#kumitheatre

As you tailed after the exorcist, you followed her down the flight of steps. The rest of the remaining students tailed after her, making their way down to the ground floor of the castle, and as you came from the stairwell, Aoiko veered off to the side. The students stood in the main hall, confusion present… there was nothing going on on the floor, but the voices were still present.

And as you realised, they came from outside. The next realisation was that the front gate was open, and that you could exit the castle. A collective sound of feet racing to the door was heard next, and you exited the castle, before halting as you saw Kumi standing a few feet in front of you, facing an unfamiliar, tall cat-girl. Her eyes were narrowed and she hissed at them, the ears on her head flattening.

Ears?

You didn’t have much time to dwell on what was happening, as Kumi summoned their dagger out of their sleeve, pointing it at the unfamiliar woman.

"Get away from me, you beast!”

She seemed to take offense to this and approached Kumi, her hand spreading and fingers flexing to reveal razor-sharp talons. Whatever she was, she definitely wasn’t a human. Humans didn’t have what appeared to be real cat ears or sharp talons. The least unusual part about her was that she was six foot five, which caused Kumi to appear even smaller when compared to her stature.

“Watch who you are calling beast, you fool.”

They narrowed their eyes, pointing the dagger at her.

“I am more powerful now. I’m going to hold my ground… and thusly, we shall settle this now. Let’s fight.”

The atmosphere of the trial room following the execution you just witnessed was heavy, Kumi’s eyes boring into you as you stood there. They got to their feet, no mocking applause given this time, and they seemed rather troubled as they spoke.

“Well, you know the drill. You… are all dismissed.”

They turned and began walking towards the door, however something was clearly up. Your ONIbooks did not ping as they usually did with maps of a new area, much like last week, and instead they were silent as you hesitantly stood up. The door to the courtroom had been left open, and as you made your way back to the castle, you could hear voices in the distance.

Voices? They were loud enough that you could hear them from even the third floor, despite the fact that they were clearly coming from one of the floors beneath you. What was going on?

Aoiko hurried out after the students, and without a word, she motioned for the students. Really, what was all of this about?

{tw: stabbing, blood,  scocophobia}

The Agent is pulled away. His hand grasping at the newly attached collar around his neck as he’s dragged into the darkness. Seems like perhaps… He wasn’t ready to die after all? There’s a substantial pause before the monitor in the room flickers on, flipping between a couple feeds of rooms- Rooms you’re familiar with. Rooms in the castle, like a security feed until it flickers into the Main Hall. The place where you’re all called for Kumi’s motive announcements. Empty. Dimly lit. But you can still see him.

[x]

Hanzo Onowai, SHSL Agent, stands alone in the center of the room non-chalant, his hands in his pockets. What would you expect, honestly? But he doesn’t move. A moment passes. Two moments. A third. Finally, Hanzo breaks his previous line of sight, turning his head to check the rest of the room. This was an execution, after all. Why was nothing happening? And just when he lifted his foot to pivot, a there was a sound. Like something hollow hitting something hard.

Hanzo turned, reaching up his sleeve and turning his body a full 180 as he tossed a needle, and the sound of it rebounding off the stone wall and skittering on the floor reverberated through the room.

“Who’s there?”

He called out to his aggressor, reaching into his sleeve for another needle.

The clack from before echoed in the room. Once. Twice. And then a figure appeared from the doorway. A towering fellow, nearly seven feet in height. He walked with a limp in his right leg, and his getup made him seemed prepared for winter. The only discernable features of his face were his eyes… Closed.

“Oh, it’s you. So are yous the real Oyesu, or a fake?”

The man didn’t speak, instead moving closer and closer to Hanzo who kept a handful of throwing needles pinched between his knuckles ready at his side. Hanzo only smiled. It was like he wasn’t taking this man seriously as all. As if he had no reason to fear the person whom he had refered to as Oyesu.

“Well, say something will ya? I know why you’re here. You’re here to kill me, right?”

The man named Oyesu’s eyebrow raised curiously. Did something the Agent had mentioned intrigue him? Perhaps it was so.

“Alright, enough with the silent treatment. Let’s get this over with, Oyesu Onowai. I’ll even let you have the first shot, come on- Have at me!”

Hanzo gave a wide, toothy grin and held his arms out to his side, it almost seemed like he wasn’t really going to fight back… but there was someting… Sinister about the look on his face. As if everything he was planning, each action he made. It was like he was setting up a trap.

“Hanzo-gun.”

Oyesu finally spoke. His voice was thick, muffled by the large scarf around his face, but you could definitely discern some form of throaty, near archaic accent from him.

“Just a fair warning-”

There was a shift. If there were a breeze in the castle, it would definitely have changed directions right now. And even though there wasn’t, you could still hear the splitting of the air from the other side of the monitors as the towering man shifted his weight onto his good leg and made a singular, swift movement.

Oyesu’s knotted cane had been split into two parts. The end piece, which he propped his free arm on to support one side, and the handle- Extending from which was a blade that was now pierced through Hanzo’s chest. A fatal strike- Straight through the heart.

“Your arrogance will be your undoing- This is how an Onowai fights.”

Hanzo sputtered. Coughing out blood in front of him. His eyes- One yellow as you may have seen before, and the other pink- his eyes had been opened… But he still smiled. His needles had dropped to the floor from the shock of the blow, but now he moved, his hand grabbing onto the blade as he looked up at his assassin’s face. The agent gritted his teeth his breathing was heavy, but still he spoke.

“I’m not... An Onowai...”

His last words on his dying breath as the sword was forcefully turned, pulledand ripped to the side, sending a spray of blood across the room. The last man standing in the main hall, Oyesu Onowai, pulled out a cloth, wiping the blood off of his blade before returning it to his scabbard and walking away. Out of the room, leaving Hanzo’s corpse for the work of the cleaning crew.

[TW: Death Idealization, swearing]

Hanzo looked around the room. It looks like nobody - Barring Shirou - cared about his accusation of Anguo. Shun had yelled at him, Anguo had denied his claim. Nobody else seemed to want to acknowledge anything. But a couple of people did ask questions. Valid questions. Things that they probably deserved answered more than 'who was the real culprit'. The ultimate question: Why.

   "Why did I do it? Why did I boite the bullet for someone I didn' even know? Well- For starters, I already told yous, the culprit was Anguo, regardless of what he wants you to believe, so saying it was someone I didn' know isn' quite correct."

His smug grin remained on his face for a couple of moments before the agent spoke again.

   "But no. For the most part yous got that right. I wanted you guys to know you can't trust everythin' peoples say. Whether it be a confession or an accusation. If yous trustin' everybody, yous gonna be the ones bitin' the bullet in the end, and sometimes, yous just gotta loin that the hard way. And as much as you say yous already know that, it seems to me like you didn't. And that's why-"

The smile on his face changes to a frown.

   "I'm done. I'm absolutely sick and tired of bein' around yous guys. All of yous, barrin' maybe Akemi and Anguo, are insufferable. And to think, if yous all really wanted to, you could have used me as an asset. So that's it. I'm outta here, even death is better than putting up with you stooges."

He smiled again, except this time it was slightly, if only slightly, more genuine. The lack of smugness was jarring.

   "So see, Akemi? What'd I tell yous? I kept your secret, and now I'm taking it to my grave. You got that? I could have been a useful asset to any of yous if only you'd thought to try. But no, instead you decided to send me to my death- So feel free to keep dancin' under those scrutiny of those cameras-"

Nodding his head towards one of the corners of the trial room- Just as Hanzo had said, there was a lone security camera watching everyone's every move.

   "I doubt any of yous even noticed them before now. They're in almost every room. Do with that what you will, but whatever. My time's almost up."

Taking two steps backwards from his podium, The agent pulled his hands out of his pockets.

   "You know, an old man once told me- 'He who lives in the shadows dies in the shadows. That is what it means to be a ninja.' Well-"

As if entirely on cue, the ring shot out of the darkness, clamping itself around his neck. And Hanzo only smiled. Using the index and middle fingers of his hands he made a cross in front of him.

When the voting tallies ran, your captor’s eyes stayed closed for a very, very long time. When they were opened once more, there was... something new in them - refreshment? Excitement? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. So, Kumi shifted forward, their voice low as they finally spoke. 

“Seems rather anticlimactic, does it not? Another confession? Shouldn’t you know by now I do not want you to confess - Aoiko herself said it. Then, perhaps you’re wondering why I’m reacting the way I am.”

Kumi opened their eyes immediately, their mask’s jaw spreading into a crooked smile.

“Certainly made things more lively this time around. Got it right, didn’t get it right... you should always be prepared for things to be taken in an unexpected direction. Several roads lead to execution... and that’s what’s waiting.”

They paused.

“Oh, you want me to tell you if you got it right? Congratulations, you didn’t. How do you feel, with that on your shoulders? Hmm, perhaps I will leave you all to ruminate on your choice in the meantime.”

They paused, turning.

“Seems all of us are hiding our little secrets.”

Hanzo - 4

Mitsuki Arai - 1

Mizuiro Ren - 1

Rozalina Dolinski - 1

Shirou Sonozaki - 1

Shun Nagase - 1

….. With 3 votes, Hanzo Hanzo Onowai, Super High School Level Agent, has won.

So, the latest case had once again ended in a confession - theories had been thrown, people were accused, the whole nine yards. And it had wound up in this happening. Shockingly enough, the fox-person didn’t seem irritated as they clapped their hands together loudly and stood up from their podium, casting their gaze over the students. 

“Alright, you have been given more than enough time. Please stop your debating, and... we shall see where the wheel shall land.”

They then reached over and put their hand on the lever to pull it, shifting to their other foot.