expiationlogs | [OPEN Mingle]

[Word traveled fast even in the new version of town, and Silco became aware of Akechi being bed bound. It was hard not to when the kid apparently was screaming all night, so that made itself around the many ears that he had in the city. And who was he to not enjoy an opportunity to watch the kid off his nut? He was only human after all.

Silco came when Akechi happened to be sleeping at the time, and he pulled up a chair next to the bedside and eased himself into it. He crossed one leg over the other, his pencil scratching on paper as he completed mental calculations and then switched to crossword puzzles.

If he noticed Akechi becoming somewhat lucid again, he made a soft t'sking sound of disappointment.]

That's all you have, is it?

[Leave it to Silco to find the most optimal time for his visit, right? Because on the following day despite the restraints keeping him stuck to the bed the blinding rage has left his body, leaving only varying sense of hallucinations and other illusions, blurring the lines between reality and dream.

So, when regains his consciousness again the red eyes have hard time focusing on anything, lazily moving around the room and shying away from the light. It takes a moment for him to even notice that there's someone by his bedside. The words reaches to him but never quite register. But what does stick to him is the tone of the voice.]

You... You can't be here. [He struggles to get the words out, voice weak and thin from all the screaming. It's not Silco he sees, but a shadow of someone else he had a brief encounter with in the past. Someone he in normal state of mind wouldn't bother to even remember, as the name and face have blended into the bloody mass that is his kill count.] I killed you.

[Silco was always an opportunist, and this seemed the perfect time to find out more about Akechi while also putting on a display of a concerned citizen. After all, he had gone into the miasma himself and faced off against snakes, and thankfully he had not been subjected to a bedside for it. Some people were simply built different, or perhaps they had all come because of one of their own failing the object.

He made a noise of acknowledgement in his throat to contradict the notion that he couldn't be there. Clearly he was, and that was enough for him to contest the point. Akechi seemed well and truly drugged and the boy was likely harmless with those restraints on.]

Did you? It appears you did an improper job on that. [He returned to scribbling letters on the paper resting on his knee.] Or perhaps I am and you've come to join me beyond the veil...

[Wow, maybe Silco should go toe-to-toe against a killer clown and be pulled under poison water and then see who's built different and what not! No, but there is some truth to the man's assumptions. The main reason why the group had been hospitalized after going after Gogol was because of their disastrous team work. Or rather, Akechi not being able to play well with others and determined to do things his own way.

Well, it was no use on going over what could have been and what not. They were here now and everything sucked.]

Impossible. [He speaks, voice soft and quiet. Akechi closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of the pen scratching against the paper.] It had been all over the news. You killed your family and yourself. I saw to it. [Or is he mixing up the cases again? Had it been minister's assistant who had committed family suicide? Or the actor -- wait no, they had used poison in that case.

Well, whatever. Akechi sighs deep and opens his eyes, trying to search for the source of the voice.]

Doesn't matter. 'm dead anyway.

Edited 2024-04-21 18:40 (UTC)

[Some of such an encounter was literally part of his life, but his tale ended up with him hiding in the mines with his face bleedings and the poisons of the water mutilating his face. Above-board physicians were few and far between, and at the time, he couldn't risk coming out of hiding in case his location was divulged and Vander or associates came to finish the job.

He would prefer to not experience a repeat performance, even if the medical care seemed to be far better than what he received. Hallucinations were only something to take advantage, drug induced or not.

He made a scoffing laugh at the claim, continuing to scratch answers in the paper calmly.] I see. I'm sure the media has never falsified a narrative, unintentionally or intentionally. Are you certain it was me? Your laundry list seems rather long...

[He made a soft hmmm in his throat at the claim.]

If only we were all so fortunate. You must persist to endure your failures.

[For some reason he finds the sound of pen scratching against the paper as Silco writes his notes so soothing. He sighs heavily and closes his eyes, humming a soft "mmm" as a response to his first statement, seemingly content.

But it's the second bit that manages to rouse his spirit somewhat, making him want to challenge the man. He is dead. Hell, Akechi fought tooth and nail to keep it that way, too. His death had been out of his own will, caused by his own actions truly for the first time rather than just follow the master plan laid out before him. To break free from Shido's strings. It's not his fault that grave continues to spit him back out, trying to force him to play more games.

For a brief moment he squeezes his hand into a fist and quickly nudges it forward, pulling against the restraints keeping him in his place.]

No. I did not fail. [Except.. He did, just once. Akira Kurusu was still walking around. It was he who won the stupid game they were picked to play, emerging as a champion of humanity. One failure -- but it was all that it took for him to be cast away.

Not that it had mattered either.] I was perfect.

[He was not going to even pause to contest the challenge, still reading clues, considering and then scratching the answer out. He had no idea who the boy thought he was, and he had already decided that it didn't matter. This one was potentially suffering, and that was well enough for him after their little office encounter.

If he could push a few buttons along the way, that was something he could use in future encounters as well. After all, who knew when he might need an assassin to teach a lesson or two, and he'd hate to close the door on a potential contract on Akechi. He had an inkling of what the boy could do, and if it wasn't too dramatic, it would be worthwhile.

His pencil paused on the paper, and he made a soft clicking sound of his tongue on the roof of his mouth.]

'Was'? Oh how the mighty have fallen. Now you play detective and think you can escape the past. T'sk, t'sk.

[There's another attempted pull on the leather straps, the chain chiming against the metal bars. But there he stays, firmly tied to the bed while his eyes begin to reflect agitation.]

Shut up. [He weakly growls as a protest.

They truly are dancing around the core of his issues, here. He had been perfect. Fooled an entire nation, having the people eat from his hand as he sold them the perfect fantasy of righteous Detective Prince. He had worked so hard on that fake personality of his, while also balancing his school, police work, public appearances and assassinations. But in the end, it had taken only one mistake from his part to bring it all down.

And then again, hadn't the perfection, just like everything else about him, been nothing but an act]

You know nothing about me. You shit stain.

Or you'll do what, boy?

[Silco had no idea what it was that Akechi did for the weird grinning entity to appear, and a part of him did want to know what that level of threat was. He expected limited violence in a hospital, despite the colourful characters trapped in here. Akechi seemed to be the only one locked in the bed, and he wasn't looking to lose a kidney to Rolo just yet.

He was still hedging his bet that much of Akechi's toughness was an act to cover being a scared little boy, but his evidence so far was limited. Either way, there were plenty of little boys in the Lanes and the Undercity as a whole who acted like that, a tough barking dog to hide how scared and tiny they were on the inside. Poking the bear was one way to try to find out some interesting information.]

Oh, do enlighten me then. I forgot my tiny little violin at home with my dead family, so you'll have to tell the tale of your woeful life without background music.

[It's truly a shame that Akechi is so drugged out of his mind that the clever jabs and remarks by Silco goes completely over his head. It takes a lot of him to be just able to take in the basic message and let the words register in his mind.]

I'll kill you. [He says, dilated pupils focusing hard on the man's figure in front of him - still unable to make out the exact features of him.] I'll kill you, tear apart of your cognition and make you psychotic. Just like last time. You'll end yourself and everyone around you.

[The call of chaos, the unique ability that only he possessed really did work wonders. It was solely because of that power he had been able to succeed in his mission. Though, it is also the reason why he was stuck here in the bed, exhausted and bound as he had cast it upon himself. ]

[Silco made another amused sound at the threat. He expected that there was some truth to the threat on some level when he considered the comment about cognition and psychotic. Was that what that entity could do then? Or was it something that Akechi did himself?]

That would be so unfortunate, don't you think? Rubbing out extra lives to suit a narrative.

[The corner of his lips twitched.]

Perhaps there is something worthwhile keeping around in you, boy.

[Luckily for all parties residing in the hospital, the poison water miasma and drug cocktail running in his system is actually doing a good job keeping both of Akechi's personas away. While he can tell that he hasn't lost the contract he's formed with his other selves, it sure is quiet in his mind. Even if he was freed from his restraints there's a now way he could inflict any damage at the moment.]

You're stupid. The messier the collateral the bigger scandal. More doubt and fear in people. [Easier to drive the sheep towards the hidden wolf in the herd. It had all been a slow game, destroying people's hopes while also building trust in the man who promised to guide them towards salvation. A man who thought himself to equal to god, flooding the country and allowing only a few and selected to his ship to build a new life from the ruins. How ridiculous had it seems now. But people truly are foolish and filthy creatures, aren't they.

But what Silco says next does manage to halt the growing anger within him, stunning it completely. Again, there is something eerily familiar to the statement. A memory from the past, maybe. It seems like something that the man would have thought all those years ago.]

Then you understand. [His voice is quiet again. With a long sigh he closes his eyes again.] I must kill you. If I fail he won't keep me around. Then it'll be all over.

[Silco took a moment to consider, his pencil pausing on the paper as he played through the words, the scenarios that would line up. It didn't take him long to put Akechi as a political element, the slow knife in the dark employed by someone who had reason to eliminate rivals quietly. He should know; he employed similar tactics when he wasn't making a massive scene to bring the Undercity to heel, finally united.]

Always there to instill the doubts, then. In the chaos of such violence, there will certainly be someone with the kind hand to show them the order that they so crave. [Someone to point the way to a better future. It all made sense if he put it in such a light, and he regarded Akechi with a renewed interest. Who was this benevolent hand, hmm? Silco was certain he would hate the man and vice versa.

He returned to scratching in another answer, as if the fact that he apparently needed to die was not particularly bothersome to him.] Who is this he to have such a hold on where you go and what you do, boy?

[The way Silco connects the dots and is able to draw out the full picture is exactly why Akechi had initially perceived him as a dangerous man. He did not only talk like Shido and his associates would, but he also acted like them, showing similar kind of interest in seizing the power by having people hand it over him. It was a game he was very familiar with playing - one that he had ultimately rejected by seeking out his own destruction.]

Shido.. [he hums quietly, tongue almost getting tied in the s-sound there for a bit.] I need him to obtain the absolute power.. then I can kill him.

Shido. [Silco repeated the name to himself, filing away the name to look into. Someone important enough to require Akechi's loyalty to a degree or at least to not cause immediate madness in the person.]

He must be someone very important to require such a set standard before you can kill him. Planning on stealing this power for yourself?

[The hospital staff might just as well dosed him with truth serum of sorts. Normally, Akechi refused to even utter the man's name unless absolutely necessary -- and even then, he' preferred to leave it ambiguous. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and the man as possible, trying desperately to shake off the reach of his massive shadow. Although, he knows very well that is a fools errand.

But right now Akechi found his lips loose, the words passing through his filters and guards. There's a dry, pained laughter coming from his throat at the suggestion. How ridiculous.]

No. I want to plunge the world into the chaos. I need to fulfill all his dreams so that I can destroy him when he's at the apex of his power. He needs to suffer and know that it was all because of me.

[Well, well, now they were getting to the crux of the matter of this Shido, weren't they? This was someone that clearly held the absolute focus of Akechi in this moment, which meant there was tremendous history. While he wanted to know more, he knew better than to nudge too much for details when they were flowing all on their own. He simply needed to be around while the drugs kept those lips loose.

His pencil moved to scratch in another answer, making a soft 'humm' sound as he considered the information.]

You must truly hate him to bring him down at the peak of his power. Is it the order he brings or just the man himself?

He and his 'order' can go to hell for all I care. [He coughs up a strained answer, voice choking around at the end of his sentence. Suddenly, he feels his pulse speeding up again as the wave of emotion washes over him. A faint, dusty pink flush colors his otherwise pale face, framing up his red eyes. He's not quite sure whether the anxiety ruling over him is from anger or sadness.]

H-he needs to, [He swallows his saliva, words sounding like a dry hiss] He needs to pay for what he did to her. I want him to know that the one who built him up and took him down was no other than me. The mistake he discarded as disgrace. T-that's why you and everyone else will need to die.

Edited (oops) 2024-05-01 13:45 (UTC)

It sounds like you plan on sending them there, assuming you have the strength to overcome them all. [Silco was unmoved to sympathy, but he could understand for that kind of commitment to such a cause. He believed similarly, and one should never doubt the strength of someone's will when truly determined to burn the world down.

Her? Oh, this was simply getting better and better. A mother, a sister, or a girlfriend? Those were the most common types to bring such words.] Revenge then. How boring... you aren't even doing it for a real cause just a selfish one. What would she think of the path of flames you're on, hmmm?

[Oh. That honestly just does it. The mention of his mother and he possible disappointment in him have always been Akechi's weak spot. The memory of the woman who was no longer there with them along with her choice to do so, was so sore and aching. He had been able to get some clarity to his trauma but the hurt was still there.

Akechi gasps out a choked sob, and he tries to move his arm again to cover his face. But no luck.] Doesn't matter.. I already let her down.

[Was he crying? Was he actually so drugged out of his mind as to let a sob out? Silco sat back further in his chair before setting down his pencil so that he could reach into his vest to pull out his phone. Then he started to record Akechi being upset on the bed. This was too perfect to pass him by.

He returned to his crossword puzzle with the phone set up to continue recording the moment next to him.]

You did, but she let you down as well. She made her choices, and now you're chained by them. She at least escaped with death. You carry on her legacy for revenge.

[He's really milking everything out of this, isn't he? Well, at least there's no tears yet. A small saving grace. He swallows his saliva, the throat slightly bobbing as he holds back another quiet sob. The mattress creaks under him as he tries to trash against his binding, but all he can do is toss his head to the side, brown hair spreading on the pillow like a halo.]

You know nothing. [He repeats the statement, quiet words slurring a little.] You know nothing of her, no one knows. Not even him. And still he hurt her.

[This particular topic was painful, of course. Someone who had lived a better life might even feel bad about recording a drugged, shackled man, but it definitely wasn't Silco. Akechi had tried to humiliate him in his own office, and this was just par for the course of their destructive association.

He also remained curious of Akechi. That was dangerous to them both, but he had no issues with it. Not yet anyway.]

Then sing her praises. Honour her memory by speaking of her. Clearly she was important to you.

Shut up. [Comes a weak protest as he shuts his eyes in attempt to refuse the other man's presence. But he stays completely unaware of the recorder pointed at his direction, leaving him vulnerable.]

She's my mother. And he-, Shido, left her. I-if he hadn't, [He staggers, words falling apart in his mouth with such painful confession.] if he hadn't met her. She wouldn't have been ruined.

[Silco paused in his writing, watching Akechi on the bed, piecing things together now that he had enough information. How Akechi came about didn't matter, but the loyalty to the memory of a dead mother at the hands of the father - voluntary or involuntary - was the kind of tragedy familiar in the undercity as well. He was certain it was familiar in every place, in every time.]

And you wouldn't have been born. He's the calming hand smoothing out the ripples you create. I doubt murdering him will bring you peace, no more than my death did. [May as well play into the illusion a bit.]

[OPEN Mingle] - Sorry Ethlyn

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