[Week 4, Sunday: Makoto]

[purrtagonist]

[like others, Makoto won't be able to find Akira for a few hours after the execution. that is by purposeful design. but eventually? he'll emerge from whatever hiding spot he had curled up in to deal, mostly composed and back to normal]

[keyword "mostly."]

[Makoto will find Akira at the bookstore, draped over one of the couches with an open book propped over his face. he's holding a bottle of chocolate milk. fancy that!]

[time to bother leader, y/n?]

Comments

[justfists]

[she bites her lip, and sucks a slow breath in. She needs to figure out how to process this, even though--]

... This fundamentally doesn't change what we have to do. It doesn't.

[and then she exhales]

... Why can you tell us now?

[purrtagonist]

Makoto. . .

[he opens his eyes again, head tilting to the side to regard her with a bit of surprise. he had expected. . . more, he thinks. but perhaps she's just taking time to process, and narrowing her focus onto the thing she does best: strategizing]

[his mouth twitches, a ghost of a smile appearing before it vanishes]

Because the Game has changed. It isn't just a matter of Players smoking out Reapers anymore.

[he sits up straight, and turns to face her]

Do you remember what I said about us needing to reach the time limit to save the Erased?

[justfists]

[he has those behind the scenes looks that she doesn't. For now, she's trying to process this one thing at a time. That second answer gets closer to what she's looking for.]

Yes. I... get the feeling that must be before the game formally ends.

[and they may be getting close.]

Do you know something more specific?

[purrtagonist]

No. Not yet.

[he wishes he did. but for all of his questioning-- Max, the Conductor, the Composer-- he only has assumptions based upon the facts he knows]

I still believe that's what we need to do, but we only have two more Reapers on my team.

["on his team," he specifies, to differentiate them from the other group of Reapers]

If the two of us die, the Game will end before the time limit is reached. And I don't think anyone will like what happens if this Game ends prematurely.

[justfists]

... We won't let the game end, trust me.

[she's already thinking of plan A through plan D. She was not going to let Akira die again, not when it was preventable.

She just needed a moment?]

We need to solve the puzzle... We've gotten plenty of evidence, so there has to be an idea.

[purrtagonist]

. . . the more time the Players have, the more likely it is you solve the puzzle. That's the only reason I'm fighting to stretch this Game to eight weeks.

[because otherwise, he would have striven to end it earlier, to stop the senseless suffering of everyone involved]

The Composer told me that "communication is vital to the success of this Game." So even if we don't know for sure what we need to do, we at least have to keep talking. To each other, to Max, to everyone.

[justfists]

... You're right.

Akira... Perhaps we should talk to Max together.

[she pauses and inclines her head towards him]

What do you think?

[purrtagonist]

It couldn't hurt.

[he and Max are on extremely good terms, after all]

Although he might feel like we're ganging up on him.

[justfists]

... Do you think we have much to risk from that?

[purrtagonist]

[a laugh]

No. Not at all. He'll just be grouchy.

[justfists]

Is that really that different from normal?

[they have a lot of work to do, after all, and they can only do it between the two of them]

[purrtagonist]

Point taken.

Even then, I'm pretty fluent in speaking Max, now.

[justfists]

I think I'm picking up the finer points... He says he doesn't care, but...

I get the feeling, he's expecting something from us.

[purrtagonist]

In the beginning, I don't think he cared. But now?

I think he's leaning there's a lot more to us than he originally thought.

[justfists]

Yes. That's why I think it might be worth it.

[she exhales]

As for you...

... I wish you'd told me sooner. But if that means we can speak more openly now, and strategize better, I suppose it makes no difference.

[this is her one passive aggressive shot at him]

[purrtagonist]

[I MEAN, CONSIDERING WHAT HAPPENS TO HER BECAUSE OF HIM. . .]

[he lets out a huffed laugh, and rubs the back of his neck]

I wish I could've told you sooner. But we were all threatened with our own Erasures if we did.

[there are RULES. so many Rules. and while Akira breaks rules systematically, breaking this particular one would have put Ichigo at risk. he couldn't have that]

[justfists]

A code might have helped.

[she tilts her head.]

But, please, don't forget you can lean on myself, and Yusuke. You had to take on both of our feelings at the beginning. I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep fighting, especially after I realized my price, but... Now I know I do. And it's thanks to you, Akira.

So... that said, we have to protect the reapers.

[purrtagonist]

Sure. I could've called myself a Beeper.

[HE ACTUALLY DOESN'T THINK A CODE WOULD'VE HELPED, but. what she says next gets his smile to soften]

. . . and I'm glad that you've been able to rely on me. [still wants to, despite this revelation] I'll rely on you and Yusuke in return. I promise.

[except when it comes to being an accomplice for murders, I guess]

[justfists]

[except for that yeah. it's fine, it't fiiiiine.]

No, I think... Terra's death made me realize my assumptions about the reapers were wrong.

[she exhales]

Akira... I need to know, though... As a reaper, have you... [a pause, and then she makes sure to focus her gaze on him] Have you erased anyone? Or been a part of an erasure?

1/2

[purrtagonist]

[. . . now that's a question, isn't it?]

[purrtagonist]

[. . .]

Caren was the first person I've Erased with my own two hands, ever.

[been a part of, however. . . he's deliberately not looking away from her when he answers, knowing that he doesn't have a right to be ashamed of the things he has done]

I was there for-- Lion, Eleanor, and Chuuya, though.

[justfists]

[it's one she'll probably have to make use of, if she's to understand what's going on. She purses her lips at the response, clearly not pleased to hear that.

But also... it makes Caren's request make... a lot more sense.]

... Akira...

[purrtagonist]

[sure does, doesn't it? not just a call out to his nature as a Reaper, but. . . a deliberate attempt to yank him out of the shadows and force him into action he was trying to avoid taking before]

[it sucked]

[he gives a very small, barely perceptible shrugs, not really sure what else he can say about this admission. other than--]

I'm not proud.

[justfists]

I know... But we don't have much to be proud of, either.

[an exhale.]

It's not like we've managed to break the basic structure of the game from our end.

[purrtagonist]

And we've tried.

[he finally looks away, if only to stare at the ceiling while he searches for his words]

. . . the first thing I said when I got here was that I would never Erase anyone. I wouldn't. I couldn't. It went against everything I stood for-- every code we put in place as thieves to keep us in check-- and I didn't want to compromise who I was for the sake of winning.

[. . .]

It started with Terra, I guess. He volunteered to go first. But I could tell he wanted to do this just as much as I did. So in that moment, I decided that even if I wouldn't Erase anyone, then I would at least do my best to keep the other Reapers-- like Terra-- alive.

[and that's how accomplice Akira was born]