[Week 2, Saturday: Yusuke]

[purrtagonist]

[sup Yoosk. wherever you are this evening, Leader is coming find you. somehow, despite everything that happened, he manages a lopsided smile and a two-fingered wave]

Are you all right?

[after, you know. being accused and everything]

Comments

[wantsnudes]

[Yusuke is... uh. Well, tipsy. People keep plying him with alcohol since the trial ended, and while he's never normally one for what he sees as a vice, being fuckin dead is as good a reason to try new things as any.

Which is why he's just kind of meandering unsteadily around, cheeks flushed and a slightly unfocused look in his eyes when he spots Akira.]

Ah, Akira... I'm fine. Are you well?

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . . .]

Ah. . .

[hm. something is off here. those flushed cheeks, that slightly unfocused look, the tiny scent of liquor hanging in the air]






Have you been drinking?

[he's incredulous]

[wantsnudes]

[He does have the good grace to look slightly sheepish, like he didn't expect to get caught.]

W-well, Kaiba-san offered me some, and I was curious, so I didn't refuse it. Then there was Sinbad...

[maybe he should find better people to hang out with]

[purrtagonist]

[yes. yes, he should. with the sigh of someone who was tending to an extremely high partner just a few days ago, he reaches out to drop his hand on Yusuke's arm and lead him towards the theater]

Leeeeet's get some food in you, okay? You should probably sit down instead of mindlessly wandering the streets.

[wantsnudes]

If you're implying I'm wandering the streets like some drunkard, you're most certainly incorrect! I'm not!

[...So he declares loudly, and starts trying to wander off in a different direction, as if he doesn't even realise where Akira is trying to lead him.

ps yusuke is a cranky drunk]

[purrtagonist]

[why is this happening. trots after him, once again reaching for his arm]

No! Of course I'm not saying that.

[he was kind of saying that]

You're wandering the streets like someone who is extremely lost.

[wantsnudes]

I'm not lost or drunk. I know Shibuya like the back of my hand.

[so why is he trying to just stomp off to an alleyway with a dead end? it's a mystery]

[purrtagonist]

[YUSUKE. . .]

[stops at the mouth of the alleyway and just. watches him go, before calling out in a flat tone]

That alleyway has a dead end.

[wantsnudes]

[Just kind of stops and moves to lean against a wall in defeat, hands over his ears. please stop herding him he's stressed and tired, this is a terrible combination with drinking i'm sorry]

[purrtagonist]

[yes this does seem like a terrible combination. Akira comes up next to him, leaning against the wall as well]

Why don't you sit down? It'll be easier to talk that way.

[wantsnudes]

[Just kind of... sinks to the floor in defeat, looking miserable. Never mind that he's sitting in a gross alley, it's probably fine.]

Akira... I don't know what I should do.

[purrtagonist]

[sits next to him, back leaning against the wall]

. . . about what?

[wantsnudes]

People suspect me of killing Edogawa. Even if they don't think I'm a Reaper, they think I killed someone and am hiding it from them. If more evidence comes to light that implicates me, or if a Reaper thinks I'm trying to thin their numbers and will seek to eliminate me, then...

[He rubs his eyes, not looking at Akira.]

None of that had anything to do with me. But because I know nothing, there's nothing I can say or do to defend myself. I feel utterly helpless...

[purrtagonist]

[holy shit that is a lot of feelings at once]

Hey.

[Akira's voice is firm, especially as he reaches out to grasp Yusuke by the shoulders, holding him tightly. that feeling of helplessness. . . he's familiar with it. it's been pooling in his own gut, eating away at the lining of his stomach, since they first arrived here. and after three weekends of murder, three trials, and three executions? it's only gotten worse]

[but for Yusuke? he removes focus from himself, and places it solely on his teammate]

You aren't helpless. Not completely. You may feel like there's nothing you can do to defend yourself, but Makoto and I will always step in to have your back. No matter what.

[it's. . . not much. he knows. not in the face of the rules of this game. but it's something, he hopes]

[wantsnudes]

[He clutches at Akira's arm, desperate.] And if the opinion of the majority turns against us, as it did when Makoto and I died...?

I'm not a coward. I shouldn't be afraid. But...

[He is afraid. Risking his life for a cause he believed in is one thing, but dying and being erased because everyone thought he should no longer exist, twice over... It's a crushing prospect.]

[purrtagonist]

Then we use logic to turn it against them. There's no way you could have committed that crime. Not with the evidence I saw.

[his grip remains steady]

It isn't cowardly to be afraid.

[a pause, and then he admits, rawly]

. . . I'm terrified, too.