I didn't come for a fight but I will fight till the end [W2 Post-Trial]

[zerotohiro]

[By the time he gets back to the hut that night, he's pretty much Done with everything and promptly flops on his cot. It's a day he's chosen to wear his hoodie and his hands are immediately in his pockets. He's beaten Yona back at least and it gives him a few moments to chill out.

The moment she walks through the door though he sits up, watching her carefully until the door's shut again and she moves further into the hut.]

Somehow...I feel like we screwed up even more this week than last.

Comments

[cutefaced]

[Yona wastes no time in flopping right down on her cot - she's tired.]

Me too.

[Her voice comes out sort of mumbled; she raises her head and looks across the hut to Hiro.]

But what else were we supposed to do? We didn't know who did it...

[zerotohiro]

[He's keeping his hands in his pockets, apparently fiddling with something he has and keeping his focus on that to think clearly.]

I know. We had absolutely no leads and we wasted a lot of time yelling at each other instead of trying to figure stuff out. I know why she was upset but...it just made everything a lot worse. There was a better way to do this but...I don't know what yet.

[Before he goes any further though...] ...you doin' okay?

[cutefaced]

...I guess I was sort of hoping that the Chiefs were lying about the evidence not being helpful.

[They were right about that. Of all the things they could have been right about, did it have to be that?]

I'm... [She frowns.] ...I don't think any of us will be okay until we get off this island. But I'm... I'm mad. I want to find out who did this so we can stop them from doing it again, but...

[zerotohiro]

We ended up with way more this week than last. We should've known sooner that it wasn't going to help us at all.

[But he frowns.] I'm still pretty mad, too. There's still too many of us on this island to make that easy, and with everything the Chief said it's gonna be harder to narrow stuff down. People will still keep murdering people. That's the problem.

[cutefaced]

...I think there are some people we can rule out.

[Or... one, anyway. Yona's been wearing her princessy clothes because she's a little uncomfortable with the swimsuit and sundress, and right now, she's reaching into her sash to pull out a little slip of paper.]

Katara probably isn't going to be behind any deaths we face in the future. [She holds the paper out to him - it has something written on it.

I'll be at the oasis in the morning. Come alone, if you can - alliances are best discussed privately.

- L v B]

...and Lelouch sort of... came off as suspicious today, but I don't think he's a killer.

[zerotohiro]

[It still baffles him that he's apparently rooming with some kind of royalty (he hasn't quite asked, not really) but he's patient anyway as she pulls out her piece of paper. Immediately it makes him nervous, but he nods in response.]

Katara might be more mad than both of us combined. And I don't think she's that good of an actor for it to be anything less than real. [But he's taking the paper.]

...when did he give this to you? [He doesn't quite comment on Lelouch being a killer yet or not.]

1/2

[cutefaced]

Katara's amazing, isn't she?

[Well that is. One way of looking at it. Yona's going to form the Katara Fan Club, if it doesn't already exist.]

2/2

[cutefaced]

[Her expression sobers a little as he asks his next question, though.]

On Tuesday. I wanted to make sure it was safe before I asked about bringing you along.

[zerotohiro]

She's pretty cool, yeah. [Yona...he's not quite there yet, but he does like her enough. Still, there's something about Lelouch that causes him to pause again.]

I saw him on Tuesday at the oasis, too. So...you went to go see him? [What's going on, why does this suddenly feel a little weird. It's Lelouch and he likes him but he's really hoping he doesn't have to be really suspicious of him, too. But then the rest catches up.] Hey wait a minute! What about if it wasn't safe? What were you going to do then?

[cutefaced]

[She nods.]

I did-

[Oh. About that... she smiles sheepishly and rubs at the back of her head.]

Push him into the water and make a run for it? He doesn't seem very athletic. I could probably outrun him.

[Which is saying a lot, since she's not super athletic, either.]

[zerotohiro]

[...just. This look.]

If you're gonna go off to secret meetings can you think of a better plan next time? I mean that makes sense, he doesn't look that athletic, but neither do I and I could probably still hold my own for a while.

[But alas.] Anyway...so it was obviously safe. What happened?

[cutefaced]

He said that he wanted to work together to figure out who some of the roles are. Specifically, the one who ensures that someone dies every week.

[...]

Honestly... I don't know why he'd ask me to help him with something like that. [She's?? Vaguely useless? She can learn, but she's not quite there yet.] But I guess if he's trying to find killers, he's already ruled out people he doesn't think are very threatening.

[zerotohiro]

I think most of us want that in the end, don't we? [There's a short, curious look though.] Isn't it obvious? Yona, how many people have you talked to on the island so far? Just about everybody at some point or another, right?

[...also you're a princess and non-threatening, yes.]

[cutefaced]

Yes, but... I guess he wants to work on it in secret so that if he's getting close to figuring it out, someone doesn't realize that and do something to him.

[As for his question -]

...I don't know about talking to everybody... but I've yelled at a lot of people?

[zerotohiro]

It's a smart move on his part. Pinpoint the people you trust not to betray you so that you can start building a small group working together. If you can't be everywhere at once, find people who can act in your place.

I think yelling at people counts for something. People seem to be more themselves when they're passionate about stuff. You've seen how trials go.

[cutefaced]

I guess that's true...

[People who don't get along with her might get along with him - especially if she makes a point of bickering with him in trials, like she did today with all the "take off your clothes" stuff.]

Anyway... I think the chances are high that he doesn't have any kind of a role at all. He just wants to find the ones who are killing people so he can stop them. [...] ...I don't know how he plans on doing, that, but...

[Her brows furrow.]

I think... we can trust him.

[zerotohiro]

I wouldn't rule him out that fast about having a role. We still don't know how many or what kind exist. Just that they do. [There's a deep breath.] But I think we can trust him for now, too. It wouldn't hurt to see what he has to say and stay on his good side. Staying on everyone's good side is hard, but if he's actively looking for people it's better for us to be aligned that way than the opposite direction.

I've talked to him a few times, too. So...if he trusts both of us that'll be better for you and me.

[cutefaced]

...I guess you're right about that... maybe he just doesn't have a dangerous role. [A helpful role... maybe. Yona thinks Lelouch can be kind of prickly sometimes - sort of a jerk - but... he means well, most likely.

Or at least, for now, it's in his interests to keep people alive instead of trying to kill them.]

He told me that it was... easier for him to get a read on me than it was for him to get a read on you. [...] I guess you're more mysterious than me. But once he gets to know you, I bet he'll ask to have an alliance with you, too.

[zerotohiro]

Maybe not. The most we could really do is ask him and if the whole point of roles is secrecy he might not say so. But if he had one, it's probably not dangerous.

[There's a surprised noise.] What does that even mean? I don't think I'm mysterious or anything. But you are kinda transparent sometimes, so I guess I can see his point. If he does ask for an alliance with me, I'll let you know. If we're all on the same side then there's nothing to hide.