#tdruv

[Gooood Morning, Everyone! I]

[Day 2, Dining Hall, 6:05]

“So what even happened to Akiba, Hayashi, and Hama?” Kamimura asked. “Did anyone see them after we got kicked out of the auditorium?”

“I can't speak for the other two, but I ran into Hama last night.” Nakamigawa replied, taking a seat across from Kamimura. “He said the beds and desks are fixed to the ground. We aren't going to be able to stack them.”

“Sasaki’s not going to be happy with that.” Hasegawa said dourly.

“What do you want to bet she’s already awake and in the gym?”

“No bet, gym’s closed until seven, remember?” Akiba interrupted, strolling past with two plates. “Mornin’.”

“What happened to you last night?” Kamimura asked.

“Before or after the room stuff? Tried to look in the storage room for something that might help. Given the furniture sitch. I might be able to rip it out of the floor if I try—“

“Do not.” Nakamigawa warned. “Sasaki probably already knows about the beds, anyway. Seems like something she would have checked as soon as she got back to her room.”

“Well, she's pretty observant.”

“I’m just sayin’, I could probably move them—it’d break the floor, but…”

“It’s not worth risking.” Kamimura insisted.

“And this,” Akiba holds up his plates. “is what I did after.”

“You made yourself a snack.”

“I made myself dinner.” Akiba corrected, before letting himself into the kitchen.

Ikeda entered the room with Okazaki nearly on his heels. He startled at the small chorus of morning greetings they both got. Weird, but Nakamigawa graciously invited them to sit with them; “We were just talking about the vent again.”

“Eh..l think the whole vent idea might be a little bit ambitious.” Okazaki said, sitting next to Hasegawa.

“Better than doing nothing.” Ikeda chimed in.

“The ladder's our best bet, but no way it goes all the way up.” Kamimura countered.

Akiba returns from the kitchen, “Tei kicked me out. Still talking about the vent?”

“Noooo,” Ikeda drawled sarcastically. “We’re talking about lying down and dying.”

“Tei was right, you ARE annoying.”

Ignoring Akiba, Ikeda turned back to the others; “What about what Ojima was saying yesterday? We could find a rope.”

“We didn’t see any ropes.”

“It’s a good start,” Nakamigawa says, wheels turning. “We use the ladder to get as high as we can, then we switch to that whole idea with the rope. Throw the rope up there into the rafters, use it to climb, voila. We're at the vent.”

“Better than the whole tower-of-beds plan.”

“I think it's doable, but...“

“We don’t have any ropes.” Akiba repeated.

“It doesn’t have to be literal rope, you moron.” Ikeda snapped. “We could use those track suits or something.”

“Or the bedsheets.” Nakamigawa grinned smugly at Ikeda, who rolled his eyes in turn.

Hasegawa interrupted before Ikeda could get going; “B-But the vent is so high off the ground. Falling from that high could have serious consequences.”

“Can you die from that height?”

“You can die from any height if you land the wrong way.”

“Great.” Ikeda snarked. “Is that all you got?”

“What crawled up your ass and died?”

“Aw, you mad?”

“The fuck?”

“K-Kazutoshi…”

“Citizens of the dining room! We have arrived!” Tsuno announced, Ogura in tow behind her. A welcome distraction from the two short boys potentially verbally attacking each other. For everyone else.

Nakamigawa was a little disappointed. It would have been funny.

“Look upon your goddess and WEEP!” The smaller of the two shrieked, causing Nakamigawa to wince and Kamimura to drop his head into his arms with a groan.

“Good morning Tsuno.” Okazaki greeted sweetly.

“Has anybody started on breakfast yet?”

Akiba answered the hero; “Tei, yeah. Kicked me out, though. Said I was being ‘distracting.’”

“By himself?” Tsuno frowned lightly. “That won’t do! I’m going to go help him.” She strode over to the kitchen as Ogura sat next to Akiba. “Never fear! Tsuno Manami is here to help feed the masses!”

Nakamigawa catches the sound of Tei’s voice responding, but the response itself got lost in the door closing. Kamimura, Ogura, and Okazaki talk about Tsuno’s energy and disposition while he waits to see if Tei kicks her out of the kitchen.

He never does. Good. It would suck if their breakfast sucked because he wouldn’t let anyone help him.

Harada popped in to a received flirtatious greeting from Okazaki—how many people in this school was she interested in, anyway?! Good recovery on Tiger Boy’s part though. No acknowledgment at all.

“Is anyone else awake yet?” Harada asks.

“Not sure,” Akiba answers, cutting off Okazaki before she could and giving Harada a look. “Not everyone who’s awake left their rooms yet.”

Harada flushed, “I had to take a shower.”

“I’m not judging.” The archer promises. “Your back still bothering you—?”

Unknowingly interrupting Akiba, Yaitabashi poked his head into the room, flower crown tilting slightly with the movement. He greeted everyone and received his due ‘good mornings’ in turn before he turned on Kamimura; “Did you just never come back last night?”

“Been here all night, yeah.”

“Why? I-I mean; wasn’t that a bad idea?”

“You look sick.” Nakamigawa helpfully pointed out. Yaitabashi and Hasegawa immediately frowned in response.

“Um- Yeah, are-are you okay? You're looking a little rough.”

“Sick of Ikeda’s shit, maybe.” He groused before dropping his expression a little. Maybe he should go back to sleep or something? “I'm fine. I just need to put my head down for a bit.” Kamimura returned his head to his arm cushion, blue hair spilling over his arms onto the table.

Hiroaki didn’t dye his hair himself, but he could admire when others did. If only Kamimura put as much effort in his clothes as his hair. Seriously, he could—

Takeshi walked into the room, his hair still a bit damp from his own shower. Nakamigawa felt his face smile a little too quickly and speaks over Ikeda’s own good morning to Takeshi with his own. Putting extra emphasis on his name and watching the shorter boy scowl.

“Looks like everyone's up pretty early.” Takeshi observes.

“If the rabbit isn’t lying about what time it is.” Ikeda responded.

“Good point. I guess there's no real sunlight to keep track of.”

If he had his phone, he could just CHECK. Then again, a LOT of things would be solved if he had his phone. Calling the police, some lawyers, Seiko….

Takeshi placed a hand on the back of Nakamigawa’s chair—not the boxing in kind, but the kind where you’re standing near someone not directly behind them. YES, he needed to make that distinction, GOD. “Something smells good.”

“Tei and Tsuno are making breakfast.” The oh-so-boring nerd oh-so-helpfully informed him.

“…for everyone?” Takeshi said, frowning. “That’s not fair. There’s over thirty of us. I’ll go help.”

“Good luck.” Akiba told him. “Tei kicked me out earlier.”

“I’m surprised he let Tsuno stay.”

“Maybe he likes her or something.” Ikeda sniped. “Maybe they’re—“

“BLASPHEMY! Our noble heroine would never—“

“Ikeda, just because you’re jealous—

“EW, WHAT—“

“Guys, this is a little—“

“Who even cares—“

“I CARE!!”

“Hasegawa, I’m going back to my—“

“O-Oh, okay. Stay sa—“

[I Can’t Help But Want To Talk To You]

[Day 2, Dining Hall, 4:04]

They’d both talked about leaving earlier, but had gotten a bit wrapped up in the conversation—bouncing from Ken worrying about if he’d kill someone or get killed to wondering if they should be taking precautions to joking about the two of them being able to take Wada. Ken learned that Kazutoshi was a crime scene cleaner and ‘damn good’ at what he did. They talked and talked, learning each other’s favorite color and their opinions on their fellow hostages. They circled back to talk about their situation—unable to help themselves. No point in ignoring the elephant in the room.

By now, Kazutoshi’s voice sounded somewhat raspy, like it was weighted by how tired he surely must be by now. But he hadn’t said anything about leaving since and Ken didn’t want to assume, so; “Should I be promising the same?”

“Hm?”

“Earlier. If someone tried to kill you, I could protect you, too.”

“I don’t need protecting.” Kazutoshi’s voice came out sharp, brittle, and dry. Breakable but likely to hurt Ken first.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t mean it like that. I mean… like looking out for each other.”

His eyes closed for a moment, the hand holding his cheek up covering half of his face for a moment. “Oh, yeah. That makes sense. …’Sides, ya don’t really hafta worry about Yaitabashi…”

Kansaiben? Oh, that suited him, actually. “Oh? Why is that?”

“Hm?” Kazutoshi turned his face back towards Ken, and maybe Ken should excuse himself first because what if he was keeping Kazutoshi trapped in the conversation? He was clearly tired and— “Oh, I just… can take him. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

“Like with Wada?”

“Yeah. How’s roomin’ with the doc, anyway?”

“I-I mean, technically neither of us would be able to give accurate statements on our time with our respective roommates.” Ken adjusted his spot in his chair for the fourth time. “Neither of us has gone to bed yet. Do you think we should—“

“We can still have opinions.” Kazutoshi argued. “Like Yaitabashi’s pretty tidy. So, no complaints from me.”

“Dr. Hirose is fairly neat as well, from what I’ve seen so far. My room at home is a little…”

“You’re messy? How bad?”

“I have—It’s—hmm. It’s not that, I-I have a system but it’s a bit of …organized chaos.”

“Oh, you’re one of those.”

Ken sputtered, “What does that mean?!”

Kazutoshi laughed. “It’s just—it’s like. Okay, when people say that, they’re usually just lying to themselves.”

He pouted; “What? But I do! And I haven’t even touched anything yet, so…”

“Not even your workstation?”

“Oh, are those already up? When did the rabbit do that?”

“I think when we were having that meeting earlier.”

That was fast. “…Huh.”

“I know, right? Mine’s mostly cleaning material, for my job I guess? Yours?”

“Research materials. I study a lot.” Ken smiled at him sheepishly.

“Makes sense.” He nodded before grinning at him, teasingly, he thinks. “How else will you gain those pop quiz strategies?”

“Context clues?” Ken offered up.

“Rhetorical question. ‘Sides, you’d still need to have context for stuff like that. You’re smart and intuitive, yeah. But you still need the research behind it.”

“That’s very true.”

God, Kazutoshi was so fun to talk to. He was a bit argumentative, but it seemed like he just enjoyed it. And he seemed to like when Ken wasn’t… completely ‘socially-appropriate.’ Which was… so nice.

It felt like he could finally relax around someone who wasn’t a family member.

[Does 3AM Really Count As Late Night Or Early Morning?—You Decide!]

[Day 2, Dining Hall, 2:44]

Ken was staring at his own clasped hands on the table—frankly paying too much attention to his skin—when he was joined by one of the other students.

“Well well well.”

It reminded him absurdly of an American Western, and a light chuckle burst out of his chest. “Hey.”

“Looks like I’m not the only one who couldn’t sleep.”

“Me and a few others, yeah. Frankly, I don’t know how anyone’s sleeping at all. I get we’re all tired, but…”

“Yeah, no I'm with you.” Kamimura crossed his arms over his chest, even as he got closer to Ken. His nail polish was surprisingly reflective for black. Ken noted the smudges and chips and filed the information away. Likely recently applied, but before they woke up here. “I'm not letting my guard down around any of these people.”

“And yet here you are in the dining room in the middle of the night?”

“That doesn’t count.” He fired back quickly. “You’re different. You’re fine.”

Ken chuckled again, more confused than amused this time. Though Kamimura did make him smile. If he’d understood his tone correctly. “What?”

“Well I mean like-“ Kamimura finally pulled out a chair to sit next to Ken. He hadn’t had to crane his head to look up or anything, it just felt nicer. Like they were on equal footing when they spoke to one another. “You’re not a total goddamn freak like Ogura or Okazaki or any of those guys.” The shorter boy flapped his hand in the direction he presumed the bedrooms were. “I can sit here comfortably without worrying that you're gonna stab me or something.”

“I-I guess I'm flattered.” Was it okay to joke with him yet? He’d seemed receptive to it, but maybe—

Kamimura chuckled, “You’re welcome.”

Based on the top three of the last one!

:0 Thank ye.

There will definitely be a scene. Likely several with the two. One of which coming soon, actually! …as soon as I iron out some frankly strange sentences. 😅 As for why I haven’t yet….

One part of it is that I haven’t had a scene from either of their perspectives quite yet. Or from the perspective of anyone observing them. There’s been minor interaction between the two but not enough to really be notable or noteworthy.

A second part is that I’d seen that Ninomiya’s student spotlight was coming out and I wanted to study that before I had too many Ninomiya scenes. Especially since I knew Okazaki would inevitably come up. Wanted to see how he felt about their relationship before trying to depict it.

And the third is… they’re kiiind of avoiding each other? Sort of. They’re among 32 hostages, where they’ve been told to kill each other, and they’re the only ones who know-know each other. If they’re here longer than tonight and anyone actually takes the game seriously, them knowing each other could make them targets. On top of that, someone is using a completely different name. And the other person doesn’t exactly know why she’s doing that??? And he doesn’t exactly want to just—either out or snitch on her, depending on the situation.

And the fourth reason is; Ninomiya had a feeling Okazaki would try to be roommates again and he didn’t really want to! So he ran off with Wada before Okazaki or anyone else could say anything.