I want to be your best friend, or just eat you whole

[preybeforemeals]

[As usual, Tsukiyama's door will be open tonight; today has just been a lot of talking to people for the sake of it, because it's been a hard day and even if he doesn't want to really deal with people, being around them is still better than being alone.

It's...complicated.

That said, though, he's sitting on the bed tonight, sifting through the stuff he got from the Monomono machine earlier; he'd actually been pleased to get reading materials, only to be...completely unable to read the stupid thing and instantly pissed off again, because of course. Other than that, though, there's...not much of interest; the Promise Kiss obviously went to Ryuunosuke earlier, he's stashed Wario's gold somewhere well out of sight, and he's got the hair scissors separated out from everything else as something he wants to keep, but everything else...mnnngh.

It's giving him something to do while he waits, anyway.]

Comments

[greatestcool]

[Ryuunosuke took the time to shove most of his stuff in his room, though he's got his laundry with him and the stupid pinky ring on when he enters Tsukiyama's room.]

Hey, hope you weren't too bored waiting for me!

[His voice is cheerful as he carefully shuts the door behind him. He immediately takes interest in Tsukiyama's stuff on the bed.]

Oh hey, so this is all the other stuff you got?

[preybeforemeals]

[He offers a soft, noncommittal noise when Ryuunosuke enters, though he doesn't look up; he hears the door close, however, and that's about when he speaks up.]

Mhmm, it is - lock the door behind you, Uryuu-san?

[greatestcool]

Oh, yeah sure.

[He doesn't think twice about locking it. Once that's done Ryuunosuke approaches and drops his clothes onto his blankets.]

So no beating around the bush, huh? We're gonna get right to it?

[preybeforemeals]

If that's what you'd prefer.

[In other words: yes, pretty much.]

[greatestcool]

Okay.

[Ryuunosuke takes a seat on the edge of the bed, absently glancing at Tsukiyama's things for a moment before returning his attention to the other man.]

I was lying about the motive. I didn't get anything traumatizing or horrible. That bear knows me better than that - he gave me something designed to excite me. Something he thinks will get me to kill to get out 'cause I want to see what will happen.

[He smirks, though the expression isn't pleasant.]

I can kinda admire that, actually. The problem is that there's no way he could have possibly known about that, unless--

[.................hold the fuck up, let him see that book.]

Did-- You got this out of that machine?

[HANG ON THIS IS ACTUALLY RELATED, JUST CONFIRM THIS FOR HIM]

[preybeforemeals]

[...Uryuu-san, what the hell - ]

Yes, I did - I got that this morning, I've been trying to read it once in a while, but...

[...Wait.]

That's...yours, then.

[greatestcool]

Yeah. Oh my god... Yeah, it's mine.

[Ryuunosuke laughs, the sound isn't exactly sane, and he almost looks mad by the time he's done.]

This is how-- That bear...! I guess I've been underestimating him.

[He picks it up and flips through it, chuckling.]

If he's got some way to translate this then he knows exactly what I was trying to do, so he could easily come up with that "motive" for me. I don't know if it's real - if he really knows what happens in the future - but the fact that he knew was really, really bothering me. But this explains it!

[He places the book down on the bed, careful not to damage it.]

Sorry, sorry, I got distracted. That book's a family heirloom and it's got some specific instructions in there. I was going to follow them, but he picked me up before that could happen. I was wondering where it went.

[preybeforemeals]

"Specific instructions"...?

[That's...interesting.]

At any rate, it's good that at least your own motive has been solved; I'm not entirely sure how he managed to create mine, because it involves something that I was planning on doing alone and haven't told anyone about.

[greatestcool]

Oh really? You haven't told anyone about it... Did you write anything about it down anywhere? Because otherwise...

[Well, the implications there aren't very nice.]

[preybeforemeals]

No, I haven't. Not yet, anyway - I would need to write instructions for someone, but at this point no one knows what I'm planning but me.

[greatestcool]

That's... Yikes.

[Ryuunosuke bites his bottom lip while he thinks.]

So... So that means that the bear either got you to talk about it somehow or he... I dunno, he read your mind?

[HE'S NOT GOOD AT THIS]

[preybeforemeals]

...I don't know. If you want me to be blunt, I don't understand how the image could exist at all.

[greatestcool]

...So he left you a picture too... Is it something that's completely impossible to happen or something that's just really, really unlikely?

[preybeforemeals]

...Do you want to see it?

[greatestcool]

Yeah, I'd like to, if that's okay!

[preybeforemeals]

[Tsukiyama hesitates for a moment before seeming to shake it off, reaching into his inside pocket on his suit jacket and passing the photograph over with the usual brisk confidence that accompanies most of his actions.

There's a lot wrong with the image, but perhaps the most immediately noticeable is the location; it's a church, from the look of it, the picture taken from the center aisle, about halfway down and facing the altar.

At first glance, it looks like a bomb went off in that church.

On second, there's too much wrong with it to have been a full-scale bomb, though it's obvious that something probably exploded at one point, because the ground is littered with dark shrapnel that had to have come from somewhere - more like a frag mine, maybe. The pews are all largely destroyed, either splintered and broken apart by whatever caused all the shrapnel lying around or snapped in half vertically, as though something heavy had hit them and crashed through. Like a bull had charged through, or something bearing great weight was slammed into them.

The place is covered in blood - the pews, the altar, splashed up onto the pipe organ and the stained-glass windows; the steps up to the altar have it worst.

And that's where the body is.

He's wearing different clothing and it's a bit dimly-lit, but the hair color makes it obvious that it's very definitely Tsukiyama lying in the aisle; the shirt he's wearing looks absolutely shredded against his back, just below his right shoulderblade, and his positioning is doing nothing to conceal the damage that's been done to the right half of his body. His arm is quite simply gone, having been torn off at the shoulder, and his face...it looks like someone took a blunt object to his face, bludgeoned him to death, and then kept going - the right half of his skull seems to have been completely smashed in, his eye and the skin that should be covering that side of his face completely gone, leaving an injury that's deep and cavernous and gaping.

It's hard to say what could have even done that, but whatever it was, it certainly wasn't fucking around.]

[greatestcool]

[Ryuunosuke takes the picture and studies it, eyes wide. It doesn't take long for his mouth to fall open, but he doesn't bother trying to get ahold of himself.]

Wh... What...?

[When he finally manages to look up he looks horrified. Sure, this would normally be absolutely fascinating, but it's Tsukiyama. That's the difference - friendship apparently tops awesome murders.]

How-- How could he fake something like this? That's you, there's no way... I mean, it looks like you and you can't fake that sort of thing, right...?

[Makeup and stuff aren't that good...]

[preybeforemeals]

...I don't think faking something like that would be possible, no.

[His words have gone cold, and his expression is a little strange; it's difficult to tell if he's upset or angry or what, it's just hard and distant.]

[greatestcool]

So you think...? Oh no...

[The last statement is tiny and Ryuunosuke sets the picture down.]

Tsukiyama... What are you gonna do?

[preybeforemeals]

...I don't know.

[And that much is entirely genuine, and admitting it strangely seems to calm him down a little.]

I'm not a rash person, Uryuu-san, regardless of what my personality may lead others to think. I don't...have enough information about this, I can't make an informed decision.

[greatestcool]

Right! You're probably gonna be just fine here - I doubt the bear would let anything get in the way of his game, right? So he'll want to keep you alive for as long as possible. So the biggest concern is what's gonna happen when you return home. So there's... there's not a huge rush, right?

[HE'S TRYING SO HARD. He really doesn't know how to help.]

I mean, worst case scenario you could always come to my home, right? Assuming there's some magical stuff going on here that will put us right back where we came from or... something. I just... I just don't want that to happen to you! I don't want you to die!

[preybeforemeals]

...Uryuu-san...

[And it's really, really obvious that Tsukiyama has no idea what to do with that; he's not upset, exactly, it's just very clear that he's never really heard that before.]

...I'll be fine, I'm sure. Even if that's...supposedly in my future, when we get out of here I can always change it, n'est-ce pas?

[greatestcool]

[Ryuunosuke nods, though he's still trying to convince himself everything will be okay.]

Yeah. Yeah, it'll be okay. I... I'll do everything I can to help you, okay?

[preybeforemeals]

...If that's the case, I've found the person I'm targeting, when the time comes.

[greatestcool]

[That gets him to perk up immediately.]

Oh yeah? Who is it? Who are you going after?