Week 5 | Friday, post investigation

[concasse]

[The lounge is likely gonna see a lot of traffic tonight.

Which is why it's probably odd that Sanji chooses to spend any amount of time in here. It's not like he wants to be around people; him fleeing the foyer made that very clear. Luckily for him, there's a pocket of time in which it's only him around, ordering drinks and slowly gathering a collection of empty glasses that make his slightly reddened face and bloodshot eyes very, very explainable.

No one said grief was pretty.]

Comments

[concasse]

[... Yeah no. his expression hardens at those options]

Beauty and Beast'll hopefully be able to help with that. Or maybe there's some shit for our comrades to find on the Other Side.

[Either way, trusting Tiger and Dragon is... dangerous.]

[axilium]

... Hopefully. [one benefit to having dead friends, apparently??] I'm not keen on either Tiger or Dragon's endings, so I'll keep looking for another one.

[concasse]

... Good luck.

[...]

Try and keep off their bad sides, alright? From what I can tell, they don't like anyone who will disrupt the war too much, one way or another.

[Do not put Sanji in a position where he has to hunt you down, Belph.]

[axilium]

[that's reassuring.]

... I've been playing nice, and I'm pretty decent at my role. Dragon said it'd be a shame to lose me, so with any luck, I'm safe for a while.

[...]

Is that why they had Sousei killed? He was pretty open to me about how he had no intention of playing along with their game.

[concasse]

... Each time I'm told who to take out, I try to work out the specifics of why they're being targeted. Maybe... change their minds, if necessary.

[It doesn't work. Clearly. But--]

Sousei was uncooperative, yeah. I knew it was only a matter of time given how he seemed to be, and Dragon-sama hinted he'd been given the role of Historian so he'd have something to focus on.

... As for Jae-Ha, my assumption is they thought he'd be unruly without his partner.

[axilium]

[...]

I have one question. Just to preface: it's nothing personal for me, so don't worry about that.

Was Monika also yours?

[concasse]

[...]

Dragon-sama didn't like how unstable she was -- was sure she'd snap down the line, so wanted her taken out before she broke further. We had a real argument over that. I thought she was gonna strike me down for the backtalk.

[...]

But no, it wasn't me.

[axilium]

Your Editor partner, then? I know there are two of you.

... Anyway, this is just a heads-up that Akechi's trying to hunt you guys down—probably to take revenge for her. So, be careful around him.

[concasse]

Tch. Figured. That's why I didn't see a point in lying.

[And just. Snorting at the mention of Akechi.]

Noted. Lucky for him, Eichi's someone I want to survive as long as possible, so he gets a free pass.

[axilium]

I feel like at this point, Akechi should remember to thank Eichi every week for contributing to his continued survival.

[concasse]

[Okay, actually laughing into his glass of alcohol]

Damn right.

[Shakes head]

... Well, in any case. I need to track down my partner and see if he's still alive.

[He says it like a joke, but the threat of it is real. They didn't find that third body, after all.]

We'll keep in touch, I guess.