when you hear me calling out to you, saying, "i'll always believe in you"

[ratherdoweddings]

[It occurs to Yurika that she has no idea what either of the men they'd lost just now had with regards to religious beliefs. She doesn't know who they wanted to leave their things to. She doesn't miss the detailed funeral requests, and at least neither wanted their ashes scattered over a lake on a planet that might not even exist here while the mall radio blasted "Stairway to Heaven," but having nothing...

It's actually kind of fitting. They don't have much to begin with.

Arianna strongly insisted on handling the food, so don't worry, your afterparty food today does not consist of disgusting burnt lumps and will not send you all back into the courtroom should somebody eat one. Candles are lit on another table and Yurika's standing at the front with a hand on her shoulder.]

In my last group... our last group, for some of us, the only cases we've remembered so far had culprits who were either cruel or just that determined to escape. Here, it seems different. We're all survivors, so it seems, and we're all friends who are doing our best -- even when the motives make it seem like we should give up. Even when people die anyway.

Maybe Togami-san was right that it'll just keep going from now, but he was also right that it can't keep going forever. I'm going to make sure to keep trying for all of you, and I know you will, too.

Comments

starbucks

[myocordial]

The pattern is very persistent, isn't it?

['Sup, Yurika, Heart heard that comment and is just walking up.]

[ratherdoweddings]

Was it the same for your group, too? [She picks up one of the dolls, a dog holding a red heart, and moves it into the diorama's version of the Starbucks.]

[myocordial]

Every week. Yes, it does seem like that was the case. So far I only remember two times, but...

[He's not exactly hopeful about where the rest of those memories are gonna go.]

[ratherdoweddings]

I really don't want to suspect low-key mind control in addition to the motives.

[myocordial]

It does seem almost ridiculous, doesn't it? At some point a pattern is just undeniable, but this goes beyond even that.

...More importantly, there has to be some way to break the pattern completely.

[ratherdoweddings]

Right. After all, somehow, our old games managed to stop. Junpei-kun's been through four.

[myocordial]

And just doing this twice is draining enough...

[Seriously, Junpei's had it rough.]

I have to wonder how they did end. There are too many of us still here for those games to have ended the way they wanted us to end it.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true. Maybe we escaped and were just recaptured, or maybe Togami-san is right and they put us on pause.

[myocordial]

I'd like to think it's the first. More importantly, there has to be some other way to stop the game, rather than just playing along.

...Some way of getting through this and protecting our friends at the same time.

[ratherdoweddings]

Right. We'll need to keep searching for something. Even if they keep pushing us.