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ninjagirlstar5 · 3 months

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Buddy you're like the Teruya person in my head, how would you rewrite his role/participation in Sdra2? (My guy deserved better)

...Ngl, I'm kinda happy to hear that you see me as the Teruya person in your head. I think about Teruya so goddamn much that I'm constantly writing about him and coming up with ideas for him and shit that I really want to share it with others. He lives rent free in my brain and I wouldn't have it any other way. So hearing that I am becoming known as the Teruya person to at least one person is, like, an astounding achievement for me, lmao.

But anyways, back to your question. I have ideas on how Teruya could've been more utilized in the story and hopefully it'll be better than what we actually got. That being said, uh, disclaimer that while I do think Teruya should've been handled better in SDRA2, these are just ideas I will be spit-balling off the top of my head while going through each chapter, and concept of good ideas =/= good execution. This is just how I would approach rewriting Teruya in SDRA2. With that out of the way, let's start from what we know of SDRA2!Teruya and what his arc is suppose to be, what didn't work, and then go from there.

So, from what I can tell with the direction LINUJ was taking Teruya, he was meant to be a character that did his best to help protect the SDRA2 cast despite being stuck in the killing game with them and was trying to prevent history from repeating itself, only to fail repeatedly. That's a pretty sad arc to go through, especially since he has to die at the end due to Mikado turning him into a fucking firewall that prevented anyone from interfering from the outside or even leaving from the inside and the only way to get rid of it is by dying himself. However, the main problem with how he's written and used is how woefully underutilized he is in the main story and when he IS used, it's executed in a way that pretty much assassinated his character to the point that no one with common sense would trust him in the story afterwards. Like I said before in my other Teruya post, the most I can remember of Teruya in the story is his useless Hope platitudes in Chapter 2, Teruya dipping out of the group and becoming nearly irrelevant in Chapter 3, going cRazY in Chapter 4 just because and no other reason which ends up dragging his character through the mud, and then he just...dies in Chapter 5. It's still sad and fucked up, but because he lacks character moments for himself and just a general role that allows him to bond with the cast and show how important he really is (no matter how little he thinks of himself and his skills in the killing game), his death just doesn't hit hard enough, especially on repeated viewings. Not to mention that his amnesia is obviously just a plot device to keep the characters from finding out about the Utsuroshima killing game's connection to the Proto-Killing game and to keep us, the players, in the dark about what Rei, Kinjo, and the Kisaragi Foundation was up to between games. Now, I'm not saying we need to stop the plot to know EVERYTHING they've been up to in the past, that would be a whole other issue. But as the story went on, the lack of information ends up being more of a flaw in the writing as barely know what things were like from Teruya's perspective and how he feels about Rei, Kinjo, and the Kisaragi Foundation. We have to take what little crumbs we can whenever he does share. Which is little to none cause, again, he just peaces out of the group in Chapter 3 and barely mentions either of them beyond just crumbs, so a lot of players end up getting blindsided by how Kinjo and Rei are written in SDRA2. Just because I can SEE the path that LINUJ is taking these characters doesn't mean that there's enough foreshadowing or information from Teruya, who literally knows BOTH of them that he could've shared stories of what they're like now but no, we're not allowed to know any of that, for the path to make sense from where we last left them off. We don't get enough of an explanation for Kinjo and Rei's development between games...well, in-game. So...how can we rewrite this?

Well, for starters, I'm getting rid of the amnesia plot. Like yeah, at first it makes sense to keep a returning character from solving the plot instantly, and so that the cast can remain in the dark. But after a bit of thinking and hindsight, this amnesia plot doesn't really help the story or Teruya's character. As the Mod from ASOOT mentions in these string of asks I sent, he's not a mysterious person as we already know who he is from DRA, especially for those that sat down and watched/play the game themselves. He's someone we're familiar with and we spent an entire game seeing him go through his first killing game, falter, make mistakes and problems for others, before deciding to do better by putting all his efforts into helping the group. Teruya is a character we know, so if he's here, that means that it directly relates to the last game's events in some way, and since he survived his first killing game, he's the guide our current cast can look up to for help. But he can't exactly do that if he's constantly just fainting every single time he's on the verge of remembering something. If giving him amnesia means giving LINUJ an excuse to write Teruya out of the group multiple times, I don't want it. It just prevents him from partaking in the group and forging bonds with everyone, so the fandom is left making their own interpretations of his relationships with them. It's not that I don't mind creative freedom in fanon (in fact, I love it, it's free real estate babyyyy), it's just that, in this case where the plot requires many characters to DIE, you need them to have some kind of impact on the characters and story. And that can't really happen if the bonds between the characters aren't expanded upon, or, God forbid, aren't there in the first place. So the amnesiac Teruya plotline has to go. (That being said, I'm sure there's someone out there that COULD make this plot point work in a better way, I'm just choosing not to go through with it.)

"But Star, wouldn't that mean that Teruya can just tell everyone about the Proto-Killing game without consequence?" Oh, don't worry! Just because Teruya doesn't have amnesia here doesn't mean he can just SAY what he knows out loud. For one, Mikado would NOT allow it and I bet you he would input a rule that prevents Teruya from speaking TOO much. It's not as if he CAN'T give out information, the problem is how much he's allowed to tell. The rule would probably go as follow: "Rule 17: Teruya Otori is allowed to tell only 1 piece information of his previous killing game to the class between trials. Any attempts to go beyond 1 will be given a warning and, if attempted again before a trial, can be punishable via death. This piece of information can be anything that happened or related to the killing game and will be refreshed after a class trial has taken place." This keeps Teruya from running his mouth to the group if he ever figured out the deeper connections Void has to Utsuro and how similar the Utsuroshima Killing game was to the killing game he survived from as pushing his luck will result in him literally dying a useless death. That would not be ideal, in Teruya and group's mind since he has information they don't and frankly they don't want him to die, and Mikado, too, since he does not plan to kill him until late into the game. Teruya also has to be very selective with what he's allowed to talk about and also has to figure out what would count to Rule 17 and what doesn't. Anything related to the Proto-Killing Game, especially when it comes Utsuro, the Tragedy, and even the Neo World Program, seems to count, but general advice on how to cope in the killing game and anything related to the ones who did survive with him, Rei and Kinjo, don't so he's at least allowed to talk about them freely to an extent. I'd imagine Teruya went as far as to make a list of what he could and probably couldn't talk about to the group and ranked them on what he would assume be the most important to talk about but leaves the most speculative things to the side as he'd want to gather clues to make sure it's related to the killing game. After all, assumptions can easily spread misinformation and he wants to try and advise the group the best he can, even when he's not allowed to tell them all he knows (at once). Not only that, Teruya may purposely conceal certain knowledge to try and minimize the target on his back cause, well, Void is out there in the group and if it becomes obvious that he knows too much about their plan, one of them might take action and try to murder him (much to Mikado's annoyance). It's not that he won't have it written down somewhere in case something happens to him, it's just that he doesn't know who to trust completely even as he tries to help the group. (I like to think that Teruya developed a habit in writing down what he knows so that even if he doesn't make it, his notes might help someone after his death.) So, basically, as time goes on, Teruya carefully reveals certain things about his past killing game whenever they find relevant information, but may struggle to decide when and what would be good to reveal in the moment and even regret it if he realizes later on that another piece of information would've been more helpful or that the information he gave out previously turned out to be useless. And since he has to wait for a class trial to happen in order to be allowed to reveal more, he's just a bundle of anxiety waiting for the other shoe to drop and hoping that it won't happen (it does).

Onto the topic of Rei and Kinjo, I think Teruya's FTEs would've been a great way to have him tell stories about them and how he feels. I haven't reviewed his FTEs in awhile, but Teruya bonding with Sora through the stories of his own work would be very sweet, reminiscing on his past even as he's unable to talk about it clearly due to Rule 17 so he tries to work around it by being vague. And when he talks about Rei, he mentions how scared and frustrated he was of her at first due to her cold attitude and overall unpleasant nature but over the years of working together, they've not only gotten a lot closer but Rei seemed to have soften up a lot, although he asks Sora not to tell anyone that he said that since Rei would be...nevermind, it wouldn't matter now, would it? Sora would try to comfort him but he ends up rebuffing her efforts, saying that he wants some alone time, so she leaves as he quietly cries in his grief. Cause let's be real here, even without amnesia, Teruya would NOT be certain that Rei would have been able to escape in time. Sure, he can't locate the exit code Rei made, so that implied it was used...but did she use it in time? That was the real question. And since he saw what remained of her avatar's body, Teruya...isn't confident that she made it. He's fine the next time he and Sora hang out, apologizing for ending their time together so abruptly but Sora is understanding, saying that it's normal for him to grieve since he was clearly close to Rei. They continue hanging out and I'd imagine in his last FTE, Teruya brings Sora to his room to practice sewing together and he ends up opening up about his other friend that he survived with, Tsurugi Kinjo. Someone he cherishes dearly...but has grown concern for lately. Sora tries to pry, but Teruya remains vague, saying that it's not his place to talk about it, but he can say this much: something bad happened to him about six(?) months prior to this mission (cough, Tsurugi killing his dad event, cough) and he's been very distant from them. Teruya had been trying to be supportive, but lately he's been making...questionable decisions. Decisions that even Teruya has been uncomfortable with and is a bit worried about the decisions he's been making behind their backs. Sora digs, asking what he means by that and Teruya clarifies that being a leader of an entire organization fighting Despair isn't easy, he can tell. Teruya knows that Kinjo has good intentions, even when his methods are...extreme, and even made poor decisions in the past that has hurt both Rei and himself. But Teruya stuck through it for him because he knows that even good leaders can fuck up sometimes and does his best to understand his POV while trying to get him and Rei to see eye to eye. They tend to do that a lot. The fighting, he means. They've been fighting a lot on how the Kisaragi Foundation functions and the direction Kinjo has been taking it, so Teruya often has to step in and mediate between the both of them. He doesn't mind, he's just doing his job and his duty as a friend. He'd do anything to make sure they're getting along. But, still...he's never...intrude on HIS work before. He's hesitant to continue, but when Sora offers him a hug, he caves and lets her hug him. Teruya admits that Kinjo had taken out a bunch of money from the Kisaragi Foundation account, one that was a huge red flag as Kinjo had never done this before over the years. Not without telling Teruya what it would be used for and without his permission. He even confronted him about it, but Kinjo refused to tell him, saying that he had a "backup" plan in the works in case something goes wrong on the mission but that it wouldn't work if more people knew about it. It greatly worried him...but when Kinjo asked him to just trust him and it'll work out in some way as long as he was stopped, Teruya chose to agree. Sora is baffled as to why, but Teruya just says that Kinjo is smart. Smarter in ways that he'll never catch up to, same with Rei. And as frustrating as Kinjo can be sometimes, he...he is his friend.

And Teruya wanted to trust in his friend. Trust that he was being secretive for a good reason and that it'll all work out. Besides, it was only a backup plan. They might not even need it.

Despite his words, Sora can tell that Teruya seemed...exhausted. Like he's been through this song and dance one too many times, and just wanted to stop and rest. And yet, he kept smiling anyways, because he clearly cared so deeply about the people he has in his life. He was doing his best to be supportive of his friends, to be their rock in their hard times. Teruya then apologizes for suddenly venting to her like this, but Sora tells him not to worry about it. In fact, she'd rather that he comes and talk to her about anything cause he clearly puts up with so much. Teruya denies it, that's just what any good friend does, but Sora points out that while he IS a good friend, he also seems a bit tired and as his friend, it's her job to make sure he's okay, too. He's surprised by her words...but then he stares at her with so much love and care that it made Sora's head hurt. He thanks Sora, and she feels as though their bond is now unbreakable and nothing in the world could destroy it. (And these moments of Teruya talking about Rei and Kinjo's current selves should, hopefully, soften the blow of how they're shown and written later in the story when they appear.)

And now, finally, onto the actual Chapters. Let's start with Chapter 2...and tbh, I don't have too much issue with how Teruya was introduced (Mikado is being Mikado, what a shock), just remove the amnesia plot point, add and explain Rule 17, and have him be integrated into the group like before. Kokoro, of course, drags him away to have him protect her as she searches for Void members, and then, when he officially joins the group at breakfast, he gets bombarded by questions that he struggles to answer. Especially since Rule 17 would make it very difficult for him to decide on where to even start, let alone what information would be most important to tell. I feel like Teruya is the kind of person to make a mistake in trying to start in the beginning, but ending up wasting his one time use for the rest of the chapter, which he starts to kick himself for when he realizes that he could've told them this or he could've told them that since it was far more relevant. Either way, I think the best way to better utilize Teruya in general is to just...give him more shit to do. And I know the perfect role to give him: a mediator. It's a role that he apparently had back at the Kisaragi Foundation between Rei and Kinjo according to LINUJ in his concept art and I will forever be annoyed that this was never shown to us in-game, only told after the game is already over and in a place where not many people would see unless they went digging. And honestly, Chapter 2 would be a great start in showing Teruya's skills as a mediator by having him help convince the people who left the group out of fear of Void to rejoin them. Honestly, it's kinda weird how most of the members that left instantly came back after one day aside from the twins, but then again, Emma and Nikei were part of Void so they probably had their own agendas to attend to (Emma trying to stick to the plan while Nikei rejoins the group probably to avoid suspicion from either them or Mikado). But honestly, I think it makes more sense for the individuals to rejoin the group one at a time, first with Emma as she's more loyal to Void's plan and needs an excuse to get closer to Kokoro, then Nikei who might've needed more convincing to rejoin and hey, wouldn't you know it, Teruya is there to help! He may even help Setsuka in plotting to bring the twins back, although when the moment comes, Hibiki is a lot less receptive to him as while he's clearly not a Void, she still thinks he's suspicious because she's never even heard of the Kisaragi Foundation before and isn't sure if she can trust some shady place like that. That kinda hurts to hear even when he knows that she wouldn't remember due to the Neo World Program (not that she would either way due to the implications with Kanade in the Chapter 6 twists) and Setsuka has to step up to both comfort Hibiki and give her hope. With the twins back into the group, the rest of the Chapter 2 plays out the exact same way as while I love Teruya, I don't want him to come off as this perfect guy or anything. He should be allowed to make mistakes that ended up with dire consequences, and failing to focus his attention on Kokoro and Emma during their conversation is one such mistake. A failure of him unable to protect one of the smartest people in the group and falling for Emma's act as Kokoro, a betrayal to him and everyone else. He knew it was dangerous to believe in Shinji's reckless plan, he knew what it's like to be betrayed by someone you wanted to trust and befriend, knew that just friendship alone may not be enough to convince someone to turn back on a horrible decision if they're desperate enough. But he wanted to believe that just their kindness alone would've been enough. It should have been enough. Right? But it wasn't. And now, with the second Void dead, Teruya is reminded that he's being naïve in thinking that Void has the same standards as them, that if they already agreed to the plan of murder long before entering the killing game, then they could be just as dangerous as Mikado. Regardless on if they chose to side with him or not.

Chapter 3...needs a huge overhaul to the point that it'd be better off scrapped and started over with. But this post isn't about Kanade and her bullshit twists, so for the sake of my sanity, I'm gonna play this chapter loosely and just focus on Teruya. So, Teruya is just trying to do his part and help the group recover from the last trial. Thankfully, he's not doing this alone as Hibiki is trying to be more proactive in her support while Shinji is doing what he can as a leader to reassure everyone that they can get through this together. Setsuka, though, has been silent and distant from the group, which doesn't go unnoticed by Teruya and he goes after her to try and see what's up. Since we're seeing things through Sora's POV, we won't get to see most of these conversations since they happen off-screen but this at least gives an implication that Teruya is doing something important, even when we don't see him. I think there could even be a scene where Sora is walking around and accidentally ends up eavesdropping on one of Setsuka and Teruya's conversations, with Teruya trying to get her to open up. He's not pressuring her to take up the role of being a leader again when she's not feeling up for it, but he does want her to know that she can rely on the group just as much as they can rely on her. While Setsuka is receptive to his advice, it's kinda obvious that she's not going to tell him (or anyone else) what she's been up to lately...at least, not yet. She just asks him to trust her since there's something she has to do but it needs to be a secret, so he has watch over the group without her for the time being. Teruya, skeptical in his silence, eventually agrees but tells her to be careful since Void can be anyone of them and Setsuka just says that she knows, and even points out that hey, she could be a Void, too, you know? But Teruya denies this firmly, although he doesn't explain why, just saying that out of everyone in this group, he finds her to be the most trustworthy (hint, hint, wink, wink). Setsuka is moved and thanks Teruya for saying that before they part ways, with Sora somehow managing not to get caught. How lucky. Then, Shinji tries to get everyone on board with his "Befriend Void" plan again, but Yuki, being depressed and becoming more cynical (no thanks to Utsuro slowly taking control of his brain), pushes back on this plan and surprisingly, Teruya actually backs him up on this although it's less because of the "nothing we do matters" argument and more out of a practical reason of, "can we even trust members of Void when one of them still killed anyways despite Mikado's betrayal revealed to them?" Even if they do befriend Void, they don't know their motive for the killing game and without knowing for sure what it is, they can't be certain that it'd be something that's fixable or if it's something they're so desperate for that they'd still choose to betray them anyways. After all, betrayals hurt the most when it's someone you know. Shinji, however, ends up snapping back at both of them, going on about how he has to keep a smile on his face to reassure people he rescues as a firefighter cause if he doesn't, then it'll only scare and panic them further. He has to do this because there are people that need to be helped and he's firm in his plan because he thinks that the members of Void need help, too, and he's not going give up on them just like that. Both Yuki and Teruya feel a little moved by what he said, and Teruya admits that he does want to keep trying but they all need to understand how dangerous it is as they still don't know who else Void could be. The group reassures him that they'll be more careful going forward, even going as far as to promise to stick together as a group or at least in pairings. Teruya, feeling like he can trust them to keep their word, agrees and they all part ways from there to continue their investigations.

When they arrive on the island and Teruya gets the photo from Rei from the outside, he immediately goes back to the group and this time, he's actually willing to explain what the photo is about: the 79th Class of Hope's Peak Academy, his classmates...and the participants of the Proto-Killing Game. He gives a recap on what happened for those who didn't play DRA can be in the loop but also keeps it brief for those who did, but he also takes the time to gush about his old friends in one sentences since God, he loved them so much and misses them to this day, but tries to stay on topic. This is probably around the time when someone goes, "Hey...doesn't these events sound a bit...similar to our game?" And then the group points out how the last two cases were structured, with the first case having a split on whether or not the culprit is a girl or a boy and the second case having someone who turned out to be "two-faced" betray and attack someone (although in this case, Emma technically succeeded in her murder even if she got caught while Kizuna became the victim instead). It's clearly not one-to-one to the events that Teruya experienced as some details don't line up (especially with the second case), but the core premise is still there and the gears are starting to turn in Teruya's head, although he's not sure what to make of it. For all they know, it could just be a coincidence...right? But Hajime mentioning that he was "required to cause a split between the girls and the boys"...and Emma accidentally messing up the plan only to receive approval from Mikado anyways since it lined up pretty well regardless...They still needed more clues but they were starting to put together a full picture as Sora points out the ripped part of the photo. Teruya admits that he wasn't sure why it has that but he does know who was taken out of it - only for Mikado to suddenly appear and wrench the photo out of his hands with the most furious face he's made yet. The group tries to get it back, but Mikado burns it to keep them from knowing any more than this and disappears, muttering about how he needs to move the timetables up thanks to her. Teruya, distraught that he lost yet another photo of his deceased classmates, apologizes for losing their clue and letting Mikado get the best of him but the group reassures him that it's okay. It's then that Monocrow drops by, saying that even if Mikado didn't get involved, he was going to pop in to prevent Teruya from talking about the mastermind of his killing game due to already using up his one-time use of sharing information. A little pissed off now, Teruya says that he's going to the library to do some research and leaves, with the group deciding to give him some space for the time being. Later, Mikado brings out the motive videos and it plays out like in canon, although I'll admit, I don't know what Teruya's motive video would be. Just that he's shocked that Mikado even knows about it and gets pissed off that he tried to use it as his motive video and then leaves, too angry to help the group in his current state of mind. And genuinely speaking, I'm coming up with a blank for this one. Maybe it was a mission that went wrong between Teruya, Rei, and Kinjo and Mikado is trying to imply that Teruya didn't know the full truth about it but the implication only pisses him off cause he believes that he knew everything about that mission and he trusts that no one had lied about it, so no one was fully responsible for what had happened...at least, he thinks so. Either way, the motive videos don't really come up again after Chapter 3, from what I remember, so this kind of ambiguity doesn't need to be answered. Teruya's reaction to it is more than enough to understand how he feels about this motive. He does, however, arrive to breakfast on time, apologizing for leaving so abruptly last night when he probably should've stayed behind to help calm everyone down. They all accept his apology, although Hibiki clearly isn't looking too hot and Setsuka once again asks everyone to meet up for the parade later that evening.

After getting filled in on the details, the group goes to do their own things as they wait for the parade. When they all arrive, Setsuka is nowhere to be seen but are reassured when she messages them moments later to tell them that something came up and that she'll be a little late. So they're all waiting for her, which is when Teruya shows up, asking if this is all of them as he takes note of who's here. When the group says yes, Teruya quickly grows concerned. Sure, Kanade says that Hibiki is resting in her room and he trusts her to be honest since that's her sister, and they're not exactly including Mikado and Syobai since neither of them are trustworthy in the first place, but...where's Setsuka? Has no one considered going with her? They all admit that they haven't seen her all day. Which is when Teruya...kinda explodes on them with a giant "WHAT?!" This surprises everyone and they reassure him that she's fine, she just messaged them, but Teruya doesn't care about that! He cares about the fact that Setsuka is alone and hasn't been seen since this morning alive and well. And while she may have messaged them, who's to say that's actually her? Teruya may not be very helpful in the trials, but his memory is good enough to remember the details, and it's been proven by Emma that people other than the user can use each other's handbooks as long as they at least have the owner's fingertip. How can they be certain that Setsuka's okay? How can they be certain that she's alive? How can they wait around for a fun event when Void has taken the opportunity to use them for their murder plans TWICE IN A ROW?! As soon as Teruya is done with chewing them all out for failing to keep an eye on each other (including himself), Sora speaks up, saying that Teruya is right and admits that she's been having a really bad feeling in her gut for awhile now. It doesn't take much to convince everyone else to agree, and they all split up into pairs at Teruya's insistence to cover more ground while also making sure no one is alone. With each unsuccessful search of each location, they all grow more and more frantic, and thanks to the parade that starts not long after, it becomes very hard to keep an eye out for Setsuka and each other, let alone hear each other over the noise. But eventually, they do find her...At least, they find her corpse. Needless to say, Teruya is heartbroken to find that he was right and lost one of the few people he knows he can trust, Hibiki is shellshocked at losing her best friend, and everyone has to go through a third trial. I don't have any ideas on how this murder trial would go as of writing this, but again, this isn't about Kanade. All you really need to know is that Hibiki lives and Kanade dies, good riddance. And Teruya is deeply frustrated at how useless he was during that trial, that he was unable to protect Setsuka from a monster like Kanade. As if making up his mind, he leaves swearing that he'll protect them all, no matter what.

I'll admit, I don't...remember much...about Teruya's role in Chapter 4 aside from being fucking crazy. And that one moment where he cries over Haru and Satsuki's statues, which, you know, ow. That really is depressing. But, uh, one question: why the fuck would Nikei have Syobai keep those statues when the entire point is to prevent Utsuro from coming back as one final act to spite Mikado? As good as this scene is from what I can recall, this also makes Nikei dumb as fuck just leaving those statues where they are and there's no actual explanation as to why Syobai wouldn't take them out if he's being paid to do this cause say what you will about him being a shitty person, at least he doesn't half-ass his work when he's being paid unless other circumstances prevent him from accomplishing the job he's set out to do (or if he gets bribed). But, whatever. I'm not here to fully revamp or rewrite Chapter 4, I'm just here to explain what I'd do with Teruya here. And I don't remember enough about Chapter 4 to really make a concise plot-to-plot moment with him and the cast as I haven't played through Chapter 4 myself as a reminder, so I'm just going to try and summarize what I'd do with him in general. SO basically, after Chapter 3, Teruya, feeling as though he can't trust the group now that someone like Kanade existed (who wasn't even a VOID and she still murdered someone, before and after joining the killing game) and that they're not taking it as seriously as they should've despite losing six people at this point, decides to take full control of the group in an effort to protect them and also to compensate for his own insecurities on feeling useless as while he's great as a mediator, he still sucks at the trials and he's been berating himself for not being like them a.k.a. Rei and Kinjo. So now he's trying to take control of the situation by putting himself in a position of power and not just the mediator. Problem is, Teruya is constantly micromanaging everyone's decisions: if they're going to investigate somewhere, they need to ask him for permission, no one is allowed to move around alone EVER, he'll constantly ask where everyone is even when he just saw them, it's...a whole thing. And while the group is trying to be understanding, they're also really stressed cause uh, yeah, they ARE aware of the situation and nothing they've been doing has been working so far! Tensions are high, arguments are spilling out between Yuki and Sora, Shinji's friendship plan doesn't seem to be working out, Yoruko is stressed trying to keep the peace and is snappier than usual and she's struggling to keep an eye on Hibiki, who has completely shut herself away, since she KNOWS she can't be alone right now as she's helped many people through their dark times as a hostess to recognize the signs that hey, she, uh, might do something here, and Teruya isn't helping with how he's constantly breathing down everyone's neck over every little decision and- oh hey, it's Nikei. Oh, he has something to tell us, wait what the fuck do you MEAN you're a part of Void-?! And the fallout that causes.

It's not constant drama, thankfully. Teruya may not trust Void at all at this point, but he's willing to try and mediate between the group and Nikei when he makes it clear that he's revealing himself as a member of Void because he's choosing to betray Mikado and refuses to work with him anymore (although his intentions aren't as good as he claims). It's the role he best plays as, after all, and since Nikei isn't tied down by Rule 17, they may be able to get plenty more information out of him than they can with Teruya, who's forced to be selective with what he reveals between trials. And Sora is trying to keep her own morale up by hanging out with everyone one-on-one and trying to get Teruya to chill out a little bit with the constant micromanaging by setting healthy boundaries. Boundaries that Teruya is struggling to respect because he's gotten really paranoid after Chapter 3 and doesn't want to fail anyone else, like he did with Kokoro and Setsuka, so he ends up pushing them anyways. He doesn't want anyone to be alone, to get hurt, or killed. He just...he just wants everyone to be safe. Teruya is just a mess, is what I'm trying to say here.

Teruya doesn't even need to have the gun (if the gun is even HERE in this Chapter) to cause conflict, let alone cross that line at pointing a gun at everyone cause we don't need to make him lose his fucking marbles. Just have him be more controlling in a twisted attempt to keep everyone safe, only for it all to backfire on him because his constant micromanaging is ruining everyone's morale, productivity and increasing their stress. The calmest of times seems to be when they're exchanging information with Nikei and when they're cooperative with Teruya's orders, and it's almost pleasant. But whenever Teruya's controlling paranoia rears it's ugly, that's when tensions get high again and it starts to become a cycle. A cycle that Nikei probably took advantage of in the background for his own plans. Eventually, it all comes to a head at some point where it's Teruya's turn to get snapped at by Yuki, who tears into him for his micromanaging, which is fair as that has done more harm than good, but then takes a step too far, saying how everything he's done up to this point hasn't been helpful at all and that an idiot like him should've never survived his killing game. Which naturally earns him a slap from Yoruko and a yell from Shinji as that was TOO far, no matter how bad Teruya's decisions have been after Chapter 3. He should've never had said something like that as that's insulting to his own survival and his friends that had died horrible deaths that he has to live with for the rest of his life. Just when it seems like Yuki is about to double down, Hibiki, who has finally started to recover thanks to Yoruko and Sora reaching out to her, speaks up and pleads with Yuki to stop and realize what he's saying. His criticisms on Teruya's micromanagement is valid and all but he's also using his status as a survivor against him, hurting and blaming him for things that were either a simple mistake or completely out of his control. It wasn't his choice for Emma to snap and hurt Kokoro before going through with murder nor was it his choice that got Setsuka killed, that was...that was all Kanade. He's done a lot of good for them, too: he tried to give them advice to help cope in the killing game, he gave them information even when he couldn't tell them everything, he's mediated many of their conversations to help them agree on what to do...Teruya has helped them so much and kept the group together plenty of times. Sora also speaks up, saying that while Teruya may not be at his best right now, that doesn't mean everything he's done up to this point hasn't helped them at all. And it's not like most of them have been at their best either. This...actually gets Yuki to sober up, quiet for a moment as he processes their words and finally apologizes for his behavior. He admits that he hasn't been feeling like himself lately, I wonder why, and with everything happening all at once, he's been struggling to take care of himself. Everyone can't blame him for that, even when there have been things that shouldn't have been said, and Yoruko suggests that maybe he shouldn't force himself to investigate for awhile. They're all tired but especially him, and he should lay down and rest. Yuki is hesitant but Shinji backs Yoruko up on this, saying that even firefighters need to take a break from work every once and awhile and that there's nothing shameful in that, which is enough to convince him to go to his room and rest. That's when Hibiki realizes something and asks where Teruya went, and a look around the room reveals that Teruya had disappeared at some point in the conversation. Sora, thinking that Teruya might be suffering as well, decides to go look for him and Hibiki and Yoruko immediately decide to join her. She asks if Nikei, who seems a little pale, will be coming with them but he immediately snaps out of it and says no, he'll just join Shinji and Yuki instead so they can investigate together later. Iroha (who I have not mentioned at all up to this point, oops) fumbles but ultimately goes with Sora's group instead and they split.

Sora and co. find Teruya by one of the destroyed statues, ones that he can tell were meant to be Haru and Satsuki from the remains but for some reason were left in this state (most likely due to Nikei's meddling through Syobai), sitting and just having his head in his hands. They're careful as they approach him, Sora asking if they can talk. Teruya just waves in a way that says, "Do whatever you want," and the girls try to give him space as they get closer. Yoruko asks him about how he feels and Teruya just says that he feels like shit, everything he does is shit, and he's just so sick of every shitty thing that has happened in this stupid fucking killing game. Iroha tries to cheer him up with her twisted sense of toxic positivity, only for Teruya to snap at her that there's nothing for him to be happy about right now. That shuts her up pretty quickly but he apologizes for snapping at her. It's just that her positivity isn't helping him right now. Iroha ends up not saying a single thing afterwards, unable to come up with anything to help...and perhaps, feeling a little guilty for something she hasn't told anyone else. Sora asks if this is about what Yuki said, and Teruya, after a few minutes, slowly admits that's part of it but also cause he's just...questioning why he's even here. Why, out of all the amazing people he knew, did he survive when there are so many other people that could do better than him. Yoruko knew Yuki's words stung deeper than it should've but Sora steers the conversation on topic, asking why he thinks he shouldn't have survived when he did so much for them already. But Teruya doesn't believe that, saying that if he was so useful then none of these murders would have happened, that his role as a mediator would've kept people happy or at least keep them calm and rational as they try to contact the Kisaragi Foundation or wait for them to arrive. But it didn't. The murders still happened anyways. He messed up in protecting Kokoro, and he couldn't protect Setsuka even though he knew she was important and never figured out Kanade's true nature. Hibiki cringes and he notices, apologizing for dropping her name out of nowhere like that, he's just...He's so tired. Tired of just losing people he loves and cares for and constantly getting betrayed by those he trusts and...He's just fucking tired. The girls are quiet at that, as everyone can relate to his words. Hibiki just sits besides him and then carefully lays her head against him, saying that she misses Setsuka, too. That actually gets Teruya to break a little, crying as he never wanted to hurt anyone like this. He just didn't want to lose another person. He didn't want to lose another friend. He didn't want to repeat his mistakes, so he...he tried to emulate someone he knew and respected, Tsurugi Kinjo, but tried to tone it down because he knew his methods were very extreme and didn't want to completely ruin their trust in him. The fact that this is the toned down version kinda scares Yoruko and she sees it more like a red flag but Teruya defends him, saying that while he's not perfect, he's done a lot of good, too, and for that, Teruya respects him. But aside from that, he apologizes. He truly, deeply apologizes for his actions, realizing that all he did was tear the group apart and has been nothing but useless to them when it matters most. But Sora rebuffs those words, saying that while he has his flaws, made his mistakes, and has his weaknesses, he has plenty of strengths, too, and has been doing everything in his power to help everyone. His way of understanding both sides of an argument and mediating between them has brought many of them closer together, he's helped Setsuka and Shinji bring members of their group back when they were starting to fracture, and he's brought up valid points whenever they started to become negligent in protecting each other. Teruya doesn't have to be like someone else to help everyone, he can just the best version of himself.

Yoruko pitches in, saying that there's nothing wrong with striving to be a better person than you were before but if he's constantly setting an impossible standard, then he'll never be happy with himself. Iroha can't bring herself to say anything. Teruya is silent for a moment but he does agree with them. He really does. It's just...he often feels like it's never enough, just by being himself. There's one last thing Sora wants to ask and it's why Yuki's words seem to hit Teruya harder than everyone else's. Sure, he's said something awful, but it's not like no one else gave him similar criticisms during the whole chapter. Teruya just sighs, saying that he might as well use up his one piece of information up now since thanks to Nikei, they were able to gain far more insight into Mikado's plans without any problems (although there are probably some things that Nikei kept to himself). One of these things is the Neo World Program they're in right now...and the motive for the entire killing game: the revival of Utsuro. Sora feels like her head is cracking open but she manages to keep herself together as she asks him which one he plans to talk about. He chooses to talk about Utsuro since he admittedly doesn't understand the Neo World Program that much and while Nikei clearly knows OF him thanks to all of Void having been blessed by him at some point in their childhood, he's never actually MET him, unlike Teruya who was a victim of the Despair and had his entire life turned upside down thanks to him. Hibiki asks how this is relevant to Yuki and Teruya explains that this more than relevant to him because Utsuro stole his identity to infiltrate the 79th class. This shocks the girls (yes, including Iroha cause she didn't realize the extent of what he did cause she wasn't paying attention) and Teruya goes on that their appearances to each other were eerily identical, from their faces to even their own voices. He knows this because he's talked with him, interacted with him, tried to get him to play with him and the class...he even got to know him when he gave himself false memories of Yuki Maeda and believed himself to be the real deal in the killing game. Utsuro...no, the Yuki Maeda back then...Teruya considered him to be an actual friend of his. A friend that was erased thanks to Utsuro, just like all the others. Hibiki is extremely uncomfortable to the point that she looks ill and Sora feels as though this headache is going to kill her. Yoruko asks how that is true if Yuki is, well, here? And Teruya explains that in their investigations, they found out that the real Yuki Maeda, the one that's in this killing game right now, was actually still alive for some reason but before they can retrieve him to wake him from his coma, he had been taken away from somebody and eventually they found out it was Mikado after a bit of digging. Teruya doesn't know why Utsuro had spared him but the point of the matter is that Yuki Maeda is real, he's alive, and Mikado had plans to revive Utsuro somehow through a killing game and that was just a disaster waiting to happen. So they tried multiple times to stop him but somehow he was always one step ahead, and Teruya entering the simulation with Rei was one of their last ditch efforts to stop his plans before it could get started, which...well, they all know how well that went. As for why Yuki's words hit harder, well, it's simply because he felt as though he knows him even though they've never technically met before the killing game. It's stupid because he knows the Yuki back then and the Yuki now are two completely different people, but they're just...so damn similar that he struggles to keep them separated. So when Yuki yelled at him like that, he felt as though someone he knew for a long time was genuinely getting hurt by his actions when he's supposed to be better and when he stopped, he noticed his expression. The way he just...looked like Utsuro in that very brief moment. Teruya had to get away after that as he didn't want to do something stupid that could end up breaking the rules.

This...was a lot to take in, and Sora thanks him for telling them this. But she also suggests that he should lay down and rest, since this entire situation is clearly getting to him. Teruya clearly doesn't want to, saying that he has to keep an eye on everyone, but Hibiki notices something and asks if he's slept at all. This confuses everyone until Hibiki suddenly reaches up and wipes something off of his face, revealing that he was wearing makeup underneath his eyes which had bags underneath. Almost immediately Sora starts wiping the rest of his makeup off, much to Teruya's horror and Yoruko grills him on why the hell he has bags. Forced into a corner, Teruya admits that he had been keeping a lookout at the Monocruise while everyone was sleeping, making sure no one had left their rooms to plot a murder during nighttime. But because he'd been doing it all by himself, he's been practically working on fumes for days and suddenly his worsening attitude and bad decisions made a whole lot more sense as he had been sleep deprived the whole time. Yoruko is both creeped out that Teruya stayed up the whole time and a little hurt that he trusted them that little, but Sora actually defends the notion, saying that two out of three of the murders so far were prepared for during the night so it wasn't bad idea. The problem is that he did this all by himself at the cost of his own health and sanity. Which means that he MUST rest now cause holy shit, no ifs or buts, the girls will not allow him to ruin his health and sleep schedule any longer. Teruya, knowing full well that he has no choice in the matter or else he'll suffer the wrath of the girls, acquiesced and they bring him back to his room to rest. He splits from the girls the moment he's inside and realizes how dogshit tired he REALLY is and decides maybe he really does need sleep. So he lays down in his bed and immediately crashes.

And, since the universe hates him, Teruya wakes up to a Body Discovery Announcement. Any sense of exhaustion flies out of his body, he goes down to the scene, praying that he didn't hear what he just heard...but, nope. It's Shinji's body and Teruya just...shuts down after that. Again, I don't have any ideas on how I would change the murder trial, but something I noticed in the Chapter 4 trial is how...quiet Teruya is. Like, you know how some people just become silent on the outside but on the inside they're going through the most emotional turmoil they've ever had? I think that's what Teruya was doing during most that trial and God, that hurts to think about. Anyways, Nikei gets revealed as the culprit, it turns out that he had been trying to manipulate them all to get Yuki Maeda killed but Shinji somehow figured him out and tried to stop him in an attempt to protect him, he tries to kill Yuki as a last ditch effort to ruin Mikado's plan but fails when Teruya and Sora intervene because they're determined to protect Yuki no matter what, and he gets dragged off to his execution. The group's dynamic starts to crack once more, with Yuki becoming more like Utsuro, Yoruko and Sora having their falling out due to her secrecy, Iroha running off to the bathroom most likely to cry, Hibiki desperately trying to get everyone to stay and Teruya is left reeling from the events of Chapter 4...but the twists weren't over yet as Sora knocks on his door, asking to come in so they can talk. Teruya reluctantly lets her in but admits that he's not in the right headspace to give any kind of support right now. Sora says that's fine since she mostly came to him to give him something: an exit code from Rei Mekaru. Teruya is shocked, asking where she even got this and that she better not be bullshitting him about Rei, which Sora awkwardly says that she might've fallen from a pretty high place but somehow managed to survive through pure damn luck as she fell into a place that somehow broke her fall without breaking a single bone. Probably due to the weak coding that Nikei purposely changed up. Teruya is confused on how that even works but Sora just shrugs and says that the point is that she just so happened to cross paths with Rei Mekaru trying to get into contact with anyone and when Sora responded, she immediately transferred this code over to her handbook and asks to bring it to Teruya before the connection cut out. Teruya, relieved that Rei actually survived and realizing he could get out with this, asks Sora for it but she actually gives him a condition. A condition that left him reeling:

"Tell me about Akane Taira."

Chapter 5 I don't have much to complain about from what I can recall so let's just get this show on the road. The Chapter starts off the same with Teruya saying that he wants to hold off a little while longer on telling her, even if it means being unable to leave just yet since Sora didn't want to risk him leaving without telling her anything, the group arriving to the 5th island (but this time with Hibiki), Mikado blows up the Monocruise and then dips, and the group ends up splitting up due to their fractured dynamic. Sora goes around investigating like usual, but after a day, she ends up crossing paths with Teruya. Surprised to see him, she asks what he's doing and he admits that he's been looking for her and was wondering if they can walk and talk. She agrees and they go around the city to investigate, although they're somewhat half-hearted about it. He asks how her investigation has been going and she admits that she found an interview with an older Yuri that shouldn't be possible, but that's about it so far. Teruya admits that it is possible but won't go into details as he still wants to hold up his end of the bargain by not wasting his one-time use. Sora asks if he's here to accept the condition but he says that he's not going to do that just yet but for good reason. For starters, he wants to make sure the group is back together before he leaves. It didn't feel right to leave things like this and he wanted to do his part one final time before he gets out and reunites with the Kisaragi Foundation. While he knows that time goes faster in the Neo World Program, he feels like the Kisaragi Foundation shouldn't be taking this long to rescue them and feels that it's better for him to see what's the hold up and try to get them out from there. But the group is still his responsibility and he has to make sure everyone is okay before he leaves. And secondly, there's some things that they should discuss as a group before he goes, namely Mikado's motive and how he's apparently going about it. Sora is confused but he simply says that he thought it over all day and now he has a sneaking suspicion on how he's reviving Utsuro. He's not sure if he's right, though, hence why he wants to talk to everyone and get their opinions on it. After that, they were both silent as they walked, uncertain of what to say to each other. Teruya, again, apologizes for everything he did in the last Chapter but Sora reassures him that she's already forgiven him and while she can't speak for everyone else, they probably still care about him, too. Teruya just says that he hopes so cause he did enjoy hanging out with everyone in their downtimes. Even when they were stuck in a killing game and with Void around, he genuinely had fun with them and cared for them like they were his friends. He wants nothing more for their safety, even if they choose not to forgive him. Sora admits that she had her own fuck ups, too, and that he's not alone in that, which Teruya chuckles over and they settle into a more comfortable silence. Although Sora has noticed that Teruya is constantly staring at her with wariness, like he knows that she did something wrong. And, if her own suspicions were right...he had the right to hate her for life. That was when they both get a message from Hibiki, and just seeing it sent shivers down their spins: she's pleading for help as she just witnessed Yoruko walking around with a knife. Teruya immediately asks where she is and she answers that the three of them are at one of the hotels at so-and-so street and Teruya, with his good sense of direction and memorization of maps, clocks in that they're only three blocks away and could probably make it in time if they run. They just need a sign for Hibiki to put up for them so that they don't waste time searching every hotel and she says that she'll try to hang something from the window but please hurry! Sora says to keep an eye on where Yoruko is, and the two of them book it to the street. After a bit of scanning, they find the sign Hibiki had set up for them from one of the windows and enter.

Upon their arrival, they see that Yoruko had pinned Yuki onto the floor with a knife raised and Hibiki begging her to not do this. Yoruko just snaps at her, saying that Yuki has to be Utsuro and that if he just dies, if Mikado's plan can be stopped here and now, then it'll all be over. Teruya immediately takes charge, demanding that Yoruko drop the knife while trying to keep Sora from tackling her in case someone gets hurt. Or worse, killed. Yoruko refuses, though, convinced that the Yuki before them is a fake somehow just like the one in Teruya's killing game and that he'll betray them all once the whole Utsuro thing is completed. They can all tell that Yoruko has reached her breaking point and Teruya nearly regrets telling her about Utsuro the other day, but tries to remain calm, saying that Yuki IS real and that Mikado is doing something far more sinister but he can't put it together without them. Sora pleads with Yoruko to hear him out and spare Yuki, so that they can all get out together and the moment she hesitates is when she gets out of Teruya's grip and tackles her. Teruya gapes at her recklessness for possibly breaking the No Violence Rule but the tackle makes Yoruko drop the knife and Hibiki immediately runs over and kicks it away before dogpiling her, begging her to stop trying to hurt Yuki. She doesn't want her to become a murderer, she doesn't want her to stain her hands with blood, even if it's for the greater good, and she doesn't want to lose her. If she murders, she'll become a blackened and because everyone would know it was her, she'd get executed and Hibiki doesn't want that. She wants her to survive, along with everyone else. She wants to hang out with her, go shopping with her, and have fun with her. She wants her to live. This actually gets Yoruko to pause, calming down enough to realize what she was doing and how this could've affected her and her own friends. But before anyone can breathe a sigh of relief, Yuki...uh...you know. Tries to unsubscribe from life. Everyone is horrified to witness this moment, everyone begging him not to do it but Yuki is convinced that he's too dangerous to let himself live, not when Utsuro could come back and end up hurting everyone, and tries to...yeah. Thankfully, Sora is there and I believe it was a freakin' lightning bolt that struck the knife out of Yuki's hands, much to everyone's shock. That is when it started to rain and Teruya starts ushering everyone inside, leaving the knife behind.

Distressed but no longer at each other's throats, the group takes their time to process what the hell just happened and Teruya goes searching for snacks and drinks and blankets because my God, everyone needs that. With everyone wrapped up in their own blankets with snacks that no one could bring themselves to touch at this very moment, the group finally sits down and talk out all their problems with Teruya messaging Iroha to join them but she never shows. I actually can't remember exactly how this scenes goes, but basically the group is starting to get their shit back together, apologizing to one another, and then start putting their heads together as to what the truth of their situation really is but with Hibiki and Teruya there this time. They realize through their discussions of the facts that Void is using Yuki's body as a vessel to revive Utsuro by putting him through similar events of the DRA cases and breaking down his sense of self to make room for him. None of them understand exactly how that's even possible, but Yuki knows that it's working cause he constantly feels like he's fighting against someone else in his brain, he's remembering things that he knows didn't happen to him but did, and there are times when he feels like's losing control of his own body, expressions, and even the words that comes out of his mouth. Yuki is understandably freaking out over losing his sense of self, but Sora is quick to comfort him and pulls him into a hug, giving him reassurances that it'll all work out somehow. Teruya then reveals another thing that they should probably talk about and it's the condition that Sora had given him: Akane Taira. Everyone else is confused but they're quick to explain that Sora was able to get an exit code from Rei Mekaru but it's only a one time use thing and she explicitly told her to give it to Teruya the first chance she got. But she wanted to know who Akane Taira is because, well...she fears she might know who she really is. Teruya swears, hoping that wasn't the truth since he had started to suspect that she was her since she wouldn't have known that name unless someone else told her, but the fact that Sora is saying that meant that she remembers something, right? Sora admits it's nothing concrete, but it's enough for her to realize that her past self has done irreversible things to both her past friends...and Teruya. Teruya, with clenched teeth and feeling his heart breaking in two once again, admits that yes, she has done a lot of wrong and does his best to calmly explain what she's done. The Proto-Killing Game, her worship of Utsuro and how she'd sacrificed all of their friends for him, and the Despair she gave to everyone thanks to her betrayal...it was horrible. And Sora, knowing full well that these answers would not be pleasant...starts to freak out as she's crushed with a sense of overwhelming guilt. She never thought she was that horrible of a person, never even considered the possibility, but the fact that she is Akane Taira and that she hurt so many people, including Teruya...Oh God. No wonder she feels as though she's been acting strangely lately. It's like the more she remembers, the more and more she'll lose her current self and the ability to control her own actions. Yuki is distraught to realize that his own friend might be in the same boat as him in a way, but Yoruko, after taking the brief time to mentally recover, steps up to the plate and shakes Sora, giving her a speech that proclaims her current self as "Sora," and so long as she chooses to be "Sora," she won't become "Akane Taira." Not anymore, not if she chooses to be a different person and do better. This actually gets her to calm down from the overwhelming reveal of "who" she is and she sits back down, with Yuki curling up next to her as silent emotional support.

Yoruko sits back down and Hibiki speaks up, saying that no matter what happens, no matter who Sora is in the past or what will happen to Yuki in the future, their present is the most important part of themselves. They're here now and they can always choose to be better people than they were before. They can always work to strive for a better future. But Teruya bitterly says that while Yuki is clearly a victim and is going through a bodysnatching moment from Utsuro beyond the grave, he can't say that Sora will be getting a future. Yoruko starts to snap at him but Sora puts her hand on her shoulder and says that she understands what he means. Just because she's "choosing" to be Sora now, it doesn't erase what she's done in the past as Akane Taira. She's still hurt and killed a lot of people and she can't just pretend that her past as Akane Taira never existed. She'd just be running away from the responsibilities of her own actions and Sora refuses to do that. Teruya, still hurting but moved by Sora's words, whispers that he wishes he can do more for her. But if she truly is Akane Taira and is alive to this day, justice must be served for the victims, for both the living and the dead. Sora just nods her head, accepting any and all punishment that will come her way once they leave the Neo World Program. And with his end of the deal done, Sora hands over the exit code to Teruya and he starts to prepare to leave. Hibiki asks him what will happen next and Teruya explains that once he leaves, he'll talk to Rei and everyone else about what the hold up is and figure out a way to get them all out from there. It'll probably take a few days from their perspective but Teruya promises to work as quickly as he can to get them all out. Worse case scenario, they'll have to create a bunch of exit codes and try to transfer them to their handbooks. Yuki says that it sounds tedious to which Teruya replies that it probably is considering how long it took for Rei's exit code to reach him through Sora. Yoruko questions about the final Void and they all consider it but Teruya eventually decides that there's no point in searching for them anymore. They're the last one standing and when they leave, they'll be arrested alongside Mikado so they'll find out regardless of whether or not they search for them. Besides, it's better to try and keep the peace and stick together instead of poking the bear at this point. Once he was ready, Teruya tells the group to stick together and to try and work things out between them whenever an argument starts to crop up. They all bid Teruya goodbye, but before he goes, Sora speaks up...and says that, for what it's worth, she is sorry for what she's done.

Teruya, unable to come up to response to that, simply leaves.

And, now that Teruya has a proper role and actually interacted with the cast in a way that should hopefully suit his older and mature character more, we get to the final events of this chapter. Syobai does his thing with Sora while she's on a grocery run and finds out that she's Akane Taira then leaves the Neo World Program much to her confusion, she gets rescued by Yuki and co., and much later a broadcast appears across the city with...Teruya?! They all rush to find him but alas, it has long since been too late: Teruya Otori is dead. Yoruko is confused as to why Teruya is still here, Hibiki falls to her knees and cries over his body, Sora is shocked that they actually lost him when they shouldn't have, and Yuki can't wrap his head around how and why this had happened. From there, the investigation and trial goes pretty much like canon since I don't really have any problems with it, it just has Hibiki in the trial now. But I do have an idea that could add to it but I'm not sure if it's feasible? Let me know what you guys think on this idea:

Teruya leaving a note on his suspicions on who really killed him...but Mikado had taken it off of his body and only reveals it AFTER the voting results cause he's an asshole like that. He happily waves it in eeeeeveryone's faces and it's Sora that rips it out of his hand and, after confirming that it's something that Teruya would write to them, she reads it out loud for everyone to hear:

"I am Teruya Otori, and if you're reading this, I'm dead and you've found my body. I don't know which one of you will find me first, but please read this carefully: I am going to die and I know it, and there's nothing I could do about it. I know that sounds confusing with how I left you all and I wish I can say more, but there's only so much I can write until Mikado realizes what I'm doing and takes my journal and pen away. So I'll just get straight to the point.

Iroha has been giving me food that's probably been poisoned the past few days, but I don't think she's the culprit. I think Mikado is using her as a scapegoat to get away with murdering me as he had told me straight to my face that whether I starve myself or eat, my life is in his hands and he can kill me whenever he wants. Not only that, Mikado is the only one out of everyone that can cook actual food thanks to his "magic." No one else. These rice bowls they've been giving me look freshly steamed and don't look like they're from the mart. So who's to say that Mikado didn't poison the food behind Iroha's back?

I'll admit, I'm only bringing up this possibility because that's what my gut is telling me and it's all just speculation on my end. So don't take my word as law and carefully go through the evidence, think, and discuss it together. It could be Iroha but never forget that Mikado is also here, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I hope this letter at least helps you guys think about the case, and if I'm right, bring Mikado down no matter what. And if I'm wrong

I'm sorry for failing you all, even beyond death."

Everyone is silent in the trial room as their mistake slowly dawns on them. And Mikado...laughs. He laughs and laughs, saying that he's actually impressed that an idiot like Teruya managed to figure out the truth of who the real culprit is just by gut instinct alone. He even left a dying message and managed to hide it for so long. He almost wishes he was like this more often, he could've been more entertaining! But it's juuust toooooo baaaad that his dying message never got to the right people! Because of course it wouldn't. Mikado did use Iroha in creating the murder plan "together" and a simple search of his body to make sure everything is in order was enough for him to discover the note. In any other circumstance, he would've left it alone, but because his speculation was too spot on, Mikado decided not to risk having the possibility get stuck in everyone's head and took it with him. Sora curses Mikado but he simply shrugs, saying that he had won...and it's time for his reward: watching everyone get executed. And bada-bing, bada-boom, Chapter 5 ends with everyone's execution getting interrupted and Kinjo making his post-credits appearance.

Chapter 6...okay, it's basically an exposition dump but 2x because LINUJ made a lot bad writing decisions that forced him into corner upon realizing that a lot of the information he wanted to tell will have to be crammed into the final chapter because he didn't think ahead on how he was going to trickle all this information in through the first 5 chapters. Like, seriously, I'm sure we would've been able to cut down Chapter 6's run time if we just had some of these reveals in Chapter 4 through Nikei or even Chapter 5 through Teruya. But you know, whatever. I'm mostly bringing up Chapter 6 even though Teruya is dead at this point simply because I want Sora to react to Kinjo's willingness to sacrifice Teruya (and Rei) just to keep Syobai's double status as a double agent a secret. I want her to call him out on it. I want her to point out how fucked up it is for him to sacrifice his own friends for the greater good without even telling them anything, keeping them in the dark and using their own trust in him against them. To use and abuse Teruya's trust in him, betraying him without him even realizing it because he died before he could ever find out. He trusted him and he...just tossed him away like trash.

And Kinjo, knowing full well that it's his fault but with the audacity of the sun, just looks at Sora and says, "And what gives you the right to say that?"

It takes all of Sora's restraint and guilt not to jump over her podium and punch Kinjo in the face, Akane Taira style.

And now we've finally reached the end, and oh my god, it took me two days to finish this. Clearly, I am insane for Teruya Otori and way too wordy for my own good cause this is long as fuck. Sorry. But yeah, this is how I would go about rewriting Teruya in SDRA2. I hope he comes off as better written but not like a flawless being or anything cause he still fucks up and makes mistakes here. Tell me what you think of it once you reach the end and what you think works and doesn't work. I'm hoping he comes across as someone that's a bit more competent and mature, but only outside of the trials cause otherwise he fumbles a lot in there. Like, seriously, his Ultimate Talent as a merchant would be great for negotiations and LINUJ claimed that he was a mediator in the Kisaragi Foundation but again, he's so underwhelmingly underutilized that it drives me insane. Give my man some spotlight! Give my man some love!! He deserved better writing, goddammit!!!

#Asks #Star Talks #SDRA2 #Teruya Otori #Super Danganronpa Another 2 #SDRA2 spoilers #DRA Spoilers #I'd tag everyone else but then this list would get really long #so I'm not gonna #ah teruya otori we are in it now

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