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The thing is, it really doesn't look like you have much to panic about at first; yeah, so you don't exactly remember how you got to this swanky-looking place (a manor, you'd assume because the quality of some of this shit is waaay better than you'd expect from even some hotels, and you'd say you definitely still have enough experience to tell the difference.), but that's not really important in the grand scheme of things and you've probably had the best sleep you've had in a couple of months, so you're willing to overlook that.
And yeah, you can't exactly find your wallet or your phone or anything else in your pockets for that matter, but it's alright because the former's basically always empty these days and you can replace the latter later. It doesn't look like this place is all that dangerous either, so thank god you probably won't have to deal with that for a while. You could probably take most people on in a fight anyways.
So when you hear that weird digital voice start talking from some sort of hidden intercom or whatever, you aren't worried. This place seems harmless enough, and you're definitely hardy enough to get through whatever the fuck is going on. And it does seem normal enough at first, with Themis (you'd be tempted to make fun of it for having such a pretentious name if it wasn't just some weird A.I. assistant or something) just welcoming you to the 'Manor de Bonitas', boring you as it waxes poetic about its quality and the soundproof rooms for whatever reason-
"-So for the time being, kindly discard your identity as 'Katsumi Kurosawa', as we cannot guarantee your safety without compliance. From this point forward, you are now 'Protagonist'."
And you can feel your blood chill.
Because as far as 99% of the world is concerned, Katsumi Kurosawa is dead. And that 1% — your fucking family, no less — who's aware that's not true? They want you dead. Even despite that, none of them have ever done anything this over-the-top, which leaves you wondering: What the actual fuck is going on??
The feeling doesn't go away as Themis continues to talk. "Additionally, we request you keep your identity as the serial killer 'Sawtooth Slayer' a secret. Although not against the rules, it would be inconvenient for you to interfere with the game in this way. Something will be delivered shortly to make sure you stay aware of these rules."
Your jaws gape as you realize just what this means: they know you've killed.
They know you've killed before.
At this point, you have practically a million questions, not the least of them being how the hell whoever's masterminding this whole situation knew that when you've been living off the grid for years. The tablet that drops to the floor does little to assuage your curiosity. Yeah, there are the rules that Themis mentioned, but some of these stand out to you — they're more like rules for a game. Some stupid killing game, no less.
God, you're almost starting to wish you didn't wake up.
🃟
Everybody seems way too willing to ignore this killing game business, and you're not exactly sure what to make of it. On the one hand, you guess it's good that everybody's made it through at least the first day. On the other hand, it's not like any of you are attempting to escape anymore (not that you ever believed it was going to be that easy. somehow, you're still disappointed.), so you're just sort of stuck here coexisting, as everyone tries to befriend these people who would probably gladly murder you or lock you away in prison were you all in the outside world. It's so absurd you almost want to laugh.
You probably have Iron and Judge to thank for that. For whatever reason, Iron's seemed to have taken up a leadership role in the group, being Themis's loudest denier and refusing to allow any dissent in the group; Judge is pretty similar, although he's definitely more reserved, more of a yes-man to Iron than an actual leader in your opinion. Although there is technically a slight possibility of them being killers, they're so staunch in their morality that it's hard to imagine them as anything but detectives.
Thinking about that reminds you of that strange proposal Themis made after everyone had already met up with each other: the first person to discover everybody's alliances would get some sort of prize. Ever since it was brought up, that information's been sitting there in the back of your mind, waiting to be used.
You're not an idiot. You know that Themis or the mastermind or whoever obviously won't make escape that easy, even if this is admittedly a tall order. Still, you'd rather have something more to work with than the cooperation of these jokers.
"…could probably try forcing our way out of here. We could build a bomb or something!" You hear a snatch of conversation between some blonde guy with a tacky hairdo and a brunet with star-like hair and an even tackier shirt. The brunet nods in agreement as he chimes in with his own stupid ideas. This is exactly what you mean when you call these people 'jokers'. You'll be genuinely surprised if these two aren't the two civilians that are here for some reason.
Another two names for the list, you think to yourself. At the very least, these two probably aren't anyone to worry about.
Definitely something you're grateful for given what you've read from the bios Themis oh-so-generously granted with its gift of the tablet; apparently, there was someone among with not only a body count in the eighties, but also ties to the yakuza too. Your guess is Wildfire — he had to get those scars somewhere, you suppose, and he was way too muscular not to be a killer.
Some voice in your head, probably the remnants of your conscience, argues against doing all this.
Wasn't this all playing into Themis's game anyways? Was it really right to be calling people killers just because of how they looked, or if they were a bit more antisocial than the rest or whatever? Would a good person do any of this?
I don't know, me. Would a "good person" fucking kill seven people? I'm already a bad person, it's not like this can really beat out being a literal serial killer.
Mom was trying to kill me, they were hitmen, I had to do it-
You decide to head to your room before you can get carried away in your thoughts. It's not like you really do anything there, just stare at the ceiling until you drift off to sleep.
Maybe it's not the best idea in the middle of a killing game — you'd be an easy target, after all.
Then again, almost everyone here is practically an idiot anyways and you probably deserve to die too, so it cancels out, doesn't it?
The peaceful sleep you get from that makes you think maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing anyways.
🃟
On the third day of your captivity, you request some notebooks and a pen from Themis. Given how weirdly cordial it's been about this whole game, you figure it'll at least spare this much, and surprise surprise, it does. At breakfast, you immediately get to work writing down your current guesses and pointedly ignoring whatever misgivings you might have about this. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't the worst thing that could be happening here — or will happen, depending on some of these people's self-control.
Out of the corner of your eye, you notice someone staring at you, an inquisitive twinkle in her bright blue eyes from behind cobalt glasses. You shut the notebook and sigh. "What do you want, Glasses-shi?"
"Ah, I just wanted to talk with you! I just feel like I haven't really had a good chance to get to you yet," she explains. There's a bit of an awkward tremble to her words you can't quite understand — social anxiety or mistrust? Given how extroverted she normally seems to be, you're inclined to go with the latter. "It's been a couple of days, after all. I guess I was just hoping we'd all be friends by now. You can't even call me 'Glasses-san' yet."
"It's been three days. That isn't exactly enough time to become BFFs for most people," you rebut. "And you might be forgetting about the whole 'trapped in a killing game with serial killers' thing. That seems like a pretty big thing to consider when trying to befriend people."
And now that you think about it, why the hell is she talking to you anyways? Out of all the people in this manor, there's gotta be friendlier options for a social butterfly like her. You don't think you've been especially suspicious — you keep to yourself for the most part, but so does Phantom. Is it because of what you did yesterday? She hasn't brought that up at all, nor has she brought up being concerned at all for you yet.
Fucking think, Katsumi! Why else would she want to hang out with you? Unless…
…
…unless she thinks you'd be a good target.
"Yeah yeah, I've gotta head to the bathroom, Glasses-shi," you say absently as you interrupt whatever nonsense you've already tuned out, not meaning to let your suspicion bleed into your words, but also you can't quite bring yourself to care about hurting a serial killer's feelings. You hide yourself away in your room, walking into the bathroom and letting the hum of the heater calm you down ever so slightly as you gather your thoughts.
Because when you think about it, it just makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
Glasses's motives don't make any sense, and certainly not in the middle of a killing game like this. And if you were going to kill someone off, of course you'd want to kill off the recluse who barely anyone would even notice! She must've been trying to butter me up, you realize. Pretend to be my friend so she could backstab me when I least expected it! That sick fuck… of course a serial killer would toy with their prey like this.
And yeah, maybe you're a bit of a damn hypocrite, but there's a difference between you and Hitomi. You didn't even know that stupid nickname of yours (what was it again, 'sawtooth slayer'? that's almost worse than themis) until Themis brought it up that first day. There's a difference between killing for survival and… whatever reason Hitomi might have. You find yourself scrolling through the bios again, though this time you're looking through the summaries that Themis provided for all the killers. It doesn't take long for you to find the one you're looking for.
[ Pink Slip || Kills: 12 ]
A new serial killer who quickly rose to prominence in the last few months. Most of their targets seem to be high-ranking salarymen in companies located in Sumida-ku, Tokyo. The victims are always located in their offices, which are always left bloody in the aftermath of a very violent stabbing. It is currently theorized that the Pink Slip may be a worker in at least one of the companies they've targeted so far, although their connections to the other companies are currently unknown. One theory proposed by detective Superstar✮Sainou is that they're a master of disguise, although they have not clarified on whether or not this claim was meant to be taken seriously.
Victims: Joushi "Joe" Kamibayashi, Keisuke Fujimori, Toranosuke Ishimaru… [click to expand]
A "master of disguise", huh… this person's definitely on the lower end of the killers here too, you muse. It makes sense though — I don't think even someone like Glasses would go around killing by the hundreds or whatever.
That being said…
You open your notebook. For some reason, your hand twitches a bit as you scrawl out the katakana of her name onto the page. Writing it like this makes it feel… permanent somehow, like a mistake you won't be able to erase. Which is dumb. Even without being a detective, you have enough common sense to know what you're doing. Call it killer's intuition, or something similarly stupid.
Glasses-yogisha
✴ Too nice to not be finding something. Find that out.
✴ Definitely don't hang out alone w/ her.
✴ May back off if I'm hostile towards her? Doesn't seem like the type to retaliate.
✴ Serial killer. Probably the Pink Slip (← who gave her that name???)
✴ Warn Iron + Judge about her? Don't want to let her know I know though…
Even though you're safe here alone in your room, there's still this cold and slimy feeling you get, like somebody poured ice water under your hoodie. You pull on the drawstrings.
This is stupid. You're just being stupid, you're alone, everything is fine.
…As much as one can be in a killing game with six serial killers anyways.
Still, should that even be fazing you? You've survived worse (although you're sure mom wishes it was someone else who did, but you're not thinking about that right now, absolutely fucking not), you've lasted this long on the run, you've survived and even killed hitmen, so why the hell are you only feeling this now?! You pull the drawstrings further and crash on the bed, not wanting to deal with your racing thoughts right now.
Hopefully Glasses doesn't wise up and stab you while you sleep.
🃟
You spend the rest of the week carefully testing out your theories about Glasses, putting off the list for now because you don't necessarily need Themis's prize right now anyways, so you think you can afford to put that on the back-burner for a bit. Your conversations with the bespectacled woman feel like games of 4D chess, and you can only hope she doesn't see through your 'Get Pissed Gambit'. You'll give her this much — serial killer or not, she's pretty damn persistent when it comes to dealing with you. She'll complain about your teasing and taunts, but will proceed to sit through the entire thing in some vain attempt to get closer to you.
Some virtueless part of you hopes she's actually a serial killer so you don't have to feel bad about antagonizing her like this.
Anyways, Glasses might be weirdly passive when it comes to dealing with you, but she doesn't really have to whenever Thalia and Ruby are around. Although Ruby's certainly more awkward and less direct about it, those two are practically her guard dogs. It's a cute sentiment for sure, but you can't help but feel annoyed whenever those two get all up in your face to defend Glasses. Do those two ever get tired of being her stans? At least the others have the decency to just avoid you.
(you try not to think about the way thalia stares at you sometimes.
it's never really that long, but whenever he thinks ruby and glasses can't see him…
you're tempted to call him a killer too whenever you see that darkness in his eyes.)
The rest of the week passes by without too much trouble and it's not until Themis is calling you all to the kitchen when you think you might be forgetting something important. It's not until Themis actually says what it is that you realize how much of a forgetful idiot you are — you forgot about the Revealing Ceremony. Everybody gets to vote on the two whose identities they want to be revealed and goddamnit, you are so about to be voted for, aren't you?
There's no comfort to be found in the fact Judge was voted for too, who volunteered like the goody-two-shoes he was. And of course he's a detective too. What a shocker.
The reaction to your identity being revealed is also shocking. Who could've guessed horrified shock, a demand for answers, even more animosity?! Honestly, you're just surprised Wildfire isn't already tying you down considering the death glare he's giving you right now.
"This conclusion of this ceremony marks the beginning of the Killing Period," Themis informs them. You want to scream "Can you maybe not put a target on my back like this??", but you don't want to draw any more attention to that fact than necessary. "From this point forward, participants will be allowed to murder without immediate retribution. Please enjoy your stay."
As soon as Themis starts talking, Iron immediately launches in another speech — we can't give into killing, it's just not right, it's-
"Um, what are we supposed to do about Protagonist-san then?" Ruby weakly questions. "Or Kurosawa-san now, I gu-"
"Don't call me that," you instantly reply. Your eyes flit between him and the rest of the group, and you don't care that all their eyes are on you, don't care that even Glasses is missing some of that warmth in her eyes, don't even care about alienating yourself at this point!! So Azalea's words really shouldn't come as that much of a shock to you, and yet you still feel utterly blindsided by her clinical declaration.
She even has the fucking gall to stare straight at you when she proposes it, twirling her salmon braid innocently as she says it. "Themis has already established a way out will only open up once somebody murders. Perhaps we should start consider using… sacrifices as a way to escape? Only as a last resort, of course."
What really stings is the way not even Iron or Judge immediately come to your defense. Everyone takes a moment to let Azalea's words sink in and the silence is a painful reminder that almost half of these people are killers who will probably gladly take her up on her suggestion. You can't tell whether your blood has frozen to ice or if it's boiling, but it makes it a hell of a lot easier for you to spit out the venomous words that are bubbling up inside you.
"Wow, just wooow. And here I was starting to think we might have some actually decent people around here! Guess that was my mistake for thinking anyone in this manor of serial killers and dumbass detectives could even begin to be trustable," you bark, staring straight at Azalea. She coldly returns your glare, her stoic face a stark contrast to the growing mass of wide mouths and wider eyes. Glasses tries to say something, pathetically stammering as she tries to appeal to you, but you raise your voice and ignore her.
"Like, come on — what the hell happened to 'we can't give into killing'?" You pitch up your voice as you say that last part, and feel a bit smug by the way Iron's eyes tighten, mouth set in a taut line as she grit her teeth. "Or does that only apply when you're dealing with people you actually care about? Great job, guys! I'm sure nobody's going to turn up dead in the next handful of days!"
Nobody dares to break the silence when you finish talking. They know I'm right.
"M-maybe but… d-don't the serial killers d-deserve it?" someone asks, just quietly enough that you can't make out the source.
You storm out of the room, wanting some space away from all those damn hypocrites. It helps you not to focus on the fact they're probably right anyways.
🃟
In retrospect, it might've been a bit cocky of you to believe nobody would go after you after surviving the day of the Revealing Ceremony without as much as a death threat. In retrospect, you probably shouldn't have forgotten to lock the door after you left for breakfast today. Well, it doesn't change the fact there's a fucking knife to your throat right now, so fat lot of good that's doing you right now.
Honestly, what you're most surprised by is the person who's doing so in the first place: Violet — the same woman who couldn't even get through a conversation without stuttering, who flinched whenever someone said anything even slightly pointed towards her, who'd clung to that green-haired playboy for the entirety of the game up to this point (the same woman who you're only now realizing might've wanted you dead yesterday) — steadily holds the knife as she blubbers under her breath.
"I- I have- I have to do this!" she cries. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"
"Are you? Are you really?" you retort. If it were anyone else, you might be more worried for your life; situations like this can bring out ugly sides of people — it might even bring out the desperation and drive needed for one to kill. Violet doesn't seem to have either. Even so…
You crane your head up so you get a good look at Violet's face when you speak again. "Or are you just sorry for your hypocrisy, killer?"
"H-huh?!" the woman exclaimed, so shocked her grip on the knife almost loosened. Almost.
"Well, you sure as hell aren't that averse to death — weren't you going along with Azalea's suggestion yesterday? What gives you the right to decide I should die when youa ren't even all that innocent?!"
"Th- that's-"
"No innocent person would be able to keep their knife this steady, even in a time like this," you savagely cut her off. "No innocent person would hide under someone's bed and wait for the perfect moment to slit their throat.
"All this shit you're doing — it's just an act, isn't it? You're still trying to get me to lower my guard just so you can get an easy kill, and escape so you can take even more lives."
She jolts back in a guilty silence, and that's when you take your chance. You jab your elbow into Violet's side and as she gracelessly falls backwards, you wrench the knife from her hand and scamper away from her, to the other side of the room where your other hand lies on the doorknob. You can make a quick escape like this if Violet still tries to go after you, but with the fearful way she stares at you now, you hope that won't happen anytime soon.
It takes minutes for her to finally rise from the floor and slowly make her way towards you. It takes longer for you to realize she isn't actually trying to approach you — she's trying to leave.
Grudgingly, you allow it and watch her walk into the darkness, presumably back to her own room. You don't really care where she goes; it's not like you two have any more business with each other anymore. Now, you can lay on your bed and finally wait for sleep to overtake you.
It's easier to admit in the solitude of your room you feel a bit safer with the knife in your hands.
🃟
It's not my problem, you think when Violet doesn't show up to breakfast tomorrow.
It's not my problem, you think when the day after Judge and Iron warn that another knife has gone missing from the kitchen.
But when you see the bright red of Glasses's blood staining the pure white tiles, you can't tell but feel a pang of guilt. The overwhelming scent of iron worms its way into your nostrils and you belatedly realize you've never stuck around a corpse this long, long enough for the blood to dry, long enough to see that wide-eyed expression-
I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, you repeat the mantra in your head and you're surprised at how truthful it actually is. No tears spring to your eyes, your lips don't tremble — someone is dead in front of you and you don't feel a damn thing. This probably makes you a horrible person, you realize, but given the investigation and trial (because today didn't have enough surprises) you'll have to get through, maybe you can live with that if it helps you survive through the day.
(the question of whether or not you should is, of course, something you will continue to ignore.
maybe you're not ready to confront that truth yet.)