Take Responsibility.

[kingmakereffect]

For the third time, those elevator doors at the end of the first-floor corridor open up at the end of the allotted investigation period; the ride down is, as ever, smooth and quick-moving. You're down by five. When the doors slide open, the podium circle still stands in stark contrast to that now-familiar black void of a courtroom, and once again, it's changed to reflect your losses – Caren and Mion have joined those with podiums draped in black, their framed greyscale profile portraits staring out at the rest of you. (The portrait of Pearl hasn't been removed from her room, but it seems the Kingmaker has replaced it with another; either way, her photograph is in the courtroom along with the rest.) As before, the Kingmaker waits until everyone is settled at their podiums before he speaks; he still isn't visible, but he can clearly be heard, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Capable has been taken from you. I'll confirm one thing for you so no one will waste time asking – the killer wasn't me. Looks like the guilty decided to take a shot at Rule Seven after all – and whether they succeed or not is up to you." Twenty-two Survivors remain. We'll see how many the group has lost at the end of the day.

Comments

[ignorantly]

[ He hesitates for a long moment. ]

> REGALED

[capyper]

[ There's a pause as his face seems confused on how to arrange itself, settling for something between surprised, embarrassed, and touched. ]

... Thank you.

[uro_cyon]

REGALED

[penduli]

[ ...sorry Yosuke, he's close enough to snort at that, because he was pretty much thinking the exact same thing.

So, very softly: ] I wonder who put a bee in his bonnet. You'd think he'd be less snappy, since he's the one making us do all this in the first place.

ACCOUNTABILITY.

[kingmakereffect]

[And as the votes come in, the lights go out, and the room is once again plunged into darkness; the only light visible is that ambient dark blue that accompanies the electronic touchpads powering down.

After a moment, though, that stark, bright light illuminates the pit in the center of the room, the white tiled walls glinting sharply; there are no cries or sounds of a struggle, no noise indicating his departure, but once everyone's eyes adjust it's clear that Yato is gone from the circle.

Then the wall beneath podium 25 opens up (and it's so close to Mion's); when Yato comes out he doesn't focus on his surroundings – after all, the pit is empty, and if anything has been shown over the course of the last two executions, he'll have a few seconds before anything happens.

Instead, he looks up, and he smiles at those still standing at their podiums in the circle above, and even if it's a little awkward and strange it's obvious that he's trying. Trying to do what is a little hard to say; perhaps it's an attempt at being comforting. Either way, the expression is accompanied with a slight wave before what must be the sound of the door opening behind him catches his attention.

When Mion steps out, her expression is severe; there's no anger in it, but there's a very intense, focused determination in her features, even if the look in her eyes is a little blank.

But Yato's eyes aren't focused on her face; rather, they're focused on the swords in her hands – long and hiltless, the handling ends wrapped in strips of white fabric.

His eyes remain there as she moves into the pit; she doesn't charge him, she doesn't sprint toward him, she just circles around. Sizing him up, maybe; getting a feel for the situation. For the arena, for her opponent, for the weight of the blades she's holding.

When Yato moves, it's quick; his focus is on her hands – but unfortunately, her focus is on his legs, and she's much faster than she was the last time she faced him. It's fast work, getting his legs out from under him; the leg sweep she snaps him up into is flawless. And no sooner is he on his back on the ground than she's pinning him there, her legs straddling his waist and those blades held high on in her hands.

He looks like he wants to say something; in the end, he just turns his head to the side, looking away from her as those blades come down. And they come down hard, both of them piercing through Yato's body centimeters from one another; she's aimed low on his chest, stabbing through his diaphragm, forcing his body to spasm as blood bubbles up in his mouth – his back arches and for a brief moment he looks up at her before turning his head again, but this time it's to spit out a dark streak of blood across the white tiles of the floor.

Mion just watches him do it, her expression unchanging.

Yato shifts a bit, not quite writhing but clearly trying to do something – push her off, clear his lungs, one or the other – only for Mion to jerk those blades out just as roughly as she'd pushed them in.]

Goodnight, Regaled.

[The Kingmaker's voice can be heard a split second before the swords plunge deep into Yato's chest; she hits his heart this time, hard enough for flecks of blood to hit her in the face, and perhaps the only merciful thing that can be said about it is that Yato goes still immediately. Mion, however, does not; she yanks the blades out roughly and brings them down again and again, her aim shifting a bit as though making absolutely sure he's dead. Lungs, stomach, the diaphragm again, her movements harsh and uncontrolled despite the lack of necessity for it, until finally she stops, blades buried deep in Yato's chest, and she sits back and just looks down at what she's done.

There's still a trail of dark crimson spilling out of his mouth, and it takes a brief moment for the blood to stop pulsing out of the injuries, shining dark against his clothes; Mion just sits there, uncaring about the blood that's spilled onto her jeans and the flecks of it splashed across her face, and she stays that way until the pit darkens and the lights come back to life in the courtroom.]

[garudynamic]

[And just as softly back:]

Well we did take awhile. Maybe baby needs a snack and a nap.

[He'd feel bad, but he feels Yato would appreciate them mocking the KM anyways]

[pokexplorer]

REGALED

[Colress has been quiet and stays quiet after he casts his vote. There is simply a lot of what happened after the reveal that he can't quite wrap his head around. He has a lot to think about after this.

And...well, he's definitely relieved, as Yato guessed. So, thanks for that.]

[penduli]

[ Yosuke, oh my god, you can't just say that. ]

That's insulting to babies. He's more like that bratty kid in class who throws a fit because no one's paying attention to him anymore.

[garudynamic]

[You know you love it, Black]

Uuugh guys, get back to murdering or I'm taking my Vault and going home!

[bloodisthicker]

[...well, he's pleased when it seems like Yato's going to fight, at the very least, but... oh...

...oh.......

.................................holy shit]

...he's already dead--

[why isn't she stopping.

...

why isn't it stopping, because that isn't Mion, just like it wasn't Pearl... right?]

[captainobnoxious]

[That's no way for a God to die.

Sigrun can only press her lips together and pick her things up, tugging back on her jacket once everything's good to go, and... she's actually going to take the sword this time, if only because she noticed earlier the sledgehammer was gone from her podium.

Maybe they can do something with it for Yato's shrine.]

[devastation]

REGALED

[...]

I'm sorry, Yato-san. I wish we could have prevented this from happening...

[Once again, someone is going to die, and there's nothing she can do to stop it.]

[penduli]

[ Okay, okay, Black's laughing--or he's trying not to keep them quiet, covering his mouth to help with that. This is the most inappropriate thing ever.

...White was right, he should definitely be less serious sometimes. ]

Shhh, what if he hears us? [ Black, he probably has more of a chance of seeing you laughing at something during THE VOTING PORTION OF A MURDER TRIAL. ] He doesn't really seem like the type of person to uugh either. More of a errrrrrrrrgh guy.

[wokeupdead]

[Unlike last week Lynne forces herself to watch this one the whole way through. She promised Yato she would be brave and looking away from his final moments feels like anything but to her. That doesn't mean she can stomach the entire macabre scene without flinching. She may be a detective but she's spoiled and deep down she knows it. She has to be the best she can be to get them all out of here but right now... she wonders if she can keep that up.

Goodnight, Regaled.

She wipes a tear out of her eye, now is not the type, but it just keeps going. And going. And going. Her grip on the podium is white knuckled when it finally goes dark.

In complete silence she enters the elevator and leaves.]

[isafraid]

[This isn't right at all. How could the Kingmaker really kill a god?

Speed wagon doesn't know. Maybe he can't. This trial has left him visibly exhausted, even if every sickening stab of those blades into Yato's body. If that was really Mion, then would she feel the same way as this one did? This... whatever it is.

He sucks in a breath, and makes for the exit. They could all have a cry about this later, without a tyrant looking over them.]

[garudynamic]

[Yosuke bites back a laugh too, his face twisting up. It's a strange expression, teeth too bared to be a smile, eyes bright with grief and a kind of manic enjoyment. This is so wrong. Everything is so wrong, but he's so damn giddy with what is probably adrenaline. It's not a nice look at all. But it's not exactly an unpleasant one either.

He wonders if he's going insane.]

Let him hear.

[cherryblooded]

[Those swords - that's how Yato had described Yukine's other form, right? That's his son. The Kingmaker gave that thing a copy of his son to murder him with.

Cherryblod had been able to watch the first two executions without flinching.

This one he looks away from before it even begins.]

[goodforsomething]

[..........]

Dumbass. I told you they need you.

[penduli]

[ Maybe they both are. He leans against his podium, shaking his head. ]

No, no, he'll skip the pleasantries next week and target us if he hears. That's how children are. [ HE SHOULD KNOW, HE GOT BULLIED ENOUGH. ]

[garudynamic]

AH, but if he did that I think Cherry might dig right through the floors to get him. So better not.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce would apologize, but he's pretty sure that Yosuke isn't going to hear any of that now, so....

He'll just stay silent and let that silence do the talking for him.]

[amygdalae]

Not that much.

[Never that much. He's never worth that much.]

[amygdalae]

[it's easy enough to say that he won't, but honestly Bruce can't quite bring himself to say that no matter how easy it could be. So he simply stays silent and keeps his gaze away from Cherryblod, knowing that the silence will fill in the blanks for him.]

[amygdalae]

It's better to just lose one life grab two.

[if he alone was the one then nobody else would have to die because of the Kingmaker's whims and they all would... they would have a much better chance.]

[amygdalae]

[...truth has always been bitter, hasn't it.

He smiles this time, and it's clear that it's hollow and humourless, none of the usual warmth showing in his eyes.]

If that's what the captain orders.