Go away.

#ic #chapter 1 #monofile #matsu death

MONOBEAR FILE #1: Matsukaze Ito

( Art by Moo! )

VICTIM: Matsukaze Ito TIME OF DEATH: 10:31 PM LOCATION OF BODY: Storage Room

#ic #chapter 1 #body reveal #plot post

Murder in a Box

You all reach the storage room at different times. Some of you run, some meander, but… whenever you reach the room, you see it. One box, one single box, already opened, catches your attention. A chill runs up your spine, possibly caused by your fear of cardboard boxes, or possibly…

[♪♪♪]

…Possibly caused by the corpse tucked into it.

The body is still, curled up in an emptied out cardboard box far too small to be comfortable. Matsukaze Ito, the reedmaker with a temper even shorter than they were. They were the last person that you’d expect to play along with a joke like this… So maybe it isn’t. Maybe you were wrong, and this was really happening.

You watch, waiting for them to move. Waiting for them to blink, or twitch, or just do anything.

But the longer you look, you realize with horrifying certainty that they aren’t breathing. Their eyes are open and they haven’t blinked the whole time you’ve been watching; they’ve just been staring blankly at the side of the box. This… is real. For the first time, you see their face without the mask obscuring it, and you realize with a pang that they… definitely were just a kid. Just a kid who looks absolutely terrified, locked in a moment that they’ll never escape from.

What was worse than knowing that they were dead - a fact which might have filled some of you with relief (At least it was them and not someone else) - was knowing that one of you had killed them. Someone… Someone here, trapped with you in this reclusive desert hellhole, had decided that taking a human life was worth the risk to preserve their own talent and safety. Now, though… Now you had to do something about it.

Untrained as you may be, you’re the new sheriffs in town.

( Thanks to Moo for the amazing art! )

#plot post #chapter 1 #body reveal #Mayorbear

Gone

“Well, someone finally gone and done it!”

It’s 1:37 in the morning when you hear Monobear’s voice blaring out of the TV, as obnoxious as ever. Some might be just drifting off into sleep, some might still be up. But either way, that can’t possibly herald anything good. You feel your heart sink into the pit of your stomach.

“Y’all had me worried for a second there, I was about ready to git Ole Reliable ready. Guess that’ll wait, though. You got more important things to worry about!”

…Wait, does that mean that someone actually–

“Git over yonder to the storage room. Or else I might be reconsiderin’ not using Ole Reliable. Y’all got a murder to investigate.”

…It doesn’t sound like you have much of a choice.

“And y’all are gonna wanna find that mean ole culprit. You got a trial comin’ up! I ain’t waitin’ around forever for y’all to find ‘em. Hurry up now! Wouldn’t want ‘em to get away with it, would you?”

A pause.

“I did mention that someone’s only gotta git away with it twice or the rest of y’all are dead, right? Like I said. Y’all are gonna wanna find ‘em.”

If you were hoping for more guidance, you aren’t getting it. There is only silence.

chavvesty

“i don’t care,” i say, caringly, as i care deeply

#except their caring is like #anger

OSC Tuning | Butterscotch + Matsu | CH1 / Normal Days

Butterscotch was greeted by a pair of glossy. inhuman eyes and a set of pearly white fangs. That was enough to momentarily drain the warmth from his veins. Several seconds later he realized what he was looking at and forced himself to breath again, letting out what sounded like a soft gasp.

“Ahhhh…!”

Before he let himself examine the head further he noticed the note tucked in the corner of the box and pulled it out. Slowly his hand slipped away from Matsu’s arm so that he could unfold the paper with ease to silently read the note inside of it. The seconds that lingered afterwards were few and silent, and when the Herpetologist broke the silence it was with a soft whisper.

“… SweetTart.”

Butterscotch tilted his head towards Matsu, not even knowing if they had used the time when he had been reading the note to escape, but seeing as they were still by his side he extended his hand out to them, stopping it right as he was about to touch their shoulder. Taffy began crawling off of Matsu’s arm and onto Butterscotch’s hand.

“I’m afraid I don’t feel like fulfilling your request. Why would I want to get rid of something so interesting? Let alone a gift! From you! I think I’ll cherish this for awhile. It’s a delight to know that something reminded you of me!”

He pulled his hand back as Taffy crawled up his arm and turned his head back towards the wolf head so he could start pulling it out of the box.

“Thank you~! Anddd… mmmm, sorry for chasing you down. You’re free to go and do whatever you were up to before; don’t let me keep you.”

#ic #chapter 1 #motive days #Butterscotch

Matsu had been too frozen to try and get away when Butterscotch was reading the note, unfortunately. They stared at him, trying in vain to read his expression through the goggles and mask, but to no avail.

And then he spoke. Whispered. He was pissed.

They flinched as he reached towards them, but he didn’t actually touch them... just gave Taffy a bridge back to his hand.

“.... Oh god.” Matsu breathed, their eyes widening even more as they realized he wasn’t mad. He was just fucking with them, right? He couldn’t actually like that thing? And... and a gift from them?

“No! You’ve got it all wrong! It’s just a piece of shit, you weren’t supposed to like it!” From their tone of voice and the expression on what was visible of their face, they were dying inside.

Shit, this was worse than him being mad. Surely... surely he didn’t actually think they were trying to GIVE HIM something that he’d like. Surely he knew they were just trying to ditch a waste of space.

Right?

They managed a nod, then scrambled to their feet. Pressing a hand to their chest and not saying a word to Butterscotch, they turned and practically fled back into their room, slamming the door to Saguaro dorm behind them. Whatever they had been going to do, they weren’t doing it now.

Je joue sans toucher le beau {{ Matsu }} Ch 1 Motive Reaction (Closed for Kohaku)

shslshamisenplayer

They bristled at the tiny reed maker. Now that obviously wasn’t true.

“What? Sorry for making eye contact, apparently. The hell is your problem?”

And then they tried to shove Kohaku. That kid tried to shove Kohaku. And called them arrogant, which of course was definitely false. They’d considered just leaving. But now? Fuck that.

“…No. You can walk around me if it’s that big of a deal to you.”

Said the person who couldn’t get out of there fast enough just a minute ago.

#ic #chapter 1 #motive days #Kohaku

“You’re my problem! And this stupid school, this stupid field trip, that damn mayor asshole! I have way too many problems to deal with this shit!”

Pushing Kohaku aside hadn’t gone as planned…. at all. Instead, Kohaku insisted they go around them - no, no way in hell. This was a challenge now, and Matsu was going to win or die trying. They gritted their teeth.

“No, you’re going to move!” Why was this such a big deal. “I’m just going to that stupid dorm RIGHT THERE,” Matsu jabbed a finger towards the entry to Saguaro dorm. “And it’s clearly shorter to go straight there instead of around you. Who do you think you are? Stop being inconvenient!”

If they’d been less worked up, less argumentative, perhaps dare I say a bit more levelheaded, they would have realized quickly that just ducking around Kohaku would get them to their room and sweet privacy much faster and more efficiently, but unfortunately Matsu did not come to that conclusion.

No, a challenge was a challenge, and they weren’t gonna be the first to cave.

Je joue sans toucher le beau {{ Matsu }} Ch 1 Motive Reaction (Closed for Kohaku)

shslshamisenplayer

Kohaku seriously considered not even bothering going to this whole gathering thing. The mayor was annoying and it was so early and ugh. The threats finally roused them from a half-sleep and they dragged themself off, wishing for a shower all the while long. They were barely presentable! This was unacceptable.

They put their hands to their hips, closing their eyes and making an exaggerated yawn as the mayor’s speech went on (and on, and on an…d……)

…Useless, huh?

Ha.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha h a … .

They had to get out of here. They’d barely taken a few steps when someone slammed into them.

“The f–”

There wasn’t even anyone ar– wait. They looked down. Oh.

“Your way? You were in my way.”

…Never mind that this wasn’t even their city, and they didn’t have to snap, but…fuck it, they were mad. This kid started it, they didn’t have to be so rude.

#ic #chapter 1 #motive days #Kohaku

“Bullshit!” Matsu snapped. “I was trying to leave, you were just standing there!” That obviously wasn’t true, but Matsu hadn’t exactly been paying much attention to their surroundings.

They sized up this person. They seemed familiar, slightly, but Matsu couldn’t place them (nor did they want to).

“… Stop looking at me like that!” The reedmaker clenched their hands into fists. “What gives you the right to talk down to me? God! All of you people are so arrogant and pretentious! Get out of the way.”

With that Matsu, tried to push on Kohaku’s arm to push them out of the way instead of just going around like a decent person.

OSC Tuning | Butterscotch + Matsu | CH1 / Normal Days

Even after all of that Matsu wasn’t going to cooperate. What did a guy have to do to get things done around here?! This whole experience was starting to become more trouble than it was worth. Still, it had to be done, and Butterscotch wasn’t about to give up his mission without putting up a little more fight.

He knew he had to be careful. With Taffy now at the mercy of the reed maker he couldn’t quite go over and tackle them or anything like that. How dastardly, taking a hostage! Dastardly and cunning. Butterscotch would have been impressed had it not been his faithful companion they were dealing with.

Once Matsu had moved off of him but was still in arm’s reach the Herpetologist sat up and reached out for the other’s arm. He grabbed the box with his other hand and pulled it into his lap, now fishing for something out of his coat pocket.

“I insist that you stay for this. So does Taffy! Don’t you want to bond with us? Now, let’s see-”

Butterscotch pulled out a single key dangling from a faded purple carabiner and used the cuts of the key to tear through the sides of the cardboard box. Meanwhile, Taffy mosied on out of Matsu’s hand and crawled up to rest on their shoulder right next to their scarf, watching her owner finish tearing through the box and open it with one hand.

Time to find out what was in this ~*~mysterious~*~ package.

#ic #chapter 1 #Butterscotch #motive days

As Butterscotch grabbed Matsu’s arm, they were forced to stop trying to crawl or just let Taffy fall to the ground. They swallowed, sitting on their knees and trying to no avail to pull their arm away as Taffy made her way up onto their shoulder.

“... No! I don’t want to bond with you! Leave me the fuck alone!” They started pulling away, harder, while Butterscotch worked on opening the box. And it revealed...

A wolf’s head.

No, not a literal wolf head. A wolf head to… put over your own head. Heard of fursuits? Well, it’s similar, from the looks of it. It’s a beautifully crafted replica of the head of a wolf, designed to be worn as part of a costume, probably. Grey fur, sharp teeth and a surprisingly soft tongue, this wolf head has it all! Folded up next to it was a piece of paper.

... What?

Matsu looked mortified, their eyes darting between the box and Butterscotch, but instead of fighting, they were just sitting there, gasping for breath. If they caught up with their breathing, maybe they could get away the second he let go of them?

OSC Tuning | Butterscotch + Matsu | CH1 / Normal Days

Oh dear.

The consequence of his actions showed itself in no time at all. Butterscotch watched as Matsu lost their grip on the ladder and began to fall backwards right into him. This wasn’t almost the opposite of he wanted (at least Matsu wasn’t going up anymore. Just down, very quickly, towards him).

Everything that happened within the next few seconds went by in a blur. Butterscotch made a good attempt to keep the box held under his arm as he let go of Matsu’s shirt and tried his best to catch the reed maker. It was the least he could do. Being no expert in catching people, what he managed to do was sort of get his arms around them before their body collided with his, sending the two toppling over onto the ground.

If whatever was in the package was delicate or sensitive, there was a good chance it was in pieces now. That was one of the last worries on Butterscotch’s mind as he now found himself laying on the ground with someone on top of him. Quickly he let go of Matsu and tried to look around for his lizard companion.

Thankfully she was fine. In the midst of the collision Taffy had made her way onto Matsu and was now standing on their chest, not appearing rattled in the least. Instead she wasn’t even looking at either one of them, instead facing towards the ladder in disinterest.

Since everything was fine and dandy and peachykeen, Butterscotch continued on with his mission as if nothing happened.

“Right, so, now that you’re here, how about you hop off and we can go open that box.”

#ic #chapter 1 #motive days #Butterscotch

An arm wrapped around them haphazardly and Matsu slammed into Butterscotch. At least he was able to break their fall, but it was still a much less than pleasant experience.... Actually, it hurt pretty badly. As the group toppled over, a whimper of pain escaped the reedmaker’s small body.

Without realizing what they were doing totally, they pressed their hand to their side, trying to catch their breath. The pain wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t. They were fine, nothing bad had happened, it just...

Wait, shit. That lizard was on their chest, and the smug asshole was underneath them. Matsu’s first instinct was to roll off, but that would throw the lizard in the floor. They groaned, gasping for breath still, and let go of their side to rest their hand lightly on Taffy to keep her from falling (not that they cared, it was just instinct).

They had to... they.... They couldn’t get up yet, but they started trying to slide off of Butterscotch to hopefully start to crawl away, though it was extremely awkward to try and do with one hand on Taffy and a pretty significant difficulty in catching their breath. They didn’t even realize that they were pretty much trying to steal her, as it appeared.

“I-I, I’m not... I don’t wanna!” Oh god when he saw what was in there, if they were with him, that would be so embarrassing. Shit. SHIT!

OSC Tuning | Butterscotch + Matsu | CH1 / Normal Days

Not even a wave or a ‘Hello’. All Butterscotch got in response was a look he couldn’t identify and nothing else. He wondered whether Matsu was approaching him when they began to move again but it appeared that they were heading over to the ladder. Alright then. As long as they could hear him Butterscotch supposed he could speak.

“I have a story to tell you! Quite odd, really. As I was leaving my lair I found this package sitting in front of my doorstep with only my name on it! It must be someone who knows me well; someone who knows my deep dark secret. How else would they know to send me a box? Certainly they must know… of my terrible, embarrassing fear of cardboard boxes! So, as you can imagine, opening this with only Taffy to comfort me isn’t possible at all, and thus I would like your assistance in opening it. You seem like the type who is very good at opening boxes.”

During his ramble Butterscotch managed to move across the Town Square and arrive at the ladder right as Matsu was doing their best to climb up and flee the scene.With the box under one of his arms the boy reached out and took a hold of the side of Matsu’s shirt, continuing to prattle on.

“If you’re off to look for something sharp to open it with I already have you covered! So, get back down here and let’s discover what’s inside this little square of mystery together!”

He tugged on their shirt to emphasize his point that Matsu wasn’t going anywhere without difficulty. Maybe he tugged a little too hard…

#ic #chapter 1 #Butterscotch #Motive days

Matsu wasn’t listening to what Butterscotch was saying, instead focusing on trying to get away... But in what seemed like no time he was right there and grabbed their shirt.

“L-let...!” Talking was so DIFFICULT when one was so short of breath as the ladder made Matsu. Something sharp to open it with...? That was a threat wasn’t it. He had a knife? They reached for the next rung, when Butterscotch tugged down on their shirt.

A little too roughly.

And they slipped.

Matsu opened their mouth, unable to make a sound as the single hand on the ladder lost hold. They were falling. They tried to grab the ladder again, but with absolutely no luck... so their expression was one of wide-eyed fear.

OSC Tuning | Butterscotch + Matsu | CH1 / Normal Days

After dealing with Monobear’s threats and a light conversation, Butterscotch decided to hole himself in his room for the rest of the morning and halfway through the afternoon. When he was ready to merge and face the rest of the day he placed a hand on the doorknob and swung his bedroom door open, his mind drifting on what to-

There was something waiting for him.

Butterscotch tilted his head downwards and stared at the thing sitting in front of him, blocking his path towards Town Square. There was already little room left in the main Fennec area to begin with and this- this thing practically took up the rest of the walking area.

What was this box doing here and what did it want from him?

Slowly he crouched down and read the crude message written on the side of the box, addressed to a name that shouldn’t be muttered in polite company. The handwriting was familiar, and when he saw his name scribbled underneath the inappropriate nickname he knew who it was from in an instant.

That did little to quell his unease and curiosity. Butterscotch stayed silent and motionless, mulling over what to do with this mysterious box, but before he could decide on anything the gecko on his shoulder began advancing down his arm.

“Taffy?”

Even with concern drenched in his voice she continued to crawl down towards the box. Butterscotch started to move the hand on his other side to try and stop her from moving any closer but it was too late! She stepped off his arm and onto the flat cardboard surface.

And then! THEN! Nothing happened.

That was a good sign, at least. Butterscotch scooped the leopard gecko up off the box and set her back on her shoulder. Now that it was confirmed safe to touch (and hopefully safe to handle) he carefully picked the box up and stood up. It was time to go pay a certain someone a visit.

He didn’t have to look far. The moment he stepped out of the Fennec area, someone else was heading out of their dorm area as well. A certain Matsu Ito. What luck! Butterscotch had to stop himself from sounding too pleased as he stepped away from the Fennec area and towards Matsu.

“SweeetttttTart~!”

#ic #chapter 1 #Butterscotch #motive days

Matsu stepped out of their room, FREE from their roommates, and started walking towards the godforsaken ladder when -

They stiffened, freezing, when they heard Butterscotch call that stupid nickname that he insisted on using for them. The reedmaker stared at him, contemplated for a moment... Oh god he was holding the box. Had he opened it? Was he mad?

A split second more, and they made their decision. So what if the ladder was in the same direction as him? It was really close to them! If they made it there. And climbed up. Faster than he could (what a joke) then maybe....

They bolted. They could hardly breathe by the time they reached the ladder, and they started trying to scramble, up. Painfully slow, gasping for breath. Matsu was starting to feel lightheaded and they weren’t even close to halfway up the ladder... Oh god they were going to die on this fucking piece of shit ladder, everything was so hot and their chest was burning...

#ic #chapter 1 #motive reaction #kohaku

Je joue sans toucher le beau {{ Matsu }} Ch 1 Motive Reaction (Closed for Kohaku)

There were many things that Matsu was at 7am: “in bed,” “asleep,” “wearing pajamas,” “avoiding human contact.”

The list of things that Matsu was not was much longer, but at the top of the list perched “ready to get woken up by an announcement and called to the town square by some self-righteous joke of a mayor.”

They rolled out of bed, grumbling, but took the time to pull on the same clothes that they usually did, pull their hair up into a messy bun, put on their usual scarf-gloves-mask ensemble… Important things. After all, the mayor could WAIT.

Matsu crossed their arms tightly as they joined the others in the town center and the mayor started spouting bullshit. His rules? Yeah yeah, fuck his rules.

But as he went on, it was all they could do not to laugh.

Genuises who loved their talents? Some of these assholes were, but to assume that they all were? Shit. Matsu hated reeds, hated being known for that. So where was he goi-

Their body went rigid and their eyes widened as fear gripped their heart.

“No.” They murmured, taking a small step backwards. Shit. Threatening everyones talents, their hopes and dreams? Shit, people would murder over this. Anyone sane would.

“I guess you really will be useless after all, huh?”

Matsu pressed one hand to their mask, staring down at the floor, feeling their breath hitch in their throat.

The mayor left. They were all dismissed.

Swallowing, they took a step backwards and turned around… and slammed straight into some blue-haired kid with a gaudy fox mask on their head. Matsu flinched back at first, but then their eyes narrowed.

“What the fuck do you want? Get out of my way, can’t you see I’m trying to walk here?” That’s it, use anger to pretend you aren’t worried, Matsu. That definitely will fool everyone.

ultimatephantomthief-blog

[CH1] (Ab)normal Days | Lackluster | Starre [@ Matsu]

Was that a look of fondness that just crossed Starre’s face? Unfortunately so, for the diminutive individual currently exhibiting rather tsundere-like symptoms reminded her of a stray cat. Hostile by nature, most likely best left alone…

… but still cute.

“Ah yes, the coins… Truly a mystery. Not to mention the origins of this machine, and the idea that weapons could feasibly be concealed in these little capsules…”

For emphasis, Starre tossed her own capsule up and down, up and down, almost hypnotically, as she continued to not shut up.

“I’ve already used up the coin I brought. If you’d like to give it a whirl, be my guest!”

She stepped aside and gestured broadly towards the machine with one arm.

Matsu stared at her in silence for several moments. “... how the hell could anything fit in those?” They muttered, rolling their eyes. “Stop being so damn pretentious and talk like a human - or is that too hard for you?”

They edged in front of her (or so they told themself, in reality she stepped away) and dropped a coin into the machine. Nothing.

“What the hell this is-” Then, the machine started clanking and sputtering, and... finally a capsule spit out. Matsu picked it up, frowning behind their mask, and opened it instead of reading the label. “... I mean there’s probably like a necklace or some shit.”

They opened it to reveal...

‘Hello Kitty’ - Avril Lavigne CD

K-k-k-kawaii Hello Kitty, hello Kitty Hello Kitty, you’re so pretty Hello Kitty, hello Kitty Hello Kitty, you’re so silly Min'na saikō arigatō! K-k-k-kawaii! Min'na saikō arigatō! K-k-k-kawaii! K-k-k-kawaii! K-k-k-kawaii! K-k-k-kawaii! K-k-k-kawaii! Meow. Hello Kitty, hello Kitty Hello Kitty, you’re so pretty Hello Kitty, hello Kitty Hello Kitty, you’re so silly Come come Kitty Kitty You’re so pretty pretty Don’t go Kitty Kitty Stay with me Come come Kitty Kitty You’re so silly silly Don’t go Kitty Kitty Play with me

Several moments of silence passed as they stared at the CD in their hand. “... Oh what the fuck.” They muttered. How did that fit in the capsule? Why was it in this stupid machine? Why was it such BULLSHIT?

#ic #chapter 1 #starre

[CH1] (Ab)normal Days | Lackluster | Starre [@ Matsu]

Throughout the so-called mayor’s speech, Starre remained silent, processing the slew of information being dumped upon her at a very, very rapid pace.

So rapid, in fact, that by the time she actually said something, the mayor was already on his way.

“Now, wait just a moment, you — you villain — !! You… You call yourself mayor?! How can you claim such a title when you encourage us to break the very rules you set out in the first place?! ‘No violence against other students?’ Hah! You are nothing but a fraud! And I’ll prove that theory now! You told us to call for someone named Monobear for questions? Then I shall!!”

(Starre, the guy’s already gone —)

“MONOBEAR, REVEAL YOURSELF!!”

… But nobody came.

Allowing a few seconds to pass after her outburst, Starre straightened up, smoothed out her clothing, and flashed a winning grin at her classmates.

“You see? There is no Monobear here, and neither is there a threat to our survival. As for where our teachers are… well. We’ll find out in due time, won’t we? Yes, in due time, all will become clear…”

That last bit was murmured more to herself than directed at anyone else as she strode back to her dorm room, confident that she had just dissuaded any worries her classmates might have had.

(Even if, being honest, she was getting a bit worried herself.)

A little while later…

As it turned out, the impostor (she refused to call him mayor, that was simply impossible) had been right about one thing: the coins. Coins that Starre most certainly did not remember being in her room before. And if that much was true…

Hmm. Perhaps she’d been a bit rash in her dismissal of this… stranger’s claims.

That was how Starre found herself in front of the gatcha machine, smoothly dropping in a single coin. A small capsule popped out, which she caught in her outstretched palm.

She squinted at the label, so engrossed in reading the tiny text that she hardly noticed that she wasn’t alone. When she did notice, however, she turned to her new companion, rather calm in contrast with her earlier demeanor.

“Heh… I take it that you, too, were curious about the promises of this machine?”

What promises? Promises of weapons? Murder?

(Mayyyybe not the best thing to remind your classmate of right now, Starre.)

Matsu had been laying on their bed, dropping the three coins onto each other one by one and listening to them clink. This was such bullshit. Such Bullshit. But if there was a machine, they should go check it out, right? Who knows, it might be something at least slightly less stupid than these coins.

Plus if they ended up getting a weapon of some sort, they could use it as a threat to keep Morgan and Mitsusuke from bothering them.

They dropped the coins into the pocket of their shorts, tugged on their gloves, and wound the scarf around their neck (loosely, because of this godforsaken heat), and emerged from their room. No roommates in sight? Good. They went straight for the door and left, before their luck turned and one of the guys appeared out of nowhere.

Climbing the ladder was no less of a struggle than it usually was, but they were able to rest at the top until they caught their breath, mentally swearing at the ladder, the mayor, Hope’s Peak, and just about anything they could think of.

Matsu approached the room that supposedly had a machine in it and walked in. Yep, that was a machine. And yep, that was some idiotic classmate there. Fuck this. They turned on their heel to leave - maybe she hadn’t seen them - when she spoke.

Fuck.

“.... Hell no. I was just bored and didn’t feel like carrying these stupid coins around.” Matsu muttered, crossing their arms.

#ic #chapter 1 #starre

(ab)normal days | chiyo | event, ATTN: matsu

Chiyo felt herself crackling with nerves by the third day of no contact with the outside world. She wasn’t irritable, because God knew a girl like her should never be seen to be irritable, but brittle and overenergetic, well-practiced graces splintering under the weight of so much silence. The previous night’s conversation with Rover had only made the quiet in her dorm room that much more pronounced when she returned; she fell asleep with her headphones in.

Oh, she thought, but a person’s mind could burn up and crisp away to nothing in this place.

And it was that bubbling anxiety that accompanied her to the town square at high noon and that rose to an outright boil for a second when the ‘Mayor’ spoke.

She didn’t know what she had been expecting in her anxiety. It certainly wasn’t what they said.

Kill?

And then, suddenly, she could have laughed. She did smile. Hearing a person say something so horrible in such a matter-of-fact tone could only be met with laughter, because what other reasonable reaction was there? Her fear subsided.

People didn’t kill because they were told. At least, not people in a position like this. They killed over love or vanity or wealth, but an order from a stranger with so little in the way of apparent leverage? Of course not.

This was hazing. It must be. She’d suspected as much on the first day, standing in the laser tag room with Naoya Kizaki; this whole trip was an attempt at team-building, like the time she and the rest of the Stanley sisters in Penzance had gone out to a puzzle room together and bonded over pretending they were trapped in a little box with time running out. And, well, they were, and it had been, but the only penalty for time running out was that the owner of the puzzle room opened the door for you at the end instead of allowing you to feel smart for solving all its mysteries and unlocking the door yourself. This had to be something similar. Quick, all pretend you’re in danger and work together to find a way out!

It was in awful taste, though. Judging by the expressions on her classmates’ faces, the morbid proposal wasn’t something she could write off as a Japanese cultural quirk; it was just as strange and offensive to them as it was to her.

One classmate in particular was having an outburst in response to the mayor’s announcement. She couldn’t blame them.

But. Maybe consoling this person would help her console herself. She took a step toward them and laid a hand on their forearm, the way her grandmother did to comfort her.

“It’s alright,” she tried, doing her best to sound as perky and relaxed as always. “I’m sure this is only a joke! Not a good one, but…”

She looked in the direction the mayor had gone.

“…it’s not worth getting upset over if it’s so obviously silly, right? It must be a setup for a new TV show!”