WEEK 1 - SUNDAY / KAITO (evening, post-execution, lounge)

[crushcard]

[ If this keeps up, he's going to develop some kind of alcohol addiction.

This isn't the first time that he's found himself in the lounge nursing a drink of some sort. But after the events of this morning's execution (although Seto privately thinks that it was more of a torture session than anything), he finds that he needs it more than ever.

He's not one to subscribe to the idea of luck, either, but there's just a feeling about this place that gives him the impression that from here on out, it's only going to get worse.

If he wants to survive this and get out of here alive, he'll need all the help that he can get.

Which is why he slides into the seat opposite Kaito Kuroba with a practiced nonchalance - he's found that if you act like nothing is wrong, people are less likely to poke into your business and/or overhear whatever you are actually talking about.

It's a useful skill, especially considering the conversation that he intends to have with Kaito. ]

Your cards. Are you up for a game?

[ Then again, a card game is also a good enough cover as any, he supposes. No one would suspect an alliance to be forged under the cover of a card game. ]

Comments

[nowyouseeit]

[Kaito isn't exactly a drinker, but he's already consumed so much damn chocolate milk to help ease his nerves that he's surprised he hasn't passed out from too much sugar yet]

[he lifts his gaze from the table when Kaiba slips into the seat across from him, blinks slowly, drums his fingers against the wood]

[he manages a grin, one of his playful, confident ones. but it's forced. god, is it forced]

Only if you're ready to have your butt kicked, yeah?

[draws his hand back, flicks his wrist, and produces his deck of cards out of thin air]

[crushcard]

[ Sugar is the worst way to deal with nerves, Kaito. If Seto knew that, there would also be a lot of judging involved.

If Seto notices that Kaito's grin is forced, he doesn't comment. Instead, he'll laugh (it's also equally forced) and he'll lean back in his seat as he watches Kaito produce his deck of cards out from seemingly thin air. ]

Tch. [ There's a challenge in there somewhere.

All these sleight of hand tricks. You're going to have to do better than that to even try to impress him, Kaito.

He glances at the opening hand that he's been dealt. It's decent. He reaches for his third card. ]

... You did what you could, yesterday.

[ It's the closest that he'll come to actually offering some semblance of encouragement, because Seto Kaiba isn't usually one to offer such sentiments. He's also uh. He's got to work on his levels of tact, too, evidently. ]

[nowyouseeit]

[. . . leans back in his chair, shifting his cards in his hand, expression neutral. it's impossible to tell whether he's got a good hand or not, but it probably helps that most of his focus is tuned into their conversation right now]

I could have done more.

[or so he likes to think. really, he just hates admitting that he's helpless, here]

. . . if I had worked harder, maybe I could've found a way to stop things before either of them were killed.

[crushcard]

[ Usually he would be a little bit more upset about the fact that his opponent isn't giving his 100% into a game, but then again, in this situation, they're really just using it as a cover. He doesn't mind that so much. ]

We were complacent.

[ Not just Kaito, everyone who had voted as well. After what happened at the execution? To say that he doesn't feel at least some semblance of guilt would be an outright, bold-faced lie. ]

The evidence lined up too cleanly that we didn't think of anything otherwise until it was too late.

[ He closes his hand, places the cards on the table, face down. ]

This is just the beginning, Kuroba Kaito. The least we can do is condemn someone who's actually guilty when it next happens.

[nowyouseeit]

We didn't have any other evidence to suggest that our conclusion was wrong.

[he keeps his cards in his hand, but his gaze flickers up to Kaiba as he speaks]

. . . [he sucks in a deep breath, before he lets it out slowly]

I hate the idea of condemning anyone. I don't wanna ignore the responsibility I had in Hana's death, or. . . in any deaths that occur via execution from here on out.

But I can't-- I can't-- let someone innocent go through that again.

[crushcard]

Then don't.

[ It's curt, but it's not meant to be rude. He understands, on a certain level, where Kaito is coming from. He's condemned people to death for far worse, and after Atem had... crushed his mind, for lack of a better word, sometimes the fact that he did it and how he was responsible for their deaths still plagues him, no matter how he tries to tune it out.

He pushes the draw pile closer towards Kaito. ]

Own it. Use the fact that you were responsible, in part, for Hana Song's death. Know, for a fact, that you can and will seek justice even if it means killing a culprit.

[ His gaze is sharp. There's another challenge in there. Will you, Kaito? Seto's waiting for an answer, mostly because he needs to know if you're an alliance worth pursuing. ]

[nowyouseeit]

Ah--

[both eyebrows shoot up at the sharpness of that gaze, of the harshness of those words. his grip on his cards tightens, and he can feel his heart leap into his throat]

[he's not a killer. he's not. he's not. not after his father's murder. that was his code, and he wanted to stick to it]

[but. . .]

. . . I'll be damned if I let the person who killed Jason and framed Hana get away with it.

[he says, voice low, as his gaze drops again and he picks up another card from the draw pile]

[he's not a killer. but Jason and Hana didn't deserve what happened to them, and he wasn't about to let the Ghost roam free for their crimes]