James Moriarty (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hatesdeerstalkers) wrote2023-06-27 09:09 pm
hatesdeerstalkers) wrote2023-06-27 09:09 pm
15 strangers r7 | Week 3, Late Thursday and Friday (Aoi)
[He had killed. Kaito didn't deserve what had happened, not at all - but he had left his plan up to the whims of fate, and fate had answered by bringing him someone who understood what the consequences would have been...and more importantly, he was fine with dying or standing trial.
The end of it had been...not what he was expecting, but in the end...well, such things happened, and he had made the death quick. The stinging pain in his torso where the chlorine irritated his wound was able to be ignored, as he made his way back to the Lounge.
Seeing his book there was one step - but the one thing he hadn't planned on was that Aoi was still in there, and had been there for the entire time. If it had been anyone else, then perhaps he would have just read and went back to his room, but...
Aoi was someone he had a good feeling for, and he had already once given his plans to luck. Why not chance it again?
After all, at worst, he would merely be found out at trial sooner, in a trial he had no intention of winning.
So after placing his book back in the bookshelf, he makes his way over to Aoi with a smile.]
I hadn't expected to see you still here, my boy! Everything has been quiet in here, I presume?
The end of it had been...not what he was expecting, but in the end...well, such things happened, and he had made the death quick. The stinging pain in his torso where the chlorine irritated his wound was able to be ignored, as he made his way back to the Lounge.
Seeing his book there was one step - but the one thing he hadn't planned on was that Aoi was still in there, and had been there for the entire time. If it had been anyone else, then perhaps he would have just read and went back to his room, but...
Aoi was someone he had a good feeling for, and he had already once given his plans to luck. Why not chance it again?
After all, at worst, he would merely be found out at trial sooner, in a trial he had no intention of winning.
So after placing his book back in the bookshelf, he makes his way over to Aoi with a smile.]
I hadn't expected to see you still here, my boy! Everything has been quiet in here, I presume?
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What's going on?
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He doesn't let the irritation show, though he does seem a little more tired than usual, even as he laughs and comes closer, standing by his side and clapping a hand on his shoulder.]
Oh, nothing much - just went for a midnight snack before bed, I suppose! Though I should watch my intake of food, even during these stressful times, lest I become rotund!
[Another laugh, as he leans forward as if to share a private joke in Aoi's ear - but what he says is deadly serious.]
Your little problem with Kaito has been taken care of.
[This close....he smells faintly of Chlorine.]
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Hey, so why don't you go to my room? I'll bring by some food from the kitchen. That way you can rest - you seem tired.
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Perhaps he made a mistake with this - but it isn't as if he can change it now, anyway.]
Ah, unfortunately I'm quite stuffed! How about tomorrow morning, we can meet and have a chat over breakfast? Besides, if I'm too late to bed, my roommate will begin to worry.
[His roommate who doesn't need sleep - Brain. He's attempting to solidify an alibi, Aoi, Please Keep Up.]
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Okay, sure.
Sleep well, alright?
[ He says nothing about what he's planning to do next. ]
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He nods, though he sees the sleep deprivation (now, after he's had a moment - did the killing really affect him that much?) and gives a polite chuckle.]
I will - you'd better as well, young man! You've hardly slept a wink this whole week, hm?
[With a pat on the back, he walks ever so calmly out of the room.
The next morning - after the body announcement and the investigation materials go up, he practically makes a beeline for Aoi (though in a VERY NORMAL, CALM WAY, of course).]
Ah, Aoi! Just who I wanted to see.
[He claps a hand on the his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.]
Shall we have breakfast together? We'll have to keep our strength up despite...well, I suppose the notice reached you just as well as it did me.
[WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, SON BOY]
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Yeah but I'm kind of cold. Could I - borrow something to warm up?
I tried these gloves but they're not helping today.
[ Hint hint he's hiding something and wants to communicate that. ]
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I do know Brain has quite the collection of winter wear at the moment - I'm sure he wouldn't mind handing some over to a poor soul in need!
[Under the guise of raiding a closet for warm shit they go to his room! Once he checks that Brain isn't inside, he ushers the two of them inside, closing the door and waiting for the sound to settle.
And then he just sits down on the bed, placing a hand to his head with a long-suffering sigh.]
...Tell me truly, Aoi. Are you the Fabricator, or did you attempt to muddle the scene by your own will?
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[ He exhales slowly. ]
I did mess with the scene. To try to make you look less suspicious.
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It could also be both, and that is just as worrying.]
...Very well, then I will let the matter rest.
[...]
...Why, then? I hadn't asked you at all. I merely wished to alleviate your concerns in regards to little Ayame.
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Nobody....
Nobody does that.
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It seems no matter where he goes, the past will follow him. How easily he could buy loyalty, by merely showing kindness and bare decency to those who had been given none.
In the past - in the past, he surely would have been able to discard any feelings towards this kind of manipulation. Of course he would have been able to, wouldn't he?
But perhaps because he is the 'good' side of an evil man...he can't stop but feel as if something inside him wrenched at the thought of it.]
That....I -
[He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. What can he even say to that?
...No, there is one thing. A hard truth for a hard truth.]
...Aoi, I...have no intention of 'winning' this game. I killed in full expectation of my execution.
[He's calm - it's as if he were talking about the weather.]
I don't believe someone who cared about another would willingly put the person they cared for through such a thing.
['I am not a good person. I am Evil.']
cw: suicide
You're better than her by far.
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He takes a deep breath, letting it out as he rubs at the bridge of his nose.]
....Yes, I...suppose, by that metric. Yet, am I not attempting the same thing? Having a public death, for you all to see...
[...]
For the alternative would be the death of all of you, and I...will not allow that, even if...even if I appreciate what you tried to do.
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And now he's panicking. ]
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Next time, don't tell someone who's clearly on low sleep that you killed someone.
He brings up his hands and claps loudly in Aoi's face, to break him out of any panic.]
As I said - I will not allow that to happen, no matter what. Trust me, Aoi.
[He puts his hands down, but one comes to land on his shoulder in a grounding manner.]
I will attempt to lead the trial to the proper conclusion, even with the misleading evidence. No matter what you did, there is one thing that, if found properly, will undoubtably point towards me as the killer.
[He points to his torso, right where the now extremely irritated wound is.]
Kaito injured me, you see. All they would have to do is demand I take my bandages off.
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...
...
[ Aoi takes off his gloves, revealing pink stained fingertips and a cut on his left hand. ]
So you see.
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At the pink.
And at the cut again.
The urge to scream rises, but he manages to force it back just in time.]
...How, did you cut yourself?
[It comes out falteringly because AAAAAAAAAAA]
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I wanted to be blamed, you see.
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[That comes out before he can stop himself. Logically, he knows why - no sleep and panic over someone who had actually cared about him.
But, emotionally...]
Even if there was no mass execution, I would still protest at you attempting to take on my crime! Nor should you have to deal with the suspicion of being the Fabricator! Aoi - my god!
[He places his face in his hands for a moment, before speaking through his fingers.]
You are still young, and Akane would be alone in this world without you. I alone am enough as a sacrifice for the future.
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It's okay. She's better off without me.
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[That's firm, at the very least.]
You have practically raised her, have you not? Alone as you were, within the world? Of course she would still love and need you, as a member of her family.
[He sounds so sure...and yet, here he was, planning his own death despite calling himself their father.]
Do not devalue yourself so thoroughly, Aoi. It doesn't suit you.
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[ Aoi raises his voice a little, but he doesn't intend to. It just... happens. He looks apologetic, but doesn't make effort to lower it. ]
You're important!
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[It's only logical, after all.]
As well as literally being only the 'castoff' of my 'true' self. If there is anyone that is expendable here, then it would be myself.
[And it's...just calm. It's fine. It's the truth.]
Besides, I cannot change the outcome now. I was the one who killed Kaito, therefore...the only ending to this equation is either my execution, or the death of all of you.
Someone must show all of you the way forward - how to properly find the killer, to learn that even the most cordial among you can truly kill without it being an accident. To learn what it is Delta hides with the uncharacteristic act of 'Mercy' he gives when he allows one of our number to execute the other. To truly impose upon all of you that the Game has begun, and if you are to survive it without giving into our Captor's intentions, you must be as one.
And so, Let it be me.
['Let me be the sacrifice.']
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So how do we fix this?
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[That's practically automatic.]
Last trial they did not ask for those wearing gloves to remove them, so I've little doubt they'll ask again. If you truly want to make it seem as if you were injured extremely recently - in a public area - then you'll want to do something today to re-cut your hand.
[That should be enough, right?]
Otherwise, I will do as I planned - lead the trial to the correct conclusion.