Trash Squad Day 11 - SECRETS

[chinhotta]

Are you ready for it?! It's the long awaited final event! This is your last chance to get close before your final dates and the final bonus event!

And, back by popular demand, it's the motive vi—wait, no, not that. Well, I guess you're motivated to build your relationships? That's better anyway.

...Anyway! Check your tablets! You will find you have a few interesting video files! They should be familiar to you! The catch is... if you don't share each one with a different person by nighttime today, they will all be shown to everyone here! We'll have a fun midnight viewing party!

This may seem a bit cruel, but... love is cruel sometimes. Take it as an opportunity to get a bit closer to the people you care about, or everyone will learn a bit more about you! It's win-win when you think about it that way!

[ On your tablets are a minimum of 3 video files! There is no maximum; it's however many you OOCly want to deal with. Each video contains some sort of secret your character has—'secret' loosely defined as anything they would be uncomfortable being thrown up on a big screen in the auditorium in front of everyone. The presentation can be as simple as lines of text with embarrassing facts (Alice wet the bed until she was in junior high!) or as involved as a dramatically edited montage of the murders they committed through their whole life. Your choice!

Each file should be shown to a different person to count as 'shared'. If there is anything they do not manage to, or choose not to, share with someone in particular, comment with a brief description of it over here. These will all be shared publicly in a post which goes up on Thursday before the date announcement post. ]

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Game navigation
SUBMIT YOUR HOT OR NOTS AND DATE RATINGS by 6PM PST THURSDAY.
SUBMIT YOUR UNSHARED SECRETS ALSO by 6PM PST THURSDAY.

Comments

[truthstranger]

What would happen... to everyone else?

[pecker]

They'd be looking for me, so I assume they'll die from their poison... I don't think me being in another world will cut it as an excuse, as you can't forfeit and the Juuni Taisen doesn't have any borders. The fighting can extend to anyplace in the world. So even if they knew I was in another world, I think they'd be expected to find the way there. Or maybe Duodecuple would do it for them. He is capable of granting any wish, so it should be possible... then I'd be hunted down... I guess it's an option. If I had a guide, it would be like a home field advantage. But I doubt anyone would want to deal with it.

[truthstranger]

Ah... they'd really chase you across worlds?

[pecker]

I'm not sure... I mean, I don't think a warrior's ever gone to another world before... but it's theoretically possible, and I'm not sure if the game runners would think if everyone else dies, then it's their fault they couldn't get to me, or if they would think the playing field needs to be leveled because I'm somehow cheating. All I know is the rules of this year's Taisen say the winner has to collect all 12 gems.

[truthstranger]

If that's the rule, specifically, what if we got your gem out and sent it back without you?

[pecker]

Oh. Maybe... that would work... He really did just say that we have to get the gems. It's definitely a loophole.

[She doesn't sound excited about finding a loophole, though. More like mystified. She hadn't thought about it - hadn't been looking for ways out. Niwatori had always been in the mindset of surviving the dating game to gain advantages, win in the killing game, and stay a warrior for the rest of her life. The one person who told her she could do anything else... she'd stopped taking him seriously as soon as his presence was gone. And in the back of her mind, there are other reasons why she'd want to return, but they're as conflicting to her as the idea of starting over is. Confusion and her lack of confidence stir up more excuses to use.]

Then what if I did run away to another world? It would save my neck, but what good would that do... I'd have to depend on whoever brought me with them. I don't know how you do it, even if you are in love.

[Remember the part where she couldn't tell enemies from friends?]

[truthstranger]

Ah, well, it helps that Akechi-kun's world is pretty close to... what I remember my world being like, at least. I did need his help to get settled... and Kurusu-kun's contacts to get official paperwork for an identity... but we're living more or less a normal life together, now.

[ At least, normal mildly controlling boyfriend levels of dependent, rather than totally dependent. ]

Not to say it wouldn't be hard, to go someplace completely new and have to figure things out from scratch, but... it seems like it would be better than that killing game.

[pecker]

Maybe, but... I don't know if I could do it. Figure it out. I... have never made a decision for myself and I've never thought about what I want... but even so, I don't think I want to quit. I don't know...

[She presses a palm to her forehead, trying to think.]

For some reason, I really don't want to, umm... what could it be? It's not that I actually like killing or anything...

[Though she may be on to something with that. She trails off, thinking.]

[truthstranger]

Ah... if we really are similar, I understand some of that... That is, not... not wanting to quit, but... not quite knowing what decisions I made myself. I do wonder sometimes if it was really best to leave that all unresolved, but...

[ He also trails off, not sure where he's going with that, and waiting for her to respond. ]

[pecker]

Unresolved... [Her eyes widen slightly, like that resonated with her, though she's not sure how. Maybe it will make more sense if they compare situations.]

So, what did you leave unresolved, exactly?

[truthstranger]

...A lot of things, honestly. In the end... I didn't really know what the truth of the situation was at all. How much of what I remember is real, how much is at least based on reality, how much of it is completely fabricated... Some of the things I was told were fictional were clearly real.

[ 'Things,' or people. ]

Supposedly, my family and friends I remembered outside the killing game never existed, but what if that was a lie, too...?

[ He sighs. ]

Even if it wasn't... Maybe it would have been better to know, either way? I'm not sure. I think... in the end, I'm probably happier like this, though.

[pecker]

Umm... that's probably true. I mean, even if they were real, it's not like they did anything to help you in your situation.

[She tried. This is pretty off the mark for her since her memories weren't fabricated or anything, but it does make her think about what it isn't. Like family... Does she think she would miss the Niwa clan? She doesn't feel strongly about it. They were part of the people she didn't think were enemy or friends. Was there anyone in her world that wasn't like that? No... not really... everyone else she knew was a bridge already burned, and the people in the Taisen were her enemies by default.

But if they weren't...

Suddenly, Niwatori's teeth clench.]

Oh... no. Oh my god... noooo.... that's so stupid... it's so dumb!

[The palm of her hand drags up until the heel of it is on her forehead, and she bangs lightly against it a couple times.]

[truthstranger]

[ He laughs awkwardly, but at least he's distracted from her attempt at comfort by what she does next. ]

H-Hey... what is it?

[pecker]

[She removes her hand and lets it hang at her side. Her expression is so pained. She is so disappointed in herself]

I. Think. There is someone I want to. Save?

[truthstranger]

Ah. Someone else from the game?

[ He's not sure why she looks disappointed, but... ]

[pecker]

[She nods hesitantly.]

There's this Warrior of the Monkey... Sharyu-san. She's a negotiator that's highly renowned for the number of ceasefires and peace treaties she's managed to bring about. None of the warriors like her since she's so bad for business. She had all these secret plans to end the Juuni Taisen, and I even pretended to be her ally so I could kill her, but... I... I couldn't. I hated how weak I felt from being around her... I thought she was being totally unrealistic, and she would fail no matter what, and it was stupid to believe in her. But she got under my skin and told me not to give up and, and I-I just. Ugh. I really do hate pacifists, I don't know why this keeps getting me.

[Talking to Kaito, watching Reyson's video, even talking to Shuichi right now, she can't stop thinking about this fantasy.]

[truthstranger]

I see...

[he smiles a little]

Sometimes someone being unrealistic is what it takes to convince you to start to change your reality.

[pecker]

Change the reality, huh... [She laughs weakly.] That's probably the only way I could keep that meddling monkey alive. It's seriously impossible. Since she's determined to convince everyone who'll just want to kill her.

[Niwatori crosses her arms, thinking about that for a moment, but she's got no idea how to approach this and inevitably she gets distracted in the moment.]

Jeez... What are you smiling like that for anyway?

[truthstranger]

Ah... it's nothing. It just reminded me of something someone did for me.

Do you want to just get her out of there, then? If you could force her to run away, I guess. Or do you want to help her do it?

[pecker]

We have that in common too, huh?

[Well, now she just feels predictable. God.]

Sharyu-san wouldn't forgive me if I pulled her out. I guess if I was going to do something about it, umm. I'd... have to help....

[Maybe she will just kill everyone for her. That's a simple way to go about it, except for how then they'd have to fight amongst themselves. Eh.]

[truthstranger]

Well, two people is definitely better than one for that sort of thing.

[pecker]

I guess she has Nezumi-san with her too...

[Crossing her arms. Is she seriously considering this. God.]

... Hey, I have another question. Did you have free travel between worlds at the end of the killing game, too? Or is that a new thing and you had it one-way? I'd like to know a bit more about how it works.

[truthstranger]

Yeah, we only had it one way. There was a machine, up in the control room... you could view all the worlds people came from, and even alternate versions of those worlds, and send people or things there. But we didn't have any way to move between worlds, or come back once we left.

And we couldn't, ah... go to any version of our own world where a version of ourselves existed already. Or rather, we could, but... that version would cease to exist.

[pecker]

I heard a bit about that... mm, but you don't really know about how replacing yourself works, right? Since you didn't do that. I'm personally hoping there's a way I can return without losing the dose of One Man Army I had before I got pulled here.

[That would help a lot for the Kill Everyone For Sharyu plan. But she's also currently working on the Play Nice And World Hop If Things Go Pear-Shaped plan.]

[truthstranger]

I'm not sure that's possible... you can return to exactly the point you left, but as for your body, it's in the state it is here, not before.