DATE: OCTOBER 1ST

THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF OKUMURA'S DEATH

CHAT LOG – "NO fucking way…"

RYUJI: no way

RYUJI: NO fucking way

RYUJI: GUYS did y

RYUJI: did you see the news?!

ANN: oh my god

MAKOTO: so everyone saw the broadcast as well

MAKOTO: Okay, let's

MAKOTO: Let's not jump to conclusions right away

RYUJI: I'm freaking the fuck out right now holy shit

MAKOTO: This

MAKOTO: This could just be something they cooked up to scare us off.

MAKOTO: They didn't show any pictures of a body. So… we can't tell for certain if he actually had a mental shutdown or not.

MAKOTO: All they showed were pictures of police cars and tape surrounding the house.

YUSUKE: they could be neglecting to show the body out of respect for the family.

YUSUKE: Or it's too grisly to comfortably show on public television.

MAKOTO: …yes, I suppose so

MAKOTO: But without definitive proof, this could well be a hoax.

MAKOTO: Given that Kobayakawa's "calling card" was clearly just a fake.

MAKOTO: God, we haven't even had time to look into that.

ANN: Makoto, look, imma be real with you

ANN: That's wishful thinking and we all know it.

MAKOTO: what?

ANN: …We were there. We took his Treasure. We felt his Palace collapse.

ANN: Haru said that he's been acting weird ever since.

ANN: and let's be real, the rest of us felt like something was off, too

ANN: we just… didn't know what it was or what to do.

ANN: …

ANN: and look where it got us

MAKOTO: …

RYUJI: fuck

RYUJI: Guys, no, dont

RYUJI: Don't be like that

RYUJI: There's no fucking way, cmon

RYUJI: We've done this shit right four times in a row

RYUJI: And we let the Shadow live! That's how it should work, right?!

YUSUKE: Okumura's Shadow was… awfully weak by the end of it all.

RYUJI: But that just doesn't add up!

RYUJI: We hit Kamoshida and those other bastards JUST as hard, right?!

RYUJI: What if it was that Black Mask guy?

YUSUKE: …It's possible the chance of causing a mental shutdown upon defeat – regardless of how 'hard' they were hit – was always a possibility for the target.

YUSUKE: Perhaps… Okumura was just unlucky.

RYUJI: WHY ARE YOU SO CALM RN, MAN?!

YUSUKE: it's easy to conceal your feelings behind text, Ryuji

FUTABA: actually, can I butt in

MAKOTO: Futaba? What is it?

FUTABA: …so, look

FUTABA: Necronomicon always shows me the stats on everyone, friend and foe alike

FUTABA: I can see your guys' health, stamina, status, the works

FUTABA: basically, think like HP and SP

FUTABA: this goes both ways– I can see the enemies' stats, too

FUTABA: which means I saw Okumura's as well

FUTABA: Okumura's Shadow was pretty weak in general

FUTABA: a pithy 200 HP at max health iirc

MAKOTO: …With that in mind…

MAKOTO: How much damage did we cause during our AOA?

FUTABA: …

FUTABA: …

FUTABA: about 1600

MAKOTO: …

ANN: oh fuck I'm g

ANN: I'm gonna be fucking sick

YUSUKE: …Ren. Are you there?

ANN: …

MAKOTO: …

MAKOTO: …Haru.

MAKOTO: Are you there?

ANN: …

RYUJI: …

MAKOTO: …

[Haru Okumura has left the chat.]

RYUJI: …

RYUJI: oh my god

RYUJI: what have we done

[***]

DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, AFTERNOON

THE DAY AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT

CHAT LOG – "Sitrep?"

MAKOTO: everyone, I'd like a sitrep.

MAKOTO: Has anyone managed to get into contact with Ren or Morgana?

ANN: I saw Morgana on the roof today

ANN: He looked fine. Kinda shaken, but otherwise fine I guess?

ANN: Ren didn't show up to school today. Morgana actually wasn't sure where he was

MAKOTO: Did he leave before Morgana woke up this morning?

ANN: he must have

ANN: I'm rlly worried about him

ANN: That's not like Joker at all.

MAKOTO: Did you check with Sojiro?

ANN: I don't have his number, sry

ANN: I'll drop by Leblanc first chance I get, though

MAKOTO: Alright, good idea. And Morgana?

ANN: still trying to find Ren.

RYUJI: god

YUSUKE: I tried contacting Ren personally. No answer.

YUSUKE: I have a feeling he's not going to do anything drastic, but I am worried all the same.

ANN: …yeah, you're probably right

ANN: Just can't help but jump to conclusions in my head

RYUJI: What about Haru?

RYUJI: Haven't seen her at school today

MAKOTO: No. She's… absent today.

RYUJI: …

MAKOTO: I tried calling her.

MAKOTO: Nothing.

ANN: fuck

ANN: fuck, she probably hates us

ANN: And I don't blame her.

MAKOTO: …it's not out of the realm of possibility. Because I have an update for everyone.

YUSUKE: what is it?

MAKOTO: Sae came home for a bit last night. I overheard her talking on the phone.

MAKOTO: …Talking to a forensic pathologist.

RYUJI: pathologist? What's that

RYUJI: …oh

RYUJI: nvm. Googled it.

RYUJI: fuck.

MAKOTO: …Yeah.

MAKOTO: …and I overheard her mention things like

MAKOTO: 'black blood', 'cardiac arrest', and 'cold skin'.

YUSUKE: …So outside of photographic proof, it's all but confirmed.

ANN: a mental shutdown

ANN: …

ANN: I'm

ANN: This can wait. I'm gonna head to Leblanc rn

ANN: hopefully I'll run into Morgana on my way there

ANN: I'll

ANN: I'll talk to you guys later.

YUSUKE: ...where is Futaba? She's been awfully quiet.

RYUJI: …don't know. Sleeping, maybe?

YUSUKE: …perhaps.

RYUJI: …

YUSUKE: …

[***]

DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, EVENING

CHAT LOG – "sorry about that, guys."

JOKER: sorry about that, guys.

JOKER: morgana says hey, too.

MAKOTO: Ren!

YUSUKE: There you are.

YUSUKE: Where have you been? We've been worried.

JOKER: i needed some time to clear my head

JOKER: I was gonna try and see Haru at first – figured she wasn't gonna come to school today.

MAKOTO: Your instincts were right.

JOKER: …but no one's allowing guests into the house. Or anywhere near haru, for that matter

JOKER: shouldn't be surprised – they probably don't want anyone targeting her rn.

JOKER: after that, I guess I just

JOKER: wandered around

JOKER: spent a lot of time at that church in Kanda, thinking about stuff.

JOKER: Sorry to worry you all. It was immature of me.

ANN: No one's gonna blame you for feeling shitty, Ren.

RYUJI: We've all been feeling it.

YUSUKE: None of us have been able to get into contact with Haru, either.

YUSUKE: She won't pick up, and it doesn't look like she's been reading our chats.

MAKOTO: She left the group chat. She wouldn't be able to, anyway.

YUSUKE: …ah, right.

JOKER: …god, I'm really worried about her.

JOKER: With Okumura gone, what if Sugimura tries something?

RYUJI: fuck, that fucking asshole

RYUJI: …well, there's no way he could, right?

MAKOTO: Actually, I'm not so sure.

MAKOTO: That depends on how binding the contract between them was.

MAKOTO: A scumbag like him would definitely dispute the fine print.

ANN: fuck

RYUJI: She'd reach out to us if something was really wrong… right?

Silence.

JOKER: …Futaba, I know you're reading these. Speak up.

JOKER: what's wrong?

FUTABA: …hey

YUSUKE: Good – I was worried about you, too.

ANN: ditto

ANN: what's on your mind, Futaba?

ANN: It's not like you to be this quiet.

FUTABA: …

FUTABA: i'm the fucking worst

RYUJI: whoa whoawhoawhoa what

RYUJI: no you're not, where is this coming from?

MAKOTO: Futaba, what's wrong?

JOKER: Don't say that about yourself

FUTABA: i am.

FUTABA: i'm the lowest of the low

FUTABA: this is the exact same way my mom died.

FUTABA: mental shutdown and everything.

FUTABA: i hated myself so much

FUTABA: thinking that I was the one that did it

FUTABA: thinking that I could've done more

FUTABA: thinking I was useless

FUTABA: and that's gotta be what haru's going through rn

FUTABA: …i was gonna honor my mom's legacy by finding her killer and putting an end to all this mental-shutdown bullshit

FUTABA: and then I go on and kill the dad of one of my friends

FUTABA: tarnishing mom's legacy in the process

FUTABA: and ruining haru's life on top of everything.

FUTABA: she probably hates herself rn

FUTABA: she probably feels so alone rn

FUTABA: and… yknow

FUTABA: shame on me

FUTABA: shame on me for making her feel this way

FUTABA: and shame on me for spitting on my mom's grave like this.

FUTABA: im sorry guys

FUTABA: I know this is selfish

FUTABA: but i cant really do this right now

[Futaba Sakura has left the chat.]

ANN: oh my god

RYUJI: …holy shit

JOKER: I'm going over to Sojiro's right now. I'm gonna make sure she's okay.

YUSUKE: …alright.

YUSUKE: Apologies that we can't do more for the both of you.

YUSUKE: Keep us updated about Futaba's condition.

JOKER: …will do

MAKOTO: …

MAKOTO: …you know

MAKOTO: Ryuji

MAKOTO: …I really think you said it perfectly last night.

RYUJI: …what's that?

MAKOTO: …

MAKOTO: …my god, what have we done?