“Mm...a lot of things can be risky, when you think about it. We don’t know what’ll happen when we wake up in the morning. There’s a lot of things at work around us. A lot of things I’ve done could’ve turned out quite badly, so I suppose in some regards I’m lucky. Or, maybe not luck, but some sort of blessing. If I had to pick something...leaving home for Wilmington. Ah, that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a very complicated matter...”
MAGICIAN
“Hm. I’ve been working on survival skills since I was young. I could probably get by in the wilderness for some time, but it’s rather lonely. It’s nice to be around nature for a time, but sometimes you want to be around other people. I wonder how the ascetics managed it. Oh, but I suppose hermitages had visitors now and then...
Ah, right. Three skills. I make all my own clothes too. It was just a way to pass the time at first, but it was part of the reason I was accepted into Hope’s Peak, so I suppose it got me further than I ever would’ve expected. Not that it was the only reason...I can’t really claim full credit for everything, though. There’s a lot of things that go into a good photoshoot...my roommate, Laurence, he helps with a lot. He picked most of the locations, and he is a good photographer. He helped me manage my social media early on too. And with a lot of other things. I don’t think I could have gotten very far without him. But it’s not often people notice “the help,” as they say, is it? How arbitrary...
And a third...well, I do freerunning and parkour. That counts for something, right? It’s more of a hobby, though. It’s nice to feel the wind in your hair, isn’t it? Now, we spend so much time inside, stuck in jobs or school or things like that...I don’t think it’s natural. If we paid a bit more attention to a person’s basic drives, how much could society improve? These things weigh on my mind. But it’s hard to change things people see as immutable, I suppose.”
Lovers - (does someone need to share your values for you to pursue a relationship?)“You know what? Yeah! But most people are too chicken to tell the truth, and just say they agree with you keep things smooth. So it’s really friggin’ hard to judge off of that. What I’m saying is, I’m only single because, like, no one is good enough for me.”Temperance - (do you tend to focus on the past, present, or future?)“The present, I guess? Looking back and looking forward is way too stressful... dealing with shit you can’t control. Ugh. This is giving me wrinkles, I can feel it.”
Itona, fascinated by the Kamaitachi Trio, wordlessly offers One(1) Hansatsu. He wants an item but he also wants to observe them too.
You feel a gust of air. Next time you blink, the three weasels are in front of you.
“…Somethin’ on my fur? You’re starin’ at me. I know I’m cute, but–”
They’re cut off by a puff of smoke. And from it emerges…
Miniature Moped : W-Whoa! It may be a smaller model than usual, but it’s still impressive that a bona fide 50cc moped can actually fit inside the talisman. Shimmering blue in colour, it’s certainly an attractive little vehicle, but…can riding this thing ‘round a place like this really go well in any way? Well, only one way to find out!
Yutaka’s eyes light up.
“I-I mean I can totally go faster than that. But if y’wanna go on a ride sometime, then, y’know…”
“… I would still like to hear you play the piano.”
Despite admiring Ayato for being a pianist - due to the fact that she likes instrumental and classical music a lot -, Veronica never really got to talk to him before the first trial. As we all know, Veronica was one of the main folks who accused Ayato of committing the first crime. She didn’t really feel bad for having pressured him though, because in her opinion, everyone should expect to get suspected if the evidence might align with them. Thus, she never actually apologized for what she’s put through Ayato, nor does she feel particulary sorry about it.
Afterwards, it was just… well, Veronica never paid much attention to Ayato. Honestly, he was largely stuck in the position of ‘that one innocent boy we almost send to death’. However, in the times she did pay attention to him, she… well, felt a bit sorry for him due to his inability to sleep? That kind of carried over in their one actual interaction after the merge; they had a pleasant conversation and she thinks that he’s overall a tolerable existence. If it weren’t for the mutual killing game, she might’ve even tried to pursue friendship with him? And she still thinks that he’d look fabulous with a high-ponytail.
And after that, it went back to… okay, we both know we exist and that’s that. Well, there also was that incident where Ayato got injured by Kazuko and Veronica did feel even more sorry for him. She would’ve been honestly been more pissed at Kazuko if she’d had taken Ayato’s life. However, we only got Veronica’s smug mode, so… yeah, there’s that.
Also, she’s somewhat a bit confused how Ayato and Ailani got suddenly so tight at… Chapter 8? But she didn’t spare the thought more than a few seconds before moving on to other stuff.
Final Thoughts: Chill guy whom she could certainly see befriending outside of any mutual killing games. Still really wants to hear him play and thus, would be up to talk to him again after this game is done.
“Heyy, it’s you! I still think that it’s real funny that I got your secret still. Sometimes I chuckle to myself about it! It’s real funny-- I don’t think you know why, but hey, it’s got to stay somewhat of a secret, huh? Right, Ayato “experiment helper” Akiyama?
Well, I don’t really have much to say. It’s not like we’re that close enough to meet again.”
ryan... honestly doesn’t have much of an opinion of ayato, really. it’s true that they found ayato amusing only one when they were basically interrogating him on his secret, but other than that? if ayato was trying to reach background character levels, then he sure as hell got it with ryan.
honestly they wouldn’t mind talking to ayato again, but would probably feel weird about it as they weren’t close? like at this point they’re going to treat everyone from the mutual killing who they weren’t somewhat close to as like. former classmates that you don’t ever want to meet again.
awkwardly, ryan did suspect ayato as the mastermind as some point, but they’d probably stay silent about that since it was obviously... well, wrong. no one needs to know about the great ryan roe making silly mistakes. well, they don’t really count it as a genuine suspicion, really. o well.
summary: aside from one thing that caught their attention in the past, ryan doesn’t have much to say about ayato. he’s very neutral in their book and they don’t really give that much of a shit about him. they do find his secret to be really funny though for their own personal reasons-- not much the person, but the concept.
Alright, so, I’ll be clear. Kazuko thought he was really cute and hit on his once, but he seems so timid that she never did it again.
Kazuko worried about this guy the whole time. It was probably because he reminded her a bit of Kanon (being rich and the gun family thing). After the first trial, she didn’t really feel up to talking to him. I don’t fully remember but I’m pretty sure she was against accusing him for no reason aside for the coat. Anyway, Kazuko did worry about him.
So, then came the murder. During the murder, Kazuko spent any time after the big fight basically in the state from Left 4 Dead where the world goes grey, except a lot more sluggish. She was already super sleep deprived the whole time and only her training kept her on her feet for the rest of the day. She literally didn’t know she’d hit him before she did. It was all done on instinct. The moment he went down, her mind cleared up a little and OH SHIT, she just hurt the piano man!
She considered killing him. In her daze, she didn’t know if she yelled or if he saw her. It would be a sympathy, right? He didn’t deserve to bleed to death unlike the monster. He didn’t deserve this pain. He wouldn’t die for real, so... She was too pitiful for it though. He did nothing wrong and she didn’t expect to get away clean. Instead, she dragged him to the next room and left him there. She did make an effort to check up on his wound, but it made her too sick to realize she’d done something she couldn’t reverse.
Kazuko realizes she doesn’t deserve any forgiveness from him, but she still wishes him the best. He shot up in respect when he didn’t try to take revenge on her. It was such a sleepy trial anyway.
