Not Again! With Akira

[shortforever]

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[shortforever]

[Somehow he's not surprised Akira heard that, but hearing confirmation just makes his expression fall.

It's one Akira should be familiar with. It's the one he had after Dazai's execution. Wounded, upset.

Scared.]

Yeah, see? They left their friends there to rot. If they'd do that to their friends, then they're not gonna give two shits about us. And even if they suddenly had a change of heart and said "oh we'll help you", I can trust someone who'd abandon their friends so easily.

[survivaltricks]

[. . . ah. yeah. he is familiar with that expression, and Akira's own shifts into something understanding. something sympathetic]

I never asked them why those who had died had to be left behind.

[. . .]

But regardless of why, I won't allow that to happen to anyone here. I won't.

[shortforever]

Yeah. I'm gonna protect you guys here.

[Chuuya's circle of protection is probably a lot narrower than Akira's, but the sentiment is still there. He can't trust other people to keep them safe, so he'll do the protecting.]

I'm not gonna go starting fights with them or anything, but I'm not gonna rely on them either.

[survivaltricks]

[. . .]

That's okay. You don't have to.

[Akira himself can be slow to trust, and even he has a small niggling of doubt at how well he can trust the other people here. but. . . he wants to try]

[because he knows working together is the only way for them to succeed]

As long as our groups don't fight, then. . . it should be okay.

[shortforever]

Akira. When the murders start happening, the fights are gonna happen too.

[Because he absolutely believes murders are going to happen.]

[survivaltricks]

[his expression flickers into something pained]

I-- don't you want to stop them before they happen?

[he knows they might not be able to]

[. . . but it doesn't hurt to try. to hope. does it?]

[shortforever]

Of course I do. But I'm not stupid. Remember how everyone got knocked out at the house? It's probably gonna happen again this time too.

[survivaltricks]

[EVERYONE IS SO. . . well. if Akira is being frank? they're all rightfully pessimistic]

. . . this really sucks.

[shortforever]

[It's hard to keep a positive attitude when things went so terribly last time.]

No hiding objects this time either. We can't talk powers or team colors, sure, but items we should be able to share with each other. There's no repeats of what happened with Dazai last time.

[He still feels betrayed over what happened there.]

[survivaltricks]

[. . .]

[reaches out to touch Chuuya's elbow, gentle and reassuring]

I won't hide a damn thing from you, Chuuya.

That I can promise.

[shortforever]

And I'll do the same too.

[As much as he can, at least. No more keeping secrets about murdering people.]

We'll have to play their game too. To get those items, like we got last time.

[Assuming that this camp and the mansion run similarly, with minigames.]

[survivaltricks]

. . . maybe not just to get items. Completing tasks might also have something to do with getting us home.

[which comes from him talking to some people about the game mechanics back at the castle, though he has no idea how similar things will really be]

[shortforever]

That could be too, yeah. We play their games, we get to go home.

We just gotta avoid the traps that the demon group fell into. There's no telling how truthful our 'camp counselors' actually are.

[survivaltricks]

[. . .]

I want to trust them.

[he wants to so badly, but. he might have three-sisters biases]

I know it's hard to, and I don't blame anyone for being suspicious, but. . I want to.

[shortforever]

This isn't like with the girls and Blue, Akira.

[survivaltricks]

You don't know that.

[but he doesn't know that it is, either]

[shortforever]

Neither do you.

[survivaltricks]

[exhales]

[. . .]

You're right. I don't.

[and he hates not knowing]

[shortforever]

...the group with the demons, they said the demons lied to them. They thought the demons were telling them how to get out, but they were actually trapping them in.

We lucked out. The girls really did want to help us. Not everyone was as lucky as we were.

[Trust issues: he has them.]

[survivaltricks]

[. . . ah. no wonder people here have trust issues. . . tch]

If they turn on us. . . [he trails off] If it turns out they're lying to us, then we'll destroy them.

Completely and utterly. From the inside out.

[shortforever]

Good. And if it turns out they're lying, don't hesitate. I've got your back, but we could both get wiped out at once if it turns out bad.

[survivaltricks]

I won't hesitate.

[he just. . . hopes it doesn't come to that]