[ 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. ]
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.]
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?]
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.
[ 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?
[He's silent for a while, listening to what she has to say. He's reasonably sure that he knows what she had wanted to say. "Why do you think you're so bad when I'm the bad one here?" And it's actually better that she stopped herself, because he has Feelings about her thoughts on that. But just as he has trouble getting over his own hangups, she's got to have trouble getting over her own, right?]
Blame Dazai-san. He's the one who insists on living at the top for of an 80-story building.
[No seriously, the elevator ride up is a good 3 minutes at least. Plenty of time for this conversation.
But then the door dings, and they can step out of the elevator and into a long hallway.]
[ She speaks quietly, just barely audible enough for him to hear. And while yes, she does have a lot of hangups and even considers herself as terrible at times, that surprisingly wasn't what she wanted to say!
Not that he'd know.
She sighs heavily before straightening herself out once she hears the sound of the elevator ping. ]
But if you're mentioning him, does that mean we're going to "meet" him. . .?
[ Because if that's the case, she needs to brace herself. ]
We are, yes. He's a big part of who I am today, so I wanted you to see him.
[She'll have a few moments to compose herself, as the door they're looking for is at the end of the hall. When they reach it, he puts his hand on the doorknob but looks to Inaba before opening it. Is she ready?]
[She's not going to die, Dazai doesn't just kill people like that. Usually.
But yes Atsushi will open the door, and in the office there is Dazai sitting at the desk on the far side of the room. But unlike the others Atsushi has shown, which weren't paying attention to either Atsushi or Inaba, Dazai is looking right at them.
This Dazai is different from the one in Prisma, too. In addition to the black suit and purple scarf, he has bandages covering his left eye.
Atsushi feels a bit intimidated, seeing Dazai like this, but he swallows his doubts and steps into the room. He's expecting Inaba to follow after him too.]
[ "You don't know that," she opens her mouth to retort but keeps her mouth shut instead. But she'll follow him with a stern look in her eyes, her gaze fixed seriously on Dazai while trying to keep her cool.
There's recognition in her eyes for a flicker of a second but she soon realizes that this is definitely different from that man she's only met once before.
Naturally, she remains silent, waiting for any responses as she decides to observe. To see what happens now. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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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. ]
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[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.
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[ 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?
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[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.]
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[ Inaba genuinely asks in her usual kind voice. ]
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[He has a relaxed smile on his face while talking about her too. He's pretty attached to Kyouka.]
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She was my only friend, before all of this.
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[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?]
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[ She answers him dryly before carefully following him. ]
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[Up the elevator they goooo! It's going to be a long ride, though.]
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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. ]
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What kind of answer are you expecting to hear, exactly?
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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.
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[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.
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[ 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?
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Blame Dazai-san. He's the one who insists on living at the top for of an 80-story building.
[No seriously, the elevator ride up is a good 3 minutes at least. Plenty of time for this conversation.
But then the door dings, and they can step out of the elevator and into a long hallway.]
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[ She speaks quietly, just barely audible enough for him to hear. And while yes, she does have a lot of hangups and even considers herself as terrible at times, that surprisingly wasn't what she wanted to say!
Not that he'd know.
She sighs heavily before straightening herself out once she hears the sound of the elevator ping. ]
But if you're mentioning him, does that mean we're going to "meet" him. . .?
[ Because if that's the case, she needs to brace herself. ]
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[She'll have a few moments to compose herself, as the door they're looking for is at the end of the hall. When they reach it, he puts his hand on the doorknob but looks to Inaba before opening it. Is she ready?]
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[ She pauses when she sees his hand on the doorknob, her voice quiet. ]
If things somehow go to shit in here, I'm immediately logging out, alright?
[ Even if it's virtual reality, she really doesn't want to die. ]
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[She's not going to die, Dazai doesn't just kill people like that. Usually.
But yes Atsushi will open the door, and in the office there is Dazai sitting at the desk on the far side of the room. But unlike the others Atsushi has shown, which weren't paying attention to either Atsushi or Inaba, Dazai is looking right at them.
This Dazai is different from the one in Prisma, too. In addition to the black suit and purple scarf, he has bandages covering his left eye.
Atsushi feels a bit intimidated, seeing Dazai like this, but he swallows his doubts and steps into the room. He's expecting Inaba to follow after him too.]
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There's recognition in her eyes for a flicker of a second but she soon realizes that this is definitely different from that man she's only met once before.
Naturally, she remains silent, waiting for any responses as she decides to observe. To see what happens now. ]
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