[Ange can say that, but it won't really stop her from feeling like she ought to apologize. Apologize for being an inconvenience. For becoming a threat to everyone. For forcing Ange into a situation where she has to bloody her hands, regardless of whether this is something she's done in the past or not. In spite of all the progress she had made in the months, it's alarming easy to go on a downward spiral again.
But she says nothing, and keeps that to herself.
She's done running away from reality, anyway.
Once they're close to the ruins, Sumire slows her pace in order to take a proper look at their surroundings. A final look, really.]
[Ange continues to walk, though she slows her pace as well when Sumire does. There's nothing wrong with letting Sumire take her time, and see as much as she can.]
Why do you ask, Miss Yoshizawa?
[It's said quietly, but in a way that, uh, might reveal that maybe Ange hasn't thought this through as much as she should have!!
On the flip side she does have that kigurumi on her arm.]
That is not the sort of thing you should have to worry about. When this is all over... the trial that will come--that is my problem to worry about.
[cal: they progress through the ruins me: cal, our evidence.
Now that we know how fucked up Sumire got not even 12 hours ago, however! I can straight up say she's been sluggish throughout this whole ordeal, slowly walking alongside Ange. It's a bit of a process.
Before they get too far, however, Sumire will stop. She briefly touches the bandaging on her eye and nose first, and then reaches for her rapier, holding it up to her forearm.]
... I won't fight you. [And even if she wanted to, she can't.] But we ought to make it look like I did.
[If Ange doesn't stop her she is absolutely going to slice her arm with her own sword. It's fine.]
Ange pauses for a moment, looking legitimately knocked off her game at least a little. She turns, staring at her as Sumire slices right into her own arm, but... of course she doesn't stop her.]
... You...
[No, focus, Ange. This is for the better. If this is what Sumire wants, then Ange really could not ask for anything better than this for the sake of getting through this alive. For the sake of getting home to Princess--]
... You truly are the sort of person who takes so much suffering upon yourself. But I...cannot argue that it would make for a good cover.
[Ange presses her lips together tightly, before she finally nods, just as tightly.]
... Thank you, then. Please do--as much as you are willing to do. [As Sumire cuts into her own skin, Ange finally tugs on the kigurumi. It looks absolutely ridiculous, but she has no other options for not getting blood all over herself. She tugs the sleeves over her hands--no point in getting fingerprints on things after the last trial.]
[She rips the skin off her face several times a day to beat monsters up with the physical manifestation of her soul. This is nothing.
Honestly, though, she's placing her hopes in consistency as she slices through the flesh of her arm. For the past two weeks, there have been at least two killers. One ordered to kill by a leader, and the other — well. That's unclear. If there is another killer, and they killed for their own selfish desires, then she hopes this will be enough to get the heat off Ange's back so the others can focus on what truly matters.
But if there isn't, and Ange is the only killer this week...
It's too late to go back now. She can't afford to have any regrets as she shakes the blood off her rapier to splatter it on the ground.
Sumire will open her mouth as if to respond to that — before she apparently changes her mind.]
May we keep going?
[She will add a few more cuts for good measure whenever they move again, dragging her rapier along and swinging it at random walls to create the illusion of a fight.]
[There's little else to discuss. Sumire is suffering, but even as she suffers, she faces death with a strange sort of poise and dignity. In this, Ange is able to do nothing but follow, her expression quietly shut down.
Sumire asks that question, almost ridiculously, and quietly, Ange nods, and just as ridiculous responds:]
After you.
[They'll go in as deeply as Sumire is possibly capable of going at this point, with her wounds as she is, bleeding as she is.
[Eventually, the fatigue and blood loss will catch up to her. It's been an eventful day. This, unfortunately, isn't even the first time she's had to accept the inevitability of her death within the last twenty-four hours.
They only make it past the most heavily boobytrapped areas before Sumire has to stop, leaning against a wall. Her arms and rapier are well and bloody by now, some of the blood smudging onto her right hand. It's getting harder and harder to remember herself, and yet—]
... Will you allow me to ask for one additional favor? Don't consider it a task if you must refuse.
[Because, sometimes, other threads happen and there is One More Thing.]
[Even in the end, Sumire's last promise isn't even for herself, is it? At another time, if she was anyone else, Ange might've wished for better for her. After all, it's... sad. It is incredibly sad to live your life doing your best for other people, and to have this be the ultimate outcome of it anyway.
But Ange is on a mission right now, so Ange doesn't have time for thoughts like that. Those thoughts, too, she tucks into a tiny little ball and shoves away. Instead, she nods.]
I will do my best. I will... try to look after her.
[To the best of her own ability. It may lead to nothing in the end... but she can at least offer up that promise.
A beat. She swallows, and shakes her head.]
Are you prepared? [At least... as prepared as someone can be at a time like this.]
With that out of the way, she closes her eyes. Her breathing is a bit labored at this point. One hand pressed against her abdomen, while the other loosely holds onto her rapier as it slowly drips blood onto the ground. There is no time to feel sorry for herself. She made her choice.]
... Yes.
[Quietly. Is there any point in delaying this any further? Her life was already extended by one year. That is far more than she ever envisioned for herself.]
[This is it. Ange steps forward, takes a moment to think, and settles on something. Her initial plan had been to snap Sumire's neck, something that she thinks about with almost clinical detachment. But that wouldn't necessarily match this crime scene, and part of Ange honestly loathes to dismiss all of Sumire's efforts with one single action.
She'd worked so hard on this, and for no reason but to help Ange.
So Ange reaches for the rapier in her hand, left hand out and covered by the sleeve of the kigurumi.]
... Please, allow me to use this. If you will... take a seat. It will all be over in just a moment.
[She will pass the rapier to Ange, and move to sit down with some effort. In the process of doing this, she notices the friendship bracelet still attached to her left wrist. And because that kigu ain't going to make itself crispy, she briefly holds her left arm up once she's settled down, showing the bracelet off.]
[This is significantly more help than Ange deserves, but she hasn't survived as long as she has by ignoring any piece of advantage or assistance she can take. She'll use it.]
I see... thank you, Miss Yoshizawa.
[Ange tests the weight of the rapier in her hand, closes her eyes for a moment, and moves to stand behind Sumire with steady, non-hesitant steps.]
Look forward. [... She lifts the rapier to Sumire's throat, blade close to the handle resting near--but not against--the skin.]
... May you be able to rest and recover in whatever it is waits beyond this.
[Because Ange does not think it is proper death, not like this, not anymore, after everything she's seen and heard in this place.
With that said, her next movements are completely professional and clinical. She brings the blade up to Sumire's throat, applies pressure and slices straight across without a moment's hesitation. There is nothing jagged or jerky about the motion; it is thoroughly confident, as if she'd done it a thousand times before.
And then she steps back to let Sumire's body fall.]
[As it turns out, it's incredibly easy to get away with murderer if your victim helps you out.
Sumire does exactly as she's told. She holds her head high, eyes closed and mouth pressed into a thin line as she waits for that final moment. The trembling of her hands and the wobbling of her lips aside, she does not budge a muscle. She holds her breath, listens, waits, waits, waits—
And then it happens.
Blood spurts from the side of her neck as the carotid artery is severed. A small gurgle escapes her lips. It's a good thing that Ange steps out of the way, really, because Sumire's body proceeds to slump almost immediately — the amount of blood she previously lost expediting the process. The wall keeps her body from falling back completely, preserving at least some of her dignity in death. In a few minutes, Ange will have to shift her position in order to add the finishing touches to this scene. And in a few hours, three others will arrive at this scene to find an unidentifiable corpse. But right now? Well.
[As soon as the bleeding has slowed enough that she doesn't have to risk getting splattered, Ange steps over to where Sumire is propped against the wall, and crouches in front of her quietly.
For a long moment, she just looks at her.
And then she sighs, closing her eyes.]
... Thank you. Honestly, you did not have to do this much for me. But if it will get me back to Princess...
[... If it will get her back there, to the only person who has ever mattered, she'll do whatever it takes.
With that moment of dwelling over and done with, she gets to work. It is grim, gruesome work and Ange makes no excuses for it. The fact that this is now only a dead body does not make it too much less gruesome--but with her hands covered by the kigu sleeves, she picks up the rapier again and sets to cutting off Sumire's head, cut by careful cut. Rapiers aren't meant for this sort of work, and it leads to an unfortunately incredibly jagged decapitation--but it's the best Ange can do with what she's working with.
She carefully makes sure that Sumire is propped up against the wall where she was before, the last minimal dignity she can offer, and then she strips, wraps the head in the kigurumi, and sets off into the maze, expression perfectly flat and calm. The head and the rapier are left as far in the maze as she can go, and then she doubles back.
She borrows Sumire's bracelet, burning the kigurumi as best she can, before she returns it. And with all of that done... she gives Sumire's body one more glance. Then she turns on her heel and she leaves, bundled kigurumi carefully held away from her clothing. Tomorrow will determine everything. Ange owes her continued safety to Sumire, if she gets away with this.
It is more than she deserves, but she is selfish enough to hold onto it anyway.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
But she says nothing, and keeps that to herself.
She's done running away from reality, anyway.
Once they're close to the ruins, Sumire slows her pace in order to take a proper look at their surroundings. A final look, really.]
Um... Carré-san, do you have a plan?
no subject
Why do you ask, Miss Yoshizawa?
[It's said quietly, but in a way that, uh, might reveal that maybe Ange hasn't thought this through as much as she should have!!
On the flip side she does have that kigurumi on her arm.]
That is not the sort of thing you should have to worry about. When this is all over... the trial that will come--that is my problem to worry about.
no subject
How could I not worry? If you're caught, then... You will die as well.
[The dawning realization that Ange plans to just wing this is... alarming.]
I don't want you to die for doing as you were told.
no subject
Either way, she inspects Sumire for a long moment, before slowly:]
What are you suggesting?
[They progress through the ruins now, step by step, Ange carefully nudging Sumire around the traps that she's mapped out by now.]
no subject
me: cal, our evidence.
Now that we know how fucked up Sumire got not even 12 hours ago, however! I can straight up say she's been sluggish throughout this whole ordeal, slowly walking alongside Ange. It's a bit of a process.
Before they get too far, however, Sumire will stop. She briefly touches the bandaging on her eye and nose first, and then reaches for her rapier, holding it up to her forearm.]
... I won't fight you. [And even if she wanted to, she can't.] But we ought to make it look like I did.
[If Ange doesn't stop her she is absolutely going to slice her arm with her own sword. It's fine.]
no subject
Ange pauses for a moment, looking legitimately knocked off her game at least a little. She turns, staring at her as Sumire slices right into her own arm, but... of course she doesn't stop her.]
... You...
[No, focus, Ange. This is for the better. If this is what Sumire wants, then Ange really could not ask for anything better than this for the sake of getting through this alive. For the sake of getting home to Princess--]
... You truly are the sort of person who takes so much suffering upon yourself. But I...cannot argue that it would make for a good cover.
[Ange presses her lips together tightly, before she finally nods, just as tightly.]
... Thank you, then. Please do--as much as you are willing to do. [As Sumire cuts into her own skin, Ange finally tugs on the kigurumi. It looks absolutely ridiculous, but she has no other options for not getting blood all over herself. She tugs the sleeves over her hands--no point in getting fingerprints on things after the last trial.]
no subject
Honestly, though, she's placing her hopes in consistency as she slices through the flesh of her arm. For the past two weeks, there have been at least two killers. One ordered to kill by a leader, and the other — well. That's unclear. If there is another killer, and they killed for their own selfish desires, then she hopes this will be enough to get the heat off Ange's back so the others can focus on what truly matters.
But if there isn't, and Ange is the only killer this week...
It's too late to go back now. She can't afford to have any regrets as she shakes the blood off her rapier to splatter it on the ground.
Sumire will open her mouth as if to respond to that — before she apparently changes her mind.]
May we keep going?
[She will add a few more cuts for good measure whenever they move again, dragging her rapier along and swinging it at random walls to create the illusion of a fight.]
no subject
Sumire asks that question, almost ridiculously, and quietly, Ange nods, and just as ridiculous responds:]
After you.
[They'll go in as deeply as Sumire is possibly capable of going at this point, with her wounds as she is, bleeding as she is.
Then... Ange will finish the job.]
no subject
They only make it past the most heavily boobytrapped areas before Sumire has to stop, leaning against a wall. Her arms and rapier are well and bloody by now, some of the blood smudging onto her right hand. It's getting harder and harder to remember herself, and yet—]
... Will you allow me to ask for one additional favor? Don't consider it a task if you must refuse.
[Because, sometimes, other threads happen and there is One More Thing.]
no subject
Regardless, Sumire leans, and Ange stops, arching an eyebrow.
She crosses her arms, and does not seem to even process how ridiculous it probably looks in the kigurumi. Instead...]
What is it?
[The best Ange can do is promise to hear her out. She can't make any promises beyond that.]
no subject
[For obvious reasons. It's hard to maintain a long distance friendship when one of you is dead, and the other is not.]
If you both make it through this weekend, will you watch over her in my place? Even if it's only from a distance.
[And that is all, really. Even at a time like this, she's disappointed in herself for not being able to keep the promises she made.]
no subject
But Ange is on a mission right now, so Ange doesn't have time for thoughts like that. Those thoughts, too, she tucks into a tiny little ball and shoves away. Instead, she nods.]
I will do my best. I will... try to look after her.
[To the best of her own ability. It may lead to nothing in the end... but she can at least offer up that promise.
A beat. She swallows, and shakes her head.]
Are you prepared? [At least... as prepared as someone can be at a time like this.]
no subject
With that out of the way, she closes her eyes. Her breathing is a bit labored at this point. One hand pressed against her abdomen, while the other loosely holds onto her rapier as it slowly drips blood onto the ground. There is no time to feel sorry for herself. She made her choice.]
... Yes.
[Quietly. Is there any point in delaying this any further? Her life was already extended by one year. That is far more than she ever envisioned for herself.]
This is as far as I can go. I'm ready.
no subject
She'd worked so hard on this, and for no reason but to help Ange.
So Ange reaches for the rapier in her hand, left hand out and covered by the sleeve of the kigurumi.]
... Please, allow me to use this. If you will... take a seat. It will all be over in just a moment.
no subject
[She will pass the rapier to Ange, and move to sit down with some effort. In the process of doing this, she notices the friendship bracelet still attached to her left wrist. And because that kigu ain't going to make itself crispy, she briefly holds her left arm up once she's settled down, showing the bracelet off.]
I still haven't used this. [Tiredly.] It will allow you to control fire if you need, Carré-san.
[Sumire has already committed herself to helping Ange out. May as well go all the way.]
no subject
I see... thank you, Miss Yoshizawa.
[Ange tests the weight of the rapier in her hand, closes her eyes for a moment, and moves to stand behind Sumire with steady, non-hesitant steps.]
Look forward. [... She lifts the rapier to Sumire's throat, blade close to the handle resting near--but not against--the skin.]
... May you be able to rest and recover in whatever it is waits beyond this.
[Because Ange does not think it is proper death, not like this, not anymore, after everything she's seen and heard in this place.
With that said, her next movements are completely professional and clinical. She brings the blade up to Sumire's throat, applies pressure and slices straight across without a moment's hesitation. There is nothing jagged or jerky about the motion; it is thoroughly confident, as if she'd done it a thousand times before.
And then she steps back to let Sumire's body fall.]
no subject
Sumire does exactly as she's told. She holds her head high, eyes closed and mouth pressed into a thin line as she waits for that final moment. The trembling of her hands and the wobbling of her lips aside, she does not budge a muscle. She holds her breath, listens, waits, waits, waits—
And then it happens.
Blood spurts from the side of her neck as the carotid artery is severed. A small gurgle escapes her lips. It's a good thing that Ange steps out of the way, really, because Sumire's body proceeds to slump almost immediately — the amount of blood she previously lost expediting the process. The wall keeps her body from falling back completely, preserving at least some of her dignity in death. In a few minutes, Ange will have to shift her position in order to add the finishing touches to this scene. And in a few hours, three others will arrive at this scene to find an unidentifiable corpse. But right now? Well.
Let's do this for a third and final time:
Sumire Yoshizawa is dead.]
no subject
For a long moment, she just looks at her.
And then she sighs, closing her eyes.]
... Thank you. Honestly, you did not have to do this much for me. But if it will get me back to Princess...
[... If it will get her back there, to the only person who has ever mattered, she'll do whatever it takes.
With that moment of dwelling over and done with, she gets to work. It is grim, gruesome work and Ange makes no excuses for it. The fact that this is now only a dead body does not make it too much less gruesome--but with her hands covered by the kigu sleeves, she picks up the rapier again and sets to cutting off Sumire's head, cut by careful cut. Rapiers aren't meant for this sort of work, and it leads to an unfortunately incredibly jagged decapitation--but it's the best Ange can do with what she's working with.
She carefully makes sure that Sumire is propped up against the wall where she was before, the last minimal dignity she can offer, and then she strips, wraps the head in the kigurumi, and sets off into the maze, expression perfectly flat and calm. The head and the rapier are left as far in the maze as she can go, and then she doubles back.
She borrows Sumire's bracelet, burning the kigurumi as best she can, before she returns it. And with all of that done... she gives Sumire's body one more glance. Then she turns on her heel and she leaves, bundled kigurumi carefully held away from her clothing. Tomorrow will determine everything. Ange owes her continued safety to Sumire, if she gets away with this.
It is more than she deserves, but she is selfish enough to hold onto it anyway.]