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[dereban]

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himeko inaba ⬤ kokoro connect
residential district ⬤ level one
moonblessing ⬤ iris

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[dereban]

So we'd share that sort of thing. . . that's fine.

[ She's actually done something similar in the past -- in fact, this is the sort of tactic that she'd see being used by. . .

... ]

Well, I don't mind seeing both. You always have to keep the good along with the bad, after all. Nothing is ever going to be 'all good' or 'all bad'.

[moonlightalter]

Right. Good and back make us who we are, and if we're going to be friends then you should know the good and bad within me.

[Because even someone as drenched in blood as he is has redeeming qualities, and even someone as nice as Inaba must had some darkness in her.]

Come on.

[He'll lead her to the part of the arcade they need to go to, and they can be all set up and in a mockup of Yokohama before too long.]

[dereban]

Mm.

[ She nods as she keeps up with his pace. Of course she understands this much. It's a lesson she's had to learn, after all; that people aren't just 'completely good' or 'completely bad'...

Especially when she still thinks of herself as a dark person. Of course, she already knows what to do here; she's been in one of these before, when she wanted to see home again. Even if she's aware it just isn't the same.

Let's just see it, then... What Atsushi's Yokohama is like. ]

[moonlightalter]

[It's actually a pretty nice Yokohama. The area he's made is down by the port area, where the air smells like the sea and boats come and go on a regular basis. The two of them are on a pier overlooking one of the main inlets right now.]

This is the area where I usually stayed. The port was our 'turf' I guess.

[dereban]

It's really nice here. . . I usually don't go by the ports and see the ocean from this closes, back home.

[moonlightalter]

I usually stay by the port. I work so much that I don't have very much free time, so staying close to home is easier to do. Plus the sea smells nice.

[He does seem relaxed as he watches the ships move through the harbor. There are also a lot of food stands around, because of course there are. But Atsushi knows the food isn't real, so he won't go for any.]

During the daytime, it's a nice place to be. The mafia mostly acts at night, so sometimes I could walk through the streets at daytime and pretend I was just a normal person.

[dereban]

[ It makes her pleased that he seems so relaxed here, in a place like this, but her frown seems to deepen when he says that last half, because it just makes her feel like it's a little unfair in comparison, that she's had a 'normal' life for so long...

Well, at least until Heartseed showed up. ]

Remind me to show you some of the best spots in my Yokohama sometime, then.

[ There's something fond in her voice, but there's a wistfulness to it, too. Nostalgic — an obvious sign of longing and just how much she misses her home. ]

[moonlightalter]

I will. I'd like to see what your Yokohama looks like.

[But for now he'll lead her down the dock area and over to a little pier overlooking the water. From here, they had a perfect view of the open sea, even if the dock was obviously meant for people working and not sightseers. They're in an industrial area after all.]

I thought for a while about who to show you here. Most of the mafia isn't nice, but there's a few people who are agreeable.

[Atsushi indicates to a spot further up the dock. Over there is an older-looking man in glasses, one who has slicked back grey hair and is currently smoking.]

Like Hirotsu-san over there.

[dereban]

It's— well. It is what it is. Thankfully, I do have a memory of the best place to see the entire city.

[ She does follow him with a small smile. Seeing his this place, so familiar and yet so different...

It kind of makes her sad.

It makes her heart ache.

But she tries to keep her voice even nevertheless. ]

Ah, that's the person you told me about before. Are there any others? You said 'a few' so there's more than one, isn't there?

[moonlightalter]

There are, yes.

[He doesn't want to disturb Hirotsu anyway, programming his AI was hard. Kyouka, on the other hand, he spent much more time on.

Speaking of Kyouka, she is sitting on a bench nearby, waiting for the pair to approach.]

This is Kyouka-chan. She's a good friend of mine. She's very smart, and caring too. She's the one who looks after me when I get hurt.

[The smile on his face here is a genuine one. This is someone he honestly likes spending time with.]

[dereban]

She's really pretty. You two are friends?

[ Inaba genuinely asks in her usual kind voice. ]

[moonlightalter]

Yeah. She's one of the brighter spots of my time in the mafia.

[He has a relaxed smile on his face while talking about her too. He's pretty attached to Kyouka.]

[dereban]

You miss her?

[moonlightalter]

I do. A lot.

She was my only friend, before all of this.

[dereban]

Mm. . . I think I get that. I didn't have many friends before this, either. Any— real friends, anyway, besides the CRC.

[moonlightalter]

Yeah. The moonlacing thing makes it a little easier to make friends.

[Time to lead her to one of the big warehouses in the area, though. Don't worry, it's nothing too dangerous. Just a hideout for mafia members. They all seem too preoccupied with cleaning their weapons and their own side conversations to really notice Atsushi or Inaba.

At the back of the warehouse is an elevator, even though the placement doesn't make sense in real life. It seems like Atsushi condensed it a bit to make the memory make sense. Ready to go on up, Inaba?]

[dereban]

I don't know if I like the idea of someone saying "fucking for friendship".

[ She answers him dryly before carefully following him. ]

[moonlightalter]

Isn't it better than fucking for other reasons?

[Up the elevator they goooo! It's going to be a long ride, though.]

[dereban]

[ If it's going to be a long ride, she'll keep up this conversation, then. ]

Maybe, but wouldn't you want to do it with someone you. . . liked? Like, more than a friend?

[ This is probably not the best timing for this conversation, but it's Happening, I guess. ]

[moonlightalter]

[There are a lot of things he could say there, but he knows Inaba will just hit him for them. So instead he says something else:]

What kind of answer are you expecting to hear, exactly?

[dereban]

Expecting--

Oi. I don't--

[...]

Isn't it better just to be honest? I don't want you to answer based on some sort of stupid expectations I have.

[moonlightalter]

Then stop asking questions you don't actually want an honest answer to.

[dereban]

. . . Am I allowed to ask why?

[moonlightalter]

Because every time you ask a question like that and I give a real answer, you hit me and lecture me on how I'm wrong.

[Which is kind of the point of this whole exercise, to show her that his answers are so different from hers because of his life experiences.

And he has a lot more he would like to say on the matter, but he holds back. Because he's so sure that Inaba isn't doing it on purpose.]

...sorry. I know you're not trying to start fights. That's why I wanted to show you all of this. I'm not so good at words, so I thought maybe showing you would answer your questions better than anything I could say.

[dereban]

. . .

[ She takes a deep breath in, and a deep breath out before speaking up, her voice low and her gaze not exactly meeting Atsushi's own. ]

To be honest, I just simply braced myself for disappointment. [ Her head raises towards the ceiling of the elevator as she folds her hands together, fiddling with her thumbs idly. ] It's less that you're wrong whenever you say things like that. . . and more--

It pisses me off that you have to actually think in a way, because I-

[ She shakes her head. ]

Never mind.

It's just that if I did say I had expectations, and if I did say them. . . I don't want you to just. . . agree with me or follow through with what I say for any reason. Anyway, are we there yet?