ryuji: (Default)
💀 skull ([personal profile] ryuji) wrote2018-02-01 01:24 pm

reverie inbox



text 💀 voice 💀 action
hopefragment: (haji030)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-15 01:56 pm (UTC)(link)
What do you mean, uh?!

[Dude? Now they're both sitting up, Hajime's face twisted into concerned confusion.]

I knew you guys were hiding something from me, but...

[Yeah, he's. Not entirely stupid. Ryuji alone would be obvious enough without Haru stepping on his figurative foot to shut him up added to the mix.

So? Go on. He's listening.]
hopefragment: (haji007)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-15 02:07 pm (UTC)(link)
What? Of course, who would I tell?

[He's not exactly about to go knocking on Erika's door hey my friend is a criminal and someone who trusts me also is probably a criminal.

But that also feels kind of isolating, in a way, now that he's said it. Who can he talk to, if something happens where he can't talk to Ryuji? He doesn't want to burden Erika with his own problems, so that really... doesn't leave an exhaustive list. He presses his lips tightly together and nods more firmly.]


Yeah. I promise.

[He doesn't have much of a choice.]

Tell me what's going on, Ryuji.
hopefragment: (haji015)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-15 02:43 pm (UTC)(link)
...

[He turns off his communicator, remembering something Erika said once about network security, and folds his hands in his lap. Alright, punk, get explaining.

And then, abruptly, Hajime kind of wishes he didn't know what was going on. Well, okay, he doesn't know what's going on, but leading with crushed his soul isn't exactly explanations 101 here. And continuing with "trying to determine the worth of humanity" is really...

It's not normal. It's the furthest fucking thing from normal. It's shuffling Hajime's entire set of opinions on -- most of them, really, everything from trying to figure out why Goro had shoved Ryuji away that time at the bar, to figuring out just what the relationship among Ryuji and his group of friends is.]


Crushing his soul? The "worth of humanity?"

[This is all crazy. It's nonsense! It doesn't make sense. It's too far outside what Hajime considers normal, even by the standards of this stupid space station.]

What're you talking about?!

[He's... getting loud again, which is what happens when he's frustrated and full of emotions he doesn't understand.]
hopefragment: (07)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-16 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
Those are crazy things on this space station. You're talking about bullshit that you did at home.

[The only consolation Hajime can take is that he was right; Ryuji's use of the word "Phantom Thief" back then really did mean more than he'd tried to explain off. He's not sure what to make of his own tone as he mutters that, more to himself than to Ryuji. It's bitterness, resentment, a hint of betrayal. The betrayal, at least, he's fully aware is childish. He was the one dumb enough to think that there could be someone, several people, similar to him on this crazy space station.

But no. He's the only one without something ~special~ about him. It hurts, feeling like he's not good enough. And in spite of all the things Ryuji's said before this, he can't quite squelch the niggling thought that what Ryuji can do? Someone like him? That would be something Hope's Peak would consider a talent. And untalented people don't deserve to stand next to talented people like equals.

His expression shutters, closes off; his eyes narrow to listen to the other boy speak without interrupting. In the end, he shakes his head. How's he supposed to accept this? To make sense of it? It's all bullshit.]


You're telling me... you guys would just. Go and change people against their will? And people died because of that?

[It's one thing to say that what he and Goro did is different. But to Hajime, it doesn't sound all that different at all.]
hopefragment: *presents panties* (i'll prove it with this!*)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-16 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
...!!

[Okay, see, these are different. Hajime can't keep up with all the twists this story is taking -- again, because it's just so far outside anything he's ever experienced. The worst person he's ever met was the head of Hope's Peak Security, and even if he'd literally tried to fight him, he still doesn't know if he'd try to... to do whatever it is Ryuji's talking about here. There wouldn't be much point, when that's just how people were. Removing him would just put someone else in his place.

But this... it horrifies him, and it's clear on his face that whatever he was expecting, it wasn't this.]


So... that one time when you said people would just start confessing crimes... that was you guys?

[His voice isn't downright combative anymore, at least, but that lower tone, the tone he takes when he's trying to solve a puzzle. And then he lets out a quiet Ah! of realization. Just slid some minigame letters into place.]

Your coach, too? He was one of them?
hopefragment: (dr3-018)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-16 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[He flinches when Ryuji punches the deck. There's a part of him that wants to do something. Say the right thing, apologize, try to smooth it over. But it's just -- too much. He doesn't know what to do.

He's thinking about Natsumi and Satou again. If someone like Ryuji had been there, seen how crazy she was and done something about it... would Natsumi still be alive? Would they be able to prove that even untalented people could stand beside talented people?

Would he do the same, if he knew he could change people's minds? Would he stop at just people with extreme crimes like that, or would he start doing it to anyone he disagreed with? What stops someone from just deciding that it should be done to him?

He doesn't know. It's impossible; he can't know something like that. His stomach tightens with anxious nausea. That does sound like something someone like Juzo Sakakura would do to keep worthless Reserve Course students in check.]


You said... Akechi killed someone, though? He killed Haru's father?
hopefragment: (haji009)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-17 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
His soul.

[He's repeating what Ryuji said before, in an attempt to understand and come to grips with it. It still sounds impossibly crazy, but he doesn't think for an instant Ryuji is lying about any of this. This wouldn't be a funny haha you should have seen your face moment. This is all true, at least as much as Ryuji believes it.]

Being used by who? Isn't he a detective?

[He should have been able to go to the police better than anybody. Unless that was just part of a cover story, too.]
hopefragment: (haji001)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-18 02:03 pm (UTC)(link)
This is all fucked up.

[Hajime frowns, staring own at his own hands. Would he have done what Goro did? Would he be able to kill someone, if his life was on the line?

He doesn't know. How could he know something like that? None of this is inside the realm of possibility for him. A conversation that had started #relatable about a shared experience has gradually spiraled way outside anything Hajime's equipped to deal with.]


...Are you going to tell your friends you told me this? Or am I supposed to just... keep this to myself, and pretend nothing's changed?

[He can't comprehend it, so his focus turns to himself, again. Why did Ryuji put this burden on him? Just tell him what to do, since he doesn't know.]
hopefragment: (haji023 (1))

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-18 09:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[He flinches at what almost sounds like an accusation. "Cold and weird, coming from you," as if he's just supposed to... accept it. That he can't stand on Ryuji's level, or Haru's, or any of them.

Then his shoulders sag, and he looks back to his hands, shaking his head with a sigh. Isn't that what he's been doing since he entered the Reserve Course, just clinging to people with talent. Following in their wake as if hoping he could make something of himself that way.]


I just...

[He feels vulnerable, but he isn't going to say that. His friend is a criminal, who's gone up against horrible people, who's made a difference in the world in a way Hajime can't do. It's complicated.]

You and Haru.... you guys are the kind of people I wish I could be, [he says finally. Jury is. Way out on Goro, but then, he's not nearly as close to him as he is to Ryuji, or even Haru.] But I'm not like you guys. I don't care that you're criminals, but it's like...

[He gestures, wordlessly, an almost Erika-like gesture as if hoping Ryuji could get his meaning just like that.]

It's finding out someone you thought was just like you is some kind of hero-vigilante, and there's nothing I can do but hang back and watch. You know?
hopefragment: (hinata_id4783638-95-3)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-19 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
[He immediately makes a face at Ryuji's first question, an incredulous, exhausted face. As if someone like Hajime had a secret power that let him go up against people's souls.

Even assuming he could be as defiant and rebellious as Ryuji's describing, what the hell kind of impact would that make? He's not like Natsumi, able to easily rile up the normal students of the Reserve Course against the Main Course with just a few words. He wouldn't want to go up against those students, anyway; Chiaki's one of them. That weirdo he met who thinks they're friends, Gundam Tanaka, he's one of them, too. It's not their fault he's untalented, bitter, resentful that his whole life was leading up to -- nothing. And now, being trapped on this space station for weeks, means his one shot, his one chance at being someone important, at becoming the protagonist of his own life story, has already passed him by. There's no way the Academy would just wait for him to come back so they could start the Project.

He'd tried his minor act of rebellion already, and been punched down for it, reminded of how little he matters in his world.

He's about to point out that somebody who can do things like literally change people's souls hardly get to call themselves "normal," so Ryuji's suggestion that he join them is-]


What?

[He can't help but laugh, more out of bewilderment than anything else.]

I don't have any magic powers, Ryuji.
hopefragment: logic diiiiiiiiiiiive (hmmm*)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-19 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
...

[He's silent for a long few seconds, closing his eyes. It's almost like that thinking pose Ryuji likes to tease him for, but rather than think aloud, he's actually keeping his thoughts to himself for once. No minigames or logic puzzles, just letting Ryuji's words resonate in his mind.

To stand up for ourselves and not take the world sitting down... is it? Defend those who can't be defended?

Isn't that why he'd wanted to join Hope's Peak in the first place? To become someone confident, to feel like a member of society. To become the protagonist of his own life story. This definitely, definitely, wouldn't help him become someone important at home, but then, he isn't home, is he? He's on a hunk of metal floating in who-knows-what universe.

He opens his eyes, ready to bat away Ryuji's hand if he's going for a forehead poke.]


Yeah. I'm in.
hopefragment: (dr3-030)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-19 05:49 am (UTC)(link)
[He can't help but feel like he's making the wrong choice. That he should have asked for time to think about it, or try to argue, or just flat-out refuse. His heart is pounding too quickly in his chest with a weird mix of nervousness and heady excitement, because it is different. It's something totally different, literally not of his world.

Can he do all that weird stuff Ryuji talked about, messing around with people's souls, taking their choices away from them? He's not sure. He probably won't ever be sure. But if it's too late to go back to Hope's Peak, even if they can ever go back... he wants to belong somewhere.

Ryuji's smile is the first time he's really felt accepted, and he laughs quietly to expel some of that nervousness before lifting a hand to gently bump the other boy's fist.]


Thanks... but I'm not making some mask out of arts and crafts to try to match you, though.

[--Can't let it get too sappy. Can't let Ryuji know just how much this means to him, though the warm smile mostly gives it away anyway.]
hopefragment: how did benjamins get involved... (you want me to what now??*)

[personal profile] hopefragment 2018-06-20 03:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[No, Ryuji, he just said he doesn't want to make a ma-- holy shit]

Gyaaah!!

[He holds up both hands as he recoils, as if to ward off the weird blue flames. It's hard not to yell in surprise when a flaming skull mask suddenly appears on his friend's face!! He'd thought when Ryuji had said the metaverse wasn't available, he wouldn't have to worry about all that weird supernatural stuff.

What the hell has he gotten himself into.]


S-sorry, but that's... what?

[It comes out more weakly than he'd like as he leans forward to check out the mask, examining it like a piece of evidence. It's... real, right? He reaches out to try to touch it, gently, just to confirm that it is present and real.]
Edited 2018-06-20 15:44 (UTC)

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-20 20:37 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-21 03:03 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-21 14:01 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-22 16:33 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-23 19:25 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-25 13:03 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-27 02:58 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-27 16:12 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] hopefragment - 2018-06-29 02:18 (UTC) - Expand