Day 6 - Final discussion before the second execution

[pandatrash]

[This morning, a video of Tycoon auto-plays on everyone's tablets. He is in a dimly lit room, and seems to be eating pudding out of a bicycle horn...? Whatever, the raccoons are weird.]

Today’s the day! Are you pumped up? Psyched out? Pissed off? Done in? Hehehehe!

Everybody better vote today for who you want to be PUNISHED! If you don't vote by the time the timer reaches zero, your vote will be randomized! Just like it now says in the rules!

I, Tycoon (only Tycoon), will still answer one question per person if you haven’t cashed yours in yet! Rule clarifications are free, by the way! Also, quit freaking out about the people who are off crying in their rooms or whatever! You already have all the alibis you need to solve the mystery!

((Navigation
Recyclr
Day 5 Q&A with Tycoon
Today's Q&A with Tycoon
Vote! It says midnight Friday, but it's technically midnight Saturday. 11:59 Friday, WHATEVER.))

Comments

[fineprinted]

[ i

there's a lot to unpack here

and tsumugi just came back from being comforted by mae so now he's just... empty inside ]

Hiyori-kun...

1/2

[respendent]

Tsumugi-kun.

[ Hiyori is wearing a strong face, but he kind of drops it a moment for Tsumugi. Maybe for once in his life, he doesn't have much to say. ]

[respendent]

If I can't make it to karaoke, make sure Eichi-kun picks up the tab. He can afford it most out of all of us, yes?

[fineprinted]

[ oh no, don't bring back the promise that they're all going out for karaoke when they both get out at a time like this - ]

So... Did you really...

[respendent]

[ Doesn't understand what he's driving at for a moment, and when it does his brow furrows and his voice raises. ]

Of course not! If my rock-solid alibi starts doubting me, Tsumugi-kun, I'll be mad! I'm just acknowledging this isn't a crowd I have sway over! I'm not atop the stage, bringing them delight, or standing above them untouchable! All I can do is tell the truth, but I'm no romantic! I'm not going to sit here hoping and believing that truth and justice will win the day, I'm going to do just what I always do and see what it gets me, yes!

[fineprinted]

[ tsumugi just pauses, stares at him confusedly for almost an entire minute -

before he covers his mouth to hold back a giggle. yeah. he's laughing. ]

[respendent]

[ Huff!! Don't laugh Tsumugi-kun this is serious!!! ]

[fineprinted]

[ OKAY JUST GIVE HIM A MINUTE let him have this okay ]

I-I'm sorry, I'm just -- I guess I'm relieved? It's just that people kept on asking me why you brought that alcohol to our sleepover and that you could've sneaked out of the room while I was sleeping or something.

[respendent]

[ HE GRACIOUSLY DID NOT INTERRUPT HIS LAUGHTER ]

If that's their problem then I am definitely not sharing any of the bottles with even a single one of them! No sleepover presents for any of them, yes!

[fineprinted]

Don't just give them alcohol?! They're around the same age as us, as far as I know!

[ ah, back to their usual dynamic ]

[respendent]

Don't order me around! I just said I wouldn't, didn't I!

[ Without even a beat, right back to it. ]

[fineprinted]

I'm not ordering you around either? Just --

[ OKAY, DEEP BREATHS ]

I should've trusted you more. I feel like it's more of my fault than anything, to be honest. I know that you've got this and that you don't care what other people say, but I do. Because even if we're not in the same unit anymore and that you've gone off to Eden with Nagisa-kun...

I still see you as an old friend, Hiyori-kun. And I'll support you in any way I can no matter what.

1/idk it's an enstars monologue

[respendent]

[ For as heartfelt as it was, Hiyori doesn't consider it as long as he should. For everything else that he might be, he really is an honest idiot too, and he comes right out with what he thinks. ]

Tsumugi-kun! Well-meant as it is, that's the last thing I want to hear you say!

2/??

[respendent]

Of all of us in fine, you believed in Eichi-kun the most, to a fault! To the point you never read your contract! Nagisa-kun and I stood on that stage as the leading lights, and carried that performance through as the both of you fell apart behind us, but I heard your words very well! Isn't it possible that things would have not ended the way they did, had you both spoken before that? Had you raised concerns, and expressed yourself even once?

3/

[respendent]

We all were enchanted with our story, those days we walked in the sunlight and stage lights together. But not so enchanted as to be blind, and we knew the end of the road awaited us.

4/?

[respendent]

But I've gone off to Eden with Nagisa-kun, just as you said! Just as before, when Eichi knew my asking price, I know what I'm getting for my actions. Even if my attachment is one-sided and Nagisa-kun will never understand a human heart, I will walk by him. But the road we are taking now is not even one that pretends to lead towards shade-dappled idyllic days. There is a snake that whispers at his ear, and the actions that snake takes move us forward as we move to our production companies whims. I told you all this in the cafe, before Trickstar went off to their Revenge Match. I spoke to you, and still speak to you, as an old friend.

5/ he's still talking

[respendent]

We were once hailed as Yumenosaki's heroes, all of us! But a hero's path isn't the only one I'll willingly walk, Tsumugi-kun, even if that the path I yearn for! I told you that myself. I might wish for Nagisa-kun to be saved but I'm not going to bring him to the gates myself, not if it means sacrificing a little more time spent in our paradise.

6/8

[respendent]

You can trust me and support me now, because you know the truth of our spending last night together!

7/8

[respendent]

But that won't always be the case, yes?

8/8

[respendent]

As an old friend, I'm allowed to be concerned.

1/??? this is fine

[fineprinted]

[ well. hm. all right then. just give him a minute to look stunned as he listens to hiyori as much as he could, like a sponge that he is.

and after that award-winning speech, give him a few moments to find his voice once more. ]

You know, I've always wondered about that. That if I had only read the contract beforehand, or maybe even sought your advice with Nagisa-kun - maybe our last performance as fine wouldn't have ended like that. Eichi-kun wouldn't have passed out, or maybe I would've -

2/hfnghfg

[fineprinted]

[ he stops right there because he knows that he's just going to go on and on about a boy who's not even here, which is irrelevant to their current situation ]

Of course I can't go back to the past to fix everything, even if I was supposed to be the reliable organizer of our unit. I just knew that at the time, my dream of becoming just as important as the main characters of the story we had weaved together for the sake of revolution had come true. I was able to live out a story that's straight out of a shonen manga, and at that moment I felt more alive than anything I could've ever experienced in my miserable life. As if I could do anything.

And with that, I am happy.

3/when will this end

[fineprinted]

But even when Eichi-kun had carelessly thrown me away after that, I... can't bring myself to hate him at all. It's not just him, but you and Nagisa-kun too -- You all made me feel like I was wanted for once in my life. Me who, despite my own shortcomings... You all accepted me anyway. As one of you.

Even if my blind dedication did lead me to my downfall in the end.

4/let me sleep

[fineprinted]

So while I appreciate you telling me that I shouldn't blindly trust you like how I was with Eichi-kun, since I wouldn't want to make the same mistakes as I did back then even though old habits will always die hard -

All right, I understand. You have your own business to attend to, and I have mine. Although I may not be Nagisa-kun or Sazanami-kun, and I know it won't be the case next time... I just want you to know that even if everyone in this wretched school would turn against you, I'll always be here for you when you need me. Even if you don't feel the same way for me.

5/5 this thread took away 20 years of my life

[fineprinted]

And it's not because I used to be the organizer, Hiyori-kun, but because it's what friends do. And I want the both of us to achieve a happy ending in this murder mystery, s-so.

I'd really like the four of us to go to karaoke when we get out of here, so please try not to make yourself too suspicious, all right?