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

[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.]

[dokkans]

[ Bonnie sighs.

Seriously? She has to do this? With little miss growth spurt over here? ]

Excuse me, miss? She has the right to be here. Certainly more than you have the right to tell her to piss off.

[ Sorry, Helena. She doesn't even like Rika, but no reason to get mad at her for speaking her mind. And, honestly, what Bonnie'd consider the truth. ]

[decrypter]

If all she's going to do is make judgmental commentary on others...then she can do that from another room.

[Helena's voice is soft, but she remains exactly where she is. it's stripped of the warmth she usually has, her face more drawn - not sleeping well for days will do that.]

You may join her, if you worry about her having company.

[dokkans]

I refuse. After all, Rika's just expressing what she thinks of the situation, not what she thinks of the murderer.

[ She doesn't mince words, in this case. To Bonnie, it's almost like Helena managed to repress that. ]

Not to mention, I did help in calling this meeting. If the truth is that painful, maybe you should be the one to leave.

[decrypter]

I found their bodies! Before they were even cold!

[it breaks, it cracks, it is a shriek that tears from her, utterly unlike her demeanor.]

Think what you would of the situation, but acting as though you're above it all, as if the same couldn't happen to you in the night, as if this didn't happen in their own bed, you're a monster! It's as though you trod upon their graves!

[Bonnie's not the problem. but she's snapped so, so thin, her hand tight around her cane.]

I am allowed to state what I believe, and if you cannot contribute in a helpful way, then I believe you should leave! This is how these meetings turn into a mockery of justice, of nothing more than endless circles! Because no one knows when to shut up!

[dokkans]

--Excuse me?

[ That causes her mask to slip. Her voice shifts tones, from her typical peppy self to something rougher. Okay, if that's how she wants to play it. ]

First off. I did contribute. In case you weren't listening, Sara and I found out it was him. In fact, I went the extra length to take care of it away from where anyone else could interrupt and defend him. I might not have put together pieces of paper or found hair or whatever, but in the end, I did what I had to do.

[ Which was clearly more than most were planning on. Hell, it was mostly even by accident-- she just wanted to press Amami for more information. She didn't expect a full on confession. That however, wasn't the point. ]

For all your talk about trampling on their graves, think about why they're dead now. You think someone really snuck in and killed them like he killed the girl? Don't be so delusional. Stop looking for justice where there is none.

If you really cared about justice, Miss? You would've asked him yourself.

[decrypter]

You are making this about yourself, Miss Hood, when it isn't. This is about Miss Furude, this is about anyone who thinks they're removed from this. That they should only serve themselves. People who only inflame a discussion to serve their own egos, no matter who they are. Everyone who leads a discussion into madness!

[it's not Bonnie. it's this entire school. they'll kill themselves before this school can.]

[dokkans]

--Oh! Okay.

[ IMMEDIATELY SHIFTING BACK like it's nothing. Never mind, then! ]

Well, anyway, I don't think she should leave, but that's really up to her. I said my piece!

[ Don't fight, you two! She's gonna leave this one alone now. ]

[miisdealt]

Then perhaps I should be the one to speak for myself.

[Rika raises her voice--as much as someone with naturally soft spoken tones can. There's a sternness in the way she speaks, but there's also quite a bit of confidence, too.

She doesn't back down.

Not in the slightest.]

I do not have ill intentions when I said what I did. Certainly, I did not see any of the bodies. And certainly, I also have no connections to most anyone here, which makes it easy for someone like me to detach myself.

But you make quite a bit of assumptions about me. Helena-san, was it? If you believe that these words of mine were simply for my own personal ego, then that is what you will believe, even if I say otherwise.

Am I above it all? Of course not. I am fully aware, more than anyone that death can meet the end of any person; whether it's here, or elsewhere.

In any case. I would like to at least hear more about what happened. Because certainly, when things do go in a certain direction, it can grow troublesome. But at the same time... is it not through communication that we are able to understand each other better? A lack of it entirely and leaving someone--one, or others, will only cause to hurt us than bring us together.

[She shuts her eyes, taking a deep breath, thoughtfully.]

Nevertheless... for my careless actions and words being spun in a way that upset you. I offer my sincerest apologies. [She bows, polite.] I will at the very least respect being quiet moving forward for the rest of this meeting.

[decrypter]

...You "apologize for your words being spun in a way" that has upset me? Then your apology is no apology at all.

[the words are as cold as ice, thrown down between them like a gauntlet.]

You might as well have saved your breath, Miss Furude. All you have said amounts to that you're sorry that I am for once voicing my thoughts instead of remaining quiet. Ill intentions or not, careless words harm, nearly kill. As truly as these false leads and accusations do.

If you truly intend to respect being quiet, you can start right now.

[and thankfully at this point, Komaeda is intervening, and redirecting Helena away before she vents so much anger she faints.]

[miisdealt]

[Rika visibly flinches and she opens her mouth for a moment, as if to argue, to say that isn't what she meant--

But in the end.

She decides that for now, the best thing to do is remain completely and utterly silent. Her fingers don't even dare to touch her tea.]