yu

[bakaomi]

i'm at work so a suitable image will be here later

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[covenantal]

The fourth floor...

[ He dips his head in thought, his jaw working. ]

How do you know this?

[bakaomi]

[ he pulls out a scroll from his pocket and unfolds it.

when he holds it out, it reads 4XII. ]

The four is the floor, the X means danger, and... I don't know about the rest of it. It's not one of the codes we discussed.

[ taka frowns. ]

Ray had the matching one. Whatever we write on one would instantly appear on the other.

[covenantal]

[ Yu rubs a hand over his mouth as he looks at what's written on the scroll, deeply thoughtful. ]

... Shishimaru-san, do you know who the other All Nighters are?

[bakaomi]

[ he nods his head. ]

Yeah, I do.

[covenantal]

... they have something I'd like back, Shishimaru-san. I need to know who they are, or I need you to talk to them for me.

[bakaomi]

What is it that you need? I know people gave a bunch of items to Ray.

[covenantal]

... a pack of matches.

[ Yu takes a breath. Here is where he looks pained, if only briefly. ]

Ray-san said he trusted them. The others. Whoever they are, I don't blame them for what's happened.

[bakaomi]

Mm.

[ he folds the scroll back up to return it into his pocket. ]

I'll make sure they get back to you before tomorrow.

[covenantal]

[ That's a relief. Yu lets out a long breath and nods. ]

Thank you.

[ a pause, and he'll continue: ]

Do any of them know what ... happened last night? [ There's a pause. ] ... Ray-san intended to patrol with them, to try and prevent any murders.

[ LOOK HOW THAT TURNED OUT. ]

[bakaomi]

... it's how I know about the fire. They ended up separated, so they're not sure what happened other than that and what's on the scroll I showed you.

[ he kicks lightly at the floor. ]

From what it sounds like, the fire was most likely the item that Ray, Senri, Sasuke, and I got from capture the flag. It was green fire in a jar. All we really knew about it was that it was compared to a bomb, and Ray was the one who was keeping it for all of us.

[covenantal]

... they're alright? They're not hurt? [ with soft concern. god knows they all lost enough last night.

But he listens ... thoughtfully. That's a whole lotta yikes. ]

... is there any chance it was used accidentally, or would it have to have been purposeful?

[bakaomi]

They're okay.

[ as okay as you can be, after this mess.

he hurries onto the next question, because it's easier to talk about facts than that. ]

Ray would have only purposely used it if he didn't see any other option. We knew the item was dangerous, so I don't think he would have been careless. [ ... ] But I guess there is the chance of it breaking on accident or something.

[covenantal]

Good. [ It's a relief to hear even that much, at least.

He shakes his head. ]

I know. He would have been careful. Which means there are two options: he saw no other choice but to use it, or ...

[ The dream. Ray had touched his throat, and there'd been blood. ]

He was attacked, and the jar was simply shattered.

[ ... ]

Did only the four of you know what was in that jar?

[bakaomi]

Only one other person knew. As far as I'm aware, anyway, but I doubt any of the others told someone outside of the five of us.

[ ... ]

But since Ray is... [ it's hard to say it. ] I think we should let someone else know. And I know he and Senri trust you.

[covenantal]

[ That gives him pause. Very softly: ]

I'll do my best to live up to their faith in me.

[ Yu squares his shoulders. ]

I want to find out what happened last night, Shishimaru-san. That's my goal before the trial.

[bakaomi]

... me too.

[ his voice has been lacking its usual bite this whole conversation. takaomi is very... deflated, but his tone turns firm. ]

We can't mess up.

[covenantal]

[ Yu is quiet, for a moment, taking in his resolve. ]

I have no guarantee of this yet, but we may have a use of Blame Game during the trial. If you have any suspicions about any of our culprits, come find me before the trial. ... if we are able to use it, I want to be reasonably sure we've got the right person.

[bakaomi]

... got it

[ there's a pause, and then he adds. ]

I was told that the killer from last week has six letters in their first name.

[covenantal]

... six--?

[ Can you HEAR him doing the mental math. Can you. That does not make him comfortable. He nods slowly. ]

... is there any chance the same person killed again?

[bakaomi]

It's possible. We didn't really make much progress when we were discussing it yesterday, and I think Ray was going to try to look into it.

[ and now he's. rip. ]

But we should maybe keep an eye on the people it might be pointing to tomorrow.

[covenantal]

[ He bobs his head in a nod. Man does that clue ever make him fucking exhausted, considering how many and which people have six letter first names. ]

You're right. It's worth keeping in mind. Anyone else know that one, that might be keeping a lookout with us?

[bakaomi]

The same group who knew about the jar, and also the person who told me.

I assume they probably let their companions know as well.

[covenantal]

... wonder if that means we'll see someone bring it up directly, [ he muses. Total chaos would ensue, naturally, since they'd have hard proof of a killer with a six letter first name... ]

... we should probably try to avoid that kind of outcome, unless absolutely necessary.

[bakaomi]

... yeah, especially if it turns out it's a different person. I wouldn't want to distract from what happened this week too much.

[ because haha

he sure fucking wants to catch this week's killers. ]

[covenantal]

Especially then. There's blood in the water. Everyone will want justice, and we can't let them get distracted. I'll be relying on you to keep everyone focused, Shishimaru-san.

[ He has a knack for it, Yu thinks. ]

If we completely run out of leads, or haven't made any progress an hour or two before the trial ends... maybe then.