The Art of Murder

[profkowalski]

[Jared has been trying to keep everything normal, despite all the hallucinations. Which is why he's up late at night, slowly playing through Hatoful Boyfriend. Honestly, the current bonus route he's playing through isn't helping, which is why he jumps when he hears voices behind him.]

Jared? What're you playing? [He spins around, grinning quickly at Sammy and June.]

Oh-oh, nothing! This isn't something you kids should be looking at! [He pauses at one particular scene, standing up to grab their hands, Mr. Fish tucked under one arm.] Hey, how about we head to the crafts room?

[They're soon settled there, as he starts working on cutting out more felt shapes to work on another stuffed animal, occasionally stopping to entertain the kids. Something about this doesn't feel quite right, but he's not sure what.]

Comments

[arentyou]

[ There really was nothing to be done, was there? Harumi had been trying so hard for the last month to be better, to improve. Why? What part of her was left for anyone to value? She's empty. A ghost. Nothing more. She forgot that, without Garmadon here. Without her father. A girl shouldn't be without her father, right?

Which means it's time to leave. Harumi stands and gets dressed quietly, pulling out the katana the clown had given her. There's still a part of her that hesitates - has she really gotten so soft so quickly? Garmadon chides her for it.

Move, child. Do what must be done.

Of course.

She slips out of the room quietly and starts... well, whatever the opposite of the patrols Murderbot runs are. Her footsteps are nearly silent, a practiced skill. It's funny - she can't hear Garmadon's next to her. Almost like he isn't really there.

And as she walks the halls of the station, Harumi starts to whistle. ]

[profkowalski]

[Jared blinks a little, halfway through assembling a stuffed landshark, when he hears that whistling. He feels Junebug tug on his sleeve, the feeling weirdly distant.]

Jared, what's that?

[He stands up, slowly scooping Mr. Fish into his arms and walking towards a half-empty cardboard box near a wall. As he does, without his noticing the ECHO recorder in his pocket clicks on and starts recording.]

Sammy, June? Can you two come over here? [They come, looking curious, and he quickly gestures for them to hide under the box, before pushing Mr. Fish under as well.] I need you two to stay here for a moment, okay? And look after Mr. Fish for me. [Sammy seems content to do so, but June pauses.]

What about you, Jared?

Don't worry, I'll be back for you two soon. Just...don't get out until you hear me call for you, okay? [He sets the box down, now completely concealing the two children and the Magikarp. Standing up, he finds...huh, how did these get here? Well, he might as well pick up both the nailbat and the bubble trap. Maybe they can be of use.

Slipping out of the room, he starts walking along the halls, trying to make the sound of his feet as loud as possible. He wants to be followed, after all.]

[arentyou]

[ She hopes, though she tries to push the hope down, that no one makes any noise. That she doesn't run into anyone. Or she runs into someone who can beat her, who can stop this-

Footsteps. The mask on her belt speaks. ]

My child. Go.

[ Harumi hesitates. ]

You know the consequences if you fail again.

I don't-

Them too. I'll finish things for you.

... Yes, father.

[ Harumi slips the mask on and resumes whistling. Time to follow. ]

[profkowalski]

[Okay, that's good. Whoever's doing this is following him now. Jared hurries up, occasionally tapping and scraping the bat against the floor and walls, trying not to lose his pursuer while staying ahead...ah, somehow the doorway to the garden comes into view. He takes out his ID and swipes it before shoving it back into a pocket and heading deeper in.]

...let's see if this works.

[He sets down the bubble trap and steps down on it with all his weight. Slowly, the room starts to fill with bubbles, and Jared moves back towards the doorway, before something shifts in his pocket and he pulls out the recorder.]

...hey, when did you turn on? Well, I guess in case this doesn't work...

[And he records some last words that I will fill out later in case something dramatic happens during the week.]

Okay then! Let's do this.

[He stands right by the door, bat raised and ready. The bubbles should give him a bit of a concealment advantage, right? There's more noises around him now, and he's not sure which one is the real killer approaching, so he just keeps an eye on the door. When the door opens, he has to be ready to fight somehow.]

[arentyou]

[ The longer she goes, the louder Garmadon gets. From the mask, in her head-

FOLLOW THEM. KILL THEM.

She tries to think, to consider turning away-

FOLLOW. KILL.

She gets to the door and pauses for a moment. Then she enters, sword drawn, the whistling stopping. ]

[profkowalski]

[Jared barely notices the whistling stopping at first. Then the door opens-he can't tell who it is, there's enough bubbles by now to obscure some of his vision and the hallucinations aren't helping either. And then there's definitely a sword coming at him, and he swings the bat, trying to catch the flat of the blade and knock it aside.]

[arentyou]

[ The door opens, and enough things happen at once that Harumi is given pause. First off, the garden is full of bubbles, which is definitely new. Next, her sword gets knocked away - not out of her hand, of course, she's better trained than that, but away - and in front of her is.

Jared?

One of her lowest priority targets, when she made that list the first week. That leaves everyone who's best equipped to figure her out alive at the trial.

Later, she'll be glad for that.

Right now, she screams and swings the sword back towards the bat to try to cut it. ]

[profkowalski]

Why are you doing this? [Jared still can't clearly recognize any of the figure's features, except...long hair? That doesn't narrow it down at all.] Just-stop! [He backs up as the sword swings again, but somehow manages to bring the bat to deflect it by the flat again, nails clacking off smooth metal.]

[arentyou]

I have to!

[ Another swing, another miss. This is getting ridiculous. Harumi takes another swing at the bat, still blinking bubbles out of her eyes. ]

[profkowalski]

You don't! You don't have to listen to him! [Jared keeps backing up as they swing bat and sword against each other, each step backwards bringing him closer and closer to where he placed the bubble trap and the highest concentration of said bubbles. Of course, it's throwing off both their aims, this way. His arms are growing more and more sore from blocking each of those strikes. But he doesn't need to be precise, he just needs to keep the sword off him-

-and then there's a clatter, and his ID drops out of his pocket, falling to the ground.]

...no! Lala! [And he spins to smash the device in half, giving his attacker the perfect opening.]

[arentyou]

Even if we escape, I don't have a future unless I can get Lord Garmadon to love me again! So yes! I have to, or it's going to be worse for me and for everyone else!

[ And just like that, an opening. Barely even thinking about her movements, Harumi thrusts the sword forward, deadly accurate, straight through Jared's heart. ]

At least I can spare all of you his anger. I can do that much.

[profkowalski]

[Oh. For a moment it doesn't even hurt, as the bat clatters from Jared's hands to roll across the floor. Slowly, he becomes aware of the pain, leaking out through his chest.]

...sorry...I couldn't...stop...

[And then as the sword slides out, he falls sideways, landing on the bubble trap to leave it releasing more and more bubbles into the room when Harumi leaves. He blinks once, and then goes still.

Jared Kowalski is dead.]

[arentyou]

[ The last thing she hears from Lord Garmadon, as the hallucinations wear off, is laughter. Horrible, echoing laughter. Then he leaves her. And she's alone, with only her sins for company. Again.

How many times is she going to mess up? Well, this is the last one she gets, she supposes.

She spends a minute or so just standing there, watching the blood drip off the sword, mind a million miles away. She stumbles through the room, bubbles surrounding her, eyes just... empty, before she lets out a guttural scream and just. Lashes out with the katana and slashes deep across... oh, the tree.

Harumi turns, using the tree for dead reckoning, and just. Stumbles to the door to get out, to get some air, to do something that isn't stand here and scream at a crime scene.

When's the last time she felt this much?

Harumi has been dead for six years. She just managed to forget. ]