expiationlogs | (catch-all/open) seas would rise when i gave the word;

(today, he's not all there. takemichi's gone, and his room is full of little mementos, questions he never got the answer to. his sentencing and his talk to shinjiro also gave him plenty to think about.

when he first got here with the other boy, he looked both terrified and relieved. like he wasn't looking at manjiro as he is, but at something else... weak smiles, caution.

"I had to tell you something, something really important! And I knew you wouldn't listen to me if I tried the normal way. You stopped talking to everybody after the gang dissolved. I couldn't get in contact with you at all. I knew I had to do something big to get your attention, so I... I revived Toman. I mean, I wasn't the only one who missed you."

back then, he asked takemichi to not tell him anything else. this is not what he is living, this is unimaginable to him as he is-- but perhaps now, he's starting to get why he would do something like this. he misses the most fearless boy he knows, and the uniform with the words 'second generation tokyo manji president' sit in his room like a sore wound.

he wants it gone, and wants to boy back. he isn't quite sure what to do, but he has a spot he goes to think as of late. if anyone is by the water and looks in the distance, they'll see mikey's little feet dangling as he sits on the edge of a cliff, listening to the waves crashing below. he's wearing his own uniformand it's a world of information on itself - above his pocket, "throughout the heavens, i alone am the honored one." on the back, 'tokyo manjikai'. the left arm, the words 'president'.

takemichi's is folded next to him.)

Edited 2024-03-11 13:09 (UTC)

(working out in the dojo right now is not an option for him anymore. not when last time he got overly excited, he burst a punching bag open - lots of cleaning, not so fun to ruin things that are so precious to him.

except, he's sure that war is to come. one he finds no mercy within him to not partake, blood-thirsty and determined. except-- this place placed a strength in him that he wasn't all that used to. he hasn't fought yet with his newfound ability, and that is a terrifying thought. shirtless and enduring the ridiculously freezing weather, manjiro finds himself in the forest, the further he can be without accidentally hurting anyone.

he's testing his punches against the bark of trees. his knuckles are crimsoned from the blood, repetition giving confidence. something he'd once consider a weak punch leaves a dent, so he's increasing and decreasing power in each.)

(in twelve years, a piece will be a part of him. he'll find it too easy and numb to pull the trigger, much easier than hitting with kicks and punches. right now, the weight and feel of the metal against his hand feels wrong, but he knows it has its benefits in a place like this. he's no longer putting order in the streets, this is against a higher power that he doesn't fully understand, and every help should be cherished and welcomed.

still, it feels kind of fucked up. he never liked them. in manjiro's mind, if one wants to kill, be his guest, but do it with one's own hands, watch the light leave.

a shot misses the target, hitting the tree rather than the bullseye he put up. he's too in his thoughts.)

Fuck, how many bullets do I have...

(alcohol used to be much more fun back home. idiot boys being boys, running around, laughter, but that's not his mood right now. he feels distant, with all in his mind bumping. at least he won't spend a lot of money in here, with how easy it is for alcohol to hit him like a hurricane. a shot, and he's already the color of cherry - and as a pick me up, all the money that didn't go to alcohol goes to everything that is sugary in lupin. it's a feast of glucose on his booth, and he is almost too focused on annihilating all of it.)

[ It was at least just as cold in his world before Ryuki wound up here, but the cozy interior of the bar feels like a literal breath of fresh, warm air amidst the blackout.

As he's making his way towards an empty table, he spots the younger man, and what stands out at first is the diverse collection of sugary treats — or whatever trace of them left in the plates.

He gives a sidelong peek at the young man's flushed face. Doesn't he look a little too young to be in a bar, drinking? (And it's not just that the boy has a youthful looking face. Though the consideration that the blond might be a shortie by nature crosses his mind... A-anyway, he'll extinguish that last thought, for his own safety.) ]

Um, are you okay...?

[For the purpose of meditating out in the woods, the constant thud of fists hitting a tree is a tad annoying. Not exactly the most peaceful of sounds. Dara decides to track down the source of the hubbub, hoping that it's just some weird NPC she can intimidate into leaving.

She certainly wasn't expecting to see a new but familiar face. A disapproving sigh can be heard overhead from a neighboring cluster of trees.]

You don't exactly dress for the weather, huh?

[Dara lounges along a strong bough of one of the trees with her monstrous serpentine tail looped through the higher branches. Without a mask, the sliced cheeks are far more apparent as she speaks. Plus the four extra arms... Definitely different from the shorty who he met at the party.]

Edited 2024-03-12 03:38 (UTC)

I'm training, the cold is added adversity. And who the fuck are you, again?

(the arrival doesn't surprise him on the grounds of simply appearing, it's the snake part, and the many arms that do. at this point, however, it always passes way too quick. this place made him a little number to these things. problem is - he does not recognize her at all. his memory is bad, she already knows this, but the mask effects from the party don't help.

he doesn't mind the company, but it does distract him enough so that the next punch is way too much, the tree splitting vertically, but thankfully, it's still held together so it doesn't fall back.)

... Shit.

(all of the thoughts that go through ryuki's mind are wholly correct. manjiro is tiny, looks much youthful than he should, although he is definitely too young to be drinking. his skin glows in red as he takes another sip of whiskey, despising the taste, but it sure turns the next spoonful of cake that he shoves into his mouth much sweeter.

what he doesn't get is the question. hello, he has a shitload of sugar, who wouldn't be over the moon with it?)

Duh. 'Course I'm okay. These are my desserts though, don't even think.

(no one is thinking shit????)

[The god silently debates on snatching the chance for anonymity while she watches him. There's no look of surprise when the trunk cracks, bark splitting, but it certainly isn't the demonstration of strength of an average human (in her world, at least).]

...It's Dara. But it doesn't really matter if you've forgotten.

[Mikey, please enjoy this knowledge that Shinjiro is an absolute monsterfucker.]

Ah, it's you.

(now all gears turn, because it's really not the first time he hears her say those almost exact words. now that he stops the stance for a second, the cold hits, and his gang uniform jacket goes atop his shoulders for just a slight layer of comfort before he sits next to her on a bulkier root.)

Sorry for the noise, getting used to this bullshit. Didn't know you lived in the middle of fuckwhere.

[Dara remains on her perch overhead, looking down at the young man with her chin propped up with one hand. Sorry for interrupting your training montage?]

Where else do you expect a snake god to live? [Not that she's up to disclosing her occupancy in the "haunted" house.] It takes energy and concentration to pretend to be human. Plus cramming my tail into buildings is a pain sometimes.

[Big snek woes. Besides her complaining, Dara eyes the tree again:] ...This place isn't my territory, so I don't have the right to drive you out.

The caves? I'm religious, but not an expert, dude. Couldn't you become very tiny and live in a shrine?

(please.)

Didn't know kami worked in gang turf rules.

[ What is there about a minor drinking that doesn't scream something is really wrong here, though. In lots of ways. ]

Don't worry. I wouldn't dream of it.

[ But he's narrowing his gaze at the bottle of whiskey...?! ]

[The other boy's absence had certainly been felt. It's part of why he ended up at the dojo at all; thinking about someone on their own in a big, empty place like that... Yu's mind goes back to December -- both Decembers, actually. The silence of the little house in Aldrip. Coming home to a dark house when Dojima and Nanako were in the hospital. Quiet, empty. He had gotten used to it, over the years, but it never felt any better, really.

So he goes out to look for him. Of course he does.

When he finds Mikey sitting by the cliff, he doesn't make any big greeting. That's not really like him anyway. Instead he sinks down to sit cross-legged beside him, close enough to brush shoulders. Not saying anything -- just there.]

(he should not be surprised. yu's-- awfully like takemichi in that aspect. neither of them are okay with letting manjiro deal with anything by himself, it seems. takemichi will yell at him, stomp, fight, beg, cry to the point of sobbing, and while yu is much more muted, he knows the result is the same. neither want manjiro to be alone.

by the time yu arrives, manjiro has a stick between his lips. he doesn't smoke often, not really, only with shinjiro and when he wants to feel close to his older brother. the house is filled with packs, the man smoked too much, and the smell to manjiro feels like a hug from the person who made him into who he is, and who he aspires to be. that said, he doesn't want the smell to stick to yu, he puts it off to smoke later.

he isn't sure if yu wants him to say something. he thinks things are clear enough.

"SECOND GENERATION TOKYO MANJIKAI". bullshit.)

How did you know I was gone?

(is it because he whines for food before he leaves...)

Edited 2024-03-15 01:29 (UTC)

[Naoto was just surveying the area. Still trying to catch her bearings in this new place. It'd been peaceful so far, bar the power outage. But all in all, it'd not been too bad. She was able to earn enough though odd jobs to feed herself, though she wasn't sure about staying at the inn too long-

Any thoughts about living conditions were blown out of her brain when she heard the gunshot.

She was already drawing her gun and rushing to the area. Other's had mentioned monsters.]

Is everything alright!?

[Good form. Her pistol was aimed at the ground, finger off the trigger.

Except, there was one other person in the clearing. Nothing else.]

[Oooooooooooooookay. Hold on. Just give her a moment to process those odd statements.]

All of nature has laws and rules. [Easy first one, but the second--] It's weird to imagine gods turning mouse-sized, but it's technically not impossible. Gods don't typically live in shrines though. The spiritual realm exists, after all.

[The sight of the cigarette is almost nostalgic, in a way, and Yu thinks once more about his uncle, the smell of cigarettes permeating the house... It's not a pleasant habit, but it still makes him a little homesick. Naoto being here has at least made him stop worrying that people might be wondering where he is, but...he still misses his relatives dearly.

He exhales softly at the question, a sound close to a laugh -- but not quite.]

Just a hunch.

[He knows how he'd be feeling if Yosuke left, after all. He nods at the second uniform.]

That's his, right?

Takemitchy's, yeah. When he got here, he said he went behind my back and created a Second Generation to catch my attention, because they missed me. It seems like he was a couple of years into the future. I forbade him from telling me anything else.

(and there is a very interesting contrast between what mikey does and what the other teams in aldrip do. he has this sort of authority, he orders, rather than guides, leads, or even asks. his word is always final - and thus, not another word was given to him.)

I've wanted to split him in half over it but thought it'd be shitty when I didn't even know what I'd done in the first place to force his hand like that, but this is still treason. I suppose it doesn't matter now.

Edited 2024-03-15 18:12 (UTC)

[He makes a soft, thoughtful sound. Yu wasn't able to figure out everything going on between the two of them, but he gathered from Takemichi that something bad happened, something he deeply wanted to stop or change. Something Mikey doesn't know about.

It's still one hell of a way to send a message.]

Must be hard to stop thinking about it, [he says quietly. Bad enough to lose a friend, but to be left with such an ominous weight overhead...

Even if he's gone, it doesn't make that weight go away.]

Makes no difference if I think about it any.

(he can't change whatever will happen at home. he knows he'll slowly lose his mind, he senses it with each passing day, but he wonders - what exactly did he do that prompted such a strong reaction? why exactly did he leave? where the hell did he go?

if takemitchy said it wasn't just him who missed mikey, is he mad at his own people by default? should he?

he loves that boy, though. with every cell in his body, he can say that takemitchy is his hero. someone so strong, so weak, and so... special. he doesn't understand it. that makes it hurt more.)

Did you know I was here before? Vi told me. I had no idea.

Hmm, [his initial response. He's not sure he agrees, but -- he tends toward the thinking side of things anyway. Either way, he didn't come here to argue. Their relationship may not be defined by words, but it is fundamentally defined by care -- and that's why he's here.]

I remember you saying that. [And that he isn't the only one that's happened to. Astralin comes to the forefront of his mind, right now. Aragaki, too.] Most people who come back don't remember, but...it probably feels strange, hearing that for yourself.

(whether he is doing it for his comfort, yu's comfort, or simply because he likes yu's skin against his lips, he presses them against the back of the hand he fishes.)

Yeah, so I don't think anything we do here matters there, anyway.

[Yu is quiet for a moment as Mikey grabs his hand, places a kiss to it. Maybe that small gesture is why he responds the way he does, twists his hand a bit to intertwine his fingers with the other boy's.]

That's not true. [He squeezes the hand he's holding.] This matters.

It does, but you know what I mean. It matters right here, right now. I won't remember you when I go home, you won't remember me.

(this is not the point he wanted to make, but he presses another kiss, this time to the corner of yu's lips, as an apology for the grim subject.)

What I meant is, even if I knew, it's not like it changes whatever will happen at home.

Edited 2024-03-16 03:28 (UTC)

(catch-all/open) seas would rise when i gave the word;

once you'd gone, there was never an honest word

feel the fear in my enemy's eyes

but that was when i ruled the world

one minute i held the key, next the walls closed on me

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