#yeah i think kotoko doesnt get tripped up easily but its because she plans for Everything

[good-beanswrites]

Director's commentary for "I prefer to not be disturbed"?

Starting here, perhaps, since the fic is over 500 words.

Kotoko grits her teeth. She doesn’t plan on harming Amane as she did the others

Aw yeah! This is definitely one that doesn't quite stand up to canon anymore, but my justifications for little details still hold up!! Thanks pal :3

Kotoko grits her teeth. She doesn’t plan on harming Amane as she did the others -- she would never raise a hand to a child (despite what she told her about avoiding special treatment.) Still, the girl needs to be taught a lesson. Kotoko is a vessel for justice. She has been chosen. She will not be turned away so easily.

*siiiigh* So I did think Kotoko had it in her to attack Amane when I wrote this -- the problem was, the original ask had a lighthearted/comedic tone, and I wanted to go for a lighthearted/comedic tone. And. There's no way to casually drop child abuse in a comedy piece. I had to find a compromise for this piece, and this was my solution 😅 I thought it would work to have Kotoko threaten Amane that she wouldn't hold back because she's a child, but deep down Kotoko knows she couldn't really do it.

(And as much as I enjoy reading Kotoko as she will justify any means to the ends, to be fair, this could still be true to canon -- she could have just told Es those things to keep up her reputation, but we don't know what she'd actually do under pressure...)

“Momose Aman--”

The door opens a crack from the other side.

I rarely write in present tense but sometimes it just really works. I tried it out for the urgency and action of this one, and thought it fit well. And then proceeded to mess up the tense every other sentence. I think I caught them all by the time I posted it...

"I prefer not to be disturbed."

Amane looks up, her expression making it clear she has already been disturbed. Kotoko’s fierce red eyes are startled by the gaze looking up at her.

There's nothing scarier than a righteous twelve year old that you've upset -_-

“Well,” Kotoko shifts so she can see the blood that flecks her clothes. She can get a good look at her boots, and her raw knuckles. Amane sizes her up, her purpose becoming clear. “I --”

“You will need to come back later.”

Kotoko's brow furrows. She doesn’t have time to come back later. She can already hear Kazui collecting himself from where she’d left him with Fuuta. She wasn't prepared for any of this.

Can you 'hear' someone collecting themself? Probably not, but I kept bumping into the problem where Kotoko needed to know time was running out without Kazui directly charging at her 😅 I liked the idea of an incredibly efficient Kotoko, that she'd be a bit frazzled when things don't go according to her meticulous plan. As adaptable as she seems, I bet she thinks far enough ahead to plan for any derailment..... and this was not one she expected. I liked the humor in Amane instantly throwing Kotoko off of literally everything she'd prepared.

“Er... You have been named guilty. Your...” She clears her throat. “Milgram has named you guilty of an unforgivable murder.”

“Milgram is wrong.”

Amane’s voice is unwavering. Her eyes went from mild frustration to a pinpointed rage.

(RIP I didn't catch all the tense issues.... I actually think this was meant to be "had gone" and I thought I could swap it with the less wordy "went" since her expression changed while Kotoko was talking, not after Amane's line. Anyway.)

Kotoko had just listened to Mahiru’s cries that this was all a mistake, though the woman accepted her judgment quickly. She’d heard Fuuta’s excuses and denials, showing nothing but an immature rejection of what he’d done. But the way that Amane rejected her verdict, Kotoko was actually inclined to believe her.

No, she would not be mislead. She was not mistaken. She was here to bring only righteousness. She was here to administer punishments.

I enjoyed the idea of all the guilties having similar excuses that "Milgram got it wrong, I did nothing wrong", but Amane is the only one who truly believes it. (I think out of everyone, she's really the only one with absolutely no doubt in her mind that she's in the wrong.) Because she believes it's the truth as she says it, it makes it convincing to others as well.

“I am here to--”

“-- you are here to disturb me. I refuse to be taken from my studies.”

Amane squares her shoulders. She starts rolling up her sleeves.

Kotoko knows better than to mess with a young woman with that kind of fire in her eyes.

Now we have Lucky, but at the time I was just thinking about Kotoko herself. She remembers a time when she was that age, likely with similar drive and anger. She knows the kind of damage she could have caused at that age, and doesn't want to test that out with Amane.

Also, I think it's pretty 50/50 of Amane actually mad about being interrupted and defending herself from a clear threat. She's letting Kotoko know she'll fight back, but she genuinely is very annoyed that her activity/focus was interrupted.

She gets the feeling that even if she doesn’t take things too far, Amane will. That was not part of her grand plan of delivering justice.

I tried to use loose wording here -- "even if," "wasn't part of her plan" -- to show that Kotoko is still very capable of attacking Amane, it's just not her plan at the moment.

She straightens. “...I understand.”

She hears Kazui is nearly recovered. She thinks she hears Shidou’s voice as well. Too much time has been spent here, with no easy resolution. There’s one more prisoner she must deliver punishment to -- one whose verdict was the absolute clearest to the warden. He should be her true priority.

I liked hearing theories about whether guilty ratio or just prisoner number affected Kotoko's order of attack (reference not intended), so I usually go with the idea that the voting ratio was reflected in Es' personality when they made the decision. The rest of the prison can tell that Es was most sure about Mikoto's guilty verdict, and least sure about Amane's, hence Kotoko's view that he was far more of a threat than her.

Kotoko steps back. “You will see the error in your ways in due time. But for now, I’ll leave you to it.”

Amane’s hard set expression doesn’t change. She gives a curt bow. “Or, perhaps you will. Thank you.”

Even when threatened, she remembers her manners ;-; I wanted this to be a funny line, of them pleasantly saying "thank you :) goodnight :)" after such an intense moment, but on a serious note, I think Amane is conditioned to use her manners in the face of even the meanest adults...

Kotoko doesn’t lose another moment hurrying to the neighboring cell. She spares a single glance over her shoulder. She just has to be sure those intense green eyes are off of her. Amane shoots her one more look before shutting the door.

After exhaling a little sigh -- not out of relief, if anyone were to ask -- she pounds three times on the next cell.

Although this line was mostly for a nice comedy ending, I do think out of everyone, Kotoko wouldn't underestimate her. She wouldn't necessarily be afraid like this, but she would 100% know to take the girl's anger and capability very seriously 👍

And I mentioned it in the tags of the original but I can definitely see Kazui and Shidou figuring out Kotoko's plan, finding the victims she left in the previous guilty cells, and bursting into Amane's cell to meet her Even Worse anger at being disturbed again, by Shidou of all people...