like a bitter stranger

[samuraiwomen]

Who: Everyone
What: Our monthly family meeting.
When: March 5th, 2000.
Where: Yogen dorms common room.
Warnings: Discussions of murder, suicide, child death...more?



[ A message goes up on the forums late Friday evening.

S.chidouin: Group meeting in the dorms Saturday. 12:00. No punching. No stabbing. I'll bring stickers.

If your character would not find a post from Sara worth listening too, Bonnie is wandering around, vaguely noting how important this meeting is, and how very much you should attend. No further details are forthcoming.

The meeting itself is a quiet affair. The fireplace is not lit, there are no snacks. Sara waits in the corner for everyone to arrive and get settled and then she clears her throat to speak. ]

As most of you know... [ It's hard to start, but her voice gets firmer as she goes on. ] We spent the last two months investigating Maya Arisu's murder. That case is solved. A few weeks ago, Bonnie-chan and I found the culprit.

Rantaro Amami killed Maya Arisu, Hiro Arisu, the vice principal and is presumably responsible for the scene with Keigo Arata. He is also dead. I just figured...everyone should know. To many people got hurt the last few months. I'm sorry.

[ She fiddles with her hair. That's all...she really has to say. There's not much more then that as the gist of it. ]

Comments

[dokkans]

[ Bonnie's mainly here to act as moral support and-- well, provide her role. She did mention that this was super important, and hoped that everyone could just piece it together. It was going to be about Amami anyway. ]

We heard it from him directly, and unless he really, really wanted to cover up for someone else, he did it.

[ She's a lot less hesitant in her words, speaking as if she were just in fact, presenting the news. Either way, she's standing nearby if anything pops off for any reason. ]

[silentabyss]

...

No. He wouldn't do something like that. He was a good person.

[dokkans]

Is a good person not capable of killing anyone? Even if they really wanted something?

[notsosou]

...

[He's just like this in the background. It makes... too much sense.]

[heroicpolonaise]

[...]

Ebalon-kun, just because someone is a "good person" doesn't mean they can't do bad things. You can trust someone with your whole being, and follow their lead thinking they're doing what's best for you, and it still end up that way.

But more than that, you can't turn your eyes from any possibility, any truth. Sara and Bonnie-san don't have anything to gain from lying, especially not after how hard Sara's worked to try and uncover the truth. Please, don't dismiss their efforts.

[samuraiwomen]

And so he strung all of us along, for months and months.

[ Bitter...what? Who...her? Never... ]

We have a motive. He confirmed his methods. He even said he'd tell everyone, as long as we gave him a few weeks. Then he did that... I'm sorry Noah. Sometimes people aren't good.

[rearranger]

[ ... ]

You think good people never kill? He wasn't a bad guy, just a stupid one.

[shimashima]

[ This revelation... Rantarou Amami definitely didn't have multiple arms to hold a corpse in place while nailing the body to the ceiling, and he looked like an ordinary person — perhaps he's like Sara Chidouin, then? But he arranged that other meeting, and defended others being accused. ]

I didn't know him well, but it's true that he seemed kind, and he must have felt regret... What could he gain from any of it?

[ Besides, sometimes murder cases that seem solved aren't so straightforward! ]

[decrypter]

...someone else's life.

[the voice is soft, strained. Helena's tucked next to Natsume for support, but she's still here.]

[filialdeception]

[ Meng Yao just will sigh from over here, but whatever he wants to say to this...whatever kind of words, he doesn't seem to be able to find them.

This is fine. ]

[antitoxin]

I don't think we've met, it's a pleasure to meet you.

[ it's the sigh that draws him in. ]

[commences]

Why is it murder that turns people away from others? Amami-kun at the start didn't know anything, he was lost, but as time went on... he learned he was the Ultimate Survivor, and then learned he was the Ultimate Adventurer. He learned there was people he wanted to protect, and that there are things that must happen in order to do that... does it make him a bad person because of his actions?

( who wouldn't kill to make something happen, to komaeda, it feels obvious considering the time limit that hovered overtop keigo's head. he is someone who would do something drastic for an outcome that no one else would take, and that's what makes him endearing. )

What could anyone else do if they never opened their eyes to the true problem?

[waitingforplayer2]

What problem, Komaeda-kun?

[ She just wants to know. Keigo died in their sleep, and it looked like they had an inkling they might be going.

She's missing something here, not that it's necessarily her business. But everybody else seems to know something she doesn't? ]

[commences]

The problem... that no one is working together, and that they're becoming selfish.

( sighs... )

[shimashima]

So he wished to protect someone...?

[ Is it possible that the murder victims were the villains all along? That many, collaborating...? Not to speak ill of the dead, especially people completely unknown to Alice. ]

[crystallomancy]

( ...

"no punching" "no stabbing"

okay. natsume's putting his feet against a coffee table, we have those here right? he's doing that and shoving it over with all his might, let it topple over a few feet. there's no rule against that, and there's no one to take it out on, and— )

If he ever comes BACK, I'm going to kill HIM.

( it's only a little bit about maya. it's only a little bit about hiro. it's only a little bit about keigo. the sum of all it, that's all just a part of it, because there's a part, too, lost in the quiet of a hotel room with murmured apologies and prolonged silence and finding someone who would understand better than anyone else what it was like to be helpless, to lose someone, to be frustrated that you couldn't do anything about it—

"i'm sorry," amami had said, and natsume wonders if it was an apology for the twins or if it was sympathy or both. it doesn't matter, because it just makes him angry, hurts him more, either way.

he should have left him for dead in the forest. he wants to tear his skin off where he has scars from their little adventure, always an ill-fucking-advised adventure with amami where he ends up getting off scot-free (he's dead now, he doesn't have to live with any pain or guilt or fright) and natsume doesn't.

he kicks the table again for good measure. god, he hates rantarou amami. )

[samuraiwomen]

Sakasaki-san... Natsume...

[ He can knock the table over all he likes. Sara watches it go down and wishes it might shatter.

This is usually where she'd feel compelled to tell him he couldn't but... She can't. She doesn't want to. Murder is wrong, and she knows the group will have to stop him... but... Of all the people here, Natsume Sakisaki's emotions have been toyed with the most. ]

I'm sorry. I wanted him to apologize to you in person.

[miisdealt]

[And Rika on the other hand is here, drinking tea as the yelling seems to go on; she's here as a bystander and because she was intrigued as to what the message meant. And lo and behold, it's this.

She can't help but chuckle lowly, speaking mostly to herself, even if it's aloud:]

Honestly. What a sad state of affairs this all is.

[decrypter]

[there's a steady tapping that grows closer to Rika, a measured pair of footsteps and a cane that comes closer, closer -

stops a respectful distance away. Helena stands there, holding onto her cane, devoid of a strong expression on her face.]

Miss Furude. Please leave this meeting, or at least refrain from further commentary.

[it's the kindest way she can put what's boiling under her skin, tearing at her like a blizzard storm.]

[antitoxin]

[ sips tea, gives a sad little sigh, sips again.

he's only here just in case they need like drug help or anything else, he's catching up on the soaps. ]

[rearranger]

[ Ranger just taking note of Midori and making a note to not get within his aggro zone. ]

[shimashima]

[ Do you feel the I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR TEA aura coming from Alice, Midori?! From afar... Now isn't the time for anything but hoping that the tea was left to steep so long that it tastes bitter and horrible. ]

[socialize]

( skitters in when his cup is empty to pour a new cup for each of them... it's okay hiyori, at least someone here supports your tea sipping. )

[taketori]

[ So, that was it then.

For all of his talk, defending Hiyori, defending Komaeda of all people, it was to deflect from them and at the same time, protect himself. Sit there, knowing that he killed Maya, he killed Hiro, and he had the audacity to deflect.

The outright fury he's feeling is selfish, he's fully aware of it. It's because he was targeted as a suspect, it's because his efforts were called into question, it's because he had to defend himself and realize how many people would come to Amami's aid, to Komaeda's aid, to Akehoshi's aid, while he fought back by himself.

His frustration spills over. ]

That bastard!

[ He doesn't know Rantaro Amami that much, doesn't know if the full story involves him being possessed or what the hell ever, but he knows this. Forgiving him presently isn't an option. ]

[dereban]

[Hope he doesn't mind a hand on his shoulder and a stern look; yes, he's mad, he's valid for it, but--]

Calm down. I understand your frustrations, but getting angry here isn't going to change anything. And more importantly, it won't bring any of them back. Listen to what they have to say, at least.