♪ my class trial, our class trial ♫

[heroicpolonaise]

Who: Everyone + Hiro if ori wants
When: January 12th, then anytime past January 15th
Where: Common Room
What: please let's wake steph and also maybe prove miyuki innocent if he really is
Warnings: tbd

[there is no gentle way to do this on the pda.

but you know what that is perfectly fine they were doing CSI rp earlier what's one more--]

All hands, round up.

Think we've got as much as we can right now, so let's settle in and work it out -- together. Come to the usual meet-up spot as soon as you can, and we're not leaving until the perp's worked out. Bring your own joe and a wit sharp as can be, because we are in for the long haul.

Detective Akamatsu, signing out.

[...

a-anyway.

meng yao's done his best to preserve one (1) stephanie meanswell and she's currently laying on the couch in a state some may find familiar and others not at all, but she's very much alive -- if barely. have your shock and surprise, this is going to be once all evidence is collected icly. also after noah and kaede make a grave for miss vp god rest her soul.

...

hiro is allowed to be here, if he wants, if only because part of this is his sister's death and one of y'all had BETTER take care of him.

there are no snacks, no drinks unless you byoj (bring your own joe), and kaede will wait until... all or presumably all are filed in before she speaks.]

I hate to say this, but you all are easily more experienced with this than I am... Still, there's no reason to wait on this when one of our classmates has turned up dead, and another [she is assuming stephanie is theirs] is in the state that she is. I don't want to think one of us had anything to do with it, but turning away from the truth only invites more pain--

So let's lay out what we know and try not to go at each others' throats about it.

[please. even the most unbelievable, impossible happenings have roots to them, and she wants it solved -- not just for hiro's sake, who's pain is something she can barely imagine, but for stephanie and the vice principal, too.]

[links:

○ investigative miroboard
○ round up one
○ round up two

Comments

[samuraiwomen]

Do we have to do this again?

[ ACCUSED TWICE??? IN ONE DAY? She's actually kind of worried about how exhausted Sou looks but she'll never let him knooooow. ]

[notsosou]

[He asks himself that every time.]

It's not like you're the only one, Sara. What was that line of Keiji's... doubting to believe?

[He's fine... mostly, although how did Sara do this in the first place? He can't actually make her give her fingerprints, but he's still pushing forward the ink pad for them.]

[samuraiwomen]

Oh don't you start on that now.

[ That was basically her line?? She was the one who had to do all the doubting, because Shin just lied all the time! Augh! Be more polite to the people who actually have to follow up on Keiji's stupid plans! ]

I thought you hated Keiji, and now you're quoting him? Just give me that.

[ Puts her thumb on the pad....moves her finger towards his forehead. ]

[notsosou]

[That's right he should be more polite... to Q-taro, oooooh.]

Am I restricted to quoting people I li- Ack!

[He doesn't realise what she's doing until after she's taken the pad and pressed her finger on, and by then it's too late despite a last second leaning back. He rubs at his forehead, only succeeding in smearing the ink across it and his hand and sleeve.]

Very funny. Take this seriously, Sara.

[He's hoping his flat, unimpressed look will cover the fact that his heart was in his throat for a second there. Her reaching towards his face suddenly... well, it was easy to think it was aiming lower.]

[samuraiwomen]

[ Q-TARO IS DEAD HAVE SOME RESPECT. She is the only Proper Keiji lackey left.

She pulls back her hand with a wry smile, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket to wipe her hands.]

Aw...you ruined it. Should I try again?

[ She wouldn't continue teasing so hard but Sou...seems fine? And this is how Sara treats people she's frustrated with but doesn't hate...teasing and poking at boundaries. She still has the ink pad, and she busies herself pressing her finger down again, preparing for another try. ]

But you really do hate him...thats too bad.

[notsosou]

[This time he's ready. He's keeping a weather eye on her movements.]

...That's what happens when someone turns on you for no good reason.

[Not backing him up with the laptop's existence, pinning all kinds of things on him, that whole 'you're cute' routine, trying to kill him in the second main game, and voting for Kanna... no there's plenty of reasons for him to be unfond of Keiji Shinogi. He can't even say any of it was for Sara's sake, or he would have taken the Sacrifice from her instead of leaving her to be saved by pure happenstance. Then again, if he thought she'd win with it... but it's all speculation. The dislike itself is clear.]

Paper, this time. Can't exactly see my own forehead, can I?

[He's sliding one of the cards he cut for this forward in kind of a 'I'm doing this helpfully since clearly you don't have eyes or a brain' kind of way.]

[samuraiwomen]

That's right Sou, you wouldn't know anything about betraying people's trust for no good reason.

[ There is genuinely...not an ounce of malice in her words. Does there have to be, when you're stating a fact? What was a little betrayal in the first day of a game. Now the second day, thats totally different! Sara's trust could be discarded as easily as she gave it, and what was she going to do? She hums, takes her finger off the pad. The paper is presented and she takes it, holding it up to block Sou's face as she presses her finger down on it. ]

Of course, I know I can't say the same. It's not fun on either end.

[ She flips the card away to hand it to him, revealing what kind of expression he's making. Whatever it is, she doesn't look long. Handing the paper back is simple. ]

Here you go, take a look at that.

[notsosou]

[Ouch. You can almost hear the crunch of bone. She really is a Proper Keiji Lackey.]

What are you trying to say, Sara?

[He didn't betray her... he just had entirely reasonable reason at the time to believe she was up to no good. Maybe he shouldn't continue this line of thought. His expression belies the percentage of internal conflict that's managing to make it to the surface. Not fun on either end... it's significantly less fun on one, if that's even true.]

Right... No problems there...

[He takes it and scribbles her name on it in his neatly-messy handwriting after a quick look to make sure it's not smudged, despite the weird angle it was held at. Was she pretending to get his face again?]

[samuraiwomen]

Do I have to say it out loud?

[ Does she have to drag it out, and then be rebuffed for her own hypocrisy? Can't he get it on his own? Can he not admit he betrayed her at all? ]

Even in your own damn theories you...look nevermind. You have my prints, so I'll stop bothering you.

[ She doesn't want this to escalate. She's done her teasing, but now this is getting into territory she doesn't want to linger at. ]

[notsosou]

By all means, continue.

[Shin also doesn't want this to turn into a full on fight, but he can't help some acid seeping in.]

...Didn't realize you'd placed that much trust in me, Sara.

[It's the kind of sentence that should be snarky, and maybe it is. But it's too murmured, there's too much of a discomfited tone to it for it to actually stick the landing.]

Don't they teach you things about strangers?

[Shin says, like he's not a millenial himself.]

[samuraiwomen]

Is that what you told Kanna?

[ Acid with acid makes the whole world burn. Her expression says she's only realized what she's said after a second...but she bites her tongue and keeps her expression solid. ]

What...do you want me to say? It was pretty worthless to you, that trust. Like you always wanted me to betray you. You must be so happy now.

[notsosou]

Ahahaha, yes, actually.

[Tying himself in knots, twisting himself in two directions. Making himself invaluable, her only ally, her hope of survival... and calling her prudent for wanting the phone first, feeling that shock of ice-water fear when she'd said she'd trusted him. It had been his argument for her not sharing a room with him to so-calledly keep an eye on him (he'd lost)... and also a way to dissuade her from interacting with the rest of the group in general.

This is a low blow, and she knows it, and he knows it. If he's not allowed to bring Gin into things, then she's not allowed to bring in Kanna, but it's not like there's rules when it comes to who can dig the knife in most, is there?]

Worthless... guess it is, huh? You keep asking that like if I put the right words in your mouth, I'll be that stupid again. Kinda arrogant, don't you think? Even for you. That's not how it works, miss Sara.

[He doesn't have anything he wants her to say at all. He wouldn't be able to trust it. Happy... some part of him is, in a sick, relieved way. He wasn't wrong, after all. The rest... is an unknown soup, unable to pick things out of the pained tangle. Did he always want her to betray him? He doesn't know.]