A Beauty Is Joying In My Heart | Takaku | Monotheatre 5.2 | RE: Trial Results
[cw: bad word in the 12th text blockquote thing]
“You can just say you don’t like me, Kurusu. It won’t hurt my feelings, I promise!”
Dropping the honorifics, huh? Either way, they don’t give her much more than a smarmy wink. They have better things to spend their last moments on than debating whether or not their death is fair with a robot who locked them in jail during the investigation.
“Hmm, I always thought I’d have some really cool, really life-changing last requests to hand out once my time came. But now that it’s here, I’m at a total loss! Isn’t that just the way, kukuku~!”
“It’s not like there’s anything anyone can do for me now, but I think it would be nice for you to do one thing every day that surprises you, even if it’s something small. Life’s too short to not try new things, and too long to get stuck in a rut of monotony. Does that sound okay to you?”
Atsuko’s words find them, but it doesn’t hurt them to hear that. If anything, they seem confused and perhaps even slightly concerned.
“... Atsuko-chan, what you deserve is to walk out of here. Maybe things would be different if you hadn’t, but Kurusu still did, so who can say? Not you, not me. Maybe the only people who could know won’t tell us. Or maybe they can’t tell us, or maybe they don't know either. How much here is really left to chance? How much is determined by direct manipulation? Can we really be sure that any of this is as arbitrary as it seems?"
"I know you know I don’t care about the results, really, as long as the ride was fun.”
They lean up a little bit to facilitate the hug. They’re not about to turn something like that down, especially now, even if they certainly wouldn’t admit to it.
“So do you think you can smile for me again?”
They know it’s selfish to ask something like that of her right now, but maybe a little bit of selfishness is in order. They’re about to die, after all. Although once Ryuu speaks up, they can sense that something terrible is about to go down. And go down, it does. They slowly detach themself from Atsuko as all the yelling happens, and the Chronos happens, and he starts accusing Kimiko, and Ryuu, and they are absolutely not having any of that. Maybe if they had more time, they’d care to react more, but...
They can’t get the same sort of volume as the ouendan leader, but it’s clear they’ve been practicing at least a little bit, and they’re determined to be heard. Once they have the room’s attention back on them, they stand upright and puff out their chest, putting on their best condescending expression.
“My name’s Chronos and I’m so much smarter and better than all of you." Oh my god they're really doing this right now- "I solved every murder all by myself and didn’t say anything because I’m that much smarter and better than all you stupidheads! The whoooole tiiiiime I was pretending to be my brother because sure, why not, that’s a reasonable thing for a human person to do! You wouldn’t get why because I’m so smart and genius and none of you are. I’m so smart! Pbbbbt!”
They blow a raspberry in his direction with a wink.
“You know you’re not the only one who has things figured out, right? You have to understand a joke to laugh at it, after all.”
They say it with a perfectly placid neutrality, neither confirming nor denying any accusations he’s been flinging. They've definitely been thinking, though.
“Hmm, but I guess that doesn’t matter, does it. What worth is there in my words now that I’m about to die? Probably none to you. You don’t care about any of us, after all. So since you don’t care about any of us, it shouldn’t be a problem for you to shut your fucking mouth until I’m gone, right? Great!”
The stark contrast between their cheeriness and the way they slip into borderline legitimately intimidating (probably because it's the first time they've actually sworn) is jarring, but just as soon as it's happened, they're right back to normal. It’s possibly the only time they’ve shown even a glimpse of legitimate irritation with something, or someone.
“Since, y’know, caring about a silly thing like goodbyes seems like it’d be beneath you and all that. It’s not like it’s gonna prevent you from ever seeing your brother again!”
With that, they smile up at Atsuko and reach out to grab her hand for a squeeze that could be perceived as reassuring before bounding over to Kimiko and just straight up hug her. No tricks, no jokes, they just go for it with a surprising amount of strength for their frame.
“Don’t listen to that nerd, Kimiko-chan. I mean, just listen to him- or, well, not the things he’s saying, but how he’s saying them! (Seriously, he just sounds like a movie villain. Like, a B-list movie villain at best.)” The stage whisper is projected near their usual speaking volume - they want everyone to hear it, but they feel like they should be with Kimiko specifically right now. “Are you gonna let someone like that kick you around and make you feel bad? He can talk like he's above everyone all he wants, but I know you're above him, Kimiko-chan. Swear it on my jester's honour!"
That's not a thing, but whatever.
They know they’re probably not going to get anywhere being passive aggressive with Chronos, but if they can get a smile on Kimiko’s face one more time, then it’d be worth it. They look up at her with nothing short of admiration and gesture for her to lean in. There’s something they have to say, and for once it’s for a one-person audience. Whatever they had to say, they lean back, giggle, and press a finger to their lips. That was one secret that they’d be able to take to their grave, if nothing else. With a brief flash of inspiration, they reach into their pocket and grab their e-Handbook and key card, holding both out to Kimiko. Their intentions don't need to be verbalized.
Your turn to hoard things.
