Tomo Takeda

What a bad day. What a bad day! This day had been going terribly. 

She went into the kitchen to fix herself up some tea to try to elevate her mood, and didn’t even notice someone else was already in there. She was muttering to herself, “Doesn’t understand… she just doesn’t… idiot… fuckin’ idiot, she is… I’ll show her, I’ll show everyone…!” She stomped on the floor and slammed the cabinet shut, and THEN noticed Tomo in the kitchen with her.

“Oh, it’s you. Listen, I still don’t exactly know why, but you were upset with me for giving you that gift. Well, whatever your reasons were, it’s obvious to me that I hurt you, and I’m sorry for doing that. But next time, try not to blow up at someone who’s just trying to help, yeah? Please?” What an apology! 10/10, Ochako!

Oh… Ochako… Joy. What was she on about? Still complaining about him calling her an idiot during the trial? Wait… no… Show her? Show everyone? The hell was this girl planning? Oh… hey… She’s actually talking to Tomo now. Tomo heard her out, though a short flare of anger could be seen across his face. It was replaced by pity, followed by amusement. “You really don’t understand why I’m upset with you?” He couldn’t help but let a short laugh fall from his lips. “Fine… Allow me to explain. I suppose someone has to.”

“You understand Hanami had JUST DIED when you gave me the poison, right? While proven incorrect, at the time, I thought you had given me LETHAL poison… During a time when… Honestly I didn’t want to live… I’m still…” Tomo shook his head. “How would you feel if someone you cared about had just died, and someone gave you the means to… do that?”

Tomo wasn’t finished. “AND… And then, you treated Hanami with NO respect. The way you just… ripped her wig off? Even if she was… dead… She still deserved dignity. You… you don’t respect anyone. You couldn’t care less about how your actions make them feel… Which… I’m admittedly at fault for the same thing. I… I shouldn’t have yelled at you… or Seki, but… Dammit Ochako, you have to THINK. Think about how what YOU do, and what YOU say affects those around you, because unless you do, you’re not going to find many people who sympathize with you.”

It was hard to watch Tomo during the investigation, she had put a lot of effort into keeping tabs on him and Hinami’s relationship, other than that she also cared about Tomo. Not in a romantic way more in a friends way and that was a weird thought for Addy. 

Checking in on him seemed like the best idea, its a lot to go through and then to have people poke and prode at your loved one only to fail to find out who killed them. She sighed where in the world would she find him, that is the question.  She tried places like the hospital, the aquarium, his room, soon she was down to a couple places left that he could be. She decided to guess and chose the recpion hall at random. Well luck smiled down on her today as she found the other white haired human inside the surprisingly chilly building. 

She cleared her throught before speaking up, tryingher best not to spook him. 

Tomo nodded, acknowledging her presence. “Addy…” Tomo looked around the room tiredly. Even after the nights of sleep deprivation, it seemed he was struggling to get any rest. “Just… Trying to get away…” He sighed. “I moved into Hanami’s room… Everything reminds me of her, and I just.” Tomo lifted his sword, and jabbed the point into the ground. “I needed to get away from it for a while.”

“You…” Tomo blinked. “You want to move in with me?” That was… not what he expected to hear right after the trial… and right after Hanami’s death. If he didn’t trust Riku as much as he did, he could have taken this completely wrong… for example if it had been Ochako who asked. “Is… Is this about the whole poison thing?” He asked. “I’m not going to…” No… his mind went back to that feeling in the pit of his stomach when Riku took it away. He WOULD have drunk it if it hadn’t been taken away… And that was when he thought it was lethal.

“I…” Tomo sighed. “Shit… I can’t say that.” Tomo moved towards Riku, placing his awkwardly bandaged hand on their shoulder before bringing them in for a hug. “Thank you… For caring. I…” He gave a sad little chuckle. “Who knows… maybe you just saved my life?” His diaphragm spasmed a few times… It was hard to tell if it was silent laughter, or sobbing.

“I’ll move my stuff into Hanami’s room. I’m not leaving it open for people to loot. I don’t have a whole lot anyway.” A few moments passed by with Tomo and Riku embracing… Eventually Riku could feel a warm wet spot forming on their shoulder. So… he was crying…

 Tomo stood shakily, inclining his head towards the camera. “I’m going to kill that fucking bear for this.” His despite the obvious strain, his voice sounded strong. “I’m going to find who’s behind this… And I’m going to kill them for what they’ve done.” He winced as he clutched his hands back into fists. “That’s a promise… For everyone who’s died because of that bastard. For the people left behind too… For the people that will never see their friend… their child… their sibling… The person they LOVE.” Tomo’s voice rose considerably. “I’M GOING TO FIND YOU!” Apparently Tomo had stopped talking directly to Riku at some point.

 The aura of anger that had overtaken Tomo seemed to be dispelled by Riku’s hand on his shoulder. Tomo felt a wave of numbness come over him, enveloping him. It wasn’t something he was comfortable with, Hanami was dead. He needed to be feeling SOMETHING, but… suddenly there was nothing other than the warmth of a friend’s hand on his shoulder, the sting in his tired eyes, and the throbbing pain in his hands. Tomo held his right hand in front of him, flexing it, opening it and closing it. A sharp breath escaped through his teeth.

Right and yet wrong. There had been something missing after all- more than one thing, in all likelihood. But there just… wasn't time. Or was that just an excuse? Riku turned the case over again in their head, and over, and over, and over. Rapidly spinning the facts around and around even as Monokuma was making his announcement.

A moment of panic. What was going on. Riku couldn’t see the bear pointing, didn’t know who the scapegoat was going to be. Who was it? Them? Tomo? Aiko? Seki? 

Ayame spoke, and the tension in Riku’s stomach clenched into a hard stone. Not good.

But of course someone was going to die. They’d known that would have to be the outcome, hadn’t they? Just because they hadn’t been able to figure it out… or rather, because they’d only half figured it out. They knew someone else had been involved, they'd known, but who? They’d named their suspects, but failed to narrow it down. They’d failed to prove even that Suzume had been killed, failed to solve the mystery…

Failure.

And now Ayame was going to die.

Riku’s mouth was dry. Part of them wanted to speak up, to say something, to say No, take me instead, I’m the one who failed.

But fear stopped them. They weren’t that good of a person. And besides, there was no guarantee Monokuma would even have taken them up on it. Useless, useless, useless. What good was it to have caught the dead killer when it was the living one they’d needed? And yet… 

There was still so much that didn’t make sense.

Ayame said her piece, and Riku felt respect for her swell up. She didn’t deserve this. It wasn’t right, wasn’t justice even by the disgusting standards of it this nightmarish place meted out. But she was accepting it with grace, with bravery, and Riku didn’t even know how to take that. 

“Miyamoto-san, I… I’m sorry I failed you. You won’t be forgotten.”

It’s a poor farewell, but the best they had to offer.

Once again Riku missed out on the details of the execution, were left with only the ominous and confusing soundtrack of Ayame’s death- but that she was dead was all they really needed to know. It lasted longer than the others had, drawn out minute by agonizing minute, the sound of car wheels screeching and Ayame screaming harrowing right up until the final crash.

And then it was over.

Feeling at once both strangely numb and hyperfocused, Riku shakily made their way to the stairs, trying their best to seek out Tomo along the way. They needed to talk to him…

Monokuma’s words over the megaphone irritated them, though the sharp heat of anger that cut through their cold misery was almost a relief.

“He’s wrong. We are not responsible for what he chooses to do. He picked Miyamoto-san out, and he sent her to her death. Monokuma and anyone else who organized this game are responsible. Whoever killed Tachikaze-san and allowed us to be incorrect is partially responsible as well. But Monokuma and his affiliates are the true cause. We didn’t ask to be part of this game, they forced us into it. Someone was going to die no matter what we did, and not because of us, because of them. Because of this game they set up.”

Riku had pitched their voice to carry, but they couldn’t be sure everyone was listening. Still, they had to say it. It needed to be said. It was the truth.

If only the truth had the power to banish the sick feeling of failure that still eats at them.

Now… Now he had to watch someone else die. He felt numb to it. He’d held the body of the person he loved in his arms. Nothing was going to make him feel worse than he already did. Still he wished he felt SOMETHING. Before long, Ayame was dead… just like Hanami. She left behind friends and family that felt about her the same way Tomo felt about Hanami… Still he was finding it harder and harder to care.

It was over… The students were gathered to watch Monokuma open the next area. If Tomo didn’t fear what would happen if he didn’t attend, he wouldn’t have even shown up. As such, he was among the first to leave. He could hear Riku speaking behind him… Platitudes. Everyone shared fault in this. Tomo had failed to protect Hanami… But so had everyone else. No one had protected Suzume either… not that Tomo was complaining. Ech… That kind of thinking wasn’t like Tomo.

Riku did have a point though… None of them would be in this situation if it weren’t for Monokuma, and whoever was behind him. Still just because someone tells you to kill… doesn’t mean you have to. When you’re put in a dangerous situation… It your responsibility to protect those around you… If everyone worked together… It was too late for that.

Even though the haze of exhaustion, grief, anger… Tomo had one thing he cared about. He needed to know if Hanami was still there… If she was, they could hold a proper funeral. They could give her the goodbye she deserved. He closed out all those other feelings, at least for now. Making it to the staff quarters was all that mattered. This tunnel-visioned focus was all that kept Tomo running for the moment. Unfortunately this meant Tomo was oblivious to Riku’s efforts to get his attention. As such, he continued to the ??? room. And when he saw that everything was back in its place… That the room had been cleaned, and rearranged into its original state, he fell to his knees. Hanami was gone, and Monokuma had erased everything that happened in that room. Tears rolled down his face as a chilling scream filled the air. Tomo’s fists struck the ground repeatedly as the flesh split on his knuckles.

Ren was… He wasn’t doing well, to say the least. Everything that had happened during everyone’s time at the Gardens was horrific. Funny. That was the way Ren thought every time something happened after the first trial. As much as he wanted to help everyone, he just couldn’t do that. And now? Now two more people were dead. Two dead bodies. Whoever killed them truly was a villain. They were especially evil for killing someone like Hanami. Hanami was someone that Ren got along with, and for her to be taken away like that was utterly crushing. His heart sank.

Yet despite his thoughts and emotions, Ren couldn’t get himself to externalize his feelings. It was like every death was another blow to justice itself, and the deaths of Hanami and Suzume were enough to destroy it. And without justice, what was there for him? Nothing. Not even his saving Tomo made much of a difference. The cosplayer clenched his fists as he looked down at Hanami’s lifeless form, eyes cold yet blank. His eyes then wandered over to Tomo, who was collapsed beside Hanami. Right. The two of them were close. And Tomo… asked Ren to protect her. The thought made Ren’s stomach turn. He had to make it up to Tomo somehow. For now, though, he had to investigate. Wordlessly, Ren left the room, wanting to start elsewhere, away from Tomo.

…

“There’s only two reasons I left you this tea at this very moment is so that you weren’t sitting here, literally defenseless! And also, since the tea has poison in it, it would be dangerous to leave it anywhere else where someone may drink it! I do NOT want blood on my hands, too! God… I give you a means to keep yourself alive, and you call me a murderer, an asshole, and stupid. I really just did this to help protect you, Tomo.”

Although her mind was DEFINITELY not in the right place, her heart was. Her words were genuine, and they sounded it too. Yeah, definitely, it was terrible timing, but she really did mean the best.

“Hate me if you want, but that won’t stop me from finding out who killed her. Before I go off to investigate and leave you here, why would you even think I knew Hanami had died?” 

“If you don’t want blood on your hands, why the hell are you making poison? Isn’t that more than a little counter-intuitive? I’m not defenseless.” Tomo grabbed the hilt of the sword strapped to his back. “If the killer wants to show their face, this will be a hell of a lot more effective than tea.” Tomo paused a bit… Did he just threaten to kill someone? He shook the thought from his head, but was hit by another guilt bomb immediately after.

“I… I don’t… I don’t hate you. I don’t hate anyone!” His voice had a catch in it. “I… I don’t.” Tomo buried his face in his hands. “I…” Tomo looked back up to her. “I’m sorry… I….”He bowed his head slightly. “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

The Witch had just finished brewing a special blend of tea that she made very sure not to drink. It was a special blend brewed with love, for Tomo specifically. But he also wasn’t supposed to drink it.

However, just as the tea had been fully cooled and Ochako prepared to bottle it, an announcement came on, straight from Monokuma himself.

A very special announcement.

She sat in silence, trying to discover what emotion she felt. Worry? Fright? Anxiety? Sadness? Anger? Hysteria? Nah, none of those.

Then another announcement came on, followed be one last special announcement.

“Ehehehe… heehee ehehee…! Eeeeehehehehehe!!” She began cackling nearly maniacally, but with a tint of determination. The time had come for action. Last time, she was a frightened little cat, shaking in her room. This time, she was brave, ready, and surprisingly lucid. “Let’s get down to business…!” She exclaimed to herself, cracking her knuckles.

First, though, she had to deliver her tea.

_____________________________________

Knock Knock Knock! She knocked loudly and excitedly on Tomo’s door. She figured he would still be inside, bedridden. But, there was no response. Maybe he would be at the crime scene, then? She put the yellow labeled tea bottle back into her bag, and walked to the staff quarters.

_____________________________________

When she showed up, most of the students had already left to start investigating. Tomo, however, was still there - solemnly and silently sitting with his hand on the body’s cheek.

“Tomo! Hiii!~ I brought you a gift! But you can’t drink-” She paused and froze when she saw the body.

She understood why Tomo was just… just sitting there…

“O-Oh my… Tomo… I’m sorry…”

Sorry? In truth, she didn’t feel very much at all, other than excited for an investigation. Is that bad? She didn’t even stop to think who died in the first place, she just wanted to get right to work. What if it was a closer friend? What would she have felt? …Does it mean anything that someone died? These are all questions that did not at all go through Ochako’s mind as she expressed her apologies to Tomo.

“I… Um… Here. I brewed you something. But, don’t drink it. I take it you’ll be staying here during the investigation, and who knows how many more people will die, if two people already have. If somebody tries to hurt you while you’re here, rather defenseless, with nobody else around, make them drink this. I brewed it with poison that I found in the greenhouse, so really, don’t drink it. Please. I don’t want Monokuma to say I killed someone, and execute me too!”

Man, isn’t she sympathetic.

She set the glass bottle down on the floor next to him.

“Unless you REALLY think that would work… In which case you’re not an asshole, you’re just stupid.” Tomo gave a dark laugh before speaking in a mocking voice. “Oh yes, before you kill me, would you like a spot of tea?” Tomo snorted. “Fuck you and fuck your tea.”

After hearing about the commotion from a few of the other students Addy had decided to visit Tomo, just a simple check in.

Maybe it would be best to bring something along with her…Cooking wasnt really a thing Addy was good at but, she could make a mean Hot Coco..provided there was powder and milk. So finding a thermos in the kitchen and filling it with Hot Coco, after managing to burn her finger on the kettle she warmed the milk in, and grabbing a couple mugs she was off to find Tomo.

A good assumption was that she was going to find Tomo in the Hospital, with an injury like that he was going to need it. So after a walk through the snow, she debated if seeing Tomo was really worth freezing herself, she finally made it. Escaping inside the hospital and stomping her feet a bit to warm her legs back up she sighed softly as she could feel them again.

Tomo was caught off guard by Riku’s sudden show of affection. Riku’d been averse to the idea of physical contact in their previous interactions, so their initiative wasn’t expected. Even with the blood loss, Tomo’s cheeks were tinted a light pink as he wrapped his arms around Riku. This really was the best way to comfort Tomo, and Riku knew it… Though it seemed this was just as much for them as it was for Tomo.

Tomo gave Riku a squeeze. The warmth of their body was reassuring. “I… No. That’s not enough… There are people here that I love… that I can’t let anything happen to. You… Hanami, Kazu… You’re all important to me, and… I just wanted you all to be safe.” Tomo sighed. “It doesn’t really matter what I want though… You’re right. There’s nothing we can do… Someone else is going to die… and there’s not a thing I can do to stop it.” The admission was bitter, and took a lot out of Tomo. He fell silent for some time, holding on to Riku for comfort. Finally he released them before speaking again. His voice dripped with guilt.

Once Monokuma had left, and it was just Tomo and Riku, some of the tension in Tomo’s voice subsided, but he was still in pain. “Y-yeah… It’s the stuff Achilles used to stop from bleeding out in the Iliad… It apparently actually works.” Arthurian legend wasn’t the only mythos Tomo was familiar with. Ayaka was a HUGE Greek mythology buff. Yun was almost named Persephone. When Riku’s hand landed on the flower Tomo nodded… some things were just automatic at this point. “Yeah, that’s it.” When Riku brought it over, Tomo tore off a few sprigs and pressed it against his eye. It would help clotting happen considerably faster.

Tomo winced at the question. “I… I’m…” Tomo sighed. “I’m a fucking idiot.” And that’s two swears. Apparently his left eye contained his brain-mouth filter. “I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt… or killed. I… figured we only had a few days before someone broke and decided to kill. I wanted to get us all out of here.” Tomo sighed. “I tried to cut us a path through the rose maze… The wire holding the hedges in shape snapped and…” Tomo paused. “It whipped out and caught my eye… I guess I was lucky though… There was enough tension in that thing it could have cut me in two.”

Tomo handed off the hand-towel he’d been using. “Would you mind wetting this for me?” He felt so worthless… Here he was, supposed to be protecting people, and now he was forced to rely on the blind kid for help... Tomo noticed that he’d gotten some of his blood on Riku’s hand. “You’re going to want to wash your hands too.”

Unfortunately, Riku had been elsewhere at the time of Tomo’s accident, that elsewhere being far enough away from his chosen part of the hedge that even their keen ears hadn’t picked up the scream. This was mostly because seriously if Riku had heard Tomo screaming they would’ve been there in a flash, ready to fight. As it was, they didn’t learn of the occurrence until quite some time later, when they chanced to overhear something about it from someone else. Possibly Ren. In any case, they didn’t bother to get details once they’d learned Tomo was injured, they just made their way to the Hospital as quickly as they could.

“Tomo-kun…?” Riku realized only after they’d tapped their way back behind the reception area and into the hall that they may have been a bit hasty. They didn’t even know which room Tomo was in. Troublesome. In hopes of finding him they felt along the walls and pulled open the door to the first examination room they came across.

“Upupupu~” The laugh came from the facilitator of this wonderful game, Monokuma. “NO sleeping. I don’t care if you ARE injured.” The bear poked at Tomo’s recent wound again.

“Gah! I wasn’t asleep! I just closed my eyes for a second.”

“Like I’m supposed to believe that! Look, you still have an eye closed!” The bear prodded at Tomo’s eye again.

“Fuck you.” That may very well have been Tomo’s first curse since he arrived at the gardens.

“Upupupu~” The bear’s laugh was infuriating. If Tomo didn’t know better he’d punch the animatronic teddy right in the nose. “Fine! I guess you’re awake… Besides, I wouldn’t want to distract your guest from the wonderful opportunity they have to KILL you right now.” The bear’s attention turned to Riku. “Have fun kiddo!” With that the bear began waddling his way out the door.

Waiting for Monokuma to leave, Tomo finally spoke to Riku. “H-hey Riku.” The boy brought a hand to his eye… Damn… his fingers were wet… Was he bleeding or crying? Pulling his hand away, he caught the sight of his own blood, making him feel a bit light-headed. He grabbed the towel from the tray beside him and pressed it against his eye. “Hey… Could you grab some of the Yarrow? It’s on the counter to your left… It helps with the bleeding.” Tomo at least seemed somewhat coherent at this point, but his voice wasn’t able to hide the pain he was in.

 Tomo’s attempt at a cheerful exterior dropped when Ren mentioned the car accident. His eyes glazed over as if he was remembering something. His breathing became slightly erratic, and he leaned against whatever surface was nearby. “That was…” He shook his head returning his attention to Ren. “I… sorry.” Deep breaths. “I didn’t know…” Whatever Tomo had remembered had him shaken up, but he seemed to be recovering. “Well… At least it seems like you recovered fairly well… Why do you still wear it? I-if you don’t mind me asking. Is your eye still sensitive or something?”

“Things with Hanami have been great. She’s so cute, and spontaneous. I did what you said with the white lily and everything. I don’t think she really got the significance, but… at least she liked it. I had it on the plate with a slice of the pie, and after she tried it, I asked… er tried to ask her out. I kinda got tongue-tied, but… she must’ve gotten the picture.” A genuine smile crossed his face. “She jumped up and kissed me right there. It was…” Tomo sighed. “Great.”

And then, we spent pretty much the entire hunger game thing together, and when we lost, and we weren’t able to go back to the cabin we…” A deep blush appeared on Tomo’s face. “Er... Nevermind…” Tomo was suddenly rather flustered and embarrassed. “And no… not that… we haven’t uh… done that yet.” His ears burned.

“I… I’m really glad you happened to walk into the kitchen that afternoon. Thank you.”

Tomo pursed his lips. “I’m not sure I can prioritize people like that though… I mean EVERYONE deserves to be protected… not just my friends.” He sighed. “But I get what you’re saying. I should focus on protecting the people I can, and stop worrying about the people I can’t. I’m just not sure I can do that.”

“Yeah… Yeah I’m fine, I promise. I’m just… I wish that I had been able to protect them. And I… I guess I’m just worried that… I CAN’T protect anyone and…” Ugh. He didn’t need to be unloading on her like this, but it just came out. “I just want everyone to get out of here. I promised Jae-Ha, and…” Tomo looked to Addy. “Sorry…” Tomo ran his hand through his hair mussing it up a little. “I’m good. I’m fine, really.”