[nope] Killing night 12 - Shuichi

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi is taking Baxter out for one last walk before he holes up, which is to say he's lurking around the infirmary without going in until the raccoons start badgering him. It's only when he catches Shuichi's eye that he tries to act cool and casual about it.]

Good evening, Saihara-kun! I'm not interested in exploring tonight, but if you need an alibi, you can drop by my room.

Comments

[afailedmurder]

[Anyway, when it gets to be like 3 am and it's a bad idea to sleep, or maybe it's just hard to sleep]

Say, Saihara-kun? Are you still awake?

[truthstranger]

Mm? Yeah? What is it?

[afailedmurder]

Since we're not sleeping anyway, I had a sort of... idea of what we could do.

Though it's a little embarrassing to say out loud, to be completely honest.

[truthstranger]

[what could be embarrassing at this point...]

I'm sure it's fine.

[afailedmurder]

Well, we still have all that money in the closet.

What if we... took it out of the closet?

[truthstranger]

[not what he expected]

And did... what with it?

[afailedmurder]

Anything we want!

Even if we survive this, when are we ever going to see that much money again? Don't you want to touch it?

[truthstranger]

Ah... I guess... that would be kind of exciting.

[certainly, at 3am, after having already let loose a certain amount of inhibition, it seems like an interesting idea]

[afailedmurder]

Let's do it.

[drags himself out of bed and heads for the closet]

The other world is full of people's desires, so it isn't my first time seeing large amounts of cash... but there's usually something wrong with it, like it'll have the person's own face on it or be a "10 gazillion yen" note or some such nonsense. Grown adults!

[truthstranger]

[he sits up at the edge of the bed]

Ah, well, I imagine that people's subconscious desires are less concerned with accurate details and more the general feel of things...

[afailedmurder]

Fat lot of good that does me.

[at any rate, he digs out the suitcase and returns with it, plopping it on the bed]

And yet the creatures scurrying about in there all carry real money. Isn't that strange? I never managed to figure out why.

[things to say to make your crazy JRPG mechanics sound more real: probably not that]

[truthstranger]

[fortunately it already sounded pretty unreal and 3am is a terrible time for existential crises.]

That is strange. Maybe because you wanted them to...?

[he glances at the suitcase, weirdly nervous and excited]

[afailedmurder]

I've actually wondered if it wasn't that! One would think that the Chosen One ought to be provided for...

[opens up the case and pulls out a stack]

But holding something like this, I can't help but feel that the gods are rather stingy.

[truthstranger]

The Chosen One...?

[That's a step up from hero of justice]

I was thinking something more like... if it's really a world of the collective unconscious, and you have powers there, maybe your desires have a stronger and more direct effect on the forms things take. I don't really know how any of it works, though.

[he also... hesitantly... takes a stack of money out of the suitcase]

[afailedmurder]

I was divinely chosen to impose my justice on the world. Though I can't say it worked out the way I'd hoped.

[he says that pretty damn casually, though his chuckle is a little forced]

[more importantly, he takes the band off the money stack and fans it out. he then peers over his money fan and winks]

[truthstranger]

[that's kind of a weird comment, but... he's heard weirder things from his friends. he does note it to ask more about later, though, because he feels like there's something there.

...and then he blushes reflexively at the wink, looking down at his own stack of bills]

A-Ah, thinking about it, I didn't even count it or anything, before... it was too much to handle.

[afailedmurder]

Hmm, yes, counting it is the responsible thing to do.

[nods seriously, so seriously]

Or we could do this.

[flings his cash fan straight up into the air]

[truthstranger]

A-Ah!

[after a moment of surprise, watching the money drift down, the complete absurdity of this situation suddely hits him full force, and he just starts laughing helplessly]

[afailedmurder]

[Akechi's own laughter is bordering on hysterical]

Th- that was even more satisfying than I'd hoped! Give it a try!

[truthstranger]

Right. Okay...

[This feels so weird. He removes the band from his own money, wondering if it's better or worse if he thinks about exactly how much money this is, how much it would be worth if they had any way to spend it, or a real hope of not dying sometime in the next few days.

Eventually he decides that makes it worse. He just lets a rush of emotion rise in his chest as he throws the cash up like confetti, letting out his breath in a rush.]

Hah...!

[afailedmurder]

[watches him with absolute glee]

That's it! It's just paper!

[going for another stack]

[truthstranger]

Ah. Mm.

[For a moment Shuichi feels like maybe this is not the best way to spend their time. But Akechi looks so happy about it, and surely there are a lot worse ways too.]

I-It's kind of fun...

[afailedmurder]

[Takes a bill off the current stack and tries, not very well, to make a paper airplane.]

Sometimes you have to let loose. Forget about the future, forget about the world, and do whatever seems the most fun at that exact moment.

[truthstranger]

I'm not sure I'm very good at that, but...

[he takes another bundle of money out and removes the band, spreading it across his lap this time, considering]

[afailedmurder]

It's somewhat difficult to put into words, but anybody can do it. Imagine, say... that there is no world outside of this room. For all we know, there isn't; we are mere cavemen staring at shadows on the wall, after all, imprisoned by our own perceptions of reality.

[he rips a bill in half and tosses it aside]

Your natural inclination will be to despair at the thought of that ever-gaping void, but there's no point to that. There's no point to anything. Don't shy away from that fact. Embrace it. Because even if the world is a void, your ego still exists within that void. By your very existence, you defy the the cold, callous universe. Your thoughts, your will, your actions; those things still belong to you.

[rips another]

Let that empower you and you can do anything. Don't think. Don't worry about what I'll think. You can do anything you want tonight — to this room, to this money, to me.

[rrrip]