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FIFTH RIDE ✦ ACCIDENTAL VIDEO / ACTION [DANGAN HOUSE]
[Have you ever wanted to see a biker gang leader be domestic? No? Well turn off your 'Gears now then.
Mondo has taken over the kitchen today, so anyone in the Dangan House has probably been unceremoniously shoved out by one of Mondo's smaller Pokémon. The biker gang leader himself is currently almost unrecognizable; his hair is down and tied out of his face and he's sporting a cute apron with Pichu and Pikachu patterns all over it. His shirt, pants, and shoes are the same, so that might be a clue to those who know him, but otherwise he's definitely looking pretty different today. It seems that one of his Pokémon has gotten bored and has decided to film him since the angle is a little low.
There's a small radio sitting on the kitchen counter blasting horrible rap music with far too many cuss words in it, which Mondo is happily singing along to. Beside said radio are quite a few different trays full of... cookies. Holiday-themed cookies. Little trees and snowmen are all over the place and they actually look pretty good, all things considered. Mondo is currently elbow-deep in dough - it looks like he's actually making these things from scratch rather than a box mix. He'll occasionally glance at a recipe, but he seems to know what he's doing.
After a moment of this, Mondo finally seems to notice that the 'Gear is in his Scrafty's hands and he makes a mad fumble for it, only for her to leap out of the way.]
Get the fuck back here, Ryder!
[Hope that didn't break anyone's eardrums... Also his reputation may or may not be ruined completely now. Whoops.]
[After that... embarrassment Mondo can be found packaging the cookies up in little bags. They're holiday-themed bags too; clearly he's gone all out for the season. He's still singing along to the terrible rap, but he seems to be in a good mood despite the hilarity from earlier.
If he catches sight of you, you're probably going to be handed a bag of cookies. Yes, even you Togami and you, Celes.
The cookies inside are actually pretty good! They're not burnt or anything and Mondo seems incredibly proud of himself for something like this. Come taunt him/demand cookies/wonder where in the good hell he got that apron?]
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...Sugar. And yeah, 'course it's edible.
[He almost makes a remark about how he's surprised Togami isn't feeding it to his Pokémon to test for poison, but he keeps his mouth shut on that. Togami appears to be trying to be civil, so he'll (try) to return the courtesy.
...This is by far one of the weirdest things he's ever done though.]
I'm thinking 'bout making nutmeg ones next. Never tried 'em before so I dunno how they'll turn out.
[He studies the recipe (though he's fairly sure he's memorized it by now) instead of Togami, though he'll occasionally glance at the heir curiously.]
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Not here, anyway.
Togami stays silent as if contemplating something, but finally sets the cookie back down on the cooling rack and unbuttons his forest green cardigan, throwing it over the back of one of the chairs.]
What ingredients do you have left? Enough for at least two batches?
[He's also picking up an orange from the fruit bowl, and rifling through the few spices that they have to see if there's any ginger.
He finds the cardamom and sets that down in the space between him and Oowada without even glancing at the other.]
Cardamom complements the flavor of nutmeg. Cinnamon does as well, but I assume the recipe probably already calls for that.
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Yeah, I should have enough--
[He cuts himself off when Togami joins him, staring at the heir like he's grown a second head. He opens his mouth to ask just what in the good hell Togami's doing, but the answer is pretty obvious, isn't it?
He's not sure where Togami learned to bake, but he's not really sure he wants to know either. Mondo shuts his mouth.]
Yeah, it does. Looks like it should be pretty easy.
[He hands the card over to Togami, busying himself with the other ingredients. Once his back is turned he can't help but smile a bit to himself.
Maybe Togami's not a complete asshole.]
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Good. It would be a pain to have to fetch more.
[ENJOY YOUR BAKING PARTNER??
With the answer, he starts unbuttoning his shirt sleeves and rolling them up to his elbows. His wrists and arms are so pale that his veins stand out like blue rivers drawn on a map. Perhaps it's only his confidence that keeps him from seeming fragile.
He takes the recipe card when it's handed to him, leaning against the counter and picking up the cookie that he'd set down, nibbling it as he reads over the ingredients and directions on the card.
Finally, he hands it back.]
Simple enough. [wonder of wonders, there's no snarky 'even you can't mess it up' that follows.] No more than just a pinch of cardamom. You want it more for the aroma than the taste.
[And now he's on the hunt for another mixing bowl and another spoon. Good thing a house with 8 20-year-olds, some of whom have never had to do their own dishes, is likely to follow the "if it's dirty, buy another one" philosophy.]
My nurse made vanilla ginger sables every Christmas when I was young. Sometimes I would sneak away from my tutors and help her. The smell had a way of pervading the whole house.
[He's heading off the 'I didn't know you knew how to bake' question at the pass.]
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Togami's little story actually gets him to wonder just what the heir's life was like - he had a nurse? tutors? well, of course, he's rich - and Mondo mentally berates himself for caring. It doesn't matter.]
Yeah? I learned to bake 'cause I wanted to please my brother. That, and I really fucking love sweets. My parents were...
[He pauses, staring down at his hands for a moment. Too personal. He's not going to share that with Togami.]
...Well, they didn't do much for us. So we were kinda on our own. But yeah, I know what that's like. Worst part of baking is when you've gotta wait for 'em to fucking cool.
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He knows more than he would like to about absent parents. Having a world-class musician for a mother would do that. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before straightening and setting the mixing bowl on the counter. Even if his body language for a minute betrayed how much he could relate, he's not going to say it out loud.]
...We always made sure to have enough for Father Christmas as well.
She had the same rule for me that she did for her own sons - if I could hold it without dropping it from the heat, I could eat it. [He pauses, mid checking the ingredients.] Even then I had my pride. And I usually ended up with burned fingers as a result.
[It's a harmless enough anecdote, and one that's shared in spirit, if not by the letter.]
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Yeah, I'll fucking bet you did!
[The idea of Togami as a little kid with just as much pride gets him to snicker, but he's clearly not laughing at Togami.]
I baked for the Diamonds too. 'Course I didn't let 'em know it was me doing it; they would've had a field day with that.
[He laughs again; it's odd how silly that seems now when back home he would have died of embarrassment had they known about that. Huh. Maybe he's mellowed out a bit here.]
Most of 'em couldn't even fix ramen without fucking it up somehow, so they all enjoyed it. I guess that's part of the reason why I kept doing it even after...
[Daiya died. He falls silent, staring intently at the recipe before shrugging.]
Well, that's not important. So did this nurse of yours teach you how to sew too?
[Because he certainly hasn't forgotten about all those adorable little Eevee outfits.]
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Funny how inconsequential the knowledge that Oowada apparently bakes well (...and the sugar cookie he has to admit is delicious if plain) seems now, when he would have had a field day with the information early in their acquaintance.
He also probably would have gotten decked in the face for laughing, and he holds no delusions that he would have gotten up from a solid hit in less than an hour.]
She did.
[Designing clothes was a skill that he learned on his own, however.]
She made me learn because "No boy should go through life without knowing how to sew his own buttons on." I was a faster study than her own sons were, so she went on to teach me more than just the basics.
[The thought occurs to him suddenly that if the Despair Incident was really worldwide, then she's probably dead, and the boys who grew up alongside Togami with her. His hand trembles on the mixing bowl, making the metal ring traitorously against the tile, but he regains control quickly enough and picks up the flour and baking soda, lapsing back into silence.]
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[Mondo gives a half-shrug, not elaborating on that for a moment.]
...I can't do much more than simple shit, though. I did the designs on my coat though.
[He sounds proud of that, mostly because it took him forever. Apparently Mondo is domestic as shit, who knew?
The sudden sound of metal on tile gets Mondo's attention and he once again tips his head slightly to the side, wondering what startled Togami so badly. He doesn't ask because he's sure he won't get an answer.]
...Sounds like you two were pretty close. I never really had an adult look after me like that.
[It's a very simple statement without anything behind it. No rage, no frustration, no jealousy. After all, he had Daiya and that was all he needed.]
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Embroidery on that scale isn't simple by any means.
[that's about the closest thing to a compliment you'll ever get from him sry2say. He even sounds almost impressed.
He mixes the flour and baking soda together with perhaps more force than he ought, as he considers how to respond to his classmate's remark.]
Of course we were close. [Do you not know what a nurse does, Oowada.
Togami knows more about Oowada than he'll betray at the moment. After all, he's seen the end of the second trial, he knows about Oowada's secret. About his brother. But he's getting a much different picture now than he did watching a murderer wait for his execution. The difference makes something churn in his gut, knowing what Oowada has waiting him upon returning to Hope's Peak.
It leaves a sour taste in his mouth.]
...My mother traveled often, and I didn't meet my father nor any of my siblings until I was 12 years old.
[which was a detached way of admitting that his nurse had been all he had as a little boy. The way he states it is as matter of fact as Oowada's own remark.]
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Then Togami says something about his family and all that goes right out the window.]
Shit, seriously?
[He can't imagine that. His life would have been utter hell if he hadn't had Daiya there, so the thought that Togami didn't even know his siblings for so long is shocking. He manages to figure out what Togami was trying to say though and tips his head a bit in thought.]
It's good you had someone close to you, then. I mean, fuck, not even you deserve to be left alone.
[...He may or may not have major issues with being alone, news at ten.]
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It's gaudy as hell but damn if it isn't technically challenging.
Oowada's reaction of course makes him remember all that the other boy has said, all that the class trial revealed. Oowada idolized his older brother. Their parents weren't around. He learned to bake to impress his brother.
It makes Togami think of his own fourteen siblings (he wonders how Oowada would react if he knew the precise number) and how they've been dead to him for years, whatever actually became of them. He can't imagine that they're alive somewhere in the wreckage of the world.
...He hopes that they aren't, lest upon his return they decide to take advantage of the fact that he has no bodyguards now.]
I manage perfectly well in solitude. In fact, I prefer it.
[Or so he's told himself, over the last seven years (five that he remembers).]
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[Mondo's voice is calm despite the vulgarity. He's stating it like he would state a fact and for a brief moment he glances at Togami. He can't imagine what it would be like to want to be on your own.
But at the same time, he's slowly coming to terms with the fact that not everyone sees things the way he does. Ishimaru sometimes needs time to himself, something Mondo (still) doesn't understand fully. When he's upset, he wants to be surrounded by people to forget about why he's so mad. Ishimaru prefers to be on his own. It's something he didn't understand when he first got here, but the months have made things a bit clearer.
So when he speaks again, his tone is thoughtful.]
But to each their own, I guess. Kinda surprised you're still sticking around here if you prefer being on your own.
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He had moved on to the next step of the recipe, ignoring the realization that this was the first time that he'd seen butter since the execution of the very classmate standing next to him (would that be margarine? or simply soylent green?)
The thoughtful remark takes him off guard, and he pauses before digging into the cream and sugar with that much more force.]
I have a room to myself, and the study is rarely occupied by anyone other than me. It's not so different. [You know, from the accommodations at murderschool.
He misses the soundproofing, though.]
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Well, yeah, I guess that's true.
[As if anyone would want to bother Togami when he's in the study?]
Still, I'd think you'd want things to be different from that fucking school, y'know?
[He's tempted to ask if Togami has the same sorts of issues he and Ishimaru have. Does Togami find elevators to be terrifying? Does he find windowless rooms to be just as bad?
But he doesn't ask because he can't afford to admit to any sort of weakness.]
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and sometimes screamingin their sleep.And he doesn't want anyone else to hear him doing the same. Small miracles that either no one's heard it yet or been too tactful to mention it.]
Whether we like it or not, the eight of us have shared an ordeal that has altered us. One that few others in this place can begin to relate to, let alone in any way share.
It's only natural we should stay together, at least until we have better plans.
[Even if you all are idiots.
He glances at Oowada out of the corner of his eye, wondering what the other boy is thinking. He wonders if the sound of a slot machine makes Oowada's blood chill in the same way, if he can close his eyes sometimes and see nothing but blood. He wonders if Oowada is as haunted by the memory of the one execution he did see as Togami is by the four (nearly five, nearly five, and god, that fifth one would have broken him, he knows that now) executions that he witnessed.
And then he turns back to the cookie dough that he's mixing, fetching an egg and cracking it fluidly into the bowl. He still has his pride.]
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...Yeah. I guess you're right.
[Mondo shuts his eyes for a moment, expression tightening. He doesn't like thinking back over what happened in the school. He hasn't experienced the amount of horrible things the others have - he saw Maizono's body and he saw Kuwata's execution, but there's more, there's so much more...
He's suddenly struck with the urge to apologize. If he hadn't killed Fujisaki, they wouldn't have had to go through another trial. Maybe he couldn't have stopped Celes and Yamada from murdering Ishimaru, but at the very least he could have prevented Fujisaki from dying if only he'd been strong enough.
Mondo bites his lip and turns away, absently picking up a few of the now-cooled cookies from the previous batches and placing them in the little holiday-themed bags. It gives him something to do with his hands and something to focus on that isn't his own failure. He can't keep beating himself up over what happened (what happens?), he knows that. It won't do any of them any good.]
...It's not like I'm trying to kick you out or anything. 'Sides, I doubt you'd do all that well on the routes.
[It's not exactly what he wants to say, but he can't find a way to word it that doesn't sound lame as hell. Togami's really not such a bad guy, is he?]
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Everyone's deaths... It's all Enoshima's fault. The culprits were all capable of murder, but it was Enoshima who drove them to it.
She's the only one Togami truly wanted dead. And yet here he was, with three other students' (not four, Oogami's sacrifice was her own decision, and maybe if he told himself that enough one day he wouldn't wonder if there was nothing he could have done differently) blood on his hands besides hers, guilty of murder to save his own skin.]
Hold this steady.
[He needs one hand to mix and one hand to pour in the dry ingredients.]
...I was fine on the routes coming here. I'm not some delicate flower. Because I prefer luxury doesn't mean that I'm unprepared to 'rough it' if the situation calls for that.
[You can ask Kirigiri and Naegi - he only bitched a little.]
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Yeah? You don't seem like the sort who's been camping before or anything like that.
[He actually sounds interested as opposed to sarcastic. Mondo tips his head a bit, still curious.]
I figured you'd be just as bad off as Celes is.
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It's not that he was unaffected by the events at the school. It's that his entire life he's been trained to internalize his emotions, to bottle them up and never let them show. He didn't have the luxury of a talent where he could lash out at the drop of a hat. His was a world of passive aggression, of ruthless backstabbing. The world of business was not unlike the mutual killing game.
It was the personal aspects of the latter that got under his defenses and haunted him to this day.]
I haven't been. But complaining won't make the ground any softer or the weather any milder.
[He bristles like a cat at the comparison.]
Celestia and I are hardly from the same circles.
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So you're not fond of her either!
[Then again, who in the house is fond of her?]
Alright, alright, I won't compare you two again, chill out.
[He still looks incredibly pleased though. Probably because that was actually funny, Togami.]
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[...Ten billion yen isn't a paltry sum to anyone but you, Togami.......]
I have no respect for someone who would accept a bribe like that.
[A magpie chases shiny baubles and thinks itself rich, while a dragon reclines on its golden throne and measures its wealth in the bones of the adventurers who come seeking to claim it.]
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Can't say I blame you. That was a fucking terrible motive. I can't believe she'd stoop that fucking low.
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Togami isn't sure the exact moment when he stopped seeing his classmates as potential victims, but as their numbers dwindled his certainty had undeniably dwindled. He tried to convince himself that it was because there was a greater chance of being caught.
"If you need anything, you can come to me."]
What seems like a terrible motive to one person may be exactly what another one needs.
[He shakes the last of the flour into the batter, and then sets the bowl down.]
I can hold it again now.
[which is Togami for 'thanks'.]
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...Yeah, I guess so.
[He hates that he can't answer that question. Mondo hands the bowl off to Togami and leans back against the counter again, arms folded.
What Togami said about the motives is definitely true; he didn't consider killing anyone to keep his a secret, but when he lost control that might have been a factor in why he killed Fujisaki. He doesn't know, he has no way of knowing unless he returns home, and he certainly doesn't want that.
But he's not the same as Celes. He can take some comfort in that.]
I can't believe she managed to get Yamada to work with her on this shit. I wouldn't have thought that kid would be a fucking murderer.
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