Sudden Death - Believability Chapter 10
May. 12th, 2022 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shivalriesSeason: Winter
---
Location: Cafe
Izumi: What a pain in the ass... Why does Kansai have to be the only region that feels like some kind of action manga? I don't see this happening anywhere else.
Ritsu: You read manga, Secchan?
Izumi: I heard Yuu-kun's friend has been getting him into manga, so I've been doing my research.
Ritsu: By "friend"... you mean Ma~kun? Huh, do you think I should start studying up on those video games "Yuu-kun" likes so much, too...?
Arashi: We're getting off topic.
Leo: Yeah! Pull it together, guys!
Izumi: Ugh, it's ten times more annoying hearing "pull it together" when it's coming from Leo-kun.
Ritsu: Seriously.
Tsukasa: Ahem, ahem. (clearing his throat)
—In any case, that is one of our current issues.
As we've been barred from any competitive performing, we've been earning SSL$ through other non-battle activities and performances.
Ritsu: Yeah, we wanna stay away from other units as much as possible, so we've been focusing our activities online by holding livestreams and stuff.
Arashi: Mhmm. If we come into contact with any other units, we're in danger of getting challenged to a live battle.
It'd be broadcast all over TV and the internet, so it'll be hard for us to refuse.
If they contact us through HoldHands, though, we could try to avoid them altogether by blocking them or making sure their messages stay unread.
Ritsu: Right, because if we made it clear we're rejecting a challenge, we'd lose by default. We have no choice but to play dumb and pretend we never even noticed their messages in the first place.
So now we're stuck doing work that we're not exactly used to doing. Even then, we're earning a fair amount, though—we're still us, after all.
Tsukasa: Yes. However, if my secret order were ever to be revealed—
Ritsu: It's not unlikely that could happen, now that everyone's orders are posted up all around town.
Tsukasa: Indeed, and if that were to come to pass, we'd be easy prey for other units.
Everyone would rise up together to challenge us to a battle, yet we would have to refuse, in order to avoid violating my secret order.
Then as the losers, we would be forced to pay SSL$ to our challengers.
...We'd be reduced to a piggy bank, coughing up money at every beck and call without fighting back.
Ritsu: If we get gouged like that, the SSL$ we worked hard to build up would be gone in a flash.
Tsukasa: Yes. This is why we must guard the secret order with our lives.
If the truth gets out and everyone discovers that our money is free for the taking, they will pick us clean until we are naught but skin and bones.
Arashi: That would not be very fun to go through.
Leo: It really wouldn't~ Not only would we be sitting ducks as we're stripped of everything we own, but it'd also spell disaster for our reputation.
We'd be a laughingstock. We're always talking like we're ready to throw hands, but people will see this happening and think we're actually a bunch of cowards who won't fight back.
Izumi: We can't even use the secret order as an excuse to defend ourselves since we're not allowed to reveal it. ...We're really screwed, aren't we?
Tsukasa: Indeed we are. The only strategy left to us is to earn so much SSL$ that we will far surpass any of our competitors—that is, until the secret order is revealed.
Ideally, we'd prefer to finish the qualifiers without once having to battle.
Therefore, it is absolutely vital that we do not involve ourselves in the conflict currently brewing in Kansai.
Ritsu: Mm... Right now, we're still hanging on because everyone's too scared to start anything with us, but...
No matter how you look at it, it's unnatural that we aren't jumping into the fray, considering how much we like to fight.
People will get suspicious sooner or later. If our secret order ends up on posters in town, we're done for.
Tsukasa: Well, we want to avoid the worst case scenario. This is why we have joined hands with Crazy:B and are having them search for the culprit behind the leaks.
Arashi: Right... If they find out who did it, we might be able to prevent anything more from happening.
If we do that, we might even be able to keep the secret order hidden until the end...
Izumi: We can't just trust Crazy:B like that, though? Even if they have been behaving themselves lately.
Tsukasa: Agreed. I am not so naive as to believe everything I am told. I would not trust them to stay perfectly loyal to us—not without any proof.
However, one of their members, Oukawa, belongs to a branch of the Suou family. If Crazy:B were to betray us, that would be tantamount to the branch family disobeying the main family.
In that case, I, as head of the family, would have the power to punish Oukawa.
I could even completely disown his whole family if I so choose.
We are not equal, he and I.
To you, it may seem outdated, but to the two of us, it is simply the world we were born into.
Those values have long been deeply entrenched in us.
Ritsu: ......
---
< Believability Chapter 9 || Masterlist || Believability Chapter 11 >
---
Location: Cafe
Izumi: What a pain in the ass... Why does Kansai have to be the only region that feels like some kind of action manga? I don't see this happening anywhere else.
Ritsu: You read manga, Secchan?
Izumi: I heard Yuu-kun's friend has been getting him into manga, so I've been doing my research.
Ritsu: By "friend"... you mean Ma~kun? Huh, do you think I should start studying up on those video games "Yuu-kun" likes so much, too...?
Arashi: We're getting off topic.
Leo: Yeah! Pull it together, guys!
Izumi: Ugh, it's ten times more annoying hearing "pull it together" when it's coming from Leo-kun.
Ritsu: Seriously.
Tsukasa: Ahem, ahem. (clearing his throat)
—In any case, that is one of our current issues.
As we've been barred from any competitive performing, we've been earning SSL$ through other non-battle activities and performances.
Ritsu: Yeah, we wanna stay away from other units as much as possible, so we've been focusing our activities online by holding livestreams and stuff.
Arashi: Mhmm. If we come into contact with any other units, we're in danger of getting challenged to a live battle.
It'd be broadcast all over TV and the internet, so it'll be hard for us to refuse.
If they contact us through HoldHands, though, we could try to avoid them altogether by blocking them or making sure their messages stay unread.
Ritsu: Right, because if we made it clear we're rejecting a challenge, we'd lose by default. We have no choice but to play dumb and pretend we never even noticed their messages in the first place.
So now we're stuck doing work that we're not exactly used to doing. Even then, we're earning a fair amount, though—we're still us, after all.
Tsukasa: Yes. However, if my secret order were ever to be revealed—
Ritsu: It's not unlikely that could happen, now that everyone's orders are posted up all around town.
Tsukasa: Indeed, and if that were to come to pass, we'd be easy prey for other units.
Everyone would rise up together to challenge us to a battle, yet we would have to refuse, in order to avoid violating my secret order.
Then as the losers, we would be forced to pay SSL$ to our challengers.
...We'd be reduced to a piggy bank, coughing up money at every beck and call without fighting back.
Ritsu: If we get gouged like that, the SSL$ we worked hard to build up would be gone in a flash.
Tsukasa: Yes. This is why we must guard the secret order with our lives.
If the truth gets out and everyone discovers that our money is free for the taking, they will pick us clean until we are naught but skin and bones.
Arashi: That would not be very fun to go through.
Leo: It really wouldn't~ Not only would we be sitting ducks as we're stripped of everything we own, but it'd also spell disaster for our reputation.
We'd be a laughingstock. We're always talking like we're ready to throw hands, but people will see this happening and think we're actually a bunch of cowards who won't fight back.
Izumi: We can't even use the secret order as an excuse to defend ourselves since we're not allowed to reveal it. ...We're really screwed, aren't we?
Tsukasa: Indeed we are. The only strategy left to us is to earn so much SSL$ that we will far surpass any of our competitors—that is, until the secret order is revealed.
Ideally, we'd prefer to finish the qualifiers without once having to battle.
Therefore, it is absolutely vital that we do not involve ourselves in the conflict currently brewing in Kansai.
Ritsu: Mm... Right now, we're still hanging on because everyone's too scared to start anything with us, but...
No matter how you look at it, it's unnatural that we aren't jumping into the fray, considering how much we like to fight.
People will get suspicious sooner or later. If our secret order ends up on posters in town, we're done for.
Tsukasa: Well, we want to avoid the worst case scenario. This is why we have joined hands with Crazy:B and are having them search for the culprit behind the leaks.
Arashi: Right... If they find out who did it, we might be able to prevent anything more from happening.
If we do that, we might even be able to keep the secret order hidden until the end...
Izumi: We can't just trust Crazy:B like that, though? Even if they have been behaving themselves lately.
Tsukasa: Agreed. I am not so naive as to believe everything I am told. I would not trust them to stay perfectly loyal to us—not without any proof.
However, one of their members, Oukawa, belongs to a branch of the Suou family. If Crazy:B were to betray us, that would be tantamount to the branch family disobeying the main family.
In that case, I, as head of the family, would have the power to punish Oukawa.
I could even completely disown his whole family if I so choose.
We are not equal, he and I.
To you, it may seem outdated, but to the two of us, it is simply the world we were born into.
Those values have long been deeply entrenched in us.
Ritsu: ......
---
< Believability Chapter 9 || Masterlist || Believability Chapter 11 >
