was bugging him to no extent. He was sure this must have something to do with how Shinya had died. Even if these guys weren’t too sure of it, he was at least going to keep trying to get to the bottom of it. He began his walk to Central station checking everywhere as he walked up the steps and onto the platform. He then begins to investigate one of the benches up there.
“Train’s still blockin’ the way t’central it seems.”
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [NAOMI AND TSUBAKI]
Naomi glanced away awkwardly when Takumi stuffed the drawing in his pocket; she got the feeling that he hadn’t wanted anyone to see it. And didn’t she feel the same way when she was upset about something? Even with someone who was like her in so many ways, she still kept screwing up…
Why him?
She wasn’t sure how to answer his question, either. She didn’t think she ever would be.
Tsubaki’s voice surprised her - she hadn’t seen the other girl much since the first trial, and wondered what she could want with either of them. The answer came quickly enough, in the form of a question about their alibis. While it made sense, especially since she was one of the few students with previous court experience, Naomi was still unnerved by how routine these ordeals were becoming. Did Monobear already have another ironic execution set up?
"Well, until 10 last night or so, I was trying to keep warm in the kitchen…Actually, you were there too, weren’t you? And Tsubasa," she added, counting the people who could vouch for her on her fingertips. "Then I came in here to hang out with Ninsei and Tora for another hour. I crashed in the ballroom, but didn’t really get to sleep until midnight. A little bit before that, I went to borrow some cushions from the karaoke room, and Suzuka was in there for some reason."
She paused, her brow furrowed, as something else came back to her. “I do remember hearing some footsteps around the time I laid down, but I didn’t see who it was…I think they mighta been headed for the platform, though.”
At least searching for evidence would keep Takumi from staying put and beating himself up. Figuring she should join him as well, she went over to his side - and as such caught a glimpse of the note he’d found.
"…The fuck is this?" Her voice was initially quiet from shock, but it didn’t stay that way for long. "Are all these names really…people who have been killed?" The ‘failed’ written beside Michina Konoe name sealed it in her mind, and she recoiled with a hoarse yell.
"Is that a goddamn hit list?!”
The alibis weren’t anything she wasn’t expecting. Nothing around the time of the actual murder, no one exonerated just yet. No one admitting straight-up to a horrible accident. But these questions had to be asked so she could put everything together later, right? Even though she knew somebody had already lied by omission for sure, it didn’t have to be them, and she didn’t have to distrust them yet.
Somehow trusting everybody came to an abrupt halt when the other two were looking over the found note. Tsubaki practically felt her attempts at productivity drain out of her onto the floor. What was something like that doing here?
"Killed…successfully…?" All those crossed-out names she’d never heard of, and then Michina Konoe at the bottom, now probably splattered across the underside of a train, Michina Konoe who anybody in Japan might be able to tell you had once been abducted and escaped alive. It seemed like something more out of a movie than real life, and now…exactly what kind of crime were they dealing with here?
"It can’t be…anything of ours. Maybe…it’s…the bear’s, or the person behind the bear’s, I mean. It was walking around with us before, and…Konoe-chan…isn’t ever going to participate in its game, right? Maybe it doesn’t even mean anything. There’s no way it’s any of ours’. What we’re dealing with here, now…doesn’t even involve any of the names on the list. Right?”
Her sense of curiosity was buzzing in the back of her head like a wasp’s nest, but even entertaining the idea that she’d steadfastly refused to mention so far would be too much, after all this. Trusting everyone meant realizing there were other options. And they were trying to solve the murder of Shinya Zaizen. All else could…be dealt with later.
With a grimace and not even a side glance towards the note, she took off at her top speed (right now, a slightly tottering walk) in the direction of the ballroom, looking for anything unusual around the pillars that divided it from the dining area. Maybe if those two were done looking around that place they could follow her.
Takumi peered directly under the first table he came across; spotting what appeared to be a note. He summoned Naomi over and pointed at it and watched as she had dove under the table to grab it, reading it over. The tall Hockey Player stood behind her, reading it slowly from over her shoulder. What he saw on it was indeed shocking and Naomi wasn’t wrong. This certainly looked like a hit list. He held out his hand to take the paper, reading it over carefully again. Michina’s name was there and unfortunately she had met her grisly end at the hands – or wheels of a train. Takumi spoke outright as he investigated the list.
“Konoe-san was killed by Monokuma. If this was his, or like, it belonged to the person behind him, then wouldn’t it most likely have ‘Success’ next to her name?”
He grumpily looked up from the sheet to notice Tsubaki moving rather swiftly away and towards the ballroom. She didn’t seem to want to believe that this could be any of the student’s here. And she was quick to dismiss it as part of the murder, which to Takumi seemed rather suspicious. He grimaced and turned to Naomi, holding her back for a second. He felt a great wave of determination course through his body. The killer of Shinya Zaizen has something to do with this note and they need to be brought to justice.
“Naomi, this list seems t’be important. Sugawara-san seems quick to dismiss it but I think we should keep it in mind as we search for Zaizen-kun’s killer. If I’m honest, I believe this belongs t’one of us.”
He stated rather firmly, gazing off into the ballroom again. He tugged at the chain around his neck and adjusted his Hockey Jersey around his waist. With a loud sigh he took off after Tsubaki, helping her check around the pillars before investigating the area around the couch.
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [NAOMI AND TSUBAKI]
Naomi hadn’t gotten a lot of rest the previous night, what with sleeping on the ballroom floor and all; the cushions she’d taken from the karaoke lounge had only slightly mitigated the aches in her neck and back. So she woke up quicker than usual when the dreaded announcement was played, and joined her classmates in gathering around the body of Shinya Zaizen.
Seeing the wound in his gut made her feel cold all over. As much as she wanted to believe that this might just be another tragic accident, Naomi wasn’t an inherently optimistic person. A sickly guy like that who mostly kept to himself had clearly been an easy target, and so this death reeked of cowardice more than the others for her. On top of that, there had been Ruri’s anguished cries upon discovering Shinya’s corpse…
Unless there was a damn good explanation for this - and she couldn’t fathom one now - Naomi wasn’t going to forgive whoever had killed him.
The sound of Takumi’s mask hitting the ground caught her attention, and she looked up to see him leaving the kitchen in obvious distress. It looked like her time had come to repay his consolation once again. Following him at what she hoped was a respectful distance, Naomi watched for a couple of minutes as he sat in the dining hall before approaching.
"…H-Hey, Takumi."
And, once again, she was at a loss for words. Are you alright? was so blatantly wrong that she’d feel callous saying it. She settled for just sitting down beside him, her arms folded on the table. However, something out of the corner of her eye loosened her tongue before she could stop it.
"I didn’t know you liked to draw. Does it help you…y’know, calm down? Maybe I should take a swing at it…"
Even the most inherently optimistic person in the group was struggling with this one. A heart attack was the sort of cause of death that could be passed off and decided as a tragic accident. A sword left at the scene…a sword…even taking the dark and purposely scary atmosphere of the powerless station into account, who carried a sword with them to a masquerade?
With a more hollow expression than she’d sported before at Nomura and Fukumi—no tears, no pleading, nothing—she drifted out of the room and left the body to the others. Maybe it was selfish. Not putting all your efforts towards something they could easily lose, towards something that could kill all of them, was a lot less forgivable than not comforting someone, but…there were more places to look than just in there. A locked-room mystery, almost, confined to this one station. Everything they needed to figure this out was around them. She had to think about that or she wouldn’t muster up enough strength to put one foot in front of the other.
…She hated puzzles.
Emerging out of the kitchen and back out towards the dining hall, nervously hugging her own shoulders and looking more shell-shocked than blatantly sad, she stared over at Naomi and Takumi for a while before making her slow, plodding way over. Her lungs already felt so constricted her chest hurt. Easy does it. Don’t panic. Panic never helps anything, right? Even if she couldn’t out-logic her body, she could still reassure each other that this would pass, and they would get out of this. They would. Who they was…was up for debate.
"…Hey." Somehow her repertoire of reassuring statements had run dry all over again. Maybe it would be best if the two of them talked, and she left them to it. They were obviously closer, right? No time to intrude. Still, she took an awkward step towards the table without sitting down. "I don’t mean…to be suspicious, or callous, or…anything like that, but. I was wondering where you guys were last night…?"
Takumi mindlessly continued to dab and mark at the sheet of paper. His warm tears rolled down his face and fell, creating small blotches on the mask. He drew furiously on the emoticon, appearing to give it hair, whilst simultaneously flipping it over and furiously writing down characters in his scrawly handwriting. He would then quickly flip it back and continue drawing on the hair. He didn’t once look up to meet Naomi’s glance as she sat down opposite him, watching as he continued to mark the paper as if he was in some sort of trance. Takumi Akiyama was certainly not ok. He didn’t once take his eyes of the paper as he responded to Naomi.
“…Hey.”
He once more returned to drawing, taking a minute to wipe a tear from his face with his large hands before placing them gently on the table. He finished with his drawing and forcibly shoved it back into his pocket without letting Naomi see. He continued to stare at the table, body firm and rigid, but visibly shaking.
“It’s supposed to. But I don’t feel calm.”
He looked up at Naomi at last. She would be able to see how red and puffy his eyes were. He covered them with his hands rubbing them before pulling his hand down the side of his face lazily.
“Why. Why him.”
Takumi rested both of his hands on the table, staying in that rigid silence until it was broken by Tsubaki, who had sauntered over to ask them about their alibis. He stared at the wooden table again, not looking up at his usually cheerful friend. Instead he stated rather firmly and bluntly what he was doing the other night.
“I was awake until about 9:30. I saw Zaizen-kun and he was cold so I gave him my cape. Then I sat and talked t’him for a while until Tsujio-shi came. We talked. I tried t’sleep. Couldn’t sleep. Woke up t’get some water and came back at 12:30 t’sleep some more. That’s about it.”
He wiped his endless flow of tears again, gripping to the edge of his seat. He was angry, furious even, that someone had taken Shinya’s life like that. After Michina dying the night before, he had hoped that they would find a way out of here without anyone else dying. Now it was a big mess, Shinya had been murdered and it wouldn’t be long until they were forced into another class trial, where everyone’s fate will be decided again in a game of distrust.
“When we’re done… Let’s look around.”
Takumi stood up and rigidly began to check around his seating area, searching for anything out of place in the dining room. He moved rather awkwardly as he did so, knees wobbling with every step.
[CASE 2] The End of the Road [OPEN]
"The game has been shut down due to an incident on the Ice. Please hold."
“Urgh…”
The sudden bright dazzle of lights forced Takumi awake. With the power back, it could only be suspected that someone had killed again. Takumi rubbed his eyes and stood up like a shot. He had been sleeping in an uncomfortable cold sweat and as a result removed his Hockey Jersey and returned it to its rightful place around his waist. He followed the rest of the group as the body discovery announcement rang throughout the station into the kitchen only to find a sight he was dreading to see. He took his mask off his face and threw it to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Z-Zaizen-kun…”
Before him lay the bloody corpse of Shinya Zaizen, someone he felt rather close to in the station. He was propped up against the counter, motionless. His eyes were closed and surprisingly, he looked relaxed. It was a rather sad sight. Takumi felt his entire body shake with anger as he turned and darted out of the kitchen, not wishing to lay eyes upon the body any further. He kept walking until he was far away from the room as possible, taking a seat in one of the tables at the far end of the dining hall. Now that he was away from the others he sobbed into his hands rather furiously.
After about five minutes he pulled away, reaching into his pocket for something. He pulled out a handkerchief and a scrap of paper and a blue crayon, both given to him by Hiroshi and the crayon he had kept on him since he drew for him. He dabbed at his eyes softly, trying to get the image of Shinya’s body out of his head. He unfolded the sheet of paper and glanced at it. The emoticon he had drawn on to cheer up Hiroshi was still there. Without thinking, he began to make markings on the back and front of the paper, as if trying to distract himself from what happened. He didn’t notice one of his classmates approach him from behind.
[TASK 7] Danger in the Dark [HIROSHI]
Takumi opened his eyes and glanced nervously over to his side where another student with a blue light had approached. Thank god, it was Hiroshi. It calmed him to see a friendly and familiar face in the dark. His mind was still racing, hoping that nothing bad had happened. He began to anxiously bite his fingernails until Hiroshi handed him a napkin. He glanced up at the Good Samaritan and forced a smile, taking the napkin and drying his eyes with it, removing his mask for a minute before putting it back on. He felt more confident wearing it – Like a superhero.
“K-Koda-kun w-what happened? W-why can I hear rain?”
He held out his hand again as Hiroshi placed the piece of paper that he had used as a mask earlier. He held it close to his transit pass, looking at the emoticon he had jokingly drawn on it. What was Hiroshi thinking going to party wearing a piece of paper over his face? His smile warmed a little as he sniffled a little, shuffling closer to his friend as he comforted him.
“S-Sorry I must seem really silly right now. I mean look at me? I could fight like five people and I’m scared of the dark? Geez I’m pathetic.”
That sounded a lot harsher on himself than it should have. He had intended it to be more of a joke but with a shaky voice and dried up tears it came out a little negative.
“Do yah really think this could be our chance t’get out? I mean the tracks won’t be electrified anymore right?”
Hiroshi patted the other boy’s back as he scooted closer him for comfort… Geez, Takumi certainly was a mess… He really hadn’t thought that someone as tough and physically strong as this guy would have such a simple phobia of the dark. But now wasn’t really the time to laugh about such a thing, especially after such a comment about his own fear from Takumi.
"It’s alright. It’s reasonable, not being able to see in the dark like this is really dangerous so… Ah, well in any case, yeah… Since we can hear the rain like this, I’m guessing we’re close to the surface. And since this is a power outage, or at least it would seem to be a power outage, it’d make sense if the tracks didn’t have power either. Though it’s still dangerous, I think we should at least go and check out the tracks once we get something we can use to see better with. These transit passes are shitty as flashlights."
Standing up, Hiroshi helped Takumi up on his feet as well and he turned to begin walking towards the storage room where he assumed that there might be some flashlights or something to help them see…
But he didn’t get far before he was interrupted by the sound of ominous laughter… Laughter that sounded all too familiar. Glancing about defensively, he quickly located the source of the sound to be coming from none other than Monokuma who’d once again dared to show his ugly mug around them. This didn’t bode well at all.
And soon enough, Hiroshi’s unease didn’t prove to be unfounded. Gritting his teeth in frustration as the sound of rain ebbed away into silence, he glared over at Monokuma. He’d just been toying with them, getting their hopes up just to crush them down again in one fell swoop. And it didn’t stop there. Hiroshi watched on in shock and horror as Michina Konoe spoke up against the bear’s tyranny, running off down the tracks to her inevitable end, nothing but an example and a bloody smear on the front of a metro train.
Hiroshi stood there in silence as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the blood on the front of the train. And when he’d finally come to a realization that he couldn’t look away, he’d already lost track of how long he’d been standing there. Had it been seconds? Minutes? Days even since he witnessed Michina’s demise? He didn’t know. Clutching a flashlight from god knows where in his hands, he turned to look around. He’d wasted enough time gawking at the events that had unfolded in front of him. Blinking in surprise as he saw Takumi still with him, he frowned, eyes downcast and weary as he approached his friend, bringing a hand to rest on the other’s bicep as he let out a shaky sigh.
"….. Akiyama-kun. Let’s go… We’ve gotta round up some of the food and organize… it… Or maybe we could……… Candles…."
He could feel himself shutting down slightly as his thoughts swirled around in his head churning them into a muddled mess of confusion, dread, and despair… Despair? No, now wasn’t the time to give up. This wasn’t a death sentence. They’d all find a way out together as a team… Yeah…
At least that’s what Hiroshi told himself.
Taking in a few breaths, he felt his mind clear slightly as he looked back to Takumi. “… Let’s not forget Konoe-san, alright? Though she wasn’t the best team player… She was still part of our team and our classmate. Same goes for the others… Let’s never forget… Should anything ever happen. Promise me that.”
Taking his hand off of Takumi’s arm, he turned away, closing his eyes as he rubbed his tired face vigorously in an attempt to clear his mind more and pull himself into a fuller state of focus. He had to focus. He had to make sure they all stayed safe and didn’t play into that stupid bear’s paws…
"Akiyama-kun. Let’s get to work. We can’t let anyone else die… Not again."
Takumi huddled close to Hiroshi initially, resting his head on his shoulder. He sat there in the dark, breathing in and out as if he was trying to calm himself down. Both of them sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the quiet thumping of the raindrops ahead. Could this really be their escape route? He didn’t want anyone else to die, getting out of here with everyone else in one piece would be a dream. He sighed and held his transit pass close to his face, scrolling through the student roster. He flicked through each of their profiles, stopping at the faces of Haru Takeyama and Fukumi Tsuzarahara. The first two and hopefully the last of them that died in this station. He listened to Hiroshi as he spoke, keeping his eyes fixated on these profiles.
“I think that’s a good idea. The sooner we get outta here the better y’know?” He paused. “Koda-kun, thanks for comfortin’ me. It means a lot.”
Takumi continued to rest his head on Hiroshi’s shoulder only to jolt awake when he heard the terrifying laughter of Monokuma. The bear’s speech was a blur and the last thing Takumi could remember was following Michina out onto the platform and watching her take off down the tracks. He wanted to call out to her but he couldn’t muster the words he needed to speak. Instead, he watched helplessly as the Central Station train bolted down the tracks and hit something with a thud only to come trundling back, stained with blood.
He stared at the train for a good few minutes, face pale with shock. Yet another life had been claimed in this god forsaken place. He glanced over to Hiroshi who was also standing, watching the train as if Michina was going to magically spring back to life. He placed his hand on his friends shoulder and bit his lip. He was terrified too, but he needed to try his best to be that strong team player he promised he would be.
“Koda-kun, c-calm down. We can go look for light I- uh- fuck.”
He felt the warm tears stream gently down his face. He had thought that he had dried up but apparently not. Takumi stared at Hiroshi as he went on a spiel about never forgetting Michina and the others if death were to strike again. It may have been the fear talking, but Takumi wanted to cement something in stone.
“I could never forget anyone who died in this place. Tsuzarahara-san, Nomura-san, Takeyama-kun, Konoe-san… No-one.” He paused again and closed his eyes, placing both hands on Hiroshi’s shoulders.
“Koda-kun, you’re my best friend. Please, if I die, never forget me ok. Promise me that.”
He smiled as he waited the response, picking up a flashlight and shining it back into the ballroom.
“I’m sure if we look around, we can find some sorta light source.”
