[WEEK 5: Thursday morning, Room 116; Andersen]

[nowyouseeit]

[there are shuffling noises coming from inside Kaito's room! but he hasn't exited yet. knock knock, to see who's home?]

Comments

[nowyouseeit]

[the shuffling stops, and from inside, Kaito calls out]

Yo! Who is it?

1/2

[nowyouseeit]

Huh? Oh, sure! Gimme a sec.

[more shuffling, and a moment later, the door opens]

[nowyouseeit]

[only to immediately be slammed in his face again, seconds later, witha force that sends the entire door frame rattling]

[nowyouseeit]

[SO HE COULD SLAM IT IN HIS FACE DUH??]

[he calls out again from behind the closed door]

Piss off!

I'm in the middle of digging a knife out of my back!

[nowyouseeit]

[oh my god Andersen stop being so extra]

[the door opens again, and Kaito brushes out of the room, past Andersen and into the hallway. he closes it behind him, gives the tiny author a long look that says "you really don't get it, do you," before he continues towards the stairwell]

Tape recorder.

[he ain't sayin' a damn word while there's a chance that thing is on]

[nowyouseeit]

[he stops at the top of the stairwell, and holds out a hand for the tape recorder :/ give it to him and he might say something?? he wants to make absolute sure it doesn't get turned on at all during this conversation]

[nowyouseeit]

[. . . all right. that's acceptable. Kaito drops his arm to his side, turns on his heel, and faces Andersen with his shoulders squared]

You're an idiot. A god damn idiot, if you think we're doing this because we want to be heroes. If you think we don't realize exactly what the stakes are. If you think we don't understand that there are lives at stake.

[the words sound bitter in his mouth, hand balled into a fist at his side, knuckles white. he's holding back]

How are you going to live with yourself, if all five of us die this weekend at the hands of the angry mob you sent after us, and there's no one left willing to kill? No one left willing to take that deal? How will you live with yourself, knowing that you've condemned at least sixteen souls to an eternity in this realm, all because of your stupid self-righteousness?

How are you going to live with yourself if Mabel, Dipper, Violet, Clementine, are among the last people standing? How're you gonna live with yourself knowing you may have backed children into a corner in which they might be forced to kill?

I know I was going to hurt people I cared about it. I made that choice well aware of how people would see me afterwards. But I also knew, at the same time, that I was working towards a larger goal in which everyone here got a happy ending.

You?

You're just causing chaos.

[nowyouseeit]

Oh, yeah! 'Cause that would've worked. In case you haven't noticed, some people here enjoy killing others just for the fun of it!

[his words are hissed, almost mocking]

Kamui. Suzaku. Hell, I bet Velvet would have just gone after the two Prophets to end the ritual herself just so she could go home. Sharing this kinda information requires trusting everyone, and honestly?

Apparently trusting anyone outside of Yukina and Jay was a mistake.

[those words come out sharp, like barbs, full of poison and. . . the slightest drop of hurt]

[he turns away, lifting a hand to scrub at his face tiredly]

. . . we weren't blind to those standing by us. That's why I came to you in the first place. That's why we discussed potentially telling other people-- those like you, those we believed would support our mission and accept the deal to raise the dead if any of us were to die.

We weren't trying to be heroes. We weren't. . . [god he's tired]

We were trying to go about this smartly.

[nowyouseeit]

[drops his arm and turns to face Andersen again, lifting his chin to stare at him defiantly, angry fire burning in his eyes]

[what?]

[nowyouseeit]

[oooooh my god. closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath to calm himself, to push away the part that still aches with the fresh wounds of betrayed trust. because honestly? outside of Yukina and Jay. . . Andersen was the person-- no, the friend-- he trusted the most of all]

[he's angry. he's angry and hurt and so damn tired of this]

In case you haven't noticed, Mr. Author, there's five of us. Neither Girge nor Tsurugi are willing to accept the deal, and the Prophets? Get revived at the very end by the Unclean no matter what happens. They have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. If you think we wanted to scapegoat them because we thought they were "bad guys" who "deserved to die," then you're sorely mistaken.

[it's a shitty, cold, dark plan, and it made Kaito feel like dirt underneath every single layer of his being. but only three could survive. only three. and Girge and Tsurugi were more than willing to go along with it, the Hunters willing to accept it as long as everyone is revived in the end]

[he doesn't think Andersen understands them enough to see what they were trying to accomplish]

And for what it's worth? You opening your big mouth put Girge in just as much danger as the Hunters. I'm fairly certain he trusts us way more than he trusts you right now.

[squares his shoulders again and turns on his heel, back facing Andersen again]

Stop us from taking people's lives, kill us this weekend, lynch us between the end of the trial and the execution, or take us out next week. If that's what you and the rest of the people here want? Then fine. We likely won't fight it.

But if you do that, then you're likely going to condemn sixteen plus souls to an eternity in a place worse than hell, unless you can find three other people you trust to save the dead.

[a beat]

And if you're blabbing everything to everyone, you could at least give them the whole truth instead of just half of it.

[nowyouseeit]

[rubs at his eyes again, because he just wants to Nap Forever at this point]

I can't save everyone.

[he knows that. he knows that]

But I will damn well try to save those I can.

[reaches out to steady himself on the stairwell railing, but doesn't descend just yet]

If choice is what you guys wanted so badly, then I hope you make the right one on Saturday. I hope. . . you are all okay with carrying this burden.

And I hope you can make a decision on who you trust to save the dead.

[nowyouseeit]

You're stupider. And there's way more to us than you think, too, Andersen.

[. . .]

[when he next speaks, his voice cracks a bit, b/c he's too exhausted to keep up the mask]

What was the favor you needed?

[. . . KAITO YOU JUST YELLED AT HIM FOR TEN MINUTES WHY]

[nowyouseeit]

I feel like shit. I wonder why.

[he says dryly]

. . . I can't nap. I have too many fires to put out, to make sure that people don't jump straight to the lynching option this Saturday.

[nowyouseeit]

At this point, death would be a release.

[he just. laughs. tired and humorless]

But I've got work to do, even if everyone else is working against us.

[nowyouseeit]

The dead still can't be revived unless there are only three survivors, Andersen.

I won't abandon them. Even if you and everyone else here will.

[nowyouseeit]

. . . you do realize the cycle is gonna continue, whether we save the dead or not, right?

[LIKE]

[THEY CAN STOP THIS RITUAL, BUT. ANOTHER ONE IS STILL GONNA HAPPEN]

[nowyouseeit]

[WHATEVER TINY GRANDPA!!]

[he's heading down the stairs now]