[INVES] Kitchen

[Krampusuke]

The kitchen appears to be well stocked and full of all sorts of different cooking appliances. Still, the place does feel a bit outdated by a few decades, but it’ll have to do.

The Kitchen appears to be quite a mess at the moment.

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

Wandering into the kitchen with a rather displeased Shimakage in tow, Yanagi frowns at the mess he’s faced with. He knows, for certain, that it didn’t look this way earlier, and for just a heartbeat, he’s stumped as to where to start. He seems to be waiting for some kind of guidance, though after a more extended silence, he shrugs- he figured, at this point, that Shimakage didn’t want to investigate, but it was safer to keep him around lest someone actually think he was suspicious.

Offering a nervous glance to Shimakage, Yanagi shrugs before quietly moving to the sink, checking for anything that doesn’t seem like it belongs.

“What’s the point of making such a big mess, Shimakage-san? I mean, er. Isn’t that just a waste of time.”

[Shimakage Seitaro]

It was true that Shimakage didn't want to investigate - that work was better left to their resident detective - but Yanagi hadn't seemed to want to be alone (understandable, having been one of the individuals to discover the butler's body). Ordinarily, Shimakage might have suggested they play hooky, but, well, he figured Yanagi wouldn't take that idea too well, and if there was one thing he wanted, it was to stay on Yanagi's good side.

"The butler had some lacerations on his chest, if I'm not mistaken. If this mess was made by the killer, he may have torn the place apart looking for a weapon. Or maybe someone here is just an extremely disorganized chef."

Shimakage looks for any sign of a missing knife, opening a few drawers as well as checking the knife rack if there is one.

"He died around ten in the evening? I suppose we'll have to question everyone on their whereabouts. Me, I was in my room until the body announcement, which isn't an airtight alibi by any means, but..."

And then the conman paused, leaning almost uncomfortably close to Yanagi before allowing his face to break out into a teasing grin.

"You trust that I didn't do it though, right, Ya-na-gi-kun?"

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

Peering cautiously at Shimakage, Yanagi allows his eyebrows to draw tightly into a line. He’s still a little shaken by the body, that he’s sure Shimakage can tell, but more importantly he’s worried about everyone else. Surprisingly, Shimakage doesn’t seem phased, though he is being more helpful than anticipated.

“Ten PM? I... was here, actually. It wasn’t that messy, I don’t think. I just wanted water.”

He hums, quietly, tilting his head before leaning against the countertop, sighing quietly.

“Why him, though? It... Mm. It wasn’t like Mukizu-san was a threat, was he? Not that, well, any of us seem to be. Except me..”

A pause, blinking slowly.

“But I didn’t kill him. Uh. Not that, I thought you were suspicious of me, but.. I was with Ootani-san and then Komatsuzaki-san.”

[Mukizu Gonkuro]

The kitchen is indeed in a mess! The two can note all manners of cooking-- no, baking instruments, being out and about and it looks as if someone was in the middle of making some kind of dessert with fruits, one can wager.

The sink surprisingly does not have anything of note. Shimakage's search provides equally (ahem) fruitless results-- nothing seems out of place from the kitchen. Knives all in place here!

There's a case of weapons or other seemingly dangerous items confiscated from the bedrooms in the kitchen as well with its lid closed.

[Shimakage Seitaro]

Shimakage lets out a lighthearted chuckle that's far too calm, given the situation. Making no attempt to lean away from Yanagi, he reaches out with one hand to give him a gentle pat on the cheek.

"You shouldn't trust what you can see on the outside. You say no one here seems like a threat, but one of us obviously had the balls to kill Mukizu-kun in cold blood. The people here are hiding all manner of secrets. Even me."

He turns, examining the baking utensils for a few minutes before pausing to sample whatever he can get his hands on. The curse of having a sweet tooth and being surrounded by fruit.

"Of course you didn't need to clarify your innocence, Yanagi-kun. I trust you. Besides, I told you before, didn't I? I'll protect you from them. If you did kill someone, I'd hope you'd tell me so that I could lie and say we were together. Now..."

Tucking his hands in his pockets, Shimakage saunters over to the box of confiscated items and attempts to open the lid with the toe of his shoe.

[Mukizu Gonkuro]

The lid comes off! Looks like it wasn't locked or anything. Regardless, everything seems to still be very neatly put inside of it-- untouched, even. Amongst the items are a number of identical throwing knives from the SHSL Butler Research Lab.

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

Sauntering over to the box that Shimakage stands ocer, Yanagi peers inside of it, thumbing through the objects to look for anything that looks like it could’ve slashed Mukizu through his clothes.

“I guess you’re right. But, hm. What secrets are you hiding, Shimakage-san? I’d offer one too, but, unfortunately I’m kind of a blank slate.”

After looking through the box, Yanagi returns to the baking supplies strewn about and looks to see if there’s any finished product, or if it’s simply just a mess that wasn’t cleaned up.

“This was Ootani,” he mumbles, absently. “He was baning when I was here last night.”

Shimakage’s last words catch Yanagi’s attention, though, and he blinks quietly at Shimakage. He wasn’t sure why Shimakage wanted to defend him so badly, but here he was, declaring allegiance as though they were lifelong friends.

(Maybe they were.)

“I mean, I’d… Do the same for you, Shimakage-san. But—... Mm. Why would you? I haven’t given you any reason to stand up for me. I’m suspicious.”

[Mukizu Gonkuro]

The throwing knives could have done something like that, one can reason. It's the closest match regardless.

As for the baking scene, there's unfortunately no finished product. You can see a sad, unfinished crust. It looks good regardless though.

[Shimakage Seitaro]

Shimakage lets out a quiet, almost thoughtful hum, as though contemplating whether or not to spill the beans or keep all his cards close to his chest. Intellectually, he knows that winning someone over will, inevitably, call for the sharing of personal details, but, well, he's a liar. After a few moments spent weighing his options, he eventually decides that he can afford to divulge a few secrets.

"My grandfather amassed a sizable gambling debt and I helped him get out of it by selling people things they probably didn't need. Hence, why I garnered some attention. I'm not a particularly dangerous person, if that's what you were getting at."

And then Yanagi utters two words that make Shimakage's heart stutter like an old car engine: I'm suspicious. For a moment, the look on his face is one of shock, but then it becomes...a little more unreadable.

"I told you before, didn't I? We're friends. You're vulnerable, and there are people like Ishida who will take advantage of you. And, anyway, if you die, you can't pay me back once we get out of here. Of all the people you could be suspicious of...I'm hurt, Yanagi-kun."

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

Yanagi picks up one of the throwing knives. Is it easily concealed on his person? He doesn’t like the idea of having a weapon, thanks to his already large target, but it might prove useful to produce this as evidence. Quietly, he hums, turning to Shimakage with a tilt of his head, expression blank as ever.

“How noble of you. I—... That sounds condescending, but it seems you have a good heart, Shimakage-san. .. Under all that hair, anyway. Hm.”

He seems to hum a laugh, apparently proud of his joke, though he soon catches Shimakage off guard, and stares blankly at him before his cheeks tint.

“No- I- I meant that I’m a suspicious person. What reason would you have to trust me so easily. Not that I.. Think you have ill-intent, or something.” He laughs, then, awkward as ever. “Besides, what if we get out of here and I’m extremely poor?”

[Shimakage Seitaro]

"Ah-..."

Shimakage has been told a lot of things in his time, but never that he has a good heart. Yanagi is wrong on that front, of course, and he can't admit to that now (lest he lose Yanagi's trust), but that doesn't stop the statement from taking him off-guard. So much so, in fact, that he completely misses the joke and stares blankly at the shorter boy for a few beats before regaining some semblance of composure. Slowly, he reaches out and ruffles Yanagi's hair.

"And you're just the opposite, are you? Not enough hair to hide behind. Everyone can see directly in your heart. Though, while we're on the subject, if you suspect your talent might have something to do with hair, I'll let you style mine in the morning."

Stepping back from Yanagi, Shimakage breaks off a piece of the sad, unfinished crust and eats it (hopefully not poisoning himself in the process) before moving over to the refrigerator and freezer and checking to see if anything is out of place in either.

"Why do you think you're suspicious? Because you can't remember your past? Let's say you're a serial killer; if you forget all about that life and live honestly moving forward, what reason would anyone have to fear you? What matters is who you are, right now, in this moment. People can change, and if our classmates are too busy fearing who you may have been in the past to reach out to you today, then I was right to advise you not to trust them. I'm not afraid of you, Yanagi-kun. Or of you being broke; we'll work around that."

"Now...are you squeamish? If you think we're done here, there is...one thing I'd like to test before we move on. Could you grab me another one of those knives?"

[Mukizu Gonkuro]

The crust is not poisoned and Shimakage is treated to an amazing taste! This is some top-tier stuff.
Anything that's taken out of the fridge and freezer you can find on the counter.

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

His attempt at a joke seems to be a hit-and-miss, and Yanagi quietly checks off the box, mentally— he isn’t a comedian. His frown deepens, slightly, as his hair is ruffled, cautious gaze watching Shimakage’s hand as though he’s not sure what he’s doing.

“... You don’t like it? I thought it looked professional. Proper.”

He watches, silent, as Shimakage strolls to the fridge, continuing to talk to him as though teaching Yanagi the ways of the world. In a way, he was, but it still felt confusing to have one of his peers become his... Mentor, or something.

“So you believe my amnesia is real, huh. … Er. What do you mean we’ll work around it?”

Once again, though, Yanagi’s confusion is brushed away only to be replaced by more questions, and he’s left staring blankly at Shimakage as he is once again needled on his personality. Even though he has his doubts, Yanagi nods, silently, pressing one of the throwing knives into Shimakage’s hand.

“… I don’t think I’m squeamish. I mean, I discovered a corpse a little while ago and... Here I am. So what were you, uh, thinking of doing?”

[Shimakage Seitaro]

"What? Did I say I didn't like it? I'm just making an observation that your hair is probably the shortest of anyone's here, but I never said it wasn't cute."

The crust, dubious though it appeared, actually tastes good when he breaks off a piece, and Shimakage makes a mental note to compliment Ootani on his baking skills. He also mentally crosses him off his suspect list; if Yanagi is to be believed - and really, he sees no reason to distrust him - Ootani had been baking when Mukizu was murdered. That didn't help much, but, well, even small facts were important.

"Obviously I believe you. You said people are suspicious of you, correct? What reason would you have to lie about something that would paint a target on your back? It isn't like any of us have had any reason to demonstrate our talents. You could just as easily have lied on the spot and said you were Yanagi Tsuneo, the mathematician, and I'm sure everyone would have bought it. Then, everyone would have just written off your quirks as social awkwardness. Instead, you told the truth. As for working around it, well, maybe you can just...help me with my business."

With the throwing knife pressed into his right hand, Shimakage extends his free hand, palm upwards, presumably an invitation for Yanagi to place his own hand there.

"...Do you trust me, Yanagi-kun?"

[Yanagi Tsuneo]

There’s a moment where Yanagi doesn’t seem to understand what Shimakage is saying to him, but then his hand rises to play with his hair, and he frowns.

“I don’t want it to be cute, Shimakage-san. I want it to be professional.”

But there’s a hint of a smile on his cheeks.

After watching Shimakage eat some of the tart, Yanagi frowns, realizing that apart from a glass of water, he hasn’t eaten today. He quietly picks at the tart, trying to eat it without losing his appetite completely— trying not to think of the body.

“Er. But you still have no reason to believe I’m an amnesiac. I mean—I am, but the point is that you just trust me. I’m not used to it, given my only memorable social interactions took place here.”

And then he blinks, quietly, before putting his hand in Shimakage’s without, apparently, an ounce of hesitation.

“I do, Shimakage-san.”

[Shimakage Seitaro]

"Is there some rule against it being both? I mean, sure, you look like a businessman, if that's what you're going for, but professionalism doesn't automatically negate cuteness."

"I believe you because it makes sense. Like I said, you'd have no reason to lie about something like that when your life becomes harder as soon as you tell everyone you have amnesia. I trust you because the Yanagi-kun I know wouldn't hurt a fly."

And then Yanagi places his hand in Shimakage's palm, and a smile immediately spreads across the conman's face. It had been a test - of course he wasn't going to turn the knife on Yanagi - and Yanagi had passed with flying colors. Allegiance, solidified. Gently, Shimakage curls his fingers around Yanagi's hand, giving his arm a slight tug as he pulls him towards the kitchen door.

"Then come with me. There's one way we can verify whether or not a knife similar to this one was used, even without finding the exact murder weapon."