[Aiboureakfast - Semi-Open!]

[tanteiotaku]

Well, this was going to be a hell of a day. But it was one battle at a time. And it seemed like Fetch was more or less on board with what was going to go down today. And getting what passed for a 'date' around here was kind of like icing on the cake.

So for now, it was time for a good breakfast. There were a few more people he wanted to touch base with in the meantime, so out and about was the way to do it. "Do you think they picked Macaw for you before or after they saw your hair?" he teased Philip, with a smirk on his face once they sat down with their food.

Comments

[decideformyself]

Philip's hair was not, at the moment, visible. He hadn't taken his hood down since he'd left his cell. Having it up made him feel more secure somehow, which he knew was completely illogical. It's not like it actually mattered.

He picked idly at his breakfast; despite having told Shotaro to eat up, he wasn't hungry. "What is a macaw, anyway?"

[tanteiotaku]

He smirked. "It's a parrot, it's got feathers that stick out like this," he imitated the crest of the bird with his fingers splayed off the back of his head. "And it's super colorful too." He pointed at the rest of his clothes with his fork.

[unquestionable]

Terui shouldn't have been surprised at being greeted by Shotaro's ridiculous gesturing. He wasn't even going to guess what they were discussing. Ryu came up behind Shotaro and gave him a whack on the back of his head.

"If you're going to act like an idiot, do it someplace where the entire prison can't see it."

He wasn't particularly in the mood to deal with his theatrics today, so he opted for taking a seat beside Philip.

"I'm hoping you two are working on some sort of strategy instead of just goofing off."

[decideformyself]

"Ah--" Philip unconsciously scooted a little closer to Shotaro. He glanced at his partner. Nope, they didn't have a strategy.

[tanteiotaku]

He scowled up at Terui. "Of course we do! Starting with not passing out like a moron," he answered. And well, he kind of did have a plan. Just not about anything that had to do with actual fighting. "Kind of pointless to plan too much when that auction is involved, you know?"

[unquestionable]

"Why do I get the distinct feeling that you don't really have anything in mind?" He gave Hidari a distinct condescending stare.

[decideformyself]

"Do you have a plan, Ryu Terui?" Philip shot back.

[tanteiotaku]

"Yeah," he agreed, looking expectantly at Terui. "I've already talked to my first round competition. And I've already talked to some friends of ours." Sadly that money transfer didn't quite work out. That was a bummer, but there wasn't a lot he could do about it. "All before my first cup of coffee," he smirked, taking a drink of his own.

[unquestionable]

"I've been gathering some intel of my own." He didn't bother to answer them directly, instead pulling a piece of paper from his pocket with the Carnival Corpse bracket drawn out for reference. "My main concern for the initial stretch of the tournament is how the three of us will interact. The best course of action would be to encourage Philip to pass on to the third around where he faces you, Hidari."

He looked up at Philip then. "My intention isn't to undermine you, but I feel the safest option would be for Hidari to go for a knock out. From then on our best hope is that he and I will face off in the finals, though it is unlikely. In the event that is does occur, however, I would allow Hidari to win. Proving to be a worthy competitor may help negate the issues he's caused previously. i consider this plan A."

He leaned back, the paper sitting freely on the table.

"Seeing as this is only going to work if every star aligns in our favor and completely ignoring the possibility of any hindrances placed on upon us, I'm interested in hearing alternatives and deviations."

[decideformyself]

He prodded at his food and refused to look at Terui or the paper. That would mean a penalty game for him and Terui -- not to mention Yui and everyone else competing. But if Philip had to pick somebody to win the entire thing, Shotaro was the first name that came to mind.

"That sounds reasonable," he agreed. "However, I worry about the possibility of retaliation for colluding with one another."

[tanteiotaku]

Fine enough plan, sure. But Shotaro had a few problems with it. "The prize money and the candy would be a great boon for us and our detective work here. But is it worth sending every single other Deadman here into a penalty game?" Honestly, he was rather surprised Terui didn't put himself at the head of the bracket. Since he obviously considered himself more capable. But now was not the time for petty squabbles, if they could be avoided. "I don't think I could do that knowing what was coming for them. Especially after getting one myself."

[unquestionable]

"They'll end up there anyway. There's nothing we can do about it." The thought unsettled him more than he was willing to show, but avoiding it would be impossible. "Unless, that is, you think you have a viable solution -- and when I say viable, I don't mean another one of your schemes that will get the three of us in punishment games regardless."

[decideformyself]

"He has a point, Shotaro," Philip pointed out with a glance at his partner. "At most our combined efforts might save one person from undergoing a punishment game: The eventual winner. There is no way to protect everyone."

[tanteiotaku]

He shook his head. "That doesn't mean I have to actually send 3 people to it myself! I can't do that, knowing what's waiting for them tomorrow." Sure, there wan't much of a decision to make here, but he just couldn't go along with this. "Fetch and I agreed that no one needs to die today. That's good enough for me."

[unquestionable]

"So you're going to do what, exactly? Nothing? Allow someone to pick you off so don't have to face feeling guilty at the expense of what's best for all of us? Rather you're participating or not, people are still going to get hurt. It doesn't matter what you want, Hidari." There was no hostility in his words, but the blunt truth was the only way he knew how to get through to him. "If you stay in the game you can at least prevent several people from dying."

[decideformyself]

Philip ran his hand through his hair, under his vest hood. Avoiding death was a good plan. But he waited to see what Shotaro had to say about it. If all went according to Terui's plan Philip wouldn't be lasting two rounds, anyway.

[tanteiotaku]

No, it wasn't that far from the truth that others would be more willing to kill someone than they were. A couple people in particular stood out in his mind, as well. He sighed and propped his head up on his knuckle.

"The Boss would always tell me that a man is defined by his choices. The only choice I have here is whether I play the game how they want it played or not. Like hell I'm going to cooperate with something that makes me part of a freak show! And what kind of apprentice of Sokichi Narumi's would I be if I did, anyway?" He finally looked up at Terui with a glare.

[unquestionable]

Terui easily met the glare and then some.

"You keep opposing me but you're offering no other solutions. If you're so stuck on doing what Narumi would, tell me what those things are."

[tanteiotaku]

Okay fine. Drag it out of him. His voice comes down to a pointed hiss because raised voices draw attention. "Going out in the first round. Make it look good enough that I didn't just take the fall right out the gate, and not make it look like Fetch is in on it. I'm already going to be at a big disadvantage anyway." Which reminded him he had to break a few stitches before the fight started. Breaking through with just the Branch of Sin sounded like the kind of pain he didn't want to deal with.

[unquestionable]

"So you want to take the coward's way out." His voice was low, but the vitriol was unmistakable. "Maybe I don't know Sokichi Narumi like you do, but I think he would be damn ashamed if you bowed out when your participation could prevent others from at they very least dying brutal deaths."

Part of him wanted to reach across the table and shake some sense into Hidari, but it was useless. He only had one option left to persuade him.

"Are your really going to leave Philip out there alone?" His voice softened ever so vaguely at the question.

[decideformyself]

Philip had pressed his palms against his temples in frustration when they'd started arguing, but now he slammed his hands against the table and snapped, "Would you both stop it?!"

He glared at Terui for a second. He wanted to defend Shotaro's position, as illogical as it was, but... he couldn't. Instead he turned toward Shotaro, a softer expression on his face. "Shotaro, do you remember the runaway train dilemma?"

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro's hand was halfway across the table to Terui's jacket when Philip slammed his hands on the table. A reaction like that out of Philip was unusual enough to take seriously. He retreated his hand. While he sorted out his thoughts for a moment, he took his hat off and set it on the table nearby.

He hated that they were both right. Even if it felt like a weak justification. Even if it just felt so wrong. But a hard boiled detective was supposed to be the one to make the hard choices, right?

"Yeah, I remember," he finally answered. To think something like that would actually end up relevant. "I get it. I get it."

[unquestionable]

Terui couldn't understand the power Philip seemed to have over Hidari, but he was nonetheless both grateful and impressed that he did. It wasn't as if Ryu didn't find shame in their position either-- as a man of the law his very nature was to protect the innocent, but for now all he knew that was his best was all he had to offer. He had a pretty idea what the train scenario entailed.

"What will you do, Hidari?" Even if he had just nearly been punched by this guy, he brushed it aside. That was pretty common fare between the two of them at that point. Even if he didn't always act it, the other man's opinions did matter to him.

[decideformyself]

Philip didn't have anything more to say. He stared down at his food.

He still didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew he didn't want to defeat Shotaro. Terui's plan was the best option.

[tanteiotaku]

He thought for a minute, and despite all the circumstances, he angrily stabbed at his food with his fork and used the chewing space to let the silence hang. "I'm in. But we're not dragging anyone else into this. We'll have to beat who we're beating on our own, not talking anyone else into losing on purpose. If they find out about this, they're sure to be extra pissed off about it."

[unquestionable]

Terui wasn't bothered by the silence. He simply stared at him until he spoke again, and when he did, he nodded his agreement.

"We definitely need to tread lightly here." He hadn't touched his own coffee yet and it looked like Philip needed it more than he did, so he absentmindedly pushed it his way while talking. "I did say before that this isn't foolproof. It's a very best case scenario plan. I'm still interested in any other input I can get from either of you."

[decideformyself]

Philip looked down at Terui's cup in surprise. He wasn't going to say no, though, not to Terui's coffee. He took a sip and visibly relaxed a bit.

"If Shotaro fails to advance past his first match, I'll attempt to harmlessly knock out his opponent. From there the best case scenario is me facing you in the final match, Ryu Terui." But if he doesn't use his Branch of Sin, he doubts he can defeat even his first opponent, let alone a second. "I consider this scenario unlikely."

[tanteiotaku]

Shotaro bristled at the implication that he wouldn't be able to pull his weight on this. "I'll be fine, okay? The ones that won't are you two if you don't eat something. Passing out from blood loss would probably count as a knockout." And make them a prime target for getting killed before the match was called over. Depending on what the auction results were. Some of those looked like doozies.

"Have you heard anyone talk about what they're going for in the auction?"

[unquestionable]

"If it comes down to us, Philip, the win is yours." Somehow he managed to say it nonchalantly, as if pain didn't await for failing to cross the finish line. He opted to ignore Hidari's health spiel. That could wait until the conversation was over.

"I haven't, but it does seem to have generated interest." He narrowed his eyes. "However unfortunate that may be for us."

[decideformyself]

Well, if Philip could make it that far then he could probably knock out Terui, too. He nodded hesitantly.

"Nor have I. It seems we'll have to take the auction items as them come to us." They would probably only make things worse.

[tanteiotaku]

He still wasn't pleased about this whole affair. At this rate, he may be leaving the hat in his room. "I already talked to John, and he's got our back. I'll have to see what other information I can get."