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idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 · 8 months

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Forever and Always

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69 & KO / @thirteenisles

Tagging: @smileysvech @pyotrkochetkov @hoesforthecanes @hockeywritingcollection

Relationship: Andrei x Kat

Warning: Implied sexual content?

Summary: Kat doesn’t think she should be the only one to wear an engagement ring.

Word Count: 2k

Comments: Ahhh long time no post… I have two other Drei and Kat fics in the works and I’m almost done the next chapter of Baby Bear so I hope to get more content out in the next month (I say as if I’m not already drowning in schoolwork hahahhaa kill me). Anywho, this is just a soft slice of life fic of our favourite couple!

“I think we need to get you a ring, too.” Kat’s voice was soft in the darken bedroom as she absentmindedly traced her finger over Andrei’s chest, the diamond of her engagement ring sparkling in the faint light from the twins’ nightlight.

She felt Andrei’s hum as he looked at her with a soft smile. “Yeah? Should I wear an engagement ring, too?”

“Yes,” she replied seriously. “We’re not going to get married for what, at least two years? I want people to know you’re mine, just as much as they know that I’m yours with the size of this rock.” She used her thumb to play with the band of her ring, the three-carat solitaire oval diamond set in a delicate gold finish was more than enough to tell onlookers that she was taken.

Getting his own ring wasn’t something Andrei had to contemplate as he kissed her softly. He wanted everyone to know he was hers. “Then we’ll go pick out a ring tomorrow.”

It was Kat’s turn to hum as she smiled against his lips and pulled him closer so he rested above her. She was still healing from birth and he had to be gentle as he braced his hand on the headboard to keep his weight off her but she only tried to pull him closer. “Sounds perfect.”

Andrei kissed her deeply, trying to pour his undying love for her into the kiss. “I am always yours, Kisa. There is no other woman on this planet that I could ever want more than you. You and our family are my everything.”

Minus all the stitches and the bed rest and the sore boobs and raw nipples, Kat really thought she had a grip on post birth.

Except for the post-partum hormones, that is.

Post-partum hormones were like the pregnancy hormones on steroids and she blinked back tears as she looked up at him. Andrei with his deep brown eyes, soft hair and the scruff that was really more of a beard by that point. She didn’t know how she got so lucky or what she could have possibly done to deserve him.

“I love you so much,” she whispered, her voice tight.

“I love you so much more, my Katarina. You’ve given me a life I could have never imagined for myself but I’m so grateful I get to share it with you,” he smiled softly as he stroked her cheek.

“You’re going to make me cry,” she whispered, her lip wobbling.

“I don’t mean to, Kisa.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her lips softly before he kissed each of her eyelids, tickling her with his beard to make her smile. “Please don’t cry. I just want you to understand how much I love you.”

“I never thought I’d have this life either, especially with the bright eyed kid who came over from Russia and barely knew English,” she whispered and Andrei gently brushed her hair back.

“I’m not a kid anymore,” he smiled when Kat scoffed.

“No, you’re not.”

“I’m a big boy,” his smile grew. “And I know how to use my body well.”

Kat’s laugh was everything to him and he kissed her again, deeper than before with a promise of everything he’d do to her when she was healed. He smirked when Kat moaned against his lips and he nipped at her bottom lip as he pulled back.

“Definitely know how to use your body well,” she mumbled and Andrei’s nose scrunched up as he smiled. He pressed another quick peck to her lips before he laid back down beside her and extended his left hand.

“So I’m getting an engagement ring?”

His hand dwarfed hers as Kat took his hand in hers. “I’d like you too, yeah.”

“You gonna pick it out for me?” He asked and she hummed.

“I better or you’ll pick the biggest most obnoxious ring in the store.” When he rolled his eyes, she continued, “what colour are your cars? How big are your watches? Don’t even get me started on the size of your cross. Nearly taken out my teeth once or twice.”

“It has to be big to withstand you pulling on it every day,” he replied and rolled onto his side to look at her. “And don’t pretend you don’t like it when it dangles in your face.”

He was right of course, but Kat still rolled her eyes. “Still big. I love you, but you like flashy.” The size of her rock also was a testament to that, but she wasn’t complaining about that one. “All I’m saying is something simple and sleek would be sexy on you. But I want it to be clearly different from your wedding ring…” she bit her lip as she thought about it before she dropped his hand to reach over to grab her phone off the bedside table.

Andrei watched her with careful, loving eyes as she pulled up a jeweler and scrolled through page after page of men’s rings. He really didn’t care what it looked like because all that mattered to him was what it represented: her.

“Like this,” she said and turned the phone to him. It was a simple ring. Black tungsten with a brushed finished and polished beveled edges. “They engrave, too.”

Andrei’s smile softened and he took her hand in his so he could kiss her knuckle right next to her ring. “Order it and engrave your name on it.”

Her lip wobbled again as she looked at him but he kissed her before the tears could fall and she let herself get lost in the kiss, let herself get lost in him. When his lips were on hers, it was like they were the only two people in the world.

He kissed her breathless and then he kissed her some more before he pulled back to rest his forehead against hers. “My Katarina,” he breathed, already imagining the feeling of the ring on his finger.

“My Andrei,” she whispered back and trailed her hands down his beck.

“You know,” she whispered a few moments later. “You never told me how you picked out my ring.”

Andrei laughed and peeled himself away from her to lay back down beside her. “I always knew I wanted to marry you, but I had been looking since we decided to start a family, but nothing was good enough for my Katarina. I think we’ve already established that you think I have shit taste, which couldn’t be further from the truth when I picked you and you’re the best woman in the whole world. But, I knew you questioned my judgment sometimes, so I Invited mama on our trip to Florida for the All Star Game because I wanted her opinion during ring shopping. This was before you told me you were pregnant.” His smile softened as he thought about the day she told him he was going to be a papa.

She softened as she looks up at him. “You got the ring in Florida?”

“I did,” he hummed.

“So you could’ve proposed any time after the All Star Game and you waited ‘till I was exhausted and sweaty and literally torn in multiple places to ask me to marry you?” There was a hint of bitterness to her voice as she furrowed her brows. He had five months to propose and waited till she looked and felt like death?

He was quiet as he fiddled with her fingers, “it felt like the perfect moment to me. I almost lost you and it scared me shitless and I wanted to make sure you knew how much I loved you and how committed I am to you. I needed you to know that I wanted to spend every moment of the rest of our lives together.”

Any bitterness she had quickly turned to regret. For all the pain and trauma her body went through, she didn’t remember much between Alina being born and waking up in the hospital room with Andrei next to her with Alina on his chest. But Andrei… he remembered every stomach twisting second of it, terrified that he was going to lose her and their son. Of course when she woke up he didn’t want to wait another moment because the next moment isn’t guaranteed. It’s never guaranteed.

She teared up again as she pressed her face into his chest. “I love you so much,” she whispered. “I am a little sad I don’t have any romantic pictures of the proposal, but I wouldn’t change it. I got our babies and you on the same day, it was perfect.”

“When you’re ready, we’ll take engagement photos,” he promised as he kissed the top of her head. “But there is this picture my mom took I don’t know if she showed you.”

She shook her head against his chest and Andrei did his best to grab his phone without jostling her too much. It only took him a moment to find it before he gently eased her back from his chest to show her.

It wasn’t a perfect picture, but it was Andrei on one knee next to the bed with Kat was on the bed covering her mouth, her hair was pulled back and, yeah, she looked a little like death, but it really captured the moment. And there was no denying the pure love Andrei had in his eyes, the same love he’s had for Kat since day one.

Kat’s lip wobbled as tears slipped down her cheeks. “We need to get this printed and frame,” she whispered, unable to pull her eyes away from the picture.

“I can do that,” he promised and kissed her forehead. “I’m just very happy you said yes.”

She pulled her eyes from the picture to look up at him and cupped his face, “there is no way I would have said no. I love you so much, Andrei. I want a life with you. I want this life with you.”

“I want every life with you,” he replied and gently pulled her closer. “My beautiful fiancée and future wife, the beautiful mother of our beautiful babies.”

She blushed and smiled through her tears before brushing her lips against his, “my handsome fiancé, my future husband, and the sexy father of our beautiful twins.”

His smile grew, making his nose scrunch up in the adorable way Kat loved. “And when you’re all healed up, I’ll put another baby in you.”

“Whoa there,” she put her hand on his chest as she pulled back, the tears quickly stopping. “Let’s enjoy the first year of the twins first.”

“Takes nine months to grow another baby,” he hummed and kissed her again. She protested against his lips but he only deepened the kiss.

“Uh huh, and I just had a c-section and had my insides taken out and put back in, I’d like a little break,” she said and pushed him back by his chest.

He scrunched his nose up as he teased her, “we’ll see.”

She made a strangled sound as she gave him a hard look but Andrei only bit his lip as he let his eyes wander down her body, already thinking about how good she’ll look round with more of his babies. Kat knew exactly what he was thinking about when she felt him harden against her hip and she shoved his chest again as she rolled her eyes.

“Ring first, more babies later,” she said and kissed him chastely before tapping his chest and reaching back for her phone to order the ring.

Andrei groaned as he flopped back against the bed but there was no denying his smile. Katarina was the best thing to ever happen to him and he couldn’t wait to start the next chapter of their lives together.

#andrei svechnikov #andrei svechnikov x oc #andrei svechnikov imagine #when it gets crisp in the fall story #drei #svech #canes #carolina hurricanes #hockey

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hessofather · 3 months

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Chapter 4: Math is a Drinking Game

While I may not have had the best father in the world, I believe I may have the best grandpa in the world. He is the reason I am who I am today in all the best ways.

Another one of my first memories in life is my grandpa setting me on the hood of his truck and getting surrounded by cows and screaming. I heard my grandpa chuckle and say “go on now ladies, git.” Then seeing him emerge from the cattle, looking like an old cowboy Jesus, picking me up, and setting me in the truck saying “you stay put, I’ll be right out here. Don’t drink my beer” I drank the beer.

I spent a lot of my time with my grandpa as a kid. Most of the time was spent going out to count cattle and then heading out to the bar, where I’d walk up to old men and start talking until they’d finally cave and give me pool table money, just to get me out of their hair. When I got tired of playing pool I’d find my grandpa sitting at the bar, tell the bar tender that I wanted my usual, (Rootbeer in a beer bottle), and pop some chew (shredded beef jerky in a can) in my lower lip, and sit in silence as my grandpa watched whatever sport was on the tv that day.

We went out and counted cows, then headed to the bar every Wednesday. Beer was half priced on Wednesdays so my grandpa and I called it “cheapy Wednesday.” After the bar we’d head to the dollar general to pick up snacks for the day, and whatever household item my grandma had requested we pick up. The checkout lady would say “How’s it going Handsome? And hi there brown eyes!” I would smile and my grandpa would say “Oh just got little boss with me today.” We’d finish checking out and he’d say “where to now boss?” By then it was almost lunch time so I would request to go home and have a grilled cheese for lunch. I still to this day believe my grandpa makes the best grilled cheese in the world.

Once we got back to his house he’d make me a grilled cheese, swaying just a little after all the beers he’d just drank. Still though, they came out perfect every time. Once the food was finished cooking we’d head to his sitting room and watch Matlock, Forensic Files, cold cases, and looney toones. I preferred Forensic Files over Cold Cases, but didn’t mind it since my grandpa preferred Cold Cases. I always hated not getting an answer, I’d think about it for days. “It was probably the husband, it always is.” My five-year-old brain concluded.

Once Matlock was over we’d have the rest of the shows playing “in the background” while I did schoolwork. My grandpa was in charge of teaching me science, math, and history. When we’d get to the math portion things always got intense. I sucked at math and so did he. So we’d be struggling to learn it together. He’d finally make a breakthrough and understand the question, try to explain it to me, and fail miserably, take a shot of Jim Beam and tell me the answer saying “you’ll never use that in life anyway.”

My mom worked for my grandma, cleaning house, taking her on errands and to doctors appointments, filling her medication, and cooking. Once my mom was done for the day we’d go home and finish my schoolwork. Spelling, English, Bible, and Music. I played piano for at least 30 minutes to an hour every day after the rest of schoolwork was finished. Then clean until dinner was ready, eat dinner and clean up, take a bath, go to bed. This was my daily routine (minus the bar in the mornings, that was only Wednesdays.) until I was about 13.

My grandpa, while not even technically blood related, was the member of my family I felt the closest and safest with. He would always tell me his version of the day I was born which always went “I looked at you in that little room through the glass, you looked back at me and smiled, because you instantly knew you had me wrapped around your finger.” And boy did I know it. I knew that I could call him up at any hour, day or night, and simply ask him to come over with a snack and he’d be there in about 20 minutes. I always told him “You can say no. I’ll be sad and I might cry. But you can tell me no.” To which he always replied “I can’t say no to you darlin, don’t know how.”

My grandpa and I had lots of little sayings that we’d repeat to each other all the time. Like “I got one fist of iron and another fist of steel, if the left one don’t git ya then the right one will.” “Im a mean motor scooter and a bag go getter.” We had songs we’d sing like a song about how the snakes come out at night, and a song, I recently learned he didn’t make up, called big rock candy mountain. Anytime my grandpa would sing that song I thought it was so silly and that he had just made it up to make me laugh. Finding the actual original version of it on Spotify not too long ago, made me so happy and laugh at the fact that I thought that was his song all these years.

One of our greatest traditions every year was the day before Mother’s Day. He’d take me out to this random spot in the country and we’d stop and pick yellow trumpet flowers, tons of em’. Take them home, cut and wash them, put them in vases and give one set to my grandma and one set to my mom. They acted surprised every single year.

As I got older my grandpa tried to help me navigate being a “young woman” in the best ways he could. I brought a pair of high heels to his house, threw them on the ground frustrated, “I can’t walk in these damn things grandpa. I’d rather just be barefoot.” He said “Now sis, ya can’t be barefoot everywhere you go. Try to walk in them, let me see what yer doin.” I begrudgingly put them back on and tried to walk across the floor, looking like a newborn calf tying to figure out left from right. “I think you need to put more pressure on yer tippy toes. Like this.” To which he stood up on his tippy toes walking a few steps. What he didn’t realize was that my grandma and mom were watching this whole encounter trying their best to not laugh. He noticed them and said “I’m just tryna help the girl out! She’s gotta learn someday somehow. And it ain’t gonna happen if she keeps doin it like that.” To this day I still can’t walk in heels.

I remember bleeding through my shorts when I got my period at my grandpas house. Then out of embarrassment I hid crying and trying to not let my grandpa know that this horrible tragedy had occurred. I became a . . . Woman. Gross. He put two and two together and figured out what had happened, came to the bathroom door and knocked. Then simply asked “you alright sis?” I was crying and angry and said “IM FINE LEAVE ME ALONE.” To which he just chuckled and said “alright I’ll call yer mom.”

My grandpa was the first person to attempt to teach me how to drive, that ended quickly after I put us SLIGHTLY in a ditch. In my defense that was the first time I’d ever heard him yell at me. He was saying “SIS STOP. THE DITCH.” But still, I was upset that he’d yelled. He recalls the story a little differently than I do but my perspective is the only one you’re getting out of me.

I remember after I got one of my first tattoos on my shoulder blade. He came up to me and smiled real big, then gave me a “howdy” kind of smack on the shoulder directly on the tattoo. I winced in pain and he looks at me and laughs saying “Oh I’m sorry sis, I figured that there’s no way that’s real. Since I’ve been tellin you yer whole life not to get tattoos.”

My grandpa will always hold one of the highest places in my mind. Despite his blurry past of things he would never talk about. I choose to see the man that practically raised me instead of whatever version he has made himself to be in his own mind. While he continues to get older, I continue to worry more and more about the dreaded day that he leaves this world. I have all his favorite songs memorized and he tells me “when I go I want you to take my cowboy hats. Yer the only one I trust to wear em’ right.” To which I reply “Well that’s never gonna happen. You’ll be the last one standing on this earth along with the cockroaches.” He’ll chuckle and say “Nope that’s yer grandma. It’ll be her, cockroaches, and Twinkies.” We’ll laugh and it’ll go silent while he resumes watching college football and I sit there trying to not let the lump in my throat win. I dread the day he says goodbye, but I know that every time I think of, or hear his favorite songs, that’ll just be him reminding me that I still suck at wearing heels.

#white trash #family trauma #this is my life #complex ptsd #tw ptsd #ptsd

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floralbfs · 4 years

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goign to Cry

#idk whether to watch s2g or tg #im missing like 4 eps on each sjfhsjfjsjfjdj #BUT i should be doing schoolwork #but i rlly wanna watch s2g/tg #but idk which one akfhsjbfjsbfjd #every 2 seconds i think like 'i think im going to watch s2g so i can finish it' and then im like. BUT TG!!!! AND IM ALMOST AT THE END TOO...#also im dizzy jsjfjsjdjsbd #what is going ON #maybe i'll finish s2g then do schoolwork and watch tg #who am i kidding it's that minus schoolwork #maybe i can do schoolwork after i finish tg #or after i feel guilty abt not doing anything ksbfjsbdjsbfjdbf #hhhhhh i need to write the essay it's for next week😖😖#ye exactly seven days i think #hhhhhhh dont Wanna #but i signed up for this and there's the chance of winning so i Have To #hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh #anyways as soon as class is over (10min?) im watching s2g. sarawat my love im omw #honey talk

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sergeantsporks · 3 years

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Whatever It Takes

Rating: Teen and Up, Gen

TW: Self-harm, attempted suicide, emotional manipulation

“While I’ve got you here, want to hear the complete history of wild magic? I’m sure you’ll find it very interesting, considering that you’re old enough to have lived through it.”

“I am not, you little brat. Shut your mouth, I don’t want to listen to your voice.” “Yeah? What if I don’t want to shut up? What if I feel like singing?"

Hunter is a difficult prisoner to keep, and Lilith and Eda are about to find that out the hard way.

Ao3

Ch 1/4: Assassins

“Eda! King, Willow, Gus, Amity and I are going to the Knee for some training! Be back in a few days, love you!”

“Bye! Watch out for coven scouts!” Eda called back, watching Luz and King walk out the door and down the path. The instant they were gone, she whipped out the scrying potion Lilith had given her, and her crystal ball. “Liliiiiiiii!”

Lilith’s face appeared in the crystal ball. “Edalyn! I finished drawing those maps of the keep. Have you managed to…?”

Eda sighed. “Not one single BAT left. I was hoping maybe there was one or two I never met, but nope. Raine really did decide that they would take down the throne with three teenagers.”

“And you.”

Eda felt her face heat up. “Lot of good that did them. Ugh. You’re sure Belos didn’t tell you anything else?”

“Not a single thing. I think he was always planning on replacing me with the Golden Brat as coven head, he just wanted me to get that portal first.”

“Alright, what do we know? Day of Unity bad, but Belos needs all of the coven heads to do it. So we take one out. Same plan as before, just this time we get one alone. You and I can handle one measly coven head, especially since I’ve learned a few feathery tricks since last time.”

“Which one? The Golden Guard? He goes out on missions alone a lot, it wouldn’t be hard to ambush him.”

Eda’s eyes narrowed. “Hold that thought, Lilith. I can think of another one who I’d really like to get my hands on. We might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

“What’s that?”

“Darius. He likes to talk, and he’s a prissy coward. Not to mention, he was the last person who I know saw Raine. If we go after him, we might be able to find out where Raine is, and if we can rescue him, then we’ll have a coven leader dead AND more information on the day of unity.”

“I’ve always wanted to kick mud on him and his stupid fancy cape. Watch that scrying potion, and call me the next time Belos sends him out. We’ll have to move fast. Will you be bringing Luz along?”

Eda shook her head. “No. The fight Raine started—it’s my fight. She needs to focus on her schoolwork, and on making her portal home. Plus Luz, she… ah, she has a big heart. And most of the time, that’s a good thing, but when it comes to an assassination… I don’t think this is a part of my life I want to share with her.”

“Alright. The two of us should be able to handle it on our own. Just say the word, sister.”

Xxx

Hunter knelt before Belos’ throne. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Ah, yes. It has come to my attention that there will be an attempt on Darius’ life.”

Hunter nodded. “I’ll assign him a protection detail immediately.”

“No.” Belos leaned forward. “I want you to protect him. Personally. And… discreetly. Darius will know that you are protecting him, of course, but I want you to stay hidden, so that the assassins will not know you will be there. Catch them if you can, kill them if you can’t. Above all else, I need Darius alive. Don’t let him die.”

Hunter inclined his head. “Yes, sir.”

Xxx

“Ready?”

Eda nodded, pulling up a scarf over her face. “Watch out. His abomination form can be a real pain.”

Lilith threw a potion to the ground in front of Darius, and it erupted in a haze of smoke. Eda shifted into her harpy form, and Lilith grabbed onto her talons. Eda flew them down, dropping Lilith and dive-bombing Darius, her talons ripping at his skin.

He shifted into his abomination form at the last second, coughing from the smoke. Lilith came up behind him, slapping a glyph paper onto him. It glowed, and the goop he was made of started to freeze, stopping him in his tracks.

“Tell me where Raine is!” Eda demanded.

Darius rolled his eyes. “This is ludicrous. You aren’t going to win.”

“You seem awfully confident for someone who’s about to freeze into a popsicle,” Lilith snarled.

Eda felt, rather than saw, the attack coming, and she yanked Lilith out of the path of a little blur of gold. “Oh, great.”

Darius broke free of the ice by shifting back to his witch form. “Nice of you to turn up.”

The golden guard didn’t respond, instead launching another attack at Eda, singeing one of her wings. She growled, tackling him, but he zipped out of the way, sending another blast of magic that she just barely managed to dodge.

Lilith slapped a glyph combo on the ground, and vines burst out of the ground, surrounding Darius and Hunter in a wide circle, and then lighting on fire. “Nowhere to run.”

Eda dove once again for Darius, snatching his shoulders in her talons and ripping through his cloak and skin, but another blast from Hunter made her flap backwards to avoid getting hit. Lilith froze the ground, turning her ring of fire into an ice rink as well, melted on the edges. Her sister had strapped fire glyphs to her feet, allowing her to melt the ice and create a stable place to stand wherever she stepped. Eda flapped up, then dove again, this time aiming for Hunter. He zipped to the side, but almost immediately slid on the ice, nearly slipping into the fire ring. Eda dove again, smacking him to the side with one of her wings. He skidded across the ice into Darius, who was fending off attacks from Lilith, back in his abomination form.

Lilith tossed a piece of paper up to Eda, and Eda dove back down, slapping it on Darius’ shoulder. It was the ice glyph again, and the coven leader started to freeze.

Lilith whipped out another glyph. “Nowhere to go, Darius,” she taunted.

She activated her glyph, and Eda soared up out of the way as a blast of light and fire shot out of the glyph.

Darius was half frozen, but he shifted back to his witch form. It happened almost too fast for Eda to catch, but as Lilith’s spell raced toward him, Darius grabbed a dazed Hunter as he struggled to get up and whipped the guard around in front of him, using him as a shield.

The spell struck them, hitting Hunter square in the chest and sending both of them flying backwards. They crashed into Lilith’s flaming wall, breaking the vines and skidding into a tree.

“No!” Eda yelped as Darius rolled to his feet, pushing Hunter off of him and racing away. “GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD!”

Lilith caught her leg as she started to fly after him. “Edalyn! We got what we came for!”

Eda twisted back to look at her sister. “What are you talking about?! He’s getting away!”

Lilith nodded to the limp golden guard on the ground. “He’s the head of the emperor’s coven, Eda. Coven leader. We got what we needed.”

“You didn’t…”

“Kill him? Doubtful, I designed that glyph with the intention to blast Darius’ abomination form apart so he’d be forced to return to his witch form.”

Eda landed next to Hunter’s limp form. His helmet had been cracked hard enough to fall off. Beans. Despite the fact that her wing still stung from his attack, it was hard to remember how dangerous he was when he looked like this. He was just… some kid. If it weren’t for Belos, he might even be one of Luz’s friends.

“Well? Finish it. This is how we stop Belos!”

“He’s just a kid, Lili. I can’t kill him.”

“I can.” Lilith stormed forward, holding an ice spike. She held it pointed right over Hunter’s heart. “Goodbye, Golden Brat.”

Eda waited. Lilith didn’t make another move. Her sister’s hand was shaking on the ice spike. “Soooooo, are you going to do it, or…”

Lilith tossed the spike to the side. “Alright. Fine. I can’t kill a kid either, even a brat like him. But we blew our shot with Darius, what else are we supposed to do?”

Go figure that her sister had no problem trying to kill Luz, but now, when child-killing was a skill she needed, Lilith had decided to be a better person. “Lili, how do they appoint new coven leaders?”

“There’s an initiation—”

“No, like, what about the old coven leaders? What do they do to them? If they specifically need coven leaders, what do they need about them?”

Lilith frowned. “I… I’m not sure. Darius, he can turn into an abomination. Eberwolf has an extra beast form. The leaders before them had the same abilities, if memory served. But they didn’t have them before becoming leaders.”

“Okay, what about the old leaders?”

“After the old leaders retired, they lost those abilities.”

Eda snapped her fingers. “It’s passed on. From leader to leader. Belos never intended to keep you as the coven leader, so there was no need to keep you around to switch coven leaders. Whatever it is that makes the head of the emperor’s coven special… he’d already given it to Hunter, I’m betting.”

Lilith crossed her arms. “Of course.”

“Lilith, can we leave the self-depreciation for later? I think I’m onto something. Belos needs the old coven heads to pass on the powers—I don’t know what happens if one of them dies, but if the old coven leader is alive, they’ll need that coven leader to pass on their power. So if we just keep Hunter…”

“He’s minus a coven head!”

Hunter groaned and stirred on the ground. Lilith yelped and bashed him over the head with her staff. “Stay asleep!”

Hunter went limp again, and Eda grinned. “Yowch, there, Lili.”

Lilith pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m… not certain that keeping him prisoner is the best idea, Edalyn. It’s a lot harder to hold someone against their will than it is to kill them. Especially the golden guard.”

“From what I’ve seen out of Kikimora this far, it might be just as hard to make him stay dead.” Eda glanced down at Hunter. “And besides, I… I want to ask about Raine.”

Lilith sighed. “Oh, Eda. The emperor… he’s not a merciful man. You might not like the answer.”

“Please, Lili. We can tie him up in the basement, Hooty can hide the door so that Luz won’t find him on accident when she comes back, and if you help me keep an eye on him, he won’t get away.”

“And how long are you planning on keeping him in your basement? Until Belos dies? Until you die? You can’t just keep someone tied up for their whole life, it would be kinder to kill him.”

Eda rolled her eyes. “Fine, if I promise to take him for walks, and buy all of his toys with my own money, and housetrain him really well, can I keep him, Mom?”

“This isn’t a joke, Eda! You are planning on keeping a dangerous individual in your home! He will try to escape! I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to kill you on his way out!”

“Day of Unity, Lilith. I think… I think it may be a one-time event, a chance that doesn’t come around often. We just have to keep him until then. If Belos ramping up his wild-witch catching is any indication, then it must be coming soon. Help me? Please?”

Lilith sighed. “Fine. But when something goes wrong—”

“When? Geeze, put a little more faith in me, Lili!”

“Yes, when something goes wrong, I am absolutely going to say ‘I told you so.’”

Xxx

Darius knelt before Belos’ throne. “My lord!”

“Darius. Where is the Golden Guard?”

“You were right. There was an attempt on my life. The Golden Guard stayed behind to ensure my escape.” No need to mention that it hadn’t exactly been of his own free will.

“Oh?”

“Yes. I would have stayed, but I know how important it is for the day of unity that all coven heads are present, so I’m afraid that I had to retreat.”

Belos leaned forward. “I’m sorry, what was that last part?”

“I… know that all of the heads of the covens must be present?”

“Interesting. And what, pray tell, is the Golden Guard, other than my right hand?”

A bead of sweat dripped down the back of Darius’ neck. “The… head of the… emperor’s coven?”

Belos stood up, his eyes flashing that terrifying glowing blue. “Exactly. So, what, pray tell, does that say about the Golden Guard?”

“That you… need him to be present on the Day of Unity?”

Darius didn’t see him move, but in an instant, Belos was right in front of him, staring into his eyes with those creepy flaming blue ones. “So you can figure it out.”

“My Lord, I’m sorry—”

Belos put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing just tight enough for it to hurt, and steered him out the throne room door. “You will go out there and correct your mistake. You will go back to where you left him, and you will find out what became of him. Oh, and Darius?”

Darius gulped. “Y-yes, my lord?”

Belos released his shoulder. “Don’t bother coming back without him.”

Ch 2

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #toh hunter #edalyn the owl lady #lilith clawthorne #edalyn clawthorn

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sheeple · 4 years

Text

Real thing | 9A: Shoot him

GIFS NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): mafia!au / hacker!au Group(s): NCT Pairing(s): Qian Kun x fem!reader / Jung Jaehyun x fem!reader Summary: (Y/n), a college student who joined WayV ─ an international crime organization ─ for some extra cash as one of their hackers. But what happens when she gets mixed up in a lot more heavy stuff than only sitting behind a computer and disabling security cameras? Warning(s): angst? / use of guns / blood [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist]

I shake my head, guild in my eyes and hands trembling. “I... can’t, Jaehyun. I’m sorry, but I can’t betray him!”

“WHY?! He’s a no-good...”, Jaehyun takes a step closer to me and my hold around the gun tightens.

“Don’t come closer, I’m going to shoot you!”

“... Filthy, hollow...” Jaehyun still walks closer with dark eyes. His jaw is clenched, just like his hands. Knuckles white as snow.

I take a deep breath and turn my head away, firing the gun. The clap back makes me stumble and I fall backwards. My back hits the wall harshly and I slide down.

“Motherfucker”, he whispers and clutches his chest. Jaehyun stumbles back before losing his balance and falling backwards, his breathing quivery and blood pouring out of the wound profusely, staining his blouse.

At that exact moment, another person walks into the alleyway. I look up and curse realising it’s Doyoung.

“You bitch!”, he growls as he sees his partner on the ground with a bullet wound in his chest. He raises the massive shotgun in his hands while pulling back the fore-end to reload, “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”

He storms towards me while firing the gun, nearly all of them missing me. Except two. One pierces me through my dress into the flesh of my stomach and the other my shoulder.

A scream escapes my lips and I buckle over, my hand towards my stomach and the other on the dirty ground for support. A pain far more painful than anything I have experienced. It feels like my inside gets ripped to shreds and then burned.

Before Doyoung can get any closer, another gunshot is heard from behind him and he gets hit right through his skull, Doyoung’s blood splattering on me. He drops down and I focus on the person on the other end.

Kun runs towards me and drops down on his knees, grabbing me and bringing me closer to him.

“Hey, hey, look at me. It’s going to be all right, okay?” Kun takes my hands and presses it against the wounds. “Press it nice and tightly, yes.” He gets up and takes me in arms, walking out of the alleyway and towards a car, stepping over bodies.

He lays me on the backseat as Lucas steps behind the wheel. “Drive quick and call Ten, we need him”, orders Kun sternly and Lucas nods.

I lay my head to the side and blink a couple of times, my vision blurry. The only thing I want to do is just shut my eyes and sleep as I have not enough energy to keep away.

I close my eyes, ignoring the muffled yells coming from Kun to stay awake. Right now I want to be selfish and just sleep. Yeah. Maybe if I sleep everything will turn out to be a dream. A really bad and fucked up dream

I open my eyes slowly. The first thing that greets me is a white ceiling. A groan erupts from my lips as I get aware of the pain in my body. My head hurts like a bitch. My left hand goes to my forehead and I feel the cotton of bandages.

My brows furrow and I sit up. Only to be cursing slightly at the sharp pain in my shoulder and stomach. Oh right, last night.

My eyes travel around the room and land on a sleeping figure in an armchair right by the window. It’s Kun, he looks tired despite his sleeping form. He has a five o’clock shadow, his hair is sticking out from all different sides, and his clothes ─ the same suit from the gala minus the jacket ─ look dishevelled and have dark stains on them. Not like the Qian Kun I’ve ever seen.

Without making any sounds, I walk out of the bedroom. My body aches and my feet hurt, them also being in bandages. I must have stepped into some glass last night.

I turn left and down a flight of stairs before I shuffle into the same living room I saw before, this time giving it a good look. It’s industrial, with dark tones and lots of woods. The scene outside the window gives me a perfect overview of Hong Kong.

Next to the living room is the dining room and kitchen, all of course in the same style. The walls of the diner room are plastered with rows and rows of wine bottles. The kitchen is black and has all the new and high tech appliances.

Two figures stand in the kitchen, Yangyang and Lucas. Lucas is cooking, Yangyang sitting on the countertop and scrolling through his phone. Most likely Twitter. The boy is addicted to the app.

Lucas looks up from the frying pan as he hears me walking into the room. He almost drops the utensils, pure shock on his face. “(Y/n)”, he says lightly.

Yangyang turns around with big eyes and jumps off the countertop, running towards me before engulfing me into a hug. “You’re awake!”

I let out a loud yelp and push him away, clutching my stomach. “Watch out, dumbass. I got shot, remember.”

He apologises with a guilty smile before softly nudging me towards the kitchen island, making me sit there and wait for Lucas to plate up the food.

“I erm... for how long has Kun sat there?”

Both the men look surprised. “Since when are you on first-name-basis with Qian?”, questions Yangyang, as he points with his thumb over his shoulder. A light blush spreads on my face.

“We-well he asked me last night to call─”, I stutter out but Lucas cuts me off mid-way.

“Excuse me? Last night? (Y/n), that was three days ago.” Lucas turns his full body towards me as he lays a plate full of food in front of me.

Three days? Holy shit, the amount of schoolwork I’ve missed must be huge.

“How much blood did I lose?” I cock my head to the side, softly feeling the badges around my stomach and shoulder.

“A lot, I guess? Kun wouldn’t let us go near you when Ten worked on your wounds.” Lucas shrugs as he moves around to grab more plates.

I frown. “Ten? Is that...?” I stop and mimic someone putting a bag over my head.

“No, that was Winwin. He’s the one doing the kidnappings and interrogations. Ten is our doctor”, explains Lucas with a shake of his head. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been to hell and back? My body aches with every step I take and let’s not forget the bullet wounds. This is going to be a fun one for my therapist.” I roll my eyes and push some egg in my mouth.

Yangyang sighs in relieve. “Thank God you’re alive. We had our doubts.”

I give Yangyang an ‘are-you-kidding’ look. “Sure, misses Doubtfire. You only worried because you had to find a new roommate if I were dead.”

“Yo- you really think I’m that heartless?” Yangyang fakes being hurt, earning a slight scoff from me.

I push myself off the chair, putting my empty bows in the sink. “I know you’re dead inside, YY, let’s not pretend otherwise. Shall I bring this to K-- ...Qian?”, I say, pointing to a bow with noodles still standing on the countertop.

Lucas nods and without much talking, I scoop up the bowls and walk away, every now and then hissing in pain as I walk up the stairs.

With a deep breath, I open the door to the bedroom slowly and peek my head in. A relieved sigh leaves my lips as I see Kun still sleeping. I place the bowl on the side table and softly squeeze Kun’s knee.

“Kun? Wake up. Hey, Kun?”, I whisper and Kun’s eyes shoot open, jumping on his feet and pulling a gun out of nowhere. He holds the gun up and points it at my head.

A shriek leaves my lips and I stumble backwards, tripping over the carpet and falling on the ground. I scramble away from the gun, memories of that night and three days ago flooding back. The panic coming back into my system.

My sigh narrows and all the horrible things flood in. The gun, a dead Jaehyun, the cold eyes of Kun, the pain of a bullet ripping through my skin. I pull my knees up and bury my face in it, my thick tears wetting the fabric of my sweatpants.

I feel two hands grabbing my shoulders and stroking it calmly, a shushing in my ear telling me to calm down. My hands act on their own and I let go of my knees, holding onto a shirt instead, my knuckles turning white.

“Hey, look at me. Look at me and everything will be fine.” I raise my eyes and look into a pair of dark brown ones. “Nobody can or will hurt you, you understand? Now take deep breaths until you feel all right again.”

I do what the voice says and I stay like that for the next couple of minutes until my breathing slows down and my body stops shaking. I pull away and soft cotton wipes over cheeks, drying them from my tears.

I look up and see Kun looking at me with worry in his eyes. “Hi”, he whispers.

“Hi”, I whisper back, blinking at the alien way Kun acts. He’s normally so... hard and stoic, his eyes cold or filled with anger. But now, he’s warm and helping. His eyes are soft, almost comforting.

“I... I am sorry.” I let go of Kun’s crumpled up shirt. “I erm... I panicked at the sigh of... the gun.” The last part comes out of my mouth in almost a whisper, scared if I say those two words out loud, Kun will pull that devil’s device out of his pocket.

“It’s okay, I understand. You’ve been through a lot. The only thing what helps is time. And maybe talking about it. I know a person who helped me a lot.”

I frown and look up to him. “Helped you?”

Kun nods and gestures next to me. I nod and scoot over, pulling my knees up to my nose, my interest piqued.

With a sigh, Kun lay his hands in his lab. “When I joined my old gang, I never dealt with the real deal before. Yes, I shot a gun and my father trained me in combat with both knives and my bare hands. But I never could fathom how my first mission in the field would go.”

Kun stops, glancing at my side. I nod slightly and lean closer to him. His hair falls before his eyes and I swear, I can see a tear in the corner of his eyes.

“My first mission was a bit like what happened to you. There was a car chaise, our car crashes and I ran away, a... gun in my trembling hands, ready to protect myself. The enemy had cornered me and I shot five men. Dead withing seconds. It felt weird, how much power I had over someone’s life with just such a silly thing.”

The room is silent as I hang onto the story. It really sounds like a couple of days ago.

“The leader, he saw that I was struggling with what I’ve done and brought me to a psychiatric, so I could talk and work on my nightmares. She told me tips on how I could calm myself down when I had a panic attack.”

At that moment, for the first time since I’ve known Qian Kun, he seemed more than just a crime boss. At that moment, right there, he was human. He showed me a part nobody ever got to see of him. How human he truly is under his thick skin. In the end, he was just a twenty-something with demons just like every other person.

“Would you... would you like me to take you to her? Because I couldn’t forgive myself if your life is ruined because of me.” Kun turns away and lets his head hang low in shame.

A sigh leaves my lips and I lean with my forehead on his shoulder. “I just... don’t want to do it alone, please?”

Kun lets out a warm chuckle. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t let you do this on your own. Even if you wanted it.”

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tangerinegod · 4 years

Note

Hello! I am sorry to bother you but I am a senior getting ready for college this year. I am in the US and I wanted to major in the same thing you did, do you have any possible tips for me? I still haven't even looked for colleges that would be best for animation majors so I figured if you were up to giving out any tips/saying any basic ideas if you wanted to/if you had the time to then maybe I'll have a better idea! I apologise for if I sound weird! I'm tried to word it correctly but I can't 😿

hi!! i’m totally down to share my experiences! someone else also had some questions so i’m going to put them all together in this post haha, hopefully this helps! it’ll get pretty long so apologies ahead of time but art school is a lot to think about so i wanna be as helpful as i can around it, its a lot of time and money. I’m gonna put it all under a read more cus it is really really long!

i wanna start off with the fact that I had the privilege of attending school in a financially stable environment, my parents were/are really supportive so w merit scholarship i only came out with around 20-30k in debt and i also had housing support my entire time in school. they were ok with me focusing on academics so i didn’t hold a retail job unless i was out of school like summer/winter break. Ofc though i regularly take commissions/do merch/cons to try and pay for all bills that arent rent cus i did want to be financially independent where it was possible. I also did try and work during the semester but everytime i did my body would deff start to breakdown from the fact that i didnt wanna compromise schoolwork with jobs.. so just read ahead know this experience is from a student who was able to attend focusing only on school work for most of the time!

the biggest thing is knowing art school is not required to become a professional in either freelancing or industry! there are a huuuge amount of online tools and classes these days that provide the exact same education and for cheaper too. i think it depends on what experience you prefer/can handle/want but it’s definitely possible to make art/animation art your living without higher education. the thing that college will for sure give you though is the ability to meet deadlines, work even when you dont want to, and connections with peers+teachers. i think the connections part is invaluable because you’re basically coming out with a network of people you already know and who know you!

also its good to know if you want to attend/can handle art school! it’s a lot of time and energy and students get burned out really fast. the best piece of advice i got before going was ‘if you draw every single day, even if its for only like 5-10 minutes or a doodle for a whole year you should be fine’ consistency is super key because you’re attending school to draw, and you’ll have to create work for stuff you aren’t excited for at some point or another. burnout is extremely real and the only reason i didn’t experience it was probably because i got super into drawing naruto fanart again inbetween sophomore and junior year! it helped give me something to draw seperated from school which is the only thing i was drawing for since i had entered rip. a heads up id also consider myself a workaholic so i fit in ok with the ‘art school’ environment but it is suuper unhealthy. if you are fantastic at managing your schedule then it’s definitely possible to take care of yourself! freshman year i got 8 hours a sleep a night and only pulled all nighters for some second semester finals at the end. sophomore year + up though i ended up prioritizing hw over sleep and like for sure, definitely shortened my life span. there’s another q down below where i’ll go more into detail but ya, be careful w ur work balance!

another tip especially for animation is knowing for a fact what type of animation you’re looking to go into, and what the school is offering. I didn’t think i’d get into art school at the time so i only applied to two places + decided if i didnt get into either id attend community to get credits out of the way while building portfolio. honestly? i did not do a lot of research LOL but like i did end up having the chance to tour and stuff! just know that each school will have a very different curriculum. The main differences are schools that prioritize 3D (cg animation, cg modeling, ect) and 2D/traditional (hand drawn, ‘oldschool’, digital or traditional based) this is a huge difference so make sure you do research for it! in most cases a 2D/traditional program will also offer 3D since it’s at the forefront of the industry animation wise rn. My school taught 2D but like hand drawn on physical paper 2D, frame by frame. while it was a good experience it’s super outdated because digital tools make it way faster + easier! i’d recommend looking for a program that is digital 2D over traditional 2D.

if after your senior year covid is still affecting campuses in the US to keep them shut down i’d recommend attending a community college to get credits and then transferring into school. one of the negatives is paying money for gened classes when ur not there for them; if you can get them out of the way sooner and cheaper there is absolutely no negative + you could graduate earlier or use the extra time for better work or to work a job!

these are all the general tips i think i’d give on like a broad basis of attending or not to think about? let me know if u have more q’s! someone asked q’s im answering below that go more into personal experiences + work culture so heres those:

- how many hours a week do u spend studying, in class, otherwise making art? like how much of ur life does it consume?

I was basically working on art.... 24/7! since i wasnt working a job at the same time i crammed as many credits as possible into my schedule so on avg i did 18 credit semesters (around 6 classes) art classes go for 6 hours and non art go for 3, so i’d spent around 30-35 hours in class a week! hw wise it varied on the class but combined it would be around 35-50 hours a week... im guessing? on average studio classes would have 8-10 hours of hw, maybe 5 for a light week, and gened classes 5 hours w them all combined. or this was probably how things were before junior year? junior+senior year i had thesis + everything else ontop.. i’d spend around 30-40 hours on thesis a week with other classes ontop of that bc my film was super long cus im a dummy!

- is it hard going to art school n realising that altho u were probably quite talented… so is everyone else? Like. all of a sudden. ur not special and everyone seems as good as u, you know? More generally, how do u deal with comparison?

kinda?? i think instead of the idea of like you vs others it feels more of like a competition at first to be the best. this varies hugely on school culture though; my animation year was really friendly with each other and get along extremely well, so my answer to this is v different than some others who attended different schools. i think that the idea of ‘comparison’ only lasts a portion of the first year because at some point you realize that it’s not a who’s better as much as its a ‘these are my coworkers’ type thing? like healthy competition 100% because we’re all working to improve but i think most of us learned pretty early on that viewing each other as peers going into the same workforce helped a lot. also at some point everyone develops their own style/starts to develop their artistic preferences so there isn’t a way to compare whos 'better’ anymore? i dont think there ever is tbh because style is appealing based off of an individuals preferences. If anything realizing everyone else is also amazing makes you wanna work harder ig? or thats how i felt! it’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who create such amazing work.

- is there a lot of workaholic culture? all nighter culture?

100000% there can be a workaholic and all nighter culture. i know people who avoided it and thats honestly fantastic because i fall super easily into that pit. sometimes i’ll pull all nighters on a personal project just because i really want to finish it... i am definitely considered a workaholic all the way through and its not healthy rip... i’d estimate at the worst i was pulling 2-3 all nighters a week and only 4-5 hours of sleep on the nights i didn’t? that was only for one year tho, after that i was like yeah ok this is really bad for my health in the long run LOL so i tried to cut it down to one all nighter a week and around 5-6 hours of sleep the rest of the week! by senior year my decision to cram in full semesters paid off and i was able to consistently get around 7 hours of sleep a night + no all nighters minus finals since my schedule was lighter despite thesis 😭 while there is that culture i don’t think people view it as like a badge of honor or something to be proud of anymore which is good, we mostly view it as a flaw of the art school system and something that needs to be fixed!!

- are you glad u did it? how did u know it was what u wanted?

i am glad i did it! i’m definitely in a limbo right now of if it was worth both my time, money, and my parents money rip but i think with what i got out of it i definitely wouldn’t be as far skill wise or knowledge wise when it comes to the art industry. i would say it was only worth it for be because i had so much support going in though so i was able to focus so much on improving. if i had only been able to put in part of the effort and not make full use of the resources provided i would honestly have a different answer..

i knew it was what i wanted when i realized i really couldn’t see myself pursuing a different profession happily! despite all the bumps and stuff im fully in love with drawing still and feel honored that it’s a field that can provide a living. my second profession choice was to go into culinary school? and third option i think going was into music cus i was also a band kid hehe.

- how do u cope with ur hobby becoming ur job? how do u deal with art going from something u do for fun to something u do on command constantly?

i think seperating work art from personal art is important! in my case im doubling naruto into being personal work so i have something to fall back onto that isn’t work related. its been a hyperfixation for 12+ years? so drawing it at this point is just like personal art imo. some people have hobbies outside of art and only draw for their job! i think after attending classes for so long the idea of hobby turning into job feels extremely natural? also i enjoy doing it so thats a huge plus!

sorry this is SO long but i hope i answered your guys’ questions! if you have more just lmk!

#anon #ask #long post #im so so sorry this is like long as shit #ill literally tell you guys everything though art school should not feel like a mystery esp if ur planning to go into it!#Anonymous

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lore-a-lie · 5 years

Text

Chapter 3, Act 10: The Inmate’s Sonatine

CLASS TRIAL- IN SESSION

Again the students filed out of the elevator and made their way to their podiums. But as Kaede looked around the mockery of a courtroom, she saw that the memorials of the fallen were different this time.

Ryoma’s wasn’t that different, aside from technically not being held at his true height. Much like during the actual trials it was made at the level he participated at, minus the box he’d have to stand on for it. And seeing that cross over his monochrome face stung her all the more with how impersonal his was compared to other students. Just a harsh blocky x, not a trace of his talent or personality to it.

(As if his death was one set from the very beginning, no need to make it at all unique.)

The second alter made it look like their fates being set in stone was unlikely, though. Particularly as it was present on a podium that was still occupied.

BehindHero’s head there was another colorless photo, at the same level of his own regardless of any height differences the siblings were meant to have had. But from what she could see of it, that was Kiyo's photo rather than an image of his sister from his motive video. And it wasn’t because he was blocking anyone’s view of it, despite how seeing it made him tremble like a fragile branch lost in a hurricane.

Instead of being vandalized in red, there was an orange question mark rather than a cross like the others. And while the Kiyo of the portrait’s mask was still on, the dot of the symbol completely covered where his mouth would be while the upper curve hid both eyes from view. Probably to allude to his “sister’s” most overt differences from him, despite having no image of her own to present for the court.

And Kokichi wasn’t about to let them go through another lousy explanation for a process they’d suffered through four times previous after being presented with an oddity like that.

“Jeez Louise, you kids sure like being confusing, dontcha? At least I don’t have to deal with my bumbling brats failing to keep up anymore. I really oughta thank you all for making such an exe-cute-tion possible, don’t I?” Monokuma scratched at his head before exposing his claws like a threat as he fumed. “But speaking of “.exe” you just had to go playing with toys that don’t belong to you! Serves you right for trying to avoid your schoolwork! Kids your age should know better than to waste all day playing video games-”

“Says the robot bear forcing them to play games or die,” Kokichi stated, arms behind his head like he hadn’t a care in the world while his eyes told a much angrier story.

“It gets you all up, active, and social, don’t it? Don’t lump my wonderful killing game in with your newfangled time wasters, mine can teach you real-world skills! Think of it more as a... social culling.”

“Culling would indicate such deaths were natural, doesn’t it? That’s hardly fitting,” Kiyo pointed out.

“Who asked you?!” Monokuma snapped. “Just because I “should” be thanking you for disciplining my uppity upstarts doesn’t mean I’m not still furrrious about you acting all high and mighty, trying to play my system to waste some of my valuable murder victims! Why don’t you just drop dead already?!”

And with Monokuma so distracted Kokichi saw his chance to get to the point. “Speaking of, why don’t we cut to the chase? What’s that question mark about?”

“What are you asking me for?” The bear innocently asked with a tilt of his head. “You’re the ones that kept acting like someone died during one of your little VR chats. But without a body, how am I supposed to believe you? So I improvised! It’s important for all victims, real or imagined, to be present when justice is served!” He nodded his little head and lounged in his throne.

But as he got comfortable a light flashed over his head. “Hey, wait. Speaking of tricking your dear headmaster and judge, you’re trying to make me forget to lay down the rules, aren’t you!” He shouted, puffs of smoke rising from his ears.

“Come on, we’ve been through this already enough, haven't we!? We know what to do. So let’s just jump into it!” Kaito argued.

“Hey! Even if you say that, what do you know? Refreshers don’t hurt-”

“Mastermindsaysyeah”

“STOP INTERRUPTING ME OR I’ll HOLD YOU IN CONTEMPT!”

“Well that “didn’t hurt” either, now did it?” Kokichi asked in his sweetest of tones with a bat of his eyes. &I'm not annoying you, am I?~&

“What would “contempt” even mean for this?” Tsumugi asked, though largely to herself.

“Whatever it is, it’s either deadly or redundant so best not to push it. We’ve all beaten Monokuma to having &contempt& for this kid,” Tenko stage-whispered to her behind her hand.

“HEY!”

“WHATEVER!” Monokuma roared with a sense of finality. “Any useful questions since you’re all so eager to get on to the main event?”

“Is there anything actually stopping me from going over and strangling the first person to seriously accuse me of murdering my own sister?” Korekiyo asked, hand raised as though they were in school.

“... Ya know, I hadn’t considered that. You’re all normally so prim and proper about everything it’s never really come up before. I wish ya woulda told me if you were planning some Jerry Springer shenanigans, then I could’ve brought my mondo butter to have with some popcorn as you kids went at it! But you know stabbing would probably be easier to do uninterrupted.”

“Alas, I haven’t been allowed to touch anything sharper than a pen in quite a while, and even that’s only because its stabbing ability is so often underrated.”

“... And the fact this is how you try to convince us to not accuse our resident evil psychopath of being a part of yet another double murder makes a pretty good case to take those away from you too,” Kokichi snarked, but since Kiyo had adjusted best he could to the cruel reminder behind him he managed to keep a stoic facade despite the jabs.

“You’re free to say what you will about me in regards to Ryoma’s untimely end, but I assure you I wasn’t responsible for either of these tragedies this time. Certainly not Hers...”

“Ow, you made that pun on purpose didn’t you? B-but what was that he said about butter-” Kaede heard Tsumugi complain before Kibo cut her off.

“Don’t encourage them Tsumugi, we need to focus! First, we need to clarify if this is actually a set of two murders or not. Kiyo’s still here after all, so not only can we not prove his “sister” is dead but when she was killed may not matter for whoever is the blackened we need to find.”

“Sure we can, she’s been dead this entire time! Being here at all is supposed to be enough “proof” of that, right Kiyo? Assuming she ever existed outside of his head in the first place.”

“Please stop that Kokichi, you know what I mean! Kiyo being involved with Shinguji’s death seems unlikely, provided the damage assumedly done to her avatar could have negatively affected her,” Kibo scolded, but seeing he only got raspberried in reply the bot shrugged and looked to Kaito beseechingly.

“Can we just call her a normal name for now? If she’s not here to bitch about it what’s the harm?” The astronaut offered, and explained his reasoning before the bot got too disheartened at being seemingly ignored. “It’ll be easier to focus if we’re not stuck worrying over what to call one of our possible victims, yeah?”

“If you must,” Kiyo answered with a sigh as he shook his head at such a minor gripe.

“YEEES!” Kokichi cheered, eagerly hopping on his platform using the railing for support. “Okay, so who’s the guy we need to thank for finally offing Cersei before she could go all wildfire on us?”

“... From the Odyssey? Odd theme, given how Angie’s addressed her by the birth name of Persephone. Though She hardly turned men into beasts.”

“Sounds like she certainly enjoyed grooming the ones she could-” Kokichi teased, and finally got the reaction from Kiyo he was looking for as his toothy grin only widened in the face of his fury.

“ YOU HOLD YOUR TONGUE OR I WILL BE SOON ENOUGH! ” ( God damn it, we need to move on! )

“Knock it off you two!” Kaede snapped. After getting their attention she tried to calmly propose a real starting point. “I think we should prioritize Ryoma’s case first. We have more evidence there and she might not even count as a victim or be related to this at all.”

“Are you sure you’re not just being biased?” Tenko questioned with a scowl. “Neither case has that much for us to work with. At least with Circe we can rely on more testimonies to add something useful. We know she never left the simulation, and the virtual world isn’t that big. Someone must have seen or heard something!”

“How do we even know for sure that was her body? At least we know Ryoma’s dead, and we know if we get his case wrong we’ll all be dying for it!” Kaito yelled, slamming a fist on his desk. Which he quickly regretted judging from his wince and how he flexed his hand afterward.

“Of course it was her avatar by the river, if it wasn’t hers whose could it have been?!” Kibo argued back.

That’s a good question. But at the same time there was evidence it might not be her original avatar, wasn’t there?

It’s one of the few pieces of evidence for this case that we do have, with how Monokuma rushed us. Could it be a hint that what we found in the virtual world is all we need?

That would explain why Ryoma’s cause of death is unknown, if we don’t really need a murder weapon.

But we need to take this one step at a time. If we rush ahead we could slip up.

And if we do that’ll be the end of us.

“Why are you asking that, Kibo? Weren’t you the one who made it possible for us to change between avatars? How exactly does that work?” Kaede asked him, as she hadn’t been able to before.

“Oh. I mean, it’s pretty simple. You enter the wardrobe, it brings up the list of all of the avatars I’ve made, and among those not currently being used you can select one. Obviously, trading avatars will add your previous one to the list of options, I just wanted to avoid another case like when Kiyo and his sister had identical forms. It’d just make things really confusing.”

Kokichi was quick to see where she was going with this. “And how many avatars don’t we use anymore? Is there an accurate Keeboy option?”

“Well, let’s see… There’s no other version of me, I didn’t see any reason to.” Kibo started and counted along with his fingers as he went on. “Kiyo has three variants, his original, the haircut, and the “gender flip”. Angie has two, the latter with adjustments to how it senses the cold since I had troubles with just updating her original. And Tenko has two, she asked me to make a duplicate of hers so she and Ryoma could test the wardrobe while I was still tweaking it. So that’s three unused sprites in addition to the 10 of us and Kiyo’s sister.”

“Yup! I actually got Ryoma to play twinsies with me!” Tenko said with a smile before her face fell. “It was nice of him... Miss Shinguji was willing to do it too of course! Gonta just thought it’d be a bit too risky so that was a no-go. So Ryoma offered since Angie said she was too busy trying to cheer up the weirdo.”

“I did not! Atua thought it was a bad idea!” Angie objected and puffed her cheeks. “So what if I was having fun?”

“Also you were practically buried in Christmas supplies at the time,” Kiyo added nonchalantly.

“I could have gotten her out!”

“Unlikely. Not unless you would be willing to work with me to get her out of that mess, you would fare no better than my efforts were.”

“Angie wasn’t stuck! There was a lot of fun stuff in there, once you tipped the boxes over,” Angie insisted.

“You weren’t supposed to do that!” Kibo complained. “I set them up like that for your own safety.”

“We’re getting sidetracked!” Tsumugi interrupted. “Was Angie playing in the decorations before or after the walk along the river?” (That’s still losing the point of Kokichi’s question though!)

“Before, getting her out of that mess so Kibo wouldn’t get stressed out by the havoc she had wrought was one of Ryoma’s stated objectives.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh! And Ryoma leaving Kiyo alone to try and mess up my beautiful interactive art piece was weird! Very weird!” Angie eagerly nodded. (So that’s what she meant by he was acting funny. He hasn’t trusted Kiyo as far as he could throw him since the last trial. Did he get over that? When? Why?)

“That… Is not the way I’d describe it.” Tenko stated with a wary look on her face as she poked her fingers together.

“That’s because Tenko has terrible taste!” Angie beamed, while Tenko and Kiyo traded similarly exhausted looks in what might have been their most civil and casual interaction to date.

“Okay, well, at least that helps give us some sort of timeline. But we’re losing the point of Kokichi’s question!” Kaede reiterated, “And we do have evidence that the body we found wasn’t Cersei's avatar.”

“What?! But there was no one else it could be-” Kibo tried to argue.

“Kokichi found Kiyo’s mask and gloves in one of the avatar’s pockets! Unless you mean to tell us that was part of how you designed her, Kibo, I think that counts.”

“Also she was flat as a board!” Kokichi gleefully added, hoping to ruffle feathers.

“I can’t tell if you’re a brave man or a dead one for saying that right in front of a girl’s brother. Or lover,” Tsumugi joked, as she warily eyed the man next to her.

Said man was left looking rather confused. “It’s hardly like he confessed to feeling her up or something. It’s merely a statement of fact, and is a simple observation which does add weight to Kaede’s theory.”

Even if that’s true, why is he so calm about that? Besides, he should know better than anyone if his sister is still around or not! I mean she has no reason to use his avatar. They’re so similar there’d be no point.

Not unless… It wasn’t his sister. And if that was Kiyo’s avatar, who was using it?

This is Kiyo we’re talking to, isn’t it?! They couldn’t have switched! He can’t be dead, not yet!

I know it was his voice I heard when he spoke in the sim, not her’s. So he has to be fine! Doesn’t he?

Why does him dying bother me so much anyway? Is it just because he’s the lesser of two evils?

It doesn’t matter. Not yet at least. I can’t go zoning out right now. Not until we’re all safe.

“So, Kibo? Is that proof enough for you?”

“I… Yes. But when could she have gotten access to the wardrobe?!”

“It’s okay, Kibo, let’s just take things one step at a time. Hell, maybe it wasn’t even her,” Kaito offered.

“If it wasn’t Kiyo sister who could it be? Can Ah-vu-tars be left lying around, like clothes?”

“Well, I didn’t think that they could,” Kibo said with a troubled expression, “They always disappear when a person logs out. But with how unresponsive she was I don’t see how else to explain it.”

“Then maybe we should focus on something else for now,” Kaede suggested. “Did anything weird happen with any of you? Or Angie, you said you were with Kiyo most of the time, did he and Cersei get some time to themselves or something like that?”

The question made Angie look uncomfortable, as she kept nervously looking to Kiyo. But he completely froze up.

“Kiyo? Did something happen?” Kaede pressed.

“I… Nothing of note.”

“Come on, out with it! There’s no point in lying,” Kaito urged.

“Are… Are you sure the person we thought was my sister in the simulation, wasn’t?” he only asked.

“No one would know who your sister was or wasn’t better than you, right?” Tsumugi asked.

“Were you the one that killed her?” Tenko accused. “We all saw you try to hit her earlier, did she say something else to set you over the edge-”

“It was nothing like that!” Kiyo snapped. “I don’t know what came over her, I was alone on the bridge and suddenly she just-” he cut himself off as he clutched at himself again.

“She just what?”

“She… Was still upset by my earlier… “weakness.” She expressed an interest in seeing if there might be a different means of accomplishing my objective.” Kiyo quietly muttered, gripping his arms tighter the more he went on.

“So… She attacked you?” Kaito asked, trying to put together the dots.

“If I had a life I was willing to give she made it clear she would be more than happy to take it off my hands.” He conceded, but it sounded like Kiyo couldn’t believe what he was saying.

“Wait, so she tried to kill you?! And you just kept quiet about it!?” Kokichi shouted.

“As opposed to what? It was hardly anything more extreme than what she’s asked of me before.” Kiyo cooly stated, but his eyes looked distant. Glossed over, almost broken in a way, not that unlike how he looked when she first saw him that morning. “If my spirit could die in the realm Kibo made without ending my body, she was hoping that she could take it over in my stead. Without the need to share.”

“What the fuck?!” Kaito sputtered.

But out of everyone who looked equally shocked and appalled by what Kiyo was saying, and the almost matter of fact way he said it, there was one who barely batted a lash.

“Did you know something about this, Tenko?” Kaede asked. “Were you trying to help her do this?”

“Wh-what gives you that idea?” She sputtered. “I mean come on, I know me and Miss Shinguji are getting kinda close, but I’ve never been able to really talk to her alone! So how could I be involved with anything like that?”

Tenko did have a point, but a look around the room showed Kaede that despite being her strongest witness Angie seemed troubled and unconvinced.

So there might be a contradiction here. I better find it.

“You don’t seem too shocked about her wanting her brother dead.” Kaede shrugged, but tried to keep her voice level and non-aggressive. “Since you were the one to offer the wardrobe to Kibo, I’m wondering if she had something to do with that. Like if she was hoping a feature like that could let her freeze Kiyo like the rest of the female avatars do, to make it so he couldn’t fight back.”

“Well, who doesn’t?” Tenko irritably asked. “His sister said she never actually wanted him to kill anyone, so if we were left with only one of them she’d obviously be the better choice! But that doesn’t mean I have anything to do with that, I had no chance-”

“Is that what she talked to you about when Angie was talking to Kaito?” Angie’s voice cut in like a knife, and made Tenko stop cold. Taking her friend’s ashamed silence as her answer, Angie explained. “Kore used that argument during one of our talks, Kaito was with us but Tenko didn’t want him spying.”

“Of course she didn’t,” Kokichi shook his head with a sigh. “Gawd Tenko, I wasn’t expecting you to really be that stupid.”

“HEY! I am not, and that doesn’t prove anythin-”

“Then why did you want me to make you a second avatar?” Kibo asked, though his tone sounded hurt. “You asked me about how the Shinguji siblings’ limiting would work with avatar switches too…”

“What the hell, Kibo why didn’t you mention that sooner!?” Kaito spoke up.

“I-it was a good question! And Tenko had expressed an interest in dressing up like her friends before so I thought it wasn’t that unusual at the time. With Ryoma there, I didn’t think there would be any problems.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as Kibo stared down at his feet. And Kaede asked the question she didn’t want the answer to.

“Tenko, was Ryoma aware of what you were doing?”

Tenko slouched and swayed herself in her stand as the class waited for an answer.

“Yeah… He caught me talking to Cerci about it when Kibo was distracted. But he didn’t think it was a bad idea or anything! I mean… If there was no body left behind, there wouldn’t need to be a trial, right?” She went on as she fidgeted, body language being more than enough to show her conscience wasn’t so clear as she wanted to make it sound. “That’s why we have that question mark now, right?! So Kirumi would get the justice she deserves, Cerci would be free, and Kiyo wouldn’t hurt anyone ever again!”

“And that’s why you thought the body in the river was Kiyo’s… But wait, does that mean it was Kiyo!?” Tsumugi thought aloud, and all eyes turned to the Shinguji who was still with them, hoping for answers.

“Of course it wasn’t!” Angie insisted, “We never went near the wardrobe, and Kiyo never stopped having short hair! If only one of them is with us then I swear on Atua’s name-”

&If you were with him the entire time, when did that attack on the bridge happen-&

“Does it really matter, if none of you honestly believe you can tell the difference?” They cut Kaito off as they held their hand up as though to cover their mouth. And as he did Kaede caught what it meant.

There’s no reason for him to do that while he’s already wearing his mask, unless it had to do with his sister. Either “Kiyo’s” overcompensating so Shinguji can hide her face while being the only one in there, or she’s fighting with the real Kiyo for control of his body and he’s still winning.

Between the two the latter sounds more plausible, but that wouldn’t explain why he won’t let her out. Even if she attacked him before she can’t do anything out here right? Or is he hiding a witness from us?

Should I try to get him to lose focus so she can tell us directly, or could this be for our own good?

As she looked to the others while weighing her options her gaze met Kaito’s, and he seemed to be having similar suspicions. And if it was Kaito doing the talking, if Kiyo’s sister was in there in any way, she wouldn’t be able to resist lashing out. So Kaede gave him her nod of approval.

“Why should it matter if Kiyo’s Sissy side is out of the picture anyway? Ryoma was real, and we know she wasn’t, so why bother?” he arrogantly said as his chosen taunt. And with the way Kiyo’s right hand spasmed before he physically took hold of it to calm “himself” down they had all the proof they needed.

Kokichi’s forced dry laugher cut them off from making sure everyone else was aware of their discovery. “You better be just stealing Angie’s earlier joke, Kaito. Because if not, you’re getting short-sheeted tonight, and things will only be getting worse for you from there buster.”

“WHAT?! What I say? And how do you expect to manage that, huh?”

“I can pick locks genius, the only one safe from night-pranks is Kiyo!” Kokichi bragged with a dark aura. And past experience led Kaede to assume he had worse in store for Kaito as he went on. “Because unlike Gonta and Ryoma, I can’t get his stupid door open anymore. I don’t have the strength or momentum to move those stupid boxes Gonta barricaded it with. Speaking of, if Gonta wasn’t able to get Kiyo this morning and Ryoma didn’t check on him, how could you get through, Kaito? Sure was lucky you did, considering what he was up to, riiiight?”

Oh. Oh no. He doesn’t seriously think Kaito would kill Ryoma for whatever happened earlier, does he?! Obviously he wouldn’t! He was angry, sure, and even if Ryoma… If Ryoma really did leave Kiyo there to die, that wouldn’t be something to kill him over! Not that I’ll ever be able to ask him about it now…

Jeez, does he really think Kaito would have gone to the effort of trying to get Ryoma breathing again if he had been the one to attack him? Where could the other two witnesses have come from if he did?!

But should I use that truth to make that obvious, even if he’s only putting Kaito on the spot to see if the real killer takes the bait, or let it stand for now? Could lying be to our benefit here? It has before.

… Maybe I should fib a little just to see where this goes. Kokichi might know what he’s doing, and we don’t need to bring up Shinguji’s survival right away. We all saw that reaction just now.

“Can you really say it was lucky?” Kaede asked, and only felt a little bad about the resigned but pained nod Kiyo gave at that as he clenched his eyes shut while Kaito nearly gave himself whiplash at the perceived betrayal. “You really are full of it sometimes Kokichi, you know Kaito’s been doing nightly training sessions. Why wouldn’t he be able to move some stupid boxes out of the way? He didn’t even need my help to do it.” She went on, and hiding his failing health did seem to put Kaito marginally more at ease.

“Besides, it was like noon when we went to get him, wasn’t it? If Gonta couldn’t get him closer to 10, and Ryoma had no reason to bother, what’s there to suspect?” Kaito followed her up, to strengthen her lie. “Why the fuck would I ever want Ryoma dead?! He hasn’t done anything wrong since we woke up here!”

And the only other person who might have known what had happened between Ryoma and Kiyo that morning spoke up as she had hoped.

“Why Kaede lie? You blinking like butterfly trying to take off. Why?” Gonta asked, and apparently Kaede’s partial goal differed from Kokichi’s, given how the boy rolled his eyes at his lessons being put to work.

“What are you talking about Gonta, what could I be lying about?” she bluffed, trying to relax her expression as much as she could to keep any more tells from throwing her off too soon to make her point. “You got to the cafeteria with Kokichi long before we had any idea where Ryoma was, so what’s there to doubt? Going with Kokichi assuming someone moved the barricade before Kaito, if Ryoma visited Kiyo before we did he probably did it right before he got to the cafe himself, wouldn’t he?”

“... So Kaede lie ‘cause Gonta lie?” Gonta asked, looking rather ashamed and hurt by his assessment.

“When did you lie? You had been with Kokichi all morning, haven’t you?” Kaede pressed again, and this time Kokichi was less bored by the direction things were heading.

“Ah. No. Kokichi not there when Gonta check on Kiyo, but Ryoma was already talking to him. It rude to interrupt, so Gonta wait outside until Ryoma finish arguing. Ryoma say Kiyo not in mood to see people, and that Kiyo ask him to drop his audition tablet in dining hall, so Gonta let him be and Ryoma went on ahead before taking a walk to calm down. Gonta no mind ‘cause it gave more time to go over motive with Kokichi! And also practice with lie catching.”

“Oh? So you just left him there because Ryoma told you too? That’s pretty fishy. What exactly was this “argument” about, Kiyo?” Kokichi asked Kiyo, though his eyes kept wandering back to Kaito.

“Nothing worth killing over.” He tersely replied, his right side still acting up on occasion. When it became clear that wouldn’t cut it he continued with a sigh and shrugged. “He wanted to see my audition. To see if the other me was “like his was”.”

Kiyo’s mask quirked like a bitter smirk, but he refused to make eye contact with anyone. “When he saw I wasn’t fit for visitors he had a few choice words to say about the nature of karma. Particularly given that if my memories are reliable, even though I killed less than him, I might have deserved his punishment far more. And yet, by virtue of but a single year, had I been caught the death penalty would have been impossible for me. The dubious benefits of still being a “minor” in the eyes of humanity’s fickle laws.”

“However, Ryoma didn’t fully close my door behind him when he left my life up to the fates. Kaito and Kaede knew that all too well.” He corrected Kaede’s lie at last. “Had Gonta claimed my door was unsealed when they left that would be true, but only because from what I heard he was equally sure the threat I had presented towards our feminine companions before had passed with recent revelations.” He side-eyed Gonta as well. “So if Ryoma’s actions been “wrong”, would Gonta’s be any better?”

“That sounds like a motive to kill to me!” Tenko snapped.

“Nonsense. As far as I’m concerned both were merely respecting my wishes at the time. Unless you seriously believe there is anyone here that would desire retribution on my behalf?” Kiyo countered, “Aside from someone who may have had their own self-interest in mind with such an act, of course.”

“And why should we rule her out?” Kibo asked.

“Because how could she move Ryoma’s body, silly?” Angie replied while pulling a face. “Atua and I never let Kiyo out of our sight, so without him Kore couldn’t have left the simulation! If he died after leaving it can’t be her, and if he somehow died inside of it Kore would have needed an accomplice to help hide it.”

“Besides, if she killed Ryoma, why would Kiyo’s old avatar be there? The only reason we thought she was involved was because we mistook it for her’s.” Kaito agreed.

“So… Kaito saying Kiyo die, and this Kiyo is fake?” Gonta asked after visibly struggling to keep up since the idea of swapping avatars came up.

“I don’t know. Maybe? This is pretty confusing, huh?” Tsumugi laughed at her own difficulty to help put Gonta more at ease. “Maybe explaining it all again in smaller chunks would help clear things up?”

“Nah, we can get back to that later. Even if the body isn’t Kiyo’s or his sister’s, her wanting Kiyo dead could be important.-”

“It’s not about wanting me dead! She’s just scared of what would happen if she experienced dying again!”

But despite his anger towards Kaito, Kiyo didn’t look like he believed a word of his own excuses for her. He was practically turning blue, and grasping at straws like a drowning man seeking a lifeline in order to find any conclusion aside from the obvious. As if the betrayal would hurt less if it was on his own terms.

Like her trying to kill him at all wasn’t proof enough that she doesn’t care about him anymore. At least he’s not trying to blame it on Tenko “corrupting” her or something.

“But why would little-big-sister attacking mini-Kiyo change anything? If that not her body in river, she no die right?” Gonta asked again.

“Not necessarily, but that is a possibility!” Kibo brightly nodded at him, “I mean it fits Monokuma’s reluctance in regards to treating her as a dead student.”

“You don’t need to keep babying him,” Kokichi spoke up, killing Kibo’s attempt to help Gonta feel useful. “Gonta doesn’t need to keep caught up if thinking like this is too hard for him right now. We’re timed here! We can just explain everything right before we vote, and help him understand later.”

“No, it’s better for him to struggle and come to his understanding on his own terms,” Kiyo firmly objected. “There’s nothing gained by simply spoon-feeding him a sequence of events he’ll have little choice but to agree with. His input could help be the difference between life and death for all you know.”

“It’ll be our death if slowing down for him chews up too much of our time! If he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it. It happens, and we don’t need to make him feel guilty over it,” Kokichi argued.

“I hardly think that’s fair to say, considering our dear Gonta’s been clever enough that not one of you noticed he’s been prepared to kill me since he first caught wind of a possible murder in the simulation.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” Kaito yelled, but Kiyo didn’t so much as bat an eye with how matter of fact he was being.

“What!?” Kaede shrieked in near unison. “Wait. Gonta, was that why you were waiting in the salon?! You told us you were just guarding the phone because Kibo told you to!”

“Huh? Why would I need him to do something like that?! What are they talking about Gonta!?”

“I dare say that rests my case. Wouldn’t you, Gonta?” Kiyo asked Gonta with what could have been guilt in his eyes. That same strange glimmer in them that he had when confronting Kaito about his disease.

Gonta looked ashamed, as he stared at the floor of his podium. Like he couldn’t bring himself to face his friends. But to build up nerve he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and gave Kaede the quickest of remorseful smiles before answering.

“Yes, Gonta was. Gonta need to protect friends. Gonta thought, if Kiyo survive killing Kirumi, then Gonta survive killing Kiyo if friend die. Either Gonta survive with friends so no threats left, or Gonta die for failing to protect friends from Kiyo. That how “You Break It, You Bought It” rule work, right?”

“GONTA?!” Kokichi screamed at him, looking absolutely betrayed and heartbroken. Kaede could swear the pain she saw was genuine, and with the way Gonta flinched at his reaction she knew she was right. “Were you trying to leave when we got there just so you could make sure Kiyo was physically dead!?”

“You can’t be serious, right Gonta?” Tenko asked, before furiously turning to face Kokichi instead. “YOU, you put him up to this, didn’t you?! I knew it! You hate murder enough to not dirty your own hands, but not someone else’s, right? That’s what a leader does, you delegate-”

“NO. ” Gonta’s voice growled, as the horrible sound of wood cracking filled the courtroom. With his hands flat on the desk area of his stand, it sounded like he scratched deep into its surface in frustration. “This Gonta plan. Kokichi no want to hurt people. Gonta promise to protect friends, so this how Gonta do that! Gentlemen need to take full responsibility for their own actions. And no one else’s.”

Gonta paused for a breath again before taking a deep respectful bow before the class. “Gonta sorry he hurt friends by keeping plan secret. Kiyo not supposed to know about it. Gonta sorry he not be as open as…” He took a ragged breath for a moment. “As Ryoma. Gonta sorry he fail Ryoma. But…” As he paused again he stood straight up and looked Kiyo dead in the eye. “Gonta not sorry about wanting Kiyo dead.”

Kiyo only nodded his own agreement of sorts, “Good, you have no reason to be. On the contrary, I think it was rather astute of you.”

“I… I don’t agree with your plan, but I agree that it proves you’re smart. It’s smart to plan ahead and defend others. But you didn’t need to prove it to us!” Kaito firmly stressed, but his face fell as he went on. “Or you shouldn’t have felt you had to, and you shouldn’t have felt you had to hurt someone for us. I’m happy you didn’t have to.”

“Happy Gonta no get chance you mean. I know Kiyo’s sick, sick with the other Kiyo. Seen parasites like it in bugs.” Gonta said, mostly to himself as if to justify his own idea. “Ants know what to do if worker infected by Cordyceps or similar fungi that take control of ant body. Worker thrown out of colony to protect everyone else. ‘Cause it not an ant anymore. Fungus controls the body, ant mind no matter.”

Kaede couldn’t shake how cold she felt, as she helplessly watched the sweet boy beside her talk like this. But she desperately hoped talking some sense into him would help. “That’s not the sort of sickness we’re dealing with Gonta, I swear! We don’t need to do anything like that and you definitely don’t need to kill anyone for us! It’s not like with bugs, if he gets outside there are people who could help him get better.”

“Do we really want him to?” Tenko bitterly asked.

“It doesn’t matter what we want, it isn’t right to kill him!” Kibo snapped at her, taking her by surprise. “He’s one of us, like it or not. We know he’s not our enemy, so would you stop treating him like one?”

“Yup-yup, Kiyo’s not the one who put us here.” Angie agreed, which took more wind out of Tenko’s sails. “Besides, Atua’s not fond of that sort of reasoning anyway. He’s lost a lotta prophets before Angie ‘cause He forgot to support them when times got tough and His people lost faith and turned on ‘em like that.”

“He’s not our victim either, and if his sister isn’t actually dead that means we have another suspect here. So can we just try to figure out what happened to Ryoma?” Kaede urged.

“But Kore couldn’t have moved Ryoma’s body-” Angie firmly repeated, but the frustration in her voice betrayed her ever-present smile.

“Then maybe someone else moved it!” Kokichi offered up as a new angle of approach. “Or she used Kiyo’s spare body during the crime, ditched it to frame Kiyo, and however she managed to ditch it got her back to the salon so she could log them both out.”

“But he didn’t-”

“And why the hell should we believe you!?” he angrily snapped at her, to which she had little response. But his gaze kept bouncing between him, Kibo, Kiyo, and Tenko as she struggled to find words.

“Why shouldn’t we trust her?! What reason does Angie of all people have to help a man like him!? Yeah, she’s been nicer to him today, but that’s not ‘cause she wanted to!” Tenko spoke up in her stead, seeing Angie’s hesitation. But that only infuriated Kokichi more.

“What sort of reasoning is that?! Why should we all bet our lives on one person telling the truth? Both Angie and Kiyo could be lying, or the sneaky son of a bitch might have tricked her and she’s too proud to admit it!”

“But what would be the point of framing Kiyo? If we voted for him instead of her, why should it matter?” Kaito asked. “They share a body! Either both of them escape or neither of them do, right?”

“Oooh, that is a pickle, ain’t it? I mean, I’d like to think it matters.” Monokuma teased as the twisted teddy scratched at his chin with a blackened paw.

“What do you mean “you’d like to think”?!” Tsumugi asked in a panic, wringing a lock of hair between her fingers to try and spend some of that nervous energy.

“Welllll, there’s no reason for two “different” people to have the same execution. It’s no skin off my nose if the blackened living means one of the spotless will be forced to live the rest of their lives with guilt.” He chuckled and rubbed at said nose for emphasis. “But the odds sure aren’t looking good for either of them, are they? Pu-hu-hu~”

“Hey! Don’t go jumping to conclusions!” Kibo told their tormentor with an unusual air of confidence. “We have no evidence to doubt Angie’s testimony, so the probability of either sibling’s direct involvement in Ryoma’s death are low.”

“Well, it’s not like we have a better suspect, do we?” Tenko complained.

“That doesn’t mean we should just accuse who seems most convenient!” Kaito shot back.

“It’s not about “convenience”! It’s about not getting us all killed,” Kokichi said. “And if there’s no evidence against it we don’t have a whole lotta other options. Do you really want to roll the dice on a suicide when someone else had to be involved to move his body?”

“No! Ryoma no do that!” Gonta objected with tears welling in the corners of his eyes. “He have no reason to. He had family and friend waiting for him.”

“Besides, who here would do anything like that?!” Tsumugi agreed. Kiyo’s “polite” cough was answer enough to that though, so she backtracked. “ASIDE from Kiyo, since Angie says he couldn’t leave.”

The arguing just kept going on in circles from there, and Monokuma watched them bicker with a mix of joy and pride in the worst of ways. But Kaede stayed out of it and tried to focus on keeping track of the theories and objections being fired across the room.

And as she did she noticed she wasn’t the only one. Kiyo was still fighting with himself to stay as much out of the conversation as he could stand. Angie also held her tongue, but she seemed far more conflicted. So much so that Kaede was sure she knew more than she’d shared.

But if she does, why hasn’t she mentioned it? Is it related to why Kiyo’s refusing to let his sister get involved?

Did something happen during their walk? There is the bridge, maybe she saw the avatar in the river before it got caught on the rocks. Or she saw how it ended up getting in the river.

At least she’s more willing to talk than Kiyo is. God, I hope he’s not keeping his mouth shut just to spite us. But if he is still suicidal this could be a way to keep from dying alone. Or risk being stopped again.

Either way, maybe she just needs a little push to talk about what she knows. Hopefully whatever she has is enough to clear things up so we can get this trial over with.

If it isn’t then we’ll have no choice but to hope whatever “Cersei” has can bring us to the truth. I really don’t want things to come to that. She’s too dangerous for us to trust, and the stakes here are too high.

So here’s hoping Angie or her “Atua” will do the trick.

#New Danganronpa V3 #ndrv3 #ndrv3 spoilers #drv3 #drv3 spoilers #drv3 fanfiction #fanfic #fix it fic #multi chapter #kaede akamatsu #kaito momota #kokichi ouma #korekiyo shinguji #tenko chabashira #angie yonaga #gonta gokuhara #K1-B0 #tsumugi shirogane

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