catch-all: akira.

[miscakes]

Comments

[miscakes]

[Ah.

He won't give him shit for it, but.]

Do you know who and when?

[Whomst the fuck got an audience with Master Blue before him, wtf.]

... I have an idea, but I will need to ask one of the sisters if it's possible first. I won't use my only shot on a pointless question.

[survivaltricks]

Amada-san. Throughout the week. Letters only; nothing in person. Beau-san and Wright spoke with them through letters, too.

[THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO GOT AUDIENCES BEFORE U, AKECHI. before Akira, even. he hasn't even tried the bell!!]

Mmm. Smart idea. . . which one will you ask?

[miscakes]

[... WELL, THEN.]

Perhaps it's high time one of us rang our bell.

[The possibility of breaking the bell is still kind of, hm... but...]

... Pumpkin-san is out of the question. I don't have to patience to wait until she's ready to do her job. [And after the fourth body scare? No.] Plum-san is the one most likely to provide a straightforward answer.

[As straightforward as the furries can be, anyway.]

[survivaltricks]

Or both of us. Or one of us, and we're both there. The options are endless.

[har. he jokes, wagging his fingers as he does so]

Plum's not a bad idea. Peach gives straightforward answers too, but Plum is more. . . clinical about it.

[is "clinical" the right word]

[miscakes]

Stop joking and tell me if you plan to ring your bell, or not.

[AKIRA...]

She's more desperate to get out of the conversation. Getting my questions out of the way so she may take her leave is good incentive, I believe.

["Clinical" is one way to put it.]

[survivaltricks]

[amused]

I do. Would you like to be there to save your potential one ring?

[look he's being nice!!]

I wouldn't say she's desperate to end the conversation. She just knows what she's here for.

[and that is to DO HER JOB]

Make tea for her first.

[he'd better]

[miscakes]

If you'll allow it, yes.

[Look. Listen. They might as well try!

Though he gives him a dubious look at the suggestion, frowning.]

Are you joking?

[Akira. Buddy. Pal. Amigo.

The tea will turn out too bitter because he fucked up the instructions and overboiled it, and Plum will ditch him. Don't.]

[survivaltricks]

[THEY MIGHT AS WELL TRY!!]

"If I'll allow it." [snorts] I'll flag you down before I give it a ring, then. Two heads are better than one.

[SPARE THE MODS NPC TAGS]

And no, I'm not. She likes herbal teas.

[he is being DEAD SERIOUS, Akechi]

[miscakes]

I'll hold you to it. If I discover you rang the bell without me, I'll come find you — and it won't end well for you.

[HE'LL KICK YOUR ASS, AKIRA.

But, hm.]

... Noted. [Time to accidentally poison Plum, maybe.] Since you seem to be so well acquainted with the sisters, what do the other two enjoy?

[survivaltricks]

[HE ALREADY TRIED ONCE AND IT WOUND UP WITH BOTH OF THEM GETTING BRUISED SO GOOD LUCK AKECHI]

[but he ain't gonna ring the blue bell without him s o]

Pumpkin likes hot chocolate. Peach likes coffee.

I always treat them beforehand. As thanks for taking time to talk to me.

[miscakes]

It's their job. They're obligated to talk to you as long as you're their guest.

[So he thinks Akira is ridiculous for this. :///

Except he also looks like he's considering, if only to try and worm his way into their good graces.]

[survivaltricks]

What's wrong with trying to make that conversation a little nicer for them?

[look he knows how to social link, akechi. you do not]

[miscakes]

It's not going to be nice for them no matter what.

[he only has two personas of course he doesn't know how to s.link.]

[survivaltricks]

That's fine. They'll just be bratty at you in return.

[each in their own little ways]

[miscakes]

Business as usual, then.

[survivaltricks]

[with light amusement]

It sounds like you get along with them pretty well.

[miscakes]

[........... dead eyes him.]

I keep things professional, unlike you.

[survivaltricks]

[:3c]

I'm a wild card. Making friends is professional for me.

[THEY'RE CALLED CONFIDANTS BITCH]

[miscakes]

[He rolls his eyes at him.]

Justify yourself however you want. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment.

[survivaltricks]

[Akira mirrors that eye roll, and opens his mouth to respond--]

[and that's when it happens]

[there's no catalyst. it just. . . occurs, whether Akechi or Akira willed it to or not (and Akira definitely didn't will it to happen). a flash of a memory, vague at first until it comes into clear view. Akechi will recognize the casino, and Joker running away from the human-like security guards with a briefcase in hand. he'll see an arrest at the hands of a very large taskforce. . . and then an interrogation room, dark and dim and dismal, accompanied by a headache and aches and bruises and everything that accompanied Akira's questioning at the hands of Shido's police]

[he'll get to experience first hand the cruelty of the justice system, all of which ends when Akira finally signs the confession, forced as he was to do so]

[and when it ends? Akira jerks back, a bit surprised, his hand flying to his temple as he kind of stares out into space like ??? WHY IS HE SUDDENLY THINKING ABOUT THAT DAY]

[miscakes]

[Why, indeed. Akechi doesn't look shocked by the sheer cruelty of the justice system. Not when he, himself, has played a part in propagating its corruption. His expression is pinched, eyebrows furrowed as he opens his mouth to say something, and then—

Another memory begins.

A phone conversation, tucked away in a corner of the Ginza Line where people are less likely to overhear. It's impossible to deny the way the praise makes him feel. It's even more impossible to deny that the conversation goes downhill pretty quickly after that, unease seeping in until — it clicks. And the memory ends just as Akechi comes to a conclusion, his suspicions all but confirmed at this point... Hm. That's cheery.]

[survivaltricks]

[oh. . . oh. that memory? definitely not his, and for a few moments after it fades, Akira is. . . strangely quiet]

[then he lifts his eyes up to Akechi, searching his expression as carefully as he can, his own beginning to smooth out as his shock and surprise fades]

. . . so that's how you knew. . .

[that he was alive. that the Phantom Thieves were still working, even if in the background]

[miscakes]

[His own expression is... Well, tense would be one way to describe it.]

Yes.

[Calmly, he smooths out his shirt and straightens his tie.]

... I already had reason to believe something odd had occurred. I felt dizzy while leaving the interrogation room, after all. [And then, at the TV studio... Hm.] That conversation only served to confirm my suspicions.

[survivaltricks]

[he thought something was off from the very beginning, did he. . .? hah. Akira lifts a hand to adjust his glasses, pushing them a bit further up his nose so the lenses catch the light, flashing opaque]

Why didn't you follow up sooner?

[it was to their benefit that he didn't, but. . . why didn't he? Akechi knew how the Metaverse worked. he knew what it felt like to travel from one world to the other. if he felt something strange had happened in the interrogation room, then why. . .?]

[was it truly not enough of a concern for him to investigate it immediately?]

[miscakes]

[It was hubris that blinded him, in the end.

But he won't mention that.

Instead, he offers him a sharp look as he steps back to lean against one of the displays.]

All your friends had to do was run with their tails between their legs, and everything would have worked out like it was meant to.

["They're nothing but cattle," he said. What a joke.]