trial 4 afterPARTY

[keyringwitness]

After the chaos of the trial and its aftermath, their tradition of the morbid "afterparty" almost seemed insulting... to everyone else, at least. Yasu is more than happy to provide.

The rest of the class might be drawn toward the cafeteria by the alluring scent of well-steeped black tea and baked goods. Inside, Yasu sips from her own cup, looking totaly composed by the tray of scones—sorry, everyone, cookies are a Kakuya-only privilege—and the teapot.

There are plates set out, too. Much more sophisticated than the mopey crackers, apples, and cheese everyone is used to.

Comments

[canreallymove]

...

[May as well ask because. He did kind of catch parts of it, but.]

Is...are Yasu and Kakuya...dating?

[copycut]

[ Casually, Kuro rips off a piece of breakfast bar with her fingers. Pops it into her mouth. ]

Yasu-chan called Kakuya her "girlfriend," so it sounds like it.

[canreallymove]

.........................






















That's a way past bad idea-

[HE'S JUST SAYING]

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Maybe. She's already decided, though.

[ Her tone is neutral. ]

[canreallymove]

...We gotta do something so she's not...hurt. Or worse.

[Well. Hurt more. Everyone was hurting.]

But-I doubt tryin' to convince her not to be a girlfriend to Kakuya...would end in any way but bad, either.

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Exactly. [ Kuro sighs. ] Right now, Yasu-chan is willing to give up all of us for Kakuya. And... To be honest, I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

The problem will be if the scales tip. Kakuya says she wants Yasu-chan to be her opponent in this game, which means she'll keep working as hard as she can to solve our murders alongside us. But... If that changes, that means we'll have to take Yasu-chan down, too.

Right now, the best thing you can do is be prepared for that.

[canreallymove]

...

[It's wrong. It's all wrong. It's clear in his eyes that no amount of preparation will ever be enough. It isn't been before in this place. It can never be.]

She doesn't care about Yasu. She'll break her. That's-that's what she wants to do. That's all her game is. Killing us, breaking us, making us play over and over until...until we're gone.

The moment Yasu loses-Kakuya...

[He shuts his eyes.]

She can't see it, can she?

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Kakuya is a youkai. No matter how you look at it, she doesn't think the way we do.

Caring about Yasu, breaking Yasu... When it comes to a creature like that, can't those two things be one and the same? Or...

Everyone's souls in Kakuriyo. For her, beating Yasu-chan at this game might be her way of keeping her by her side forever. Actually, I think that explanation is the most likely.

[canreallymove]

. . .

I...I don't know what a youkai is. Is it like a...demon or something?

[copycut]

[ hrmmm... ]

I think I would describe it as something closer to a spirit. Some can be malicious, and some can be benevolent, but... All of them are an existence beyond human logic, so it's a mistake to make assumptions about them based on what you think is good or evil.

[canreallymove]

...so, like, an alien or ghost. But not.

[It's the best he can come up with, obviously. He =/= human.]

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Something like that. [ She shrugs, rolling a wrist in a dismissive gesture. ] The point is, I doubt that Kakuya understands her actions are wrong. [ By their human (and hedgehog) standards, anyway. ] It's the difference between having a justification for your actions, and not thinking that you need one at all.

[canreallymove]

...Man, and I thought stuff was just...way past messed up already. But A seemed like a normal, uh...normal ish person.

[He rubs his face.]

How do you even talk to someone like that? If she's anything like Buttnik, there's no way she'll listen.

[copycut]

If you want an answer to that, you'd probably be better off asking Yasu.

[ :) ]

Personally, I think communication would be a waste of time. Mm~m... Think of it like getting attacked by a wild animal. [ She... assumes there are also normal animals in Sonic's ecosystem, anyway. ] It can think. It has reason. But... It's not the same kind of reason you or I subscribe to, so negotiation is useless. Either you find some way to divert it, or you have to put it down before it has the chance to kill you.

[canreallymove]

[Yup, there is.]

...so we don't have much of a choice, then. We have to stop her somehow.

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You've got it! [ She snaps her fingers. ] Since there's no hope of negotiation, we have to beat her at her own game and free ourselves. Of course, exactly what that means is up to us.

[canreallymove]

...Right. We definitely...gotta do that.

[He looks down at this.]

Man, this is...a lot. All of this. A lot.