[nope] Killing Night #1 - Shuichi

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi has cleaned up since his misguided morning antics, though it's plainly obvious from his bruised up face and faintly singed hair. Still, his demeanor is no more threatening than before. Actually, he's almost a little bashful.]

Saihara-kun, are you busy tonight? I could use some company...

[Should you spend time with Akechi?]

Comments

[truthstranger]

[a vague strangled noise]

I-It's like... they wanted to give people even more expectations of me than 'Ultimate Detective' had in the first place. It's really... not like that...

[afailedmurder]

I wouldn't worry about it so much. I don't think anyone takes these silly titles seriously, and it's fairly clear they only put that in to tease you.

I am curious about the rest of it, though. How did you become a detective?

[truthstranger]

I...

[there is a long pause as he debates with himself and ultimately decides to go with the easier answer to that question]

...I started out just helping out my uncle. His work isn't usually very exciting, though. Mostly infidelity cases, runaways, that sort of thing. But one time he was working on a murder with the police, and I happened to find a piece of evidence they had missed. That solved the case, and so I got the title of Ultimate Detective.

[afailedmurder]

Ah, I... I can see what you mean about the title.

[some small amount of internal screaming over here, because what the hell, do they just give detective titles out like participation prizes? Why did I have to work so hard to get mine?]

But you solved the case. That's not nothing.

[truthstranger]

I know it's not all that impressive. There were... some circumstances, about all that...

[he trails off vaguely.]

Of course, then I was in a killing game like this with the title of Ultimate Detective. And that time, the rules were such that if we got the culprit wrong, the culprit would win and everyone else would be executed. My friends trusted in my reasoning, so, well... I did my best.

[afailedmurder]

[buddy, you should lead with that]

Everyone...?

That's horrifying. The pressure must have been overwhelming.

[truthstranger]

[look he's doing great at not talking about death and destruction]

M-Mm, it was at times. But I had people supporting me too.

[afailedmurder]

[better that than the power of friendship tbh]

You don't have to be so modest. Between us detectives, it's okay to brag a little.

[truthstranger]

Ah, well... I did solve all of the cases, but it's hard to feel like bragging about it when it meant seeing my friends executed.

[afailedmurder]

You still think of them as your friends? Even though they're killers?

[not sounding judgmental, just surprised and curious]

[truthstranger]

Most of them didn't kill maliciously. They were trying to help, or they were forced into it... there were a lot of complicated reasons.

[afailedmurder]

Even still, I don't think most would be so gracious. You're an interesting person, Saihara-kun.

[truthstranger]

It's not really a matter of being gracious...

[but he's not particularly interested in arguing the point. he avoids Akechi's eyes, glancing off down the hallway]

In any case, that's why I don't want you going off and trying things by yourself. For example, one of my friends tried to set up a trap to kill the mastermind before the time limit for the first murder was over, and someone else ended up being caught in it.

[afailedmurder]

Y-yes, I know. Kurusu also lectured me...

[awwwkward chuckle, time to change the subject]

Do you believe that there is a mastermind in operation in this game as well?

[truthstranger]

[subject change is fine]

It's hard to say. So far there's been no sign that someone is operating things directly...

[afailedmurder]

I would agree with that.

Actually, I hadn't even entertained the idea of a mastermind. I'd assumed a group with a either large pool of resources at their disposal, or — and please don't think me a crackpot for saying so — a power which we might consider to be supernatural in nature.

[truthstranger]

Mm, it seems objectively too risky to have a single mastermind who is actually present, but there were a few things that pointed to in it in our game. Probably the reason is something like "it's more exciting for viewers that way"...

[he trails off again.]

Why do you say something supernatural?

[afailedmurder]

Because my specialty as a detective is investigating crimes which cannot be committed by ordinary means.

[pauses]

And because I've seen it myself — the world that lies beyond what we know to be reality.

[truthstranger]

What?

[afailedmurder]

[now that he's decided he's going to talk about it, he becomes super stoked to talk about it]

The will of mankind is shaped by that of the world, but the reverse is also true; just as an observed particle will change course, reality itself is shaped by the psychic energies of the people who live it. Now imagine that you could dive directly the collective unconscious, physically traverse a realm where metaphors are suddenly very, very real. That's the world that I have seen.

[truthstranger]

[Shuichi does his best to not look like he thinks that sounds totally insane. Given what he's been through, he probably should attempt at least some suspension of disbelief.]

You've... physically entered the collective unconscious?

[afailedmurder]

That's right, or at least my best understanding of the phenomena. It's not as if there were anyone to explain it to me.

[truthstranger]

[okay, backing up]

So when you say 'crimes which cannot be committed by ordinary means', then...?

[afailedmurder]

Crimes committed in that world.

[truthstranger]

...I see. That's hard to believe, as I'm sure you know. But, I don't have any way to either verify or disprove it now, so I may as well. And that's why you think there might be a supernatural power behind this?