Day 15

[loveandwillpower]

Akira's not in the infirmary, which is just as well. Or in his room, which is... actually a pretty good sign, if her third guess is on point.

Her third guess is Ichigo's room, so that's where she's knocking. And hoping that Ichigo's the heavier sleeper between the two, and also that they're asleep. She's not interrupting anything, she knows this because she is naturally in tune with the power of love. Or because she had her ear to the door for a minute and nobody's that quiet. It's totally the power of love, though, nobody can prove otherwise.

Comments

[purrtagonist]

. . . you cut the rope into the morgue so you and Illyasviel couldn't get out.

[Minako]

[loveandwillpower]

You can't get a better alibi than that!

...I didn't know our tablets wouldn't work down there.

[purrtagonist]

Is that why you cut it? To create an alibi?

[loveandwillpower]

Yeah, like one of Erika's tape rooms!

[purrtagonist]

[squints at her. . .]

You could have just spent the entire night together. There was no reason for you to manufacture an alibi by cutting the rope.

[loveandwillpower]

Like Corrin and Niles spent the night together? It's not much of an alibi if one of you falls asleep!

[purrtagonist]

[. . . okay, point]

Did you have reason to think Illyasviel was going to run off on you?

[loveandwillpower]

No way - she acts tough, but she's more likely to be killed than to kill anyone herself!

[ You know. Just in case they didn't have enough reasons to worry about Ichigo's sanity. ]

[purrtagonist]

[THANKS MINAKO. . .]

She really needs to stay alive for Ichigo's sake too, you know.

[loveandwillpower]

And she cares about living even less than he does.

[ Between the two of them, it's not going to be easy. ]

[purrtagonist]

Yeah. I've noticed.

[WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO WITH THESE PEOPLE. . .]

[loveandwillpower]

And we can't stick with the same people night after night...

We could talk them into sticking with each other for sure once, maybe twice, and then they'd get split up, like - like Futayo and Erika.

[purrtagonist]

[. . .!]

Rin is going to look after Ichigo tonight. But what about the next killing night? Illyasviel and Ichigo could pair up then.

Ah, but then who would pair with Illyasviel tonight. ..

[loveandwillpower]

Can you?

I'm not sure she'd want to hang out with me two rounds in a row, not after I trapped us in a creepy pit.

[purrtagonist]

And I highly doubt she trusts me enough to spend the evening with me. . .

[argh]

Who else is she closed to?

[loveandwillpower]

I didn't expect her to trust me, either!

[ She's awful mysterious, that Illya. ]

[purrtagonist]

[SHE REALLY IS]

You could say that again. I can't get a good read on her.

[loveandwillpower]

I think she cares about her brother back home, and about Ichigo here, and that might be it?

She doesn't act like someone who's used to having friends.

[ Minako would definitely know how someone like this acts. ]

[purrtagonist]

Based on what she told me about her upbringing, that isn't really surprising.

[loveandwillpower]

Yeah, like - she's got all that witch stuff and servants, but nobody who cared about pushing her into having a good time?

[ She's getting huffy again. Righteous indignation comes easily to superheroes. ]

She doesn't even know what she's missing! She's older than I am but she's never had the chance to goof off at an arcade, or have a real sleepover, or, you know, all the normal girl stuff!

[purrtagonist]

And she said that she was "created" specifically to die. What's up with that? She absolutely deserves the chance to be a normal teenager for once in her life.

[loveandwillpower]

Even if it'd take a miracle for her to get a normal life, I've pulled off miracles before.

[ It's usually Usagi who does the heavy lifting on miracles, but look, Minako's an Ultimate knockoff moon princess right now, surely that's enough to score a happy ending for one lonely girl. ]

...Three more nights. If she makes it through the next one, and sticks with Ichigo the one after that - yeah, last one, ask her for help with something. Baking a cake, or a surprise party, whatever it is, if it's for Ichigo, she'll go for it!

[purrtagonist]

And then she and Ichigo can get out of here.

[considering Ichigo seems to be like, at the end of his rope, Akira thinks that's a really good thing]

[1/2]

[loveandwillpower]

If I can get the both of them out of it, that's a win as far as I'm concerned.

[2/2]

[loveandwillpower]

...I want you safe too, of course, but you don't set off my guardian instincts!

You're a total Tuxedo Mask type, after all.