Cemetary Girl

  “Nope,”

“NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOOOPPPE,”

“YOUUUU don’t get an option anymore, ya don’t get a life anymore. Ya’re leavin' this courtroom dead if I have to slit your f***ing throat and bathe in the blood m'self, an’ ya inconsistent f***s can kill me too, I don’t care! Let the life of Minnie die with her doin’ somethin’ useful in her f***in’ life!”

“YA LYING PISS STAIN, stop actin’ like ya care about us! ’m tired a’ yer whole sticht, it’s exhaustin’ ta listen to! Ya came up wit’ this whole s***fest, an’ who cares if ya didn’t want it to end up like it did, YA COULDA STOPPED IT! That ol’ lady worships th’ ground ya walk on! She’d do anythin’ for ya, EVEN CALL OFF A MURDER GAME! But ya never gave that order cause f*** ya!”

 To this, she turned to the others.

 Minnie honestly wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now. Yuzuki had sincerely asked her not to attack Ryou verbally (and probably had asked her not to physically hurt him too), but if she wasn’t mad at Ryou, who was she mad at? At the moment, Yuzuki and Akira. They had no right to tell her to calm down when she was feeling all of this, not after she had given into Minerva’s will for so long, keeping her from getting upset. But no, who was she kidding, she was still furious at Ryou.

“Are ya not gonna listen to me at all cause I got m’ panties in a bunch? Look, whatever, I know ya hate me bein’ mad, but maybe ya should actually listen when ’m talkin’ instead of sayin’ I got a long way to go to convince you,”

“Apparently, Tsutomu got him drunk a while back, an’ I can’t remember their exact wordin’, but they said that he wanted people to see reality as it was, ‘r somethin’. Really? Of all the words, he used reality, the name of our mastermind, an’ ya think it’s a coincidence.”

“Or how about th’ fact that th’ mastermind said for the old lady to treat Saki-chan like a princess. Saki-chan is a wonderful person an’ everyone should love her, but there’s a difference between keepin’ an eye on her an’ treatin’ her like a princess.”

“Or, I know, how about th’ fact that the blond dead guy slept with the old lady to make our mastermind mad, and right at the drop of a hat, Shinpissu gets mad,”

But there was more in what the others were saying, something else that sounded like something all too familiar.

  “Um, hello? Hey, listen!” she imitated a certain annoying fairy. “Does the alternate personality sound familiar? Or maybe the fake personality? Yeah, it should. Remember the first trial, Shin-kissu-my-a** berated th’ kid with green hair for killing the girl with black hair. He went out of his ever-mother-f***in’ way to make them feel like s*** and iced the doodoo cake by saying that he was going to tell their sisters. Who does that but someone with serious issues? It took me–”

Minnie paused, looking a bit out of herself.

“I mean, it took Minerva yellin’ at him to get him to even say sorry,”

 If the dimming lights and the change to Sora’s buttons were to be trusted, it appeared that they were successful in beginning the mastermind trial. Now there was only a set amount of time before they could execute Ryou and get back to whatever sort of lives they led outside of this place. They were so close…Minnie squeezed Renee’s hand to remind her that she was still there for her. She was being so brave, so Minnie had to be brave for her. 

 Renee for some reason or another had saved Minnie’s life while she was infected, now if Minnie could get Ryou onto the chopping block, then perhaps she would repay her. This was her chance to be useful.

“Saki-chan, I consider ya a good friend an’ I really owe ya my life for keepin’ me goin’ while I was sick, but ya got no right to try ‘n calm me down. Considerin’ how calm ’ve been through this entire s*** f***, I kinda got a right t’ be mad at th’ guy who was indirectly responsible for killin’ two of m’ friends, ruinin’ all our lives, puttin’ my friend through a mental breakdown, an’ torturin’ all of our families, cause I know I ain’t th’ only one who got one of those tapes. S’ yeah, maybe you should back off,”

“I don’t have much, but I do know bits of what Tsutomu told me. I know that Shitjitsu got tipsy one night an’ told Tsutomu how they wanted other people to see th’ Reality o’ life or whatever. I also know that the entire point of Takumi sexin’ up that old lady was to make the mastermind mad, and lo’ and behold he was th’ only one who got hot and bothered by that. That’s jus’ from what I remember, but pretty much everythin’ I heard pointed toward Shinjizzu,”

  Finally, the time had come for them to gather and talk over this circumstance. Of course, Minnie had nothing to go on about the murder, but she had more than enough evidence about who the mastermind was, as did Akira. But still, what did it matter if Tsutomu wouldn’t be able to escape with them?

 Taking Renee’s hand, Minnie followed her to the trial room and crossed over to her side of the court, not willing to return to where Tsutomu once would’ve stood by her. But she was no longer sad, just angry. 

“Look, I know this ain’t gon’ sit well, but we gotta talk ‘bout th’ mastermind. Don’t ya dare think fer a sec’ this is outta disrespect for th’ dead, ’d never do that to Tsutomu. But I believe they’d want us to get outta here by now, an’ they left us wit’ more than enough to expose the mastermind.”

“S’ let’s meet the douche shall we? Ladies 'n gentlemen th’ human manifestation of all feces, RYOU SHINJITSU!”

She yelled, slamming her hand down to the podium, shooting him daggers.

“And what d’ ya do with garbage besides burnin’ it? Anyone got a match? I’ll get us started!”

(suicide tw) 

There were a lot of controversies to what Minnie had said, and maybe it was good that it went down this way. It was good that no one wanted Asa’s death to be in vain, or at least overlooked. And it was a tragedy that they were in this position, but she’d like to think that maybe this would be for the best.

 But at the same time, hearing the orator speak gives her a bubbling fear in her. She looks to Tsutomu, who she only recently released from her love grip..

“Wh–why are ya so mad, Shinjitsu-san? Ya literally jus’ did what ya asked us ta do. Yer sayin’ not to talk ‘bout th’ dick behind all this 'till we got Asa-san’s death figured out then ya tell us 'oh it’s jus’ a suicide’. Yer not makin’ sense…”

“Excuse me,” Minnie spoke up, “I…know this is ain’t gonna be well-received.. but maybe we should split the trial in half, part of it ta talk ‘bout th’ murder, an’ half to talk ‘bout th’ one behind all this. I know, I don’t like it either, Asa-san was a sweetheart an’ I think they deserve much better, but I also don’t think that jus’ findin’ th’ murderer’s gonna be good ‘nough for long, ‘specially cause we’re runnin’ out of folks,”

“But I’ll try an’ help on th’ murder part, but even this ain’t gonna be great. Cause…I think Asa-san maya killed themselves. I–I know it’s weird after what they said in th’ last trial, but there wasn’t even a motive this round cause a’ what Tsutomu-san said. None a’ us should be dead cause no one ‘sides th’ mastermind would have a reason to kill, unless someone was mad at Asa-san specifically, but they were really sweet from what I gathered.”

“Ok, but I got some proof too, though it jus’ points mostly to what went down an’ th’ whole suicide thing is jus’ m’ speculation. But I found a bottle of Lunesta ‘r whatever in the hallway near th’ theater. That older lady said that it’s for insomnia an’ she only gave it to Asa-san themself. Now, at some point, Asa-san went up to th’ projection room and probably took of their shoes by th’ window. Th’ window was then broke by someone throwin’ a chair through it, which I found in th’ theater Asa-san was found in. This is interestin’, cause if it was someone gettin’ in a fight with Asa-san, they wouldn’ta broken th’ window first, they’d probably jus’ push ‘em through. The fact that their shoes were right at th’ window makes me think somethin’s up there. An’ finally, it was Asa-san’s neck breaking that killed ‘em. I checked their back, there wasn’t any signs a’ bruisin’, so they musta fallen directly on their head. Like…they jumped.”

“An’ I don’t have much on th’ whole mastermind front. ‘m sorry, all I have is what people told me, an’ ‘d rather them speak up, jus’ cause they know the full story, an’ ‘m sure ‘d get some pieces wrong,”

 Minnie had been aimlessly wandering the theater when a shout summoned her to the electric fences. Though she had been worried that the shout echoed from Tsutomu’s lips and she hadn’t been there to protect them, it appeared that it was the violinist that had crumpled to the floor. Minnie’s heart began to race, but at Daisy’s proclamation, it appeared she was still alive.

 Calm down, it’s all good, she’s ok. If Saki died, then Daisy would be in deep trouble, she would be trusted in keeping her alive. For now, she had to focus on what was happening, stay calm, assess the situation and see who would react.

 Maybe she had done this on purpose?

 Far later, they were all called to action at the proclamation of a body. But…why was there a body at all? There was no motive, the mole had outed themselves and there’s no way that anyone could’ve gotten to them. But it appears there was other prey in this theater. 

 Minnie immediately felt terrible upon seeing Asa’s corpse. Was it because she knew the pain of knowing someone who was killed, or was it because she thought the only person worth killing at the moment would be Tsutomu, but she was almost glad to see Asa was killed instead of someone she legitimately knew.

The news was a shock to most, but it barely moved some. Saki’s expression didn’t change from the time the motive was announced to her current action. Silently but swiftly, despite her wince of pain, she moved in front of Tsutomu, whipped around and stared at everyone. She met eyes with everyone looking towards Tsutomu… challenging them.

“If you even think about hurting Tsutomu-niisan, you’ll have to face me. Tsutomu-niisan is no threat. Don’t even dare think about it!”

Her expression was powerful, and her arms spread out in front of Tsutomu, proving her point. She would protect Tsutomu. However she was faced with a certain superhero…

Akira herself had reacted with shock to Tsutomu’s announcement, but it disappeared quickly. She didn’t know what to think at first, her gaze never leaving the Florist. Saki’s brave display of protection though…it spurned her into action. Breaking apart from the crowd, she took a few steps closer, approaching the tiny violinist. At first, her expression was that of seriousness.

Now Playing: Courage

Before it turned into a smile. Taking her place alongside Saki, Akira turned around and face the rest, spreading her arms out wide. To the side of Akira, there was a soft mutter of ‘Akira-neesan…’ from Saki. She was staring at Akira before she looked back to the others. The Superhero’s voice rang out loudly, filled with passion.

“I won’t let anyone hurt Tsutomu either. You’ll have to break through both me and Saki-imouto. Tsutomu has been nothing but trustworthy and kind. Instead, we can use this fact to help ourselves learn more about this place! They are a true friend, that I can assure you all of.”

There was just a moment of silence. The only sound was breathing, but that was mostly Akira after her passionate speech. Thanks Akira. Saki glanced behind her to Tsutomu and then to everyone else. She felt her hands shake, and she was tearing up - here comes the tears, lord save us. But Akira wasn’t the only one who seemed to join Saki. In fact, the Charity Worker was joining the two as well. Or at least whoever was inhabiting her body at the moment. She looked to the florist with glassy eyes before a smile cracked slowly across her face, she nodded to the other two.

“I’ll protect Tsutomu-san too. Anyone who wants ta hurt someone who gave up their security on their own will ta save someone else is a chicken s***. An’ ‘ll hurt em if they try anythin’,”

It’s not like she was really the most capable of this, being a tiny little ball of fluff in a giraffe sweater. The moment she was beside the superhero and violinist, joining on the other side of Saki, the violinist dropped her arms. She was trying to wipe her tears. Looks like the girl is somehow always in tears. She turned on her heels and her arms wrapped around Tsutomu.

The paper is forced into their hands and they accept it automatically, blinking down at it in confusion… that lasts for less than a few seconds. Someone else might have mistaken it, briefly, for a love confession, but they recognize it instantly. How could they not, with the amount of times they’ve seen it, poured over it, re-read it over and over the way they’re doing now almost automatically. Like a pavlovian reaction to seeing it, their eyes scan over the faded lettering, memory easily supplying the missing pieces that have become illegible over time.

“Th-this is…”

Tsutomu forces themself to fold the letter again, though instead of setting it aside or tucking it in a pocket they just hold it against their chest as they look back at Minnie finally, tears filling their eyes.

“I got it from the capsule machine, actually. Dunno what it was doin’ there. But I got it wit’ a coin I didn’t even know I had,”

“To get the same letter ya talked ‘bout jus’ yesterday wit’ a random coin doesn’t seem jus’ lucky to me. I think ya may have a guardian angel, Tsutomu-san...”

The two friends end up just cuddling forever. Ok not forever, but for another hour or so, before bidding each other a fond farewell for the day.

“Of course! They’re all folded in a stack on the floor. I didn’t really have room to hang everything.”

“Of course I accept you, Minnie-san. I don’t need you to be Minerva. I prefer you. And you don’t need a talent or a title to be special. ”

With Minerva, everything had felt… not bad, but impersonal, like they’d said before. She was so focused on being kind to everyone and being the figure she’d made herself into that everything had felt sort of scripted. With Minnie… it feels more like she really sees them, like her kindness and affection is more genuine because she’s not doing it just because it’s what her job or talent requires.

Hearing these words from Tsutomu was...so personal to her. Despite everything, despite being a tiny little girl who couldn’t do anything, Tsutomu liked her. Not only that, but they preferred her to Minerva. Despite how hard she fought against it, she couldn’t help but tear up a bit.