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[foolishjustice]

Moshi moshi!

Comments

[makejapangreat]

How could I have been so stupid?!

[He stands up, then, water bottle clenched tightly in his hand as he gestures.]

Of course it was just a damned ruse the whole time! Being god's chosen one— hah! I fucking knew it was too good to be true, but did I listen? No, why the hell would I, when I could've finally had all the power I finally needed to fix everything my way!

[foolishjustice]

[His eyes go wide at Shido's sudden move to his feet, and he immediately shifts so that he can manifest his wings, secondary feathers hanging over the edge of the couch, to fold one of them between him and Shido. It's not much of a shield, he knows, especially since any sort of harsh movement of the feathers would hurt...but it's a comfort to have something opaque between them. He doesn't bother saying anything this time...Shido doesn't seem to be paying attention, anyway.]

[makejapangreat]

If only I'd taken enough time to get my head out of my ass, maybe then everything wouldn't have gone to hell, and—

[He trails off when he sees the white wing covering Goro, and he feels his stomach drop out. The anger drains out of him quickly as he takes in his son... hiding away from him behind his wing.

What is he... doing? He's... acting exactly like the kind of monster he used to be, isn't he? He swallows thickly and squints his eyes closed for a moment, then lets his gaze flick to the bottle in his hand, which he quietly sets on the arm of the chair he'd been on. After a long, hesitant moment, he breathes out.]

Akechi, I...

[His hand comes up and rubs down his face roughly... before he looks over, mouth thinning for a moment... For a moment, he glances away, thinking about just leaving, but... hah. He'd see Akechi later again anyway, wouldn't he?

No, he... he needs to address this. To confront this. This is part of the consequences of his sins.

He swallows, then walks over to the couch where Akechi is seated. He gets down on his knees in front of him.

Quietly, he reassures him:]

Akechi. It's okay.

[foolishjustice]

[His feathers part just enough for him to peek between them, before quickly closing again with a ruffling noise. He'll just...talk from behind here, alright?]

It's not even directed at me, but...I probably look pathetic.

[makejapangreat]

[He takes in a deep breath, brow pinched as he looks at those white feathers. He shakes his head.]

It's not you.

[He closes his eyes briefly, releasing a frustrated, tense breath before he looks back at that wing.]

Do you want me to leave?

[foolishjustice]

I...

[He pauses to swallow, wings shifting with the motion of his body.]

I think I want to be alone, at...least until I calm down.

[makejapangreat]

[His gaze flicks down, and then he gives a little nod.]

...alright. I'm sorry.

[He gets to a stand, looking at that wing for a few more seconds.]

...just message me, later on, if you still want to continue the lesson tonight.

[And with that? He's going to walk off.]

[foolishjustice]

[Hours later, but not quite when they'd agreed to try again, Shido will be getting a text from Goro.]

We should talk about what happened earlier.

[makejapangreat]

[It takes, perhaps, a full minute for the answer, but then:]

I'm so sorry for losing my temper earlier, Akechi. I should have been more considerate of how it might've affected you. I was so angry when I realized I'd been manipulated, but that's no excuse for letting my anger get the best of me. I should be better than that now.

[foolishjustice]

You have every right to be angry. I was infuriated too, when I found out the real reason I was given access to the Metaverse.

[There's a faint delay before the next message.]

It's my reaction I wanted to talk about.

[makejapangreat]

[A bit of a delay on his end, too, before:]

Of course.

Where do you want to talk?

[foolishjustice]

How does the library sound? Somewhere quiet.

[makejapangreat]

I'll be there shortly.

[And sure enough, he'll make his way down to the library...]

[foolishjustice]

[Goro's already there, having wanted to commit to this conversation before his nerves got the better of him. He's sitting at one of the tables, in plain view of the door, doodling vague lines of something that isn't even sure what it's trying to be on a piece of paper.]

[makejapangreat]

[It's as he makes his way over to Akechi that he notices him drawing, small, quick movements that seem to be filled with nervous energy. And he can tell by his body language, too...

He draws in a breath, then walks over and takes a seat across the table from Akechi and folds his hands in front of him.]

Akechi... I want you to know, even if I could do anything to you, even if I somehow gain that power to do so... I will never lay a hand on you or threaten you.

I don't ever want to hurt you again.

[foolishjustice]

[Those movements slow to a stop as Shido approaches, turning into idle flicking and simple twirling motions as he turns more of his attention to the coming conversation.]

I know. That's what made my reaction earlier so damn embarrassing...I can tell myself over and over that I'm safe, but it doesn't matter.

[He stops twirling the pencil to grip it in his hand, resting his fist palm down on the sheet of paper.]

The simple truth of it is, no matter what I consciously know, my emotional and instinctive responses haven't caught up with the change yet.

sliiiiiiiiiiiides in here

[hairpincurves]

[And thankfully, Akira manages to miss Shido walking off.

She's coming back from the library and when she notices-- wait are those wings?

It takes her getting a bit closer to see the ponytail and identify that as Goro and that... has her worried. So, immediately she's going to the kitchen and about fifteen minutes later, she's returning with a plate of freshly baked chocolate cookies.]

... Akechi-kun...

[foolishjustice]

[The smell of cookies is enough to get him to peek back between his feathers. He doesn't lower the wing entirely, but there is enough space between his parted feathers to confirm it's him. If she leans in to look through the gap herself, she'll see that he's curled up, with something dark held tightly in his arms.]

Sorry, I must look ridiculous...

[hairpincurves]

No, you don't. And... you don't have to apologize. [She does want to ask what happened, but that can wait.

She sets the plate down as she considers something, and then--]

... do you want a hug?

[foolishjustice]

It...would be nice.

[He does lower his wing now, unfolding it from around his shoulder. The thing in his arms, apparently, is a plush crow that he returns to his inventory as he holds his arm out to Akira.]

[hairpincurves]

[And with that, she scoots closer in order to wrap her arms around him.

She doesn't say anything for the time being, she'll wait until they've settled into the hug or until Goro says something, whichever of those comes first.]

[foolishjustice]

[It's...maybe more of a cling than a hug. He wraps both his arm and his wing around her, holding her close in a clear seeking of comfort.]

...Thank you.

[hairpincurves]

[Oh...

When it occurs to her that it's more of a cling than a hug, she tightens her embrace a little, one hand dipping down a little to start rubbing his back.]

Can I ask what happened?

[foolishjustice]

Shido and I were talking about the Metaverse, and I told him about the being influencing events. Even he had been manipulated, and he was understandably angry, but...

[The chuckle he gives is...very much not stable. In fact, it might remind Akira of the way Fox would laugh when under stress...]

All those years, all the times he would yell, remind me that I was powerless in the real world, and he could easily have me killed...it got to me. I saw him so angry he couldn't even hear what I was saying, and...I know he wasn't mad at me, and that he couldn't do anything even if he was, but I still acted like a scared fucking kid.

[hairpincurves]

[... Yeah, she remembers that exact sort of laugh from Yuuko. It makes her tighten her hug a bit as she listens to the explanation.]

... He was threatening you? [... She really wants to get angry about that, but she stops herself--just put that away for later. Be angry about that later. Comforting Goro is her top priority right now. Which is why she slowly sucks in a breath before she starts talking.]

... Ingrained emotional responses are hard to stop, even after circumstances have changed. [Hahaha, doesn't she know it. Still, she'll start rubbing small circles into his back, closing her eyes.] It's nothing to be ashamed of that your heart hasn't caught up to your brain that way. You had a legitimate reason to be scared of that and not having shaken it... that's okay. It's something relatively recent versus how long he'd been threatening you.