Yes. [It's an automatic answer, and he looks at Higekiri for a moment before he nods.] I'm checking the east half of the hall again. Let's go that way.
[And so they begin to walk. As they're walking though, he frowns into the distance.]
I don't like waiting. And I don't like that we have only nine hours to figure things out. [And he doesn't like that Carlos?? Is gone??] I wonder what they really expect us to do between now and then.
[Hige doesn't mind - he'll follow the instruction easily enough, both of his hands perched on the hilt of his sword as though he'll be ready to move at any sign of 'disruption'.]
Stew in our fear? Discomfort? Make it difficult for humans to think, as under pressure as they are...?
[ . . . ]
I am trying to count to see if truly four of us our missing, but everyone is so restless.
A lot of people don't know what to do knowing people are dead. Some of them probably have never dealt with murder before. [It's a thought, at least.] I keep missing numbers, too, but...three for sure are gone. Two of them are dead, and one of them vanished.
[for one of those who vanished - higekiri remembers junpei mentioning someone he knew here, and it sounded like when two of the people who were hard to find were named, junpei was pretty upset to hear it....
he will still insist, so they don't linger on the topic if junpei doesn't want to:]
...yeah. We have nothing else to do until tomorrow, so if we can find anything that might point us in the right direction then I'll take it. [He's pretty much going to wander until he's satisfied, but with a missing Carlos that's never.]
Beck said that Carlos and Polly were in the room she was staying in and she saw them before we were put to sleep. Have you tried your key on anyone else's door?
a simple and neat reassurance that junpei isn't alone in this, and higekiri will simply continue walking with him, eyes looking over everything even if we're not allowed to find anything new]
Mm... No. I haven't found my room yet. [hm] But I must always wait for my brother or our friend to allow me into theirs.
Chuuya. [Just a name on the reflex. But also what the hell.] I'm pretty sure the shells are keyed to certain doors, so even if you've taken on a new name it wouldn't work. [...but...]
You're actually a really good brother. It's probably a good idea to check on him. I think he's a little worried about what's happening, too.
He sometimes works a little too hard. Every time I talk to him it's "elder brother" this and "elder brother" that...it's kinda cute. [Hiza is a good puppysword.]
Keep him on his toes a little more. It'll be good for him. [Anna can suffer.
...plus, as far as Junpei's concerned everybody needs to be a little more engaged with what's happening, so this will surely be fine. He got 100% distracted about what he was talking about so that's fine, too.]
I don't know if our brother possesses the ability to betray anyone - though I worry at times that her memory may occasionally have more holes than my own. Regardless, she will remember what is important, I think.
As for the prince...
[he hums softly]
He is a man who thinks himself a beast, weighed down by the burden of his own imagined sins. Regardless... I believe his 'heart is in the right place' as they say.
[He's not going to ask why Grune is a brother instead of a sister, he's just accepted swords are like this.] You really think so?
[...from one troubled memory to another. He's about to ask something else but then Higekiri's actually talking about Dimitri and he can't quite think of how to react.]
Not that I really know one way or another, but are you sure they're imagined?
[Sounds like a problem. He leaves the Grune subject alone, likely to loop back. By now they're on their second or third loop of the hallway as they walk and Junpei searches for something he knows won't be found.]
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[And so they begin to walk. As they're walking though, he frowns into the distance.]
I don't like waiting. And I don't like that we have only nine hours to figure things out. [And he doesn't like that Carlos?? Is gone??] I wonder what they really expect us to do between now and then.
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Stew in our fear? Discomfort? Make it difficult for humans to think, as under pressure as they are...?
[ . . . ]
I am trying to count to see if truly four of us our missing, but everyone is so restless.
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[for one of those who vanished - higekiri remembers junpei mentioning someone he knew here, and it sounded like when two of the people who were hard to find were named, junpei was pretty upset to hear it....
he will still insist, so they don't linger on the topic if junpei doesn't want to:]
We'll keep looking.
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Beck said that Carlos and Polly were in the room she was staying in and she saw them before we were put to sleep. Have you tried your key on anyone else's door?
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[just
a simple and neat reassurance that junpei isn't alone in this, and higekiri will simply continue walking with him, eyes looking over everything even if we're not allowed to find anything new]
Mm... No. I haven't found my room yet. [hm] But I must always wait for my brother or our friend to allow me into theirs.
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--I'm going to come back to the second part in a second, but what do you mean you haven't found your room yet? It's been a week.
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[HOPE THAT EXPLAINS WHY HE NEVER GOT IN AND UHHH GAVE UP
but also,]
And until we discover the enemy, I prefer to know where my brother is during nightfall.
[he
he hasn't told hiza this
hiza thinks hige just doesn't want to be in his room]
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You're actually a really good brother. It's probably a good idea to check on him. I think he's a little worried about what's happening, too.
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'Actually'...
[though he doesn't seem offended]
Mm, he has a strong sense of duty. I can be a relaxed older brother because my younger brother works so hard.
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He sometimes works a little too hard. Every time I talk to him it's "elder brother" this and "elder brother" that...it's kinda cute. [Hiza is a good puppysword.]
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[HIGE'S SO MEAN]
Though I like it best when he's smiling.
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Have you told him that? Any of that, I guess.
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Should I....?
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Hm... I suppose I can play with him a little bit more.
[please know what you're condemning anna to]
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...plus, as far as Junpei's concerned everybody needs to be a little more engaged with what's happening, so this will surely be fine. He got 100% distracted about what he was talking about so that's fine, too.]
Who else have you been staying with anyway?
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[ . . . ]
Um... Our other brother also has a poor memory at times, and our friend is a prince?
[DOES
THAT HELP CLARIFY?????]
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These two? [Hilariously that does clarify for him since he's met and learned about both.]
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hige nods]
Mm, that's correct.
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As for the prince...
[he hums softly]
He is a man who thinks himself a beast, weighed down by the burden of his own imagined sins. Regardless... I believe his 'heart is in the right place' as they say.
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[...from one troubled memory to another. He's about to ask something else but then Higekiri's actually talking about Dimitri and he can't quite think of how to react.]
Not that I really know one way or another, but are you sure they're imagined?
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[who can say where that certainty comes from though??
but at the mention of dimitri, higekiri hums softly]
I think... that young man confuses himself about what is or isn't his fault.
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So how do you help someone like that?
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