Work Text:
Akiba Taku Body Clean Up
The smell was, for lack of a better term, downright atrocious. It was bad enough in the cafeteria, it was bad enough from the dorms.
But standing right in front of the storage room, with only a door standing between them and Akiba...?
Tei struggled not to gag. He covered his mouth with his arm, turning away as he muttered curses under his breath.
"F-fuck, I might actually be sick..."
Shishikura nodded. "I cant blame you. This... this is all just a bit much."
Shishikura figeted with his cuff, readjusting the plastic gloves clinging to his fingers. Its tight, pinching in some places and rubbing painfully in others. He grips the gurney handles, glancing over the supplies they had. Bleach, dish-soap, as many rags as they could get away with taking. There's still sheets and garbage bags inside the storage room.
"No kidding!" Tei swallowed thickly, which he almost immediately regretted, the scent swarming his mouth. "I'm probably going to take a two hour long shower, if I can get away with it."
"That's not a bad idea. Maybe I'll do the same."
"Um, actually, Shishikura real quick…"
"Yeah?"
"Are you sure you're up for this? It's... well, you were in here during the investigation, so i'm sure you're well aware of Akiba's… State, but... you get winded pretty fast, don't you?"
"Oh. Right, I do... but don't worry. I can handle it. Really!"
"If you say so, just if you need a break, please tell me. Id rather you be okay so we don't... drop him."
"Sure. Thank you, Tei"
T: do you need a hair tie? We should put our hair up before we touch him. And maybe you should... take off your scarf?
S: Uh, why the scarf?
T: Just to avoid getting it bloody. I won't lie, the smell is probably going to stick to your clothes. I'm trying to keep my clothes as clean as possible to avoid the worst of it.
S: ah. Good point…
"Do we have everything we need? Gloves?"
"Check,"
"Masks"
"Check?"
"Cleaning supplies..." Tei looks over the collection they amassed. Bleach, dish soap, so many rags. "Will this even be enough? I've–i've never cleaned... something like this."
"Im sure there's more in there. We'll find something." Shishikura replied hopefully.
…
They're stalling.
They both knew they were stalling. Lagging in front of the door, tying their masks tighter against their faces, triple checking to make sure their hair was tied tight to avoid them falling into the blood. Tei had half of his hair in a bun while the rest was shoved down the back of his shirt. Shishikura was able to tie his hair in a quick braid.
Once again, they face the door. Neither take the first step.
"G...god..."
Shishikura nodded. "Its really bad." He took a deep breath through his scarf, "i'm not looking forward to this."
"Me neither. I..." Tei lowered his head, trying not to breathe. "Thanks, for doing this with me. I dont know what i'd do if I had to do this on my own."
"O-or course! Its no problem at all, really. But, uh... I wish we did this sooner... poor Akiba has just been... sitting here all night."
Tei nodded. "No kidding. I-... I probably wouldn't be able to do it yesterday, I was preoccupied, but... Christ."
"Preoccupied?"
"Um, yeah! I was helping Hirose in the medbay, with…" Tei hesitated.
Shishikura put two and two together. He bobbed his head, "Its okay, you don't need to talk about it.'
"Thanks, Shishikura."
"Are yoy ready?"
"Ready as ill ever be."
As they step inside, they're hit with the stench of blood and feces. Tei staggered and Shishikura reluctantly pushed the gurney in.
The first thing they notice after the smell was the fact that Akiba's jacket was gone. Both boys freeze.
T: ... The hell?
S: W‐Where'd it go?
T: ... I have no idea. Did someone take it? Who...
S: Not sure. It looks like they didnt disturb him much, but... It'd definitely be covered in blood.
T: Someone would have seen that though, right? There'w no way they just... managed to sneak by with a bloody green jacket.
S: I wouldn't think so.
T: I definitely didnt see anything, and I'm not just saying that, like my eyes havent - uh, done that thing.
S: You dont think Ikeda saw it again?
T: I doubt it. But… god I hope he didn't.
They approach the body, Tei stares at it
T: How do we even do this? Do we… god, do we cut him up?
S: Wh- No! Of course not!
T: I-I'm - I don't want to!. I've never touched a corpse before, but to conserve… space…?
S:...
T: .. Never mind. Never mind. God. What am I even saying?
S: No No! Its... Fine? I get it, I think. If more people are going to end up in the freezer, its probably best to think of how we're going to store them.
They both hesitate to touch the body, not wanting to disrespect Akiba further. Shishikura starts, laying down a sheet an top of Akiba.
Tei gets to work removing the cleaning supplies on top of the gurney and then lowers it to the ground, positioning it besides akiba so they could roll him onto it.
It takes far more effort than either expected - Akibas body now heavy and squishy in ways that will haunt the two for the rest of their lives.
instead of immediately leaving they start to clean the place.
Tei asks him if hes okay after everything, Shishikura is unnerved
and nervous, hesitating, before admitting
"How can I be?" because he's convinced he's going to die, considering his medical issues, and seeing Ouno die, seeing Akiba like this, after Ikeda was tortured, he's... scared.
Tei isn't sure what to say. "I... I can't blame you. I... I don't know what to think about this."
DAY NINE, AFTER SHISHIKURA AND TEI CLEAN UP AKIBA
scene: Nishigushi, Maekawa and organizing everything to start preserving, they spitball some ideas on what to make for dinner, wondering what they can preserve and what needs to be made tonight,
Maekawa returning from making shishikura take a shower
Nishiguchi surveyed the rows upon rows of food items lining the counter tops; Poultry, ground beef, seafood; Bags of cheap mixed vegetables and a multitude of frozen berries; ready to fry dumplings, Gyoza, along with various frozen noodles spanning from Udon to Shirataki.
Its an overwhelming mess, but nothing she wasn't already used to. Its not her first time having to preserve this much food, but she sure as shit wasn't happy to do it for these lazy fucks.
The fans overhead were on full blast, but it did nothing to lift the scent from her nostrils. Thankfully Nishiguchi had a stomach of steel, or else she would be vomiting into the trashcan.
That wasn't the case for Maekawa. She bolted when Tei and Shishikura arrived with Akiba on a stretcher, both of them with green faces and deep grimaces.
N: Took you long enough.
M: Oh buzz off. Snowball looked two seconds away from falling over, not to mention smelling like absolute dogshit,
N: Eugh, tell me about it. I've had the fans going before they came in and its still rancid.
M: Right?! God, i cant even stand it... anyway yeah, I was just making sure he didnt topple over in the hall
N: yeah yeah, just cmon...
M: yes chef!
[pause]
maekawa gags
n: Gw- hey! Don't do that here!
M: Sorry! Sorry, just- eugh... never can get used to that smell... how is it that bad?
N: because he's been rotting for 3 days?
M: Why didn't we clean him up sooner??
n: because nobody wanted to do it. Although I should've gotten started yesterday.
M: Yeah? Are you a crime scene cleaning expert?
N: Something like that. I at least know how to cover the smell.
M: Ohoho? Is that right ms crime fam-
N: Shut up. I work in a kitchen. im used to dealing with rotten food and spoiled meat.
M: Ah, yeah that tracks. You know, I once forgot about a [incident involving spoiled meat/milk/eggs]
N: [laughing] oh yeah?
m: It was HORRIBLE... I swore off [food] for like a month.
N: I'll do you one better
M: Oh?
N: When I was like... 12 or something, one of my dumb brothers brought a raw fish my uncle caught, and for some reason, hid it in the sun room
M: NO...
N: Oh it was awful too. Summer. Highest temps of the year. That fish was just sitting there all day. I could have killed him. I swear. My dad nearly did.
M: I would have for sure.
N: trust me, it took forever to get the smell out
[Pause]
N: hey, i wanted to ask you something
M: What's up?
N: Your mom... your dad really killed her?
M: …
N: …
M: kinda heavy
N: I- well... uh... my mom died when i was young, so... idk
Tei, Yokoi, and Denden Join Maewaka and Nishiguchi in the cafeteria as they preserve everything
Tei is actually helping, Denden is reporting everyones rewards, and Yokoi has a whiteboard of responsibilities/schedules/ and game plans for everyone.
Eventually Kumada arrives, then Tsukigata, and Ogura.
Nishiguchi tells Ogura not to go near the freezer because Nishiguchi noticed Ogura visiting Abika’s corpse as he rotted, Maekawa notices her smelling like corpse still, and drags her to take a shower. Everyone helps in preserving the food, eventually loading them up into carts to transport to the lower floor
T: hey guys. Sorry it took so long, Yokoi and i were talking and... y-yeah. im here now
N: Heyo
M: welcome to the club! we're deciding to relocate
T: yeah?
N: Yeah. neither of us are super comfortable with cooking in here with the smell... We're deciding if its worth it to bring this stuff down to the lounge in the lower floor.
T: probably for the best
M: seriously tho- how did you not barf while cleaning him up? i bet it was bad
T: Uhm... I wont lie, i got ... close. A lot
M: dont envy you
T: I dont envy me either to be honest
Y- Alrightly guys! I am back. Glad to see us all hard at work, I am super appreciative
T- Welcome back.
M- What's with the whiteboard? You got more slides for us?
Y- I wanted to make some charts
N- Oh?
Y- Rewards, jobs, how we'll organize and divide up all our tasks. And, we could even keep track of our food and supplies. Make a nice long itemized list.
M- Fun, sounds like a fantastic time. Whose volunteering for that one?
N- Fuck that. I'm busy enough managing the kitchen
M- Don't be lazy. You got Tci to cover
N- We're both overworked!
Y- th that's okay! I'll make a seperate section for jobs we could delegate!
While Isoda and Ninomiya are getting drinks, Isoda talks to Denden and asks about her hobbies/ her ice sculpting
Day 9, after preservation arc
The smell of Akibas rot is still permeating through the entire building. Nishiguchi and Tei decide to reclean the storage room, where Nishiguchi displays a shocking amount of knowledge cleaning a body.
T:.... [deep breath] uhm, uh, what do you like to do for fun?
N: uh?
T: o-or just, in your spare time?
nishiguchi mentions designing clothes
t:...
N:... whats with that face?
t: nothing! nothing, i just... er... if we find like, sewing shit, and fabric... could u... do you mind
n: spit it out
t: um
n: oh you better not ask me to make you clothes
T: NO!! Teach! could you teach me?
N: what? why?
T: i dont know if you noticed but they have given me literally nothing but my work uniform.
N: thats your work uniform? Eugh
T: exactly! Exactly, I hate it…
N: alright, what do you like then? Ill see what i can do
[They work in silence for a minute]
N: ... Tei
T: yeah?
N: so, what the hell were you doing doing enjo kosai at like, what, 14?
T: I- Uh- im - i dont wanna talk about it
N: so you were lying then. about the 'stupid shit you did as a teenager'?
T: [sputtering] y eah, i guess, i just - i dont-
N: i knew kids were still doing that shit, but still! Why were you up to that? was it some under the counter contract? Were you manipulated? homeless? just - what was it?
T: Nishiguchi-
N: And where the hell were your parents? they let that happen? the hell?
T: Do you wanna explain how you know how to clean up a deadbody?
N:....
T: …
N: touche.
T: seriously i..
N: its fine, ill drop it. i just wanted to see if youre okay
[Pause]
T: who do you think will be next..?
N: You better not be thinking of killing anyone Tei
T: I-Im not!
N: you better not!
T: I literally just said I wouldn't
N: Good! still! I gotta make sure you know. Ill kick your ass if you try anything
T: I believe it
N: as you should. I could snap you in half like a twig... seriously though, i don't... i don't want anyone else to die. if we can avoid people getting hurt, the better.
Tei doesnt respond immediately, looking at her with a grim expression as he recalled voter game
t:... ironic
n: whats that supposed to mean?
t: you know what i mean.
N: dont start.
t: just saying. kinda weird to start caring now of all times.
n: what did you want us to do?! we had no choice