dead man walking

As much as Ayato wanted to participate, it won’t change the fact that he had only just recently waken up from his concussive state and hasn’t really recovered mostly due to his insistence on helping investigate, but even then, that didn’t help at all. Now he was just leaning on his podium, massaging his temples as everyone’s words buzzed around in his head, mixing in with the annoying pulsating throb in the back of his head where he was hit. He thought about talking to Michiko afterwards…but…

“Kuro…sawa…?”

Wait, wait, wait, wait, whaaaaaaaaat.

The throbbing in the back of his head felt almost worst as he listened to Kanon detail her plan. His heart drummed in his ears, remembering that she was among the people who had found him, who looked worried about him, who…

“So was…was earlier a lie…?”

The words slipped out unexpectedly, like drool spilling from his mouth. He grit his teeth and shook his head. This felt…awful…but not unfamiliar. Didn’t something like this happen before? No…the first time he wasn’t a witness, and had one less concussion up until now. His gaze was down at the floor, then, slowly, he raised his head to look at Kanon directly.

“Haha…no, it wasn’t a lie, was it? That’s why you checked up on me, right? Haha….I…can’t deny that this hurts…physically and emotionally….but…”

It was then that Ayato felt his vision blur, was his contacts falling out? Oh, wait, no, that’s just tears. Ayato blinked a couple of times, feeling the warm liquid trickle down from his eyes. Just as soon as he realized he was crying, he rubbed at his eyes, still smiling as he spoke to Kanon.

“Sorry, sorry. I-I didn’t…mean to cry. It just…I…felt that we were pretty similar, you know? But…maybe that’s not true, and maybe things would have been different if we had talked more and…I…I’m sorry, Kurosawa…”

The tears just wouldn’t stop, and Ayato just lowered his gaze, a smile still on his face as the tears were overflowing at his point.

 Well this kind of sucks.

Ayato knew that he was a bit unlucky, but being concussed for a couple of hours really takes the cake. Cake…that was the reason why he left his room and, unfortunately, accidentally became a witness to a soon-to-be-murder-scene and was unceremoniously knocked out and dragged away. Needless to say, his mood was kind of low as he wandered into the trial room, following Michiko until he diverged and ambled to his podium.

“…”

Usually, Ayato wouldn’t say much, just letting everyone do their own thing until he’s addressed specifically…but…something like this, he just can’t not stay quiet about it.

“So…I can recount what happened before I was knocked out.”

The tall boy straightened his back before he spoke again.

“So…I left my room around…3:30 or so? Somewhere around that time. I was going to get some cake for a snack, and I was going to but…around the storage area I….saw something I shouldn’t have.”

He lowered his gaze, but continued.

“The victim, Nakazawa, was still alive and moving around in the storage area, though he was chained up. Before I could really do anything, I…”

Almost subconsciously, Ayato started to rub the back of his head, wincing slightly.

“I…got whacked in the back of the head. It was…something metallic, it made a clang noise. This was around 3:45…I think…”

He let out a sigh.

“I then woke up in the laundry room, next to a laundry machine. I…was kind of drifting from consciousness to unconsciousness, I think I saw some people who found me, but then that’s when I texted Shoji to help fix me up.”

He nods at Michiko, there was a gratefulness in his voice when he spoke of her before he turned back to everyone.

“So…I never saw who got me, but I do remember that the swing of the angle was kind of…below me. Though, I’m a pretty tall guy, so that doesn’t really help…sorry…”

[TW: Insects, unsanitary, panic?]

♫♫

Like a thief in the night, he emerged.

Should he have been wearing pants? Yes. Was he? Not unless you counted the boxers. Was that stupid? Yes, yes it was. There had been a donation drive for pete’s sake!

But just as the room was starting to feel like a box closing in on itself, so did the gift pants pile look like a nest of briar. It would take so, so little for a wannabe murderer who too took deaths in the sim lightly to sneak a little poison salve on the inside of a donated set of pants…….

Brr, brr brr. Both a chilling concept and plain ass chilly.

The walk to the monomachine was….rocky, to say the least, with just a couple layers of gold-toe socks between his feet and the ground. Not to mention he’d taken pains to go as far out as the city machines, considering the….residue feelings of being around the townsite. But as soon as he was there all five of his coins were in his hand–

Six. All six. Right. There was still the one he’d almost died for.

The sight of it turned the coldness colder still. This. Coin needed to go.

So into the machine, one by one. Let consumerism clean the soul. 

346:  Red Hunting Cap

 A rather overlarge red plaid hat with earflaps and a wide brim. It’s very warm, if not silly looking. Somewhere, in the distance, you can hear Holden Caulfield’s voice.

“……………Why is this whole system trying to give me more clothes?”

277:  Tin of Cigars

A big-ass tin of cigars, a look inside shows that the cigars are no less big-ass, they look pretty posh too. Aren’t you forgetting that high schoolers shouldn’t smoke? It’s illegal. (Yuuki Kumada, DA5K) 

Well, guess who was never using these ever. Who would even need these things? Half their overtly rich kids were gone by now.

558:  Giant Hornets

Within a small hive, a faint buzzing is heard. However, there is also the faint scent of smoke in the air. In addition the hive, seems to be a small smoke maker. The smoke seems to be making these around 20 hornets complacent and calm, not out to sting the receiver of this item. The more smoke puffed into the nest, the calmer they’ll be. What will you do? Dispose of the hornets, or keep them? 

“…..”

For such a nervous guy, it was with a surprising amount of composure that he carefully placed the hornets to the side. He wasn’t going to KEEP it, was he? He couldn’t b…..oh no, no he was. He was fully intending to take that giant hornet nest. Dear God.

407:  Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia

Written by E.O.G. Turville-Petre, a legendary Oxford Old Norse professor, this book is the go-to reference for everything related to Norse Mythology. It might be a bit dated, but it’s still a reliable source nonetheless. Until you’ve read it, you are but a dabbler in Scandinavian Mythology. 

“….Sure?”

Engrossing nighttime reading? Yeah, his nerves could use some of that. Why not? Then again……He could think of a certain not-pirate who would surely appreciate it more. Maybe they could do a trade…?

88:  Small Pack of Sparklers

Cause baby, you’re a firework! Come on, let your colors burst! Comes with five sparklers. (Aoi Bakahatsu, DA2B) 

“—Hk”

Oh no. Oh HELL NO. No non onononono. No no no get it away, away away AWAY–!

He made a break for the closest trashcan and chucked the things in with more force than they merited. Then dragged the trash out. With his hands. Bare hands. And started. Burying them in the trash. Under the trash. It took for all five to be gone from site for his expression to clear, and his ragged breath to calm.

…….Oh this was going to take a while to clean. Off his hands. Trash, trash on his hands. Gross. Gross.

It was with the gingerest touch that the last coin went into the slot.

499:  Mathmos Astro Lava Lamp

Truly a classic piece for someone who has questionable taste in interior design. The heat from an incandescent lightbulb causes a colored wax mixture to float up to the top of the lamp before cooling and falling back down. This particular specimen happens to contain orange-colored wax, and was produced by the company that first invented the original lava lamp. Mesmerizing to watch. 

“….Ok.”

Even for a guy with no pants this was kinda tasteless. Was it something Roe-san would have liked? For shits and giggles if nothing else? Who knew right…? Maybe that energy transfer specialist….

He turned to grab for the hornet nest, only to come face to face unexpectedly with 

Someone.

Right behind him.

“YARGH!!!!!”

Whatever noise that was echoed around the alleys as he jumped back as if he’d been electrocuted. His hand scrambled across the wall, as if trying to reach for the hornets or for a direction to make a break for it…

Before recognizing who it was. And more importantly, their non combative stance.

“……..Akiyama, holy fuck. Why–what are–oh my god, my heart….What, uh, what–um.. Nice…..night, huh?”

Christ Yuji.

Honestly, Ayato just wanted to say hi to the, how you say, "deforested" Piney, or "Yuji", as they called themselves. He...did not expect the spectacle that was the tall mascot-not-really-mascot shove some trash away and then suddenly being face-to-face with them. Ayato didn't have much time to react when Yuji yelped in surprise and were suddenly a good distance away from him to really register a reaction, so he just ended up staring at Yuji in almost confusion.

"...Wha--?"

It was surprising and almost amusing to hear Piney--er, Yuji (this is going to be hard to remember), curse. Although he has heard them swear long ago, it's still kind of funny to hear. Ayato shook his head, trying to rouse himself from his stupor of those extremely quick events that took place and waited, hands in his pockets, as Yuji was trying to calm themselves down.

"I was...out for a walk?"

It was supposed to be a statement rather than a question, but Ayato still seemed a bit overwhelmed with the current situation. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you like that. I was going to just say hi but you looked kind of busy so I didn't wanna bother you and then you kind of just suddenly turned around and I was there and....yeah...."

Ayato's gaze darted to the side as he squinted to nothing in particular, a sheepish look on his face before he ruffled his own hair, changing the subject.

"Yeah it's...a night alright. Hey, you're not like...cold or anything are you because you're kind of...out of costume?"

It was funny how the scent was never too strong here. Well, that made sense since it was emptied pretty often. Not that anyone would know this, since nobody should have had reason to come back here and dig through the trash. Not Kanon, though. This was Kanon’s second trip to the dumpsters. Why was she here this time? Well, curiosity, mostly.

If there were trashcans everywhere else, why would anyone ever need to use these big dumpsters? At what point were they emptied? Kanon just felt she needed to know. She could imagine why these dumpsters were here. Obviously, the bear, err, the rabbit? Well, whoever encouraged the murders in Ateitis, clearly they wanted people to hide bodies and evidence here. Not that it would work. It was far too obvious.

Well, there was nothing to be discovered from the dumpsters, and Kanon was tried of digging through trash. So, with a new, rather strange smell, she began her climb out. Unfortunately, it was not a quick trip, and when she was making her way over the side, she noticed Ayato walking by. Now, she could probably hope he didn’t see her, but she had little hope of that, given she was quite loud about this all. As such, it was explanation time.

“A-ah… I wanted to see how often they were emptied… It’s not weird, okay?”

It was definitely weird. As such, she immediately fell out of the dumpster onto the ground. Wow. That’s not very impressive.

Ayato didn't really know why he was walking by the dumpsters. He always was unfocused enough that he just...end up anywhere, really, but the dumpster? Maybe it was because he felt a strong similarity between himself and the garbage here.

Ha ha ha.

Anyways.

Besides that, he could have sworn he heard...noises coming from there. That was enough to make him walk towards there on his own. As he approached closer, he could see someone coming out of the dumpster, was that...Kanon?

"...Kurosawa...?"

Before he could say much she...fell out. Ouch. Ayato almost immediately ran towards her side, crouching down a bit and looking over her with a concerned expression on his face.

{ alcohol tw }

When Ayato woke up, he had almost forgotten about their first trial after merging with the other class, “Almost”, being the key word here. It was when he woke up and heard the distinct crunch of glass underneath his slippers did everything come back to him again. It was…definitely a trial, if he did say so himself. As he got ready, one thing kept nagging him in the back of his head.

…Maybe that’s why he felt different that morning. While everything else was going on, he couldn’t help but have that particular phrase stick in his mind. What was worse was…it was true, it was absolutely true. So much for trying to “grow up”, he was still the insecure and scared 14-year old that hung around and onto people he respected like a lifeboat. But, instead of wallowing in self-pity and stayed curled up in his room, he actually…went outside for once.

It wasn’t anywhere far, it was just the restaurant. He realized that all his time being here, he didn’t really know where anything was. Well, now is more of a time than ever, especially since everyone was probably sleeping in or just avoiding everyone until the Trial High emotions worn down…for now. In any case.

Ayato searched around the restaurant, to his surprise he found a water bottle and granola in a baggie with his name on it. Interesting. He put those two to the side for later consumption. Right now he was looking for…

…

…

…Here we go. Alcohol.

Well, it was technically wine, but wine is still alcohol…right? Ayato didn’t know, nor did he really care as he popped the cap off and Took a Fuckin’ Sip™.

His eyebrows furrowed. It was…surprisingly sweet with a sour after taste, and here he assumed that all wine tasted like dirt. He wandered out, still holding the bottle of plum wine until he froze in his tracks, seeing that someone else had wandered into the restaurant as well.

…Awkward.

“…Hi.”

Okay so they’re actually doing this. Ayato quickly scribbles something down in his notebook in a few quick strokes before hesitantly holding it up. The notebook is kind of covering his face as he showed his…er…Garfield?

like, you know, nya~

“I…uh…don’t know…what a ‘Garfield’ is…..”

This was…a lot to take in. What with the new trial room and the new seating arrangement. Ayato gave a nod in acknowledgement to his neighbors, although he did give more of a wave to his tree friend on his left, and eyed up everyone he knew so far. His eyes caught a glance at the recently empty seat, in which Ayato’s gaze was quickly averted. He took a deep breath and sighed.

Here we go.

“Hey, so…the name’s Ayato Akiyama, SHSL Pianist; if some of you don’t know…”

God, he looks tired.

An awkward chuckle trailed off his sentence. After that dynamnic entry, Ayato settled to listen to everyone talk and boy, did they talk alright. Ayato furrowed his eyebrows, nodding after everyone had said their piece as if he understood what they were saying. He didn’t. He was starting to get lost. His attention was brought back when the sporty-looking girl, Holly as he has been told, had suddenly pointed at him; the taller boy flinched.

“Um…you mean me?”

A sudden nervous look came over the pianist’s expression, but he didn’t say anything as he listened quietly. He raised his hand up slightly, like a student asking a question.

“I also I saw you too, that night. Uh…you were walking towards the hotel, right?”

He shifted his weight from foot to foot before he continued.

“So…there was a gun in the soil of the potted plant underneath the Piney Pines costume, a revolver I believe? There were two bullets missing. I can only assume one of them was used to shoot the Piney Pines impostor, but I couldn’t find the bullet for it. Along with that, where was the other bullet?”

Ayato adjusted the hood of his sweater before he spoke again.

“I’m…fairly certain Fan had nothing to do with the note…letter thing, I mean…I was with her for our nightwatch…so…”

He shook his head,

Everything has been a complete blur for Ayato, which was mostly thanks to the recent motive that set him back in a not so great way. One moment he was a fairly emotionally stable 19-year old and next thing he knows it, he was a scared, paranoid 14-year old boy. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and it was only about to get worse.

Starting with after his first nightwatch shift.

For once, Ayato had a dream-less sleep. Which sounds weird but for him, it was like getting a full 8hrs rest and breakfast in bed. He was surprised, especially all of the nonsense that happened last night. If it wasn’t for that dreaded “ping”-ing noise, he would have woken up in a good mood. Unfortunately, fate had other plans, which included murder.

“Oh no.”

Despite his blurry vision, Ayato could still make out the words, “Monofile”. It was happening again, their numbers were dwindling. Nearly falling off his bed to get dressed, Ayato didn’t bother with putting on contacts as he hurriedly put together a somewhat decent outfit and nearly poked his eye out trying to put on his glasses, running to the Ateitis.

As he arrived, he felt his breath being taken away.

“Oh…”

Genta Sugai, the first person he met upon arriving in this strange place.

“Oh my…”

Genta Sugai, who now laid in a crumpled heap, eyes wide open in pain, shock, and fear.

“Fuck.”

Genta Sugai, now someone who he can only referred to as, “was someone he knew”. Genta Sugai was dead, and one of the remaining people here killed him.

Ayato didn’t realize he was holding his breath, or that he had spaced out for a total of five minutes just staring at Genta’s crumpled form, just trying to comprehend that all of this was happening again. The pianist let out a harsh breath, suddenly turning on his heel as he stepped outside of the building, away from the other kids who had gathered around. He gripped his hair in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. After a few moments, he released his hair from his hands; his shoulders tensed as he took a deep breath, and relaxed as he sighed.

Genta nodded. Well, it was more like a biodome than anything, given that there were reptiles hanging around in there, but… well, there was animals in here too, for whatever reason. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to compare?…

But that could wait. Akiyama the pianist, huh?… Now that he got a look at him, he was kind of pretty for a guy, wasn’t he? Something to be a little wary of, he supposed. The last person to have quietly received his aesthetic approval had performed a less than graceful swan dive off the deep end and killed two people. Ah well. 

He pushed this slightly obtrusive thought process from his mind in favor of something more conversational.

“…Am I truly the new guy within this scenario? Your group were the ones to fall from the heavens. We mole people have always been down here.”

Chuckling a bit at his own joke, he offered the other a little bow.

“Nevertheless… I’m Genta Sugai, a scholar of sorts. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Akiyama-san.”

"Ehhh you got a point, guess we're both the new guys to each other then? Haha."

Ayato shoved his hands in his pockets, chuckling at the joke Genta made. At least now he knows that the new kids aren't entirely humor-less.

"Well despite being mole people, seems like you guys got nicer digs than we nature kids did. At least ya'll got electricity."

He let out a deep sigh, running a hand through his hair before ruffling it slightly. He did, however, eye at Genta as he bowed. What a polite fellow! Ayato returned the bow.

"Nice to meet you too, Sugai-san, even in these rather tense times."

Ayato glanced around the greenhouse before he focused his attention to one of the flowers, reaching over and feeling the petals as he spoke.

He had been in the midst of examining a mural when he could have sworn he’d heard… something. Music? Common sense may have suggested that he just mind his own business, but Genta had never been known for having much of that. Slowly, he’d started to edge his way towards the source, pausing as he saw someone standing before the flowers.

He’d turned his head to greet him. Oops. Busted.

“Oh, hello! Just seeing how the other side lives.”

He cast a glance back over the direction he’d come in as he’d continued.

“We have a greenhouse on the Ateitis end, but it’s quite a bit bigger than the one here…. and I’m fairly sure everything in it came out of the prehistoric age. This place is a bit more pleasant.”

“Were you perhaps the one murmuring, Stranger? I could not quite make out the words, but I heard something that vaguely sounded like a pleasant tune.”

You… could have phrased that a little more politely, dude.

At the very least, this new stranger sees friendly.

"You guys had a greenhouse too? Colour me surprised, I didn't think the big city would have that kind of thing."

"Yeah, that was me. I'm flattered you think my singing was pleasant, means I'm doing my talent justice."

Ayato turned around to fully face the stranger.

From what Ayato can gather from his I.D., it seemed like that everything from where they originally were is here too, except for the fact that they’re all tied together into a sort of apocalyptic nature looking city. Well, on the bright side, they finally have electricity. He wondered if he was even allowed to venture to their new friends’ territory.

It didn’t seem to matter, as his feet took him to a familiar place. The greenhouse, or as he liked to call it, his safe house. His home away from home, besides his room, of course. After finding out the animals living here don’t want much to do with him (he could relate, he wouldn’t want anything to do with him either), at the very least the pianist doesn’t have to worry about any of them trying to bite him.

As he observed the greenhouse, something felt…odd to him, as in, a lot of these plants that are growing together probably shouldn’t but here they are, everything looking fully in bloom and healthy. He wished something as small as this wouldn’t bother him, but, it does. He figured he’ll just make note of it in the group chat, at the very least he’s contributing, compared to how little he did before falling into this place.

To calm his nerves, Ayato sang quietly to himself, feeling some of the flowers. Even if they were growing unnaturally, he can’t deny that they were still very nice to look at. For once, Ayato noticed the approaching presence of someone and turned his head back to greet the stranger.