[nope] - date 3, Tatsuya

[afailedmurder]

[The aquarium tunnel is a romantic spot for a date, though Akechi seems a little wary of the water overhead.]

Shall we take a seat?

Comments

[motorcycle_noises]

Rumours were becoming reality— any rumour that caught on in the city. Any rumour. At first it was just little things— "the statue of the principal at school can walk on its own," "our school's emblem is cursed." But it got bigger and bigger, until.... Well. That.

[afailedmurder]

I see. Metaphysical concepts manifesting in reality. That's not so difficult to understand.

[motorcycle_noises]

It's a bit fancier than I'd put it, but.... pretty much. It caused a lot of trouble.

[afailedmurder]

Yes, I can imagine. These things usually do.

[motorcycle_noises]

[ Tatsuya shakes his head and shrugs. ]

All that's over, though.... and I don't want to drag the conversation down.

[afailedmurder]

It doesn't bother me, though we can talk about whatever you like.

[motorcycle_noises]

I'm kind of curious to hear more about the hyena woman and the shark...? If you know anything else.

[afailedmurder]

She was literally some kind of anthropomorphic hyena. I don't know the story there; I was going through a rough time at that point in my life and was not overly interested.

As for the shark, it came when the raccoons, our former game masters, broke the tunnel. In order to encourage the participants to murder each other, one of the services they provided was complicating the murder scene as much as possible. Thus, the shark was loosed upon the stairs, and eventually became breakfast for some of the others.

[motorcycle_noises]

They were... encouraging—

[ Well, that's pretty horrifying. ]

[afailedmurder]

It was more than simple encouragement. Committing a murder came with high rewards.

[motorcycle_noises]

...I can't imagine any reward that would be worth it.

[afailedmurder]

No? How about turning back time? Reviving the dead? Saving the world?

[motorcycle_noises]

I didn't have to kill anyone to do that.

[ He says it blandly. ]

[afailedmurder]

[annoyed:]

How nice for you.

[motorcycle_noises]

[ And now he's annoyed. ]

Oh yeah, it's great.

[afailedmurder]

You don't have any idea what we went through here, so I'd appreciate if if you stayed off your high horse.

[motorcycle_noises]

You're right. I don't.

[ And that's really all he has to say about that. ]

[afailedmurder]

[cool. time to sit in silence and watch the nice fish then, I guess]

[motorcycle_noises]

[ After a moment: ]

...You're right. I really don't.

[ Tatsuya sighs. ]

I'm sorry. I'll try to leave my assumptions out of it.

[afailedmurder]

[glances over to Tatsuya, and then back up to the fish]

Every three days or so, we'd have a "killing night." If someone was murdered during that time, we'd have to find the culprit, and the raccoons would put them to death. If everyone survived that night, they would instead execute someone at random.

There were "carrots" and "sticks." A stick might be something like, "If no one is dead by tomorrow, we'll kill your family." One person's carrot was the promise that everyone who had died during the game would be resurrected and sent home.

[motorcycle_noises]

...So no matter what decision was made... There really were no good options.

[afailedmurder]

...Well, it's in the past. Honestly, it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.

[motorcycle_noises]

It... was?

[afailedmurder]

[let's go with the simplest reason]

This is where I met Saihara.

[motorcycle_noises]

[ The simplest reasons are all it takes. ]

....Then I can see why you'd that.

[ The look on Akechi's face says everything. ]