#but like katashi has done a lot of bad

[im-a-ramblr]

A little piece about Jin meeting Tristan for the first time. A lot of Jin's dialogue was taken from or inspired by a conversation @krittaart and I had about it. Also, the idea that Jin reads Dragon Damsel was originally proposed by Tely, in a different conversation.

Jin dusted his pants off, looking around. The room was plain, with only a set of large, elaborate doors on one side and a smaller one opposite of it. Corin was kneeling next to him. That was both a relief and unsurprising at the same time. They had entered the portal together but you could never know with Spire doors.

Corin groaned as he tried to stand. His hand was pressed to the cut on his forehead, dangerous close to his attument. It was bleeding, nowhere near as bad it had been when the cut was fresh, but the site made Jin's stomach churn. He let out a breath, steading himself and leaned down to grab Corin. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Just... It's a bad idea to go tumbling through a portal head first when you already have a head injury."

Jin nodded, letting go of Corin's arm. "Take a moment, we seem safe enough. Though I do wonder what this is supposed to be." He gestured around the room and Corin hummed as he started to look around. His eyes landed on the double doors and he went white as a sheet of paper. "Resh."

Jin tensed at he glanced at the doors, hand drifting to holster. "What is it?"

"Resh" Corin repeated. He took a step closer to Jin, eyes locked on the doors. Jin waited for a better explanation, but it never came.

"Corin." He finally broke the silence. Corin's head whipped towards him, and Jin had a spilt second to try and read the emotion on the others face -fear, dread, something that looked suspiciously like heartbreak- before Corin forced a blank mask.

"It's nothing." He said finally. "I was just expecting..." He glanced at the doors. "He normally doesn't interfere unless he wants something. So I was expecting him to come out, but I guess not."

"He?" Jin asked, eyebrow-raising.

Corin didn't say anything, just started towards the single door, and Jin sighed but followed. They hadn't even made it halfway there when there was a noise behind them. Jin glanced over his shoulder and startled a little at the figure who was standing in the slightly opened doors.

When they had first arrived he'd expected a towering figure based on the sheer size of the doors, and when Corin had mentioned being here before he'd kind of expected Katashi. The man was neither of them.

He was older than either of them but still young. He was probably a few inches taller than Corin, which meant he was nearly half a foot taller than Jin. A jagged scar crossed his face and over his right eye. He

"Corin." The stranger called, and Corin sighed.

"Tristan." he didn't turn all the way around to face the man, but he did twist so he was looking at him. "Thank you, for the save."

"Of course," Tristan said, in a tone that Jin had a feeling was supposed to sound gracious and posed but instead came across as condescending. "Stay a little longer, I have things to discuss with you."

Corin frowned. "I can't. I'm sure your already aware of the fact that I came for a test. I'm sure Chancellor Meltlake has already found the others, so we-" he gestured between himself and Jin "-need to be getting back."

"Your.... friend can go." Tristan, and that name sounded familiar but Jin wasn't sure why, waved a dismissive hand. "Once we're done here, I'll portal you to where the others are."

Jin's eyebrow inches higher at that. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable with that."

"It doesn't really mat-" Tristan started at the same time Corin nodded and said "Neither am I."

Tristan froze. He blink slowly, the let out a heavy sigh. "Corin. Please don't be difficult."

"I'm not." Corin said flatly. "I am stating how I genuinely and justifiably feel. I don't trust that you won't try something that gets either Jin or I hurt. So I don't want to spilt up. Either we both go, or we both stay."

Jin moved closer to Corin, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. With one hand he gripped the tips of Corin's sleeve, so that if Tristan tired to separately magically it won't work. With the other, he reached for a gun.

Tristan looked exasperated. "Aren't you a little too old to be acting like this. I mean, for Selys sake Corin, you're eighteen."

"I think you mean, I'm finally old enough to be acting like this. Old enough to realize our family was has been broken for a long time and that i have to trust poeple outside of my family..." He trailed off, as Tristan gaze truned cold

"And you trust him? Over me, your brother? Truly?"

Corin nodded, and Jin noticed he looked pale. And if this was his brother, that made since. He tried to remember what he'd heard about Tristan Candece, but he didn't get far before the older man spoke again.

"I am thwarted by your dismissal of me and Father.

Jin gapped at him. Then he truned to Corin. "He uses words like 'truly' and 'thwarted'."

"Is... Is that a question or statement?" Corin asked, looking a little surprised.

Jin wasn't sure if that was because of his comment or because he didn't remember he was there. He mentally checked that his attument was off. He wasn't sure he'd used of, he hadn't meant to if he had, but it was habit of his. He didn't reply to Corin though, just shrugged. That got the enchanter to crack a smile.

"Ahem." Tristan cleared his throat and Corin turned back to him.

"You know, you say you're thwarted by my dismissal, but it's really funny because the only reason it's happening is because I'm thwarted by your dismissal of the abuse father put me through." His voice was drenched in sarcasm. "So really, you only have yourself to blame."

Tristan glared. "I have said anything to father about your... little friend here but clearly he's a bad influence on you. And if your not willing to listen to me, then it's time father hears about it."

Jin could help but roll his eyes "Oh my goddess, father will hear about this. Corin what kind you of YA villain family do you come from?" He hoped his voice didn't shake. He didn't fancy the idea of drawing Magnus Cadence's attention, not when the man wouldn't hesitate to attack him.

Corin, however, seemed to think it was a bluff. "FaThEr WiL kOnW aBoUt ThIs! You can't leave the tower, what you are going to do about it? Tell mom to send him a message? You might be the golden child, but she won't do it. She doesn't care enough about what happens to me to do so. Besides, it would make.her look bad, and that's more important than any child of hers. Com'on Jin." He laced their figures together and marched out of the room, leaving his brother gapping after them.

The door closed behind them, but neither of them said anything for several minutes. Jin glanced at Corin, and saw he was tense again. But he was also shaking. Jin stopped walking, instead leading them a wall. He sat down, pulling Corin along with him. They rested with their back against the wall. "We should be safe here. Beath." Jin said softly.

Corin let out a choked shuddering breath. "Sorry. I just. Sorry."

"It's fine. Really." Jin said. "I can't even imagine what that was like for you."

"Please don't talk about it. I don't want to think about it. I... I think I majorly messed up by doing that."

Jin frowned. "I don't think you did." Corin tensed and Jin decided that now was not the time to push. This had clearly shaken Corin, much worse than Jin would have thought was possible. So he tried to find a way to change the subject. "I meant what I said about your family being a YA villain family."

A smile started to creep across Corin's face, so Jin kept going. "I'm pretty sure I've read those exact things in a book before. Yeah, it think it was in one of the Dragon Damsel books. Not that I have ever read them of course but-"

Corin started to laugh. "Oh you absolutely have!"

"Have not!"

"You can't convince me Jin. You're a swashbuckling romantic who loves to pretend to be mysterious, you absolutely read Dragon Damsel!"

"No! I don't! I've only read the first one!" Jin protested.

Corin laughed harder. Jin felt his cheeks burn but he really didn't care. He'd take Corin laughing at him over Corin, pale and shaking because he'd run into a member of his family unexpectedly any time. Still didn't mean he had to like it though. "Aren't we supposed to be find Meltlake and the others?"

[chaeiimimi]

06 𝓑𝓪𝓫𝔂 𝓟𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓬!

Synopsis: Sakusa Kiyoomi, a young ravishing man, an athlete for the Japanese volleyball team and comes from a very prominent family around Japan. He was perfect, looks, wealth and fame. But you can’t have everything in life, can you? Sakusa, the germophobic athlete, suddenly wakes up one day and sees a baby boy in a basket in front of his door step, in the basket was a letter, a letter from his past lover, saying that the child was his. The panic look on the spiker’s face was almost comical, knowing that his life would turn into a complete 360, that day was his first time ever to miss a volleyball practice and to call Komori to ask for a babysitter. You.

Notice: the only thing I own is the plot, the art and the characters aren't mine and they all belong to their respective owners.

Safe to say you didn’t get as much sleep as you hoped that night

“eh?” you were shocked, you didn’t expect him to do it so soon

“yeah, they work from home tomorrow, we should pay them a visit”

“we?” you were flabbergasted, you? You’re meeting the elite and respected Sakusa Family?

“yeah, do you have any problems with that?” yes, a lot

“n-no sir”

So now you left a note on the kitchen counter saying you are going to the market to get some ingredients for the dish you were going to cook for Sakusa’s parents

Since you were young, your parents always taught you that you cannot visit a home empty handed, it was proper courtesy and showed respect and appreciation for having you in their home.

You strolled along the market looking at fresh produce, you opted for seafood, since it’s healthier for older people

A huge salmon caught your eyes and miso-zuke salmon immediately popped in your head, you looked at your watch, it was only five in the morning, you can let it marinate for how many hours and grill it for 30 minutes, which will be enough time to bring it for lunch

You bought it from the vendor who was very kind and even gave you a discount, after that you went to a bakery supplies to get some carrot décor and some ingredients to make icing, you were planning to make a cake less sweet so Sakusa’s parents can eat as well

With that, you head home

You saw Sakusa seating by the coffee table, sipping coffee and reviewing the forms you filled out

“good morning sir” you say as you take the things you bought to the kitchen

“we really don’t need to bring them anything you know” he says as, eyes still not leaving the papers

“I know, but my parents always tell me to not visit anyone’s house empty-handed, it’s a sign of courtesy”

He just nodded and said “suit yourself”

You begin making the marinade, thankfully the fish vendor was kind enough to slice the salmon up for you

About half way through you heard Kaito’s cry and you were about to wipe your hands to get to him when Sakusa stood up

“I got him, continue your work”

You nodded and did exactly that, it took fifteen minutes to make the marinade, you soaked the salmon in it , coverd it, and put in inside the freezer

Sakusa went out with a calm Kaito, he sat in the coffee table , his son carefully cradled in his one arm as his other hand held the forms he hasn’t reviewed yet

Looks like he got the hang of carrying Kaito you said inside your head as you smiled to yourself

You slowly mixed the ingredients together not noticing that Sakusa was now behind you

“what are you doing?” you flinched , surprised by your boss sudden speaking

“I’m making a cake sir” you said holding your chest

It wasn’t clear, heck if you didn’t spend your three months with him you wouldn’t have noticed the small smile grazing his lips

And you regret noticing because you were now flustered

You cleared your throat

“where’s Kaito?” you asked, focusing your attention back to your task

“he’s sleeping” he answered

Your mouth formed into an ‘o’

“is it normal for babies to sleep so much” he asked, his voice genuinely concern

You chuckled  “apparently, it is sir, sleep is actually healthy for baby, aside from them having small stomach and get full easily, their tiredness can also be the cause of a growth spurt or developmental leap” you say in as-a-matter-of-fact tone

He nods as he watches you pour the mixture to a cake mold, which he didn’t even know he had

“does your parents like cake sir?” you asked as you put the dough into the oven

“my mom eats it occasionally, my dad is a sucker for it, we try to make him cut it out for a bit, it’s bad for his health”

You nod, Sakusa has been a bit talkative since your talk last night

“in that case, I’ll make the buttercream frosting less sweet” you say as you washed your hands to prepare to make the frosting

Sakusa watched you as you make the frosting, a lot of thoughts inside his head

“is she doing this to impress my parents?”

“why would she want to impress my parents?”

“does she likes-“

Sakusa shook his head profusely muttering small no’s you were just nice and polite, yea, that’s it

He cleared his throat and went to the coffee table, he finished reviewing the forms you filled out and all of them were perfect, he opened his desktop and began with his work at the company again

The timer went off and it was time to take the cake out of the oven

Kaito was awake and mindlessly babbling in his crib while Sakusa watched replays of some volleyball games

You set the cake on a cooling rack to let it cool down for a while

You decided to clean the house while waiting for the cake to cool down

you wiped some shelves, throw out the trash and vacuumed, by the time you were finished cleaning , the cake was already cool, you begin frosting it, putting crushed nuts at the side of the cake and decorating the top of the cake with candy carrots and some edible decorative leaves, you slowly put it in the fridge

you sighed

“you need to rest” Sakusa says as he gets himself some water

You looked at the time and it was already 10

You shook your head “I just need to grill the salmon sir” and so you did grill the tuna for thirty minutes, gave Kaito a bath for twenty minutes, showered and changed yourself into a simple sundress

By the time you were done packing everything it was already 11:30

You and Sakusa made your way to his car, Kaito was in his baby seat and his father placed him on the back seat, you were about to seat beside Kaito when he cleared his throat

“won’t I look like a personal driver if the both of you sat there?”

You immediately got up and sat at the shotgun seat

The ride was quiet, it was a comfortable silence though, Kaito’s occasional babbles while you were still amazed by the rich neighborhood and Sakusa’s eyes are focused on the road

You arrived at his paren’ts place in fifteen minutes and you could hear the voices of people from afar

You entered the house-no, this was a freaking castle, it was huge, there was a guard, some gardeners and maids

Sakusa parked his car, you got out, he carried Kaito’s baby seat which had a handle while you carried the cake and the salmon-sizu

You walked to the backyard where you saw some children, you recognize some of them as Sakusa’s older siblings’ children, they looked like they were having an outdoor barbecue by their pool-side

Sakusa cleared his throat

They all stopped dead in their tracks eyes wide open

Sakusa glared at them “geez you guys don’t need to act like you saw a ghost”

“well what do you expect you barely visit us here?!” you assumed that it was his brother you spoke

His mother and father looked at you, and you felt very small

“woah and you- you- holy crap your married?!”

And with just one sentence there was a fiasco

“Uncle Kiyoomi is married? We have a new aunt?” a kid who was about nine said and rushed towards new but his sisters were already all up on you

“woah when did you guys get married?”

“when did you meet?”

“what company does your family own?”

“your dress looks so good?”

“do you like chanel?”

You were overwhelmed and couldn’t talk

Your boss sighed “she’s not my wife, she’s my son’s nanny and househelper”

They stopped on their tracks, as you stood there and smiled awkwardly

“but you’re too pretty to be a nanny!”

One of his nieces explained

“you have a son?!” Sakusa’s brother exclaimed

“I know right” Sakusa says nonchalantly

Sakusa was a calm compared to his very lively family

“you impregnated your househelper?” Sakusa’s father asked confused

Your eyes widened and you shook your head profusely

“it’s Nami’s” Sakusa sighed and handed his parents a letter, his brother and two sisters stood beside their parents to read the letter as well

They were dumbfounded when they finished reading, you can’t blame them, you had the same reaction when you first read that letter as well

“what a cruel woman…” Sakusa’s mother says, it seems like she was the first one to recover

Sakusa looked at his son who was looking up at him while sucking on his pacifier

“I don’t need her to raise my son” Sakusa says sternly, his family members looked at him

Sakusa took Kaito in his arms “everyone, this is Sakusa Kaito, my son” he says while Kaito babbles and cracked a toothless smile

There was a moment of silence

When...

 “Oh my lord! what a handsome baby!” Sakusa’s mother gushed and approached Sakusa and took Kaito from him

“holy hell bro he looks just like you!” his brother also says, as he pinch Kaito’s cheeks

“I want him to model for my baby line AAAHHHHH” his sister, which you assumed to be Aiko Sakusa a famous fashion designer

Sakusa Kairo the eldest among the siblings, a pilot and owns an airlines company

Akemi, the third child, a famous architect, she owns an architectural firm

And Sakusa Kiyoomi the youngest, Athlete-Entrepreneur manages a chain of hotels and restaurants

And of course Sakusa Arisa and Sakusa Katashi, the founder of Sakusa Empire

These people are one of the most influential family in japan, yet when you looked at them they look quite normal

Sakusa looked kind of distant, but you could see the softness in his features as he stares at his son being cradled and passed around by his family members

You did notice that his father was emotionlessly staring at the scene

“Kiyoomi you haven’t introduce your “helper” to us yet” Akemi says teasingly

Sakusa shook his head

“this is Y/N she’s Komori’s friend , she helps around my house and takes care of Kaito” he says as stood beside you

The whole family except for Komori’s dad looked at you with almost teary eyes

“thank you for dealing with our ill-mannered kiyoomi” his mother says

“You’re too pretty to be a nanny though, if you ever consider modeling come to me” Aiko says as she held both of your hands

You bowed to them politely “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Kiyoomi is a good boss to me” you said, feeling all stiff and awkward

“chill out Y/N-san we don’t bite” Kairo chuckled

You nodded awkwardly, Sakusa nudged you and pointed at the items you were holding

“oh, we bought you some salmon-sizu and carrot cake, I hope you like it” you said as you showed them the things you bought

“Y/N-chan I love you already” Akemi says as she took the carrot cake from you and led you to the table

 In no time the family were all eating and having fun, you had Kaito in your arms and was feeding him

“Y/n dear, this salmon and cake are so delicious, where did you buy them?”

You quickly realized that your boss’ mother was a sweet lady

“oh, I made them ma’am, my mother is a baker, it’s her recipe, I tweaked it a bit for it to make it less quick, my father is a fish broker, he told me that salmon is a healthy fish to serve” you smiled at her

“Y/N-chan you’re too kind, I hope my brother isn’t being a jerk to you” Aiko says as she eats cake

You chuckled at them

“Y/N-chan, how is our Kiyoomi?” Akemi asked

“Sir Sakusa is doing fine I think, he’s just a bit tired from volleyball and the company, he also makes time for Kaito whenever he can, he’s still a little bit confuse and clumsy”

Kairo, Akemi, Aiko and Mrs. Sakusa nodded together

“Y/N-chan do you like Kiyoomi?” Aiko asked which made you flustered

“I-I- yes-yes b-but- as a boss- I like him as a person-like a boss-“

“geez no need to get flustered now, we were only asking” Kairo said as he chuckled

“we don’t mind if you like him though, we’ll be delighted to have you here” Akemi says and smiled at you

You were now as red as a tomato

After the conversation, you were left with Kaito, he was now wide awake and you were playing with him

Only then did you noticed Sakusa’s father staring at you two

You cleared your throat, you got up, carrying Kaito, you cleaned up the plates near Sakusa’s father

Kaito pointed at his grandfather

You quietly approached the man

“sir, do you want to hold him?”  you asked

He looks up at you, you smiled at him and slowly sat Kaito on his lap

He looks at Kaito emotionlessly, when Kaito smiled at him and babbles “babababa!”

For the first time today, you saw a soft smile made its way to Sakusa’s father’s face

“he looks just like him” the elderly man mumbles

“I can see that sir” you smiled softly at them, slowly taking out your phone and quietly took a picture of the scene, not knowing that some of the eyes of the family were on you

 “she’s a good woman” Sakusa’s mother says to his son

“she is” Kiyoomi says as he stares at you, having a small conversation with his father, it’s very rare for him to communicate or interact with people other than business matters, but he doesn’t seem to have any trouble conversing with you

“do you like her Kiyo?” his mother asks teasingly

“mom, no” Kiyoomi sighs and takes a sip of his lemonade

Although his parents were mostly absent during his childhood, him and his siblings maintained a close relationship with them, and both his mother and father always made time for them on the weekends

A lot of people assumed that they were like the rich family from dramas, the tension and stuff but it was far from that, they were pretty normal, and chaotic at times

 “Your salmon-sizu was very good” your boss’ dad says as you took Kaito from him, the baby has already fallen asleep

“thank you sir, it was my dad’s recipe, he says it’s good for your health” you smiled as you cradled Kaito

He smiled and got up from his seat to join the rest of his family, you laid Kaito on his baby seat and wiped the sweat off his forehead

 The rest of the day were spent with you helping the maids with grilling, but Aiko quickly swooped in and wanted you to join the party, so there you were surrounded by your boss’ nieces and nephews

“you’re not uncle Kiyo’s girlfriend?” Arata, who was around seven years old asked you, he was Kairo’s son

You chuckled and shook your head

“but I want you to be my aunt, aunt y/n” Chizu who was Aiko’s daughter, said with pleading eyes

You just chuckled at them and diverted their attention to something else, you told them stories your parents and sister used to tell you when you were young, their eyes sparkled with fascination, even Mika and Eichi who were both teenagers were interested in your stories as well that they tore their eyes off of their phone screens

Later in the night you guys played uno, you taught them the basics, these kids didn’t know anything about games outside their phones

You couldn’t really relate to the adult’s conversation since they were talking about businesses so you hang out with the kids, and you were loving every moment of it, despite being born from rich families, they were really nice and humble, Eichi was very similar to his grandfather and his Uncle KIyoomi but he was polite nonetheless

It was finally time to leave, the kids were tired and the same to the adults

“come visit us soon aunt y/n” Mira says sleepily she was Akemi’s only child

You smiled at them and waved

“you better come back Y/N-chan we want another one of your carrot cake” Aiko says as you bowed to them

“dear, if ever Kiyo fires you, you are free to apply at our house” says Kiyoomi’s mother says as you leave

Your boss sighs as you finally entered his car

“they really like you” he mumbles

“I guess they do?” you chuckled

“hey y/n, thank you”

You tilt your head in confusion “for what sir?”

“just, thank you”

Taglist: @meri-soni-meri-tamanna @seashellmichellee @tetsuhoes @akaashislovelywife  @strawberryzos  @kuroohoeee @underratedmage @popping-cherries @uwu-iwanttodie @wonhyuksstuff @  @knmsapplepi    @stormcastello @si-m-p

[oininbled]

so this may depend on the partner and their canon and even verses on how this works. but katashi has seen or been apart of a lot of the known canon kkg genocides and other not mentioned genocides and events known historically in canon or a few headcanons which i acknowledge with another partner of mine. see what im saying here is katashi has been involved in almost every bad thing kirigakure has done ( i have drafted in a headcanon that he was supposed to be there when kiri used rin nohara - but he refused and that was a mistake and paid for in ten fold ). which may lead to ic hate now but i think it'd be natural. so guess this can be an open invitation for set dynamic interactions with them reacting to katashis sins. The least i ask is we may plot more just for my preference. katashi has intenionally let himself be used constantly by the system but after they overthrow yagura he tries to fix himself and his wrongs. but its enough to bury the village in blood.

[infinitycircuit]

batter's up ⭐ MERCEDES ⭐ Trial 4.1 ⭐ RE: Hellraiser, Desperado, Slide

Honestly? Mercedes feels better right now than she has in weeks. Maybe not exactly good— two more of her friends are still dead, after all— man, isn’t it fucked up that she has to say two more instead of just two?—

But after those grueling days of losing sleep, fear pressing in layer after layer, tearing down her carefully built image… man. Waking up feeling normal again felt like breaking the surface and taking a giant, wonderful breath of air.

So. Clear head, clear eyes— analyze the case before her. After everything else they’ve all been through lately, this feels blessedly easy. Even if. Uh. She stares at Arachnida with more than a little concern, in more ways than one, but... there’s not much to be done about that right now. Not by her. It’ll have to be unpacked later. (Hopefully.)

“I was thinking that too,” Mercy pipes up first. God, he's glad Tomie’s still kicking. “A frame job. Definitely not damning— sure, Jinki wears nail polish, and sure, it’s clearly meant to mean him when paired with the words— but is there any proof one of the victims wrote it?”

She refrains from commenting on how quickly and definitively Kakeru jumped on that. She gets it; tensions are high, sleep is low. Most of all, Kakeru is her friend, and she doesn’t want to make that is a was by falsely accusing him again.

But she does note a few things down in her mind. Just in case.

“Repetition is one of the best tools for building a story— that’s why songs repeat the chorus, you know? So nail polish being an important clue twice in a row… Yeah. That’s intentional.” He spins a ring slowly. “Now, I’ll admit— it looks like the writer was interrupted, since they didn’t finish ‘SHIT’. So I guess I could see if it was, like, Kazu saw Jinki do some shit, started leaving a warning, and got injected from behind. But…”

Mercy’s face looks almost frustrated, lip curling a bit as he looks at something that isn’t there. But it’s not a bad kind. An engaging kind of frustration— a challenging puzzle you’re completely absorbed in solving. Like a breath of fresh air, for the first time in a while, he’s focused.

“Couple things to consider here. One, why was nail polish there? We didn’t find the bottle anywhere in our evidence, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t just carry it around on me. I’m thinking whoever planted it had to go get it to do so.

“Two, related to that, it wouldn’t be hard to find. Plenty of people wear nail polish other than Jinki. Ara does, and she’s cleared. I do, sometimes.” Though they’re bare at the moment, having been way too much of a mess to worry about applying it.

“Mochi-ki did, and I doubt they took their supply to the… well, not the grave, but you get me. Anyways, what I mean is there’s plenty around to steal, and it would be easy to just go in someone’s room and take it. Especially when, even if they caught you doing it, they wouldn’t remember it later...

“And three: probably the most important. Why write his tattoos?" She pauses just a moment, for effect. "Think about it. FUCK SHIT is eight letters, which they clearly didn’t have time to finish— or at least, want us to think they didn’t. JINKI is only five. If they were actually panicked and in a hurry, why didn’t they just write his name?”

Might not be answers, not just yet, but leading questions are a lawyer’s best friend.

Alright. As much as Mercy loves the sound of his own voice, that’s a lot already. With as passionate as the group’s already gotten, there’s no way he can try and lead the conversation— it’s already taken off like dogs without horses. Best to just weave in and around it with the important parts, then stand back.

….Just one more thing—

“Are we sure those clothes are the culprit’s?” She frowns a little. “I won’t complain if it’s as easy as checking for wounds, of course, but— we compared sizes while we were out there. Me, Audie, and Akaji. The sliced ones in the fountain were a little bigger than Audie’s size, and the coat by the train entrance was about the same as Akaji.

“So, listen, I’m not saying I’m definitely right here, but to be thorough. The people closest to Audie in size would be Lindsay, who’s half clear, and… Clouds. Maybe Frankie if she tried, buuut... Clouds is definitely in this case, and was definitely hurt with a sword. And everything below her chest was hidden under the water.” Sorry for the briskness, Larcei. He’s coping. “Even if they weren’t hers, Jinki still wouldn’t have fit in them, so I doubt he has a slash wound.

“On the other hand, closest to Akaji would be… mmm...” Mercy’s tongue sticks out a little, counting people off in her head. “I mean, probably a lot of us, but I’d say the most relevant would be Kazu, Katashi, Ms. Director, and Kakeru.

“‘Course, could’ve just been Kazu’s, or maybe Jinki just wore clothes too big for him, but…” Shrug. “Something to consider.”