Unfliltered

[nicotinized]

[Toshi's mental voice sounds a little anxious - he's trying to hide it, but he has no idea when he is, just that finally there are other people around and some of them look familiar]

Hey, what did I miss? Is Souji still here?

[there's a pause, and then he sounds a little calmer, and a little embarrassed]

I got stuck in some weird patch of liminal space where time was all fucked up - watch didn't work right or anything.

Comments

[fridgeninja]

That was part of it. But... mm. It's pretty grim to think of everyone ending up like that. Even Yomi... it isn't a place that's made to be cruel. And no matter what those people did, I think most of them could have found peace if they were permitted to.

[truthvalue]

That's a good point. I guess I hadn't thought that far into it yet. [Too wrapped up in his own issues.] Everyone was pretty miserable there.

[fridgeninja]

Even Narukami wasn't that happy.

[truthvalue]

He wasn't?

[fridgeninja]

No. He was better off than most people, but everything that happened there weighed on him.

[truthvalue]

I didn't know that.

I guess ... Kingpin thought Narukami had everything, since he'd been on the winning side of the war. That nothing bothered him.

[fridgeninja]

He was living comfortably, but he wasn't at peace.

[nicotinized]

[ ]

[truthvalue]

I -

He didn't know that.

He was pretty selfish.

[fridgeninja]

He felt like his family had given up on him.

Narukami wasn't very good at listening to him.

[truthvalue]

He did. Especially Yua - that upset him the most, I think.

To be fair, Kingpin wasn't very good at listening to Narukami, either.

[fridgeninja]

... Yua and I haven't always been great at listening to each other.

[truthvalue]

You mean you and Yua? [As in, Souji himself, not Narukami.]

[fridgeninja]

Yes. This me, and this her.

[truthvalue]

Mm, I remember you said something about not kissing her, when we first met. Is that part of it?

[fridgeninja]

I have a bit of a crush. It's been a problem. But for the most part, it's something different.

[truthvalue]

... You have a crush on Yua-san?

[fridgeninja]

I know it's a little narcissistic...

1/2

[truthvalue]

It's a little weird. Kind of like if I said I had a crush on you.

[truthvalue]

... Which I don't, by the way. No offense.

[fridgeninja]

None taken.

Although for that, we'd have to be bisexual.

[truthvalue]

... Something ... like that. I guess.

[Is there a way on this thing to tell that Souji's face just got a little red? Because it did.]

[fridgeninja]

[There is not.]

So... you don't think she's strangely attractive, then?

[truthvalue]

[That's probably a good thing. Because AWKWARD.]

... Not really, no.

[fridgeninja]

Well.

The problems between us aren't based on that, anyway. They're based on the different ways we've handled staying sane through some rough Jaunts. It took us a while to understand that difference... which made me look callous, and Yua look remote. Once I realized she made connections, and she realized that the bad things that happened mattered to me... things got better. And by then I was with Naoto, so the crush matters less.