PC: Mizuki

[westedge]

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[westedge]

[ he does stall for, like, a little bit because he's not sure if he should ask. ]

...did you break the chair so your pipe wouldn't be an obvious match? Or was that an accident?

[ he's not accusing her. but more like he's asking just to get a gauge. ]

[adorabrawler]

[ A pause. Well. ]

... No, I didn't do that. It was just a lucky coincidence.

[westedge]

Or unlucky, depending who you ask. [ ...sips his coffee. debates what he wants to do. ]

Nahri asked me something kind of weird earlier. About reappearing bruises? She said it was because of something you mentioned to her. [ he adjusts his grip on the cup. ] I told her a bunch of mine reappeared when we got back, so the same probably happened to you.

[ i'm not mad. i just want to make sure you're okay if this is what it is. hopefully you're not mad at me for asking. ]

[adorabrawler]

[ There's a slow, quiet exhale, then: ]

... You don't have to keep beating around the bush like this, Jonas. You can ask already.

[westedge]

[ goddamnit. ]

...first thing's first. Are you okay?

[adorabrawler]

That's a loaded question. I dunno.

[westedge]

Fair enough. [ how the hell would you answer it anyway. ] If you don't want to think about it still, I'll drop it. But it's...a pretty heavy thing, no matter which way you were involved. I don't want you to have to deal with this by yourself if you don't want to.

[ "Yeah, it's even weirder anyone would ask that out of a little kid."
"Not that weird when that little kid could be asked to murder any week to save herself and her team."

he's not sure if it was an accomplice kill with monika or if it was mizuki by herself. honestly it also doesn't fucking matter to him, given that he's talking to mizuki right now. and like he said, no matter which way it went, it's not something easy for anybody. maybe he's overstepping since it's not like mizuki doesn't have monika anyway, but...whatever. maybe it's a holdover from looking after her for this long. maybe it's concern for a friend. it's probably both.

this is going to be very funny if he's just drawing the wrong conclusions entirely and she actually didn't do anything. ]

[adorabrawler]

[ She shakes her head. ]

I don't think I deserve to say I don't want to talk about it. I just... don't want you to hate me.

[westedge]

[ which is fair, he thinks. ]

What did I just say about trusting me? [ he's trying to keep it light because he doesn't want her to feel bad about it, or feel like she does have to tell him anything she doesn't want to. ] I'm not going to hate you. For this or anything else.

[adorabrawler]

[ Well, if he can say that even now... ]

No, I—I believe you.

[ There's relief in her voice, even if there's still a waver to it. ]

[westedge]

Okay. [ that's good. hopefully that helps her feel a little better about this, whatever it may be. ]

...what happened?

[adorabrawler]

... No point in hiding what everyone already knows. I killed him.

[westedge]

I don't know if everyone knows. [ but he does suspect a good majority figured it out and chose not to pursue it. ] But I meant...what happened to cause it to go so...that?

[ bludgeoning to death. yeah. he can imagine that's a mizuki thing because he has seen her with her pipe and has felt a few punches. but the whole "blowing up and sending everyone on a scavenger hunt to find his pieces" feels a little off to him.

despite her outright saying it, he still doesn't seem mad. he's actually pretty calm about the whole thing. ]

[adorabrawler]

I... I didn't mean for it to get that bad. I promise. If I knew it was going to end up like that then I never would have...

[westedge]

[ placing a hand on her shoulder. ]

...I never would have assumed you'd be malicious enough to kill him like that, just so we're clear. That's why I'm asking. One thing at a time.

[adorabrawler]

[ Right. Be chill. He's chill. It's chill. ]

I had the rubber duck—it was a bomb, and I guess I just got desperate after a point to use it... But I thought it would be just enough to mess up the area he was in a little, you know? I didn't think it would totally annihilate everything.

[westedge]

I was wondering where that went. [ he saw it was sold out at least. ] I'm gonna guess that means it didn't come with instructions. How'd the flamethrower come into it?

[adorabrawler]

That... was Monika's. Wenzhou was really tough to fight, so I'm guessing she decided to step in and try to help.

[westedge]

Cops aren't always pushovers. [ hm. ] I'm glad she was with you in the end, even if...all of that happened. The flamethrower melted with the bomb then, I assume?

[adorabrawler]

Guess so. I don't really know, to be honest. We didn't stick around, for... obvious reasons.

[westedge]

I don't blame either of you. [ he can, like, guess the rest anyway. ] It's...a lot to process when it happens, especially if you weren't expecting it. [ though powermove on monika's part checking some of her own evidence. ]

Did you purposefully pick him?

[adorabrawler]

..... I did. Not because I have anything against him, but anyone else—I couldn't bear to hurt.

[westedge]

And you were just trying to help yourself and Monika. No, I get it. [ he can see why she would do it to try and earn more points when triple-m used to be ranked below themselves. he can only imagine now that this launched them forward. ]

It really was just a simple plan gone wrong. [ what should have been a bludgeoning with a little fire damage to obscure the scene turned into a huge disaster. ]

[adorabrawler]

More or less. So... that's basically it.

[westedge]

[ just a quiet sigh. ]

Aside from some details, that was about the best I figured in trial yesterday anyway. And look at that. Still not mad.