day one; afternoon; locked to Mahiru Koizumi

[glasshole]

Who: Kyouya and Mahiru
When: Afternoon, post vote, day one

[As everyone filters away from the funhouse, he'll let Koizumi go her own way for a little while before approaching her on his own somewhere around the park.]

Oh, Miss Koizumi. I'm rather glad to run into you, actually. Are you busy?

Comments

[glasshole]

[sigh]

You may be right. About it being a social experiment, I mean. Will we betray one another? Will we be more likely to act if we're alone?

I'm not sure this is a mystery we'll be expected to solve. Their purpose seems to be for our deaths. They certainly aren't interested in money. It may be crass, but my classmates and I would be worth quite a tidy little sum if that was their goal. And yet, I have little idea what other worth we would actually be to any organization. Whereas you and your classmates all appear to be quite the collection of notables if I read your profiles right, and yet little to do with a game like this.

[photonement]

Everybody here is worth something -- [and Koizumi says that with a bit of a sneer. Rich people asserting their superiority always strikes a nerve with her and oh my god I'm suddenly so upset OOC that she will not have the pleasure of meeting Fujioka]

So I think you're right that it's not the goal. Kuzuryuu-gumi would pay a huge ransom for a certain someone. There are three princesses [n.b. counting Miko] and a nobleman, plus some other ranks that might be major where they came from. [though she's rather unsure about some of those cosplayers tbh] What kind of "game" would this be if it were rigged for all of you guys to be kept alive or not depending on outside money?

They really seem like they want to watch us die for fun... but it's less entertaining if we were all just shot. So what do they even want to do with anybody left alive at the end? They have a sudden death round, they really must want a proper ending with at least a couple survivors.

[glasshole]

[He seems surprised, and raises his eyebrows. He didn't expect that much to offend her; even though he does happen to think he's superior, he took some care not to show it. He had been showing her a little more honesty than usual, but clearly now it's time to pull back on that; he affects an air of mortification.]

I'm afraid you may misunderstand me, my point is precisely the opposite. Personally, I find it rude to discuss the subject, but so long as we're brainstorming reasons for this experiment, I wanted to be honest about circumstances. Our families might pay ransom, but it's clear something like that is of no use here. I only wish I had some of the practical skills at my disposal that others have.

My meaning is, we're quite a strange group of captives, aren't we? There are other people whose disappearance would attract less notice...so I wonder if that isn't part of the goal?

[photonement]

[Koizumi's not stupid, she grumbles in her head; does he really think she can't hear these suddenly self-effacing verbs? It's a game, not a cage match, and even if he can't lift much more than a cell phone, she--

--needs to rely on his intellect. Stay calm, like Peko said in her own strangely uncalm way.]

Throw the outside world into an even bigger panic than 42 random disappearances already would? Yeah, that might spread despair. [The strangely specific poetic word fits just fine on Koizumi's plain lips for some reason.]

Then what do we do about that? Break the security cameras so they can't watch?

[glasshole]

Personally, I'd rather try to stay alive.

[photonement]

That'd be nice. I don't want to sacrifice other people for my own survival or anything, more than we all have to, but I just want...

[She sits down with her hands in her lap, shoulders finally sagging.]

[glasshole]

I know. Plans and speculation are one thing, but this sort of unpredictable situation...

[Still sounding self-effacing and worried, but this time it feels sincere. Maybe.]

[photonement]

[He doesn't finish the sentence. It's eerie, to Koizumi, and hammers home that the sky is less than 50% bright by now. She realizes that he probably doesn't really want to tell her anything - or maybe he did, but she didn't pass the test. A chill runs down her spine.]

Can I ask you a question, Otori? [Pause.] Do you think it's stupid to have fun or make friends here? I don't mean, doing that instead of playing. But maybe, like, look forward to the sunrise over that castle, or a shelf of the candy shop Honey managed not to pillage?

--Sorry, I... [being vague on purpose.]

[glasshole]

[Yes. Alliances are one thing, but it's very stupid to make friends here. Anyone should be able to see that. The fact that the very few people in the world he cares about are almost all here is the most terrifying part of this.

But that's not what he says.]

I think...if the purpose of this game is to instill distrust and division, coming to know one another can only help. Why do you think I sought you out? I find your thoughtfulness and your perspective refreshing.

As for having fun, it's more in my nature to worry, and to try to work hard, but because of that...it would be a relief to me to know that someone is helping all of them get through it.

[photonement]

That sounds like you... it's important to take care of everybody. [And... did she expect him to say anything better or different? He's doing his best. He's a serious boy. He flatters her. She is pinned between friendliness and skepticism.]

You definitely already understand that there's gotta be this "division" anyway. Just like there is within my class. [To be fair at this point Koizumi just thinks at least one of them is also lying about not having a buddy. Possibly that jerk Kuzuryuu.] Even though we're both probably perfectly regular players... we can't just pledge to give each other all the information, cause what if we get converted, or that info spreads to our friends and they slip something up?

You still wanna know how I think. That makes sense. It's one of the hardest parts of this game. All the strangers. And I wanna be better acquainted with you too... You probably are a halfway decent guy outside of this, you know? [Real polite there, Koizumi.]

See you tomorrow. I've got some stuff I wanna do to pass the time.