[Week 1, Friday: Ass of Shinjuku]

[purrtagonist]

[after hearing about yet another casualty of this cruel game, who wouldn't want to seek out the hottest Ass in Shinbuya???]

[. . . which is to say, wherever Shinssin may be, Akira is eventually there as well. not because he has anything particularly important to say, but because. . . well. you know. when shit sucks, sometimes it helps to have a bit of company]

Trying to get a bit of fresh air?

[please as though they haven't been basically living outside these past few weeks]

Comments

[shinssin]

Yeah. I kind of like the smell of blood in the afternoon.

[ Contrary to popular belief, he's at the park with takeout from Wildkat, being a fatass. Look at all those muffins. It's almost as if he took the entire tray with him — oh wait, he did.

Anyway. ]

And you? Tired from tagging the whole place?

[purrtagonist]

[quirks a brow at that curiously, but. assassin. so he just leaves it be as he reaches out to snag a muffin. thanks for the free food]

Nah. More tired from being woken up at an ungodly hour by a stupid siren.

[Akira 8:30 is perfectly normal]

[shinssin]

[That's the kind of reaction he was expecting. Everyone makes this too easy...]

Well, sucks to be you! But damn... another murder, huh.

[Assassin is, in fact, not holding a muffin. He's fiddling with a small, green magatama — Maya's.]

[purrtagonist]

[are you expecting more people to call you out for being an assassin, shin???]

Yeah.

[deep breath in and out, and it looks like he's about to say something else, before his gaze is immediately drawn towards that magatama. he freezes, because he hasn't seen it in Shin's possession at all]

[but he recognizes it]

Is that--?

[shinssin]

She said it'd protect me or something.

[He doesn't look up. His voice is quiet, for once.]

I doubt it's got any mana... Things like that don't work here, anyway. But still...

[purrtagonist]

It's symbolic.

[he gets it. like omamori]

[his smile is soft, and just a little sad]

Hold onto it as tightly as you can, all right?

1/2

[shinssin]

I know! [He waves his hand dismissively because he is NOT BEING DERE FOR SOMEONE HE KNEW FOR A WEEK!! WE'RE STILL AT BOND 2, YOU FOOL!!

But he closes his hand around the magatama tightly.]

[shinssin]

Anyway, Lion. [as if this transition is completely natural] I don't know what the crime scene looks like, I'm damn sure it wasn't Izaya.

[purrtagonist]

[YOU ARE BEING DERE SHIN, IT'S OBVIOUS, EMBRACE THE DERE]

[he rolls along with the transition easily enough, frowning slightly as he leans his hip against the bench, muffin still in hand. even though he's not taking a bite]

I don't really know Orihara. But from what I've seen of him at the last trial, he's isn't anything like Hawthorne.

[so, yeah. they're on the same page, there. very few people are crazy enough to kill their own partners]

Why bring up him, though?

[sir also hasn't seen the crime scene, right over here]

[shinssin]

[ Assassin leans back and hums. ]

I was just thinking about what he told me this week, you know? I don't think he's the type who'd follow you to the ends of the earth, but... You're right. He's nothing like Dahlia.

Izaya said he loved humans.

[ Izaya is as filled with love as much as Dahlia is filled with hate. ... If his feelings can be called love. ]

So I get why he totally couldn't make the kill in less than ten minutes.

[ that's definitely it. not because killing is bad and traumatizing or anything... ]

[purrtagonist]

[Akira wouldn't know any better, having only spoken to Izaya in brief spurts at the trial. so he takes what Shin says at face value, quietly nibbling on his muffin as he does so]

[he's a bit puzzled at what comes next, though]

Less than ten minutes? What. . . does that mean?

[is this some assassin code thing??]

[shinssin]

Whaaaaat? You didn't know? It's in our creed, you know.

[ He takes a bite out of a blueberry muffin. ]

Our assassin's creed.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . a snort. HE ISN'T SURE HE GETS IT, BUT. . .]

[whatever, rolling with things is his specialty]

I'm not an assassin, so of course I don't know your creed.

1/2

[shinssin]

Hahaha, I'm kidding! There's no creed. I'm just saying Izaya's not a killer.

[shinssin]

Ah, there was this thing our boss used to say, though... "Act on heaven's behalf."

[purrtagonist]

Hm?

"Act on heaven's behalf." Does that mean, "bring judgment to those who deserve it?"

[shinssin]

Yeah! That's justice! Or that's what he'd say. Of course I believe it, too. I wouldn't have joined him otherwise.

Ah, no... the situation was a lot more nuanced than that... But yeah!

[purrtagonist]

[hmm. gives a casual shrug, the muffin now half gone]

Why heaven?

I mean, who says heaven is "just," anyway?

[shinssin]

It's an ancient concept. You ever heard of the mandate of heaven, Akira? As long as heaven thinks someone is fit to rule, that person has it. 'Course, when someone is unfit to rule, they lose it. All throughout the history of China, the mandate has been passed down from dynasty to dynasty...

Ah, sorry for the sudden history lesson. Stop me when it gets boring.

[purrtagonist]

[he remembers this, from some history lesson he was barely paying attention to in school ages ago. and although any concept of "heaven" makes him want to roll his eyes, nevertheless, he nods at Shin]

Boring isn't a word that exists in my vocabulary at this moment. Go on.

[shinssin]

Haha, that's all there is to it. During my time, the government was corrupt, and the common folk got the brunt of it all. So when I say we act on heaven's behalf... what do you think we did?

[purrtagonist]

[. . . ah. he sees. and suddenly, this conversation is hitting awfully close to home]

You brought heaven's judgment down on the corrupt government.

[shinssin]

[ fingerguns! ]

Exactly. We were pretty notorious, if I do say so myself!

[purrtagonist]

[a laugh, light and airy]

I bet I'd be a pretty huge fan of yours, actually.

[uh]

The. . . assassination parts aside, that is.

[but, hey. how can he judge? different people come from different backgrounds, don't they?]

[shinssin]

Hey, hey, that was one time! [ beat ] Twice. [ beat ] Thrice?

[ He waves a hand. ]

Ah, I can't remember. But you're into that, huh? Is that what your little team does?

[purrtagonist]

[. . . hm~]

We might dabble in that a little bit.

[STOP TEASING AKIRA]

Kidding. It's exactly what we do. But we don't kill, and that's one of our most important creeds.

[shinssin]

[ YESSS ]

Oh! So you're a goody two-shoes, huh? I wasn't expecting that.

[purrtagonist]

False. I'm bad to the bone. Just ask my classmates.

[said so blandly it's hard to tell whether he's being serious or not]

[shinssin]

Hahaha. Is telling me that really such a good idea?

[That said, he doesn't buy it.]

[purrtagonist]

Are you saying there's a chance it could be a particularly bad idea?

[eh. he thinks he's fine]

[shinssin]

Well, maybe you're secretly a Reaper. Then I'd want to kill you.

[purrtagonist]

[another snort, and his features scrunch up in distaste, considering. . . well. what happened today]

That's me. Akira Kurusu, secret assassin, murdering people without abandon for what are probably shitty reasons.

[he says in a complete and utter deadpan]

[shinssin]

Oh hey, that makes two of us.

[He knows Akira's being a shit. It's fine.

Seriously, though.]

... I don't care about your moral code, Akira. The Reapers killed Maya. I'm gonna find whoever killed Lion too.

Then, I'll kill them.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . and just like that, his dryly humorous demeanor falters, cracks into a show of uncertainty and frustration. because he absolutely can't fault Shin for thinking that way-- and in truth, Akira had also decided that the best thing to do next was to smoke out every last reaper in this place]

[but for someone who's own personal justice never involved killing, even when he was facing down someone who had stolen away countless lives, like Shido? or Akechi? what comes after finding them is still something Akira is struggling with]

[a deep exhale]

You know. . . the first thing I said when I got here was that I didn't intend to compromise myself-- the person I am deep down-- for the sake of this game.

[. . .]

I still don't intend to. But-- [but. . . what?]

But if they're causing so many deaths, then I don't really know what else we can do.

[except vote for them at trial when the time comes]

[shinssin]

... Yeah. I know.

[ It was difficult, not bringing his master's name to shame. But when the odds are stacked against you, what options do you have left? ]