[ This morning has been a disappointment accompanied by another set of the most awful 'music' the world might be able to imagine. Kohaku has had absolutely enough of the week and knowing that the Barghest is just going to pick a new host and they'll have to start this hunt all over again is the cherry on top of the cake.
There's so much to deal with here, but at the same time... nothing to do. He's bored, bored, bored when he's sitting in his room and there's only so much practice he can do in a row before he misses being accompanied by an orchestra.
It's time go get out and talk to someone, not get cabin fever.
And that means it's time to go see Roxas who is probably the overall funnest person Kohaku has contact with in this place.
[ Roxas wasn't even a music enthusiast and it'd made him want to plug his ears, but he couldn't - today really was such a shit show with the Barghest and everything as well.
So right now he's just winding down in his bed, surrounded by his pillows and blankets until he hears a sound that rouses him from just him lying around.
There's the sound of a small thump because in his hurry to get out of bed, he tumbled out of bed and onto the floor instead like a graceful swan (hah). He reaches the door, opening it in curiosity to see ... ]
[ It's fucked up how forward and honest all the kids in this place are, forcing Kohaku to put words to his desire for interaction. In his world, he has been involuntarily living in a group for so long that he's honestly forgotten what it's like to have to seek out others and not simply exist around them, whether or not you hate them. Technically the resort is a limited space still, but compared to the confines of a single car...
Kohaku sighs. ]
I'm going crazy with boredom in my room. There's nothing useful to do and I'm going to scream if I waste one more pointless thought on who the next Barghest will be.
[ Roxas looks up at Kohaku as he sighs and listens to him speak, and if the situation wasn't as grave as it was, he would've smiled, but instead he just moves first making a quick hand gesture to the rest of his room. ]
That's okay, I don't mind you coming right in.
You can sit anywhere if you want to and once you do we can just talk. I've been kind of a little more curious about your world, if I'm being honest.
[ Roxas will wait for the other to take a seat and if he hasn't closed the door, do it himself, before moving to sit on his bed, bouncing a bit as he does so. ]
[ If there is a chair around, Kohaku will grab that and sit on it the wrong way around, arms resting on the backrest - he is a cool kid. Normal seating is for the losers. Or something.
As soon as he's in, he does relax a little. Just talking to somebody is a simple yet effective measure of escaping his own head. ]
I mean, it sucks, in case it wasn't obvious yet. If you want specific details on the suckiness though, I can provide.
[ Cool kids rule, dontcha know? Roxas is not as impressionable as some people but he's a kid, so...he thinks that chair movement is kinda cool too, so guess how he's going to try sitting from now on. ]
It does sound kind of bad.
But...can you tell me why there are zombies in your world? Was it always like that?
[ By the expression on Kohaku's face it's pretty clear that there's been a lot of 'trying' and very little of the other stuff. ]
It's been this way as long as I've been alive at least, but not always. We have no idea where they come from, but 'we' in this case is... average people. The nobility seems to know a whole lot more and they're absolutely not sharing with the class. Too busy trying to cut a personal profit.
It's really another case of other people deciding that because they're in a position of power they can really do whatever they want.
[ Jeez...people can be so selfish at times. Not like Roxas didn't know people couldn't, but sometimes it did surprise him a little how far people would go at the expense of others.
Though... ]
...But, how are they cutting personal profits from zombies roaming around?
Nnnoot exactly. More like... we crashed our car and got stranded at his place, which resulted in him trying to force our vocalist to marry him.
[ He looks amused retelling that last part, he clearly had a great time with that. ]
Or more like... turn our vocalist into yet another servant zombie, in the long run. We found out the whole rest by accident while getting out of that mess.
Yeah, we let him be killed by his own mother whom he killed as a child and then reanimated as some skeleton-looking zombie, so... somewhat karmic, I guess.
[ Kohaku has no remorse for the cruelty of their own actions nor the fact that this story keeps getting wilder by the minute. ]
The guy had some kind of issue about women caused by a mommy complex. I didn't really get why the fuck he killed her to begin with, but he dug her back up from the grave to retroactively turn her into a zombie.
He'd pretend she was alive and introduce prospective brides to her. It was pretty wacky. You'd think even perverts have limits.
... No, not that crazy. Even the people I really knew and the leader of that Organization I was a part of weren't. The craziest guy might've been a toss up between Vexen, who was a guy who liked to make experiments, and Xemnas.
Though, not for the reason Kohaku might think. Then, the smile fades as he speaks again. ]
I don't mind telling you.
[ Kohaku's Social Link level is high enough for that! ]
That guy was an absolute jerk, and he was just the kind of guy who didn't care about really helping people he'd say he would because he's a liar. He even he pit people against each other to kill one another when he decided he didn't have any use for them [ Basically Castle Oblivion ], and he also wanted to get rid of "traitors" to his cause. But he could've done that without getting innocent people hurt, or hurting anyone at all.
[ ... ah. That kind of person. Kohaku knows he has no right to get on a moral high horse most of the time, but if there is one kind of person that he thinks is still beneath him then it's those who abuse their authority without a care in the world. ]
For people who don't give a shit about others, letting everyone eat shit is simply the 'easiest way'.
[ He does sound genuinely disgusted. ]
They'll tell you it's a dog eat dog world but they don't consider themselves a dog to start with.
[ All of that certainly...happened. Roxas didn't have much to do after and he wanted to speak to Kohaku yesterday too, he really did, but things got hectic. At least things had calmed down enough for that.
[ Kohaku is indeed there and opens the door pretty quickly, giving Roxas a wry smile. ]
You had a role, too, who knew? We really oughta thank you.
[ If it hadn't been for Roxas, Akira would have died and everyone would have blamed Kohaku for the loss of a leader figure. He's not sure how long he might have lived after that. ]
I think I was just doing something anyone would've, if they were in the same position I were.
[ ...Roxas was glad that he could do that at all, because even with all of what happened, it wasn't like he wasn't aware of all the consequences of losing someone who seemed good at guiding people. ]
Do you want to talk about it for a bit? If there's something else you want to get off your chest about it...or anything.
[ Roxas better suit up in priestly gear then and get the book. Jokes aside, he does kind of come right in and sits down on the chair, hands in lap. ]
...I thought you tried really hard, and I did think the same things too - if you hadn't spoken up then [ Putting the suspicion on that group... ] I'm sure I would've said something. But really, even if people might be still mad at you after things worked out, I'm not. You're still my friend.
... huh. You're the first person to call me that in a long-ass time.
[ Kohaku sounds genuinely surprised. On a theoretical level, of course, he knows that hanging out for fun qualifies you as friends after a certain time. In practice, he hadn't been hanging out with people he doesn't find actively loathsome for so long that the application of the term 'friend' never seemed appropriate for his own life.
Yesterday, Kohaku had mostly been weirded out by Roxas having a role he doesn't know about, but now it's nice to know with full certainty that Roxas isn't mafia. It makes this a lot less conflicting. ]
I am? The people you went with didn't call you that back at home?
[ Roxas was sure that the people Kohaku was traveling with a bunch of his friends back at home, because why ever wouldn't he be? For the record, copies or not, he still considers their memories to be real and those things happened for them because the Foundation can go suck it.
Yeah, having a role was (is?) a trip. He can't use it again, but... at least he did some good with it. ]
Our orchestra leader's just my jailer and our cellist is the court's prisoner like I am. We're not traveling together because we want to. Well, I guess the piano brat is. She'd probably be upset that I'm not calling them friends, come to think of it.
[ ... ack, thinking of Eles is uncomfortable. The young girl hasn't been part of their group for long but something about her looking at them with clear honest eyes had caused a shift in the dynamic that Kohaku hasn't really learned to accept with. ]
All the other people who bit it before were like me, there because they had to.
[ That's definitely not what he expected to hear at all...but this place seemed to have a habit of presenting unexpected things in general, even if it was from other people's life stories. ]
...Wait, what? The nobles were forcing you all to travel around with your leader? But...why?
[ That sounds incredibly ... unfair to him, to be honest. ]
Because having a talent for anti-zombie music makes me too valuable to just execute. As long as I cooperate, I get to live.
[ A lopsided grin comes to his features here. Even though the situation at home has become daily life to him already, he still feels resentment for what he's being put through. The mortality rate in the orchestra is high. Talent or no, Kohaku knows he's nothing but canon fodder for jobs too shabby to send officials to. ]
[ This was... a morning. Kohaku's spent the hours after the bomb discovery avoiding people and just wallowing in frustration on his own, but come midday, he's feeling more sociable. Tomorrow is going to be a trial day, no matter how inane an idea that is. Not preparing for that won't make it go away.
So it's time to seek out the one ally he has in this place who he thinks is reasonable and who he isn't currently at odds with due to... well, situations. Roxas is safe, Roxas is a good person to start these thoughts with.
[ This is funny because of the way Kohaku knocks, Roxas can absolutely tell who it is immediately, and honestly having some time to process the things that've happened, the blond is more ready to hold conversation anyway. So it's really all-around good timing, and he opens the door relatively soon.
At least this time he didn't fall on his bum...
His room looks like it usually does, except the only addition to it are sea-salt ice creams still in their packages on one of the tables, easily visible when Roxas makes sure to have the door open all the way. ]
[ Kohaku nods and steps inside without waiting for formal invitation. ]
Yeah, with the way things are going...
[ "Things" is pretty vague, but that, too, has its purpose. "Things" is bigger than just the trial - it might very well encompass the whole universe they are in right now. If they are in any universe. The way the resort works is still kind of unclear to Kohaku. ]
Maybe. The Lady said there'll be a trial, and she's acting so weird that I've been kind of wondering if there really will be the usual one. So it's been kind of hard to think of what to do before tommrow's come, but...
[ ...funny thing is usually he'd have some idea of what he'd want to do. Even the last trial, he'd caught onto Owain's frame early, so he tried to see about pointing it out in the way he best could. ]
I'm actually thinking that we might want to prepare ourselves for anything strange happening. And I don't mean just preparing ourselves mentally?
[ The blond will close the door and then head over to sit on his bed. ]
[ Smiling at that, because if there is one thing Kohaku knows how to do, it's fight. Fight the simple physical fight, not all these mind-games they have to play now. Dishonesty like that is a luxury that Kohaku never really wanted to be able to afford. ]
Though if we just gotta execute someone like usual, it's going to get ugly out there. We have a chance to win the game now, but I fear most people wouldn't be okay with that.
Being prepared like that in case will help, I think.
[ Roxas isn't too good with deception either, though he's...become so used to it back in his time in Organization XIII that it really isn't as unfamiliar as it should be. ]
...you're definitely talking about Cinque, aren't you?
[ The blond knows he's going to have a hard time tomorrow. But, he'd be lying if he didn't expect this day to come. He still likes Cinque too, however he kind of has assumed people would vote for her, and if there's a way to properly exorcise the other ghost while keeping Cinque alive, then...
It's better than just ending up with her dead completely, right? He needs to look at this realistically...look at what this game has done to him. ]
If you are, I think it'll get ugly for a bit, sure, but...then if the vote happens like it normally does and we can't do anything about it, everyone will realize that they'll have to choose someone. And...I think the choice will become obvious then.
We've had the idea going around that winning this game of mafia isn't our real objective, but we don't have any proper proof of that, do we? Wasting our chance at the goal on a hunch seems like a dumb move.
[ He doesn't personally like Cinque at all, but that's genuinely not his main issue here. He wants to get out, he's found people who motivate him to fight for that... so simply letting goodwill lessen their chances at that is unthinkable. ]
...I think stopping the mafia game is one of the things we should be doing, since we're going to need it to in order to get out of this place. It's just as important as getting the Outsider out of the brain because they're kind of connected, so really they're equally important, no matter what anyone says.
[ So to him, doing something about the game is important, even if it isn't their ultimate goal. It's...kind of the reason why people are dying, after all. ]
We'll see how stuff happens tomorrow, I guess.
[ Except they don't got 20 minutes to figure out how to exorcise the Doppelganger so that's definitely a foregone conclusion--a problem for future Roxas, future Kohaku and future rest of the people stuck in the Resort. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Week 2 - Sunday
There's so much to deal with here, but at the same time... nothing to do. He's bored, bored, bored when he's sitting in his room and there's only so much practice he can do in a row before he misses being accompanied by an orchestra.
It's time go get out and talk to someone, not get cabin fever.
And that means it's time to go see Roxas who is probably the overall funnest person Kohaku has contact with in this place.
There's a forceful few knocks on Roxas' door. ]
no subject
So right now he's just winding down in his bed, surrounded by his pillows and blankets until he hears a sound that rouses him from just him lying around.
There's the sound of a small thump because in his hurry to get out of bed, he tumbled out of bed and onto the floor instead like a graceful swan (hah). He reaches the door, opening it in curiosity to see ... ]
Kohaku?
[ He doesn't look too happy though, so - ]
Did you want to hang out?
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Kohaku sighs. ]
I'm going crazy with boredom in my room. There's nothing useful to do and I'm going to scream if I waste one more pointless thought on who the next Barghest will be.
[ So that's a yes. ]
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That's okay, I don't mind you coming right in.
You can sit anywhere if you want to and once you do we can just talk. I've been kind of a little more curious about your world, if I'm being honest.
[ Roxas will wait for the other to take a seat and if he hasn't closed the door, do it himself, before moving to sit on his bed, bouncing a bit as he does so. ]
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As soon as he's in, he does relax a little. Just talking to somebody is a simple yet effective measure of escaping his own head. ]
I mean, it sucks, in case it wasn't obvious yet. If you want specific details on the suckiness though, I can provide.
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It does sound kind of bad.
But...can you tell me why there are zombies in your world? Was it always like that?
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[ By the expression on Kohaku's face it's pretty clear that there's been a lot of 'trying' and very little of the other stuff. ]
It's been this way as long as I've been alive at least, but not always. We have no idea where they come from, but 'we' in this case is... average people. The nobility seems to know a whole lot more and they're absolutely not sharing with the class. Too busy trying to cut a personal profit.
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[ Jeez...people can be so selfish at times. Not like Roxas didn't know people couldn't, but sometimes it did surprise him a little how far people would go at the expense of others.
Though... ]
...But, how are they cutting personal profits from zombies roaming around?
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[ He just takes a break here to let this sink in. ]
Yeah. I know right. We don't know how yet, since we've only found out about this recently.
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[ Not 'huh' because he doesn't understand but basically a 'wtf' of sorts, because that sounds incredibly twisted even to him. ]
That's...that's insane! If they know that much, they could really have actually worked on something to fix it - did one of nobles just tell you this?
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[ He looks amused retelling that last part, he clearly had a great time with that. ]
Or more like... turn our vocalist into yet another servant zombie, in the long run. We found out the whole rest by accident while getting out of that mess.
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[ That does sound funny but boy that is ... a way to find out for sure. ]
Did you guys get a chance to beat the guy up too? That jerk sounds like he needed to be beat up and then maybe beaten up a little more right after.
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[ Kohaku has no remorse for the cruelty of their own actions nor the fact that this story keeps getting wilder by the minute. ]
...even though that was terrible, I laughed
[ Roxas' eyes widen as large as saucers. Dear lord have mercy. ]
Wow, what?
[ Give him a minute...that was a loaded sentence. ]
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He'd pretend she was alive and introduce prospective brides to her. It was pretty wacky. You'd think even perverts have limits.
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[ He looks confused as to whether or not he actually wants to know, though... ]
...That is really weird. I'm glad he's not around to cause any trouble anymore at least.
[ That's another positive thing about it, right? ]
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[ But that's an issue for the far future, when they're finally out of this resort. ]
I take it, people in your world aren't as habitually crazy?
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... No, not that crazy. Even the people I really knew and the leader of that Organization I was a part of weren't. The craziest guy might've been a toss up between Vexen, who was a guy who liked to make experiments, and Xemnas.
[ But only one of those are on his dislikes. ]
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I'm guessing you don't feel like sharing whatever the story with that guy is.
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Though, not for the reason Kohaku might think. Then, the smile fades as he speaks again. ]
I don't mind telling you.
[ Kohaku's Social Link level is high enough for that! ]
That guy was an absolute jerk, and he was just the kind of guy who didn't care about really helping people he'd say he would because he's a liar. He even he pit people against each other to kill one another when he decided he didn't have any use for them [ Basically Castle Oblivion ], and he also wanted to get rid of "traitors" to his cause. But he could've done that without getting innocent people hurt, or hurting anyone at all.
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For people who don't give a shit about others, letting everyone eat shit is simply the 'easiest way'.
[ He does sound genuinely disgusted. ]
They'll tell you it's a dog eat dog world but they don't consider themselves a dog to start with.
week 3 sunday post execution
He'll be giving the door to his room a knock. ]
Kohaku? Are you there?
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You had a role, too, who knew? We really oughta thank you.
[ If it hadn't been for Roxas, Akira would have died and everyone would have blamed Kohaku for the loss of a leader figure. He's not sure how long he might have lived after that. ]
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[ To the first part, but the second... ]
I think I was just doing something anyone would've, if they were in the same position I were.
[ ...Roxas was glad that he could do that at all, because even with all of what happened, it wasn't like he wasn't aware of all the consequences of losing someone who seemed good at guiding people. ]
Do you want to talk about it for a bit? If there's something else you want to get off your chest about it...or anything.
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[ He steps aside to let Roxas come into the room though. Some conversations are best not held halfway in the hall. ]
I fucked up on the last steps. That's all there is.
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[ Roxas better suit up in priestly gear then and get the book. Jokes aside, he does kind of come right in and sits down on the chair, hands in lap. ]
...I thought you tried really hard, and I did think the same things too - if you hadn't spoken up then [ Putting the suspicion on that group... ] I'm sure I would've said something. But really, even if people might be still mad at you after things worked out, I'm not. You're still my friend.
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[ Kohaku sounds genuinely surprised. On a theoretical level, of course, he knows that hanging out for fun qualifies you as friends after a certain time. In practice, he hadn't been hanging out with people he doesn't find actively loathsome for so long that the application of the term 'friend' never seemed appropriate for his own life.
Yesterday, Kohaku had mostly been weirded out by Roxas having a role he doesn't know about, but now it's nice to know with full certainty that Roxas isn't mafia. It makes this a lot less conflicting. ]
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[ Roxas was sure that the people Kohaku was traveling with a bunch of his friends back at home, because why ever wouldn't he be? For the record, copies or not, he still considers their memories to be real and those things happened for them because the Foundation can go suck it.
Yeah, having a role was (is?) a trip. He can't use it again, but... at least he did some good with it. ]
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[ Kohaku waves his hand dismissively. ]
Our orchestra leader's just my jailer and our cellist is the court's prisoner like I am. We're not traveling together because we want to. Well, I guess the piano brat is. She'd probably be upset that I'm not calling them friends, come to think of it.
[ ... ack, thinking of Eles is uncomfortable. The young girl hasn't been part of their group for long but something about her looking at them with clear honest eyes had caused a shift in the dynamic that Kohaku hasn't really learned to accept with. ]
All the other people who bit it before were like me, there because they had to.
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...Wait, what? The nobles were forcing you all to travel around with your leader? But...why?
[ That sounds incredibly ... unfair to him, to be honest. ]
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[ A lopsided grin comes to his features here. Even though the situation at home has become daily life to him already, he still feels resentment for what he's being put through. The mortality rate in the orchestra is high. Talent or no, Kohaku knows he's nothing but canon fodder for jobs too shabby to send officials to. ]
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This is why Roxas would probably be bad at negotiations. ]
I'm glad they didn't execute you, but that's still cruel of them to just use you like that.
Week 5 - Friday
So it's time to seek out the one ally he has in this place who he thinks is reasonable and who he isn't currently at odds with due to... well, situations. Roxas is safe, Roxas is a good person to start these thoughts with.
Have some forceful knocking! ]
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At least this time he didn't fall on his bum...
His room looks like it usually does, except the only addition to it are sea-salt ice creams still in their packages on one of the tables, easily visible when Roxas makes sure to have the door open all the way. ]
Hey Kohaku, did you want to talk?
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Yeah, with the way things are going...
[ "Things" is pretty vague, but that, too, has its purpose. "Things" is bigger than just the trial - it might very well encompass the whole universe they are in right now. If they are in any universe. The way the resort works is still kind of unclear to Kohaku. ]
You got any idea what you wanna do with tomorrow?
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[ ...funny thing is usually he'd have some idea of what he'd want to do. Even the last trial, he'd caught onto Owain's frame early, so he tried to see about pointing it out in the way he best could. ]
I'm actually thinking that we might want to prepare ourselves for anything strange happening. And I don't mean just preparing ourselves mentally?
[ The blond will close the door and then head over to sit on his bed. ]
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[ Smiling at that, because if there is one thing Kohaku knows how to do, it's fight. Fight the simple physical fight, not all these mind-games they have to play now. Dishonesty like that is a luxury that Kohaku never really wanted to be able to afford. ]
Though if we just gotta execute someone like usual, it's going to get ugly out there. We have a chance to win the game now, but I fear most people wouldn't be okay with that.
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[ Roxas isn't too good with deception either, though he's...become so used to it back in his time in Organization XIII that it really isn't as unfamiliar as it should be. ]
...you're definitely talking about Cinque, aren't you?
[ The blond knows he's going to have a hard time tomorrow. But, he'd be lying if he didn't expect this day to come. He still likes Cinque too, however he kind of has assumed people would vote for her, and if there's a way to properly exorcise the other ghost while keeping Cinque alive, then...
It's better than just ending up with her dead completely, right? He needs to look at this realistically...look at what this game has done to him. ]
If you are, I think it'll get ugly for a bit, sure, but...then if the vote happens like it normally does and we can't do anything about it, everyone will realize that they'll have to choose someone. And...I think the choice will become obvious then.
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We've had the idea going around that winning this game of mafia isn't our real objective, but we don't have any proper proof of that, do we? Wasting our chance at the goal on a hunch seems like a dumb move.
[ He doesn't personally like Cinque at all, but that's genuinely not his main issue here. He wants to get out, he's found people who motivate him to fight for that... so simply letting goodwill lessen their chances at that is unthinkable. ]
things i thought i pressed send for 500 smh
[ So to him, doing something about the game is important, even if it isn't their ultimate goal. It's...kind of the reason why people are dying, after all. ]
We'll see how stuff happens tomorrow, I guess.
[ Except they don't got 20 minutes to figure out how to exorcise the Doppelganger so that's definitely a foregone conclusion--a problem for future Roxas, future Kohaku and future rest of the people stuck in the Resort. ]