purrtagonist | [Week 1, Monday: TOP TEN ANIME BETRAYALS]

[RIGHT NOW SHE'S STILL IN IKEA]

[she's testing out one of the beds. By jumping on it!!! Akira can feel free to join this important quest]

I dunno if that's a compliment or an insult, coming from you!

[um of course he's going to join in? it looks like loads of fun. so excuse him while he hops onto the edge of the bed, legs kicked out into the air in front of him as he flops backwards. don't. . . jump on him, Maya]

Compliment. I swear.

[no promises. right now she's just jumping around him, so he might roll a little from the impact]

I guess I'm not really what you'd expect, huh.... Lemme guess, your last Conductor was super serious and intense all the time?

[and roll he does! but he keeps shifting so he doesn't accidentally fall off the bed, wathcing her as she jumps]

Nope. Boisterous, energetic, and extremely friendly. Kind of cute, too.

[listen if Minato can be the Composer]

[Minako can be the Conductor]

If you hadn't just said "kind of cute" and not "extremely cute", I would have thought I have a clone or something.

[putting those phantom thief reflexes to work huh akira]

That's good, though! There's another Conductor out there with the right idea.

[SURE ARE]

I bet you two would've gotten along.

[sitting up now, at least. . .!]

Maya, you've met the Composer of this game directly, haven't you?

[she's tired herself out a little by now so she flops down beside him, sitting too]

I have. Buuuut, I don't know if I can answer too many questions -- I've got really strict orders like Max does.

[so if he's hoping for more info he may be disappointed]

[he's already questioned Max to death about the Composer, so that doesn't surprise him]

I figured. It isn't really information I want, anyway.

[less information, more her opinion. Max shared his, so he hopes Maya can, too]

First. . . what can you tell me about them?

Oh? And here I thought you wanted to grill me like a steak!

[she's a little surprised, but]

They really like to be smug and mysterious, that's for sure! I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful that I lived to Maya another day -- sort of. [she's still dead, w/e, but she wasn't erased thanks to what maya will assume is kindness, because she's maya] But we sure did go in circles a lot.

You know, that's what Max said about them, too.

[smugsmiley Composer. . . WHOMST COULD IT BE]

What were you talking about that made you go in circles?

I was trying to figure out why they saved me and what was going on, basically. It gave me a headache! And this coming from someone who watched Nick cross-examine some real characters, lemme tell you.

I bet he's never cross-examined a monkey.

[PRIDE AND JOY]

Does this mean you haven't been a Reaper for long?

He's cross-examined a parrot, actually! [and that's only what she knows of. phoenix wright has a problem] That's where I got the idea, actually.

..... Nope. I still don't know why the Composer picked me for this. Actually asking them got me nowhere, too. ... Maybe it's just my natural charm.

[clearly]

Say, Akira, what were your other Games like?

[didn't he cross examine something else stupid in spirit of justice]

I'd vote on your natural charm.

[hm. . . he flops backwards again, hands folded behind his head]

Nothing like this.

[staring at the ceiling as he answers]

They were more like. . . your standard JRPG, you know? You crawl through dungeons, fight Noise, solve puzzles. . . that sort of thing. Reapers were like support NPCs who provided you with items and hints to help you through.

People were Erased, but not like this. Usually it was because they lost against some Noise, or failed a dungeon puzzle.

[. . .]

The Reapers I remember, when I was just a Player, were integral in helping me win my Game.

Edited 2018-03-14 03:28 (UTC)

[he's always cross-examining something stupid lbr]

Awww, what a charmer you are! Well, it's nice to be appreciated.

[maya takes this in thoughtfully]

That's more along the lines of how Games should be, in my opinion. Reapers there to actually like, help out, or challenge them, not... get all stabby with it.

[but she's not in charge, alas]

[. . .]

[this is a good segue into something that has been bothering him since they chose their victim for this week]

I know you're as new as I am. [practically, anyway. how did she skip the ranks???] But how do you feel-- personally-- about our job?

[the. killing part, he means. he knows he doesn't like it, and he hasn't yet come to terms with it being a part of the Reaper deal. help him Maya-senpai]

Well, honestly --- I don't like it one bit. I don't like any of it. But... I'm a little glad, too.

[that probably sounds bad, so she quickly amends] --- Not about the Erasures, I mean! But that I can be around to help you guys. I don't think any one of you -- even Junko -- is really 100% okay with what you have to do to survive. [especially him, she's noticed from even this one meeting] So, at least I can support you, even just a little, like this. Because I think you guys have it the worst.

[MAYA. . .!]

. . .

Thanks.

[that's sincere, even if his smile is a bit lopsided]

[. . .]

You know, it isn't exactly like me to just go along with a set of rules that I think are stupid or unjust.

[PHANTOM THIEF OF HEART, SHOOTER OF GOD IN THE FACE, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BLASPHEMER, ETC ETC]

[She gives him a smile, too, it's softer than her usual grins]

Yeah, you do have a bit of a rebellious air about you, huh? It'd be nice if we could be all SCREW THE POLICE!!! and throw coffee at the the rulebooks and Ikea pillows at the Composer.

[the composer wouldn't get metaphorical coffee to the face because they saved maya, obviously!! also: she's not godot]

... But we're stuck.

[also: waste of good coffee]

Just a little.

[he says with a light laugh. not the first time, either. even now, Lavenza's words echo through his head-- this is truly an unjust game.]

[what can he do about it now, with little information and no obvious avenues to fight back? for the first time since he moved to Tokyo, he feels small enough to be crushed underneath a bigger, stronger heel]

[maybe it's time to return to his old roots. keep his head down. swallow his pride and play along, until he can rise up to fight yet again]

Regardless of how I feel about the others. . . [and his feelings are mixed. he isn't sure he can trust them all-- Junko, especially-- but some of them like Undine and Ranpo have caught his attention in a good way] . . . I do think the last thing they need is someone making their lives more difficult.

[someone ruining everything for them, when they're so obviously at a disadvantage. that would just be shitty]

Just slightly.

[she can sympathize -- fellow protagonist and all. funny, in japanifornia, the death penalty is a given, and while she feels bad about the sentencing of the real killers -- she wouldn't have tried to overturn it. but now, on the other side of this, with the reapers -- it's not exactly comparable, but it's definitely shifted her perspective a little. they're kind of being forced, though, aren't they? like this whole game]

You gotta think about yourself, too. I don't want you you to go through what I did --- especially since I doubt the Composer would cut a deal with you if you went against 'em. [but yeah, the stabbing did mess her up, even though she was revived afterwards --- she has to actively try to block it from her memory. she doesn't want any of the reapers to go through that, least of all someone like akira who really does want to try to save people, like her. fellow protag :(] I mean, I'm not gonna tell you to run around stabbing everyone right left and center, but.... you know. I want you to make it.

[. . .]

I want everyone to make it.

[LOFTY GOALS. . .! he knows it's naive. he knows that's not how the Reaper's Game works]

But I'll survive, as best as I can. Not for my sake-- [because his own wellbeing is so far down on the list of priorities] -- but for the sake of the people counting on me.

[. . .]

Maya-- do you trust the Composer?

So do I.

[ hey, she isn't going to knock on him for being naive. even if it can't happen, want the same thing, just as she said to him before. ]

Include me in that, won't you? I know you're busy worrying about everyone else, so I'll worry extra for you.

[ she pauses at the question. ]

They did save me, sooooo, I guess, I mostly do? It's hard to think of them as a bad guy, even with the whole.... y'know.

[ moidah. ]

[that part about her worrying extra for him? that earns a smile from Akira, fond and grateful]

. . . thank you, Maya.

[it feels great to have someone like her in their corner. truthfully]

And I understand. I guess that makes sense. I'm just trying to figure out. . . [shrugs, a little helplessly] Why they would design a game like this one.

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