now that you are not around, my world fades to a dull, lifeless grey

[ratherdoweddings]

[Rukia will come around to everyone's rooms later, with bunny-laden notes inviting them up to the diner. When they arrive, they'll find that one of the tables in the back has been covered over with a length of fabric from the sewing room and is serving as a makeshift altar, with rosemary and, for some reason, a bottle of whiskey sitting on it alongside cutesy drawings of all the dead thus far. (Just like last time, Seth gets a spiteful no symbol across his face.)

Yurika's there too, and she speaks first:]

Thank you. I... I'm sorry for suspecting some of you a little. I was worried no matter what happened, and I knew it would be hard, but you were all innocent. If anybody wants to talk, we can.

Comments

[tasteslikesurvival]

[Kurumi's just out of the diner when she hears that. ...Right. She should have guessed this was going to happen. She turns around.]

...Yeah. Hey, can we talk about it somewhere else?

[She gestures down the hall with her head. Somewhere more quiet.]

[cyan_maid]

Uh...sure.

[Just gonna step out of the diner and close the door behind them.]

You don't...really feel that way, do you? About not caring if a culprit wins?

[tasteslikesurvival]

[She's just going to walk a little ways away from the door.]

No... It wasn't exactly like that. It's more, I don't care if I died there. I would have cared a lot if the rest of you died. It's...

[Ugh. How to explain--]

Remember when I said I had poor circulation?

[cyan_maid]

But-

["But we would care"

It's a knee-jerk reaction, and honest, but...if Thomasin didn't believe her, why would Kurumi? Jane pauses, eyes almost shimmering with the words unsaid, before she presses her mouth closed and nods. Yes, she remembers.]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[She knows they would care but, well. Things like this were painful to admit.]

Well. I lied. It's... I'd show you but someone might see. I... [Her voice drops low.] Got bit. That's how I got my champion title.

[cyan_maid]

Show me-

[Show her what? What's she









oh]

...Oh...oh no, Kurumi - you're kidding, please tell me you're kidding! [She says it hushed but urgently, her memory flashing back to the peek of bandages she'd seen when Kurumi had sequestered herself, her arm wrapped up in the trial when she'd stripped for the body check...]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[She can't look at her so she just stares at the floor, her shoulders hunched.] I wish. There's medicine but...

1/2

[cyan_maid]

[The "but" hangs in the air between them, and perhaps it's partly because everyone's emotions had been ramping up consecutively with each passing week, but Jane's eyes are quick to begin to sting. She bites her lip, squinting slightly to try to hold back tears, but...]

Kurumi...

2/2

[cyan_maid]

[...She really can't help herself when she gently pulls Kurumi into a hug.

Fuck this place. Fuck zombies. Fuck.]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[She just hugs her right back. Life really sucked. Unlife shouldn't happen. All this just sucked. Have a very tight hug, Jane, because honestly?

Fuck zombies.]

[cyan_maid]

[FUCK now she's actually crying quietly, fuck everything, fuck fuck - on top of fucking EVERYTHING else here, Kurumi has to deal with zombification

Fuck]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[She just rubs Jane's back gently. It's all she really can do. You can't just say it's going to be fine when you admitted that you've got a zombie disease.]

[cyan_maid]

[You're just gonna get a tighter hug for that, she...wants to say so much, but it all seems empty if she can't deliver.]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[It's okay. Silence is acceptable in this situation and she knows that. She wishes she doesn't but, teenage life is hard and nobody understands.]

[cyan_maid]

[Nobody really does. It's so hard.]

[tasteslikesurvival]

[Who makes all these stories about suffering teenagers, anyway? Life is hard enough without weird aliens, zombies, or a space station filled with murders.]

[cyan_maid]

[People who thrive on the suffering of their audience, that's who.]