[nope] Killing night 12 - Shuichi

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi is taking Baxter out for one last walk before he holes up, which is to say he's lurking around the infirmary without going in until the raccoons start badgering him. It's only when he catches Shuichi's eye that he tries to act cool and casual about it.]

Good evening, Saihara-kun! I'm not interested in exploring tonight, but if you need an alibi, you can drop by my room.

Comments

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi's own laughter is bordering on hysterical]

Th- that was even more satisfying than I'd hoped! Give it a try!

[truthstranger]

Right. Okay...

[This feels so weird. He removes the band from his own money, wondering if it's better or worse if he thinks about exactly how much money this is, how much it would be worth if they had any way to spend it, or a real hope of not dying sometime in the next few days.

Eventually he decides that makes it worse. He just lets a rush of emotion rise in his chest as he throws the cash up like confetti, letting out his breath in a rush.]

Hah...!

[afailedmurder]

[watches him with absolute glee]

That's it! It's just paper!

[going for another stack]

[truthstranger]

Ah. Mm.

[For a moment Shuichi feels like maybe this is not the best way to spend their time. But Akechi looks so happy about it, and surely there are a lot worse ways too.]

I-It's kind of fun...

[afailedmurder]

[Takes a bill off the current stack and tries, not very well, to make a paper airplane.]

Sometimes you have to let loose. Forget about the future, forget about the world, and do whatever seems the most fun at that exact moment.

[truthstranger]

I'm not sure I'm very good at that, but...

[he takes another bundle of money out and removes the band, spreading it across his lap this time, considering]

[afailedmurder]

It's somewhat difficult to put into words, but anybody can do it. Imagine, say... that there is no world outside of this room. For all we know, there isn't; we are mere cavemen staring at shadows on the wall, after all, imprisoned by our own perceptions of reality.

[he rips a bill in half and tosses it aside]

Your natural inclination will be to despair at the thought of that ever-gaping void, but there's no point to that. There's no point to anything. Don't shy away from that fact. Embrace it. Because even if the world is a void, your ego still exists within that void. By your very existence, you defy the the cold, callous universe. Your thoughts, your will, your actions; those things still belong to you.

[rips another]

Let that empower you and you can do anything. Don't think. Don't worry about what I'll think. You can do anything you want tonight — to this room, to this money, to me.

[rrrip]

[truthstranger]

[he was mostly with him up until the end there, but then he crinkles some of the bills in his hands as his fists tighten automatically]

I’m not going to—! Of course I’m going to think about you!

[afailedmurder]

Fair enough, I suppose. Truthfully, I'm thinking about you, too.

[tosses his current wad of cash aside]

You can still do whatever you want.

[truthstranger]

S-Still... I'm not going to just do whatever I want... to you...

[afailedmurder]

Is that so? My, the things going through your head must be very interesting.

[picks up another money stack and pokes him with it]

[truthstranger]

[he jumps, and some of the money spread in his lap falls off onto the bed or the floor]

I-It's not like that...!

[it's a little like that]

I just... if I just did whatever I wanted without caring what you thought or how you felt... That would be terrible. And I'd feel terrible.

[afailedmurder]

You really are sweet. That's a rare quality.

[tries to make himself some origami, though the only thing he actually knows how to make is a crane and money is the wrong shape for it]

Right now, I think I'd do anything you asked of me. Most people would take advantage of that.

[truthstranger]

...I don't think it's all that out of the ordinary to not want to take advantage of someone who trusts you.

[afailedmurder]

I wish that were true. In my experience, people take advantage whether you trust them or not.

[truthstranger]

...Maybe sometimes. But you're not taking advantage of me either.

[afailedmurder]

I might have, had the situation been different.