[Day 2, daytime: Dazai, Ichigo]

[purrtagonist]

[well that was an adventure]

[presumably while Dazai sleeps off his delirium, Akira and Ichigo hang around his room to keep an eye on him. I mean, Akira's certainly not going anywhere anytime soon when Dazai is in such bad shape, so. . .]

. . . I'm a little impressed you knew what to do.

[THAT'S DIRECTED AT ICHIGO]

Comments

[purrtagonist]

[a look of relief flashes on Akira's expression as Ichigo starts to hand the book over. but then Dazai stops him, and that expression vanishes in an instant]

[. . .]

[a small sigh. Akira leans back, folds his arms, taps his foot against the ground and affixes the older man with a steady, even gaze]

Why don't you just ask me what it is you want to know? Then you don't need a book.

[better to hear it all from Akira himself, rather than a neutral, dispassionate source that can't explain the complexities of everything that happened back home]

[suppressthedark]

[WHOA OKAY

He definitely didn't expect to be grabbed, but he stops all the same.]

...Should I leave, then?

[Because, you see, Ichigo knows about not intruding into someone's heart. At least, not until they're ready to tell you themselves, and his comment was aimed at Dazai.]

[cw_suicide]

[hush a moment, Ichigo-kun, there's only so much he can process right now.

first and foremost, a blunt question for Akira-kun:]

Are you taking responsibility for him?

[purrtagonist]

[to Ichigo:]

No. You can stay.

[he's already skimmed the book. he's already a part of this. and then, to Dazai:]

And, yeah. I am. I'm also telling you I know what's contained in that book-- about him, about me-- and I'm willing to tell you all of it.

But only if we can make a deal, first.

[ah. the caveat. words from a kid who is far too used to negotiating, far too used to getting what he wants through bartering]

[suppressthedark]

[Ichigo will remain silent for a bit, because he'll let Akira make his deal. It's the least he can do, after all.]

[cw_suicide]

[those words do little to get any kind of change from Dazai's expression. making deals is his forte.

including analyzing where the possibility of traps are.

... though being ill and drugged definitely has him at a disadvantage]

Your conditions?

[purrtagonist]

[they're Akira's forte, too. Trickster that he may be, however? his deals don't usually contain traps or misdirection. not unless he's trying to get out of one himself, first]

. . . everything that I say in this room today stays between the three of us, and only the three of us.

Nothing I'm going to tell you is relevant to the game we're playing, and none of it will put anyone else here at risk.

[suppressthedark]

Of course.

[He says it with no hesitation at all - after all, whatever it is, it's Akira's choice to share it with them.

The least he can do is keep it quiet.]

[cw_suicide]

[the bleary stare of someone who expects another item]

... is that all?

[he's almost? disappointed? meh.]

[purrtagonist]

[sorry Dazai, he doesn't want that much!!]

[he also gives Ichigo a grateful nod, the flicker of a smile appearing on his lips. then? bac to Dazai]

I'd like to keep the book too, if you'd let me. But that's negotiable, while the rest isn't.

[suppressthedark]

I'd be fine with handing back over, but it's really up to Dazai.

[He did get stopped when he tried to hand it back, after all.]

[cw_suicide]

[... this kid could just feed them lies tho.

question is: does he care enough?

not really but also--]

After you explain, I'll make that call.

[seems fair to him, since obviously there are things they dont want to reveal and he has skimmed it so if Akira lies, he'll know its a deal made in bad faith]

[purrtagonist]

[. . . okay. that's fair. even if he still feels like this deal is skewed a bit too much in Dazai's direction? he'll take it]

[with a nod, Akira flaps a hand at the book, before he folds his arms again. and, with the deepest of sighs, he begins]

Well, first things first.

[makes. . . a face]

There's a 90% chance that I'm Nasty Crimeboy.

[suppressthedark]

[Well that's gonna get... a blank look at first, and then ramp up to something between humor (because holy shit that's amazing) and empathy (because holy shit that's not even anywhere near his actual name, at least his book just made an apple pun), and you can clearly see that he's fighting to hold in his laughter while also feeling bad about the fact that he wants to laugh so badly you guys

Finally, he manages to squeak out something]

I, uh...I see.

[NO REALLY DUDE HE'S SORRY BUT THIS IS FUNNY AS SHIT]

[cw_suicide]

[drawing his arm back under the blankets because like. reasons. also still drugged and thus shutting his eyes.

but not looking especially surprised. HE KNOWS PROTAGS.]

Ah, is that so.

[purrtagonist]

[god maybe Dazai won't even remember half of this conversation because he's TOO DRUGGED TO FOCUS]

[to Ichigo]

Please don't ask, I don't have an answer.

[RUBS HIS TEMPLE. . . another sigh, and he continues]

Anyway. Before coming here, I was the leader of a group of-- thieves.

[there's a brief pause before he says "thieves," only because he was trying to think of a more delicate way to put it before he realized there wasn't one. ah, well. they were thieves, and thieves they would always be]

We took it upon ourselves to steal the distorted desires of the wicked. Change their hearts so they would confess to their crimes with their own mouths and spend the rest of their lives carrying their guilt on their shoulders. It was our. . . justice, you could say. Our way of reforming a society in which the powerful took advantage of the weak.

Goro Akechi-- [wags a finger at the book again, since he doesn't know what Akechi's dumb alternate name is] Was the detective that opposed us.

[suppressthedark]

[...Wow. So the 'stealing hearts' stuff wasn't a metaphor - or maybe it still was in this situation? Something like this sounds simplified, but also complicated once you got deeper into it.

Ichigo listens in silence, not flinching at the 'thieves' thing - hell, with what he's done before, that sounds downright normal - his expression only changing once Akira mentions society. He understands that kind of motive, at least - it was one reason why he was so adamant about protecting and helping people who needed it.

But hearing about Akechi...that actually makes him blink.]

What? Why?

[cw_suicide]

[what a good Ichigo who asks all the relevant questions while Dazai just kind of huffs, amused, into his pillow because lolol precious cute thieves stealing bad things from people and acting like that's such a crime.

but also Akechi being the detective has him peering curiously at Akira again through barely opened eyes.

that is certainly interesting.]

[purrtagonist]

[inhales, and exhales deeply]

He was a famous detective back home. He consulted with the police and prosecutor's offices on multiple occasions, and appeared on talk shows all of the time.

[he rolls his shoulders back in a shrug]

The police considered us a threat. Sure, we were only targeting criminals, but the ability to change a heart is a dangerous power, and they knew it. It's only natural that someone aligned with the law would speak out against us.

[. . . that's the simple version of it, anyway]

[suppressthedark]

...They still should have just let you do it.

[If it was for the better, then who cared? If it had been changing people to act violently or for the worse, then he would have understood, but...]

So if he was after you, I'm guessing your relationship here's been strained?

[You know, the whole...murdergame thing....]

[cw_suicide]

No. Akechi-kun told him who had the book.

[besides, a lawful type setting fire to shit? c'mon. not a real lawful type. or at least, not the good lawful type.]

[purrtagonist]

It's--

[. . . . . . . . . .]

[. . .]






Complicated.

[boy howdy how does he explain his weirdo Rank 10 Confidant with Akechi in simple terms]

[suppressthedark]

[....You know what, fair enough. Ichigo will just...nod at that, and scratch the back of his head.]

You don't have to explain if you don't want to.

[Waiting until he's ready to really talk about it and all that.]

[cw_suicide]

[fuck that.]

Someone with distorted desires?

[purrtagonist]

[well, Ichigo tried. but Dazai puts it in a way that makes explaining things a bit. . . easier]

Yeah.

[he has no doubt that if Akechi were capable of having a Palace (which he is not, because he's a Persona user), he would have had one]

But not desires that we could actively steal. [game world mechanics. he won't get into those, yet] To make a long story fairly short. . .

[ccccasually]

He tried to kill me. Twice.