Kirumi Tojo's Palace | The Ultimate Maid's Failures

[kandata]

By now everyone may be used to find themselves in bizarre locations, between going into palaces and visiting Nekyia. It might not come as a surprise that it has happened again.

What might come as a surprise, though...is how empty this place is.

All around you there's nothing more than a large, gray, featureless expanse. In the distance there seem to be bars, curving upwards to gather so, so high above you, possibly hundreds of miles above, so high it’s hard to distinguish.

It’s a cage. So unfathomably large. You could escape, were you to get to the edges of the cage, but...it would take forever. No matter how you look at it, you're trapped. The atmosphere is so...hopeless. Devoid of anything even remotely positive.

Not that you want to hang around for long, do you? After all, this is someone's palace. Not a place to stick around at. What to do, though?

It’s all so...empty. Silent. Featureless. A flat expanse of hard gray tiles.

Gather together, everyone. Gather and choose a direction. North, East, West, South. All directions look completely identical, but could it affect your time in this place, somehow? Probably not. But all treks start with the first step. Perhaps, if you get moving, you'll progress?

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[moonshaded]

[Well, those bowls are a lot bigger than she thought they were from the other side of the cabin. Looks can be deceiving, can't they?

Despite their size and dominance on this side of the chamber, it's the cube of glass that gets her attention first. It's see-through, right? What's suspended inside?]

[kandata]

[This cube of glass seems to be some sort of cubical jar, judging by the lid on the top. The lid is unlocked! Looking inside through the glass, you'll find...

Three little paper dolls. They're all labeled with the word 'MYSELF'.

There's something engraved on a side of the cube: 'watch out, you only get three in total!']

[moonshaded]

[Oh, that's...

She almost touches the glass - because it's hard to keep one's hands to oneself in a cavern of cursed objects - but pulls away at the last second. Was it that Kirumi had once hoped for a second chance? A third? She wonders.

Now, does one of those little paper dolls disappear when Argenti hits the button?]

[kandata]

[They don't! The general shape and design look pretty similar to the people Argenti got, though. Probably made from the same source, but yeah, no dolls identical to these ones popped from the machine. Looks like it's all serious when it says you only get three of these dolls as maximum!]

[moonshaded]

[Oh, there are so many little dolls. What a headache...

... Even if they are, she guesses, a little cute.

Do the ones in the case also look like Kirumi, or are they just labeled MYSELF? In the interest of getting a closer look at them, Kainé will look for a way to open the cube.]

[kandata]

[They do look like Kirumi. They're colored black, and have that serious expression Kirumi has often.

The cube has a lid at the top, which Kainé will find unlocked, giving access to the dolls. Ah, go ahead!]

[moonshaded]

[She will extract one doll! Very gently, since they do seem to be delicate things...]

Heh... Can't even smile in this form, huh?

[Well, she gets it. Kainé turns the doll over in her hands just to make sure there's nothing inside it or written in an invisible place. Well, really she's looking at it with her brows creased together like she isn't really sure what she's looking for, but at least she's being thorough.]

[kandata]

[There's something written with tiny letters, in Kirumi's handwriting. It's hard to read because it's graphite against black, but if Kainé holds it in the right angle, she'll be able to read it.

'I don't want to die...'

The same writing is on all three dolls]

[moonshaded]

[This will become more resonant once Kainé gets information about the jacuzzi bowls, but even now, she has to think of how many times she's heard and felt those words.

The dolls can sit safely on top of their little glass box for now. She'll see what the others found. Maybe try yelling into the dumbwaiter and see if it carries. Who knows?]

[kandata]

[Definitely, go ahead! Confer with the rest of the right side pals, yup!]

[moonshaded]

[Now that she's conferred through the dumbwaiter and sent some dolls over to Aaron, Kainé returns to the glass case and takes a second Kirumi doll to the helpful transporter. But she doesn't put it in. Instead, she asks - ]

Is "MYSELF" herself, or is it supposed to be, like...your...self?

[Holy shit this is confusing.

She means for the fire. Is a MYSELF doll the same as throwing Kirumi herself on the sacrificial flame, or is it just a stand-in for any answerer.]

[kandata]

[For the record, since I probably was unclear, it's the latter, yup]

[moonshaded]

[You were not! What if they had to answer the puzzle as if they were Kirumi? It's why it's an important question, even if Kainé phrased it in possibly the actual worst way and hurt herself in her confusion.

Anyway, with that knowledge in hand, and also the doll in hand, Kainé will go to that middle bowl that's waiting for an answer.

She tosses the MYSELF doll in - and it really is a toss, slightly light-handed, like she's trying not to think about it too hard.]

[kandata]

[So light-handed! The doll falls into bowl, and just like it happened with the other two, Monokuma's voice asks the question:]

You are Kainé. You would sacrifice yourself to save 15 people. Is that your final answer?

[She may have tried not to think about it too hard, but it seems the palace wants to know more!]

[moonshaded]

That's what it means, isn't it?

[And it's easier than giving a number, which is impossible for many reasons, but those might need to come with any follow-ups.]

Yeah, it's my answer.

[kandata]

[Ah, so it's the final answer! The bowl incinerates the paper doll, but unlike the others, where there were only ashes left, what's left is a crumpled, scorched doll that very vaguely resembles Kirumi]

...why? I...find hard to understand...

[Of course someone who doesn't want to die would be puzzled. It's quite something, that someone who has stated selfless devotion seems to be really, really hesitant about the concept of sacrificing yourself for someone else. Even if it's for over a dozen people.

Will you answer honestly, Kainé?]

[moonshaded]

[She stares at the doll for a moment and is still staring at it when she replies.]

Don't got a number to give you. One person or ten or a hundred; I've probably crapped bigger collateral. Bad shit? It happens, and I haven't always stopped it. If things got that bad, maybe I wouldn't even blink. But I know what I would do with my life for something important. Fifteen people who wouldn't live any other way.

What's written on that doll... I don't wanna die, either. I'm not done yet. But when it comes to my own life -

I'm the only one who gets to say how I'll live it.

[All of that is honest.]

[kandata]

...I...

[Kirumi's voice seems to hesitate. She sighs]

It takes a lot of willpower to stand and speak like you are doing. To want to ensure what happens with your life is what you want. Please forgive the impudence of saying I think it is admirable.

...I do not have such fortitude. Perhaps...I am lacking something you have...

[That last part was almost a murmur. Seems Kirumi accepts the answer. From the dumbwaiter over there, a new note appears, black with white letters in Kirumi's handwriting.

'The class trial just ended. During the investigation and the subsequent trial, I cooperated with everyone to condemn someone to death for actions that did not deserve such a punishment.

I took a life. Indirectly, but I have. I watched the person I voted for die a most horrible death, in front of us all. And I knew I had part of the responsibility.

As much as I tell myself the survival of the culprit would mean everyone else, including me, dying instead, it is of little consolation.

I will not flinch anymore. I have to steel myself, for all that may come.

I do not want to die. For everyone's sake...and for my own.'

It's not often Kirumi thinks of something that's directly about herself. The last four words are bolded. The events of the killing game seem to have began to harden Kirumi, perhaps fueled by her own wish to not die.

It sure is somewhat of a change from the note Sayaka had received after answering the first question.

The bowl Kainé dealt with fills with water. It's tinged slightly red]

[kandata]

[A little after Kainé yelled into the dumbwaiter, it came back on its own. It's faint, but it sounds like Aaron's voice:]

"The hell?! That the exhibitionist chick?"

i replied to fishy with this, somehow, already, so i will just edit that in here and link to it

[moonshaded]

[Oh, shit, it actually works, she guesses. Her eyes widen in surprise but narrow very quickly when Aaron is...well, Aaron.]

You're lucky you're on the other side of this cave, or I'd shut your dick in this thing's doors. [It's testy, but not the level of true anger she spouts when actually bursting with violent temper.]

We've got paper dolls of people and big vats to burn them in.

[Which shouldn't sound concerning at all.]