End of the Line

“Alright, alright, enough of all that pointless sentimentality you kids are all probably going on about, not that I was listening. You workers will eventually have to learn to become like machines, not worrying about silly things like ‘morals’ or ‘curiosity’ in the pursuit of productivity. A business is like a giant clock, and it only works of all you mechanical pieces mesh together and do your jobs! It’s time to move on with the proceedings, we’re still running on company time here!”

“Upupu, you know what that means! Yeichi, you and that school, thought you could pull a fast one on whoever had the bright idea to start a game like this. But it looks like you just didn’t think hard enough, huh? Real shame you decided to target one of my random workers. I doubt even he had any clue about what you were asking! Upupu, I guess Employee #29 won’t earn that bonus he was aiming for either, it’s a real shame!”

“But, no sense crying over spilled milk! We’ve got a punishment to get to! And I’ve got something very special for you, kid! So you’d all better be grateful for how much work I put into this! Commence the punishment!”

Big Brother Mode Activated | Hideo | Re: Héloïse, Tomomi, Yatagarasu, Matsukaze

For just a few seconds it seems like things might calm down, at least a little. The accusations and trial are taking on a clearer direction, people are turning attention back to the evidence, Yata has stopped fake confessing and Hideo is feeling a bit better over being comforted, though also guilty for needing it in the first place.

And then everything goes right back to being terrible again. Because of Héloïse. Again. Hideo is… really starting to not like her very much at all. What is she even talking about? Candidates? Mastermind? What is she accusing Tomomi of- being a robot? What does that have to do with anything?

People are shouting and insulting one another again in no time, but it’s sight of the coffee sailing across the room that makes Hideo jump.

“No no no-” His hands fly up to cover his mouth, there’s no way to intercept it because it’s already hit, and Hideo awkwardly steps back, gently patting Yatagarasu’s hands and ignoring his own hiccups and the sick feeling that’s still churning in his stomach. “I-I’m sorry, I- Ito-san is- I-I gotta help, they got hit with coffee…” He explains in a rush, and this is it, something he can do, everything else gets pushed back for now.

He can’t solve this case and he can’t stop everyone from fighting, he can’t keep his head clear or tears out of his eyes, but he can turn and hurry over to Matsu, pulling off his vest to gently try to dab away some of the coffee that had splashed on them.

“I know, I know,” Hideo murmurs softly as he tends to them, his heart in his throat, “I’m so sorry this happened to you, l-let me help, h-here…” When he thinks he’s wiped up the worst of it, Hideo gently folds Matsu into a hug, loose enough that they can pull away if they want to, but still curling around them protectively, as if he could shield them from the entirety of the trial and everything else.

Crybaby | Hideo | Re: Asa, Yata, Yeiichi, Haruna

The tape stops very suddenly and Hideo doesn’t see how or why, he hears a crash but he’s still doubled over and wheezing, eyes squeezed shut against his tears. It hurts, everything just hurts and he doesn’t want to be here and he’s not even helping, he can’t do anything, useless, he needs to do something but there’s so much… At least the tape has stopped playing but he can still hear the echoes of those voices, of those horrible sounds ringing in his ears.

He thinks he hears something else, too, a voice saying his name, Asa? Yes, that’s Asa, and Hideo starts to straighten up, to look for them, are they calling for him? Do they need him? He’s shaky and hiccuping and his vision has gone all blurry but he tries to find their distinct teal hair anyway- and then hands are on his face and he blinks the fresh tears away, finding himself looking into Yatagarasu’s mask and belatedly registering their words.

Vaguely in the background he can hear Asa, talking to… Yeiichi? They sound okay, not hurt, that’s good, but he doesn’t like what they’re saying. Or how they’re saying it. Not the accusation, he’s sure they have good reason for that, Asa is smart, they know what they’re doing, but why do they have to say it like that, with a threat…?

In the foreground, however, is Yatagarasu, back to being his friend, wiping his tears away and speaking to him in a soft voice that does soothe his nerves ever so slightly, even if it’s tantamount to throwing a cup of water on a bonfire. It’s confusing, so confusing, one moment they were being cruel for… seemingly no reason at all, because they thought it would be fun? What could be fun about that? About any of this?

But they helped him before, and they’re helping him now, and they promise to stop and… it probably isn’t wise to believe them, but Hideo wants to, so he does anyway. He leans into their comforting touches, not away, and murmurs a quiet, “O-okay.” through hitching, poorly suppressed sobs. Haruna shouting on another side of the room makes him flinch, but from what he can hear she’s trying to calm things down, sort of, so that’s something. Hideo really hopes they’re getting close to an answer because he feels horrible and sick and just… wants this to be over already, please let it be over soon. Was it really Yeiichi…? He doesn’t want to believe it was anyone, but two people are questioning the taxidermist now, two smart people, two people he trusts as if Hideo doesn’t trust everyone, and what they’re saying about the evidence makes sense, so maybe it’s true…

Everything Happens So Much | Hideo | Re: Too Many | ATTN: Alastor + Yatagarasu

Ohhh there’s so much yelling, is it yelling? Some of it is yelling, some of it is just talking loud enough to be heard by the entire room and over other people talking, but it’s getting hard to distinguish between the two. That’s probably because of the headache, and how fast everything is moving, and Hideo really, really does not feel well.

It’s hard to keep up with, footprints and garbage shoot and a cassette tape? At first people seem to be making sense but then there’s just… accusations for no reason and a lot of anger anger anger and insults and swearing and Hideo doesn’t know what to do because it’s coming from a lot of different people and it’s just… Bad.

“C-can ya stop…” Hideo’s voice cracks and his arms are still full of wire and he doesn’t know what to do with that, either. It wasn’t important enough to bring but he hadn’t found a safe place to dispose of it and he’s just kind of holding it all and finally, for lack of anything else to do with it, he turns and sets it down on the ground behind his podium because he doesn’t know how long this is going to go on or what else is going to happen but he has the feeling he might want to be able to use his hands at some point. It’s certainly nice to be able to press a hand against his head to try and relieve some of the pressure from the headache.

Wait, Yatagarasu is talking now, what are they saying? What?

“What? No- th-that ain’t what…!” Hideo doesn’t understand what’s happening. Why would they say that? Any of that? His usual accent drops without his even noticing, turning into a very distressed Osaka dialect.  “I didn’t… ya never asked me that, I- it wasn’t- y-ya came to my room an’ stayed t-to help me sleep, that… that happened… Why’re ya lyin’…?”

At least no one seems to believe them, but that’s causing its own problems, and Hideo’s head hurts, and his stomach hurts, and he feels like he’s on an emotional rollercoaster that only goes down but still has a lot of jolting around somehow.

“S-stop, stop! Please, why… please stop insultin’ each other a-an’, shouting an’… please, s-someone’s dead, b-bein’ cruel ain’t helpin’, this ain’t… this isn’t okay!” Hideo doesn’t even know who to turn to, he keeps looking from person to person, the Duvals, Yatagarasu, Haruna, Arisa, Tomomi, Matsu, Alastor… everyone, and he’s getting dizzy and oh god is Yata grabbing Alastor?

“Don’t!” Hideo scrambles to get around Dororou, hurrying to attempt to shove himself between Yata and Alastor even as Megumi is asking someone to separate them, he’s here, he’s crying a lot, but he’s trying. “Don’t hurt each other! I-if ya gotta hurt someone, hurt me, but jus’- just stop! This ain’t a joke, this ain’t… this isn’t fun, all of ya, you’re all better than this! Th-there was a lotta evidence found so j-just… can’t ya all talk about it without attackin’ each other?”

No, Hideo, they can’t.

[TW: Emetophobia]

And then Héloïse is playing the cassette tape that people have been talking so much about, and Hideo… does not handle it well. At the first playthrough he goes chalky pale, his breathing becoming erratic, and he stumbles back, away from the two he was trying to keep separate, and then as the second playthrough starts he turns and starts retching onto the floor. Thank small mercies he hadn’t had anything to eat since the day before, so there’s nothing to really come up, but that isn’t stopping his stomach from trying.

He’s gonna be sobbing and choking for a little while here. Super useless.

Trial [START]

A Full Debrief

After the students take their precious few moments to take in what had just happened– their newly disturbing and altogether uncomfortable surroundings, the mystery of the victim’s identity, and the gravity of the situation they were in, Karoshi-kuma interrupts their train of thought with his own spiel.

“Welcome to the trial room, you bastards! This is the place for you to let all that tension with the recent murder out in the open. Got a problem with one of your co-workers? What better time to call ‘em out, accuse ‘em of slaughtering someone, and prove your point with all that evidence you found!”

“Upupupu, this’ll be some hands-on training for you, so listen good! You have until I get tired of listening to you any further to make your case! Show off your evidence, or just spew out those silly little theories you have, and make your case for who you think committed this murder! Once I get bored, it’s time for you to submit your votes, using those little buttons on your podiums. Don’t go pushing someone else’s buttons, it won’t work! You indecisive kids can even switch a vote whenever you want, you can even start the trial off right away with your vote, if you want to be a total buzzkill! When time’s up, upupupu, then I get to administer the reward– or the punishment– depending on how smart you bastards are. Another step toward a promotion, or a full-on punishment for your failure to do a clean job, who knows what it’ll be!”

“Your time starts…right now! So hop to it! Time is money, and I’m not willing to pay to keep the lights on for you to just dilly-dally the whole time!”

The Descent

Heeding Karoshi-kuma’s demands, the students quickly make their way to the picturesque landscape of the park– despite the grass and foliage being fake, it still held more color and ‘life’ than most other sections of this city. Hesitantly, and some with various objects gathered through investigation clustered in their arms, the students stand around the centerpiece of the area: the large fountain depicting 25 doves fluttering over a cresting wave.

They hardly have the mind, nor even the time, to take in the sight before the overseer leaps into view.

“About time you made it! You bastards were running around like you were getting ready for a marathon! This is the place you’ll be meeting for all future trials, so you’d best find a quicker route here to keep me from waiting!”

“But, maybe you’re wondering how we’re going to hold a trial with this big ‘ol fountain in the way! Well, look no further!”

With a flourish, the bear pulls out a remote control and activates the red button embedded in it, sending a slight tremor beneath the students’ feet. Then, a mechanical whirring sound begins, as the water in the fountain trickles to a stop and the ground beneath them begins to move. The concrete area around the fountain lowers as if it were an elevator, pulling the students down into an unknown darkness whether they are prepared or not. All greenery and faint familiarity of the city slowly disappear from view as the students are lowered down into the ground.

The lower they get, the warmer things feel, until finally the elevator jolts to a stop. The students are surrounded on all sides by mechanical walls, with vents and access hatches decorating the walls like photographs in a mansion. In a circle around this room– replacing the large circular space where the fountain sat in front of them mere moments ago, is a series of 21 podiums, lined with buttons labelled with each students’ name. The podiums even have name plaques on them, to show where each person is intended to stand.

As the students gradually, hesitantly approach their podiums, the truth becomes clear– every single podium has someone standing at it. If that was the case, then who…..?

Investigation [END]

At the call for investigation– or merely because the prospect of someone among them being a murderer felt a good enough cause– many students scrambled to action. Scouring nearly every corner of the city in search of something– anything– that could give them the answers they sought.

But, after a few hours flew by, the students were suddenly interrupted by more furious buzzing of their PDAs, and another announcement in the grating voice of Karoshi-kuma.

“Ding ding ding! This isn’t a lunch bell or call for a break, you bastards! It’s time for our first annual meeting! Your allotted time to snoop around is up, so get a move on! Meet me by the fountain at the park, on the double! Don’t be late, or you’ll face some harsh consequences! It’s very rude to keep your superiors waiting!”