Crawling in my Skin

Sympathy for the Devil? Or not || Void Ends || Trial 5 | RE: Hachiro

Ends froze in his voting spree as Hachiro addressed Oneiro. The color drained out of his face, and he… his hands trembled. Was he afraid? Angry?

Both?

“What the fuck!! There’s, there’s no reason to keep going on like that! There’s no reason to keep doing this!” From the tone of his voice, both. He was glad Hachiro was on the other side of the room.

He was glad Oneiro hadn’t been the person he tortured to death.

He was glad that he could put that vote in again. Ends started voting again, more fervently, pounding Hachiro’s name as if the harder he hit, the faster Hachiro would die.

“Look, I'm sorry you have that… disease thing or whatever, but that doesn’t mean… I’m glad Kotori-kun’s dead so she doesn’t have to see you like this! Do you like, have any idea how fucked up this is?” Ends finally stopped voting and let go of Oneiro’s hand so that he could grasp both sides of his head. He shook his head, trying to process just how awful this guy was.

#ic #trial #chapter 5

Voting and voting and voting and-- || Void Ends || Trial 5 | RE: Sorrel, Kyohei, Hachiro ATTN: Hachiro

Ends hesitantly put in a vote after Sorrel spoke and confirmed a lot of the things that he himself had put forward. He wasn’t… sure, but it just felt like it made sense. It felt like maybe this would be the action they needed….

He frowned, looking at Oneiro for a moment. She had been the one to untie Chikako… but then Kyohei spoke up about the bruise on Chikako’s head. That wouldn’t be something someone would fake. It wouldn’t make sense, so it had to be–

Hachiro.

Ends looked dumbfounded as the explanation came, and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You… you asshole! Do you have any idea how much you scared Nei-chan? How much you hurt people? That’s like, all you do!” He hit his vote again. Twice. Thrice.

“All of that… Don’t mock us for not getting it, it’s like, I dunno. How would we know those weren’t all demons? Why would we think you hid clues? That just doesn’t make sense!” Ends probably was the most qualified to guess things about demons, but his exposure is strictly theatrical. As in, on a stage. With masks and costumes and instruments.

He shook his head, running his hand through his hair, before starting to vote again. And again. He was just repeatedly putting in a vote for Hachiro.

I'm not able to keep up with y'alls nerd game || Void Ends || Trial 5 | RE: Sorrel and Hachiro mostly

There was a lot of back and forth arguing going on. Ends didn’t have a whole lot of information to share, so he was letting others talk about it.

The alternative of Chikako as the murderer, though, got Ends to speak up finally. “I don’t think Chikako-kun could’ve done it. Like… How would she be able to tie herself up? That just doesn’t make sense. If it was something like Kyohei-kun last time,” he gives Kyohei an apologetic look, “that would be more believable.”

He cleared his throat, then addressed the group. “… Hachiro-kun would enjoy killing or hurting someone, though, probably.” Ends hesitated, looking at Oneiro for a moment and stepping slightly closer to her. He then averted his eyes, looking anywhere but at Hachiro.

“After I made those mistakes on the island,” he didn’t feel the need to go into detail on what mistakes, “Hachiro-kun hunted me down and attacked me. He was… really aggressive.” The bassist was clearly uncomfortable bringing this up, but he felt like it might be useful. “He’s… one of the only people here I could picture beating someone up like Chikako-kun says happened to her, or killing Komaka-kun the way she was."

Alibi and Goodnight || Void Ends || Trial 5 | RE: Hachiro, Takara, Kyohei

Once Oneiro heads back to her podium, Ends, of course, follows. “About the circle, with the demons and all?” He glanced at Hachiro. “I checked and it isn’t at all like the circle that was already there. So it’s gotta be someone who knows something about that stuff, maybe?"

He listened to the testimonies that were brought forward, thinking hard.

"Ah, yeah. Alibis would be good to start. Uh…” Ends looked at Oneiro for a moment before turning back to Kyohei. “Nei-chan and I were together, yeah. So like…” His cheeks flushed a little. “It couldn’t’ve been either of us. We didn’t hear anything, though, since we were in our room.” He gave her hand a squeeze.

Not a lot of leads || Void Ends || Trial 5 | RE: Sorrel, Takara ATTN: Sorrel, Oneiro

Ends clutched Oneiro’s hand tightly as they entered the trial room. He was quiet, listening to what had been found by other people.

So the perfume was a false lead, and Sorrel had found the ashes and figured out the wound matched the can of cement. Ends rubbed the back of his neck, about to apologize for the lack of stuff that he and Oneiro had found, when Sorrel addressed them.

“Huh?” He looked up, surprised, and a flicker of worry crossed his face. Ends looked at Oneiro, then hesitantly nods. “We didn’t find a whole lot, we kinda were trying to check the spa thoroughly ‘cause it was a little weird.”

As they approach Sorrel, Ends keeps himself between the two. “What is it?"

#ic #chapter 5 #body reaction #oneiro #komaka

Your Warmth has been Left Behind || Void Ends || Body Reaction

Ends had been sound asleep, until the body discovery announcement went off. He laid in bed for a moment, groaning, expecting an urging from Oneiro to get up so they could investigate – an urging that didn’t come.

The realization that he was in bed alone broke through the groggy fog in his head in one blow, not a slow dawning.

Someone was dead, and Oneiro wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the room.

He didn’t even think to check his ID in his panic, he just threw on the first pair of shorts and t-shirt that he could find in the floor and shoved his feet into the first pair of shoes he could find. He didn’t brush his hair, put on makeup, he didn’t even put on a belt. It was a blessing of fortune that he grabbed his keycard and shoved it into a pocket on his way out of the door.

His heart was in his throat and dread was in his stomach. By the time he reached the area outside of the ritual room, he was out of breath.

There she was. She wasn’t dead.

The panic didn’t die in relief at that knowledge, though. He ran to Oneiro, dropping heavily to his knees beside her. “Nei-chan, Nei-chan are you hurt?!” Without waiting for a response – which, perhaps, was ill-advised because he could have hurt her if she was injured – Ends pulled her into a hug. He was shaking. She might not be dead, but she wasn’t in a good place, he could tell that instantly.

It was only after a few moments of catching his breath with Oneiro in his arms that he bothered to look towards the body. Komaka. She was… Ends squeezed his eyes shut, pulling his attention out of that room and returning it towards his girlfriend.

“When I woke up and you weren’t there, I… I thought…” He trailed off into silence, pressing his cheek to the side of Oneiro’s head.

oneiroi-blog1

Kingdom Hearts | Oneiro | Motive Reaction | Please hug her, Ends.

shslvoid

oneiroi:

What a dumb motive. Immortality only exists in fantasy, in magic, in alchemy… there’s no way anyone here would go for such a dumb prompt. Everyone here is too smart to-

“…Pipe. Metal.”

Oneiro was only able to hold her composure until briefly after Monokuma finished speaking. She screamed. She ducked onto the floor, covering her mouth, but the scream continued to flow until she was out of breath.

She had remembered something.

“…Mother.”

She slowly stood back up, crying. Clinging onto Ends. Tightly.

Ends’ brow was furrowed in thought. Immortality couldn’t be a thing, he was pretty sure, but it crossed his mind... what if it was? What if it was something he could get given to someone else, instead of himself? What if...

Oneiro dropped to the ground, screaming, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He watched her, unsure of what to do. “Nei-chan...?”

She stood - with him offering his hands to help her up - and clung to him. He was confused, but he hugged her tight. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

#ic #chapter 5 #motive #Oneiro

Left at the Altar

There was silence for a bit after the announcement. A rather unorthodox announcement at that, followed with an odd reaction from the little rabbit priest. The newly married couple stood at the altar, probably glancing at everyone around them. It was Chieko who began to move first.

“Monomi-chan!” The pieces were there. It didn’t take a genius to figure out. She separated from Kyohei, beginning to run back down the aisle, but Monomi was long gone. She just stood there, dumbfounded and unsure what to do, and she glanced nervously back at the other three behind her.

Kyohei blinked, staring back at Chieko before slowly moving down the altar and approaching the girl. He rested a hand on her shoulder and gave her a look of confusion. The contact made Chieko turn and hug onto him tightly. He wasn’t so much upset by the strange announcement as he was… puzzled. He had no idea what to make of it.

The color had completely drained from Ends’ face at the announcement, and he tensed up as a look that was unmistakably recognition settled into place. He didn’t move, he didn’t say a word, he just stared at a spot on the floor. Sorrel is likewise silent, although there’s a brief, puzzled expression on his face, and he glances around at everyone as if to gauge their reactions, and then makes a soft “Hn.” sound.

It seemed to be something of a bitter end to the wedding…

#ic #chapter 5 #event #chieko #kyohei

Shuffle

There had been mixed feelings after the trial. Some relationships were patched up, others destroyed. Things were changing drastically in the oddest ways, and the atmosphere of the ship had warped for better or for worse.

Two days after the trial, everyone found an envelope propped up against their door. It seemed these had been left at lunch. They were drawn on, and inside there were invitations, all addressed… They seemed to have been addressed from Chieko, Kyohei, Sorrel, and Ends, and on the back…

A wedding? An invitation to a wedding? The noon sun hit the deck, causing a tint of shine along the shellacked flooring.

Everyone had received an invitation, everyone was invited. There was something odd about having a wedding in the middle of a killing game, who would ever do this?

Monomi seemed to milling around as people arrived, and directing them to seats. It wasn’t like there was many seats, so it was pretty much a free-for-all. At the top, Sorrel and Kyohei stood waiting patiently, the both of them dressed up for the occasion. Kyohei had on a nicely ironed tux, and while his slacks and bowtie were black, the coat was a striking baby blue. As strange enough as it was seeing him dressed up, it was even more peculiar seeing his hair actually… combed? In any case, it was made up nice and neatly for the wedding. The boy stood up straight and had his hands tucked behind his back, but it was clear to see just how much he was fidgeting and looking nervously over at Sorrel. This was something he’d never done before, after all.

Sorrel’s hair is actually very neat looking for once as well, brushed and braided up in a simple but elegant style, with fresh flowers placed more artfully than messily and that seem to be intended to match the floral print on the beautiful cream and green colored gown he’s wearing. Where did he even get that? It doesn’t seem to be a perfect fit, but even so he looks radically different, more like an elven princess than a dirt goblin.

As Sorrel moves to help show people to their seats- more of a formality than a necessity- he keeps happily swishing the skirt of his dress. He just seems really pleased to get to wear it. Meanwhile Kyohei continued to wait for his blushing bride, looking out over the crowd anxiously from the altar. He took a moment to wave hello to a few people, but mainly appeared to be keeping an eye out for Chieko.

Once everyone was seated down, there was a moment of waiting…

#ic #chapter 5 #event #chieko #kyohei #sorrel

Ashes to Ashes || Void Ends || Chapter 4 Trial RE: Chieko, Hachiro, I'm not sure who else

[tw: suicide, needles]

Ends fell silent again, trying to think while the others discussed. So, this probably wasn’t a suicide because of the needles? That made him feel…. better.

“Oh, yeah. The coffee wasn’t related to the murder, I was the one who drank it. But the stove with the burned stuff – I mean, Chikako-kun tasted it? We didn’t really have much of a guess about what it was.” Ends cleared his throat. “I mean, maybe it’s connected to the jewelry store some? Like, you know, how smokey it was in there?"

He paused, thinking about what the others had been saying. Chieko was asking what had been stolen. ”… Wait, did you guys not look in the jewelry store? I mean, I know why Chieko-kun didn’t, but… It was that hairpin, it was in the broken counter and it was gone.“

"The thing is, there was some ash and smokey stuff there? I don’t know what it was for or like, how and why the rope was burned or anything.” He paused, realizing the rope he was referencing might not be common knowledge if they didn’t even know what was missing. “Uh, the counter was broken by a rock with rope tied around it, and the end of the rope was burned. Maybe it’s connected to what we found in the kitchen? I think the rope was from the stage, but nothing really looked too weird around there.”

Corrections || Void Ends || Chapter 4 Trial RE: Komaka, Hachiro

“That’s what I thought.” Ends sighed and shook his head. “No, I didn’t mean you, Komaka-kun. I meant Kayla-kun. If she knew that she was your person, then she knew she was directly threatened, not only her loved ones.” He paused, frowning. “N-not that loved ones aren’t like, really important. Just if we’re tryin’ to narrow things down.”

He looked over at Hachiro. “I gotta disagree, though. Kotori-kun felt alright with me touching her enough to cut her hair. I mean, that’s not real touchy, but…” But he’d flat-out tried to kill her on the island, and she’d let him get around her head with scissors.

“And, about Kotori-kun leaving her room, she did leave it some. I mean, she was out by the snack bar last night. She was just goin’ to the spa alone, too, I think, not planning on meeting anyone there.”

An Air of Hypocrisy || Void Ends || Chapter 4 Trial RE: Komaka, Kayla, Hachiro ATTN: Chieko, Komaka

Ends focused on Kayla while she talked, a look of concentration on his face for a moment. Then, he shook his head.

“I mean, it does matter who killed Vera-kun right? We can’t just like, ignore that?” He exhaled, looking perplexed as Komaka came over.

“Uh, sure, yeah.” He started to hand her the string, but stopped when he was addressed by Hachiro. “Hold on, I’ll hand it over in a sec.” He didn’t seem too keen on going over to Chieko because of how close she was to Hachiro, but… hesitantly, he let go of Oneiro’s hand and stepped over to Chieko. After a moment of comparison, he seemed thoughtful, then stepped back and shook his head before putting the string back into his pocket.

“It doesn’t match. But uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck, then awkwardly headed back to his podium and the comfort of holding his girlfriend’s hand. Ends took a deep breath and kept talking.

“I dunno, I don’t know if it actually matches what anyone’s wearing? I feel like we’re not really getting anywhere if we’re gonna just rely on that. But… maybe we should think of the motive. Like, I don’t mean just talking about whether we had something to lose or not, but…” He looked at Komaka for a moment before turning back to the rest of the group. “I wasn’t gonna bring it up, ‘cause… y'know. Someone here has a stronger motive than the rest of us, though.”

Ends shifted, seeming like he felt really uncomfortable. “Kayla-kun was directly threatened by the motive. Komaka-kun attacked me earlier, and when she did she said Kayla-kun was the loved one of hers that Monokuma threatened."

His gaze flickered to Kayla guiltily before he looked back at Komaka. "I didn’t wanna bring it up, but… Did you tell anyone else? Did Kayla-kun know?"

Hangin' on by a Thread || Void Ends || Chapter 2 Trial RE: Oneiro, Sorrel mostly

[tw: suicide mention, needles]

It could have been…. suicide?

The color drained out of Ends’ face and his gaze was locked on Chikako. If Kotori had really… killed herself, then… and how much of that had been his fault? How much worse would he have made it by trying to kill her on the island?

It made him feel sick, and he found himself hoping that there was a culprit outside of her. Especially to have done it like that, then…

Ends startled out of his thoughts when Oneiro passed him a piece of paper. He read it, then nodded.

“Oh, yeah. Uh, like Sorrel-kun said, I also thing that there was maybe something that the rocks were wrapped in. I never found the ones on the island, but…” He started to fish through his pockets. “… Ah, here!”

The musician pulled a piece of blue string out of his pocket – no wonder it had taken him a moment to find it.

“This was like, with the rocks near Vera-kun, I think maybe it matches whatever they were in?” He looks over at Sorrel questioningly. “Did like, anyone find any cloth that matches this color or anything?”

Slow Start || Void Ends || Chapter 4 Trial

Ends definitely looked like a mess. His arm was around Oneiro’s shoulder as he helped her into the elevator and trial room. Both of them had blood smeared all over them, and since Nei’s lower face was covered, that was probably why. Her boyfriend, though, looked exhausted.

“I uh, I’m pretty sure the whiffle bat wasn’t involved.” He gave Komaka a look. “It would’ve already been dented up. Komaka-kun can vouch for that.”

He cleared his throat. “I didn’t really get much done ‘cause…” Ends looks at Oneiro again. “… but uh, Vera-kun. Like, why would she get killed so different and so much later if it was like, the same person?”