#cept yuki of course!

[alex-albon23]

i feel so bad for nyck, like you know he's probably crying.. 🥺

he was barely given a chance, ended up in the shittiest car and then gets kicked not even halfway through the season?! he literally JUST misses his home race, poor guy.

and i love danny ric, but now he gets to drive said shitty car, what if he doesn't manage to get it places? does that ruin his f1 future too?

[the-evil-authoress]

GX Month Day 1: “Hero Signal”

We’re kicking things off with everyone’s favorite hero Judai/Jaden Yuki’s birthday! Show the fluffy boi some love!

This chaos ran away from me. But I’m quite happy with it.

Jaden’s knee bounces, one eye on the game in his hands, the other on his phone. He’s played this game a hundred times before so he doesn’t really need to pay full attention unless it’s the boss fight. His duffle bag is already packed. He’s ready this time, he’s waiting, he’s...excited? That’s a new concept. He can’t remember the last time he’d been excited for his birthday. But last year his friends had gone out of their way to surprise him, so-

Maybe he’s expecting too much.

No, no, we’re trying to be positive here!

Jaden shakes his head, misses the timing for a jump, and has to start the virtual obstacle course over. Today’s gonna be a good day. Clutching the console tighter, Jaden tries to ignore the thick, slimy feeling bubbling up his chest.

His phone vibrates and he dives for it.

[come meet me at central park]

Yes! He snaps the GameBoy shut without saving, chucks it in his bag as he shoulders it, and runs for the door. The park, huh? Maybe he’s not supposed to bring his stuff? Whatever, won’t be their first impromptu sleepover.

He snaps to a halt at the sight of his mother slipping her shoes off at the genkan. “Mom?”

She looks up as if startled to see him. “Judai?”

And there goes his good mood. His mother eyes the bag on his shoulder, what would have been a pleasant but entirely fake smile crinkling into a frown.

“I’m heading out,” he grumbles as he walks past her to get his own shoes.

“I got off early today so I thought we could go get a cake.” Ugh, she sounds so damnably confused, like really? What did you expect?

“I’m heading out!” Jaden snaps, shoving his shoes on, and throws himself out the door before she can get another word in edgewise. It slams behind him. He takes off running.

Geez. Breathing through his teeth, he tugs on his hair. No one even calls him that anymore. ‘Cept that freaking voice in his dreams-

Nope. Not thinking about that. Today’s gonna be a good day.

Winged Kuriboh trills by his head but it’s Neos’ voice that startles him. “She seemed like she was making an effort.”

“Too little, too late.” Jaden huffs and steadfastly plows forward to the train station and out of their middle of nowhere suburb. “I’ve already got plans.” He tightens his grip on the bag strap. And he’d much rather spend the day with people who actually know him and what he likes. He cringes in delight at the memory of the mountain of presents from last year. Wonder what they got him this time?

The train ride is dull like usual; Jaden sticks himself in a corner and plays on his GameBoy until Kuriboh alerts him to their stop. Then the console is shoved back in his bag as he shoulders it and shoves his way through the other passengers toward freedom. The park is a ten minute walk from there, and his friends are conspicuously easy to spot.

There’s a gazebo deck out in balloons and streamers and one of those shiny fucking rainbow “Happy Birthday” signs with his name. Sweet Neo Space, Jaden wants to hide in a trash can like Syrus did at the tournament.

“I can’t.” Jaden spins on his heel, hoping no one has spotted him yet. Sparkman actually goes out of his way to grab Jaden’s shoulders and spin him back around, and Jaden lets him despite the fact he could easily break out of the ghostly hold. “Alright, alright. Gods, my friends are embarrassing.”

As if on cue, someone must have noticed him because a chorus of voices call out.

“Jaden!”

“Jaden, over here!”

Yeah, like he hadn’t already seen the giant sign announcing his birthday to the world. That had to be Atticus’s idea. Walking up to the gazebo is an odd cocktail of emotions, somewhere between please let me die and I will die happy. A mountain of presents sit on the table. It’s...it’s bigger than last year?

“You look like you’re about to faint,” Bastion says, already offering an arm to steady Jaden.

“I might,” Jaden squeaks, a rare moment of vulnerability that is both terrifying and insanely freeing. “You guys... This is a lot.”

“And nothing less for such a special day!” Atticus throws his arms out in a grand display and Jaden winces with a strained laugh.

“A little too much,” he admits.

Atticus’s expression falls into confusion as Christina snorts and Alexis gives her brother a critical look. “I told you his name on the banner was too much.” Jaden nods in silent agreement, not daring to meet their eyes. Bastion’s arm remains a comforting support around his shoulders.

As extravagant as Atticus likes to act, he actually stops to consider this before shrugging. “I’ll keep that in mind then. I guess I do get carried away.” Scratching the back of his head, he smiles sheepishly.

“Oh you think?” Chazz scoffs. “Should have seen what my party looked like.”

Jaden latches onto the ability to swerve the conversation away from himself. “Oh, yeah! Sorry I missed that.”

“You weren’t even invited!” Chazz snaps. “That dolt went and invited himself!”

“You had fun and you know it,” Atticus says, undeterred.

“I have photo evidence,” Syrus says with a smug grin from where he sits on a table bench, and Chazz snaps to gape at him in horror.

“Delete them! Delete them, you little rat!”

“Make me!” Syrus challenges, deftly dodging Chazz’s lunge and darting behind Hassleberry, a solid wall of muscle who Chazz still tries to lunge around.

“Oi! Who said you could drag me into this?!” Hasselberry shoves both of them away as Chazz flails his arms uselessly at Syrus.

Snickering, Jaden moves away from Basation to drop his bag under the bench next to Christina as the game of chase continues. “You brought your bag.”

“Crashing at your place after this,” Jaden says. A statement not a question, and Christina sends him a look but thankfully doesn’t ask.

A screech pulls their attention to Chazz awkwardly dangling from the gazebo railing after what must have been an epic nosedive. “You did that on purpose!” he screams at a smug Syrus, and Jaden’s hands fly to his mouth as the laugh spills out of him.

“Think twice about chasing me next time!”

Just damn his friends are insane and Jaden loves it. Atticus and Bastion take pity on Chazz and help him back into the gazebo, while Jaden cautiously looks over the spread on the table. One side is the pile of colorful boxes, a giant cake with whip cream and strawberries on the other, and Jaden baulks at the figure with a book in his hand at the far end of the table.

“Zane??”

Without looking up, Zane points directly at Atticus and flips the page in his book. “Don’t get used to this.”

“Suuuure,” Christina drawls with one of those I know something you don’t want me to smiles. Ever the king of poker faces, Zane doesn’t react. He doesn't even react to Atticus dropping a party hat on his head on his way to the-

That’s a deep fryer. That’s a deep fucking fryer that Atticus pulls a fresh batch of fried shrimp out of. “Atticus,” Jaden croaks. “I love you but I hate you.”

“Awww, I love you too Jaden!” Atticus doesn’t miss a beat and Jaden slumps onto the bench to bury his face in his arms. These people will be the death of him!

And he will still die happy.

“I think we broke him.” Syrus pokes his shoulder.

“Just leave him alone for a bit.” That’s Alexis’ voice, a brief but firm hand on his shoulder to remind him she’s there if he needs her but will give him space. It’s a little terrifying how well she’s come to know him, that they all have really; Jaden can’t remember ever making the decision to let them get so close. But maybe it’s a good thing, Jaden thinks, as Atticus passes out plates of the best fried shrimp Jaden has ever tasted, he and Bastion eagerly exchange deck theories, and the mountain of presents turns out to be mostly snacks, new video games, and useful but themed items rather than more stuff that will collect dust in his room. The E-Hero throw blanket and the Winged Kuriboh pillow are coming with him to the dorm.

[I’m sorry I couldn’t make it! Happy birthday, Jaden!!! Send pictures!] Chumley texts part way into the festivities with a liberal amount of heart and party popper emojis, and Jaden has to take another moment to recollect himself.

“I tried to get Aster out here too, but the guy said he was too busy.” Atticus holds his hands aloft and shakes his head like this is such a tragedy.

“Hey, I’m surprised you got Zane in on this.” Jaden looks up from the pillow of his arms. He’s starting to tire in the high energy atmosphere but he doesn’t want to leave yet. Maybe his friends won’t care if he just zens for a bit? They didn’t seem to notice last time when he quietly retreated to the side with Christina, but they’d also been screaming over a board game.

“I had the day off anyway,” Zane says, still not looking up, and no one bothers him for not engaging. Then again, Zane has never been much for engaging in anything.

“Just keep pretending you don’t care.” Atticus ruffles Zane’s hair and Jaden sniggers at the way Zane’s poker face cracks the tiniest bit.

Syrus and Hassleberry start arguing over who’s gift Jaden liked better - Jaden refuses to choose much to their dismay - Christina and Alexis seem to be talking about a show they’re both into, and Chazz and Bastion are debating the existence of other realities - really, Chazz? They already know those exist. They’ve been to one.

Jaden smiles, hidden by his arm, left to chill in peace and interact as he pleases.

Yeah, this is a good thing.

Maybe us against the world doesn’t have to just be the two of them anymore.

[presageoffear]

The Word Finger Is Starting To Look Weird | Yuki | Re: Morgan, Ashley, Alexa ATTN: Everyone

For a few minutes Yuki seems fine with sitting and letting the first volunteers come to them for testing. They don't announce the results right away, figuring that just in case the ring fits multiple people it'd be better to check all possibilities first before shouting out anything that might lead to instant dogpiling. So when Morgan, Ashley, and Alexa come over, Yuki just nods in approval of their willingness and attempts sliding the ring on their fingers. Probably also best to check multiple fingers, to be sure.

While this is happening they're also keeping an ear on the ongoing conversation, though they're mostly only half-listening in case it sounds like something important comes up. It's a bit of a surprise that no one is berating them for their little stunt, but hey, it wasn't like they'd hurt anyone and now they all can at least use this evidence, so it's... kind of nice that people seem to understand. Even Kai isn't yelling at them or anything, and they'd braced themself for that. 

Once it seems like everyone who's going to come over on their own has, Yuki hops up to make a circuit of the room to get the rest. Or most of the rest. They go to Teddi first, since he's closest, then on to Souko, where they linger for a moment, squinting down at her hands, then they hum a bit and skip right past Shiori and Shiloh Lee - evidently they can either tell at a glance that the ring won't fit those two, or just don't consider them worth checking. Neither of them really looks like skull rings would fit their aesthetic. 

Occam is next, followed by Keisha - who says something that makes Yuki grin and wink at her, and then Yuki makes a quick stop by Kimiko, who is still standing with Kai. They do glance briefly at Kai, like maybe they're seeing how he's doing, but they don't say anything to him or attempt to test the ring on him. 

Last but not least they move on to Flint, do a quick comparison, and finally head right on back to their own podium, perching atop it and idly tossing the ring between their hands, a faint furrow in their brow.

"Well, there's only two people it really fit." Yuki announces, seeming uncharacteristically hesitant for a beat or two. They'd been expecting things to get narrowed down, of course, that was the hope, but now that it feels more like they could be personally Dooming someone it doesn't seem like such a great thing. 

Still. Vyolette was dead. And Yuki could've died, too, if they'd arrived at the Arcade just a little earlier, or if Vyolette hadn't triggered the bomb before they'd got there. Hell even more people could've died if anyone else had happened to decide to play some games that morning.

So Yuki squares up their shoulders and lets their naturally loud tone take over, "Morgan an' Souko can both wear it. Most everyone else seems t'be too big or too small, like, enough it wouldn't make sense for 'em, slips off too easy or won't go on. I could kinda get it on Occam but it didn't look real comfy and took some tuggin' t'get it off again, so I ain't think it'd slip off if it were hers. Also, uh..." Feels a bit like a moment of truth. Yuki can't help a glance in Souko's direction before they continue.

"Souko's already wearin' a lotta rings. Similar style an' stuff, too. Same vibe. She's got jewelry on all her fingers 'cept her pinkies an' her right pointer." Yuki holds up their own right index finger and wiggles it once to help illustrate what they mean. "So. Yeah. That plus... y'know, she was in the Convenience Store before 3am, which's when the tin foil was bought. She an' Ash both said they didn't see anyone else in there round then, an' Ash said she didn't see what all Souko was buyin', so. I think we got ourselves a main suspect, yeah?"

[apex-academy]

Chapter 3 Trial: Consequences (#8)

“I can’t say for sure he was meeting with Itsurou...”

“...but there was a note in Arthur's backpack asking to meet up in the coffee shop. It said to go there right around the time he must have left the backstage area.”

“Yea? That all it says?”

"Just about. Here."

I dig the note out of my pocket to pass around. There's that huge gap on the other side of the circle to worry about, but I'm sure they can handle that. I toss it to Yuki first. She doesn’t come close to catching it, but she does pick it up after a few seconds. It starts making the rounds after that.

“Can you meet me in the coffee shop at 8:05? Signed, K.”

“Signed?”

“Yeah, it’s handwritten.”

“..........”

“Cool, fine, don't worry about telling the guy whose literal entire thing is handwriting. Not like I could've looked at it earlier or anything.”

“...............Oh. Right.”

Somehow I keep forgetting his talent is calligraphy. Wonder why.

“Can you check it out once it makes the rounds?”

So far, the paper's only gotten to Tamiko.

“It's just signed with one letter? That’s a li’l strange.”

“Course, if this is how the killer lured him to his death, I reckon they wouldn’t wanna put their whole name.”

Her eyes scan the circle.

“Pretty sure it wasn’t me.”

“Aren’t, like, literally half of us K names?”

“Yeah.”

“And Itsurou Kishaba... Je vois.”

"Kishaba wrote this? It seems a bit...”

“...feminine?”

“It doesn’t look like the handwriting in his notebook. But I guess if he was going to set a trap, he wouldn’t do it with his own handwriting.”

“Or it could have been someone else.”

“Yeah. Though I don’t know what Itsurou was doing in the coffee shop.”

“Uh, tell me 'f I missed something, brah, but...”

“We’re trying t' figure out why a writer was 'n a coffee shop?”

“Point taken.” I guess it would be a nice place to work on stories.

“Like, we can worry about that if we gotta. For now we should prolly focus on the note thing.”

“So, then! All of the K’s... Kaichi, Kurokame, Kakumi, Kanagi—as well as Kishaba.”

“And a few others, pero no creo que sean relevantes...”

“Is he using languages with accents? This is going to be a pain to type out later.”

“Anyway.”

The note has finally made its way to Otoya, but I'm sure he needs time to examine it before we pester him.

“All the rest of us have alibis, right? ‘Cept Eats and Yuks.”

“Right. We were all at the concert.”

Tsunyasha inclines her head towards me.

“You were alone at the back of the auditorium, were you not? Perhaps you could have slipped out for just long enough?”

“Really?”

Mahavir shakes his head, though it seems to make him a little dizzy.

“I would have noticed a sudden light coming in from the hallway.”

“That's right. You noticed when I left, didn't you? After we’d already started to hear the fire through the wall.”

"Yes."

“So it's not as solid as it could be, but I do have an alibi.”

“Meanwhile, Yuki’s confessed t’ goin’ in the coffee shop 'bout the right time.”

“Hummmmm...? I guess?”

“And I really don’t think the murder mystery master is going to get himself killed like that.”

“Unless he didn’t care? He could have wanted to make an unsolvable case...”

“I don’t know... Sorry.”

“I totally don’t think he was that chill with dying. Like, given the choice.”

Opinions seem pretty split. I wonder what would be the best way to debate this? We don’t have much evidence on either one of them.

“...”

“Otoya?”

“...”

He lowers the note.

“It looks like Yuki’s handwriting.”

“What?!”

“Yuki’s...”

“...Huh?”

[NEXT]

[danganronpa-paradox]

CHAPTER 1 - 018

After talking to everyone with Hitomi, we decided to follow Midori to the rec room. She said there were some people discussing the… recent events, so we figured we’d go check it out and see what the general consensus on how we should deal with this is.

There were about 5 other people in the rec room when we went in -- Naomasa, Naoto, Mitsunari, Taiyou and Keiji. That meant that half of us were discussing the motive in the rec room. Midori closed the door behind us, and we walked over to the others. Naomasa was the first to speak.

“Lovely of you to join us, ladies.”

“Hey there! Matsuba mentioned this to us, so we figured we’d drop by.”

“Yeah, we were just talking about the… y’know.”

“Yes. That.”

“We set this up so we could touch base with each other, and make sure there wasn’t anything concerning about these forums.”

“I am a bit concerned about the others who didn’t show up though…”

The others who didn’t show up… that’d be Yuu, Hitoshi, Haruka, Naomi, Asahi, Yuki, Kasumi and Kotori. We talked to 2 of them, and we tried to talk to Kotori, but she was talking to someone else. I wondered what was up with the other 5?

“Well, what’s important now is the people who did show up.”  

“Guess so. We’re just talkin’ ‘bout these bullshit forums. Where did that fucker even get these from? Did he really take’em from the school?”

“He said that he did, but given his nature, I don’t really think we can trust what he says.”

“So, what do we do? Just… Hmmm… Anyone got any ideas?”

“Well, like Oxford Blue over there said, we’ve just been tellin’ each other what’s on our forums to make sure nobody’s like, a serial killer, or somethin’.” That was an… interesting way to put it.

“Oh, alright then. I didn’t really see anything noteworthy on mine, unless you count some broken bones from rough soccer matches as something noteworthy.”

“I-I can confirm that! I, um, I got your forum, Kurosawa.”

“Ah, that’s right! We all get two forums, I forgot.” How did I forget that? Get it together, Ichigo.

“So, do we just… go around the circle then…?”

Hitomi was next.

“Well, um… I was born with transverse deficiency... basically, I’m missing my left leg.”

“And as a result of that, I’ve been wearing a prosthetic for most of my life.” She lifted her skirt a bit to show the others her leg.

“...”

“...”

“Damn…”

”...Can’t imagine how tough that is… only havin’ one leg and havin’ to walk around with another that ain’t really yours…”

“Well, I guess it is kinda yours ‘cuz you own it, but it ain’t really yours cuz it’s… a fake leg… y’know what I mean.”

“Yeah… I get it.”

“...Thank you for sharing. Yamazaki? Taiyou said she received your forum as well, but is there something you’d like to share with us?”

“Well, there is the reason I was scouted into Hope’s Peak in the first place…”

“In school, my average grade for math assignments and tests currently sits at 100, and it’s sat there ever since they started keeping track of my averages. My averages in subjects that involve a lot of math like science are also in the high ninetys.”

“The school board was baffled by how this was possible, and some of my teachers thought I was cheating. So when I was about thirteen, I was sent on a plane to the University of Tokyo, where I was tasked with solving 10 of the university’s most difficult math problems, while being watched by some of the professors to make sure I wasn’t cheating, because they didn’t believe that I could do it either. Joke’s on them, because I managed to solve them all correctly and flawlessly in precisely six minutes and thirty-eight seconds.”

“They still didn’t believe it, so they took me to get an IQ test. I scored 166. That’s when I hit the news, and Hope’s Peak eventually found out about me, and put me into their Super Junior High School Level Divison, and after that... here I am now.”

“Wow… that’s impressive!” Of course, he had already told me this information, but it was still crazy knowing a person as smart as he was!

“Whoa! You’re, like, one of the smartest people out there, and you’re only in high school!”

“He’s right! And with that IQ… you’re a literal genius!”

“Aw, c’mon, it’s not that special.”

“You’ve been a Hope’s Peak student for years, and you’re the guy who scored 166 on his IQ test when he was thirteen. I wouldn’t call that ‘not special’! Who knows what your IQ is now?”

“She’s got a point! Mitsunari’s already told me that there’s nothing he wants to share, so it’s my turn!”

“Really, the only interesting thing on here is that I’ve been playing in the band since I was thirteen. Keiji?”

“...Nothing really on mine.”

“Keiji, I got your forum. I know.”

“...Okay, fine, I’ll spill.”

“...We yarnbombed an entire park in the dead of night. Me and my knitting group.”

“You did what.”

“It was really fun! It was part of an event that we were participating in centered around art, so it was perfectly legal.”

“Why would they put that on your forum?”

“It was part of the reason I was scouted. They wanted someone from that group, and since I was the only one still in high school, they chose me!”

“Haha! You’re pretty wild, Thistle!”

“There ain’t too much on mine, ‘cept for the fact that I apparently grew an inch since they filled this out.”

“Alright then. Matsuba, you’re our last one!”

“O-Oh, me? Hehe, um, well…”

“Y-Y’know how Monomage said that some of us might be keeping secrets about our talents…?”

“Yeah, what about that?”

“Well…”

“...”

“!!!”

“???”

“Lil’ Candytuft… yer a-”

“Yes. I am.”

“Midori is… not real. She’s just one of the many identities I have assumed while going undercover. Everything you see on me is fake. The clothes, the hair, the makeup, the contacts, everything.”

“But… why’dja go undercover as a chocolatier?”

“You wouldn’t believe what some people put in those chocolates.”

“...Jesus Christ.”

“...Also, I received your forum, um… Toyama? Matsuba?”

“Matsuba’s fine. I’ll need to keep up this facade for a while anyway.”

“Facade?”

“You can’t exactly be an undercover officer without criminals and their associates in your midst… and I’ll just leave it at that.” What did she mean by that? Was there a criminal in the building with us who wasn’t being truthful about who they were?

...Did they have something to do with our kidnapping?

“...Right then. I’m no criminal expert, but if that criminal is really here and out for you, then staying hidden is probably a smart choice.”

“Yeah… but the thought of having a criminal after you is horrible to think about…”

“It is, but it’s something I have to think about a lot. I don’t really get scared thinking about it that much, but I guess that’s because I’m used to it.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

“Well, I’m glad we all had this discussion. I suppose we should all just wander around until suppe-”

“Not so fast!”

“Gah!”

“You!”

“...”

“Now what exactly is going on here? I give you those forums as a potential way to kill each other and here you are reading the contents like it’s some show and tell bullshit!”

“So what? You can’t control what we do wit’em, and you can’t stop us from talkin’ bout’em either!”

“Yeah, he’s right. It’s literally in the rules that you told us to follow.” She quickly booted up her Student Handbook.

“4. The host may not interfere with the students unless they break a rule or specifically request it.”

“You’d literally be breaking your own rules if you tried to force us to stop talking about it. Besides, you literally gave us a motive to kill someone. It’s only natural that it’d be a hot topic for discussion.” She was clearly trying to keep up her image as Midori, but it was almost like I could hear Chisato slipping through the cracks of her sentence.

“Well, I never! Seems like your law knowledge is coming in handy there, Officer!”

“...” I guess Monomage already knew who she was. She didn’t look scared though, so maybe Monomage wasn’t the criminal she mentioned.

“But, I guess since we’re all sharing stuff about each other…” He reached for the brim of his hat. “...I think it’s only fair that I share something about me!”

In that instant, he whipped the hat off his head, and…

...and…

“Ta-da!”

...What the heck.

“What.”

“You’re kiddin’ me.”

“What the fuck?!”

“Well, aren’t you just a pleasant bunch. Didn’t your parents ever teach you manners?”

“W-We were taught to express gratitude to stuff we liked, not stuff like this. What the damn were you expecting reactionwise?”

“Yeah! Tell’im like it is!”

“Oh, I get it! You all are just jealous that you don’t have luscious locks like mine! Shahahahaha!”

“Oh, you think you’re hot shit, huh?” Naomasa stood up from where he was sitting and reached behind his head.

“Oh? A challenger approaches? A challenger who thinks his hair attracts more attention than mine? Shahaha! You can’t get higher quality than this, Mr. Saxobeat!” Monomage’s taunting didn’t seem to deter Naomasa in the slightest, because in mere seconds…

“You wanna bet?”

“...”

“!!!”

“Well, how bout that!”

“Seriously, you could probably be a shampoo model with hair like that!”

“Oh, come on! What happened to little ol’ me?”

“You’re not important.”

“You’ve also just lost a bet.”

“Well, aren’t you just gentlemen! Guess I’ll leave you to your ‘teamwork’ bullcrap!” With a wave of his staff, his hat reappeared on his head and his hair was stuffed back inside.

“Thank you for choosing the Despairing Sunset Inn, and we hope you enjoy your miserable stay! Happy slaughtering!” He disappeared in yet another puff of smoke.

“Off he goes again.”

“Better gone than here, I suppose.”

“What was that all about, anyway?”

“I… couldn’t tell you, honestly.” I’d been confused the entire time Monomage had been in the room. First, he was condemning us for sharing our forums with each other, and then he was sharing… “information” about himself with all of us. Was he trying to confuse us, or did he have something else in mind?

“Whatever it was, we managed to chase him off again.”

“You mean you chased him off with that hair of yours.”

“Hehehe, just doing my best.”

I had to chuckle at that. After a bit of banter between Naomasa and Keiji, we all decided to head back. One or two people stayed behind, but the majority of us left for other places in the inn. I, however, wanted to check in with those people I hadn’t talked to earlier… That’d be Hitoshi, Nobuyuki, Kasumi, Asahi, and Naomi. I wondered what they thought of the whole thing?

BACK | NEXT

[the-himawari]

A3! Mikage Hisoka - Translation [SR] Brilliance of Blooming (1/2)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

<Please note: the beginning part of the story for this set of cards is the same, so I have reused my own tl>

Izumi: Kazunari-kun is also joining in on today’s leader’s meeting.

Kazunari: Let’s do this piko~!

Banri: Have you come up with somethin’ again?

Kazunari: That’s right, Setzer! There’s a lil something I wanted to try. So you see… we held a project survey for the fans to find out what they’d like us to do!

Sakuya: A project survey?

Izumi: Yep. We did it for our fans as per Kazunari-kun’s suggestion.

Kazunari: Thankfully, MANKAI Company’s popularity is soaring through the roof right now!

Tenma: That’s true. We got a lot of new fans too.

Kazunari: ‘Cept some of the folks who have been supporting us for a while also voiced that they’re a bit lonely since it feels like there’s been more distance between us. But, like, we wanna be a Theatre troupe that’s close to our fans no matter how much our popularity rises, right?

Banri: I see. So that explains the project survey, eh?

Tsumugi: How were the results?

Kazunari: The most common answer was, “I wanna see more InsteLives and selfies from all the troupe members!”

Tenma: Well, the frequency of InsteLive streams varies from person to person.

Tsumugi: It’s the same for our selfies. We basically leave it to the members who are good at SNS.

Kazunari: Yep, and so! As a special project this time, I propose we hold a solo InsteLive and selfie festival for 24 consecutive days!

Banri: A selfie festival?

Kazunari: It’d be even more hype if we took selfies during the live and upped the pics to Inste later, wouldn’t it!

Izumi: We’ve also discussed it with Sakyo-san, and he said we can do it as long as I keep watch to make sure no trouble occurs during the streams.

Kazunari: And so, the rest depends on you guys… How about it?

Sakuya: I’d love to do it! Of course I want to make everyone happy… But I’m happy for the chance to talk with all the fans through the screen too!

Tsumugi: I’d like to give it a try too. I feel like I’m getting more used to InsteLives, little by little.

Tenma: Hey, but, we can’t just idly chat, right?

Kazunari: On that topic, I thought it might be great to send out another survey to hear what they’d like each troupe member to do.

Banri: Seems like it’ll be a lot easier to handle in that case.

Izumi: Every InsteLive will turn out differently. That sounds interesting.

Kazunari: ‘Kay then, it’s settled! Leave the form creation and tallying up to me!

Sakuya: Thank you very much, Kazunari-san!

Izumi: Alright then, leaders. Please share the InsteLive and selfie plan with all your members.

Leaders: Got it!

-pause-

Hisoka: …

*door opens*

Homare: Oh my. I thought for sure you would be sleeping.

Hisoka: …

Homare: Moreover, it’s not everyday I see you staring at your phone so fervently.

Hisoka: …

Homare: What is the matter? Are you searching for something?

Hisoka: No.

Homare: Mumu? Let me see—.

Hisoka: …What? Your face is in my way.

Homare: It’s just, I wanted to see what in the world it could be that you were so absorbed in that you forgot to sleep.

Hisoka: It’s nothing… I was just looking at everyone’s SNS for reference on how to share things about myself.

Homare: Oh my! So you mean you wish to use everyone’s methods to convey yourself to the world?

Hisoka: I guess? …But I’m tired now that you’re here, so I’m going to sleep. Zzz, zzz…

Homare: Goodness, he’s asleep already. I suppose that’s how it goes. I shall place a blanket over him. Good grief. How many times have I told him he will catch a cold sleeping like this? His turn for the InsteLive is coming up soon as well—. Hm. InsteLive… sharing…? Come to think of it, it appears the survey Kazunari-kun put together for Hisoka-kun is sprawled out on his desk—. … “I’d like Hisoka-kun to tell us more about himself!”, “I want to know what Hisoka-kun likes” … Hisoka-kun, could you have been…?

-pause-

Homare: …And so. If you don’t mind, I would like you to lend a hand.

Yuki: That’s fine by me. Rather, have you told the guy himself who’s sleeping over there?

Hisoka: Zzz…

Homare: I plan to speak to him as well after this.

Yuki: Hmm. Well, just don’t cancel on me last minute. See you.

Homare: Yes. I’ll be counting on you.

*walks away*

Hisoka: …Arisu, what were you talking about with Yuki?

Homare: Don’t be surprised to hear. Why… I have invited a special guest for your InsteLive, Hisoka-kun!

Hisoka: …What the heck?

Homare: It appeared you were fretting about introducing yourself. And so, I meddled a bit.

Hisoka: …You really are meddlesome.

---

| next

[the-himawari]

A3! Izumida Azami - Translation [SR] Brilliance of Blooming (1/2)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

<Please note: the beginning part of the story for this set of cards is the same, so I have reused my own tl>

Izumi: Kazunari-kun is also joining in on today’s leader’s meeting.

Kazunari: Let’s do this piko~!

Banri: Have you come up with somethin’ again?

Kazunari: That’s right, Setzer! There’s a lil something I wanted to try. So you see… we held a project survey for the fans to find out what they’d like us to do!

Sakuya: A project survey?

Izumi: Yep. We did it for our fans as per Kazunari-kun’s suggestion.

Kazunari: Thankfully, MANKAI Company’s popularity is soaring through the roof right now!

Tenma: That’s true. We got a lot of new fans too.

Kazunari: ‘Cept some of the folks who have been supporting us for a while also voiced that they’re a bit lonely since it feels like there’s been more distance between us. But, like, we wanna be a Theatre troupe that’s close to our fans no matter how much our popularity rises, right?

Banri: I see. So that explains the project survey, eh?

Tsumugi: How were the results?

Kazunari: The most common answer was, “I wanna see more InsteLives and selfies from all the troupe members!”

Tenma: Well, the frequency of InsteLive streams varies from person to person.

Tsumugi: It’s the same for our selfies. We basically leave it to the members who are good at SNS.

Kazunari: Yep, and so! As a special project this time, I propose we hold a solo InsteLive and selfie festival for 24 consecutive days!

Banri: A selfie festival?

Kazunari: It’d be even more hype if we took selfies during the live and upped the pics to Inste later, wouldn’t it!

Izumi: We’ve also discussed it with Sakyo-san, and he said we can do it as long as I keep watch to make sure no trouble occurs during the streams.

Kazunari: And so, the rest depends on you guys… How about it?

Sakuya: I’d love to do it! Of course I want to make everyone happy… But I’m happy for the chance to talk with all the fans through the screen too!

Tsumugi: I’d like to give it a try too. I feel like I’m getting more used to InsteLives, little by little.

Tenma: Hey, but, we can’t just idly chat, right?

Kazunari: On that topic, I thought it might be great to send out another survey to hear what they’d like each troupe member to do.

Banri: Seems like it’ll be a lot easier to handle in that case.

Izumi: Every InsteLive will turn out differently. That sounds interesting.

Kazunari: ‘Kay then, it’s settled! Leave the form creation and tallying up to me!

Sakuya: Thank you very much, Kazunari-san!

Izumi: Alright then, leaders. Please share the InsteLive and selfie plan with all your members.

Leaders: Got it!

-pause-

Azami: …

Azuma: Aren’t you cold out here, Azami?

Azami: Azuma-san. It ain’t that cold today, so I’m fine.

Azuma: I see. …Is that the survey for your upcoming InsteLive?

Azami: Yeah. Quite a lotta stuff’s written so it’s interesting.

Azuma: Since it’s you, I’m sure you got a lot of requests related to makeup, right?

Azami: That’s pretty much what I’m seein’. So that’s why I think it might be good to show myself doin’ makeup in my stream.

Azuma: That might be fresh. People get to see the end result of your makeup, but they rarely get the chance to watch the process.

Azami: ‘Cept it’s supposed to be a solo stream, so I’m sorta at a loss. If I’m gonna do makeup, then I’d prefer someone else to lend me their face.

Azuma: That’s fair. But then it wouldn’t be a solo stream—is that what you’re worried about?

Azami: Yeah, pretty much.

Azuma: What if you put makeup on your own face?

Azami: It’s not like I couldn’t do that, technically… But I was thinking of doin’ “land mine makeup”*, so it’d be tough to do on my own face.

Azuma: Hmm… in that case, you could explain it using illustrations, couldn’t you?

Azami: You think so too, huh? I also considered that.

Azuma: Why don’t you consult Kazu or Yuki as well? If it’s regarding illustrations, then they might be able to help you in some way.

Azami: Right. I’ll try talkin’ to them. Thanks, Azuma-san.

Azuma: Not at all. I hope it’ll be a fun InsteLive.

Azami: Yeah. Aight, I’ll go find those two right now.

Azuma: Hold on, Azami. Actually, maybe you could—.

---

*”地雷メイク” (jirai meiku): ~land mine makeup. This a style of makeup which typically sees a pale complexion mixed with strong red eyeshadow, eyeliner, and dark red lips. This style is supposed to evoke a “sickly” image of a girl who looks cute on the outside, but is hard to deal with once she’s upset (i.e. like stepping on in a pitfall/landmine). See this article for examples/tutorials. (If there’s an English term for this style, please lmk because I have absolutely no idea lmao)

| next

[the-himawari]

A3! Rurikawa Yuki - Translation [SR] Brilliance of Blooming (1/2)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

<Please note: the beginning part of the story for this set of cards is the same, so I have reused my own tl>

Izumi: Kazunari-kun is also joining in on today’s leader’s meeting.

Kazunari: Let’s do this piko~!

Banri: Have you come up with somethin’ again?

Kazunari: That’s right, Setzer! There’s a lil something I wanted to try. So you see… we held a project survey for the fans to find out what they’d like us to do!

Sakuya: A project survey?

Izumi: Yep. We did it for our fans as per Kazunari-kun’s suggestion.

Kazunari: Thankfully, MANKAI Company’s popularity is soaring through the roof right now!

Tenma: That’s true. We got a lot of new fans too.

Kazunari: ‘Cept some of the folks who have been supporting us for a while also voiced that they’re a bit lonely since it feels like there’s been more distance between us. But, like, we wanna be a Theatre troupe that’s close to our fans no matter how much our popularity rises, right?

Banri: I see. So that explains the project survey, eh?

Tsumugi: How were the results?

Kazunari: The most common answer was, “I wanna see more InsteLives and selfies from all the troupe members!”

Tenma: Well, the frequency of InsteLive streams varies from person to person.

Tsumugi: It’s the same for our selfies. We basically leave it to the members who are good at SNS.

Kazunari: Yep, and so! As a special project this time, I propose we hold a solo InsteLive and selfie festival for 24 consecutive days!

Banri: A selfie festival?

Kazunari: It’d be even more hype if we took selfies during the live and upped the pics to Inste later, wouldn’t it!

Izumi: We’ve also discussed it with Sakyo-san, and he said we can do it as long as I keep watch to make sure no trouble occurs during the streams.

Kazunari: And so, the rest depends on you guys… How about it?

Sakuya: I’d love to do it! Of course I want to make everyone happy… But I’m happy for the chance to talk with all the fans through the screen too!

Tsumugi: I’d like to give it a try too. I feel like I’m getting more used to InsteLives, little by little.

Tenma: Hey, but, we can’t just idly chat, right?

Kazunari: On that topic, I thought it might be great to send out another survey to hear what they’d like each troupe member to do.

Banri: Seems like it’ll be a lot easier to handle in that case.

Izumi: Every InsteLive will turn out differently. That sounds interesting.

Kazunari: ‘Kay then, it’s settled! Leave the form creation and tallying up to me!

Sakuya: Thank you very much, Kazunari-san!

Izumi: Alright then, leaders. Please share the InsteLive and selfie plan with all your members.

Leaders: Got it!

-pause-

Yuki: I have to choose what I’ll do in my InsteLive soon… I’ll read the survey Kazunari put together for me and think about it. “I want you to teach me how to make clothes”, “I want to see you do a fashion show with your regular clothes”, “I’d love for you to do a fashion check”… Yep, as I thought. Most of my requests are related to fashion.

*door opens*

Kazunari: Yukki! I’m here to return the magazine I borrowed!

Yuki: Ahh, just put it over there.

Kazunari: Ah! Are you reading your survey there?

Yuki: Yeah.

Kazunari: A bunch of your requests were related to clothes, right?

Yuki: Well, that’s how it turned out. But it takes a while to make clothing… And I feel like a fashion show would be difficult too, in terms of time.

Kazunari: Mm, true~! They’d be kinda hard, huh?

Yuki: If I could, I’d like to do what everyone’s expecting me to do. But…

Kazunari: AH! Come to think of it, you got a few requests related to accessories, didn’t you?

Yuki: Eh? Oh, I did. “I want to know how to make accessories”, “I’d like to watch you making accessories”… huh? If it’s an accessory, then depending on the item, I might be able to make one in time.

Kazunari: It’d also be totally lit if you could take your selfie with that accessory at the end!

Yuki: Good idea. Alright, I’ve decided to make an accessory in my stream.

Kazunari: I’m sure your fans will eat it up~!

Yuki: Thanks for the idea. You saved me. And also for tallying up the survey.

Kazunari: Don’t even mention it~! Ah, right. I’ll watch your stream and try to make the accessory you teach us too! I can’t wait for your InsteLive!

Yuki: Alright, if I’m going to make an accessory, then I have to go buy the parts. And… it would be boring if I just make it in silence. It’d be better to think of a way to make it more interesting.

---

| next

[apex-academy]

Chapter 2: Inhale. Exhale. It’s Probably Not Going to Be Okay (#18)

I at least get to finish my lunch before the television screens around the cafeteria turn on.

Um, hello, everyone...! I have an announcement to make, so please come to the gym immediately! Thank you!

The screens go dark. 

“.........”

A silence prickling with tension chokes the room until Arthur lets out a loud sigh.

“Great, this again?”

“Think he’s gettin’ ready to spill more secrets?”

“No telling. We’d better get over there, though.”

“Maaaan, I’m in the middle of my lunch, too!”

“I’ll just bring it with me.”

“I guess it ain’t against the rules.”

Kanagi plucks up her tray and marches out. The handful of us remaining follow. At least the gym’s right next door.

It takes a few minutes, but others start to filter in. Few enough words are spoken that I can hear Monochap whirring. Eventually even Otoya makes it in.

“Oh, Otoya...! Are you—”

“Just shut up.”

“Oh...”

Monochap claps his hands together with a sound like percussive maintenance.

“Okay! That’s everyone, isn’t it?”

“So it seems.”

“Yes, please proceed!”

“Wh-what is it this time?”

“Nothing good, I presume.”

“No, it’s good!!”

“Really?”

“Yes!!”

“I’ve made preparations for another motive!”

“That’s not good!!”

“What ill fate awaits us this time?”

“Is it, like, the secrets thing again? ‘Cuz I don’t really have any more.”

“No, of course not! We had a murder, so that motive is over! I’ve even deleted the secrets from my hard drive!”

“...”

“I-I hope this motive is just as interesting, though!”

“This time, I’m going to be adjusting the air in the building!”

“The air?”

“That’s right!! As time goes on, this sealed-off building will have more and more oxygen poured into it!”

He’s met with a resounding silence.

“Wh-what? D-did I say something wrong?”

“Uh...”

“You mean like... Oxygen oxygen? The stuff we literally have to breathe to live?”

“Ohoho! Do you truly think you can threaten a mighty being like myself with such weak tactics?”

“H-huh?! Did I mess up...?! I’m sure it was oxygen, though!”

“You cannot do that, Mister Monochaperone!! That would be a fire hazard! It would be dangerous to us as well as yourself!!”

“I think it being dangerous is the point.”

“But... we do breathe it, right...? Wouldn’t that get rid of it...?”

“I’m sure our chaperone intends to take our rate of respiration into account, Miss Yuki.”

“Is something we need to survive really going to hurt us? Surely we’ll be fine as long as we can keep any fires under control...”

Otoya slams the side of his fist into the wall. I swear I hear a crack.

“You freaking MORON! Anything is poisonous if it’s a big enough dose! Freaking water can kill you if there’s too much of it!”

“Isn’t that called drowning?”

“That’s not what I freaking—SCREW YOU PEOPLE!”

He slams the doors open and storms out. No one’s close enough to stop him.

I peer sideways at Monochap, but I’m not sure if he even noticed.

“Did I mess it up? I’m sorry...!”

“If ’s such a mess-up, then y' don’t gotta do ‘t, brah.”

“But it’s my job...!”

“Hnnnn...”

“O-okay! I’ll go ahead and double-check first, but...! Whatever it is, I’m going to start it today, okay? I-I hope you all have fun with it!”

“That doesn’t seem likely...”

With a final “toodle-oo,” Monochap traipses back to his favorite trapdoor and vanishes from sight. Aidan takes his place immediately.

“Okay! Everyone, please continue to exercise caution in general! Until we have a better grasp of the situation, there’s not much for us to do, but please continue to follow the three-person rule! And as always, please be sure to attend our morning meetings! You can expect further instructions then!”

“We kind of always expect further instructions from you...”

“...My point still stands!! Also, everyone should memorize the locations of the fire extinguishers in the building if you have not done so already! That’s all for now!”

...I didn’t even realize we had fire extinguishers.

Kanagi lets out a breath between pursed lips.

“I, like, still don’t get it. Why would we be scared of oxygen?”

“I thought the argument for that had been made quite clear at this point.”

“ ‘Cept nobody knows what t’ expect, yeah?”

“All the more reason not to panic!!”

“Right.”

“Yea, we oughta be okay.”

Eventually a few groups start conversations. No one else has rushed out of the room. It’s definitely a much less tense atmosphere than the last motive got us. Wonder if it’ll last.

“Oxygen, huh?”

I can see fires being a problem, but what else might happen before it reaches that point? And if the mastermind wants us to kill each other, they wouldn’t just let the whole building burn down, would they?

I’m not sure how this is going to work out.

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