week 1 ( friday );

[reidentify]

[Well, that sure was a thing.

Lief's done his best to clean himself of blood, trying to wash away the memory of holding Haru's dripping torso with it. Still, as horrified as he is, he knows that he can handle this. Others, though? He isn't sure.

One name in particular is around the top of his list, and so he seeks her out, wherever she may be.]

Princess Yona?

Comments

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Lew-...?

[Oh, wait, no. Yona knows, of course, that Lewin isn't his name. She saw the profiles, but rather than call him out on it as she did with Lelouch, she's made an attempt at quietly accepting it.

Old habits die hard, though.]

No, I mean... Lief. [She glances up from her hairpin - which is in her hand, not in her hair - and then up to his face, still looking vaguely haunted.] Did you... need something?

[reidentify]

[He cringes slightly at the near-call of his fake name, but he brushes that aside.

After hushing a chittering Filli, hidden underneath his collar, he says, simply,]

... I was wondering how you were faring.

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...

[She shakes er head slowly. She's doing better than Akira - it's not like she knew Haru - but that's not really... saying much.]

It's all real. [Her voice is tiny.] I'd almost managed to convince myself it wasn't, but it's... all real. Everything they said about why we're here.

[reidentify]

... Yes, it is. I am sorry.

[He probably doesn't really have anything to apologize for, but... what do you say to that? Lief has, to an extent, been conditioned to understand the horrors of the world all his life; he can't imagine what it's like for Yona, to be plunged headfirst into this sort of situation.

Then, he pauses, half-waiting to see Yona's continued state, half-trying to figure out what to say next.]

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It's... not your fault.

[...it isn't, right? Yona glances at him briefly, then drops her gaze down to her hands.]

If it isn't your fault, don't say sorry. [He can't be the reason she or any of the others are here - so there's no reason for him to apologize. Besides, if he was one of them, he'd probably have no conscience, so he wouldn't apologize in the first place...]

[reidentify]

[Lightly, he reaches out to touch her hand, as a sign of comfort.]

What do you intend to do tomorrow?

[For the trial, that is.]

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[Yona's other hand comes up and rests lightly over the back of his. Thanks, Lief.]

I want... to catch the person who did that to her.

[She shudders.]

Letting them get away with it wouldn't be... right.

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[He nods.]

I know it will be difficult, but try and get some rest before tomorrow. Though I do not know precisely of what the trial will entail, it is doubtless that you will need your strength.

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...I'll try to.

[She's quiet for a few long moments, and then she shudders as something awful occurs to her - something she hadn't yet thought of.]

Hey, Lief...?

[reidentify]

... Yes? What is it?

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What about Haru's partner...?

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[...

He closes his eyes. That would be Yato, right...?]

The Chief said that... the partner of those who die on Friday are to die on Sunday, did he not?

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But that's not fair...

[Haru hadn't deserved to die at all. And Yato? He hadn't even been a target to start with.]

Can't we... do something? What if someone was willing to have two partners?

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They would not implement the aspect of partnership if it was meant to be circumvented. [...] We may learn more at tomorrow's trial. It is something to ask the Chiefs, at least.

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[She shudders again.]

...we'll have to ask about the partner of whoever hurt her, too... Because if they didn't do anything to her, that's not fair either.

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[...]

Yona... do you understand that the Chiefs are not concerned with what is "fair"?

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...but they should be... they have rules and everything, so shouldn't they have to be fair?

[rip the last vestiges of her hope to shreds, lief]

[reidentify]

[... He's torn between assuring her that everything will be all right and saying frankly what he thinks. It's tempting—so tempting—to do the former, but...

That will only harm her in the end, won't it? When reality comes crashing down.]

The Chief has already said that the partner of the executed will die with them. You would have to make a convincing argument for him to change that rule.

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[Her whole life, people have assured her that everything will be all right.

Most of the time, that's true. Or rather - if it's not all right, she's kept carefully insulated from it, so it might as well be for all she knows.

Lief doesn't lie to her.

It's a first, one she doesn't know how to handle.]

...what are the chances of any of us being able to do that?

[reidentify]

[...]

Not likely. Hal has not shown a pattern of cooperativeness so far.

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What about the other one? ...he's a little nicer, isn't he?

[reidentify]

Indeed, but in the end, he is also a copy of the original. I do not know if he would truly help us with anything that the first Chief would not.

... And I am concerned about what Hal said before: that while one of them speaks the truth, the other always lies.

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I tried to trick one of them into answering questions that only had one answer, but they talked around it.

[...]

I don't know if that means they just like messing with us or if it means it was real and they were trying to avoid us figuring it out too fast.

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... Both are possible. If this truly is meant to be a "game", then it would be the latter; however, it is possible that everything is so utterly a farce that it is all meaningless.

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It's too bad we can't just hit them to make them talk.

[reidentify]

[He sighs.]

Indeed. We would most likely injure ourselves in the process.

In any case, not everyone responds to violence.

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...

[There's something about the way he says that that gives Yona pause, and she studies him for a couple of moments.]

...you know, the more I think about it, the more I think my father would really like you.

[reidentify]

[He blinks.]

What?

[cutefaced]

You're looking out for everyone, just like he always tries to. And he doesn't like violence much, either.

[or.

y'know.

at all.]

[reidentify]

... I am sure there are many people like that, though.

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...not around here, though.

[SINCE THEY DON'T YET KNOW that hal and pal were the killers]