#chthree

OO3 . Loveria — previous | MASTERLIST | next

Quite like how after the first murder he returned to the library, Hikaru found himself returning to the pool room. His eyes drifted over the scene before him...that of calm, tranquil waters...that of peace. No signs of what had happened, no signs of the departed.

Hikaru suddenly feels a wave of emotions, pummeling at his conscience, the likes of which he is just simply...not used to. After hearing Yuna’s explanation it’s clear as day that Hikaru is not responsible for her death, even if he outed her in the chat. Though there’s something else...something burning in him.

He can’t die here…

He knows that’s the case for himself, but how many others here have things they need to live for? How about the people who already died, how will...how will their deaths affect the world, hurt others? All he can do is report on them, try to make sure they aren't forgotten.

Oof 4.

Lingering thoughts of the trial followed, as he resumed his supposed ordinary day. His accusations were right I suppose, and his theories were correct as well but did it feel right? He’s alive, of course it should feel right. They won, found the killer, and got to live another day. Of course, the momentary victory doesn’t compare to the lasting guilt he feels. Condemning someone to death doesn’t feel right. Pray to the stars above that it would never feel right.

A new habit he has come to make since entering this school, an area of respite for him to air out his thoughts.. Contrasting to the area's innate feeling of joy and happiness, why is it that he comes here to dwell? Though, the time directly after trials seems to be when people are most active, so he probably shouldn’t stay in here too long.

He ends up straying not too far from said area, into the greenhouse. Maybe a nice boat ride would clear his mind. He could even gather some vegetables to make a nice salad in the kitc- Yeah... never mind that.

Oh... oh dear. This was a lot.

Sagittarius was quiet as usual, watching as everybody around him discussed. He knew he'd have to jump in at some point, much as he didn't really want to - everyone else was making good decisions and ideas already! He didn't want to step on anyone's toes...

Then Taurus said... that, and so began the back-and-forth between the others. It was so... confusing, and so... scary, really. A reminder that they couldn't all quite work together as much as they wanted to, a reminder that not all of them would return to the land of the living when all was said and done. Trying to survive could easily bring about the end of any number of the others.

It was all... so cruel, wasn't it?

As everything settled down, Sagittarius slowly rose his hand. Gemini had asked for something from each of them at the beginning - he could still offer that, even if he had nothing to offer to the situation with Virgo. He faced their current mission's leader and spoke, trying to steady his voice and not sound like he's about to cry.

"...I-I think... choosing people who, um... who haven't gone yet... i-is a good idea, just for the sake of... um, if we want to... t-to cover out bases, as it were...? I... I think..."

The castle housing the SHSL Utaite lab was impressive... gorgeous and extravagant, and likely not intended to carry the tempting scent of pork and garlic through it's halls. It was mouthwatering even on it's own, and wafted far from the kitchen that housed it, drawing unwary explorers to it's doors.

Of course, maybe the Ramen Shop Owner Lab was impressive in it's own way? Mayumi was certainly doing her best to make it so, with several large pots on the stove producing the scent that filled the air, bubbling away as she danced around the room.

Quite literally, in this case, as she spun on her heels, bouncing in place momentarily to sniff one pot and then dart off for a fresh cutting board, twirling her knife in one hand... before realizing that, in fact, she was marginally less alone than expected.

"Ah--uh! Kitchen's still closed! Snacks are available for no charge if you reserve a seat now--uh. That is..."

It is at that point you see Monomi appear on the television screens, and she seems to pull out a card from a deck just as she had done before.

She speaks aloud at this point, lilting tone carrying her through:

There once was a fiery maiden.

Many people are blessed with fortune or at least safety, something that The Chariot did not get.

The Chariot's blessing you could say was then her family.

Though they could not provide for her, they could not fulfill the lower tiers of the hierarchy of needs, they could bestow the higher ones.

The Chariot's young brother was her everything.

There was a distinct difference between them.

Growing up in the slums, The Chariot learned what it meant to be strong.

She needed to be strong to survive.

Her brother, however, could not be like her. He was soft in every sense of the word.

He could not survive on his own. He wasn't made like his peers.

They were like mountains, like walls of steel against any force that nature could toss their way. Sports, manliness, and toughness dictated the streets and their games.

If that was what the rules were, then The Chariot would simply just play by them.

For every boy who insulted her little brother, she would give them a whupping.

Words hurt, so sticks and stones shall break your bones.

One of these defeated boys is the third son of the head of a boryokudan. They hold anger and contempt in their blood at the sight of their poor, beat up boy.

The Chariot must pay.

Not too long after, she gets a knock on her proverbial door; her guest is a fighter-in-training sent ribbon-wrapped by the boy's family.

Within seconds, it's over. The Chariot is victorious and with no injuries to call home on.

The locals herald her, put her on a pedestal for having the courage to stand up to such a threat to their lives.

This limelight could've been brief, but the yakuza sends more and more people after her and her family. They create more and more of her legacy with more and more of their defeats.

To shield her family, she learns more and more tricks to keep up against the people they send after her.

This is the path of a hero, but it's hard to stay a hero forever.

She loses sight of when enough is enough, and one day defeat turns into death.

The Chariot stands over the corpse of a man, the blood on her hands create a greater target on her back.

She tells herself that it's okay to kill a bad person, she tells herself these were definitely bad people.

She makes herself the arm of justice, convinces herself that she is helping the world.

So long as things remain a fair fight, she would never be in the wrong. So she continues thinking she's not wrong and continues to paint the dark streets red.

As things get more serious, so do the consequences. If this family finds her home, then they have the right to take her head as well.

Her family's not a part of this. But how can she save them? Was her answer only to keep killing?

Hope's Peak Academy becomes her savior.

They extend their hand, tell her they'll move her folks across the sea if she joins their roster.

It sounds too good to be true. All expenses paid!

The Chariot takes their hand, takes her path to a hopeful future.

The arcana is the means by which all is revealed…

The end of the trial was definitely something that didn’t sit well with Naruki in the slightest.  He had stated once before that he was totally willing to step up to the plate for the majority of everyone else… but he felt differently than he wanted when it came to seeing other people take a similar approach.

Nonetheless, there were more areas opened up, and the computer room looked enticing to just chill and explore so that was his first destination.

The place definitely reminded Naruki a tad bit of a computer lab or an office room. It gave an exhausting aura for them, but taking a crack at the computers for anything never hurt… This time it actually had something interesting for him, a puzzle!... It seemed a bit uncanny to him to see it randomly in there, but it didn't hurt to see if it was actually important. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have too much of a clue at the moment. They didn’t have enough info to create some sort of formula to solve it all easily, so Naruki was just typing their way with plugging in random entries that were somewhat related with the clue Seven Twice. They were unsuccessful with all of their attempts, and it frustrated him. However it wasn’t long until they spotted someone else enter the room.

“Oh ,hey. By the way, the only thing here’s an odd puzzle. Got any ideas for what the answer to this might be?”

"Hrmm... Yep. That's a painting."

A beautiful landscape painting sat before Namiko on the wall. The plaque said it was extremely famous and honestly, she didn't get it. Namiko had never been much of an art person. It wasn't really her thing. She preferred games, spooky stuff, drama. This was just some location out on a canvas and considered amazing. She was willing to bet the original location looked way better.

The decision to come here had come after she got out of her shower. An effort that took, far too much to go into detail here. Mostly because I don't know how it goes yet. The main point was Namiko had intended to do something to relax her mind. Escape from the hell she was currently in. The Art Museum really wasn't doing shit for that to be honest. It was, maybe making it worse. Since there was nothing around to actually distract her, she just kept on focusing on Kiaria's death, again, and again. The look of horror on her face, the blood on the wall, how much she didn't deserve any of it. It had all been Jun's fault. yet she suffered. Shaking her head violently, Namiko poorly rushed away the negative thoughts filling into her brain.

"This place sucks so much shit."