Goro "that motherfucker, what a tool" Akechi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
simulatio) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tabularasa_rp2020-08-09 06:36 pm
simulatio) wrote in tabularasa_rp2020-08-09 06:36 pm
[open] because i can only be me
Who: Goro Akechi and YOU
What: catch-all for august
Where: heavenly blanc, wall market; others tbd
When: yes
Content Warnings: threads with p5r spoilers will be tagged as such! please toss a comment on my spoiler opt-out post if you'd like me to avoid mentioning any p5/p5r spoilers in tags with your character.
What: catch-all for august
Where: heavenly blanc, wall market; others tbd
When: yes
Content Warnings: threads with p5r spoilers will be tagged as such! please toss a comment on my spoiler opt-out post if you'd like me to avoid mentioning any p5/p5r spoilers in tags with your character.
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Still, I'll admit that this is a draw. You've improved since our last fight.
[He checks the wrapping on the sword, grin still curving his lips.]
It's too bad we can't go all-out.
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♪♪♪
He was pleased, his heart was racing and he can't think of a single moment he had this much fun in the void. Surely the reddish cheeks would not leave so soon, but he chooses to ignore it when he rises to his feet, Baselard in hands and already being unwrapped as they speak. The glasses are, momentarily, forgotten.)
How bad did they want to join in?
(It reminds him, Akechi mentioned wanting to talk about their Personas. Sounds like a good time? And before he forgets...)
Thanks.
(For the compliment, for the fight? It is a mystery.)
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[Ren unwrapping his blade is a signal for Akechi to start doing the same; he rolls his neck briefly to release some of the extra tension, glancing sideways to Ren and noting his flush. Well, it makes sense. They'd both exerted themselves for the thrill of the fight, and he'd be lying if his own cheeks weren't equally as red right now.]
Which do you prefer?
[Ren has seen them both now, and he has to admit, he's curious to hear the answer. Granted, to Ren's memory, he's only used Loki against him, but...]
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The question does surprise him a little.)
Loki.
(No hesitation there. Robin Hood was strong, powerful, but it just reminds Ren of the side of Akechi he isn't fond of. Loki, on the other hand, was rather interesting from all accounts - the mental breakdown ability he possesses more than all, and how he truly felt more of the rebellious aspect of Akechi. Could Akechi have used its special ability on him? He wonders.)
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[♪
It's not the best answer, but Akechi accepts it nonetheless, continuing to unwrap his sword. It takes longer than Baselard just by virtue of being longer itself, and he has to be careful not to rip the rags on the jagged edges.
But he's also not about to just let it rest like that, either.]
And why is that?
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(He thought Akechi would be able to infer that by himself, but he doesn't find the question out of place.
Seen that he did tell him to his face how much he despises the lies, which is basically what Robin Hood represents, either way. He sighs, a last flip of the dagger before he's ready to put it away and sit on the grass.)
He's interesting, from history to his unique abilities, and besides... I've already told you, I prefer you over your lies any day.
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[Forgive him for looking incredulous. Sure, it's what Akechi would have done (and had done, with the other Thieves) but he wouldn't have expected Ren to be that interested in a defeated foe. Though perhaps he should have been.
In any case, he snorts, unimpressed as he pulls the last of the rags off the blade and balls them up, moving to set them beside Heavenly Blanc, under a rag so they don't blow away with the next gust of wind.]
You say that as if they aren't both me. I might prefer to fight with Loki, but that doesn't mean they aren't both me. You'll have to accept that.
[Lies and all.]
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Instead, Ren finally raises his head to gaze at Akechi. He can understand what he is saying, but at the same time, it's a different matter all together.)
If I didn't accept you fully, we wouldn't be here. Those are two different things.
(Fact number one.)
I am allowed to dislike parts of you, the same way you certainly dislike parts of me.
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As if reaching a decision, he doesn't answer what Ren just said, instead going back to a previous conversation without looking at him.]
I awakened Robin Hood first. As a child, I suppose I thought of myself as wrongfully antagonized, fighting back to reclaim only what was rightfully mine. Perhaps it's best to say that Loki was a... "reawakening" of sorts. The acceptance that nobility and delusions of heroism simply weren't enough.
oh the spoilers
Much more interesting than whether he's ok with Ren disagreeing with him, or just more of the same confirmation that Akechi believes Ren is wrong in several aspects of his morals and values. Ren never had the opportunity to hear about any of this, since the reveal of Akechi's true nature was followed by what Ren believed to be his death.
If it wasn't for this place, would Akechi have told him eventually back home, had things turned out less hectic?
Doesn't do him any good to think about what-ifs, so his mind drops the thought to focus on what Akechi had just said. Delusions of heroism, huh? Ren raised his hand to his chin, in thought.)
You had been in the Metaverse years before me and Ryuji found it, correct?
(A few seconds of silence from Ren's part before he spoke again.)
I admire that you managed to navigate it on your own.
(Nothing shy from genuine, Ren nods. Akechi certainly didn't have The Hope Of Humanity to break it down to him.)
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That's right.
[Akechi nods, lip curling into a derisive scowl. With how much he'd struggled on his own in the Metaverse, perhaps it's no surprise that he'd resented Ren's quick adaptation, his support, his teammates.
He doesn't say it in so many words, though, flicking his free hand dismissively.]
I did what had to be done. I'd be dead otherwise. I imagine it was much the same for you, initially.
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(Indeed, Ryuji did not help their arrival, willing to go inside the castle and act as if it was Shujin itself while Ren didn't know better.)
We found Mona not long after.
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[Akechi nods, adjusting one of his gloves. It makes sense with what he'd already deduced back then. The Phantom Thieves hadn't exactly been forthcoming with him, but they also weren't hard to figure out, either.]
I'd say "how lucky," but I suppose we both know it wasn't just luck at work, was it?
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(He parrots to confirm.)
A disgusting Palace, from beginning to end. He got what he deserved.
(It wasn't luck at all, specially with how he now knows what Mona is and the circumstances around his 'rehabilitation'. Tsk.)
He wasn't very upfront at all times, but he managed to explain things the best way he knew how.
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But Ren already knows that.]
Yes, Morgana... I'm sure you must miss his guidance now.
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(In all honesty, it's difficult to spend most of his day in the dark, listening to nothing, with much of the environment non-engaging when there is nobody at the bar.
He spent all his day with Mona, from the moment he woke up till when he fell asleep. Of course that one is hitting him harder. Not the guidance, perse.)
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Did you know, [he says conversationally,] Before your friends managed to snap themselves out of their fake realities, Morgana took the form of a human boy?
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(A gasp escaped his lips upon hearing that, perking up immediately with goggled eyes towards Akechi. He had just seen Morgana disappear right before his very eyes, not too long before he found himself up here.)
... I thought he was gone. I saw it myself.
(Akechi wasn't there for the emotional goodbye or to witness Morgana glowing and ascending, so... Well. Being pissed for not remembering this himself aside, he exhales before he chuckles.)
Is he as handsome as he says he would be? How is he?
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[It's Akechi's turn to stare back at Ren. What does he mean, "gone?" Surely he doesn't mean Morgana was dead. That's pertinent information that the other boy hadn't shared with him at the time, and that kind of pisses him off.]
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Morgana is a product of the Metaverse. The Hope of Humanity personified. We destroyed the Metaverse, Morgana was taken along.
(Oh, look, another thing he has not yet processed.)
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[Don't mind his sour expression. Like, he knows it's not Ren's fault (yet), but he's still a little annoyed that something that important somehow didn't make the summary cut. Ren's always been a man of few words, but sometimes more words are important!]
In any case, yes. He was perfectly fine once he broke himself out of Maruki's false world, even if it meant returning to his cat form.
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(It's sincere from this Ren, at least. He doesn't know how things are at home and what prompted him to keep that to himself, but alas. Over here, he had made a point to not hide things from Akechi anymore.)
... How are the others?
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Able to fight.
[He knows that's not what Ren's worried about, but that's Akechi's assessment. He doesn't really care how upset they are with the breaking of their false worlds and their collective betrayal of Ren. They came back to fight beside them when things were at their most difficult. In a way, he owes them.
More than that, he owes Ren a better answer than that. He sighs impatiently and shakes his head.]
I can't speak for all of them, but I can tell you that Okumura-san's perfect world had her father by her side, and Futaba-chan her mother.
[Another careful sip of water. It's dangerous, letting Ren think about the people who did come back from the dead, so he adds with a note of finality,] Once they broke themselves free of that wretched man's influence, they once again returned to their proper states. The fact that they were able to do so is either a testament to them, or to what you said to them. I wasn't privy to that myself.
[Two people Akechi had killed, literally come back to life. He stares into his water glass, then forces himself to meet Ren's eyes, searching for a hint of condemnation or anger.]
cw drug mention, trauma, persona 5 royal spoilers????
Akechi knows that's not what he was looking for in an answer, but he is patient somehow, the sigh indicating more information comes once Akechi is able to clear his thoughts. With his fingers intertwined and his forearms resting on his legs, Ren listened.
Possibly the one thing that bothers him the most in the void is this. How come Akechi can attest to all of this, when the last thing Ren remembers is talking to Sae, not a sign of Akechi, and then there's this bomb of information he can't even seem to recall, not even one bit. It wasn't like his memory blocking Shido's out to protect itself from trauma, or the drugs running through his veins, leaving him groggy and weak... No, a never-ending blank space, white noise, nothing. He takes a deep breath to give Akechi space to talk, calm even when these thoughts came to mind.
Knowing his friends, he can easily imagine what their perfect life would be like. He will admit that he is very proud to know his friends chose reality, as harsh and painful as it is for all of them, than to live a lie. The things that have happened were all terrible, but they shaped the Phantom Thieves members to be who they are today, and in turn, they shaped Ren into who he is.
Of course, Ren can easily catch the eyes, staring right back into his own, scanning... For something he will not find. Surely it pains Ren that his friends had what Akechi had taken from then, and then not anymore... But it has been done, and while Akechi certainly pulled the trigger, Ren doesn't think he is solely to blame. As they have said to Akechi himself, any of them could have fallen into that rabbit hole hadn't it been for their circumstances and strong bond with one another.
Their past seems to drag them even here, doesn't it? Finally, Ren sighs, only due to the heaviness of the subject and speaks.)
Kasumi-chan?
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[There's no hatred. Not even a trace of resentment. Honestly, Akechi will never understand him. He'd understand him better if he hated him for what he'd done. How the hell does Ren get away with being such a font of goodness and perfection, after everything that had happened to him?
The mention of Kasumi, specifically, is like Ren had taken that glass of water Akechi had been drinking and tossed it directly in his face. His expression goes still, and there's a very tangible silence that hangs between them then, the sound of Akechi choosing his words extremely carefully.]
I'm surprised you mention Yoshizawa-san, considering she was very adamant in saying she wasn't part of your group, [he says finally, still reluctant to mention the Phantom Thieves by name when context makes it obvious Ren's a part of that infamous group.] But yes, she too fought against Maruki. She was instrumental in finding his Palace in the first place.
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