If you ain't gonna say anything, I'm gonna assume the worst and get back to punchin'.
[Maybe it wasn't supposed to happen this way, but he's been around enough cagey assholes in his life to know when something is intentionally being avoided. And he's aggressively protective of the things that matter to him.
What's really fucking him up is how Gundam was slowly coming into the peripheral of that circle of people, too.
[Gundam crosses his arms over his chest, with a laugh.]
Kekeke...
I was simply at a loss for words. It has been a while since I have been confronted by such a combination of stupidity and arrogance. To think that trash like yourself has any place demanding explanations from one as grand as the Supreme Overlord of Ice?
If you wish to challenge me, then I accept. I have not yet begun to show you how serious I can be.
[Even Hajime looks surprised at how sharp his voice comes out as he lowers his hand from his tie, using it as a physical barrier to preemptively block Ryuji from just trying to lunge at him.]
You said we're classmates, right? Tell me what's going on. Ryuji wouldn't come charging in here like this for no reason, just-- tell me.
[Which, honestly, is a pretty smart move from Hajime, considering that was exactly what Ryuji was just ready to do a second ago. He's probably too easy to read, and yeah, he's pretty surprised by the sternness in his voice.
Actually? It sounds nice on him.]
Seriously!?
[Trash.
That word is one that really stings, even if Gundam doesn't know how deeply he hates it. He's heard it enough times that he should be immune to it, but some old wounds never really heal the right way.
Everyone and their mother (and his own mother) had tried to get him to stop acting fist-first through, and he wants to, so badly, just push Hajime aside and throw himself right at Gundam, but why would he be hiding something? Something that's so important to him that he wouldn't...
[Gundam digs his nails into his arm, a clenching sensation squeezing in his chest at the sternness in Hajime's voice.
It's true. Someone as seemingly carefree and friendly as Ryuji wouldn't have marched in here for no reason wanting to fight with him. He saw the contents of that handbook and assumed the worst of him.
The feeling tightens around his heart again.]
...
[It's a characterization befitting of a cursed being.]
You've finally come to understand my unavoidable malicious aura Ryuji Sakamoto! You've seen it clearly... and you are right to be terrified for all who approach me.
I am the forbiden ruler who makes even the god of darkness flee in terror! Perhaps it would be wise for you to escape now with your beloved compatriot.
As a reward for your amusing show of bravado earlier... I'll even give you a ten second head start.
[Hajime's open palm presses back more firmly into Ryuji's chest as he answers, his arm stretched out straight between the two boys. He knows full well that Ryuji won't back down, and Hajime isn't leaving without answers.
Li peeks out from beneath Gundam's rumpled covers, letting out a questioning, purring mrrrrow? and then a bark. Hey friends, she's here too!!
Hajime keeps his hand between Ryuji and Gundam, without breaking eye contact with the animal breeder. His heart is pounding obtrusively loudly in his chest as he shakes his head.]
Tanaka, show me the handbook. This has to do with... with Jabberwock Island, doesn't it?
[If there ever was a look that could capture "please let me kick his ass, Hajime," that's the one Ryuji is sporting on his features right now, because he absolutely believes Gundam deserves it at the moment. But Hajime is the one speaking, and Ryuji keeps the ball in his court, leashed up and caged behind the smallest nod for approval to go ahead and do it.
This is a fucking mess, that's for sure- and a huge misunderstanding, probably, but there's no sign that he's gotten the inkling he's wrong here, and Gundam keeps provoking him more--- Ryuji just doesn't know if he's more pissed off about that, than the obvious... whatever it is he's trying to keep under wraps.
But, also, if the time difference in their home world is actually a thing, he's conflicted here. He's close enough to someone who can control time itself to know not to fuck with major spoilers in the sequence of events, since it has the potential to alter them... is that a thing? Which is more important, though? Confirming Gundam's not a killer and keeping Hajime safe right now, or potentially messing something up down the road otherwise?
Fuck it, the only thing that matters is right now.]
Why are there pictures of DEAD STUDENTS in there!?
[Gundam wishes that Hajime would just let Ryuji attempt to punch him. A battle might make Ryuji shut up for once-- although that's a stretch. If he wants to play a hapless hero, Gundam will assume his birth rite and be his villain!
It's only when Li mewls and barks behind him, that he realizes that this might not be an ideal scenario to unleash his forbidden powers on everyone present in this room.]
...
2/3 this is way harder than doing russian roulete with one bullet
[Gundam's mind reels trying to figure out a way around this, before Ryuji can mindlessly shout out anything else to complicate the situation.
He could just give Hajime the handbook as requested. However, he knows that Hajime has met some of their classmates in his timeline. Showing him a dead portrait of someone he can or might recall is not a viable option. Plus it would do nothing to tilt the situation in his favor.
Although the pixel renderings of the students did not denote deaths. If he merely flipped to a living student's profile, it would allow Hajime to see the original number of students that were trapped on the island to start.
Combined with the rules Ryuji had read about the "killing games" and the "class trials" one could figure out that the conclusion Ryuji implied was not possible.
Hypothetically Gundam couldn't have single-handedly murdered more than two students on his own. If he'd been caught his name would be listed with the dead. If he'd gotten away with it he would be the only one not dead.
...Of course this doesn't clear him entirely because they could simply assume he was pulled from a timeline before the conclusion of a trial--!!]
The answers to human's questions are always so simple...
[Gundam pulls up the Rules, keeping the handbook in his grip as he shows it to Hajime. There's twelve all together and they outline the life Gundam and his classmates have been living while trapped on Jabberwock Island.]
[Well, no shit, Gundam- that's a very obvious thing, so Ryuji will counter that with an equally obvious thing that places the suspicion right onto him.]
And you're still alive according to this thing. People die if they're killed! What the hell is this, some sorta killing game!?
[Ryuji's voice is kind of just ringing in his ears as he reaches out, though it seems Gundam won't just give him the handbook. It's... not going to stop him from scrolling down, brow furrowing as he reads through the rules. "Extreme violence is prohibited on this island," right, okay, it must be referring to the Jabberwock Island Gundam had mentioned before. "Hope Fragments"...? He has no idea what that means.
It's the following rules, the ones next to the little bouncing bear sprite, that make it hard to hear anything going on around him. His hand lowers from Ryuji's chest, less out of conscious effort and more just from not really being aware of what's going on around him.]
A class trial... execute the blackened?
[He sounds like he's talking to himself, not the other two boys.]
If the blackened gets away, the others... will be executed?!
[Hajime looks up then, eyes wide as he looks to Ryuji first for some kind of reassurance, then to Gundam just as quickly for some kind of refutation. This... this can't be real, right?]
[Yeah, he's pretty dumb, all petty and destructive thoughts accounted for in this giant fuckass of a mess that he's charged right into. Hajime lowers his hand, and Ryuji still has it in him to haul off and start a chargin', but he's concerned with how touched Hajime seems to be about this entire thing.]
Uh, no, I mean.
[You're asking Ryuji Sakamoto if, given the opportunity between completely misreading a room and getting hot-headed versus taking the time to sort stuff out... that he won't go for guns blazing route?
Well, Gundam... Don't know what to tell you here.]
Look, somethin' is goin' on here, for real, can you at least... I dunno, promise me or just say something to the effect that you're not a killer? This shit is fishy as all hell, s'what I'm sayin'.
[Hajime's not even looking at either of them, he's just staring down at the handbook. He can be incredibly dumb like... 80% of the time. But when it's important, when he can focus, he's observant. It takes him a bit to try to put pieces together, it's true, but he's from the kind of game where those kinds of time limits are okay.
He shifts his grip, trying to actually take the handbook. There must be evidence in it that proves that Gundam's not a killer, right? There has to be.]
I won't believe... someone like Tanaka can be a murderer.
Though! I assume despite your denials, Hajime Hinata! You require something more substantial than the mere words of the world's most terrifying calamity, Gundam Tanaka!
[He sees your hand and he really doesn't want to hand over this hand book to him.]
The mask fades away into particles of weird blue distortion, and that's that. If Gundam says he didn't kill anyone, he might as well believe him. He takes people for their word; it's once you break that to Ryuji that he will never forget that.]
Alright.
[That didn't really fill in the gaps of all the other absolutely fucking batshit stuff that looked like it was going on back wherever Hajime and Gundam had come from. He thinks back to all the talks he had with Hajime, too, about what it would be like to go home.
If that's the home he has to go back to ...]
The only calamity I'm seein' here is how you ain't lettin' him see that book. Might as well just give up the ghost, dude.
[Hajime glances to Ryuji, surprised at how quickly he accepts what Gundam's saying. But... he really shouldn't be, he realizes almost as quickly. Ryuji is just the kind of guy who's so willing to believe in other people that even something like this...
He still wants the evidence to prove it. It's in his hand, he's sure of it, and he doesn't let go of the handbook.]
If... if this has a list of students in it... the people you're saying thought I was their classmate... I want to see it, Tanaka.
[Well... he didn't really come from a world where that was actually a luxury he could afford either. There were a lot of corrupt people whose sins had turned them into monsters that hid under sheep's skin in their own society. Ryuji and his friends, then, only ever worked to alleviate those corruptions.
And also? If this were a murder game, he'd probably wipe the floor with his persona. He loved his inner demon monkey king.
He'll stay quiet as Gundam hands over the book. He's curious to know what's going on, but it's not his story to tell.]
[Would Persona fall under the "excessive violence" clause?? Who knows.
Hajime takes the handbook, hefting it in his hands. He's never seen anything quite like it; sure, it seems like a normal smartphone or tablet, but there's something weird about that little dancing bear. Like a malice deeper than any he's ever felt before.
He shakes his head, tabs over to the Report Card, and-- selects his own pixelated portrait after a deep breath to steel himself. ...Well, he doesn't look dead, though what's with the only things listed on his profile being mochi? Not to mention--]
Super High School Level...
[Super High School Level What though? It's all just question marks, even in Gundam's handbook. Beep, beep, he taps on Gundam's portrait. Nothing surprising there. Then Chiaki's, again with the same kind of trepidation from looking at his own. Again, nothing surprising. It's... nice, seeing her face again, his own expression softening.
The next one he clicks on is Mahiru Koizumi, and he flinches, a whole-body shudder at the greyed-out portrait labeled DEAD. Though he doesn't recognize most of the faces, the more he taps on, the more dead students he sees. He feels faint, like he might throw up. But--]
There's... it's evidence that he's not a killer, isn't it? There's just-- too many people. I...
[He clutches his tie with a hand, looking to Gundam again more pleadingly.]
What happened? Why... this is what you meant about people turning on each other, isn't it?
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no subject
[Maybe it wasn't supposed to happen this way, but he's been around enough cagey assholes in his life to know when something is intentionally being avoided. And he's aggressively protective of the things that matter to him.
What's really fucking him up is how Gundam was slowly coming into the peripheral of that circle of people, too.
He doesn't want to distrust you, dude.]
1/2
Such a transgression would defy the promise he made Hajime to protect him.]
2/2
Kekeke...
I was simply at a loss for words. It has been a while since I have been confronted by such a combination of stupidity and arrogance. To think that trash like yourself has any place demanding explanations from one as grand as the Supreme Overlord of Ice?
If you wish to challenge me, then I accept. I have not yet begun to show you how serious I can be.
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[Even Hajime looks surprised at how sharp his voice comes out as he lowers his hand from his tie, using it as a physical barrier to preemptively block Ryuji from just trying to lunge at him.]
You said we're classmates, right? Tell me what's going on. Ryuji wouldn't come charging in here like this for no reason, just-- tell me.
no subject
Actually? It sounds nice on him.]
Seriously!?
[Trash.
That word is one that really stings, even if Gundam doesn't know how deeply he hates it. He's heard it enough times that he should be immune to it, but some old wounds never really heal the right way.
Everyone and their mother (and his own mother) had tried to get him to stop acting fist-first through, and he wants to, so badly, just push Hajime aside and throw himself right at Gundam, but why would he be hiding something? Something that's so important to him that he wouldn't...
Oh.]
Are you two from the same time?
1/2
It's true. Someone as seemingly carefree and friendly as Ryuji wouldn't have marched in here for no reason wanting to fight with him. He saw the contents of that handbook and assumed the worst of him.
The feeling tightens around his heart again.]
...
[It's a characterization befitting of a cursed being.]
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FUAHAHAHAHAHA HA HA HA!
Such inane questions!
You've finally come to understand my unavoidable malicious aura Ryuji Sakamoto! You've seen it clearly... and you are right to be terrified for all who approach me.
I am the forbiden ruler who makes even the god of darkness flee in terror! Perhaps it would be wise for you to escape now with your beloved compatriot.
As a reward for your amusing show of bravado earlier... I'll even give you a ten second head start.
no subject
[Hajime's open palm presses back more firmly into Ryuji's chest as he answers, his arm stretched out straight between the two boys. He knows full well that Ryuji won't back down, and Hajime isn't leaving without answers.
Li peeks out from beneath Gundam's rumpled covers, letting out a questioning, purring mrrrrow? and then a bark. Hey friends, she's here too!!
Hajime keeps his hand between Ryuji and Gundam, without breaking eye contact with the animal breeder. His heart is pounding obtrusively loudly in his chest as he shakes his head.]
Tanaka, show me the handbook. This has to do with... with Jabberwock Island, doesn't it?
no subject
This is a fucking mess, that's for sure- and a huge misunderstanding, probably, but there's no sign that he's gotten the inkling he's wrong here, and Gundam keeps provoking him more--- Ryuji just doesn't know if he's more pissed off about that, than the obvious... whatever it is he's trying to keep under wraps.
But, also, if the time difference in their home world is actually a thing, he's conflicted here. He's close enough to someone who can control time itself to know not to fuck with major spoilers in the sequence of events, since it has the potential to alter them... is that a thing? Which is more important, though? Confirming Gundam's not a killer and keeping Hajime safe right now, or potentially messing something up down the road otherwise?
Fuck it, the only thing that matters is right now.]
Why are there pictures of DEAD STUDENTS in there!?
1/2
It's only when Li mewls and barks behind him, that he realizes that this might not be an ideal scenario to unleash his forbidden powers on everyone present in this room.]
...
2/3 this is way harder than doing russian roulete with one bullet
He could just give Hajime the handbook as requested. However, he knows that Hajime has met some of their classmates in his timeline. Showing him a dead portrait of someone he can or might recall is not a viable option. Plus it would do nothing to tilt the situation in his favor.
Although the pixel renderings of the students did not denote deaths. If he merely flipped to a living student's profile, it would allow Hajime to see the original number of students that were trapped on the island to start.
Combined with the rules Ryuji had read about the "killing games" and the "class trials" one could figure out that the conclusion Ryuji implied was not possible.
Hypothetically Gundam couldn't have single-handedly murdered more than two students on his own. If he'd been caught his name would be listed with the dead. If he'd gotten away with it he would be the only one not dead.
...Of course this doesn't clear him entirely because they could simply assume he was pulled from a timeline before the conclusion of a trial--!!]
3/3
[Gundam pulls up the Rules, keeping the handbook in his grip as he shows it to Hajime. There's twelve all together and they outline the life Gundam and his classmates have been living while trapped on Jabberwock Island.]
They are dead.
no subject
[Well, no shit, Gundam- that's a very obvious thing, so Ryuji will counter that with an equally obvious thing that places the suspicion right onto him.]
And you're still alive according to this thing. People die if they're killed! What the hell is this, some sorta killing game!?
[He clenches his fist.]
no subject
[Ryuji's voice is kind of just ringing in his ears as he reaches out, though it seems Gundam won't just give him the handbook. It's... not going to stop him from scrolling down, brow furrowing as he reads through the rules. "Extreme violence is prohibited on this island," right, okay, it must be referring to the Jabberwock Island Gundam had mentioned before. "Hope Fragments"...? He has no idea what that means.
It's the following rules, the ones next to the little bouncing bear sprite, that make it hard to hear anything going on around him. His hand lowers from Ryuji's chest, less out of conscious effort and more just from not really being aware of what's going on around him.]
A class trial... execute the blackened?
[He sounds like he's talking to himself, not the other two boys.]
If the blackened gets away, the others... will be executed?!
[Hajime looks up then, eyes wide as he looks to Ryuji first for some kind of reassurance, then to Gundam just as quickly for some kind of refutation. This... this can't be real, right?]
no subject
...Did you even read anything on this page you fiend or did you solely focus on the tab with pictures?
[Gundam eyes Hajime wearily, motioning for his Devas to work together to grab his pillow from his bed.
...He doesn't want Hajime cracking his head open.]
no subject
Uh, no, I mean.
[You're asking Ryuji Sakamoto if, given the opportunity between completely misreading a room and getting hot-headed versus taking the time to sort stuff out... that he won't go for guns blazing route?
Well, Gundam... Don't know what to tell you here.]
Look, somethin' is goin' on here, for real, can you at least... I dunno, promise me or just say something to the effect that you're not a killer? This shit is fishy as all hell, s'what I'm sayin'.
no subject
[Hajime's not even looking at either of them, he's just staring down at the handbook. He can be incredibly dumb like... 80% of the time. But when it's important, when he can focus, he's observant. It takes him a bit to try to put pieces together, it's true, but he's from the kind of game where those kinds of time limits are okay.
He shifts his grip, trying to actually take the handbook. There must be evidence in it that proves that Gundam's not a killer, right? There has to be.]
I won't believe... someone like Tanaka can be a murderer.
1/2
[You would die on that island ten times over.]
2/3
Even one as diabolical as myself has never forcibly sacrificed a being in pursuit of my desires.
3/3
...
Though! I assume despite your denials, Hajime Hinata! You require something more substantial than the mere words of the world's most terrifying calamity, Gundam Tanaka!
[He sees your hand and he really doesn't want to hand over this hand book to him.]
no subject
Good enough for him.
The mask fades away into particles of weird blue distortion, and that's that. If Gundam says he didn't kill anyone, he might as well believe him. He takes people for their word; it's once you break that to Ryuji that he will never forget that.]
Alright.
[That didn't really fill in the gaps of all the other absolutely fucking batshit stuff that looked like it was going on back wherever Hajime and Gundam had come from. He thinks back to all the talks he had with Hajime, too, about what it would be like to go home.
If that's the home he has to go back to ...]
The only calamity I'm seein' here is how you ain't lettin' him see that book. Might as well just give up the ghost, dude.
no subject
He still wants the evidence to prove it. It's in his hand, he's sure of it, and he doesn't let go of the handbook.]
If... if this has a list of students in it... the people you're saying thought I was their classmate... I want to see it, Tanaka.
no subject
It must be rather pleasant to live in a world where you are afforded such a luxury among those who surround you.
...Ryuji is most definitely a being who requires continuous protection.]
...very well. I have no murderous sins to lay bare.
[He'll let Hajime have the handbook.]
no subject
And also? If this were a murder game, he'd probably wipe the floor with his persona. He loved his inner demon monkey king.
He'll stay quiet as Gundam hands over the book. He's curious to know what's going on, but it's not his story to tell.]
no subject
Hajime takes the handbook, hefting it in his hands. He's never seen anything quite like it; sure, it seems like a normal smartphone or tablet, but there's something weird about that little dancing bear. Like a malice deeper than any he's ever felt before.
He shakes his head, tabs over to the Report Card, and-- selects his own pixelated portrait after a deep breath to steel himself. ...Well, he doesn't look dead, though what's with the only things listed on his profile being mochi? Not to mention--]
Super High School Level...
[Super High School Level What though? It's all just question marks, even in Gundam's handbook. Beep, beep, he taps on Gundam's portrait. Nothing surprising there. Then Chiaki's, again with the same kind of trepidation from looking at his own. Again, nothing surprising. It's... nice, seeing her face again, his own expression softening.
The next one he clicks on is Mahiru Koizumi, and he flinches, a whole-body shudder at the greyed-out portrait labeled DEAD. Though he doesn't recognize most of the faces, the more he taps on, the more dead students he sees. He feels faint, like he might throw up. But--]
There's... it's evidence that he's not a killer, isn't it? There's just-- too many people. I...
[He clutches his tie with a hand, looking to Gundam again more pleadingly.]
What happened? Why... this is what you meant about people turning on each other, isn't it?
1/2
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4/4 like i said the whole time
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