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

[capyper]

[ He's not actually looking at Mouri, just the pen, so it takes a few moment to realize he's also being looked at in turn.

... Then he just sharply breaks eye contact. ]

[garudynamic]

...

[Yato is acting weird. And has been since they really got to talking about the metal. Yosuke tilts his head at him and mouths: 'what is it?']

[capyper]

[ Yosuke's going to have to try harder than that, because while Yato sure isn't having fiery throes right now, but he sure is in the throes of... something that's got his mind occupied. ]

[garudynamic]

[It doesn't occur to him to think Yato has figured something out- no, he's thinking he's freaking out due to stress. So he slips away from his podium to go check on him]

Hey man, you okay? You need to step back for a second?

[capyper]

[ He seems surprised when Yosuke approaches him, but surprised in a good way. ]

Oh, nah, I'm okay! It's just... getting to go on for so long, that's all...

[garudynamic]

Yeah, we are kinda running in circles, huh? You were giving Mouri-san the stink-eye pretty hard though.

Still, if you need to check out a bit for awhile that's fine. We won't figure anything out if we freak out, right?

[capyper]

[ There's a pause, and then Yato briefly smiles. He's usually smiling, but this one seems a bit... more emotional, somehow, and less like the default expression he chooses to wear. ]

Thanks, but you just worry about yourself, alright?

[garudynamic]

[If there's one thing Yosuke knows it's fake smiles. So seeing Yato's real smile makes him frown slightly. If it was himself or one of the girls he'd buy that Yato is just cracking under the stress... but he has no reason to think otherwise.

Still, he can't help a feeling of dread in his belly]

Okay... Once we're done with all this though we'll talk.

[He heads back, glancing behind himself with that same pensive expression, feeling like he's missing something]