Week 0, Friday

[bladeisme]

[When Akira makes it back to the hotel room, he'll find that -

Well. Ichigo is still asleep, somehow. The pillow's been removed from his head, but he's still pretty soundly snoozing away.

He's entirely missed the body and all of the announcements. Jesus fucking christ.]

Comments

[purrtagonist]

I don't know.

[he didn't find any evidence, and doesn't know which pictures were submitted and which ones were not]

You know the rules, though. There's going to be a trial tomorrow.

[for them to figure out who killed Utena]

[bladeisme]

God-

[He cuts himself off, giving a harsh hiss of breath as he shakes his head.

Things just had to happen so fucking quickly, didn't they. And that also meant -]

...Himemiya...what's going to happen to her now that Utena's dead?

[purrtagonist]

I can't answer that one, either.

[not with any sense of certainty. just with what he thinks will happen-- based on the rules, the game mechanics, and questions he overheard other people asking]

[she'll be erased, too]

[he sets his jaw tightly]

Do you think we can find a way to save her?

[bladeisme]

...Maybe. But with the way this whole thing is set up...

[He doesn't want to think about it - but would they even allow them to save the innocent people involved in all of this? The thought makes his head snap up -]

And...we have to find out who did it, don't we? What happens to the person who was the partner of the murderer? Do they...Do they get erased, too?

[purrtagonist]

[echoing Max's words]

"Your Partner is erased? You're erased. This counts even if your Partner was a Reaper."

[. . .]

[he's doing the math in his head. the numbers don't look good]

By those rules, one kill means at least three innocent people die, even if we find the right culprit. The victim, the victim's partner, and the killer's partner.

[jesus]

[he inhales sharply as those words sink in. is this game really designed to elicit the largest amount of bloodshed it can't?]

[bladeisme]

...Three people will die, no matter what.

[He sees that inhale, and - honestly? He feels the same, despite everything. Despite trying to brace himself for the worst, this just feels -

So utterly, incredibly unfair. To have this system set up so people can die quicker, even those who were innocent of the crime...

It makes him feel sick.]

...And we don't have a choice.

[purrtagonist]

Or do we?

[Akira shoots back, though it's mostly on instinct. Ichigo says they don't have a choice, and he wants to believe that they do. he just. . . doesn't know what that choice is yet]

Somewhere down the line, there has to be a better option for us than this.